Category: Sports News

This is the fifth installment in Purple Row’s series on the Colorado Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program. So far, I have written about what the program does, its curriculum, and its origins. Yesterday, Renee Dechert wrote a profile on one of the English teachers, and this week we’ll continue exploring how the Rockies help non-English-speaking players develop their language skills.

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As we’ve discussed over the last few weeks, the Colorado Rockies have been at the forefront of English education around Major League Baseball. It all started because Josh Rosenthal had a vision after returning from the Peace Corps, and he and Angel Amparo have turned that vision into a reality that set the standard for all 30 clubs. 

The Rockies currently have five players from Latin America on their active roster, and three of them graduated from the Cultural Education & Development Program – Antonio Senzatela, Juan Mejia and Ezequiel Tovar. Here’s how they described their experiences.

Antonio Senzatela

Senzatela was one of the original students in the program, having been signed out of Valencia, Venezuela, in 2011. He was assigned to the DSL Rockies the following year and came stateside in 2013. Since he was around in the early goings, he had a lot more experience with Rosenthal than Amparo.

“It was really good,” Senzatela said of his experience. “Josh was an amazing person. He’s a different personality. He liked to teach us how to be a good person and how to engage in American culture when we’re just kids. And it was really fun and really nice to have him.”

And the lessons he learned have stuck with him throughout his career.

“In our country, we don’t have a lot of things. It’s different,” he said. “Here you have to be more quiet and more careful with things you say and stuff like that. He taught us that and a couple of English words, especially more on the baseball-wise because at least we have to know baseball terms. And it’s really nice, and it was perfect for me.”

Ezequiel Tovar and Juan Mejia

Tovar and Mejia were both signed in 2017 – Tovar out of Maracay, Venezuela, and Mejia out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Both came stateside in 2019, but Tovar made his MLB debut in 2022 while Mejia made his debut in 2025. 

“I think it was a big help. They taught me so much,” Mejia said of his experience. “I think through that program and through the help of Angel, I think it not only shaped myself as a whole but it also shaped my personality. It changed my personality over here, so it helped me from that first year that I got in the United States. I felt better going into it because I had so much help, and it helped me in various ways.”

Tovar explained more about how the early classes were structured.

“There’s two of them over there that head the program, and obviously they taught me a lot,” he said. “That program meant a lot for learning English. First it was through Duolingo and some of the classes over there, and they had a bunch of applications that they gave to us to help us learn English. But yeah, I started all the way over there in the Dominican my first year with all that.”

He also remembers there were a lot of “quizzes and tests” but also Amparo and Julio Medina got more creative with teaching their players how to understand and begin internalizing English.

“They’d send you movies, songs and things like that to help you remember English and kind of get used to it,” Tovar said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that I remember.”

Mejia remembered a project where the players all had to create an advertisement for a product, and while he couldn’t remember the specific product he was trying to sell, he “vividly remember(s) doing those videos.”

“I can’t specifically recall that because I was in Spokane,” he said. “I knew a little more English, so I think that was helpful, but it was still hard for me because I was a little nervous, and I kind of wanted to get it done with so I kind of rushed it a little bit. It was still hard on me, doing those videos, and I can’t recall specifically that.”

However, he didn’t think it was harder than opening or closing a baseball game – it’s just a different kind of challenge.

“I think it was that you’re focusing on talking, and obviously it makes you nervous because you’re not fully adapted to the language,” he explained. “But over here, I’m confident in my talent when I’m pitching. I think everyone can see that talent that I have, and thanks to God, so I enjoy being out there with the guys.”

Tovar offered some advice for players who are still in the program and who are still getting used to English as well as life in the United States.

“My advice for them is that I’m still learning English myself and getting used to it,” he said. “But over here, we speak English. It’s a huge part of the culture and a huge part of what you do, so you’ve got to go hard and focus on what you’re doing. 

“But I think all the guys are doing it,” he continued. “Ever since you leave from the Dominican and come to Arizona, you’re still doing the programs, even if it’s on Zoom or anything like that. The program is something that obviously helps a lot of us out, and I think it’s a program that means a lot for a lot of us. It’s something that follows you, even as you keep rising in the programs.”

Closing Thoughts

Over the past few weeks, we’ve highlighted a lot of details about this program. This concludes the first part of our series, but it is not the end! We will go on a short hiatus, but we will bring this back in June with more teacher interviews as well as interviews from players currently in the program.

Stay tuned!

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On the Farm

Arizona Complex League: ACL Rockies 7, ACL Diamondbacks 3

The ACL Rockies continued their hot start to the young season, where they have only lost one game so far. Things got a little hairy in the first inning, as the Baby Snakes put up a three-spot where the third run was scored on a wild pitch by Eliezer Pena. However, the Baby Rockies got things going in the fourth with a triple by Kamuel Villar followed by an RBI single by Yeiker Reyes. A wild pitch tied things up in the fifth, and a three-run double by Reyes doubled the Baby Rockies score. Sebastian Blanco doubled in the fifth to end the scoring at 7-3.

In total, ACL Rockies pitching held the ACL Dbacks to just four hits while striking out eight and walking four. The ACL Rockies offense, on the other hand, had 13 hits, six walks and just three strikeouts.

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1 thing each team can improve upon the rest of the way | MLB.com

The Rockies are better this year, but there’s always room for improvement. Thomas Harding identifies “better right-handed hitting” as the need for the Rockies, as players such as Ezequiel Tovar, Jordan Beck, Brenton Doyle and Hunter Goodman have all struggled out of the gate in various ways.

Elmo’s opinion of The Rockies? ‘The team’s okay’ | Denver Gazette ($)

Forget Grimace. Forget Dinger. Elmo entered the booth during the Rockies-Phillies game on Saturday as part of the Phillies’ Strike Out the Stigma’ initiative to support mental health awareness. During his interview, Elmo gave his opinion many things including the Rockies, especially since he’s beefing with a friend with a similar name (Rocco).

Here’s the full video, if you missed it (or want to relive it!):

Behind Chase Dollander and Antonio Senzatela’s pitching revitalization | Blake Street Banter

Antonio Senzatela and Chase Dollander have been the focus of the Rockies this season, and for good reason. Both have had excellent starts, and both have made some major adjustments at the suggestions of the new coaching staff. Shawn Trewartha details the changes that both have made, and how they’ve been working in real time.

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Good morning, baseball fans!

Today, we are in wrapping up a new feature for May that I’m calling the “12 Days of Mays-mas” because I have been away, and I wanted to leave you guys with some fun things to watch while I’m gone.

It’s only fitting that for the twelfth day of Mays-mas, we go back a little farther than we have been to include Willie Mays’ godson breaking the all-time home run record on August 7th, 2007. That’s right, baby, it’s time for some Barry Bonds dingers! Well, one very specific dinger, to be exact.

Unfortunately, they don’t have the full game available but I was able to find the full at-bat. So grab your coffee, settle in, and enjoy!

What time do the Giants play today?

The San Francisco Giants continue this four-game road series against the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at 7:10 p.m. PT.

Today’s Reflections

Today, a lot of varied topics and varied fervor are here in Cub Tracks: From the latest injury news and fears, to rumors of needed trades, to comparing the 2026 and the 2016 Cubs (WAY to early for that, but a fun exercise) to Glenallen Hill checking out the apartment building across the street the HARD way.

The injury replacements are getting injured themselves. The trade deadline is many moons away, but 1) the Cubs can’t wait until August 3 (which sounds a lot farther away than July 31 was), and 2) the Athletic lists TEN possible targets (again, a fun exercise, but, wow). With just a scan of the 2016/26 comparison, there may be a point on offense, but I didn’t even look at the pitching comparisons. I did look at the verdict and agreed straight down the line.

And Glenallen, that swing still scares me. I’m sure it’s the shortest swing for a 500-foot homerun ever. So enjoy the fun and not so fun.

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

• Paul Niemiec (North Side Baseball): How Do the Hot-Starting 2026 Cubs Match Up with the 2016 Version? “This is as strong a start as the Cubs have enjoyed since their World Series year. But can this team hold a candle to that one?”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Was Edward Cabrera’s Last Start Canary in Coalmine or Rock Bottom? “Two of those hits left the yard, which has now been the case for Cabrera in three of his last four starts. That’s what happens when your stuff isn’t as sharp. The curveball has lost just over four inches of horizontal movement and nearly four of vertical drop from last season.”
• Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Ten starters Cubs could target before trade deadline, from Logan Webb to Joe Ryan. “To be clear, Chicago Cubs officials do not expect to execute any major trades at this point in the baseball calendar ….. But it is the front office’s job to constantly brainstorm ideas, gather information and anticipate where those markets are moving.”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): Potential Cubs Targets, Teams to Watch, Challenge Trades, More. “Add it all up and, yeah, they’ll very likely be adding a starting pitcher via trade this season. But while that won’t likely happen anytime soon, the rumors and breakdowns are already out in full force. Let’s break these rumors down and get an understanding of who might be on their radar.”
• Elias Shuster (Chicago Cubs on SI): Are the Chicago Cubs Finally Hitting a Wall at a Very Scary Time? “The Chicago Cubs went scoreless in back-to-back games for the first time this season to finish out their series against the Texas Rangers.”

• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): For Ian Happ, the Cubs’ historically great start is a long time coming, ‘The little details and big moments have led to this pivotal point in Happ’s career. Right now, he’s a driving force behind one of baseball’s best teams, which is off to a historically great start for a franchise marking its 150th anniversary.“
• Casey McAleer (Da Windy City): Cubs veteran Ian Happ quietly reaches incredible career milestone. “Happ’s 30 game on-base streak has become one of the steadiest driving forces behind the Cubs recent success.‘
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Kelly’s success with ABS challenges helping swing key moments for Cubs. “Entering Sunday’s game in Texas, the veteran Kelly led the Majors with an 89% success rate (17-for-19), among catchers with at least 10 challenges this season.“
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): Hoby Milner’s journey to Chicago part of ‘a great fairytale’ for his father, Brian, a former Cubs scout. “A 48-year-long fairytale brought Brian Milner to Tropicana Field in early April. Milner watched his son Hoby toss a scoreless relief appearance for the Chicago Cubs during a win against the Rays in a full-circle moment for the family. Brian spent 12 seasons (1996-2007) as a Cubs scout and now gets to see Hoby representing the team.”
• Tommy Erbe (OnTapSportsNet): OTD 26 Years Ago, Glenallen Hill Hit A Ball To The Wrigley Field Rooftops. “Hill hit the ball over the bleachers in left field, over Waveland Avenue, and onto the bleacher seats across the street from Wrigley Field. The building sits 460 feet from home plate, but you’d need some extra mustard to get it to the top.”

26 years ago today, the wind was gusting out to LF at 30mph💨 and Glenallen Hill homered ~500ft onto the rooftop of 1032 W. Waveland pic.twitter.com/QGHIVl0JK4

— Wrigley Winds (@WrigleyWinds) May 11, 2026

• Anthony Kerr (Da Windy City): Cubs Fans Should Remain Optimistic About Moisés Ballesteros Despite Recent Struggles. “Ballesteros has nosedived after a scorching start, but better days are almost certainly ahead for Chicago’s rookie slugger.”
• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib): Cubs are facing an injury headache that felt inevitable the moment this veteran pitcher arrived. “This was the obvious concern.”
• Justin Bonhard (Sporting News): The Cubs’ young core is leading the charge as they have the best record in all of baseball. “To a large extent, their younger players have had a significant impact on this season’s success. As described by Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, the Cubs have the fifth-strongest “core four” that are under the age of 25. Here is the quad, which, as of right now, is a trio.“
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune{$}): Chicago Cubs — whose streak ends at 10 — feel no urgency to add a starter despite social media madness. “The (Peralta) report was retracted, but that didn’t stop the internet, which never sleeps. It was picked up by aggregating websites focusing on Cubs news. Views of the original tweet and the retraction reached almost 600,000 as of Saturday night. The tweet worked, even if it was wrong, the story of our times.”

Food For Thought:

Guy Davis is a two-time, back-to-back Grammy nominee for Best Traditional Blues, a musician, Actor, Author, and Songwriter. Guy uses a blend of Roots, Blues, Folk, Rock, Rap, Spoken Word, and World Music to comment on, and address the frustrations of social injustice, touching on historical events, and common life struggles. His storytelling is sometimes painful, deep, and real, an earthy contrast to modern-day commercial music, meant to create thought, underlined by gentle tones from his guitar or banjo fingerpicking. A self-taught “Renaissance Man”, he first heard the banjo at a summer camp run by John Seeger, the brother of the American Folk Musician, Pete Seeger, and soon after, asked his father for one.

When asked about his experience as a performer, Guy has replied, “There is no tale so tall that I cannot tell it, nor song so sweet that I cannot sing it.”

Are you looking for the best travel destinations in the world for 2026? People are traveling like never before and going places all over the world. We love to travel so we made this list of the 50 best places to travel in the world. Islands in the Pacific, to best cities in the world, beautiful countries and much more. Some of those destinations include Bora Bora, Maldives, Petra, Rome, London, Dubai, Bali and everything in between. In this travel video we explore the best travel destinations in the world for 2026. From exotic beaches to vibrant cities, these destinations are a must-visit for any traveler. Start planning your dream trip now! For those of you looking for a honeymoon vacation, a family trip or just an adventure this travel vlog has you covered. (VIDEO)

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

As the Orioles try to decide which direction they’re going to take their 2026 season, every week we turn our attention to the youngsters who could eventually boost the team, whether in the short term or the long term. It’s time for our recap of the last six days of minor league baseball, with a particular focus on Camden Chat’s top 20 Orioles prospects.

Triple-A Norfolk Tides

• Last week: 2-4 vs. Gwinnett Stripers (Braves)
• Coming week: at Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
• Season record: 15-24, tied for last place (10.0 GB) in International League East

We’re at a point where the pitchers are far more interesting than the hitters at Norfolk, something that hasn’t been said for the past few years. That’s partly because the Tides have very few interesting hitters currently active, and partly because some O’s pitching prospects are doing interesting things. Right-hander Nestor German (#11 prospect) had an especially eye-opening week, making two outstanding starts and allowing just one earned run in 11 innings. The 11th-round pick from 2023 racked up an impressive 16 strikeouts and just one walk.

Levi Wells (#16) also did well(s), holding Charlotte to one run in a 4.2-inning performance, with four Ks and no walks. At the rate the Orioles are losing starting pitchers to injury, don’t be surprised if German and/or Wells get a major league call-up before the All-Star break.

José Barrero and Creed Willems carried the Tides’ offense this week, mashing three home runs apiece. The rest of the team combined for two. Willems is now rocking a .265/.370/.496 slash line with eight homers this season. I’ve been skeptical of Willems as a real prospect since the O’s drafted him, perhaps because of his, let’s say, non-ballplayerish physique. But the kid can hit. Too bad he’s a catcher/first baseman, two positions at which the Orioles don’t currently have a need. Can he play third base? (The answer is no, he cannot play third base.)

The O’s could also use a capable outfielder or two, but Enrique Bradfield Jr. has been sidelined since April 21 with left hand discomfort, and Reed Trimble, who was added to the 40-man roster this offseason, is still rehabbing in the lower minors. Norfolk’s only real outfielder at the moment is Jud Fabian, whose .225 average and .784 OPS don’t exactly cry out as a solution to the Orioles’ problems.

Norfolk season stats

Double-A Chesapeake Baysox

• Last week: 3-3 vs. Altoona Curve (Pirates)
• Coming week: at Akron RubberDucks (Guardians)
• Season record: 14-18, fifth place (11.0 GB) in Eastern League Southwest

Chesapeake’s offensive numbers were boosted by a 19-4 win on Wednesday, a game in which they bashed five home runs and collected 15 hits. They didn’t top five runs in any of their other games. Catcher Ethan Anderson was their hitting star, collecting a team-high seven hits and three homers for the week. Part of a problematic 2024 draft class in which the Orioles’ top three picks (Vance Honeycutt, Griff O’Ferrall, and Anderson) all had lousy pro debuts, Anderson is the one who’s taken a step forward this year. He’s hitting .289/.407/.456 in 25 games for the Baysox and is trying to put himself back on the prospect map. No such luck for Griff O’Ferrall, who is batting .156 with a .606 OPS.

Two 21-year-old hitting prospects, Aron Estrada (#13) and Thomas Sosa (#18), are scuffling at Double-A. Estrada is slashing .231/.274/.346 and Sosa .219/.274/.381. Each had just four hits this week. Neither is ready to join Samuel Basallo on the Orioles’ list of successful international signings, at least not yet.

Two familiar Orioles, Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad, began rehab assignments with Chesapeake this week. This is Kjerstad’s first field action since suffering a right hamstring strain in spring training. He’s 1-for-6 so far. Holliday, meanwhile, is taking his third crack at rehab after his first one was cut short on April 12 and his next one halted after three games. He went 0-for-6 with four walks this week and, notably, played third base for just the third time in his professional career. I’m not sure Holliday has the arm for third, but the O’s clearly are desperate for a non-Coby Mayo alternative at the hot corner.

Chesapeake’s rotation had a fine week, ERA-wise, with their six hurlers combining for a 2.42 mark. But lefty Sebastian Gongora was the only one to work six innings, delivering a quality, one-run, seven-strikeout performance. Evan Yates held Altoona to one run and one hit in 5.1 frames, while the other four didn’t make it through five. Righty Juaron Watts-Brown (#15) gave up just one run and two hits in 4.1 innings, but walked four.

Chesapeake season stats

High-A Frederick Keys

• Last week: 5-1 vs. Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
• Coming week: at Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees)
• Season record: 19-13, second place (1.5 GB) in South Atlantic League North

I don’t want to jinx anything, but do the Orioles have a minor league team that’s actually good? Their High-A affiliate, in their first year back in Frederick, is six games over .500 and just completed a dominant series in which they scored 56 runs in six games, including three straight 11-run performances from Wednesday to Friday. They hit 18 home runs!

Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy (#6) went absolutely bonkers. He blasted five dingers, leading all South Atlantic League hitters for the week, and went 11-for-22 with nine RBIs. The 2025 competitive balance draft pick, selected #31 overall, is hitting .306 with a .985 OPS and 10 homers in 27 games. He’s been outstanding so far. It should be mentioned that he’s struck out in 29% of his PAs, with 35 Ks and 10 walks, which he’ll probably need to address as he moves up the organizational ladder. At High-A, though, it’s not stopping him from having success.

First round pick Ike Irish (#4) hit pretty well himself, even if he was upstaged by Aloy. Irish had two homers and a double and scored seven runs. Two other Keys had three-homer weeks: shortstop Elis Cuevas and the rehabbing outfielder Reed Trimble. I think Trimble’s about ready to return to Triple-A.

It’s always a good week when Joseph Dzierwa (#14) makes two starts, and he did not disappoint. In 8.2 innings, he allowed only one run and racked up 15 strikeouts, walking just two. His first start, in which he threw five scoreless, hitless innings, was particularly dominant. He had to leave his second start after 3.2 innings following a freak play in which a bad-hop overthrow cut him above the eye. Ouch. The injury doesn’t figure to keep him sidelined, fortunately.

Among other Keys pitchers, let’s give some praise to starter Yeiber Cartaya, who tossed five shutout innings with one hit and six strikeouts. The 23-year-old righty is doing excellent things so far this year, posting a 0.68 ERA (two earned runs in 26.2 innings) with a 0.79 WHIP, a .110 batting average against, and 12.15 K/9. Cartaya has put up middling to bad numbers every year of his pro career until now, so maybe something has clicked for him. The Athletic’s Keith Law, for one, was impressed by what he saw from Cartaya this week.

Frederick season stats

Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds

• Last week: 3-3 at Salem RidgeYaks (Red Sox)
• Coming week: vs. Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros)
• Season record: 13-20, tied for last place (10.0 GB) in Carolina League North

The only top-20 Orioles prospect on the Shorebirds roster, Esteban Mejia (#8), continued to struggle with his control. In his lone start this week, he walked six batters, though he at least limited the damage to one run. That came three starts after an eight-walk performance on April 17. Mejia has issued 22 walks in 18.2 innings this year. It’s not what you want.

The award for Strangest Pitching Line goes to righty Brayan Orrantia, who worked 5.1 innings and gave up 10 runs — but only three were earned. Two Delmarva errors cost him a couple of runs in his first outing of the week, and another two miscues led to five more unearned runs in his second start. He certainly didn’t pitch well, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates, either. The only quality start from a Shorebird this week was righty Christian Rodriguez (six innings, one run).

The team’s best hitter of the week was outfielder Braylon Whitaker, a 19th-round pick in 2024, who reached base 14 times on six hits and eight walks. Whitaker is batting .305 this season and has more walks (19) than strikeouts (16), albeit with no power. Shortstop DJ Layton has been off to a good start in 2026 but was 5-for-20 with nine strikeouts this week.

Delmarva season stats

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In the glorious return of the Player of the Week poll last week, Ike Irish was the winner with 63% of the vote. This week there were so many standout performances that five guys who hit three home runs each — Creed Willems, Jose Barrero, Ethan Anderson, Elis Cuevas, and Reed Trimble — didn’t even make the cut, nor did Joseph Dzierwa. Instead it’s a two-man race. Who gets your vote?

After his inside the park homer and a blistering offensive week overall, Bobby Witt Jr was named the AL Player of the Week.

Witt collected 11 hits during the week, which included a four-hit performance against the Guardians on Thursday. It was one of three multi-hit games last week for Witt, who raised his batting average more than 20 points last week to .302, and raised his OPS by 82 points to .847. Witt is now at 2.8 bWAR for the season, tied for the MLB lead among position players.

Tod Palmer writes about Bridget Howard’s journey as the first female full-time broadcaster for Royals TV.

She remembers watching as female broadcasters broke into the sports world and made a mark — Erin Andrews, Jenny Dell, Taylor McGregor, et al. — and that fueled her desire to do the same.

“Those were women that I looked up to, and I saw them in roles like this and was like, ‘Hey, I can do this, too,’” Bridget said.

Now, she’s one of those inspirational women whom little girls with big dreams watch during Royals games.

Baseball America has mock draft 3.0.

6. Royals — Gio Rojas, LHP, Stoneman Douglas HS, Parkland, Fla.

A high school player feels most likely for the Royals. They have been all over Rojas this spring, and he’s pitched excellently. He has terrific arm speed, a big fastball and a chance for a wipeout breaking ball. If Lombard isn’t taken by now, he probably doesn’t last much longer than this, and it’s also hard to rule out Booth and his top-of-the-scale speed.

Eno Sarris wonders why left-handers aren’t throwing splitters as much despite the pitch being more popular than ever.

One of the first things that always comes up with splitters is the impact the pitch has on a pitcher’s health. Does the split-finger grip lead to injury?

“The reason that I don’t throw the splitter anymore is I did blow out my elbow when I was throwing it,” said San Francisco Giants left-handed starter Robbie Ray. “I don’t think there’s any correlation between the two, but it just happened. I was throwing it a lot in spring training, I was working on it, and never had any issue. I think my elbow was just ready to go.”

Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs covers the Giants trade of Patrick Bailey to the Guardians.

Texas Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi was scratched from his start last night due to left side tightness.

Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger goes right back to the IL after just returning.

Mookie Betts makes his return from the IL.

Kevin Gausman reached 2000 career strikeouts last night.

The Mets are calling up one of their top prospects, A.J. Ewing.

Batters tapping their helmets as part of their in-between pitch routine can cause accidental challenges.

A deep-dive film review of Chiefs fifth-round draft pick, RB Emmett Johnson from Nebraska.

The Milwaukee Bucks are seeking offers for star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Buffalo Bills will have the first Prime Video Thursday Night Football to open their new stadium.

The full NFL schedule release is coming later this week.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are being sued by police officers in Florida because of their movie The Rip.

J. Craig Venter, who helped decode the human genome, died at 79 years old.

Your song of the day is Typhoons by Royal Blood.

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It's a full 15-game slate across the Majors today, which means no shortage of value in my MLB player props. I'll highlight Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Tuesday, May 12. 

Best MLB player props today

Paul Skenes Over 7.5 strikeouts (-101)

Paul Skenes is carving opponents early on, posting a 2.36 ERA while striking out 46 hitters in 42 innings of work. The Pittsburgh Pirates ace has cashed the Over in Ks just once in his last three starts, but he did finish with seven punchouts in the other two outings, and tonight's matchup heavily plays in Skenes' favor. 

He'll face the lowly Colorado Rockies, one of the worst teams in the big leagues. Colorado strikes out more than any other team, with an average of 9.78 per game. They're also averaging over 12 Ks per contest across their last three, and Skenes' electric stuff will be too much for them.

He also has 26 punchouts in 21 1/3 home innings. 

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Rockies.TV

Elly De La Cruz Over 1.5 hits (+185)

Elly De La Cruz is tearing the cover off the baseball. He's batting .308 in May and .367 over the last week. The Cincinnati Reds star has three consecutive multi-hit games, and he finished with three hits in Sunday's victory over the Astros. De La Cruz had seven hits in that three-game series. 

Tonight's matchup will be one he's looking forward to as well. The Washington Nationals send veteran Miles Mikolas to the mound, who sports an ERA over seven. He's getting absolutely torched every time he takes the hill, and De La Cruz is hitting .333 against him, going 5-for-15 lifetime. 

De La Cruz is also batting a mile better at home with a .346 average, compared to a .232 mark on the road. 

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Reds.TV, Nationals.TV

Yoshinobu Yamamoto Over 6.5 strikeouts (+114)

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been led by the dominance of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is having a nice campaign. He's gone 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA, striking out 40 in 43 2/3 frames. Yamamoto has hit the Over in Ks in three of his last four appearances, and he sat down eight via the strikeout in his most recent start against the Astros. 

Yamamoto will face the San Francisco Giants this evening, and he already struck out seven against them earlier this season. He's held them to a .181 average as a lineup as well. The Giants do a respectable job of putting the ball in play, but they strike out a lot more on the road, averaging 8.33 Ks. 

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SportsNet LA, NBC Sports Bay Area

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

After winning the weekend series in Los Angeles versus the Dodgers in one attempt to prove they are the National League’s best team, the Braves get a chance to further validate that claim against the Cubs to start the week. The Cubs have been the hottest team in baseball, and will likely prove to be another big challenge for the Braves.

Fortunately for Atlanta, more reinforcements are on the way. Ha-Seong Kim is back in the majors and is ready to make his season debut. Eli white was put on the 7-day concussion IL as a result, so Mauricio Dubon will have plenty of opportunity to play until some of the Braves outfield depth returns.

Braves News

A weekend full of home runs fueled many highlights across the Braves minor league teams.

Matt Powers looks at some of the Braves best and works picks in recent draft history.

MLB News

Rays continue to impress with one of best starts in MLB this season.

In the midst of their struggles, the Mets are calling up one of their top prospects in A.J.Ewing.

The Feed

Jim Jarvis, who made his MLB debut over the weekend, left a lasting impression as he delievered the defensive play of the week across MLB.

Despite their best efforts — and the effort was there on Sunday by Payton Tolle and others — the Red Sox lost another series. This time to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox briefly rose to 4th place in the AL East before the Sox dropped the series, the Orioles won, and Boston returned to its seemingly permanent last place home. That series was supposed to be four games, but rain forced Saturday’s matinee — and a possible split — to July. Boston remains just 2.0 games out of a Wild Card and about a game out of third place in the division. If they can just string a few wins together the entire feeling surrounding the season can flip. The dark clouds can be vanquished.

Chris Cotillo said the Red Sox may hope to get Willson Contreras back for the start of the series against the Phillies. Losing their first baseman would bring shades of 2025. And Contreras has been one of the few players to contribute on both sides of the ball so far this season. Roman Anthony might return at the end of the week when eligible. Ranger Suarez dodged a bullet with his own health issue. There are positives. The team just needs…wins.

While the Red Sox found Chadball after the firing of Alex Cora and a 7-6 record, the Phillies have benefitted even more from their shakeup: they’re 10-3 under Don Mattingly. This pushes the Phillies all the way to 19-22 (.463) vs. the Red Sox 17-23 record (.425) The Mets, the remaining big market flop, thankfully sit at 15-25 with their manager intact.

But if the Sox can sweep Detroit, can they handle Philly? They’ll miss ace Christopher Sáchez, thankfully. Bryce Harper, Kyle “from Waltham” Schwarber, and Brandon Marsh are leading the offense, while Trea Turner and some of the younger players struggle.

Zack Wheeler returned from thoracic outlet syndrome to pitch like he always has. A lucky break for the Phils to regain a second ace. His strikeouts are down a tick, his walks up a bit, but he’s made three starts on the season and allowed just 6 runs in 18 innings. He’ll face, likely, Brayan Bello and an opener. Bello was excellent against the Tigers tossing 7 innings while allowed just a single run in a 10-3 Boston win. He struck out 7 and walked 1. That’ll play against any lineup.

Top prospect Andrew Painter is now “struggling rookie Andrew Painter” and hopefully stays like that for one more start. A righthander and still just 23, Painter was rocked by the A’s last time out for 8 runs in 3.2 innings. Two starts earlier he gave up 5 runs n 5.2 against Atlanta. He’s struck out 30 in 32.2 innings while walking 12. Six homers haven’t helped either. Sonny Gray looked solid against the Tigers after a couple weeks on the IL. He didn’t’ allow a run in 5.0 innings and the bullpen was able to carry the victory across. Hopefully he’s able to add a sixth inning and give the ‘pen a little breathing room.

Jesús Luzardo has had some rough outings. He’s given up at least 5 runs in 4 of his 8 starts. In the other four he’s allowed 4 runs combined. Last time out against Colorado was a 6-run, 3.0 inning affair. But he handled the Giants, who like the Sox have struggled offensively, for 7.0 shutout innings at the end of April. We’ll see what the Sox lefties can do to him. Ranger Suárez, who left his last start on 5/3 with some hamstring trouble, avoids the IL to make a start with just a little extra rest. He’s been basically everything the Red Sox could have hoped. The WBC delayed his preparation a tad but then after his first two starts it’s just the blip with the Yankees who were, frankly, crushing everything. If he’s healthy and rolls out another 7-8 inning gem against his old team it’s possible the Sox win this series, though obviously he’d rather take the mound with visions of brooms.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Tuesday, May 12: Zack Wheeler (3.12 ERA / 2.83 FIP) vs. TBD (— ERA / — FIP)

Wednesday, May 13: Andrew Painter (6.89 ERA / 4.86 FIP), vs. Sonny Gray (3.54 ERA / 4.29 FIP)

Thursday, May 14: Jesús Luzardo (5.98 ERA / 2.95 FIP) vs. Ranger Suárez (2.77 ERA / 3.24FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Tuesday, May 12: 6:45 PM on NESN

Wednesday, May 13: 6:45 PM ET on NESN

Thursday, May 14: 6:45 PM ET on NESN