Category: Sports News

Astros fans, at this point in the season, it doesn’t matter if you’re a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of fan, I’m here to tell you there is no need to panic.

Just like after the first series of the season, when I said it was far too soon to get worked up over a rough start, the message remains the same now. Take a breath. It’s early, and everything is still in front of this team. Unlike a lot of teams in MLB, you have replacements waiting in the wings to fill-in where necessary.

Let’s start with some context. The Astros are currently on the road, playing in Colorado, where the altitude is always a factor. That alone can skew performances, especially for a pitching staff that is still trying to find its footing. Then you go to the Athletics series, where the team is playing in a Triple-A ballpark, a place where the Astros have traditionally struggled, against an A’s offense that tends to perform better at home.

Despite all of that, the offense, aside from the last two games, has been outstanding. In fact, it’s been one of the best in the American League. That’s not something to overlook. You have a big picture example of the depth that I will be focusing on in this article, with what the infield has been able to overcome. Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa have been able to miss games and the runs and hits keep on coming. Christian Walker has been a huge bright spot and the best should still be yet to come.

When you check the standings, the bigger picture becomes even clearer. The Astros are only a game and a half behind the Texas Rangers entering play Thursday, and the Mariners, Angels and Athletics right now are all bunched up with the Astros. In other words, there’s no ground lost that can’t easily be made up no matter how bad it has looked lately.

Pitching Concerns Are Real, But Manageable

If there is a legitimate concern, it’s the pitching staff.

Bryan Abreu has struggled while trying to fill in for Josh Hader. The starting rotation, overall, has been mediocre at best.

But here’s the good news: help is on the way, and unlike many teams, there are options.

The Astros are approaching a stretch where they’ve already indicated a desire to move to a six-man rotation. That opens the door for several arms to step in and make an impact. With Cristian Javier now dealing with a shoulder issue and headed to the injured list, the opportunity becomes even more real for others.

No, this rotation may not currently feature the same level of established aces as last season with Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez leading the way, but it does have depth. And depth matters over the course of a long season.

Options, Options, Options

The Astros have several viable candidates ready to contribute.

J.P. France has already been called up and is expected to start during the Seattle series. Beyond him, you’ve got arms like Colton Gordon, Jason Alexander, and Spencer Arrighetti, who is scheduled to take the mound Thursday night, all waiting for their chance.

Don’t forget about Miguel Ullola, who impressed in spring training and showed promise last season. He’s another name that could factor in as the season progresses.

This is the time for opportunity. With multiple starters currently sidelined, the Astros need to identify who can step up and replicate the kind of contributions they got a year ago from players like Brandon Walter and Alexander.

Reinforcements Are Coming

It’s also important to remember that no matter what happens now, it won’t affect the future. Pitchers like Ronel Blanco, Walter, and Hayden Wesneski are currently on the injured list recovering from major injuries, but down the road they will add even more depth to the Starting Pitching in the Houston system.

That kind of depth puts the Astros in a far better position than many other teams around Major League Baseball.

And if you’re still looking externally, there are options there too. A veteran like Lucas Giolito remains available on the open market and could be a potential addition if the team decides to explore outside help.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, this rotation may not look exactly like the one you expected coming into the season, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be effective.

There are plenty of capable arms, plenty of opportunities, and plenty of time.

So before you hit the panic button, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. The Astros are still in a good position, with everything they want to accomplish still right in front of them.

One day late in spring training, when many Yankees and the cameras that follow them were in Lakeland for a game against the Tigers, Ryan McMahon took batting practice off a machine at Steinbrenner Field.

Almost no one was around that day, not with roster decisions being finalized and half the team on the road. But it was clear to anyone who was there that he was working on something, looking back at coaches between swings, watching the flight of each ball closely, shaking his head after mishits.

As he swung, Aaron Judge ambled out of the dugout and leaned against the back of the cage, eyes locked on McMahon. He stayed there for the next 20 to 30 minutes, sometimes popping out to start his now-iconic swing, using it to demonstrate the way he keeps his weight on his back leg and how his hands go from ready and waiting to heading toward the ball with no added motion. When McMahon hit the ball, Judge watched until it landed. Between swings, he offered encouragement.

“I’m telling you, man,” Judge said after McMahon sent a line drive to right center, as if urging McMahon to see new possibilities. “You have great power to all fields.”

McMahon, 31, has demonstrated consistent 20-home run power during his 10-year major league career. But he has never exactly been known for his hitting. What Judge seemed to be suggesting, and what Yankees coaches, tweaking things, seemed to be hoping, is that it was not too late to make improvements.

Early this season, he has struggled to provide even his usual levels of production. He, like many of his teammates, went hitless in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Jeffrey Springs and the Athletics. That leaves him 2 for his first 29 at-bats this year — and one of those hits was a seeing-eye single on Opening Day.

The veteran’s first few weeks have been so frustrating offensively that his manager came to his public defense Thursday, insisting to reporters that McMahon is “a good major league hitter” – something managers do not often have to say when all is well.

“It’s 10 games. He’s scuffling right now, but the reality is, he’s been on base four times, too, with walks and hits and big at-bats,” Boone said Wednesday. “We want him to improve even who he’s been, obviously, in his career. And he’s off to a slow start right now, but a number of guys are.”

Though McMahon has been somewhat vague, those improvements Boone referenced largely center on McMahon changing the way he positions his body as part of an effort to be more on time. That is what McMahon was trying to feel that day in spring training, and when asked about it weeks after the fact, McMahon needed no reminding.

“I know exactly what you’re talking about. It was right near the end of spring training, right?” McMahon said. “That day, I had been struggling. Still am a little bit, but I’ll grind through it…”

That day, McMahon recalled, he was “grinding” through cage work while Judge was waiting for his turn. At one point, Judge walked over and looked at the iPad recording McMahon’s swings. He listened to what he and the coaches were talking about. Then he pulled McMahon aside and said, “I’ve got an idea for you.”

“He started talking, told me what he thought. So I said, ‘I’m going to go out and hit this machine until I can feel it,’” McMahon said. “He completely stops his routine. Comes outside to watch me. Pauses everything he’s doing that day. Watches every swing I take. Helped me out big time.”

McMahon estimated Judge added an extra hour to his work that day – an otherwise quiet one that veteran hitters not in the lineup treasured for its brevity after weeks of spring training drudgery. And when presented with the idea that Judge, a massive righty with an unorthodox swing, might not be the most relatable instructor for a slight lefty with a more traditional one, McMahon interrupted.

“Yeah, but he understands. He understands how things can apply to other people,” he said. “The way he does it, what works for him is being extreme. Where I think he understands with other guys, it might not be extreme, but he can still talk the swing. They’re still mechanics that he knows and is trying to execute.”

As for those mechanics, McMahon has largely been vague about exactly what he is working on during his early-season struggles. But he said most of his work during that last week of spring training and the first days of the regular season centered on timing.

“Just trying to be able to swing as soon as that guy releases the baseball. And that’s like, a pretty well-known, obvious thing to do. But it’s hard,” McMahon said. “Being in a better spot, being close to that launch spot – where you launch your swing from. Making sure you can feel that and swing as soon as you need to.”

McMahon is not a member of the Yankees because of his bat. As long as he climbs out of his slump and into regular production levels, he will be fulfilling his duties to them. But they and their captain seem to believe he can do more offensively than he has in the past.

The start of McMahon's season has been frustrating. But for now, with an 8-4 record and other sluggers to carry them, they can afford to see if he can prove them right.

The Blue Jays’ series with the Dodgers this week brought back nightmarish memories from the 2025 World Series.

In Wednesday’s game between the two teams, when Shohei Ohtani started on the mound and batted in the Dodgers’ lineup, Toronto outfielder George Springer spoke with the umpires about limiting the time Ohtani had between innings.

The gripe was the second time the Blue Jays have brought the issue up, the first coming in last season’s World Series.

During the Fall Classic — where Los Angeles outlasted Toronto in seven games for its second straight title — Blue Jays manager John Schneider complained about it as well.

That came to a head in the first inning of Game 7, when Ohtani had yet to throw a warmup pitch when the television broadcast returned from commercial. A three-minute delay ensued, and similar pauses occurred in the next two innings.

Schneider was later seen tapping his watch as a reminder to crew chief Mark Wegner to remember the time. 

Fast forward to this year’s series, and the Blue Jays clearly haven’t forgotten about October.

Ohtani is a special case, though. Most starting pitchers don’t need to worry about taking their gear off after running the bases or an at-bat. Ohtani, the sport’s two-way phenom, obviously does.

Per MLB’s rules, umpires can give pitchers more time to warm up if there are “special circumstances.”

Pitchers are typically given two minutes to get ready after the conclusion of the previous half inning. In addition, Ohtani’s hitting capabilities helps him exploit another rule stated on the league’s website: “If the pitcher is on base, on deck or at-bat when the (previous) inning ends, the timer begins when the pitcher leaves the dugout for the mound.”

Funnily enough, Toronto ended up winning Wednesday’s game 4-3, despite losing the first two games. The Blue Jays were decimated 14-2 in Game 1. In Game 2, Schneider was tossed for arguing a balk call on starting pitcher Kevin Gausman, leading to a second defeat.

Through 12 games, Toronto is 5-7, tied for third in the American League East. It’ll need to start by forgetting its past ills to return to the Fall Classic again.

They say baseball is a marathon and no team has embodied that more in the first two weeks of the 2026 season than your Minnesota Twins. After a rough start, an April winning streak once again has the Twins right back in the mix for the third season in a row, sweeping the division-favorite Detroit Tigers and moving over .500 for the first time.

Starting pitcher Mick Abel was dancing through raindrops all afternoon. He ended up not allowing a run, but the Tigers were able to get the first two batters on base in each of the first two innings and had at least one batter in scoring position in five of the six innings Abel was on the mound. But you have to give him credit for battling through to keep the Tigers scoreless and deliver one of his best starts on a career-high 102 pitches. On a day where the bullpen was close to spent, Abel battled through and gave the Twins just enough length to squeak out a victory.

The Twins had plenty of base runners as well, despite just one run through the first seven innings. They took great at bats, hit balls hard that unluckily found gloves, were patient at the plate, and looked like a professional, complete lineup for the first time all season. Minnesota had at least one baserunner in every inning except the fifth, with the lone run coming on a Josh Bell moonshot to continue his hot start. 1-0 Twins.

After his three-hit afternoon, Bell is slashing .325/.440/.650 for a 1.090 and 173 wRC+. Will he keep it up for the entire season? Almost definitely not, but someone needed to step up while Buxton and Keaschall are finding their swings.

New Twin and someone you DEFINITELY knew about before this game Garrett Acton came in to pitch the 7th and hit Detroit’s no. 9 batter Jake Rogers and allowed a single to Colt Keith to put runners on the corners with one out. Gleyber Torres followed with a sac fly to knot the game at one apiece. Things could have spiraled from there, but a nifty catch in the left field corner by James Outman got the Twins out of the inning. Acton, thankfully, had a clean 8th, where the Twins were able to deliver the finishing blow in the bottom half of the inning.

With one out in the inning, Matt Wallner battled back from being down 1-2 to earn a walk, followed immediately by a Victor Caratini single to put two on for the bottom third of the lineup. Kody Clemens pulled a reverse Wally and went from up 3-0 to striking out, leaving things to Royce Lewis. After a brief mid-AB injury scare, Royce beat out an infield single and loaded the bases for Brooks Lee, who came in as a defensive sub after some pinch hitting switcharoos. Inarguably their worst hitter in the young season, Lee came up HUGE and delivered a single hit just hard enough to sneak past the glove of Detroit second baseman Zach McKinstry. That was all Garrett Acton and Eric Orze needed. 3-1 Twins win.

Before I wrap up my recap with a usual pithy comment of some sort, I want to give Royce Lewis his flowers. The overall numbers still aren’t looking great, but he is taking very good at bats, getting good hacks, and hitting the ball very hard even if it’s leading to outs. The season is incredibly young with the sample size incredibly small, but his 92.5 MPH average exit velocity is in the top 15% of the league. He’s DRASTICALLY reduced his chase rate and is top 15 in walk rate. That’s exactly how you make up your other physical tools taking a step back from his younger years. Plus, sprinting to to beat out an infield single immediately after tweaking your knee is something everyone in that locker room is going to love.

STUDS

• Josh Bell: 3-4, 1 HR
• Brooks: 1-1, 2 game winning RBIs
• Pitching B Squad (Abel, Acton, Orze): 9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 9 K
• Royce Lewis: see soliloquy above

DUDS

NO DUDS, TWWWWINS WWWWIN

We’ll see you all in virtual Toronto tomorrow night!

Make no mistake about it, the Chicago Cubs dominated the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025. 

The division rivals played 13 times last season. Chicago won 10. The Cubs outscored the Pirates 54-26 and hit .256 against Pittsburgh’s pitching. 

Chicago smacked an impressive 16 home runs, compared to the Pirates’ five, and earned a .740 OPS. The Pirates batted .182 as a team with a .523 OPS.

In all its charm, Wrigley Field has been a house of horrors for the Pirates in recent years. 

The Pirates (7-5) look to set a new precedent in 2026, beginning a three-game series at Wrigley on Friday.

In his first full season as manager, Don Kelly has watched a dreadful offense come to life through the first 12 games. 

After hitting a league-worst 117 home runs, the Pirates have already smashed 12, tied for 8th in baseball, and at one point held the National League lead.

A big reason why is offseason additions Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn, who have both hit three apiece. 

The offense ranks tied for 9th in hits per game (8.3), 9th in average (.247), 6th in on-base (.338), 8th in slugging (.383), and 7th in OPS (.721). The Bucs consistently ranked in the bottom third, if not last, in every category last year.

One early carryover is strong starting pitching. Pittsburgh owns the 6th best starters ERA at 2.87, third in the NL behind the Cubs (2.72) and Atlanta Braves (2.79).

Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller pitched in the Padres series at PNC Park, meaning the club will be without their top two arms against a vaunted Cubs (6-6) lineup.

Carmen Mlodzinski gets the ball on Friday, opposite Shota Imanaga, who has dominated the Pirates for what feels like more than a decade (despite it only being three years).

Mlodzinski has allowed two runs in each of his first two starts, but hasn’t been able to pitch out of the fifth inning. The third time through the order is where Mlodzinski, primarily a reliever in his career, has struggled to get through innings.

Saturday plates Braxton Ashcraft against Edward Cabrera, who hasn’t allowed a run in 11.2 innings for Chicago since being traded from the Marlins.

Ashcraft has been Pittsburgh’s surprise starter after an impressive rookie year. Ashcraft earned a 2.71 ERA over 69.2 innings spanning 26 appearances, eight starts.

He has pitched six frames in each of his first two outings and allowed two runs or fewer both times. 

All three games have solid pitching probables, but Sunday’s might be the most fascinating.

Former Pirate Jameson Taillon takes the ball against Bubba Chandler. The No. 11 overall prospect and second-highest ranked pitcher at the start of the season, Chandler touches 101 MPH with his fastball.

The problem is, you don’t always know where it’s going. Chandler’s control remains a main concern, walking 10 batters in 8.2 innings. He didn’t allow a hit over 4.1 innings in his season debut at Cincinnati, but walked six and struck out six.

Chandler walked four against the Padres on Monday and allowed five hits and three runs. 

Chandler has elite stuff, but has work to do to become a consistent pitcher that the rotation can depend on. 

Chicago was the preseason favorite to win the NL Central, providing three important games in April for who may take the grand prize in late September.

If the Pirates are going to begin to prove that their start and chances to compete in the Central aren’t a fluke, it begins on the road against a very good team.

All three games of the series will begin at 2:20 p.m. Eastern, 1:20 p.m. Central.