Category: Sports News

A few weeks ago upon the news of Angels franchise icon Garret Anderson passing away, John wrote a tribute to him, saluting him as one of the great Yankee Killers of recent vintage. Although David Ortiz was far more famous, Yankees pitchers were also quite flummoxed by having to pitch to Garret.

Now today, we’re on the other side of the ball and on the heels of the Yankees once again getting rolled by the man we’ve taken to calling “an old frenemy,” Nathan Eovaldi. The Yanks have lost just twice in the last nine games, and both times were at Eovaldi’s hands. The former Yankee has pretty much always pitched well in such situtations, with a 2.82 career ERA in career 153 innings against New York (including his two playoff wins with Boston), and he’s been especially good of late. Since the start of 2025, he’s allowed a grand total of two runs in four starts across a span of 29 innings, a minuscule 0.63 ERA. Goodness.

With Eovaldi’s excellence in mind, who do you think is the best Yankees Killer on the mound? If you need a refresher, there are some good names to consider. Hall of Fame southpaw Randy Johnson was brutal for just about everyone to deal with, and he helped two separate teams send the Yankees home in October around a time when that wasn’t happening very often — first with the 1995 Mariners, just before the dynasty really got humming and then with the 2001 Diamondbacks, who effectively ended the championship run. He even pitched in relief during the win-or-go-home elimination games on both occasions!

There’s also Luis Tiant, Dave Stieb, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Cliff Lee, Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, and of course the originally-named “Yankee Killer,” midcentury All-Star Frank Lary. Knuckleballing Hall of Fame swingman Hoyt Wilhelm also had a 1.98 ERA in 209.1 career innings against New York around the same time as Lary, and he threw what still stands as the last complete-game no-hitter against the Yankees back in 1958. If you want obscure and random, I remember the Red Sox having a soft-tosser named Frank Castillo who absolutely gave the Yankees fits in the early 2000s. More recently, Cristian Javier and Brayan Bello have been tougher customers against the Yanks than most other teams.

So take your pick! I think Johnson probably has too much of a resume to ignore, but if we’re talking non-Hall of Famers, boy was it never, ever fun to face Cliff Lee. And like Johnson, he made the Yanks look awful in postseason play pretty much whenever he got a chance.

It’s not surprising that the Yankees’ front office wanted him so much, nearly trading for him in July 2010 and falling short in the 2011 free agent sweepstakes. If you prefer to be optimistic (in a way) though, maybe it would’ve just turned out like Johnson’s own up-and-down, abbreviated Yankees career.

Today on the site, Peter will focus in on an at-bat from David Bednar’s five-out save on May 5th for his Sequence of the Week feature, Madison will have the Rivalry Roundup, and Jonathan’s Yankees Birthday post discusses Tom Zachary, who won a World Series in pinstripes in 1928 but is most famous for something he did before ever joining the Yankees: surrendering Babe Ruth’s then-record 60th homer of the legendary 1927 campaign. Later, Estevão will ponder the extremely middling American League landscape, and after the matinee, Jeremy will pay his respects to the late John Sterling with a tribute from the perspective of an aspiring broadcaster in his own right.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

Time: 12:35 p.m. EST

Video: YES, Rangers Sports Network

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

The Cardinals had found their replacement for Ozzie Smith, but you don’t actually want to be the guy who replaces the legend. You want to be the guy after that. Poor Royce Clayton, who had to follow his childhood idol, and was perfectly cromulent, but he wasn’t Ozzie Smith. Targeted for free agency and with the Cardinals looking for a new direction, they traded Clayton (along with Todd Stottlemyre) at the deadline in 1998. It was a good trade. They received a couple years of Fernando Tatis senior, later traded for a package that included Steve Kline, and Darren Oliver, who had his best season as a starter in 1999.

But this was not a Brendan Donovan got traded and JJ Wetherholt was ready to step in situation. They Cardinals did not have an in-house replacement for Clayton. Their first choice was Barry Larkin, who was apparently unhappy, because the Reds had just traded Bret Boone, and Larkin was promised the Reds would build around him and Larkin. I think it had less to do with Boone, who honestly wasn’t that good at the time, and more as Larkin puts it: “I feel as if I’m being held hostage by a team with no immediate plans to be competitive.”

Larkin had a no-trade clause, but was willing to be traded to five teams, which included the Cardinals. That’s interesting because the Cardinals did not have a particularly good 90s and didn’t have a good 1999 season either, although Larkin would have helped. But I’ll give some credit to Jim Bowden, who didn’t seem to usually make smart moves. He held out for JD Drew and Rick Ankiel. Larkin had one great year and one good year left, so that would have been a bad trade by the Cardinals. Walt Jocketty thought so too.

So they pivoted. And this is really why I’m writing the article. Because there are a few confusing aspects of the Edgar Renteria trade that followed. It’s the kind of trade that reveals how different front offices operated as it pertained to value than today’s game. The structure of that trade would not get made today. Decisions made prior to that trade would not get made today either.

And it starts with Braden Looper. Looper was the 3rd overall pick in the 1996 MLB Draft out of Wichita State University. Highest draft pick the Cardinals have ever had. And they drafted him that high knowing, essentially, that he would be a reliever. I mean they envisioned a closer, but still. What is the absolute highest round a team will draft someone knowing they will be a reliever now? We all knew the Cardinals would convert Tanner Franklin to starting specifically because of how high he was drafted and he was drafted 72nd. Looper was the THIRD OVERALL PICK.

He did start games at first, but barely. He signed late in the 1996 season, so he didn’t pitch in his draft year. This wasn’t for modern reasons like saving his arm, the draft pick signing deadline was VERY late in the season and a lot of the high picks used all of that time to come to an agreement. He started 12 games at High A in 1997, wasn’t particularly impressive, and then they converted him to reliever. After 12 starts. They promoted him to AA and also moved him to the bullpen at the same time. He honestly still wasn’t that good.

So of course, he made the team out of spring training in 1998. They gave him all of 4 games before they sent him to Memphis. All of this is impossible to wrap my head around. They used a high draft pick and immediately converted him to relief. And with not very good minor league stats and not even at AAA, he made the majors, and they were so confident in this decision that he got demoted after 4 games. He actually struck out 25% of the batters he faced, which is like 30% nowadays, but gave up 4 runs (2 were not earned). He spent the rest of the year in Memphis.

He’s not the only weird part of that trade. Looper wasn’t actually the highest rated prospect in the trade. Which doesn’t sound that weird when I describe Looper the player, but he was the 23rd best prospect in Baseball America. There was no doubt he was a reliever when they ranked him. It is not strange that there was a more valuable prospect than him, but somehow the player ranked above him was weirder.

Pablo Ozuna was the #8 prospect in baseball when this trade was made according to Baseball America. Walt Jocketty got extremely lucky on this one. The Cardinals had signed Ozuna at 16-years-old in 1996 out of the Dominican Republic and if you go to his stats page, you will notice he was not actually 16 in 1996. He could have graduated college in 1996. He was actually 22-years-old.

This was not known at the time of the trade. As far as anybody knew, Ozuna was about to be 19 in 1999. He had just batted .357 in Low A and had stolen 62 bases. In reality, he was 23-years-old and also he got caught stealing 26 times. Which is a horrible success rate. And I guess teams didn’t learn what a good success rate was, because he was allowed to be a bad base stealer for his whole career.

So we have the #8 prospect in baseball and the #23 prospect in baseball, but it was a magic act. It was a soon-to-be 24-year-old who hadn’t played above A ball and a relief pitcher. There was a third player involved, but he had to be considered a throw-in. I can’t imagine this guy had real value then. Armando Almanza was a soon-to-be 26-year-old left-handed relief pitcher with swing-and-miss stuff but spotty control who hadn’t actually pitched in the majors yet.

For two relief pitchers, one of whom is barely a prospect, and a super old for his level infielder who is bad at stealing bases, the Cardinals received four years of 22-year-old shortstop who had 3.5 fWAR as a 19-year-old and then kind of underwhelmed in his next two seasons. You could not ask for a better trade or a better acquisition for the future.

Baseball Prospectus, weirdly obsessed with him maybe being a year younger than he said (it’s mentioned in SIX of their yearly profiles), said this about Renteria: “Good comparisons would be Barry Larkin or Alan Trammell: the power should keep getting better; he’ll take a few more walks and have a shot at an MVP award someday. While he isn’t an ideal leadoff man, the Cardinals don’t have many alternatives.”

Didn’t quite work out that way, although he did have a couple All-Star caliber seasons. After 1999, the Cardinals signed him to a four-year extension with two club options. They picked up his 2004 option, but confusingly apparently the 2005 option was voided because they waited too long to pick up the 2004 option. If anybody has any information on that, I would love to know. I have not heard that one in baseball before. David Eckstein ended up being better than Renteria in 2005, so it worked out, but I definitely would have done one more year with Renteria. They tried to sign him in free agency too, so this wasn’t a no interest situation.

Anyway, this is a perfect Walt Jocketty trade and also… a very lucky Walt Jocketty trade. I really doubt he knew Pablo Ozuna was older than he said. Ozuna’s real age was revealed in 2002 thanks to the September 11th attacks, when foreign-born players had to show their birth certificate to apply for a work visa. Nearly 300 players saw their birthdays change from this. Overnight Ozuna was four years older and a utility player, not a highly touted prospect. And he also did draft Looper 3rd overall, so it’s not like he didn’t agree with the consensus that relievers could be very valuable.

But I will also say for a guy who was known for trading for veterans, our past looks a lot different if he decides to trade for Barry Larkin. Renteria was, mostly, not as good as you remember, because his bat wasn’t very good in his Cardinals tenure – the run environment then was crazy in the steroid era – however he did peak more in line with when the Cardinals were genuine title contenders. Larkin had already peaked, although he did have a peak season left in 1999, but that wouldn’t have made the Cardinals a playoff team.

More importantly, they held onto JD Drew who later net the Cardinals Adam Wainwright. Imagine that alternate history where the Cardinals get Larkin! He would have pivoted, but it is very difficult to imagine the last 25 years going as well as they did if they made that Larkin trade.

The slow decline in the prominence of the starting pitcher in baseball has been in full swing for decades. In the place of hurlers that would routinely throw every pitch of a game when called upon has come an increasingly large carousel of single-inning (or less) relievers.

The prevailing strategy throughout the league can be summed up like this: fewer pitches per pitcher, but more effort per pitch. Whatever you or I think about the aesthetics of this change, it has seen widespread adoption from MLB teams with the understanding that it gives them the best chance to win each game.

As behind the times as the Rockies have been in recent years, even they had adapted to this particular facet of modern baseball before the offseason front office overhaul brought in a new perspective on the sport. Some of what the Paul DePodesta-led front office was trying to change about the moribund franchises’ approach to pitching was signposted clearly (larger pitch arsenals, pitch suggestions from the dugout, and simply throwing the ball in the strike zone more often).

However, perhaps the most profound shift wasn’t noticeable until the season started.

At the start of play on Thursday, the Rockies have had 20 relief appearances that lasted more than two innings. Only the Washington Nationals with 18 such appearances come close to matching this total. The Rockies are on pace to feature a reliever going more than two innings in 120 games this year, which would break the previous record of 116 set by the fledgling 1977 Seattle Mariners (one of only four teams with over 100 such relief appearances).

Unsurprisingly, the Nationals (173.1) and Rockies (170.0) also lead the league in total relief innings pitched this season. At first glance, this would seem to indicate that both teams have similarly used bullpens, but there is something that separates the two: While the Nationals are middle-of-the pack in terms of total number of relief appearances, the Rockies are tied for the fewest in the league.

The Rockies are leaning on their bullpen as a group just as much as anyone, but the shape of that usage is different. They have specifically stacked their bullpen with long-relief arms that are pitching more innings per appearance, but making fewer appearances.

One could assume that this was purely a byproduct of Chase Dollander essentially being used as a starting pitcher without getting that designation officially because he was paired with an opener. The Rockies, however, have so far had five different pitchers throw more than two innings in a game that they entered as a reliever:

• Chase Dollander (six times)
• Antonio Senzatela (four times)
• Tanner Gordon (four times)
• Zach Agnos (four times)
• Valente Bellozo (two times)

That’s just the Rockies major league team. The same strategy is also being employed in Albuquerque.

Isotopes Keegan Thompson, Carson Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP), Gabriel Hughes (No. 12 PuRP), Parker Mushinski, Patrick Weigel, and Collin Baumgartner have had two-plus-inning relief appearances more than once so far this season. This means that if/when the major league pitching staff becomes depleted, either from injuries or trades, there is a surplus of longrelief capable arms ready to be called up.

It has become clear, based on comments made by DePodesta in recent weeks, that this was the intended plan coming into the season and not just a natural byproduct of the specific makeup of players in the organization he inherited. This may, in fact, be part of the workload management new bullpen coach Matt Buschman was starting to implement in spring training.

The thinking is pretty obvious: For a team that plays at elevation that lacks a rotation of aces able to go seven every night, the bullpen being composed of one-inning flamethrowers that empty the tank on every pitch leads to extreme second-half swoons. We’ve seen this exact story play out seemingly every year recently where the bullpen will come out the gates looking incredible in April, lead the league in usage, and then fall off a cliff by mid-summer. For evidence one need look no further than Jake Bird’s 2023, Victor Vodnik’s 2024, or Seth Halvorsen’s 2025.

By leaning into arms that pitch less frequently but longer when they do, the hope seems to be that the wear and tear of the same number of innings will be reduced. This could be through either more rest days or simply the idea that pitchers will naturally pace themselves and throw with less max effort if they know they are expected to be out there for longer outings.

Will this work? We won’t know until the grind of the season has had a chance to settle in on this new look bullpen. It is, however, just nice to see the organization genuinely trying new things instead of being content to fail in the same way every year.

On the Farm

Triple-A:Albuquerque Isotopes 12, Sugar Land Space Cowboys 2

The Isotopes keep raking. All of Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP), Blaine Crim, Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP), Chad Stevens, and Drew Avans had multiple hits including home runs from Stevens and Avans. Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP) only had a single hit… but that was because he worked a walk in all four of his other plate appearances. On the mound no one truly stood out, the closest being Welinton Herrera (No. 17 PuRP) who struck out three in two scoreless relief innings, but as a group Erasmo Ramírez, Mason Green, Herrera, and Blas Castaño combined to only allow two runs on six hits.

Double-A:Hartford Yard Goats 3, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 4

This was the Dyan Jorge game as he reached base four times and stole two bases on three attempts. Otherwise the offense was relatively quiet other than a double and a stolen base from Roc Riggio (No. 14 PuRP). Blake Adams was the bulk reliever, coming in after the opener Sam Weatherly, and didn’t allow an earned run over 5.1 innings. Ultimately it came down to a sacrifice fly bringing home a zombie runner in the bottom of the tenth inning that sealed the deal for the Rumble Ponies.

High-A:Spokane Indians 3, Tri-City Dust Devils 2

A tight affair that ended with a walk off RBI single from Roynier Hernandez in the ninth. To start, Jordy Vargas (No. 21 PuRP) took the ball and set the town with 5.2 innings of one run ball before handing it over to Bryan Perez and Fisher Jameson to finish out the remaining 4.1 innings. Almost everyone in the lineup reached base at least once but it was Jacob Humphrey (two for three with a stolen base) and the aforementioned Roynier Hernandez (three for four with a walk) that were the difference makers.

Low-A:Fresno Grizzlies 2, San Jose Giants 12

The Grizzlies had an all around poor showing in this one. On the mound Austin Newton allowed six earned runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings and it only got worse after that when Manuel Olivares walked four and allowed three hits over 1.1 innings and Austin Emener “closed out” the game with another three runs over two innings. In terms of the lineup, while Carlos Renzullo had a nice day at the plate with two hits and a walk, the only runs were accounted for by a two run shot from Ethan Holliday (No. 2 PuRP) to go along with his three strike outs.

The Quiet, Unmistakable Ambition of Kyle Karros | Blake Street Banter

This is an in-depth piece by Eli Whitney that features a wide ranging interview with Karros. It covers everything from the differences between him and his dad, his love of third base, and his dreams of bringing October baseball to Denver. It’s a fantastic interview that I cannot recommend enough.

These young starting pitchers are emerging as MLB aces | The Athletic (Gift Link)

Chase Dollander’s hot start to the season is starting to be noticed by media outside of the Rockies direct orbit. Jim Bowden places him amongst young stars like Cam Schlittler and Jacob Misiorowski as one of the burgeoning aces throughout the league. The particular insights aren’t new to folks who frequent Purple Row, but it is nice to see this start to percolate to the general baseball public.

Mejia embraces new pitching philosophy, K’s 5 of 6 in relief | MLB.com

Thomas Harding talks to Juan Mejia about the adjustments he’s making that are leading to his success early in the season. It’s interesting to see the coaching staff be able to help him through the growing pains of competing at the major league level, especially considering Mejia is one of the few true max-effort short relief options in the Rockies current bullpen.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Triple-A: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 8, Norfolk Tides 6

Norfolk’s offense did some good things in the losing effort. José Barrero hit two home runs, bringing his season total to six. Creed Willems added a two-run shot, which was also his sixth round-tripper of the year. The only other RBI came from Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and the aforementioned RBI. The rest of the Norfolk lineup was rather quiet. The team struck out 12 times and had just two at-bats with runners in scoring position.

But that would have been enough to win if not for a late collapse from the bullpen that saw them allow five runs in game’s final two innings. Six different Tides pitchers took the mound. Cameron Weston started and allowed two runs on two hits, two walks, and four strikeouts over 2.2 innings. Yaqui Rivera followed with one run allowed and four strikeouts over his 2.2 frames. Andrew Magno recorded two outs without allowing a baserunner. Nick Raquet is where the wheels started to fall off. He gave up two runs in his two innings, and then Cameron Foster was handed the loss by giving up three runs and recording just two outs. Hans Crouse came on to retire the final batter of the ninth.

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 19, Altoona Curve (Pirates) 4

This was a seriously impressive showing from the Baysox lineup. They scored more runs than they had hits because they were so darn efficient with runners on base. The club went 9-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left just three runners on base all game. Home runs also helped. Five different Baysox hit home runs and all of them came with runners on base. Anderson De Los Santos hit a three-run shot. Carter Young smacked a two-run dong. Frederick Becosme drove in two with his homer. Ethan Anderson had an Earl Weaver special. And Tavian Josenberg had two RBI on his first long ball of the year. It’s a lovely box score to skim through.

The pitchers, overall, did well too. Sebastian Gongora went six innings and allowed just one run while striking out seven. His season ERA is down to 3.62 on the year, and he has now struck out 35 batters over 27.1 innings. The lefty could be one worth watching. Juan Rojas had a tough day, allowing three runs in his lone inning of work, but it was also just his second appearance at Double-A. Eric Torres closed out the win with two scoreless frames.

High-A: Frederick Keys 11, Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 5

Here’s another big scoreline from an Orioles affiliate. Frederick collected those 11 runs on 15 hits and three walks, and they went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Ike Irish continued to rake, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, a walk, a stolen base, four runs scored, and two RBI. Him and his 1.055 OPS might be ready for another challenge soon. Not to be outdone, Wehiwa Aloy may have been even better on this day. The shortstop was a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles, a homer, a walk, one run scored, and four RBI. Victor Figueroa added a double and two RBI while Colin Yeaman hit his first career home run.

It was a mixed bag on the mound. JT Quinn, the starter, gave up two runs (one earned) while walking five and striking out two in his three innings of work. Eccel Correa earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings in which he struck out four batters. Keagan Gillies recorded four outs without allowing a run, three of those came via strikeout. Chandler Marsh allowed two runs over 1.1 innings. And then Braeden Sloan coughed up a run in the ninth.

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Salem Ridge Yaks (Red Sox) 4

Caden Hunter turned in one of the better pitching performances of the day. He tossed four scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and a walk while striking out six. J.D. Hennen was charged with just one earned run, but the Ridge Yaks scored all four runs of the game against him. That is a reflection of the messy game that the Shorebirds played. They made four errors and uncorked three wild pitches. After that, though, it was smooth sailing. Kenny Leiner, Bradley Brehmer, and Riley Cooper combined to throw 3.2 scoreless innings and close out the win.

Raylin Ramos led the offensive effort for Delmarva. He went 2-for-4 as the DH, stealing a base and driving in a run in the process. Braylon Whitaker and Félix Amparo also had two hits each. Amparo added a steal, an RBI, and two runs scored. Jose Perez’s double was the team’s only extra-base hit of the day.

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

Norfolk: vs Gwinnett, 12:05 pm. Starter: Levi Wells (2-2, 4.28 ERA)

Chesapeake: vs Altoona, 6:35 pm. Starter: Juaron Watts-Brown (0-1, 13.50 ERA)

Frederick: vs vs Jersey Shore, 7:00 pm. Starter: Boston Bateman (0-2, 6.35 ERA)

Delmarva: at Salem, 6:35 pm. Starter: Esteban Mejia (0-2, 7.36 ERA)

At the end of last week, Thomas Nestico made the following post and caught many Red Sox fans off guard:

Yes, that’s the Boston Red Sox up near the top of the teams leaderboard in Defensive Runs Saved, and you know what, I don’t think it’s a fluke.

Up until the last handful of days, the quality of the Red Sox defense has been easy to ignore for several reasons. They include, but are not limited to:

• The Red Sox leading the American League in errors during each of the last three seasons before 2026.
• The Red Sox starting off 2026 with the most errors in the AL again over the first couple of weeks (before really cleaning it up of late).
• The team’s dreadful 9-17 record over the first 26 games overshadowing any finer details.
• Roman Anthony getting the yips for the first few series of the year and having a few bad throws go viral.
• Caleb Durbin’s ice cold bat out of the gate obscuring the fact that this dude can really play some defense.

Understandably, the vibes weren’t great. But now we’re a week into May, and with the dust settling, the metrics under the hood don’t just look good, they look really, really good. So good in fact that if the Red Sox can get the top of this rotation healthy with Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray in the coming weeks, their whole run prevention philosophy just might pay dividends.

Let’s take a more detailed look at what these Defensive Runs Saved figures look like for the ten Red Sox players with the most defensive innings logged so far in 2026 (going into Wednesday night’s game):

Several things jump out here, so let’s take a quick trip around the diamond and understand how the Red Sox might be this good defensively.

First up (and most complex), Roman Anthony — because against all odds, I think the yips or whatever was going on with his throws earlier in the year are actually working to his advantage now. (God I love baseball!) His problem isn’t arm strength (that actually grades out as a weapon with an 89.9mph velocity average), his issue was either mechanical or in his head, leading to a handful of throws so bad they went viral.

However, Roman’s good throws are actually really good. So you’re left with a situation where teams saw the few horrendous throws earlier in the year and wanted to pick on him. But what they’ve actually done in the process is give him more opportunities to throw guys outs, and he’s taken advantage of that, with two assists in one series against the Blue Jays last week. You want a guy that’s impossible to scout against? I give you a left fielder who throws a 35 foot worm burner one week and then nails you from 200 feet away the next.

At the same time, Anthony also makes tremendous reads on the ball off the bat and takes very efficient routes when tracking down fly balls. So even though he’s not the fastest guy in the world and doesn’t make many flashy highlight plays with the leather, he gets to way more balls than you’d otherwise think at first glace. You know how he’s really good at reading a ball out of a pitcher’s hand and therefore knows how to work a bunch of walks at the plate? Well, that’s his superpower all over the diamond. His initial reads are so good that in just 65 career starts in the outfield over both the 2025 and 2026 seasons (37 in right and 35 in left) he’s already racked up a +13 Defensive Runs Saved total.

Is the metric overrating his defense some? Almost certainly yes! But when it comes to the question of whether he’s an above average defensive outfielder, it almost doesn’t matter because anybody who lands this far on the positive side of the spectrum in so few games is good. It’s just a matter of how good when all the details fill in over time. This is a big part of the reason why I was so concerned in early April when he started throwing the ball away. Anthony’s career ceiling is so much higher as an above average defensive outfield as opposed to getting pinned to DH.

Then we have Wilyer Abreu. In his case, we can just go straight to the video for from last night.

This is a prime example of how the Red Sox run prevention strategy can totally alter a game. They ended up pitching a shutout, but if this ball falls in, it’s at least 2-0 and probably 3-0 Detroit in just the second inning.

Great DRS numbers are one thing, but when you see it in practice, working to propel the team to wins on the field, it’s something to get extremely excited about. Abreu is getting it done.

Elsewhere, Caleb Durbin’s been fantastic defensively, and the more you see him work his glove magic, the more you realize it’s not a fluke. In fact, the biggest threat to losing his defense is his bat potentially being so terrible you just can’t afford to keep him in the lineup every day. However, he’s started to hit a tad more lately, and if that’s a sign of things to come, it again bodes well for the Red Sox defense long-term.

On the other infield corner, you have Willson Contreras, who has been as good as the Red Sox could have hoped for at the position. Even if he’s not going to be this good going forward, the former catcher again has enough innings at first base now to know you’re at least going to get some brand of plus defense here as well.

Then from there, you have what I think might be the most exciting part of the calculus. Ceddanne Rafaela and Marcelo Mayer haven’t even hit their defensive strides yet. We know how good Rafaela can be in center, and he hasn’t shown that yet in 2026. Mayer meanwhile can play anywhere in the infield and make it look smooth as butter. While his 2026 numbers don’t jump out in limited innings at second base yet, I’m confident that he’ll not only improve there, but that he’s also capable to taking the reigns from Trevor Story at shortstop at some point. If that happens, you then also potentially improve Trevor Story’s defense with a move to second base, where he was excellent in 2022.

In other words, so much of the momentum driving the Red Sox production in the Defensive Runs Saved department has been on the corners (Durbin, Contreras, Anthony and Abreu), but between Rafaela in center and a swap between Mayer and Story that feels like it needs to come at some point this season, the Red Sox can actually unlock a whole additional level of defense right up the middle of the diamond they haven’t really displayed yet.

Their defense isn’t just good; it has the chance to be above average everywhere. And the deeper we get into the season, the more this is going to matter as game-saving defensive plays are often contagious. If what’s going on under the hood is remotely real, it’s only a matter of time before the Red Sox start stealing a bunch of games with their gloves.

Good morning, baseball fans!

We are in the middle of a new feature for May that I’m calling the “12 Days of Mays-mas” because I won’t be around for this week, and I want to leave you guys with some fun things to watch while I’m gone.

For the seventh day of Mays-mas, I thought we would continue in our series of no-hitters and revisit Tim Lincecum’s first no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in 2013. This one was on the road, and it was a blood bath on both ends, with the Giants scoring nine runs and taking the stress off early and Lincecum himself dealing and crushing the hopes and dreams of Padres players hoping to not get embarrassed.

I know we revisit this one fairly often, but honestly can you ever really watch these too many times? (I will make an attempt to give it a good long rest before we do these again, I promise.)

In the meantime, grab your coffee, settle in, and enjoy!

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants are off today, but they will welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to Oracle Park tomorrow to begin a three-game series.

Today’s Reflections

I was just wrapping up Cub Tracks for you good folks, checking for mistakes and broken links, giving the news feed one last refresh—

I (and probably a lot of Cub fans) feel like they are standing on the precipice of either the second World Series appearance in a decade (the Dodgers just moved to the AL, the Angels moved to the NL) ….. or utter devastation. Standing on that cliff, we look behind us and see an offense, mostly starting to click really well, foaming at the mouth, waiting for their chance to SMASH BASEBALL!

Then we look over the edge of the cliff and see the pitching staff — anybody that stands 10 inches above the height of home plate — and they are just ….. foaming, and decaying, period.

We turn back to the hitters and tell them:

Here’s an interesting quote from below: “This is the most unlucky and unfortunate injury-impacted season in recent Chicago Cubs memory”. Obviously, Mr. Cerami isn’t anywhere near old enough to recall 1985. This is where we call upon Al: Wrigley Field History, April 16, 1985:

Everything looked great for the Cubs that year, even into June; they won on June 11, running their record to 35-19, four games in first place. But then the starting pitchers began to get injured. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. All five starters — Sutcliffe, Eckersley, Scott Sanderson, Steve Trout and Dick Ruthven — spent time on the DL.

It’s not a mirror image and we still have Shota. And we’re used to a couple dozen bullpen injuries at a time. But, yeah. PLEASE be careful, Shōta! Let someone brush your teeth for you, for God’s sake! You, too, Colin Rea! I don’t want to see another 37 stories in a row about YOUR injury. Or xxxxx’s, or xxxxx’s, etc.

(Sigh) Let’s at least start the links with what yesterday was SUPPOSED to be about — recollection and celebration:

*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.

• Jesse Rogers (ESPN): ‘What even is that pitch?’ An oral history of Kerry Wood’s 20-K day. “It was an otherwise nondescript day. In fact, it was a forgettable one.”
• Jordan Llanes (Clutch Points): Cubs’ Jed Hoyer preaches patience on big trades, but has team in position to strike. “Chicago Cubs president of baseball ops Jed Hoyer preaches patience when it comes to blockbuster trades yet has the team in position to strike.”
• Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib): Injury to huge potential Cubs trade target could change the equation at the deadline. “(Joe Ryan’s) imaging showed no structural damage in his elbow and he’s expected to make his next start, but you can bet the Twins – and any team with interest in shoring up the rotation this summer will be keeping a close eye on him.”

• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib): Cubs hit with crippling surprise Matthew Boyd injury news (with bizarre origin story). “A meniscus trim would likely have Boyd back in the rotation by the end of July. A meniscus repair would sideline Boyd for the remainder of the season ….. No, it wasn’t anything Boyd was doing on the field that caused the injury. Instead, he was sitting down to play with his kids.”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): No, Freakin’ Way: Now Matthew Boyd Is Getting Surgery (UPDATE). “You have GOT to be kidding me. According to Taylor McGregor, Matthew Boyd is getting surgery on his meniscus (knee) and “will be out for the foreseeable future.” I don’t even know what to say, other than this seals it: This is the most unlucky and unfortunate injury-impacted season in recent Chicago Cubs memory.“
• Tommy Erbe (SportsNetOnTap): Chicago Cubs Trade Target Emerges In Wake Of Matthew Boyd News. “After the Chicago Cubs announced Matthew Boyd would be on the shelf for “foreseeable future,” a possible trade target has come forward.“

• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): How Ryan Rolison Explains the Universe (Kind of) (For Now). “The Cubs have won back-to-back games in walkoff fashion, and each time, the win has gone to an unlikely pitcher. Lefty reliever Ryan Rolison is an emergency fill-in for a bullpen with higher-octane arms. He’s also what makes the Cubs great in 2026, in microcosm.”
• Nick Hudson (SportsNetOnTap): Carson Kelly Proves Knowing The ABS Zone Is A Game Changer. “Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly’s use of ABS is ridiculously good. The system is improving games and creating real momentum swings.”

• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): Alex Bregman’s Power Is Coming Back and in a Really Encouraging Way. “In the first year of a $175M deal, yeah, we’re justified in expecting more. But here’s the thing, I actually do think that’s coming. In fact, it’s already started, and in a sustainable way.”
• N.B. Linberg (Fangraphs.com): Which Young Player Will Your Favorite MLB Team Extend Next? “Franchises have never been more aggressive in extending their top prospects. These are who could be next.”
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times{$}): Nico Hoerner, MVP of smoking-hot Cubs so far, has more and more people talking. “Given the Cubs’ 13-game Wrigley Field winning streak entering Wednesday, it seemed like a fine time to ask around about who is “the man” on a team with a long list of guys playing well.“
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Winning Is Fun, Which Means Cubs Baseball Is Very Fun Right Now. “It’s like experiencing the Platonic ideal of a chair, only to then be forced to go back and use highly imperfect recreations in perpetuity.”
• Max Ralph (MLB.com): Rojas, Cubs No. 4 prospect, hits 4th homer to continue strong Double-A start. “Jefferson Rojas had a shaky start to his time in Double-A as a 20-year-old last season. Now with another trip around the sun under his belt, the Cubs’ No. 4 prospect is raking at the level.”
• Tommy Erbe (SportsNetOnTap): Numbers Suggest Michael Busch Is Climbing Back Up To Normalcy. “Michael Busch is heating up offensively; the numbers prove it. When Busch is on, so too are the Chicago Cubs.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): With Wrigley Field rocking, the Cubs are setting the stage for a big trade deadline. “All things considered, the first-place Cubs (24-12) are in excellent shape.”
• Zachary Cariola (Sporting News): National League Central labeled one of the most ‘chaotic’ by MLB expert. “According to MLB.com’s Will Leitch, the National League Central is considered the third-most chaotic division in Major League Baseball, with a score of 7/10.”
• Randy Holt (North Side Baseball): Alex Bregman Has Been Fine for the Cubs So Far. Is ‘Fine’ Good Enough? “In many ways, Alex Bregman has been exactly who the Cubs thought he was when they signed him to a five-year deal this winter. In other ways, they’re still waiting for him to get going.”
• Nick Hudson (SportsNetOnTap.com): Carson Kelly Proves Knowing The ABS Zone Is A Game Changer. “Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly’s use of ABS is ridiculously good. The system is improving games and creating real momentum swings.”

• Anthony Laurila (Fangraphs.com): Cubs Prospect Jonathon Long Has a Long Swing That Pairs Power and Contact. “Ranked 17th on our recently released 2026 Cubs Top Prospects list with a 40 FV, the 24-year-old first baseman has a profile that is promising, yet in some ways concerning.”
• Zachary Draves (ClutchPoints): What Pete Crow-Armstrong said about Michael Conforto’s clutch walk-off home run.

• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): Chicago Cubs’ Moisés Ballesteros is always on the attack: ‘He’s just incredibly confident’. “Moisés Ballesteros carries a mantra with him into the batter’s box.”
• Joe Maddon (The Athletic {$}): Joe Maddon: These are the 3 best leaders I managed in MLB. “In a dugout during the game, if someone screwed up on the field, I never had to walk down and tell the player on the bench.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic{$}): As Moisés Ballesteros navigates breakout season, Cubs have clear vision for rookie. “As yet another line drive rocketed off Moisés Ballesteros’ bat during spring training, Cubs manager Craig Counsell was business as usual as he turned to the club’s hitting coaches assembled in the dugout: We need to talk.”

Food For Thought:

Muddy Waters was, in many ways, the archetypal bluesman. He was raised as a sharecropper in the Mississippi Delta, where he learned to play an acoustic guitar. He went to Chicago in 1943, and the band he assembled established the electric blues sound. Over the next three and a half-decades, his band became a springboard for many of his sidemen, launching a prominent school of blues performers.

Muddy Waters was born McKinley A. Morganfield on April 4, 1913 at a small enclave in Issaquena County, Mississippi known as Jug’s Corner. Muddy usually cited Rolling Fork as his home. The area, near the Mississippi River, was wet, and his grandmother nicknamed him because of the mud puddles in which he played. Muddy’s mother died when he was very young, and her mother raised him. She moved north to the Stovall Plantation outside of Clarksdale before Muddy was three years old. He stayed there, for the most part, until he was thirty years old.

Animal rescuers in British Columbia came to the rescue of a blue heron that turned out to have a talon stuck inside a giant oyster’s shell. The Dewdney Animal Hospital in Maple Ridge shared a video explaining rescuers responded Saturday to a report of a blue heron that appeared to have its leg caught between rocks in the water off Vancouver’s Stanley Park. The rescuers arrived to find the rocks in question were actually the two halves of a giant oyster’s shell.The post joked that the oyster “got shellfish and clammed up, which really shucked.”

The bird and the oyster attached to its toe were taken to the animal hospital to be separated. Veterinarian Adrian Walton injected fish anesthetic into the oyster’s shell and was then able to pry the shell open and release the heron’s talon. The heron suffered some torn ligaments, so it was fit with a splint and transferred to the Wildlife Rescue Association of British Columbia for rehabilitation. (VIDEO)

7 Travel Destinations for 2026 Nobody’s Talking About (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.

Joey Cantillo, Austin Hedges stealing multiple bases, and a very timely challenge were the magic recipe for a victory over the Kansas City Royals. Nick has the Game 3 recap here. First pitch for Game 4 is today at 2:10PM EDT.

As Hedges continues to have a successful start to the season, many can’t help but look at Bo Naylor’s lackluster start. Quincy took a look at Bo Naylor’s offense yesterday to break down his stats.

With the Guardians win last night, Cleveland remains in first place of the AL Central and returned to .500. The Detroit Tigers are 1.0 games back from the Guardians. The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays are the only team in the American League above .500. The Cleveland Guardians and Athletics are the only other teams in the AL at .500.

Around the League

The Tigers are having a rough go of things. Framber Valdez was suspended for 6 games (1-2 starts) for hitting Trevor Story. A.J. Hinch was suspended for a game for the same altercation. On top of the suspensions and recent injuries, the Tigers fired their AAA manager due to an inappropriate text message sent to a female colleague.

Matthew Boyd injured his left meniscus and will require surgery.

Carlos Correa will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. No, not that ankle, the other ankle.

With Sonny Gray returning to the rotation last night and Ranger Suarez (hopefully?) avoiding a trip to the IL, it’s time to stop and reassess what’s the best version of the Red Sox rotation going forward.

Garrett Crochet last pitched on April 25th and would be eligible to come off the IL as soon as next Tuesday (although there are reports that he won’t be ready that quickly). Regardless of the exact date, the Red Sox are on track to get Crochet, Suarez, and Gray back as the top three guys in the rotation by the second half of the month, which means we might have a good debate on who should be the No. 4 and No. 5 guys soon.

Is it just Payton Tolle and Connelly Early and that’s the end of the conversation? Does Bello get more shots as the bulk guy? Does Jake Bennett impress with his opportunity? The next handful of days could make a huge difference for everybody.

Talk about this and whatever else you’d like in this thread here, and as always, be good to one another!