Category: Sports News

Diamondbacks News

Jose Fernandez Hits Go-Ahead Homer to Save Snakes in MLB Debut
Diamondbacks prospect Jose Fernandez not only hit his first career home run in his major league debut on Tuesday, but he homered a second time to give Arizona the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning off Detroit Tigers closer Kenley Jansen.

Who Is Jose Fernandez?
Jose Fernandez burst onto the scene with a strong spring training and then played the role of saviour as part of his big MLB debut last night.

Jose Fernandez’s Big MLB Debut Lifts Snakes Over Tigers
Arizona’s big spring breakout star translated that success into his MLB debut when he went deep twice to bring the Diamondbacks back from five runs down.

Jose Fernandez is Seventh Player with Two-Homer Debut
The Venezuelan is only the seventh player in MLB history — and first Diamondbacks player — to hit two homers in his MLB debut.

Back-to-Back History in the Desert
Michael Soroka had himself a stellar debut on Monday night. Jose Fernandez followed that performance with a historic debut of his own, launching two homers against the Tigers, including a go-ahead blast against all-star closer, Kenley Jensen.

Diamondbacks Back to Doing what They Do Best
After a rough series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, the Diamondbacks have rediscovered their swagger at home against the Tigers, where they are finding ways to come back when being counted out.

Jose Fernandez’s “Debut” a 12-K Marketing Stunt
Mickey O’Shea needs to toss those grapes in the rubbish bin. They are sour.

Other Baseball News

An Early, Nerdy Look at the Challenge System
Poking about at the various angles with which to consider the new challenge system and the math associated with it.

Who Are the Best Remaining Free Agents
Only one of the six is a position player.

2026 Ace Rankings
Kiley McDaniel assembles his list of the top-11 starters in the game. Unsurprisingly, Arizona is not represented.

Mariners Sign Colt Emerson to Eight-Year Extension
The Mariners announced the signing of top shortstop prospect Colt Emerson to an eight-year extension that includes a club option for the 2034 campaign. Emerson, an ACES client, is reportedly guaranteed $95MM — a record for a player who has yet to make his MLB debut.

Cardinals Attempting to Extend JJ Wetherholt
Wetherholt was the seventh overall pick in the 2024 draft. The University of West Virginia product mashed throughout his first full minor league season, batting .306/.421/.510 between the top two levels. He’s a consensus top prospect whom the Cardinals carried on the Opening Day roster and have immediately plugged in as their leadoff hitter. Wetherholt can play shortstop but is ticketed for second base work in St. Louis thanks to Masyn Winn.

That’s simply not fair MLB, such a mean April Fool’s joke.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have won all but one of their first five games take on the Cleveland Guardians (3-3). Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who won his first start, will be on the mound for the Dodgers. Gavin Williams is scheduled to start for Cleveland.

How to watch Cleveland Guardians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

• Date: Wednesday, April 1

• Time: 8:20 p.m. ET / 5:20 p.m. PT

• Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

• TV Channels: SportsNet LA, Guardians.TV Presented by Progressive

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Cleveland Guardians: 3-3 (No. 1 in AL Central)

• Los Angeles Dodgers: 4-1 (No. 1 in NL West)

Odds

• Spread: Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5

• Moneyline: Los Angeles Dodgers -275 / Cleveland Guardians 220

• Over/Under: 8.5

Starting pitchers

Cleveland Guardians: Gavin Williams (0-1, ERA: 5.40, K: 7, WHIP: 1.60)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0, ERA: 3.00, K: 6, WHIP: 0.83)

Weather: 68°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 56,000 | Roof: Open | Surface: Grass

The 2026 season for the High-A Lake County Captains begins Thursday.

The Captains released a preliminary roster today. Before we get started, some names are missing primarily due to injuries. They include pitchers Josh Harlow, Kyle Scott and Conner Whittaker and position player Kyle Dernedde. Here are the active players we have so far:

Pitchers:

Justin Campbell RHP, Braylon Doughty RHP, Luis Flores LHP, Jogly Garcia RHP, Franklin Gomez LHP, Melkis Hernandez LHP, Jackson Humphries LHP, Michael Kennedy LHP, Izaak Martinez LHP, Xavier Martinez RHP, Sean Matson RHP, Logan McGuire RHP, Rafe Schlesinger LHP, Cam Schuelke RHP, Kendeglys Virguez RHP, Cam Walty RHP and Donovan Zsak LHP.

Analysis:

Some elite prospects headline the top of this rotation, headed by 2024 first round competitive balance pick Braylon Doughty, who impressed at Single-A Lynchburg last year. Franklin Gomez, who was acquired from the Mets for international bonus money, also will make his Guardians system debut. Another super intriguing debut is the 6-foot-7 Justin Campbell, who was Cleveland’s first round competitive balance pick in 2022, but has undergone multiple surgeries since then. Submarine reliever Cam Schuelke and fireballer Kendeglys Virguez should both be extremely entertaining options out of the bullpen.

Catchers:

Logun Clark RHH, Kevin Rivas SH, Bennett Thompson RHH.

Analysis:

There isn’t much here in terms of elite prospects. Clark looked interesting a year ago, but he really struggled in 2025. Thompson, a more offense-focused catcher, impressed at both Lynchburg and Lake County last season with a combined 123 wRC+. Rivas doesn’t appear to be anything more than system depth at this point.

Infielders:

Maick Collado SH 1B/3B, Dean Curley RHH SS, Luke Hill RHH 3B, Garrett Howe LHH 2B, Jeffrey Mercedes SH 3B, Nolan Schubart LHH 1B/OF and Anthony Silva RHH 2B.

Analysis:

This infield is loaded with college bats from Cleveland’s 2025 draft class, headlined by second round pick Dean Curley, third rounder Nolan Schubart and fourth rounder Luke Hill. Schubart may split time at both first base and outfield, depending on what is available that day. I don’t see much pressure being put on them by any of the international bats like Collado or Mercedes.

Outfielders:

Ryan Cesarini LHH RF, Jaison Chourio SH CF, Esteban Gonzalez LHH LF, Jace LaViolette LHH CF, Aaron Walton RHH CF.

Analysis:

This outfield is hyper intriguing, with three top prospects expected to get regular at bats. Jaison Chourio is looking to rebound from a season stolen from him by a shoulder injury while Cleveland’s 2025 first round pick Jace LaViolette will make his pro debut with tons of power potential. Guardians second round competitive balance pick Aaron Walton also should be fun to watch. Additionally, Cesarini and Gonzalez both had decent 2025 campaigns and should provide solid depth.

Lake County is going to be one of the top organizations to watch this season, especially to see the development of the college position players Cleveland drafted last year. Additionally, both the bullpen and starting rotation are loaded with some top end arms and some players we are desperately seeking information on.

Which players are catching your eye as the High-A season starts? Tell us in the comments below:

Despite the strong spring enjoyed by Jose Fernandez, it’s safe to say that nobody saw last night coming. Fernandez barely made it onto MLB Pipeline’s list of Arizona prospects, coming in at #27. His promotion to the big league roster, came after just a single game at Triple-A. And it was as much because Jose was the only healthy position player available on the 40-man roster. None of which matters, after a debut for the ages. Whatever happens going forward – and it’s perhaps a little premature to start booking Fernandez a spot in Cooperstown – he’ll always have that magical night at Chase. Let’s see where it ranks in baseball history.

Two home-runs

That’s the most obvious of feats. Baseball Reference lists just seven players in recorded baseball history to have gone deep twice in their MLB debut. Weirdly, one of those was a mere five days ago, the Guardians’ Chase DeLauter (though as Preston mentioned, he technically debuted in the post-season last year). The last NL debutant to do so was Trevor Story of the Rockies ten years ago. You might remember that game, because it came against the Diamondbacks, on Opening Day 2016. No NL rookie has achieved the feat anywhere else except for Chase Field. [Sarah Langs notes that Charlie Reilly was an 8th player, in 1889. But that was in the American Association, so demands an asterisk]

Among Arizona players, Jose is obviously the first to hit two homers in his first career game. Though he isn’t the first to do so in his first game for the D-backs. Most notably, Felipe Lopez did so on Opening Day 2006 – he did so from both sides of the plate that day (Tony Clark also had a LHB and RHB blast in same game). Nor is Jose the youngest Diamondback with a two-homer contest. Unsurprisingly, that honor belongs to Justin Upton. He had a pair of such games in May 2009, at the age of 21, a year younger than Fernandez. Teammate Alek Thomas also performed the feat in 2022, when he was about five months younger.

In terms of games, the previous quickest to have a double long-ball game for Arizona belonged to Conor Jackson. He did it in August 2005, during the sixth game of his career. Other Diamondbacks to do it in ten games or fewer were Mark Reynolds and Wyatt Mathisen. The last-named is probably why we shouldn’t get TOO excited yet about Fernandez. Mathisen’s entire MLB career lasted only 32 games, with only a single home-run hit outside that magical night in September 2020 – where he played third base, like Jose.

Win Probability

It wasn’t just the home-runs, it was when Fernandez hit them. In particular, the second, which turned a 5-4 deficit into a 7-5 lead. And with the D-backs down to their final four outs as well. All that adds up to a monstrous +64.1% of Win Probability added by Fernandez. For a first game, that smashes the previous high for Arizona by more than thirty percent. The previous best belonged to Stone Garrett – another “Who’s he?” in franchise history. He had a pair of key doubles in a 3-2 win at San Francisco, worth 34.8%. According to Baseball Reference, four players have posted a higher Win Probability in their debut, most recently Zach Remillard’s 69.7% for the White Sox in 2023. Guess who had a blown save in that game for Seattle, courtesy of Remillard? Paul Sewald…

To find the all-time high for an impactful debut, we must go back to 1939, and the Pirates’ Maurice Van Robays. His first game was worth a remarkable +102.2%, mostly due to a walk-off two-run double in the eleventh inning. His lasting contribution to baseball, however, is probably coming up with the name of the “eephus pitch“. But back to Fernandez. His +65.1% would have ranked sixth by any Diamondbacks’ hitter across all 162 games last season. Only one Arizona player has hit for a higher Win Probability during his first fifty career games. In his 42nd appearance, Jeff Salazar came off the bench with two outs in the ninth, for a three-run shot worth +74.0%.

Nine total bases

In addition to his two home-runs, Fernandez got things started with a single in his first major-league at bat. Curiously, of the seven two-homer debutants, Story is the only one who did not record another hit that night: I guess, when you’re hot, you’re hot! But it means that Jose’s nine total bases is tied for third as debuts go. The two who had more were Mark Quinn in 1999, who doubled in addition to his two homers, and J.P. Arencibia, who doubled and singled, so ended the night a triple away from the cycle in his first game. That would have been quite the feat in itself, of course. From what I can see, Elly de la Cruz holds the record there, hitting for the cycle in his fifteenth game.

The New York Yankees (4-1) look to keep rolling as they take on the Seattle Mariners (3-3). New York shut out Seattle 5-0 on Tuesday to even the series heading into the decisive third game. Cam Schlittler is scheduled to start for the Yankees against George Kirby. Both pitchers won their first start of the season.

How to watch New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners

• Date: Wednesday, April 1

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET / 1:10 p.m. PT

• Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle

• TV Channels: Mariners.TV, YES

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• New York Yankees: 4-1 (No. 1 in AL East)

• Seattle Mariners: 3-3 (No. 4 in AL West)

Odds

• Spread: Seattle Mariners +1.5

• Moneyline: Seattle Mariners -115.0 / New York Yankees -105.0

• Over/Under: 7

Starting pitchers

New York Yankees: Cam Schlittler (1-0, ERA: 0.00, K: 8, WHIP: 0.19)
Seattle Mariners: George Kirby (1-0, ERA: 1.50, K: 6, WHIP: 0.67)

Weather: 48°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 47,929 | Roof: Retractable | Surface: Grass

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It's a getaway Wednesday, and there are a pair of +EV home-run props at +500 or better that I already have in the account before noon. Can we get both players to hit dinger No. 1 this afternoon as we take advantage of the MLB player prop markets?  

These are my favorite home run props for Wednesday, April 1.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Taylor Ward	+500
Alejandro Kirk	+540

Taylor Ward (+500)

Taylor Ward brings legit 36-homer power to the leadoff spot for the Baltimore Orioles, giving him a strong chance at five plate appearances this afternoon.

He faces Nathan Eovaldi, a familiar matchup with 20 career at-bats against him. Eovaldi allowed two home runs in his first start and projects to go Over his 2.5 earned runs prop, according to THE BAT, which makes Ward’s HR price around +425.

Ward hasn’t gone deep yet, but he’s coming off a four-hit game, carrying a 49% fly-ball rate, and gets ideal conditions at Oriole Park at Camden Yards with 80-degree weather and wind blowing out to center.

• Time: 12:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, Rangers Sports Network

Alejandro Kirk (+540)

Alejandro Kirk slots into the five-hole today and is priced at +520, the fourth-longest HR odds among Toronto Blue Jays starters — a strong buy point for the afternoon slate.

He gets a favorable matchup against Kyle Freeland, a soft-tossing lefty, along with a weak Colorado Rockies bullpen that Toronto has already seen for two straight games.

He might be struggling at the dish out of the gates, but he will have plenty of contact vs. Freeland, who does not miss bats. He'll also stay in the entire game and could see five plate appearances today if the Jays get hot.

I like him at this price and in this matchup better than Davis Schneider, Jesus Sanchez, and Kazuma Okamoto, who are all at least 120 points shorter than Thick Jesus.

• Time: 1:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Sportsnet, Rockies.TV

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The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros wrap up a three-game set at Daikin Park this afternoon.

Houston took the first two games by a combined score of 17-3, but my Red Sox vs. Astros predictions expect the visitors to win today.

Here are my best free MLB picks for this AL clash on April 1.

Who will win Red Sox vs Astros today: Red Sox (-141)

The Boston Red Sox are on a four-game skid, but their last victory came in their season opener with ace Garrett Crochet(2.59 ERA, 1.03 WHIP in 2025) on the mound. Last year's AL Cy Young runner-up threw six shutout innings in that game.

The Houston Astros respond with Mike Burrows, who surrendered nine hits and five runs in 5 2/3 frames last Friday. The righty had a 4.33 xERA in 19 starts last year while sitting in the 15th percentile in barrel rate. 

The edge in starting pitchers alone is enough for me to back Boston today. 

COVERS INTEL: The Red Sox are 15-2 in Garrett Crochet's last 17 starts.

Red Sox vs Astros Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (+115)

While I expect Crochet to lead Boston to a win, he won't be quite as dominant as usual.

The Astros have a lineup stacked with righties and boast an incredible .945 OPS against southpaws like Crochet and closer Aroldis Chapman. Crochet has struggled against several Astros hitters, including Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena. 

That said, Boston's lineup will be even more productive against Burrows. The Red Sox are batting just .163 over their last three games. However, they rank third in the majors in exit velocity and eighth in barrel rate, suggesting positive regression.

Red Sox vs Astros odds

• Moneyline: Red Sox (-138) | Astros (+133)
• Run line: Red Sox -1.5 (+133) | Astros +1.5 (-138)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (+122) | Under 7.5 (-127)

Red Sox vs Astros trend

The Over has hit in four of Houston's six games. Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Astros.

How to watch Red Sox vs Astros and game info

Red Sox vs Astros latest injuries

Red Sox vs Astros weather

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