DETROIT (AP) — All-Star guard Cade Cunningham of the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons will be out at least another week in his recovery from a collapsed left lung.
The Pistons gave an update Thursday saying Cunningham will be re-evaluated in one week. He is working to return to the court being supervised by doctors and Detroit's medical and performance staff.
Cunningham is averaging 24.5 points and 9.9 assists for the Pistons. Only eight players in NBA history have finished a season averaging that many points and assists, and Cunningham would be the first to do so in a Detroit uniform.
The Pistons have clinched the Central Division and have a four-game lead over Boston for the top seed in the Eastern Conference with six games remaining in the regular season. They host Minnesota on Thursday night and start their playoff run either April 18 or 19 when the Eastern quarterfinals begin.
The Washington Wizards lost 153-131 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.Photograph: Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
The Washington Wizards apologized on Thursday after an April Fools’ Day in-game promotion during their loss to the Philadelphia 76ers prompted criticism on social media.
During Wednesday night’s game at Capital One Arena, a fan was brought on to the court for a blindfolded half-court shot promoted as being worth $10,000. The shot missed, but arena staff and performers reacted as if it had gone in and briefly presented the fan with a ceremonial check as part of what later was revealed to a scripted skit.
Video of the sequence circulated online and led to questions about whether the fan had been misled.
“To do this to a fan that chose to come see a 17-win team is unhinged,” Jemele Hill, a contributing reporter for the Atlantic, wrote on X.
“This is so on-brand for the Wizards season,” former NFL executive turned analyst Andrew Brandt added. “Finding new ways to offend their (few) fans.”
As the backlash mounted Thursday morning, the Wizards said in a statement that the segment was pre-planned and that all participants were aware of the joke.
“We apologize for last night’s April Fools’ joke that left many wondering if we had misled a fan,” the team said in a statement posted to X. “The skit involving our mascot and other members of our performance team was scripted and intended to celebrate the day. All participants were in on the joke, but we missed the mark.”
The team added that it remains “committed to providing a positive experience to all who attend our games”.
Washington lost the game 153-131 and are 17-59 this season, dead last in the Eastern Conference.
Feb 17, 2026; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) and pitcher Blake Snell (7) warm up during a Spring Training workout at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
The Los Angeles Dodgers finished the 2025 season with more days on the injured list than any other team—it hardly came as a surprise, considering the track record of this organization and many of its pitchers. While that illustrates just how often the Dodgers must turn to their outstanding depth, it doesn’t even cover the whole story. Occasionally moving to a six-man rotation—being quite strict about the pitch counts on their starters—the Dodgers are ultraconservative to benefit the most from their hyperaggression in capitalizing on their financial advantages to acquire a depth most teams do not and cannot possess.
Oftentimes, we look for one all-encompassing explanation when tendencies such as this one come together due to several different factors, one of which might be overlooked. Yes. The Dodgers have a lot of what one might refer to as injury-prone starters, but they don’t really handle these players in the same way that the other 29 teams would—Blake Snell this season being the latest and one of the better examples of it.
Snell and even Dave Roberts indicated at various points in the buildup to this season that the Dodgers were going to err on the side of caution with the left-hander. After sort of powering through some shoulder discomfort last spring—perhaps looking to prove himself the same way every player does after signing a big-money, long-term contract—Snell ultimately had to be put on the IL during the season. Although he came back in time for the playoffs, that scare inevitably led to a more cautious approach in 2026.
Snell is one of many talented and high-priced Dodger pitchers whom the organization can be cautious with, as it possesses the depth to withstand their absences over the course of a 162-game season. A different way to think about this situation is to ponder how big a health disaster would be required before your average fan was genuinely concerned about the Dodgers’ chances of making the postseason—something nearly treated as a foregone conclusion ahead of every season, however ludicrous that may seem.
Don’t get this wrong: if they all can follow the lead of Yoshinobu Yamamoto last season and deliver 30+ starts in the regular season and flourish in October, that’s even better. It’s also an unrealistic expectation out of a group with the injury track record of the likes of Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and company.
It’s impossible to gauge this properly, but there is a very real argument to be made that, individually, any of these pitchers—if they were to play on a more pedestrian team—would find themselves with a larger workload in the regular season or more often powering through potential concerns. Snell’s case is the latest, but even if we go back to Shohei Ohtani’s outlook last season, he could’ve been fully built up to pitch consistently far sooner than he did. However, coming off major elbow surgery in a bit of uncharted waters, the Dodgers only cared about having him at his best and with no restrictions to pitch in the playoffs.
All of this boils down to the Dodgers making the most of what they have. Maybe if the track record of Glasnow and Snell involved fewer concerns, the Dodgers would not have been able to add both of them—certainly not for the price each of them cost. And that’s just to name a couple of the more obvious ones.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 1: Cade Cavalli #24 of the Washington Nationals throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 1, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Nationals 6-5. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It has only been two starts, and neither of them have been dominant, but Cade Cavalli is showing exactly why the Nats are so high on him. Through 9.2 innings, Cavalli has posted a 2.79 ERA with 8 strikeouts and a .229 opponents batting average. He has also shown us the stuff that makes people so excited about him.
Cade Cavalli balled out this afternoon, delivering a quality start against the Phillies!
He used a high-velo fastball and a couple of breaking balls to keep the bats silent this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/gGVeCoDxPU
While Cavalli’s fastball velocity has been slightly down to start the year, his 95-98 MPH heater still has plenty of juice. It has a bit of a cut-ride shape and does a good job setting the table for his secondary pitches. Against righties, Cavalli also throws more of his sinker. I think he could stand to throw it even more against right-handed hitters. It has nasty movement and high velocity.
Despite having a fastball in the mid to upper 90’s, I think the secondary pitches are the real star of the show here. Cavalli’s power 12/6 curveball has long been his best pitch. He can throw it in the mid-80’s while getting the movement of a slower curve. It is a true hammer pitch where the bottom drops out of it. He can throw the pitch to righties and lefties, but I actually think it plays better against lefties.
That is part of why Cavalli had reverse splits last year. Lefties only hit .221 against him, but righties hammered him at a .381 clip. I do not think the curve is inherently worse to righties, it was more about the rest of his mix. Against lefties, Cavalli could rely on his changeup as a real third pitch and an offering that moved away from left handed hitters.
He did not really have anything that moves away from righties. The fastball is straight, the curve goes up and down and the sinker comes in on them. That made his mix pretty predictable. To combat that, Cavalli added a sweeper this offseason. Cavalli actually talked about the issues he had against righties during Spring Training.
Find out what Cade Cavalli's been working on to improve his arsenal, so long as his mustache doesn't distract you. 😂 pic.twitter.com/JKDgGxdcLz
In a limited sample size, Cavalli has been tougher on righties so far this season. He has issued more walks against them than you would like, but he has only allowed one hit to a righty so far. Cavalli is throwing his 4-seamer, sinker, sweeper and curve at least 16% of the time to righties. Those are four distinct weapons that have different movement patterns. This allows him to stay unpredictable.
Speaking of that sweeper, the actual movement profile of the pitch is interesting. It is almost like a second variation of his curveball. His sweeper has much more drop than the typical sweeper, but still gets that side to side movement. A reason for that could be how he throws it. Cavalli has said he throws it similarly to his curve, he just has a slightly different grip.
Cade Cavalli starts his season with a solid outing!
Cavalli added a curveball variation this Spring, labeled sweeper on pitch plots. It plays similar to a curve but has more two-plane movement, breaking down and to the left.
Regardless, the pitch is distinct enough to be effective. I also think his usage patterns and maybe even some of his shapes will evolve as he learns more about his new arsenal. We have not seen Cavalli’s A game yet, but he has still shown why he is so highly touted.
He dealt with the Phillies lineup pretty comfortably yesterday. With all of the big names in that lineup, this is no easy task. Cavalli also did not really seem to have his best stuff until the fifth inning. He was surviving in those first four innings, but in the fifth and sixth inning, he was dominating.
I actually think Cavalli could be even more unpredictable with his pitch mix. His changeup and sinker are both pitches I like, but he has not been throwing them a ton this season. The sinker usage is only at 14% and the changeup usage is only at 6%. I think he should use the sinker as his primary fastball to righties and he could mix in his changeup even more to lefties.
In 2025 and early 2026, Cavalli’s changeup has been a whiff machine. He had a 41.8% whiff rate on the pitch last year and it is up to 60% this year. Cavalli’s changeup was one of his best pitches in the minors, but it has been underutilized in the big leagues so far. I also think his sinker plays better against righties than his 4-seam does. Having the sinker moving in, the curve moving downward and the sweeper moving away would be a nasty combo against righties.
Washington Nationals' starting pitcher Cade Cavalli threw a quality start (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO) against the Phillies on Wednesday.
👈Cavalli threw mostly four-seamers (38%), knuckle curves (28%), and sweepers (17%) on Wednesday to left-handed hitters, compared to… pic.twitter.com/tfgcj1AkGA
Cavalli can do so many different things with the ball, so I think his pitch mix will be constantly evolving. Keeping hitters off balance needs to be a big part of Cavalli’s game. The biggest weakness I think Cavalli has is his command. His strike-throwing is solid, but his command within the zone is spotty at times. He will also have more bad misses than some other pitches.
However, I think Cavalli has the velocity, pitch mix and overall stuff to make up for that. If he can improve that command, especially with two strikes, I think he can take off. Even if Cavalli is what he is right now, that is a solid pitcher.
It took a long time to see the payoff, but the Nats have what they hoped they would get from Cavalli when they drafted him in the first round. He is a big righty with a power fastball, a pair of nasty breaking balls and a surprisingly good changeup. At 27 years old and finally injury free, Cade Cavalli is finally coming into his own.
Lacking Anthony Edwards and Ayo Dosunmu certainly did not help Minnesota’s chances, and the Timberwolves ultimately lost by 22.
However, focus on the pregame spread. It is more predictive moving forward.
Adjusting for homecourt, that spread should translate to that version of Minnesota being about a 10-point underdog tonight at Detroit.
But with Edwards and Dosunmu back in the lineup, that should shorten.
How much should it shorten becomes the question? Is 6-6.5 points enough?
Logically and mathematically, yes. This spread, and thus this moneyline are appropriately priced.
Now consider motivation: the Timberwolves need to win to keep pace with the Rockets for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, while the Pistons can cruise into the postseason as the East's top seed and hope Cade Cunningham returns before life on the court becomes dire.
Minnesota has a receipt to give Detroit, and it is in a moment when the Timberwolves already have plenty of reason to show up.
Timberwolves vs Pistons same-game parlay
With Jaden McDaniels sidelined, Ayo Dosunmu slides into Minnesota’s starting lineup for his sixth straight game. In each of his previous five starts with the Timberwolves, Dosunmu has scored at least 17 points.
Minnesota has needed that scoring, as Naz Reid is clearly struggling with a banged-up shoulder and some weary ankles. Reid has fallen short of this prop in four of his last six games, one of those successes coming by merely the hook. He has shot just 6-for-28 (21.4%) from deep in that stretch.
Betting on a Timberwolves’ Under while without Jaden McDaniels may seem bold. It may seem especially bold when including an Over on Minnesota’s best transition scorer.
But the psychological truth is, the Timberwolves' best offensive players — Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle — step up their defense only when Minnesota is without a defender like McDaniels or Rudy Gobert.
Minnesota’s last five games have all gone Under their totals, with an average margin of 19.5 points. Find more NBA betting trends for Timberwolves vs. Pistons.
How to watch Timberwolves vs Pistons
Location
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
Date
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Tip-off
7:00 p.m. ET
TV
Prime Video
Timberwolves vs Pistons latest injuries
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Wednesday was a rough day at the park for Francisco Lindor.
The Mets’ usually fundamentally sound veteran shortstop committed not one, but two costly mental mistakes in what ended as a frustrating walk-off loss to the Cardinals.
First Lindor forgot how many outs there were, calmly jogging to second for the force and turning to the dugout on what should’ve been a routine inning-ending double play in the first.
Freddy Peralta easily escaped after, but it cost the starter five more pitches.
Lindor would hurt the Mets a bit more a few innings later, though, as he was picked off first a few pitches before Juan Soto broke a scoreless tie with a solo homer in the sixth.
New York, of course, ended up losing the game 2-1 in extras.
Lindor did draw a walk for the fourth consecutive game, but he went hitless on the afternoon, leaving him with just one knock in 10 at-bats during the series in St. Louis.
Despite the tough day, former Mets shortstop Jose Reyes says fans need to relax about the five-time All-Star.
Relax everybody… my guy Francisco Lindor gonna be good. Bad days happen — that’s baseball. Could happen to anyone. He’s human just like all of us. Watch how he responds… this gonna be good for him and for the organization 🧡💙
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 21: Pitcher Tanner Gordon throws a strike during game two of the 2026 Colorado Rockies spring training at Salt River Field at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 21, 2026. The Colorado Rockies took on the Arizona Diamondbacks. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) | Denver Post via Getty Images
The Colorado Rockies have their first day off of the 2026 regular season following their surprise series victory over the defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays. It took the Rockies until June to secure their first series victory in 2025. Does this portend the Rockies are indeed an improved unit?
With the Rockies traveling back home to Denver for their home opener tomorrow, we can tune into some minor league baseball as the Double-A season begins this week! All High-A and Low-A will kick off their season tomorrow to mark the minor league season as fully started!
Check out the Weekly Pebble Report for a story on Charlie Condon as he nears the precipice of a potential Major League debut this season, and for our prospect report for last week!
All MiLB games today are listed in order of start time. Lineups will be added if/as they become available on team social media feeds.
Triple-A: Reno Aces (3-2) vs Albuquerque Isotopes (1-4)
Despite some excellent pitching from Tanner Gordon, Sean Sullivan, and Gabriel Hughes, the Isotopes have just one win in their young season thus far as the offense has struggled to launch. Gordon will toe the rubber again today while Blaine Crim and Zac Veen continue their rehab assignments in an early afternoon affair against the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate.
First Pitch: 12:05 p.m. MDT
TV: MiLB.TV
Radio: MiLB.TV
Lineups:
Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox (0-0) vs Hartford Yard Goats (0-0)
The Double-A season starts today with an Eastern League match-up. The Yard Goats clinched a postseason berth in 2024 for the first time in franchise history, only to miss the dance in 2025. What does this season have in store for them? Right-handed Jake Brooks—obtained from the Miami Marlins in exchange for Bradley Blalock this off-season—will start for the Yard Goats.
Golfer has pled not guilty to DUI charges in Florida
Footage shows Woods’s shock: ‘I’m being arrested?’
Hydrocodone pills found in pocket following arrest
Bodycam footage of Tiger Woods’s arrest for DUI shows the golfer looking surprised when he was handcuffed by police officers at the scene of a vehicle crash last week and telling a deputy he had spoken to “the president” on the phone after the incident.
“I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI,” Martin County Sheriff’s deputy Tatiana Levenar told Woods after officers conducted a series of field sobriety exercises on the 50-year-old.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- Following an off day after back-to-back losses, the New York Islanders were back on the practice ice in preparation for their Friday night showdown against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Friday marks the first leg of the Islanders' second-to-last back-to-back of the season.
They travel to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.
However, they will go to battle against Philadelphia without defenseman Tony DeAngelo and forward Simon Holmstrom.
DeAngelo, who sustained a lower-body injury while backchecking against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 4-3 loss on March 24, has not skated. His timeline was 1-2 weeks.
Holmstrom, who suffered an upper-body injury early in their 8-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday but stayed in the game, was unavailable on Tuesday in their 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
Head coach Patrick Roy had no further updates on either of his injured players, with their status remaining the same.
He did say that forward Anders Lee, who missed practice due to maintenance, will be good to go.
Here were the lines with Maxim Shabanov skating in Lee's spot:
#Isles practice lines are brought to you by @bullsmithsli (No Lee, Holmstrom, or DeAngelo):
The Hockey News asked head coach Patrick Roy about moving Calum Ritchie off of Brayden Schenn's line and sticking with Anthony Duclair in that spot for a second straight game.
Asked Roy about separating Ritchie from Schenn line & playing Duclair there instead:
“It's just the fact that Barzy & Duke played well together earlier this season, scored some goals. I think Cal playing with Pager and Ondrej, I feel like that's a good fit for them.”#Isles
NEW YORK (AP) — Michigan’s “Fab Five” will reunite during Saturday's Final Four.
Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson will be part of an alternate broadcast on truTV and HBO Max when the Wolverines face Arizona in the second national semifinal. The winner will advance to play Connecticut or Illinois for the title on Monday night.
“It's going to be great, and we're excited about it,” King said Thursday in a telephone interview. “It’s a symbol of our support of the University of Michigan, especially because our team is doing so well in the tournament. The team has looked good all season, being dominant and setting records and the way they’re doing it, it’s been fun to watch.
"We want to just come together and be fans of guys on the cusp of doing something historical.”
The traditional broadcast will be on TBS, TNT and HBO Max.
The five members of Michigan's iconic 1991 recruiting class, who led the Wolverines to the Final Four in 1992 and ‘93, have reunited only a handful of times. Rose and Webber have been part of TBS, TNT and truTV’s studio crew during the NCAA Tournament.
The Fab Five was estranged for many years because of Webber's association with a Michigan booster. The scandal resulted in the program having to forfeit victories from Webber's two seasons and the Final Four banners being removed. The NCAA also banned Webber from associating with the program for 10 years.
The relationship healed after Howard was hired as Michigan's basketball coach in 2019. Howard led the program for five seasons and was fired two years ago.
ECB and Ben Stokes say England places are up for grabs
With more of a sparkle in its eye than for years, the County Championship shimmies into life on Good Friday, coat done up, gloves fastened.
After years of wrangling, the schedule has been settled (for now), and the three-year Kookaburra ball trial, which had seam bowlers weeping into their Weetabix, dumped, but there is still place for a regulatory tweak, and it’s a substantial one. This year, the England and Wales Cricket Board is trialling substitutes, allowing a player to be replaced by a fully playing sub, rather than just a covering fielder. And the terms of reference have broadened too: the system will cover sickness and significant life events – such as the birth of a child or a family illness – as well as injury.
Jonny Farmelo’s professional career has unfortunately been defined by his absence. First battling a torn ACL, Farmelo missed the bulk of his debut season, cooling some of the momentum he’d built after a hot start had him rapidly ascending up prospect rankings. Opening last season late due to an oblique injury, he would again return to the injured list with a stress fracture in his ribs that sidelined him until early August, limiting his season AB total to just over 100. Having notched just 350 PA’s in the minor leagues, Farmelo is still a bit of a mystery at this point, but with the immense upside his tools provide him, he remains within our system top five and is primed to be a “breakout” prospect that’s entering his third minor league season.
— Baseball Unstitched (@BaseUnstitched) March 5, 2026
Farmelo is in a strange spot right now. A twitchy athlete with a unique swing that’s direct to the ball, Farmelo has the look of a high contact centerfielder that uses his borderline elite speed to make up for a lack of juice, but in reality, it’s kind of the opposite. Farmelo’s power is real, and coupling it with his speed/centerfield skills makes him an unbelievably exciting prospect, but Farmelo saw his contact numbers take a step back last season after his injury-plagued year. It’s natural to see some rust when a player misses considerable amounts of time, and Farmelo having been sidelined for nearly half of his time as a professional only compounds that issue, but the uptick in whiff is certainly something to be cognizant of.
Jonny Farmelo has been one of the best bats out of the Mariners top prospect core to start this spring.
3 hits in his first 8 AB's, his a prime candidate for a 2026 breakout. After playing just 29 games in 2025, this start is very encouraging to watch.
The ideal version of Farmelo has a blend of this power uptick mixed into his “old” offensive approach from his first year as a professional. Farmelo, an excellent base stealer, is capable of being a dynamic threat atop a lineup, but that profile is a bit tougher to justify if he’s running K rates just south of 30%. With his routinely robust walk rates and track record of displaying better K rates in the past, there’s less of a concern Farmelo has turned into a TTO slugger than his numbers might suggest, but it’s something fans should absolutely monitor this season. His first healthy opening day since his debut in 2024, this season will be a massive year for Farmelo, hopefully providing our first full season sample of the kind of player Farmelo actually is.
ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 26: Jordan Walker #18 of the St. Louis Cardinals reacts during practice prior to the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Thursday, March 26, 2026 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Thank you for the warm reception from my debut article. I’m sure I’ll have missteps along the way, but I’m aiming to live up to the high standard VEB has set. Expect to see me weekly going forward. I’ll see you in the comments!
This season is the year of reckoning for Jordan Walker. He comes from a seemingly endless line of Cardinals prospects over the years to never live up to the expectations put on them from a “draft and develop franchise.” Let’s rip the bandaid off and mention some names: Carlson, Reyes, Luke Weaver, Delvin Perez, even Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty to a certain extent. The Cardinals lost their way in prospect development in the same way if Walmart turned into a real estate company – you have to nail the stated mission if it’s going to be your stated mission.
This leads me to ask the ultimate existential question about the career of Jordan Walker: on this Easter weekend, is the resurrection of his career that we all want so bad even possible? Is there any historical precedent for becoming a productive hitter after essentially being the worst hitter in Major League Baseball? Or, have Jordan Walker and the Cardinals tag teamed this like Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber and wrung the head off a career that had so much promise?
Before I get into the historical precedents (kind of sounds like a journey through important Supreme Court cases – honestly it’s approaching that level of importance for the Cardinals), Jordan Walker deserves some praise for the early, early, early, early, (yes it’s early!) returns from this season. After struggling mightily in spring training and being banished to the hitting lab to adjust, Jordan Walker seems to have, well, adjusted. At the time of this writing, Walker is running a cool .294/.400/.538 line, good for a 180 wRC+. I can’t remember the last time he had a five game stretch that was this awesome. Here’s the kicker though, despite a recent rash of strikeouts, Walker is running a 15% K rate with a 15% walk rate. Those are Wetherholtian numbers (wow does that guy look electric!).
Yes it’s early, early, early, early, early (yes I’m still aware), but he has talked about his approach changing and simplifying the mental game. The Cardinals tried to change his launch angle (which did need to be fixed), and like a golf swing that needs work, opened up 2-3 other crisis level issues which combined to make him The Worst Hitter in Baseball (the capitals felt right for that distinction). If he can maintain this performance on a simplified track, perhaps there is hope. We discussed this further on our last episode of Redbird Rundown If you’d like more coverage and audio/visual is your thing. (Apple and Spotify links!)
Now, to tackle the original question of the article. Can we have an Easter resurrection of Jordan Walker’s career? Yes, it’s mostly been a crown of thorns so far, but is there any hope? I went searching for players in their age 21 to 23 seasons with an OPS+ between 60 and 80 and at least 500 PA. The results came back with 118 players – a ton of guys have struggled in their first attempts at Major League Baseball!
Let’s not pull any punches. Jordan Walker is dancing on a knife’s edge. The list is littered with guys that never made it offensively. In fact, from the list of players who met those statistical measures, a vast majority of them never made it. You didn’t need me to tell you that Jordan Walker’s career is on life support, but the historical record helped check him right into the ICU. But, we’re simply looking for what’s possible here, so where’s the resurrection hope? It exists on this list, too.
There are several hall of fame players (and hall of very good players!) populating the early-struggler list: Ron Santo, Carlos Gomez, Carlon Beltran, and Pete Rose among them. But a few specific results really stood out to me if we’re interested in rolling away the stone from the tomb of Jordan Walker’s career.
Mike Schmidt put together a .196/.324/.373 line as a 23 year old with a 30.7% K rate and no power to speak of – we all know how his career turned out. Aaron Judge didn’t even play in the MLB from age 21 to 23, and at age 24 came up for a cup of coffee and struck out 44.7% of the time. Byron Buxton appeared to be a spectacular failure as the number one prospect in baseball and then ran wRC+ lower than Walker in his first two partial season before it came together for him.
I want to make sure and drive home an important point here though: The last two paragraphs were me cherry picking the absolute best case scenarios for the resurrection of Jordan Walker. It’s possible, but it’s not likely. Don’t get me wrong, I’m rooting for him to finally figure it out. With apologies to cleanup hitter Masyn Winn, we could use another power bat right in the middle of the lineup for years to come. The extremely early returns are encouraging thus far in 2026, but the hole that has been dug is quite deep. It turns out though, there is still hope for a resurrection from the historical record.
Let me know what you think in the comments! It was interesting to do this deep dive on Walker. If you’re interested in more thoughts and analysis live during games you can find me on twitter @mksmith86 or tons more in-game analysis and commentary from our podcast twitter @redbirdrundown2.
PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 30: Michael Soroka #34 of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitches during the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Monday, March 30, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
We’ve now had the chance to see every starting pitcher take the mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks – twice, in the case of Zac Gallen. The results have been somewhat mixed. On Opening Day, Gallen was undone by the prototypical “one bad inning,” but rebounded yesterday against Detroit, with six shutout frames. Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt also caught a severe case of OBI-itis. But Eduardo Rodriguez and, even more of a surprise, Michael Soroka (top) were both excellent. Soroka’s outing was, arguably, the best ever by any starting pitcher making their debut in a D-backs uniform. Did not see that coming.
The team should get Merrill Kelly back shortly, and it’s then going to be an interesting decision as to who gets booted to work long relief out of the bullpen. While Soroka would have been the man in that role, if Kelly was healthy for his planned Opening Day start, his dominant first outing throws that into some doubt. Pfaadt is probably the one on the shortest leash immediately, but we will certainly have another turn around the rotation before anything has to be decided. Kelly could be activated as early as next Wednesday, but that’ll depend on how he gets through his rehab start with Reno on Friday .
Further down the pipe, we will be getting theoretical staff ace, Corbin Burnes back. If he returns to the form he showed before getting injured last year, that will certainly be a significant boost to the rotation. All told, there are a lot of moving parts, and we are still very much in the part of the season where it’s a very small sample size. But who do you think will be the team’s most valuable pitcher this year? I’d probably suggest going with the average of bWAR and fWAR, since they do measure things in slightly different ways. But it’s really up to you, how to define the term. Of course, please explain your choice in the comments.
