Category: Sports News

Ladies and gentleman, James Wood is all the way back. After a rough second half and a concerning first couple series, the big fella is back to absolutely destroying baseball. I have to say, I’ve got to eat some crow on this. I said the Nats had a James Wood problem, and it turns out the other 29 teams are the ones with a James Wood problem.

In my defense, I was not the only one concerned. After a rough finish to last season, which saw him strike out nearly 40% of the time in the second half, there was reason to be concerned. However, at the end of the day, raw talent usually wins out. Everyone knew the talent level of Wood, it was just frustrating to see him not put it together after his amazing first half.

So what has gotten Wood back on track? The biggest thing I have seen is that Wood is hunting mistakes. For a while, Wood was simply too passive at the plate. He was letting too many meatballs just whiz by him into the strikezone. Right now though, you cannot sneak a heater by this guy.

Wood has clearly been in the lab with Matt Borgschulte working on his approach at the plate. During Blake Butera’s press conferences when Wood was struggling, he kept mentioning how Wood told him his swing was feeling great. That felt odd to me at the time, but now it makes sense. Wood did not have a swing problem, he had an approach problem.

He and Borgschulte have figured out the right balance between patience and aggression. Right now, Wood is just hunting fastballs and spitting on the breaking stuff. He is also hammering balls to center and left center, which is what Wood does when he is at his best.

The Nats have had a lot of great hitters over the years, but I am not sure any of them have quite the same amount of raw horsepower that Wood does. Last night, he hit two balls over 115 MPH. In the first inning, he hit an absolute laser on a line that almost carried out of the deepest part of American Family Field.

This kind of power is why he was a part of the Home Run Derby last year. Ironically, that event seemed to mess with his swing, so I don’t think he will be going back anytime soon. Wood being slightly hot and cold makes sense given his size and age. He is a massive dude who has plenty of moving parts to his swing.

That makes it frustrating when he is not on his game. However, when all those parts are moving well, it is like watching a beautiful symphony of destruction. Right now, his mishits are going about 100 MPH off the bat.

Seeing Wood when he is locked in makes his struggles even more frustrating. He is such a talented player, who has bat to ball skills when he is on his game. Wood has just three strikeouts compared to four walks in his last five games. This is not a Joey Gallo type that just misses at an insane clip. He works deep counts and can be passive when he is off, which can lead to strikeouts. 

There is some pure hitting ability here though. His quality of contact and line drive approach means his average will never get that low either. Even after his disastrous second half, Wood still had a respectable .256 average. When he is right, Wood is not just a one dimensional slugger.

This heater is insane to watch. The big fella has four straight multi-hit games. He is also the only player with multiple batted balls over 116 mph so far this season. His 24.3% barrel rate and 59.5% hard hit rate are absolutely bonkers.

After his strikeout heavy start to the season, Wood has managed to get his strikeout rate below 30%. That 30% mark feels like a magic number for him. With how big he is, there will always be strikeouts and that is fine. However, he can still be an elite hitter with a k% in the high 20’s. Once it gets to 30%, things start to get dicey for him. Right now, he is not even in the top 10 for number of strikeouts.

It is great to see that number get under control because we all know what Wood does when he makes contact with the ball. I would argue that Wood has the best opposite field power in baseball. He makes ballparks look small and hits balls out at crazy low trajectories. 

For a lot of players, they need to tap into their pull side to hit for power. However, that is not the case for Wood. He is at his best when he is thinking about going the other way. Wood is such a physical freak that he can hit balls out to left field like a right handed pull hitter. His air pull percentage is 2.7%, and do you know what, that is fine by me. 

When you have outlier power like Wood does, just do what makes you comfortable. For Wood to take the next step and become a 50 home run guy like Aaron Judge, he may need to pull it more, but he is 23, there is plenty of time for that.

For now, it is great to see Wood exhibiting a confident approach at the plate. At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, he was constantly on the defensive. Now, he is taking the initiative and putting pitchers on the back foot. When James Wood is doing that, he is one of the best hitters in baseball.

Diamondbacks News

Diamondbacks Mount Four-Run Comeback to Take Game One in Philly
Michael Soroka had his first clunker of the year, but he still managed to limit the damage after a four-run first inning to keep the team in the game. Then, the Diamondbacks went to work on Philadelphia’s bullpen.

Diamondbacks Five-Run Fifth Powers Comeback Victory
Michael Soroka gave up four runs in the first inning while battling control issues. Then, Gabriel Moreno was lifted in the third inning for a mysterious injury. Fans of the team would be forgiven if they decided to tune out and go watch something else. But then, the Diamondbacks shut down Philadelphia for eight innings and threw up a big inning of their own in the fifth.

Diamondbacks Engineer Major Comeback
Entering the game as an injury replacement, McCann’s bat helped power the Diamondbacks to another win.

Diamondbacks Remove Moreno from Game for Back Tightness
Let us all hope that the precautionary move allows Moreno to resume his catching duties sooner rather than later.

Lovullo Eyeing Weekend Return for Carroll
If this holds, we should expect to see Corbin Carroll back in the lineup this afternoon.

What the Mets Series Win Says About the Snakes
Eduardo Rodriguez and Jose Fernandez are making lots of noise and the Snakes are finding ways to win even with an ice-cold Marte and without Corbin Carroll.

Other Baseball News

Tigers’ OF Parker Meadows to IL with Broken Arm, Concussion
It is safe to say that Parker Meadows got the short straw in the horrific head-to-head collision with teammate Riley Greene on Thursday in Minnesota.

Ichiro Statue Unveiling Marred by Broken Bat
MLB pitchers should have though of that when trying to keep Ichiro from amassing the most hits ever.

Ohtani Surpasses Ichiro’s On-Base Streak as Streak Extends to 44
Okay, I’m starting to come around to the notion that this Shohei Ohtani guy might actually be okay at baseball.

Top-Five Up-the-Middle Defenses in MLB
With honourable mentions, the list extends to seven teams and yet, somehow Arizona still doesn’t make the cut. Seems a bit suspect to me.

The Mets are calling up veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel, as first reported by The New York Post's Jon Heyman.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said on Friday that there wasn't a timeline for the right-hander to join the Mets or if he had any opt-outs in his deal, but calling him up was a possibility.

"We continue to believe he can help us this year; he wants to help us," Stearns said. "We have a stable pen so far. We haven’t made a move, but eventually we will. He’s certainly a candidate when we have an opportunity."

The Mets signed the veteran to a minor league deal with an MLB camp invite in late January. He made six appearances during the spring, allowing three runs on four hits (two home runs) over six innings. The 37-year-old issued five walks with five strikeouts.

After breaking camp, Kimbrel pitched a 1-2-3 inning at Single-A St. Lucie with a strikeout on Thursday.

"Craig threw the ball well yesterday. That was very good to see," Stearns said.

This season for Kimbrel will be his 17th season in professional baseball. He appeared in just 14 big league games last year, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits in 12 innings pitched, after signing a minor league deal and spending the majority of his time at Triple-A. The right-hander did strike out 17 of the 49 batters he faced with seven walks while pitching for Atlanta (once) and Houston (13 times).

He pitched to a 3.00 ERA and 1.051 WHIP across 39 innings over 42 minor league appearances last season. He tallied 51 strikeouts to 21 walks. 

Kimbrel's last full major league season came in 2024 with Baltimore, and it did not go well for him as he was designated for assignment in late September after losing his spot as the closer. In 57 appearances with the Orioles, he pitched to a 5.33 ERA and 1.357 WHIP over 52.1 innings with 73 strikeouts to 31 walks. He had 23 saves in 29 opportunities.

Walker Buehler has had an uneven start to his tenure with the San Diego Padres. After two starts Buehler had only accumulated 6.2 innings pitched with seven runs allowed on eight hits with five walks and seven strikeouts. With Griffin Canning and Matt Waldron building up in an effort to return to the MLB roster after their respective rehab assignments, Buehler and German Marquez could be playing for respective spots in the San Diego rotation. Buehler pitched that way against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park on Friday night.

Buehler had his best performance since he joined the Padres on a minor-league deal in the offseason. He completed six innings and allowed just three hits. He did not allow a run or a walk and recorded four strikeouts. Buehler walked off the mound with a 2-0 lead and was in line for his first win with San Diego, but reliever Adrian Morejon gave up two runs, and the game was tied 2-2 when the Padres came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Gavin Sheets hit a one-out three-run home run that won the game for San Diego and extended their most recent win streak to three games. The start by Buehler was critical in providing the Padres bullpen some respite after the 12-inning game the night before. The home run by Sheets, his second of the night, ensured San Diego did not have to play extra innings on back-to-back nights.

San Diego and Colorado will meet in Game 3 of their series at Petco Park, today at 5:40 p.m.

Padres News:

• Jason Adam made his long-awaited return to the San Diego bullpen and faced just one batter to get the Padres out of the top of the eighth inning with game tied, 2-2. Adam needed just five pitches to get Ezequiel Tovar to ground out to third base. With Adam returning to the roster, San Diego had to make a corresponding move, and the Padres did so by adding Jeremiah Estrada to the 15-day IL with elbow tendonitis.

• It was a busy week on the road for the Padres as they left Petco Park for the hostile crowds of Fenway Park in Boston and PNC Park in Pittsburgh. San Diego showed its resolve, finning four of the six games before returning to Petco Park to host Colorado.

• Padres closer Mason Miller refuses to give up runs, in fact he does not give up hits either. The right-hander struck out all three batters he faced en route to the win over the Rockies on Friday night.

Baseball News:

• Max Muncy hits three home runs to help the Los Angeles Dodgers get past the Texas Rangers.

• Former Padres farmhand Brandon Valenzuela hit his first MLB home run as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

• Four UCLA pitchers combined for 30 strikeouts against Rutgers. The UCLA starter, Logan Reddemann, accounted for 18 of the 30 strikeouts int the contest.

• Detroit Tigers closer Kenley Jansen recorded his 478th career save, moving him into a tie for third on the career saves list.

• Tigers prospect Bryce Rainer crushed a 477-foot home run in a minor league game.

When the Cubs decided to largely run it back with a team that pushed the Brewers to their limits before falling just short of the NLCS, one might have hoped it would have been relatively smooth sailing for this team in 2026. This looked, on paper, to be a top 10 team in baseball. I had them pegged a clear cut below the best teams, but comfortably in the second tier of teams. Nothing has been easy and they have not, in any way, appeared to be a top 10 team.

In reality, this team has looked decidedly middle of the pack. Or perhaps a bit below. Of their six opportunities to date to be .500, they have been .500 five times. On Saturday, they’ll have their seventh opportunity to be at .500. Hopefully, they succeed again. A 50/50 record, in this instance, is better than the alternative.

So far, this team is hit or miss. The team has scored 39 runs in their six wins (6.5 runs/game). They have just 17 runs in their seven losses (2.43 runs/game). This team has already been shut out twice and scored only one run twice (winning one). They were shut out 10 times all of last year and held under two a total of 28 times. The results have been stratified and there has been very little offensive consistency, Hopefully, the return of Seiya Suzuki will give them a boost.

This one was all the more unfortunate because Shōta Imanaga was lights out. He faced 19 batters and struck out nine of them. He allowed no hits and just a single walk. You might recall that once before Imanaga started a game where the Pirates got no hits against Cubs pitching. I remember that one as I was driving home from a Rays game and listened to the last few outs of that game. It isn’t often that you can go into a game with a split of 0.35 ERA (career against the Pirates) and actually lower that number. It was that kind of day for him.

Unfortunately, the bats let him down and he has nothing to show for it.

Three Positives:

• Arguably Imanaga was so positive that all of the other performances pale in comparison.
• Ian Happ had a pair of singles and drew a walk.
• Carson Kelly had three walks and a single. The Cubs actually had six hits and drew seven walks and were held scoreless.

Honorable mention to Ethan Roberts (4 batters faced, 4 outs recorded) and Riley Martin (3 batters faced, 3 outs). They gave the Cubs every opportunity to come from behind.

Game 13, April 10: Pirates 2, Cubs 0 (6-7)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Shōta Imanaga (.350). 6 IP, 19 BF, 0 H, BB, 9 K
• Hero:  Carson Kelly (.145). 1-1, 3 BB
• Sidekick: Ian Happ (.100). 2-3, BB

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Caleb Thielbar (-.307). 0.2 IP, 5 BF, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 ER, 0 K (L 1-1)
• Goat: Pete Crow-Armstong (-.214). 0-4, DP
• Kid: Matt Shaw (-.185). 0-2

WPA Play of the Game: Bryan Reynolds batted with a runner on first and no outs in the seventh. He homered, breaking a scoreless tie. (.264)

*Cubs Play of the Game: Ian Happ batted with a runner on first and no outs in the sixth. He singled, setting up a golden opportunity. (.075)

Cubs Player of the Game: Imanaga, Kelly, Happ, other

Game 12 winner: Nico Hoerner 105-86 over Colin Rea (219 total votes)

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Edward Cabrera +6
• Nico Hoerner/Ian Happ (+1 today)/Carson Kelly (+2) : +5
• Phil Maton/Pete Crow-Armstrong (-2): -6
• Matt Shaw -7 (-1)
• Alex Bregman -7 (-3)

Up Next: Game two of the three game series. Edward Cabrera (1-0, 0.00, 11.2 IP) gets his third Cub start. He’s been superb so far. 26-year-old right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.25, 12 IP) also makes his third start. His two previous starts were at home. In 2025, he was better away (2.45 ERA) than at home (3.00). But he only had a total of 69.2 big league innings last year. In 11 innings across three appearances last year, he allowed four runs (three in one 9/15 outing).

Let’s hope Cabrera is able to continue his dominance and the Cub bats break through.

FYI: I am on vacation for the next week. Heroes and Goats will continue to run, but you can expect me to be a bit more brief and the timing could be a little different. I appreciate your patience with us in advance.

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The Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks meet today, with two starters taking the hill who have been underwhelming so far.

That matchup headlines my favorite MLB picks for today in the "no run first inning" and "yes run first inning" markets.

Here are my best NRFI bets and YRFI bets for Saturday, April 11.

Best NRFI/YRFI bets today

Pick	Odds
/ - YRFI	-113
/ - NRFI	-135
/ - NRFI	-120

Diamondbacks at Phillies: YRFI (-113)

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies continue their three-game set this afternoon, and we could see lots of runs.

Brandon Pfaadt gets the ball for Arizona, and he’s compiled a 6.75 ERA so far. The righty allowed a run in the first inning in his last start vs. Atlanta, and while the Phillies lost 5-4 on Friday, they scored all four runs in the first. 

As for the D-Backs, they’re up against Taijuan Walker, and he has an ERA over 9.00 so far. He’s given up seven first-inning runs across his first two starts, allowing three to the Rockies and four to the Nationals.

• Time: 1:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FS1

Marlins at Tigers: NRFI (-135)

The Miami Marlins send Janson Junk to the mound today, and he’s looked solid so far. The righty has a 3.09 ERA and a perfect 2-0 NRFI record.

Junk has come out and found a rhythm early, and that will be key against a Detroit Tigers team that has scored six times in the first this season. 

As for the Tigers, Casey Mize takes the hill, and he also has a 2-0 NRFI record through two outings. It’s important to note that Miami’s lineup has never faced Mize outside of Otto Lopez, and they’ve only scored once in the first inning in this young 2026 season.

• Time: 1:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marlins.TV, DSN

White Sox at Royals: NRFI (-120)

We’re looking at two teams who have struggled immensely at the dish in the first.

The Chicago White Sox are hitting just .140 in the opening inning, and they’ve had five NRFI. They’re also up against Michael Wacha, who has a 0.69 ERA so far, and has yet to allow a run in the first. 

As for the Kansas City Royals, they have 14 NRFI this year and are struggling to get it going offensively out of the gates. White Sox starter Erick Fedde also owns a 1-0 NRFI record.

Both of these clubs are towards the bottom of the majors in overall runs scored as well.

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN+, Royals.TV

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Hey, we saw a mix of Good Bryce Elder and Bad Bryce Elder last night. He was pretty decent outside of the home run through four innings. Then he was unable to muddle through the fifth inning. He left despite only throwing 76 pitches (huh, did we even see that last year).

I’m encouraged by the start of the year. Elder looks much more comfortable on the mound. He’s living up in the zone with fastballs, low with sliders, and pretty well on the corner he has too. I’m intrigued by the cutter, but I think he has more work to do with it.

So are you a Bryce Elder truther? Is he on a collision course with the All-Star Game again? I’ll have more about Bryce next week. But for now, I’ll paraphrase Michael Kelso: I think he is okay. There’s a fine line between like and love. But the line between league-average and 125 ERA-, that’s not fine at all.