Category: Sports News

German Marquez was not sharp in his start against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park on Saturday night. The former Rockies ace who was facing his former team for the first time, allowed three home runs and Colorado held a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning. In years past, the game would have been over essentially before it started, but this San Diego Padres team went to work. San Diego put up three runs in the bottom of the third inning after Manny Machado hit a two-run home run. The Padres added three more runs in the fourth when leadoff hitter Ramon Laureano hit a three-run home run to put San Diego ahead 6-4. But the Padres did not stop there. They added another run in the bottom of the sixth on a bases loaded walk to push the score to 7-4 and Jackson Merrill broke the game open with a two-run double through the middle of the infield with the bases loaded to give San Diego a 9-4 lead. The Padres would allow the Rockies to add another run to make the score 9-5 and with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Stammen had to call on Jason Adam to get the final out and slam the door shut.

Padres News:

• The San Diego Padres wanted to bring back Luis Arraez, but he wanted to play second base. The Padres could not guarantee Arraez playing time at his preferred position, so he became a member of the San Francisco Giants. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball says without contact-heavy Arraez at the top of the lineup, San Diego is working to find a new offensive identity.

• Craig Stammen did not have the best start to his managerial career, but it was not all bad either. Respondents who took part in the Padres Reacts Survey this week on Gaslamp Ball believe Stammen has earned a middling grade to this point in the season.

• Fernando Tatis Jr. found himself in a new position in Stammen’s lineup on Saturday night – second base. Xander Bogaerts got the night off, so Jake Cronenworth bumped to short and Tatis Jr. came in to man second base, while Nick Castellanos filled the hole in right field.

• Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union Tribune focuses his attention on Padres closer Mason Miller and his historic start to the 2026 season. Dennis Lin of The Athletic also focused on Miller and asked the question, “Can he be the first reliever since 2003 to win the Cy Young?”

• Griffin Canning continues his rehab work in the minors, while some of the top prospects in the San Diego system get in on the action.

• Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune provided some notes on the night that was on Friday, including Walker Buehler, Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada and the run of bad luck that has befallen Tatis Jr.

Baseball News:

• Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez became the first player in the organization’s history to have a home run against each of the 29 other teams.

• Former Padres pitcher Michael Wacha is off to a scorching hot start to the season and continued his success with eight scoreless innings Saturday.

• The Tampa Bay Rays did not need to hit the ball far to get what they needed to get a walk-off win on Saturday.

• Reliever Craig Kimbrel is returning to the MLB as a member of the New York Mets.

• Houston Astros pitcher and one of the top free agents this past offseason Tatsuya Imai is returning to Hoston for an exam after experiencing arm fatigue on road trip.

• Adley Rutschman lands on 10-day IL and Ryan Mountcastle leaves the Baltimore Orioles game against the San Francisco Giants early with a foot pain.

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Saturday, in case you missed it...

• Kodai Senga was hit hard, Luke Weaver allowed four late runs, and the Mets fell to the A's 11-6 for their fourth straight loss
• Command was a big issue for Senga, with manager Carlos Mendoza saying after the game that he "just didn't have it"
• It's been a rough start to the season for Francisco Lindor, who made another uncharacteristic mental error in Saturday's game
• The Mets DFA'd Richard Lovelady and called up Craig Kimbrel, who looked sharp in his debut with a pair of strikeouts
• Good news on the injury front, asClay Holmes is in line to make his next start after leaving Friday's game with hamstring tightness
  

The Detroit Tigers came into the weekend riding a five-game losing streak, including a four-game sweep at the Minnesota Twins. On Sunday, with their ace on the mound, the team has a chance to complete their reversal of fortune by sweeping the Miami Marlins at home.

AJ Hinch’s squad took the first two games of the series, 2-0 and 6-1, respectively, but earning that third victory will not be easy. Sunday’s pitching matchup is a marquee one: twice-consecutive Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal takes the mound for the home team, while the 2022 Cy winner Sandy Alcantara is up opposite him.

Here is a look at how the two match up.

Detroit Tigers (6-9) vs. Miami Marlins (8-7)

Time (ET): 1:40 p.m. ET
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site: None
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 16: LHP Tarik Skubal (1-2, 2.55 ERA) vs. RHP Sandy Alcantara (2-0, 0.74 ERA)

SKUBAL

ALCANTARA

If you are going to sit there and tell me you have not been entertained by the St. Louis Cardinals so far this year, I would have to check your pulse. Whether it was JJ Wetherholt homering in his debut then walking off one game later, Jordan Walker sitting at the top of every offensive leaderboard, or the team in general sitting above .500, the Cardinals have been a fun, yet frustrating watch early in the 2026 season.

Heading into the weekend against the Boston Red Sox (traveling this weekend so have to get this scheduled before the series), the Cardinals entered the series with a 7-5 record that could easily be 3-9 or 9-3 depending on which bullpen showed up that day. Entering the year with a somewhat trustable back end of the pen, it seemed that the relief corps could be an underrated strength for the team, as long as they got into the late innings with a lead. Turns out, that was not the case.

Should the Cardinals pay for bullpen support if they compete for the NL Central this year?

At the beginning of the season, I pointed out how the Cardinals once again made minimal investment into their relief corps. A year after signing Phil Maton to the team’s lone major league deal in 2025, Chaim Bloom enlisted the help of reliever Ryne Stanek to bolster an untested bullpen with a $3.5 million contract, along with a $6 million club option for the 2027 season (if it happens). Stanek was projected to work with JoJo Romero at the back of the bullpen before each of them are ultimately traded this year. Now, just a few weeks into the season, maybe the Cardinals should pump the brakes and revisit that bullpen set up.

Firefighter Matt Svanson has been anything but, although he did have a solid performance his late time out. To really nobody’s surprise, Chris Roycroft was downright awful before getting demoted, and I don’t want to hear how he got soft-contacted into bad luck because the eye test backed up him getting hammered. Justin Bruihl is just John King with a different name, and Jared Shuster was just called up to fill the spot vacacted by Roycroft. Rule 5 pick Matt Pushard is on the IL with a knee issues, but got hit hard in his one outing prior to the “injury”.

Putting big financial commitments into the bullpen is something that teams shy away from unless they have an elite closer or lockdown late-inning arm. The same holds true for the Cardinals, with everyone outside of Stanek still playing on their arbitration contracts. That is not really a bullpen alignment that is set up for success, especially when we assumed that Stanek and Romero were going to be dealt at the deadline if not sooner. In order to get the best out of Stanek, he will have to hone in his command, walking five batters and allowing seven hits in just 5.2 innings of work, but all five runs he has allowed came in just two games. Romero has been solid, but he is taking on the stopper role, rather than closer, as he has pitched in the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning this year. Gordon Graceffo has been sort of a final option when the game has been close, and he has been effective in 4.2 innings while being helped by his defense a couple times. George Soriano, who was acquired in the Andre Granillo trade, has made an impression with a couple stellar outings sandwiched between some mediocre ones. The most consistent has been Riley O’Brien, a sentence that probably was not expected to be said at any point this year as ROB has typically struggled with command and health so far in his big league career. Through the first 12 games, he has yet to walk a batter or allow an earned run and has already picked up three saves.

So back to the question at hand. If the Cardinals are near the top of the division and in striking distance as the season continues, should they revamp the bullpen?

As a fan, I always want the Cardinals to win. I want them to go 162-0 and win their 12th World Series title. But, as a realist, I also understand that the team is not in their competitive window just yet. I will compare them to the Chicago Bears from last season, so if you’re not a Bears fan (I’m not either, I just live in the Chicago area), skip to the next paragraph. Coming into this last year, the Bears were going through their own transition season, changing head coaches and leadership while trying to bounce back from a couple tough years. Then, they overachieved big time, winning the NFC North and advancing in the playoffs. As the season progressed, their roster holes showed up and fans were clamoring for their GM to go out and add a high-cost superstar who could help them win the Super Bowl. The reality of it, though, is that the Bears were not just one player away and really just in the beginning of their process, so like Chaim Bloom says, all moves (or non-moves) should be future-focused first rather than the short-term as the goal is to build a strong foundation. That is how I see the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals.

It is 12 games in, yes, but they have probably already surpassed some preseason expectations and have started to build some optimism among the fanbase who now feel that this team will not actually battle the White Sox for the worst record, which I was informed was the plan multiple times by many social media GMs. The reality is, this team was never built to be bottom of the barrel. The lineup featured major league hitters and the rotation had arms with a track record. It was not like the Cardinals were planning to give Johnny Nobody 500 at-bats and 30 starts on the mound. The goal was always see what their current crop of talent could do in order to see who will be around for the future.

Because of this, giving up long-term assets for a short-term bullpen game would be illogical for this iteration of the Cardinals, unless the entire lineup continues putting up Jordan Walker numbers and the rotation is full of top-three arms. Because of the implausibility of that, any success this season should truly just be basked in by the fanbase as we get a glimpse towards the next great Cardinals team already taking the field in St. Louis. Bullpen arms rise in costs as the deadline approaches and with more teams able to qualify for the playoffs, the price will continue to go up. The shift I would be okay with for Bloom and the Cardinals, would be to just hold onto Romero and Stanek, as long as they keep producing like late inning arms. With relievers though, it would likely be in best practice to hold true to the plan and get whatever they can from those two relievers and see where the season takes us.

What do you think? Memphis shuttle? Dumpster dive? Make a splash? Let me know!

Thanks as always!

Saturday’s game against the Rays was not pretty viewing for Yankees fans. The Yankees held two separate late leads against Tampa Bay, but couldn’t hold onto either. In the 10th inning, the Rays took advantage of the auto-runner and bunted the Yankees to death, eventually scoring twice in the frame to overtake the Yankees.

With the Yankees now firmly in their first annoying stretch of the 2026 season, let’s see what the competition around the AL did in Saturday’s games.

Minnesota Twins (8-7) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (6-8) 4

The Blue Jays only actually allowed the Twins to score in one inning of the game. The issue is that inning was a seven-spot, which was plenty enough to doom Toronto.

The Jays started the game decently enough, as Daulton Varsho hit a two-run homer in the first to give them the lead. However, things flipped in a hurry a couple innings later.

In the third, Brooks Lee led off with Minnesota with a homer, but Toronto starter Eric Lauer then recorded an out. It would be a while before he got his next one. The next five Twins’ batters all reached base, with Josh Bell giving them the lead with a two-run single. Lauer then finally got the second out, but Trevor Larnach responded with a three-run homer to break the game open.

On the mound, Joe Ryan mostly cruised for the Twins, allowing just two those runs on two hits in seven innings. The Blue Jays picked up a couple runs off Minnesota’s bullpen in the ninth, but it was too little, too late. Further worrying for Toronto will be that George Springer suffered a fractured toe after fouling a pitch off his foot. As of last night, he was undergoing further scans to see what the severity and what the next steps were going to be.

Boston Red Sox (5-9) 7, St. Louis Cardinals (8-6) 1

The Red Sox used a five-run ninth to get some separation and pull away from the Cardinals, who had previously threatened to rally.

For much of the game, Willson Contreras’ two-RBI double in the fourth inning held up as the lone run-scoring moment. Red Sox offseason signing Ranger Suarez was looking the part for them, as he allowed just three hits in six scoreless innings. The Cardinals’ pitching wasn’t terrible themselves, as those two runs were the only they had allowed for much of the game, despite other chances for Boston.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jordan Walker got St. Louis on the board with a homer, however that would be the extent of their rally. The Red Sox responded with five runs on six hits in the top of the ninth to take any drama out of the ninth inning.

Seattle Mariners (6-9) 8, Houston Astros (6-9) 7

J.P. Crawford’s walk-off single allowed the Mariners to come all the way back after trailing by as many as five runs.

The game featured some wild swings early. Initially, the Mariners took a lead in the bottom of the first, but the Astros immediately responded with seven runs over the second, third, and fourth innings. However, Seattle then put up a five-spot in the fifth to climb all the way back, with Julio Rodríguez finally getting in the home run column to tie the game up.

The game remained tied going into the ninth, despite the Astros recording 17 hits on the game. The Astros’ Bryan Abreu got the first out of the bottom of the ninth, but then proceeded to walk the bases loaded. Crawford then dropped a single into left field, allowing the Mariners to get the walk-off win.

As mentioned, the Astros had plenty of chances, but they finished the game with 13 runners left on base.

Other Games

• Detroit Tigers (6-9) 6, Miami Marlins (8-7) 1: The Tigers scored five runs over the first three innings and never looked back in a win over the Marlins. On the mound, Casey Mize gave Detroit 5.2 solid innings, allowing just one run. On offense, Riley Greene led the way, driving home four runs and going 2-for-3 with a walk.

• Cleveland Guardians (9-6) 6, Atlanta Braves (9-6) 0: Cleveland’s Parker Messick allowed just four hits and two walks in 6.2 shutout innings and the Guardians cruised past the Braves. José Ramírez gave the Guardians a lead with a homer in the third at-bat of the game, and they never looked back from there, as Messick dominated and Cleveland slowly and surely added to their lead.

Columbus Clippers 7, Worcester Red Sox 0

Clippers improve to 8-3

All the metrics had been saying Kahlil Watson’s improved approach was going to lead to results and they proved prophetic Saturday as Watson had one of the best games of his MiLB career, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, a triple a walk and a stolen base.

Travis Bazzana also had a monster game, going 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored while Nolan Jones also homered.

Starting pitcher Rorik Maltrud was sensational, tossing 6.0 shutout innings on just two hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

Dane Heuer, Franco Aleman and Steven Perez all followed with a scoreless inning of relief apiece, allowing just one hit while whiffing four combined.

Akron RubberDucks 11, Harrisburg Senators 3

RubberDucks improve to 5-3

Akron’s offense teed off for 11 runs on 14 hits Saturday, led by Wuilfredo Antunez, who went 3-for-5 with his second home run of the season and a triple.

Also having a huge game was Ralphy Velazquez, who blasted his second bomb of 2026 while going 2-for-5 with three runs batted in and two runs scored.

Nick Mitchell reached base safely twice, going 2-for-4 with a walk while Alex Mooney went 1-for-4 with a double and a walk and both Angel Genao and Jake Fox both went 2-for-5, with Genao also walking. Alfonsin Rosario doubled and was hit by a pitch.

Starting pitcher Cam Favors was outstanding, allowing one run on just one hit in 5.2 innings pitched. He struck out eight and walked three.

Matt Jachec closed out the victory with two scoreless innings.

Lake County Captains 0, Dayton Dragons 5

Captains fall to 3-5

There wasn’t much to say with this one. Lake County’s offense was practically nonexistent once again. No one reached base safely twice, although Garrett Howe and Jaison Chourio both doubled.

Starting pitcher Rafe Schlesinger was the tough-luck loser, giving up two runs on three hits in 4.0 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. He also hit three batters.

Cam Schuelke was the standout out of the bullpen, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.

Hill City Howlers 8, Fredericksburg Nationals 4

Howlers improve to 5-3

Hill City erupted for eight runs on eight hits with nine walks.

Catcher Tyler Howard went 2-for-3 with two walks. Jose Perela went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk and Luis De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Dauri Fernandes walked twice with a stolen base and Jonathan Martinez walked, was hit by a pitch and stole two bases.

Starting pitcher Harrison Bodendorf was terrific, tossing 4.2 shutout innings of two-hit ball while striking otu nine and walking just one. The 6-foot-5 22-year-old southpaw who was a 10th round pick out of Oklahoma State last year just entered my radar.

Detroit Tigers’ starter Justin Verlander is eligible to be activated from the 15-day injured list on April 16, but Verlander and the Tigers will take their time before talking about a date for a return. The long-time ace and future Hall of Famer was moved to the injured list on April 4 with left hip inflammation. However, the move was retroactive to April 1, meaning he could theoretically return on Thursday at Comerica Park against the Royals. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters before the Tigers victory over the Marlins on Saturday that a quick return isn’t in the cards.

Speaking to reporters after a Verlander bullpen session that reportedly went very well, Hinch said that it was still too soon to think about a timeline to activation. He also said that Verlander will at least need one rehab start or simulated game to stretch out fully before the Tigers consider taking him off the injured list. It’s possible that he could start a game for the Toledo Mud Hens sometime late this week or into next weekend, and then be on track to return during the Tigers’ home series against the Milwaukee Brewers from April 21-23.

Expect the timetable to be pushed back even a little further. If Verlander is going to rehab with the Mud Hens this week, he’d have to do so on the road in Louisville against the Bats. I suspect that the Tigers would consider that a sub-optimal spot for such an outing. Obviously a 43-year-old legend in the sport isn’t going to be taking the bus down to Louisville with Max Clark and the boys, but even on his own travel arrangements, the setting isn’t ideal.

The Tigers will want their own people with him to ensure everything in Verlander’s workouts and preparation go smoothly on start day. I’m not familiar enough with the Louisville Bats to evaluate their facilities, but the Cincinnati Reds affiliate is presumably somewhat less equipped than the Hens facilities after the Tigers and their affiliates put a lot of time and money into modernizing them over the past half decade. Much simpler to let Verlander stay in Detroit and simply drive down to Toledo on start day, prepare, pitch, and return immediately to Detroit for the usual post-start treatment and recovery protocols.

The Hens will return to Toledo on April 21 against the Omaha Storm Chasers, and that six-game set is probably more when we should expect a Verlander outing if they decide it’s worth giving him a Triple-A rehab start rather than just throwing bullpens and getting in a simulated game. Such an outing would no doubt be very well attended, and the Tigers would prefer their affiliates get a nice day at the box office rather than the Louisville Bats.

Of course, the crucial part of these considerations is the fact that Keider Montero has pitched well in two starts in Verlander’s stead. The 25-year-old right-hander has so far banished some of the control issues that plagued him in his first two seasons in the major leagues. After pitching for Team Venezuela in the WBC this spring, Montero never really got stretched out in the final weeks of spring training, and the Tigers kept his first outing for the Hens, as well as his two starts with the Tigers, on a short leash. Still, he’s thrown the ball well and shown maturity as in a pitcher in terms of course correcting when things start to go wrong in an outing.

Montero has allowed just two earned runs in 10 1/3 innings of work so far, and while it’s a very small sample, his walks are way down and his strikeouts are up. He’s looked very much in command of his game, and no doubt his performance has the Tigers wanting to see more before they’re faced with the tricky decision of how to proceed once Verlander is 100 percent. Montero’s success means there’s no rush to decide anything, but on the other hand, if he continues to pitch like this you can’t really send him down either, so the decisions do get tricker.

As I’ve said before, the reason for signing Verlander in the first place wasn’t nostalgia or overconfidence in his strong second half for the San Francisco Giants last year. Adding Verlander only cost the Tigers $2 million this season, allowing them to add starting depth without going over the luxury tax by deferring most of Verlander’s $13 million total. The penalties for going over and potentially losing revenue sharing funds would also hurt their draft pick compensation in 2027. This was just an opportunity to add depth into a pitching staff that doesn’t have much in the way of optionable members, knowing full wel that Verlander isn’t going to make 25-30 starts for them this season.

Adding Verlander gives them an additional usable starter without going over the threshold, but it also allows them a fair amount of flexibility. Plenty of teams make stashing an injury prone, but still effective veteran starter a regular feature of their offseason roster builds. A 43-year-old pitcher, no matter that he’s a freak and the greatest arm talent of the last quarter century in this case, is still 43 years old. Injuries aside, just to continue pitching at the game’s highest level takes a lot of work with the Tigers’ strength and conditioning staff, as well as with their physical therapists. It’s presumably rare that there’s literally nothing wrong physically, and that provides opportunities for the Tigers to give him stints on the injured list as needed, making sure that Verlander is only taking the mound when he really feels his best, while enabling them to use Montero or any other young starter who is pitching well.

In essence, you’re stashing an extra starting pitcher on the roster, knowing full well that you’ll never get 30 starts from them, and will instead have some flexibility in how that veteran starter and his replacement, Montero in this case, are deployed. That’s pretty useful depth, espcially early in the season when pitcher arm injuries are rampant. Later on in the season, the Tigers may have help coming in the form of Troy Melton or other young pitchers currently on the injured list. Right now, they need to succeed with what they’ve got. Of course, you can’t just hold a guy on the injured list forever with nothing wrong with them, and this is a lot simpler when the veteran starter isn’t a franchise legend. There may well come a point where some really difficult decisions have to be made. For now though, an issue is pretty easily massaged by stretching out Verlander’s rehab work.

So for now, stretching out Verlander’s timetable makes all the sense. If they have him throw bullpens this week, and then schedule a rehab start with the Hens somewhere in the 21-23rd of April, it allows Verlander to make such a start while still under the eye of the Tigers training staff, and pushes the decision on what to do when he returns off toward the end of the month.

Montero could then make another three starts while Verlander rehabs before the Tigers have to decide what to do with them both, and maybe two Verlander rehab starts are required, particularly if Montero is still pitching well. A lot can happen in a few weeks time during a baseball season that might make the longer term decisions simpler.

The first few weeks of the season are over and the Phillies continue flirting with .500. They haven’t played well overall, which might lead some to feel like the beginning of the end is nigh. We all know that core groups go through a prime and a downturn, but no matter all the data that is available in the world, it’s not possible to know exactly the point when a team will begin their decline.

It’s arguable that the Phillies have begun that slide, yet they have managed to win more games each year since 2017 (excluding the 2020) season, so that negates that argument to an extent in the macro. Down to a more granular level, some players are clearly entering the decline phase of their careers while others are still in the midst of their prime or perhaps even in the early stages of it.

That brings us to today’s question of the day: how is the team trending right now? Have they begun the downward slide that many teams eventually face, or are they still in the midst of a championship window? Is it possible that it’s both? Might they even be able to find greater heights than they already have? It’s debated often enough that it’s worth a day long discussion here.

Team News

Ketel Marte ends Diamondbacks’ 7-game home run drought in leadoff at-bat vs. Phillies
https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/ketel-marte-drought/3617527/

Gabriel Moreno reportedly headed for IL after D-backs’ 3-game winning streak ended by Phillies https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/gabriel-moreno-il-2/3617549/

It’s a girl! Pfaadt sports pink laces to help with gender reveal for brother’s familyhttps://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/brandon-pfaadt-pink-shoelaces-brother-s-gender-reveal

Latest Gabriel Moreno Injury Update is Brutal News for D-backshttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/gabriel-moreno-injury-update-brutal-news-d-backs

D-backs Have Cause for Concern With Brandon Pfaadt’s Slow Starthttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/d-backs-concern-brandon-pfaadt-slow-start

Why The Diamondbacks’ Pitching Dilemma Isn’t as Tough as it Lookshttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/diamondbacks-pitching-dilemma-soroka-pfaadt-nelson

Ill do some facts in the comments when Im off work at 1.