MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 29: Jose Quintana #62 of the Colorado Rockies throws a pitch during a game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on March 29, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On Thursday afternoon, the Colorado Rockies announced that left-handed pitcher José Quintana has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain, retroactive to March 30th.
Quintana, 37, was scheduled to make his second start of the season during the Rockies’ first homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies this Saturday. The journeyman veteran had previously started against the Miami Marlins over Opening Weekend, where he gave up two earned runs on four walks and four hits over 4.1 innings. He struck out two batters.
In a corresponding roster move, the Rockies have recalled right-handed pitcher Valente Bellozo from the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.
Bellozo, 26, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies this off-season after previously working with Rockies pitching coach Alon Leichman in Miami. While he started the season in Triple-A, he was added to the 40-man roster on March 26th. He is capable of working both in the rotation and out of the bullpen, and made a start for the Isotopes last week in their season-opening series against the Oklahoma City Comets.
The Rockies have additionally optioned utility-man Ryan Ritter to Triple-A Albuquerque. Ritter started his season 1-for-7 with three strikeouts in a variety of different roles—from starter to pinch runner—and has appeared in all six of the Rockies’ games thus far.
Optioning Ritter likely clears the way for the Rockies to activate outfielder and designated hitter Mickey Moniak from the 10-day injured list on Friday. Moniak started the season on the injured list with a finger sprain after an awkward slide during his final spring training appearance.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 1: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs blocks the shot of Nate Williams #19 of the Golden State Warriors during the game on April 1, 2026 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama has been named Western Conference Defensive Player of the month for the third straight time, the league announced.
Wembanyama averaged 9.7 defensive rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 3.7 blocks per game during March in just 29.9 minutes a night. The Spurs held opponents to an outrageous low 102.9 points per 100 possessions with the big man on the floor, with his defense playing a huge part in San Antonio’s 13-2 record for the month.
At this point, Wembanyama has established himself as the league’s premier defender and seems like a lock for Defensive Player of the Year if he remains eligible. He’s won Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month three times, the only player to get to that amount this season in either conference, and has anchored the third-best defense in the league. Wembanyama leads the league in blocks by a wide margin and ranks second in defensive rebounds per game, but his individual impact goes beyond the numbers.
The Pistons’ Ausar Thompson was named Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month, his second consecutive distinction.
Wembanyama is averaging 24.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, three assists, 3.1 blocks, and one steal in 29.2 minutes a game this season.
ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 01: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves looks on in the fifth inning during the game against the Athletics at Truist Park on April 1, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Let’s play four in Phoenix.
For the third straight game, Walt Weiss has penciled in the same lineup. (And for the second straight series, the Braves social team has used “New series on deck” as the accompanying copy…)
I’m mostly interested who, if anyone, plans to step up offensively. Reigning ROY or not, Baldwin can’t do it all on his own. Looking at the birthday boy Austin Riley, in particular. I’ve heard a trip around the bases is a nice way to turn 29.
Being home has been good to the Diamondbacks, who will send Ryne Nelson to the mound tonight. They responded to being swept by the Dodgers with their own sweep of the Tigers. In that series, they had a Michael Soroka immaculate inning (see you Saturday, old friend), Zac Gallen outdueling Tarik Skubal, and rookie Jose Fernandez homering twice in his debut. Fernandez won’t be at first base tonight, though – that will be Carlos Santana, who was signed to a 1-year deal in February.
Yes, you’re seeing that right. Nolan Arenado is a Diamondback now and is batting sixth.
As we noted in the preview, our lefties Matt Olson and Michael Harris II homered off Ryne Nelson when he last faced the Braves in July 2024. Fingers crossed some of the Arizona heat will help the Braves’ hard-hit outs leave the yard.
The Los Angeles Kings are in the fight of their life trying to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs this season, which would mark the fifth consecutive post-season appearance, beginning in 2021-22.
One of those teams is the Nashville Predators, Los Angeles' opponent on Thursday and Monday. These will be two of the Kings' most important outings all season long. In addition to those two affairs with the Predators, the Kings will also meet the Seattle Kraken on April 13, the third-last game of their regular season.
Los Angeles has just one point more than Nashville going into their Thursday game, and has three points more than Seattle, but the Kraken have a game in hand on the Kings.
They also need to be wary of Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks, as they've won their last three games. Now, the Sharks are one point behind the Kings with a game in hand on them.
While every game for Los Angeles at this point is critical, those three highlighted contests can extend or end the Kings' season, the principle of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Kings' 2-1 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday was massive, and it pushed them back into a playoff position. It's the first time they've been in a wild-card position since March 20.
The game against the Blues was tight-checking and impersonated a playoff atmosphere in some ways. Each shift was taken with caution, but with a high-level of intensity and attention to detail. That's why it required another extra frame, and was 0-0 for most of the evening.
There's a good chance that a handful of the remaining games in the Kings' regular season will wind up that way. Especially because of Los Angeles' final eight outings, five of which are against Pacific Division opponents.
Artemi Panarin (Sergei Belski-Imagn Images)
To add to the drama of this final stretch and the implications of this push for the post-season, the Kings have one of the worst tiebreakers in the NHL. With only 19 regulation wins this season, they'll have to beat opponents in the standings by points outright. They have the second-fewest regulation wins in the league, only the last-place Vancouver Canucks have fewer.
Despite being on track for their worst season since the 2020-21 campaign, the Kings will need to bring their playoff-style game immediately in hopes of getting into the post-season.
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CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 6: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots the ball during the game against the Golden State Warriors on December 6, 2025 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Golden State Warriors look to shake off Wednesday’s loss as they prepare to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM PT in San Francisco and will be broadcast on NBC Sports Bay Area.
The Warriors suffered their 40th loss of the season Wednesday night, losing to the San Antonio Spurs, 127–113. The double-digit defeat came as little surprise given how undermanned Golden State was as they fell into an early 17–3 hole and trailed 70–49 by halftime.
Golden State had no answer for Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, who dominated with 41 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks — his second consecutive 40-point double-double. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr spoke about Wembanyama’s rise into superstardom in just his third season.
WEMBY WENT OFF IN THE BAY!
👽 41 PTS (16-22 FGM) 👽 18 REB 👽 3 AST 👽 3 BLK
The Spurs win their 10th straight game and improve to 26-2 in their last 28 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CGapUqWjBf
The Warriors were extremely shorthanded against San Antonio, with nine players ruled out for the game. That lack of depth was evident, as two-way guard Nate Williams logged 47 of a possible 48 minutes in regulation. Meanwhile, fellow two-way forward Malevy Leons battled through a right wrist injury, even shooting free throws left-handed to remain on the floor.
“I can do things that other guys are not willing to do nowadays. You know, I feel like me, personally, I'm a dying breed in the NBA. You know, guys are not tough no more. It's a lot of soft guys around around the league.”
The Warriors are so thin and injury depleted that Malevy Leons took a free throw left-handed tonight
He hurt his wrist two weeks ago and the Warriors badly need any bodies they can get. Impressive toughness by Leons to even be out there pic.twitter.com/pwEayxCmWF
The good news is that, despite it being the second night of a back-to-back, Golden State is expected to have more players available. Kristaps Porzingis and Gary Payton II are not listed on the injury report and should return. Porzingis, in particular, should provide a much-needed boost in the frontcourt while helping ease the team’s scoring burden on offense.
Whether that will be enough against a Cavaliers team that enters tonight’s matchup with a 47–29 record and sits fourth in the Eastern Conference remains to be seen. At the very least, though, the Warriors should be in a better position than they were a night ago — with added optimism that this could be their final game before a potential Stephen Curry return on Sunday.
The right-hander got into some early trouble as MLB.com's No. 8 overall prospect Max Clark doubled and the next two batters walked to load the bases. After getting a strikeout for the second out, Tong gave up a three-run double to MLB vet Corey Julks.
Things didn't get better in the second inning. Following a fielding error by 3B Jackson Cluff, Tong let up a two-run HR to Wenceel Pérez to make it a 5-0 game. Clark reached safely on an error by Ronny Mauricio, and then, after a force-out, Tong walked Jace Jung and allowed a two-run double to Eduardo Valencia as Syracuse went down 7-0.
Tong's day came to an end after just 1.2 IP as he allowed four earned runs on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts. The 22-year-old threw 60 pitches (34 strikes) in the brief outing.
His season ERA now sits at 6.35 through 5.2 total innings on the mound.
Apr 2, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Minnesota Twins second baseman Kody Clemens (2) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a run during the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
The Twins got on the board early in this game, but not with the need of bats. In the 2nd inning, after Victor Caratini singled, Kody Clemens singled and moved to 2nd after Caratini tried going 1st to 3rd and was thrown out. Clemens would later score on a throwing error by Salvador Perez in an attempted pickoff.
Other than that, offense was hard to come by for the Twins against Royals lefty Cole Ragans. He had little trouble, scattering 4 hits and a walk over 6 innings.
Meanwhile, Taj Bradley had a good start. In the 3rd inning, he got Bobby Witt Jr. to strike out looking with 2 men on to end the inning. In the 4th, he got Lane Thomas to strike out swinging with the bases loaded to end that threat. He ended the day with a solid 6 shutout inning performance.
After Kody Funderburk pitched a clean 7th, the Twins added a 2nd run in the 8th inning. Josh Bell walked, then Royce Lewis doubled, and Trevor Larnach was intentionally walked. Byron Buxton drove in Bell with a sac-fly RBI for a needed insurance run.
Cole Sands entered for the 8th, and immediately was greeted by back-to-back singles setting up 1st and 3rd. Vinnie Pasquantino hit a sac-fly RBI of his own for the Royals first (and only) run of the day. Taylor Rogers came in and cleaned up the inning, preserving the 2-1 Twins lead.
In the 9th, Matt Wallner hit an opposite field solo homer, his 2nd of the season. Then, two batters later, Clemens hit a homer of his own to left, his first of the season. Josh Bell followed with yet another solo homer to make it a 5-1 game, that’s his 2nd of the year.
Justin Topa entered in the 9th, and, with the help of a ground ball double play, tossed a scoreless inning to secure the Twins second victory of the year.
Studs:
Taj Bradley: 6.0 IP, 5 H, B, 3 K
Luke Keaschall: 2-4
Wallner, Clemens, Bell: They hit homers, we like those.
Tyson Foerster’s return and Porter Martone’s promising effort weren’t enough to prevent the Flyers from suffering a costly loss Thursday night.
Rick Tocchet’s club fell to the Red Wings, 4-2, at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Foerster scored in his first game back from an arm injury that required surgery and cost him four months. The goal tied the game at 1-1 just 31 seconds into the middle stanza.
But Detroit regained its lead with 1:31 minutes left in the second period.
Travis Konecny put up the Flyers’ other goal. It came in the final stanza and was assisted by Martone, who recorded his first career NHL point.
However, the Red Wings had another response, this one just 15 seconds after Konecny trimmed the Flyers’ deficit to 3-2.
“They work their butt off, but there are times when you’ve just got to sense danger,” Tocchet said of his team. “There were a couple of goals where we need a guy to reload behind and stay above. I don’t want to say we’re cheating for offense, but we’re on the wrong side.”
The Flyers (37-26-12) lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since late January. They were unable to bounce back from a 6-4 loss Tuesday night to the Capitals, a game in which the early physicality caught them off guard and mistakes burned them.
“You should learn from last game,” Tocchet said Thursday at morning skate. “We talk about learning lessons. Let’s learn from it in a high-pressured game.”
The Flyers dropped to two points back of Detroit, a team that’s also trying to chase down the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. The Flyers beat the Red Wings (40-27-8) five days ago at Little Caesars Arena and head back there in a week for one more meeting.
• Tocchet’s club entered the day two points back of the Blue Jackets for the second wild-card position.
Columbus lost to the Hurricanes, 5-1, Thursday night.
The Senators, though, beat the Sabres, 4-1, to take over the second wild-card spot via tiebreakers. Ottawa is two points up on the Flyers.
So the Senators, Red Wings and Blue Jackets all have 88 points. The Flyers have 86 with seven games to go.
The Flyers had a chance to gain ground on the Islanders, who were idle Thursday night and hold third place in the Metropolitan Division. But the Flyers remained three points back of New York.
• Foerster did not look like a player that was returning from a four-month absence.
He jumped onto the Flyers’ top line and was highly impactful. He was fired up after collecting a puck in the slot and flinging it home for his goal. Owen Tippett and Trevor Zegras gave him a big hug when they all returned to the bench. The Flyers absolutely missed the release and accuracy of Foerster’s shot.
“He’s one of the best goal scorers I’ve ever played with,” Konecny said after morning skate. “He’s one of those guys that has the knack to be around the net, he has got a great shot. Key piece to the team.”
Martone played his first home game with the Flyers and continued to fit in well.
“I’m trying to come in here and just give a jolt to this group and help them try to win games,” Martone said. “It’s unfortunate we haven’t gotten one yet, but it’s a big response for us tomorrow.”
The 19-year-old winger has a bona fide shot mentality, he plays around the net and there’s an edge to his game. He finished with nine shots in 18:15 minutes.
“He knows his role, he knows what he’s good at, he sticks to it and he’s in good areas,” Konecny said. “He’s only going to get better.”
• Samuel Ersson suffered his first loss since the Olympic break, dropping to 5-1-0. He had 15 saves on 19 shots.
The 26-year-old was rock solid through two periods, but he wasn’t at his best in the third period.
Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat beat him in the final stanza. The timing of DeBrincat’s 4-2 goal was killer. The shot from DeBrincat ricocheted off the stick of Rasmus Ristolainen.
Kane, a future Hall of Famer, made it 3-1. It was a 2-on-1 rush for Detroit.
In the first period, Tocchet became livid with the officials. The Flyers were whistled for two ticky-tacky penalties, the second of which led to the Red Wings’ first goal.
The Flyers had one power play on the night.
On Detroit’s go-ahead goal in the second period, Lucas Raymond was left alone right around the goal line. Ersson had no chance to stop it.
Ersson came into the game with a 1.46 goals-against average and .933 save percentage since the Olympic break. But the third and fourth goals Thursday night were ill-timed.
“I’ve got to come up with a couple of more saves to keep us in it,” Ersson said. “It sucks, but reload here and get ready for tomorrow.”
Red Wings netminder John Gibson stopped 32 of the Flyers’ 34 shots. The Flyers had 21 missed shots.
“We’re missing the net way too much, it has become a problem this year,” Tocchet said. “I love the effort tonight. … We had our chances, we just didn’t put them in.”
• The Flyers are right back at it Friday when they visit the Islanders (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP+).
“Every game’s a must-win at this point, so that’s how we’re looking at it tomorrow,” Konecny said. “Another good team we’re playing against, but this locker room in here, we all believe that we’re better than any opponent we’re playing right now. Tough to get the loss, but we have all the confidence in the world that we’re going to keep playing good.”
#7 hitter prospect, LuJames Groover against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Introduction
The Dbacks farm system could be described as a top heavy system, that ranks in the middle of the pack overall out of all 30 team’s farm systems, and I wouldn’t disagree at all with that assessment. While the Diamondbacks have drafted, signed, and developed some really great hitters in recent years such as Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo, the obvious reason as to why the farm system is ranked so poorly is thanks to a complete lack of any impactful pitching prospect. On top of that, throughout the organization’s history, there’s been a failure to develop pitching in house, with very few exceptions. Today we’ll be ignoring that five ton proboscidean, bypassing that completely by focusing on just the hitters in the system. If we’re looking at just the hitting prospects in the farm system, I’d actually argue the Diamondbacks belong firmly in the upper third of MLB teams.
Originally I started writing this as a standard top prospect list, but I realized that I am actually terrible at evaluating pitching. The rankings here are a very subjective, and if there’s a player you think i have snubbed and left off the list, wait until next week and you’ll likely find them There are many valid arguments for ranking player X over player Y, who’d you’d rank higher than player Z. I could have easily gone with several different permutations of how these players are listed, so if you think that some players should be ranked differently, that’s totally okay! If you do have a strong arguement for why you think a specific player should have been ranked differently, than let me know in the comment section below the article. Today we’ll be looking at a few honorable mentions, and then going over prospect #11 through #6. Originally I did include the remaining 5 prospects, but this article has gotten a little too long so I split it into two parts.
Honorable Mentions
If Jose Fernandez didn’t have an amazing debut game, I don’t know if I would have even bothered mentioning him at all outside of maybe a ‘prospects to watch’ section. That’s not to say he wasn’t an intriguing prospect prior to his MLB debut, especially after being added to the 40-Man roster to protect him in the lead up to the Rule 5 draft. That prompted me to dig further into his statistics over the winter, and based on his first and 2nd half splits, it seems like he has made some adjustment that have unlocked his offensive potential. I’m not entirely sold on his offensive or defensive profile, but the potential is definitely there.
Kristian Robinson was a top prospect before his career was almost completely derailed after a mental health episode exacerbated by medical grade Marijuana, which then lead to legal troubles. After three years away from professional baseball, Robinson was able to eventually get his life and his career back on track. While he’s probably not the future All-Star we thought he was back when he was a top prospect, but I still think Robinson is capable of hanging in at the MLB level as a fourth outfielder capable of playing all three outfield positions.
Avery Owusu-Asiedu was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchanged for lefty reliever Kyle Backhus back in December. He’s the protypical toolsy outfielder who hadnt had much in the way if results in his first two seasons in 2023 and 2024. After putting up an anemic batting line of .192/.287/.327 and a 77 wRC+ in A ball in 2024, Owusu-Asiedu returned to A ball to start the 2025 season, and I’d say he conquered it with the .268/.382/.402 and 122 wRC+ he put up in 58 games in his second go around, though some of that improvement was just having better luck on his Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) probably was a factor. The Phillies front office agreed with that assessment though and promoted him to A+. There he’d hit .247/350/.368 with a 118 wRC+ in 49 games. Owusu-Asiedu has an intriguing combo of being a plus plus runner with a plus plus arm, while having some eye catching (112MPH+) exit velocities. Unfortunately, there are some real questions about his ability to consistently make contact, so the bat could be what holds him back in the long run. That said, his numbers are trending in the right direction, and I wouldnt be shocked to see him breakout further in 2026, especially if he’s assigned to a hitter friendly enviroment like the Dbacks AA affiliate in the Texas League.
The son of Hall of Fame Centerfielder Andruw Jones, the right handed hitting Druw Jones was selected by the Diamondbacks with the second overall pick in the 2022 draft. Sadly he has so far failed to live up to the expectations that were set for him being taken that high in the draft and just the expectations that comes with being the son of a Hall of Fame player. A lot of the decline in his prospect status is a result of injuries that have derailed him since the minute the ink dried on his pro contract. Most noteably Jones suffered a season ending shoulder injury before he could even get his first pro at bat, that also gave him the distinction of being the third Dback #1 draft pick to suffer a season ending shoulder injury almost immediately after signing.
The other aspect that has further tarnished Jones’ prospect luster, are the offensive struggles. In 41 games in 2023 split between the two Arizona Complex League Dbacks teams and the A ball level Visalia Rawhide,Jones hit a paltry 238/.353/.327 with a 93 wRC+. It’s worth nothing that those numbers are propped up by the 29 games in Visalia where he hit .252/.366/.351 with a 105 wRC+. His best season was back in 2024, when he hit .275/.409/.405 with a 126 wRC+ in 109 games for the A ball level Visalia Rawhide. However, in 2025 his hitting regressed, with his number falling down to .255/.335/.360 triple slash with a 96 wRC+. It wasn’t all bad though as he did progress in some areas; he reduced his strikeout percentage from 28.0% down to 23.3%, while keeping his walk percentage above 10%. He was much more successful on the basepaths, stealing 28 bases while getting caught only 4 times, compared to how he did in 2024 when he played in 24 fewer games, while stealing seven fewer bases while also getting caught stealing an additional two times.
Jones is one of the best, if not THE best defensive outfielder in the Diamondbacks farm system. While the bat has some question marks surrounding it, there’s zero question about his defensive ability; even if the bat doesn’t come around, his defense is probably good enough that he could provide positive value even with a slightly below average bat. The biggest thing that Jones can accomplish in 2026 is reducing the percentage of strikeouts down to an acceptable level while increasing the frequency of contact and his batting average. He has typically struck out in at least 26% of his at bats, and that won’t cut it. If Jones doesn’t have a breakout season in 2026, he’s likely to fall off all the major top prospect lists for good. If he has an outright bad season, then he’ll likely be stuck with the label of being one of the most notable busts in Dbacks draft history. While he’s still only 22 years old, Druw Jones has little time left before he’s no longer a prospect. I’m pretty optimistic generally, but in this case I have only just enough confidence in Jones to place him just outside the top 10.
Signed out of the Dominican Republic in January of 2023, Virahonda is a switch hitting catcher who only turned 20 in the middle of December.
Virahonda had an impressive debut that year in the Dominican Summer League. In 38 games split between the two DSL Dback affiliates he hit .304/.401/.482 with a 133 wRC+. You could call Virahonda’s 2024 season a disaster as he returned to the DSL but struggled offensively, hitting just .156/.279/.231, which works out to a 44 wRC+ (for reference a 100 wRC+ is average, >100 = good, <100 = bad ). However, I wouldn’t call it all bad, as the adjustments he made afterwards helped his 2025 season go much better. In 37 games in the rookie level Arizona Complex League, he’d hit 347/.464/.455 with a 153 wRC+, which earned him a promotion to the A ball level Visalia Rawhide. In his 33 games for Visalia, Virahonda didn’t hit quite that well, but he held his own hitting .256/.362/.357 with a 108 wRC+. His combined stat line for 2025 was .300/ 413/.404 with a 130 wRC+. Virahonda projects to be an above average defender behind the plate, with a very good chance at becoming elite defender. If Virahonda builds upon his 2025 offensive perform ace, he is likely to leap ahead of several players on this list. He’s easily the top catching prospect in the Dbacks system, though to be fair the Dbacks don’t have a ton of average or above catching prospects, so he doesn’t have much competition as far as that goes.
Torin is a polarizing prospect and I wouldn’t be surprised if his rank here ends up being the most controversial. In 2026, he has been ranked as high as #10 (by Baseball-America) or as low as #27 (by Fangraphs), and unlike me, they’re not ranking hitters and pitchers separately. Torin got on my radar after he displayed a very advanced approach to the plate in 2023 as a 17 year old. He began the year in the Dominican Summer League, earned a promotion to the Arizona Complex League, before finally ending the year in A ball. In 2024 Torin would return to A ball and spend the entire season there. While the results weren’t quite as impressive, they were still above average, which earned him a promotion in 2025 to the A+ Level Hillsboro Hops. There he’d .287/.381/.385 with a 115 wRC+ in 122 games. Torin was then promoted to AA Amarillo, where he’d appear in 5 games and hit .381/.440/.571 with 159 wRC+.
Torin is an excellent contact hitter with fantastic plate discipline, who consistently walks at above average rate while rarely striking out, who is a competent defender with a good enough arm to stick at shortstop. However, the real problem here and what makes him such a divisive prospect is that he doesn’t hit the ball very hard, he’s not a fast runner, and besides the aforementioned above average contact and plate discipline ability, he really lacks a standout tool. As far as the hitting side of things goes, I am reminded a lot of Geraldo Perdomo, who while being a better defender than Torin, similarly had only above average plate discipline and contact skills as his standout tools. In my opinion, those are the most important tools for a hitter in the first place. You can have all the homerun power in the world, while being an elite speed threat on the basepaths, but if you can’t take a walk or even make contact in the first place, you’ll never even have that opportunity to steal a base or hit out of the park.
In all likelihood, Torin is a future utility player or middle infield depth, but if he starts developing power and hitting the ball with more authority, he will surprise a lot of the prospect evaluators who were unimpressed.
Cunningham is yet another player who fits the mold of the undersized position players that the Dbacks that the Dbacks are quickly becoming known for. I haven’t seen Cunningham play at all, and there’s really not much new that I can say about Kayson Cunningham, whom the D’Backs drafted in the first round of last year’s draft with the 18th overall pick since he’s only appeared in a grand total of 11* professional games. (*he did play in the Complex as well, but we don’t have access to that data. We can infer he did fairly well based on the fact that they had him debut in A ball, which is unusual for a highschooler).
In cases like these, where I haven’t seen a player at all, and there’s basically no worthwhile data available, differing my opinions to the experts is seems like the way to go. In this case, I’ll just quote his blurb on MLB Pipeline:
Standing 5-foot-10, Cunningham rarely whiffed on his swings as an amateur and showed the ability to manipulate the barrel to all areas of the strike zone. He impressed Arizona officials enough at the complex after the Draft to the point where they pushed him out to Single-A Visalia for 11 games, and his contact rate was solid for a recent prepster pushed into the deep end. Cunningham doesn’t have a projectable frame, however, and he’ll really need to maintain good bat speed to get to even average power in the bigs.
Cunningham is an energetic player on the basepaths, but one who makes for an interesting evaluation on defense. He lost some of his twitchiness at shortstop before the Draft, and in the California League, he looked rushed on some of his actions and throws, including getting charged with three errors in his debut. Arizona still plans to keep him at shortstop, believing that last year’s experience could be eye-opening because of the speed of the game, but even entering the Draft, some scouts saw Cunningham as a future bat-first second baseman.
After hitting .349 combined in his three seasons playing in college, LuJames Groover was drafted by the Dbacks in the 2nd round of the 2023 draft with the 48th overall pick. He’d have an impressive debut season in 2023, but his 2024 was shortened by injury. 2025 would see Groover back in AA and fully healthy; in 123 games he’d hit .309/399/.434 with 12 HRS, though in the hitter friendly Texas League that works out to a 120 wRC+, or just 20% above average. While Groover’s bat and offensive tools have never really been in question though, but his defense was absolutely in question. The Dbacks believed in him enough to give him a chance to continue playing third, which has paid off as he’s become a capable defender over time. 2026 has Groover promoted to the AAA level Reno Aces in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. As of April 2nd, the Aces have only played 5 games, so there’s not much to write about other than Groover going 4-5 with a pair of runs batted in on opening day.
The most notable fact about JD Dix’s background is that he went to the same highschool as 2001 postseason Dbacks legend Craig Counsell. The switch hitting Dix was drafted back in 2024, but didn’t make his pro debut until the 2025 season. He absolutely raked in his 39 games in the Arizona Complex League, hitting .342/.421/.493 with a 142 wRC+. That would earn him a promotion to A ball, where he’d play in 50 games and hit .261/.391/.335 with a 114 wRC+. Across the two levels in 89 games, Dix hit a combined .297/.404/.406 with a 126 wRC+.
I would imagine that Dix will be promoted to the A+ Level Hillsboro Hops for the 2026 season, considering his solid numbers in 2025 leave him with little left to prove in A ball
Conclusion
That wraps up the back half of my top prospect list for hitters, next week we’ll go over the five position players remaining that would be glaring omissions to excluse. Well informed readers will be able to guess who they are, but can they guess the order after the team’s consensus top prospect? Let me know what you think in the comments below!
“If you did great in that tournament, you deserve all the credit. If it went bad for you — and I'm not just saying that because it went bad for us — but you should get a pass. That was a mess,” Hurley said.
“I'm, like, jarred mentally up here,” Hurley said, looking pained. “That was horrible.”
There are many reasons UConn and Illinois are thrilled to be in Indianapolis for the Final Four this week, even if their national semifinal is the undercard to the showdown between the remaining No. 1 seeds, Arizona and Michigan.
For Brad Underwood, this has been the goal since he was hired at Illinois nine years ago. For Hurley and UConn, it’s a chance to stake a claim as college basketball’s latest dynasty without all the spotlight and pressure of last year’s pursuit of a three-peat.
And for both coaches, there’s also the benefit of cleansing their memories of the last time they were here for the NCAA Tournament.
“Most of my memories on the basketball side are pretty positive,” Underwood said. “The other stuff wasn't.”
Though it’s only been five years, the “COVID tournament” seems like something out of a fever dream now. The country was still in the grips of the pandemic, with vaccines just starting to become available and restrictions still in place throughout much of the country.
After managing to get through the regular season, the NCAA decided to go ahead with the basketball tournaments — albeit in very different form. Rather than sites across the country, every game from the First Four to the Final Four was played in central Indiana.
Teams were sequestered at hotels in downtown Indianapolis, able to leave only for practices, games and assigned outdoor time. Restaurants were off-limits. Players were tested regularly and the threat of being unable to play was ever present. Only a few fans were allowed, and crowd noise was piped in.
The women’s tournament was held under similar conditions in San Antonio.
“That whole season was a tough season,” Hurley said. “We were lucky just to be able to get a tournament in and do those things.”
Indianapolis was one of the few cities that could pull off a tournament in a bubble. The city has both an NBA arena and a domed stadium, and Butler, Indiana and Purdue are all within driving distance.
There’s a sizeable convention center that housed practice courts and about a dozen hotels surrounding it. There also are elevated walkways linking almost everything, so teams had almost no contact with anyone not playing in or associated with the tournament.
“They were literally knocking on your door and dropping the food at your door,” Hurley said. “It wasn't slop, but it was — maybe it was.”
It’s an experience no one wants to repeat. Which makes it even more meaningful the Final Four has returned to a city that, until 2021, had produced so many great memories in the tournament.
Hurley’s brother Bobby and Duke ending UNLV’s 45-game win streak in 1991. Princeton stunning defending champion UCLA in 1996. Michigan State’s Flintstones winning the Big Ten’s last NCAA title in 2000. Little Butler coming oh, so close in 2010.
“It doesn't feel like there's many better places to play a Final Four,” Hurley said. “It's cool to be back here for a non-COVID Final Four.”
Even if most of the attention is on the No. 1s.
Illinois, a No. 3 seed, wasn’t considered Final Four material until its Big Ten brethren Iowa put the South Region up for grabs by taking out Florida. And UConn definitely wasn’t expected to make it this far, pitted against overall No. 1 Duke in the East Region final.
But here they are.
“I'm just focused on our game,” said Solo Ball, who is playing in his second Final Four in his three years at UConn. “It's all that we've been looking forward to, too, just being back here in the Final Four.”
It's already better than the last time the tournament was in Indianapolis. And that's a win for everyone.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
SAN FRANCISCO — If you watched Thursday night’s game and felt like it had been a while since this Giants lineup did that to a lefty, you’d be correct.
The Giants scored six runs off New York Mets southpaw David Peterson and put nine hits on his line while cruising to a 7-2 win in their return to Oracle Park. That was their biggest outburst against a lefty since June 30, 2024, when they had a dozen hits off Los Angeles’ James Paxton.
The lineup has been completely overhauled since then, and on Thursday, the newcomers played a big part.
Luis Arráez got the Giants going with an RBI triple in the first and they tacked on two more in the frame. Heliot Ramos and Arráez jump-started a rally in the third and San Francisco took a 5-2 lead on sacrifice flies from Jung Hoo Lee and Harrison Bader. Rafael Devers kept the crowd buzzing with his first homer of the year in the sixth, and that also came off a lefty, this time Sean Manaea.
After picking up 16 hits against the San Diego Padres earlier in the week, the Giants had 13 on Thursday. It was a complete attack, too. Rookie Daniel Susac reached base four times and Casey Schmitt had three hits a day after a rocky defensive performance.
Susac Attack
Susac’s big league debut came on Wednesday, and didn’t include an at-bat. He came on to catch after Jerar Encarnacion pinch-hit for starter Patrick Bailey.
On Thursday, Susac got his first start, and he wasted no time pleasing the large group of Susacs sitting in the family section. The Roseville native singled to right-center on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues, and he picked up another first-pitch single in the third inning.
In the fifth, Susac drew a walk. Two innings later, he smoked a fastball from Manaea up the middle at 105 mph.
Susac became the first Giants rookie since Kevin Frandsen in 2006 to record at least three hits and reach base four times in his first career start. Frandsen had three hits and got hit by a pitch in his debut.
Ray’s Day
It wasn’t always pretty for Robbie Ray. He gave up an RBI double and solo homer in the first two innings and Harrison Bader reached up to the top of the wall in the third to prevent a two-run homer. Ray also walked three and ran a high pitch count.
But, he struck out seven and got outs when he needed them, and he got some hideous swings from Mets stars, particularly on a revamped slider. Bo Bichette nearly screwed himself into the dirt while swinging at one early in the game.
Ray ended up allowing just the two earned runs while pitching into the sixth. That’s when things got really interesting. Ryan Walker, who had the only save of the year for the Giants, was the man to replace him.
Welcome To This Side
Tony Vitello is usually on the dugout steps, but when Blade Tidwell got back after a quick seventh inning, it was Frank Anderson who was there to greet him with a fist bump. That was appropriate, too.
Anderson was Tidwell’s pitching coach at Tennessee, where he played for Vitello before getting taken in the second round of the 2022 draft by the Mets. He made his debut for them last year before being included in the Tyler Rogers deal, and on Thursday, he got to pitch as a Giant for the first time, and against his old team.
Tidwell came on in the seventh and gave up an infield single right away. He wiped that out with a double play and then got a grounder to short to end the inning.
Schmitt’s leaping grab led to an unassisted double play that ended the eighth and Tidwell, who has been stretched out as a starter in Triple-A, came back out for the ninth. He ended up picking up the rare three-inning save in his first game in orange and black.
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 28: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers prepares to shoot a free throw during the game against the Charlotte Hornets on March 28, 2026 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brock Williams-Smith/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Say this about Joel Embiid — there’s never a dull moment.
After all the drama before Wednesday’s win in D.C. over the Wizards, the team officially listed Embiid as doubtful for Friday night’s contest against the Timberwolves.
Surprise, surprise.
The team has now upgraded their star center to probable on the official injury report. Embiid was able to participate in shootaround, according to Gina Mizell of The Inquirer.
It’s Jo’s world. We’re all just living in it.
“Doubtful” leaves so much room for vague tweets.
The Sixers have released their injury report for when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday, and doubtful is Joel Embiid’s listing with an illness.
After all that bizarreness, the doubtful listing signals this being a multi-game absence for Embiid. This is the front end of a back-to-back for the Sixers, so if Embiid isn’t able to go the following night against the Detroit Pistons, then it will be time to raise some alarm bells. Regardless, the situation feels stranger than some light-hearted April Fool’s day trolling.
The only other Sixer listed on the injury report is Johni Broome who is still rehabbing his torn meniscus.
This will be a back-to-back for the Timberwolves as well, but for them it will be the second leg for them. The availability of Anthony Edwards, who’s working his way back from a knee injury, will be the biggest thing worth monitoring on game day. Edwards was ruled out for the Wolves’ front end, also coincidentally against the Pistons.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - FEBRUARY 24: Josh Hart #3 talks with Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks during the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena on February 24, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the Knicks 109-94. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Knicks are in a bit of a rough patch as time winds down on the regular season. They just lost a handful of extremely unsettling games against playoff teams that have many questioning their effort and desire, have fans up in arms about the coach and believing he’s on the hot seat, and there’s been a whole lot of criticism surrounding the starting lineup, Josh Hart’s place in the rotation, and Mikal Bridges’ maddening inconsistency. They’re also struggling to get the big, season-defining win against the elite teams.
The vibes are very bad, and there are several potential first-round opponents that the media and fans alike think will end the season early and cause a massive change in the organization.
Wait, did you think I was talking about this season?
No, no. I’m talking about the early April vibes from last season. What, is something similar happening this year?
Time does happen to heal all wounds, but so do playoff runs. For some reason, the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Final last year blinded some people to the very real narratives that existed leading into the first-round series against the Pistons.
Last year, Tom Thibodeau was very unpopular, the starting lineup was very hated, they were losing late-season games to East contenders, fans were souring on Hart and Bridges, there were nostalgia acts of the “grittier” teams of the last few years, and there was the 0-10 stat. On and on and on.
So when you go into this year, and you see the same things happening this time of year, does it not tell you that you should let things play out before making grand assumptions? Sure, there are very real problems, but there are also things where you should just calm down, relax, and grab a drink (alcoholic or not, your choice).
The playoffs tend to be a lot more unpredictable than they seem. We saw that firsthand when Thibodeau suddenly made drastic changes to the defensive scheme to throw off a Celtics team that had absolutely annihilated the Knicks in the regular season. A defense that looked utterly lost all season suddenly gained fortitude playing a straight-up, switch-everything style. We’ve already seen that style of disciplined defense with the Knicks this season. Why do you think they had the best defense in basketball for eight weeks?
Bad matchups don’t necessarily translate, so why be worried about Detroit or Charlotte or Philly? You could even go in the opposite direction and say you shouldn’t assume the Raptors would be the easiest matchup!
The playoffs are a totally different beast, in which we’ve seen guys on this roster transform into something totally different. Bridges redeemed a very rough regular season with a tremendous playoff run last year, namely. Hart always seems to play his best. Mitchell Robinson’s impact is unmatched in a playoff setting and has swung the matchup in multiple seasons. Jalen Brunson, whose play since his ankle injury in early January has been below his standard, is the biggest playoff riser in the sport right now.
We have a nearly 180-game sample with this group over the last two years with two different coaches. You could say a lot about the team’s ideal lineup, but I’m not sure if a lineup change does much in terms of starting the game off faster, considering we’ve seen the same things when Hart is out. The lineups with Landry Shamet and Deuce McBride don’t perform very well either, and we know they won’t stretch Robinson out. I think this group just naturally comes out of the gates slow and hits their stride as the game goes on and they adjust:
Knicks starters in 399 1Q poss: 109.8 OffRtg, -13.0 NetRtg since 12/5
NYK starters in 88 4Q poss: 137.5 OffRtg, +11.1 NetRtg since 12/5
Dating back to start of ‘24-‘25:
Starters in 1252 1Q poss: 110.8 OffRtg, -4.5 NetRtg
Starters in 523 4Q/OT poss: 127.5 OffRtg, +4.3 NetRtg
It’s hard to explain why the offense goes from looking fluid and beautiful one night and stagnant and ugly the next, but that might have more to do with certain matchups than anything. Houston’s sheer volume of lanky wings is an extremely tough matchup when they’re all healthy and locked in.
On that point of being locked in, we’ve seen a few times this season where the focus level just drops. This week has been one of the low points, but could that just be the drag of an 82-game season? We see good teams go in ruts during baseball’s 162-game slog.
This team will make its bed and sleep in it come playoff time. None of us know which team will show up when the playoffs begin in just over two weeks, but we do know that they have a switch that can be flipped.
The question is, how long can they keep the switch on?
Welcome to The California Post’s weekly Dodgers recap, where baseball writers Dylan Hernández and Jack Harris review the week that was, hand out very official awards, and take stock of the state of the season –– publishing every Thursday.
For better or worse, Shohei Ohtani is no Barry Bonds.
Following five games in which he was thrown a limited selection of hittable pitches, Ohtani stepped into the batter’s box on Wednesday in a situation that called for Cleveland Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams to challenge him. With no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dodgers had men on first and second base.
Ohtani grounded into a double play.
“From the side,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “it looked like a good pitch and he just hit the top of it.”
By the time Ohtani returned to the batter’s box two innings later, his air of invincibility had evaporated into the Los Angeles sky. The Dodgers were down by four runs, but they had runners on second and third.
Left-hander Erik Sabrowski was called out of the bullpen to pitch to Ohtani. Rather than walk him with first base open, Sabrowski threw a curveball that caught the lower outside edge of the strike zone.
Ohtani responded by swinging at two other breaking balls delivered in the same general area – except they were balls. Ohtani whiffed on both of them, and the threat was over.
The Dodgers went on to lose the game, 4-1, and the series, two games to one.
This alone shouldn’t be a source of concern. Ohtani has slumped before, and he will slump again. He will eventually start hitting at some point, and besides, the Dodgers have started the season 4-2 with him batting just .167.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani walks away after striking out during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) AP
However, if a trend emerged over the first week of games, it was that teams playing the Dodgers really didn’t want Ohtani to beat them. They didn’t care that Kyle Tucker and Mookie Betts were behind him. They didn’t want to pitch to Ohtani, which is why he already has a team-leading seven walks. His on-base percentage of .423 is second on the team to Andy Pages’ .429.
Watching how the Guardians and Arizona Diamondbacks pitched around Ohtani, Roberts was reminded of the best player with whom he ever played.
Roberts and Barry Bonds were both San Francisco Giants in 2007.
Bonds turned 43 in the middle of that season, which turned out to be his last in the majors. His 132 walks that year were the most in baseball.
“I think Barry was as patient and as good as anyone I’ve seen that can take walks, value walks,” Roberts said. “Yeah, there were times where he got a handful of pitches a week to hit. Shohei’s certainly not to that extreme of patience, but he’s doing a good job.”
Bonds once walked 232 times in a single season.
How would Ohtani react if that happened to him?
“Shohei likes to swing the bat,” Roberts said with a smile. “Shohei would go crazy.”
Ohtani will have to figure out how to keep it together, to not allow his desperation to lead to the kind of at-bat he had against Sabrowski.
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants waits on deck in the fifth inning against the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium on August 17, 2007 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images) Getty Images
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Andy Pages (.429 average, 1 home run, 5 RBIs, 1.048 OPS)
It’s not just that Pages has a team-best average, or is looking like the one Dodgers regular who managed to carry over his strong spring training.
What has made the third-year slugger the Dodgers’ most standout hitter early on is the way he has conducted his at-bats.
Last year, Pages struck out once in every five trips to the plate. This week, he did it twice in 21 at-bats.
“He’s hitting to all fields,” Roberts said Wednesday after Pages’ 3-for-3 showing. “He’s staying on sliders with two strikes. He’s shooting fastballs. Today, he pulled a sinker 97 for a base hit.”
And “at the end of the day,” Roberts added, “he’s really controlling the zone really well. He’s done that all spring.”
Andy Pages of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a single against the Cleveland Guardians during the second inning at Dodger Stadium on March 30, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) Getty Images
The live trumpets. The heavy fastball. And, most importantly, the lack of late-game stress.
Last year, the ninth inning was a recurring nightmare for the Dodgers. Now, with their new $69 million closer, it’s more like a late-night party.
Díaz slammed the door on the Diamondbacks in a pair of one-run wins over the weekend. He closed out another win over the Guardians on Tuesday in what was a non-save situation with the team up four.
Asked why he used Díaz in that latter spot –– especially considering soggy conditions that clearly affected the right-hander while giving one run –– Roberts provided a simple, and telling, answer.
“I wanted to win the game,” he said. “And for me, three, four (runs), Eddie is in. So it’s not just padding his save statistics. I wanted to win the game.”
Edwin Diaz of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) Getty Images
PROSPECT OF THE WEEK
James Tibbs III (.545 average, 3 HR, 9 RBIs, 8 extra-base hits in triple-A)
In his second game of the season, Tibbs went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs. The next night, he was 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double, 5 RBIs and a walk. Entering Thursday, he’d made it four-straight contests with multiple hits.
The 23-year-old former first-round pick (and trade deadline acquisition of the club last summer) already entered the season as a potential call-up candidate at some point this year. Now, that timeline seems like it could potentially be accelerating. One week in, he has been putting up video game-esque numbers.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder James Tibbs III against the Seattle Mariners during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
FUTURE DODGER OF THE WEEK
(Where we identify a potential Dodgers’ future acquisition –– sometimes far-fetched, sometimes not)
Munetaka Murakami, 1B, Chicago White Sox (ETA: 2028)
The Dodgers were skeptical of Murakami’s ability to hit a major league fastball, but the Japanese slugger probably won’t hold that against them.
Every other team shared their suspicions about the former Japanese league triple-crown winner, and that included the White Sox, who signed him to a two-year, $34-million contract.
The deal will allow Murakami to re-enter the free-agent market after the 2027 season, by which time the Dodgers could be looking for a corner infielder. Murakami was primarily a third baseman in Japan, albeit one with a shaky glove.
Murakami told Ohtani that if he didn’t homer in the White Sox’s season opener, he would also get a “techno cut,” which features a straight and angled hairline above the ears. Murakami was spared the unfashionable trim, as he not only homered on opening day but followed up with bombs in the second and third games of the season.
Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox batts during the third inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on April 01, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) Getty Images
They rank 19th in scoring, 11th in batting average and 14th in OPS so far as a team. The top of their lineup has been particularly glaring, combining for a .182 average from the Nos. 1-5 spots that is better than only three other teams.
Cue all the caveats about small sample sizes, not jumping to conclusions and overanalyzing the randomness an opening week can often provide.
Still, for a team that slumped through much of the second half of the season and almost all of the playoffs, this has felt uncomfortably familiar –– even if, as Freddie Freeman declared Wednesday, “I think our offense is inevitable.”
“It’s just the first week,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”
Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman is greeted in the dugout after a solo home run in the ninth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Apr 2, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Minnesota Twins second baseman Kody Clemens (2) is tagged out at second base by Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) during the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Well, that didn’t go well.
The Royals lost the third game of a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins, squandering a fine start by Cole Ragans. For the Royals, quiet bats doomed them.
The Royals made things interesting in the later innings. After going down 2-0, Maikel Garcia led off the eighth with a single before moving to third when Bobby Witt Jr. followed with his own single. Runners on first and third with none out, and Vinnie Pasquantino up to bat.
While Pasquantino drove in Garcia with a sac fly, the rest of the from went quietly. Salvador Perez grounded to short and Bob was thrown out at second on a close play. Tolbert pinch-ran for Salvy, stole second, and stayed there as Jac Caglianone looked like a little leaguer against Taylor Rogers.
End of inning, end of threat.
But at least the Royals had cut down the lead to one. Steven Cruz came out of the bullpen to keep it a one-run game until the Royals came back up in the bottom of the ninth.
Steven Cruz did not keep it a one-run game.
Cruz, who to this point in his career had only surrendered six home runs, allowed three solo homers in the top of the ninth, including back-to-back shots to Kody Clemens and Josh Bell. Suddenly, it was 5-1 Twins.
The Royals started off the bottom of the ninth with consecutive baserunners, but a Lane Thomas double-play all but sealed things. Kyle Isbel whiffed to end the game.
On the bright side, Cole Ragans looked good. Over six innings, he allowed just one run (unearned) while striking out eight, walking one, and giving up four hits.
Matt Strahm had a nice one-inning appearance, too.
Overall, though, the bullpen continues to struggle. Aside from Cruz’s misadventures, John Schrieber needed 27 pitches to get through the eighth inning, which included allowing one earned run, a strikeout, and a walk.
One more note: Carter Jensen, whose start was scratched less than an hour before first pitch, made an appearance late in the game, so it appears he’s not dealing with an injury, which is good.
Now, the Royals are back to .500 at 3-3. They welcome the Brewers to town tomorrow night.
