Category: Sports News

This is of course no surprise after the ugly collision between Riley Greene and center fielder Parker Meadows in Thursday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins. Meadows and Greene appeared to clip heads as the latter settled under a Josh Bell fly ball at Target Field in the 8th inning. Greene was able to protect himself but as Meadows tried to get out of the way at the last second, his jaw slammed into the back of Greene’s head. The initial blow left Meadows defenseless as he went to the ground, and he not only fell awkwardly on his left arm, but slammed his head pretty violently into the turf.

It was a scary one, and the results were confirmed this afternoon as Meadows went on the 10-day IL with a concussion, but also with a fracture in the radius bone of his left arm. That is rough. We can only speculate, but most likely that keeps Meadows out through May at a minimum, and it could be much longer. More important is a full recovery from the concussion, but that’s really tough luck coming after a 2025 season in which he suffered a strange nerve injury in his right arm that effectively ruined his season as he was never able to get it going offensively upon his return.

Outfielder Wenceel Pérez has been recalled from Triple-A Toledo in Meadows’ stead. Pérez had a slow spring and lost out on a close competition for one of the outfield spots coming into Opening Day. However, he’s swung the bat well with the Mud Hens, posting a .250/.353/.455 slash with two homes and strikeout and walk rates of 13.7 percent each.

Pérez has had starts in center field and left field in Toledo, but has mainly played right field with top prospect, or soon to be once Kevin McGonigle officially graduates prospect status, Max Clark handling center field most days. Clark himself has handled the leap to Triple-A extremely well so far. He’s hitting .405 currently with only three strikeouts in 52 plate appearances for the Hens. This after just 43 games at the Double-A level last summer. Clark already has eight doubles and five stolen bases and is walking at a 15.4 percent clip so far.

Were it not for McGonigle successfully skipping Triple-A entirely, we’d be marveling at how quickly Clark has adapted. The only marginal criticism right now is that Clark hasn’t actually driven the ball that much to the outfield. He’s sprayed a few doubles on a line shots down the foul lines, but most of them have come on a soft shots into the outfield in which Clark used his speed to turn singles into doubles.

There’s nothing wrong with those either of course, but a sign that he’s really conquered the level already will be seeing him drive the ball to the pull field a little more. We’ve seen him starting to get the ball off the ground, including a deep drive for a sacrifice fly on Thursday, so that final piece of the puzzle probably won’t be long in coming. The Tigers will just want to see that Clark’s batspeed upgrades this offseason, which has produced several balls over 110 mph off the bat early on, are translating fully to his hit tool. Pull power will be the sign that he’s about as ready as he’s going to get to make his major league debut. That probably won’t take too long at this rate, but the Tigers will want him as prepared as possible as they’d also prefer not to burn a full year of Clark’s service time unless he forces their hand early on.

Clark is coming, and on his current pace it probably won’t be more than a month or two, but for now expect Pérez, Matt Vierling, and Javier Báez to share time in center field. Hopefully Pérez, who typically keeps his strikeouts under control, can add a little more timely punch to an offense that has so far failed to capitalize enough with men in scoring position, at least until games were already starting to get out of reach.

Best wishes from BYB to Parker Meadows. Hopefully he can put this injury behind him. The arm injury is tough, but concussion trauma is obviously the scarier long-term concern.

You have spoken and honestly, your reaction was a little surprising. Given the negativity generated by much of the fan base around Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder coming into the regular season, only 12-percent were not-at-all sold on Elder’s strong beginning to the 2026 season.

That’s not to say most of you are convinced, with more than half of the survey respondents still having decent dose of skepticism towards Elder. But, given how much he struggled in 2024 and 2025, that is a bit more leeway than one might have assumed after only two starts regardless of how good they were.

We won’t have to wait long to see how Elder’s next start goes as he’s scheduled to take the mound tonight against the Cleveland Guardians – a team who, like the Braves, have yet to lose a series this year.

Thanks to FanDuel for sponsoring this SB Nation Reacts survey and please be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next one!

After two straight perfect days, the San Francisco Giants finally saw one of their Minor League Baseball affiliates lose on Thursday….and then another one, too. But it was still a very nice day on the farm. So let’s talk about it.

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

AAA Sacramento (8-4)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 9-0
Box score

Winning is not the most important thing in the Minor Leagues, but it sure doesn’t hurt to stack up some Ws. And that’s doubly true in AAA, where you want to see the players you’re likely to rely on during the year outclassing their competition. So it’s gotta put a smile on the face of many in the organization that the River Cats are off to such a hot start, and have now won 5 straight games.

Despite the shutout — a very impressive thing in the Pacific Coast League — it wasn’t a very notable starting pitching performance. LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 8 CPL) took the bump, and had the same issue he’s been having for a while: an inability to fool hitters in the zone, which leads to pitching them overly carefully, which leads to missing the zone entirely.

Whisenhunt threw 3 innings and struck out 4 (good) while allowing no runs (great), but he gave up 4 hits (not good) and walked 4 (quite bad). He needed 87 pitches to get through those 3+ innings (he started the 4th, but got no outs), and his ERA could have been a lot uglier, as he left the mound with 2 on and 0 out. That’s been the season for Whisenhunt, who has a tidy 3.86 ERA through 3 starts, and a delightful 16 strikeouts in 11.2 innings …. but with 9 walks.

In encouraging news, while Whisenhunt’s velocity has not maintained the highs he showed early in Spring Training, it is still notably improved over last year. In 2025 his 4-seam fastball had an average velocity of 92.3 mph, while this year it’s 94.0. Hopefully that can hold — or grow — throughout the year.

While Whisenhunt was so-so at best, the bullpen was nearly perfect. RHP Braxton Roxby had the unenviable task of taking over the mess that Whiz created in the 4th, and immediately worked a double play. Roxby would hit a batter, but otherwise wouldn’t allow a baserunner in 2 innings, with a strikeout. Roxby earned a promotion to AAA at midseason last year, and it didn’t go well. His start to the season didn’t go well either, for that matter. So nice to see him have such a strong game.

The same can be said of funky LHP Nick Zwack, who needed 15 pitches for a scoreless 7th inning, with a walk and a strikeout. A 27-year old taken in the 17th-round of the 2021 draft by the Mets, Zwack — who lost all of 2024 to injury — had given up 10 earned runs in 3.1 innings coming into this game. So a good game was a great sight.

But the best relief appearances came from a pair of arms on the 40-man roster: RHP Joel Peguero made his 2nd rehab appearance and pitched a perfect frame with a strikeout, while RHP Dylan Smith made his 2nd appearance since being traded to the Giants, and struck out 1 batter while perfectly handling the 8th and 9th innings.

While the bullpen was majestic, the 2 biggest stars in this game were in the batter’s box, with a pair of hitters who we all expect to see in San Francisco before terribly long. Catcher Jesús Rodríguez had the biggest day, as he hit a blistering 4-5 with a home run and a double, as he continues his absolute tear. Rodríguez, who has overcome a slow start to post a .941 OPS and a 153 wRC+, has an 8-game hitting streak, and over his last 4 games is 10-18 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, and 2 walks.

Have I mentioned that he’s still a few weeks away from turning 24? Or that he plays catcher and second base, and can hold his own at every position other than center field and shortstop? Yeah, I think he’s gonna wear a Giants jersey plenty of times this year.

That’s not a very hot take, but it’s an extremely not-hot take to say that about first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL), who factors into the team’s plans in a big way this year. And Thursday was a reminder as to why, as the tall lefty hit 3-4 with a double and a walk, raising his OPS to .933 and his wRC+ to 164.

While the hits were awesome, the lack of strikeouts is arguably the best thing that Eldridge did on Thursday, as his 31.0% K rate is fairly concerning. But it sure is great seeing his hard hits returning: his double was 109.4 mph, and one of his singles left the bat at 102.2.

Right fielder Will Brennan had an awesome day, as he hit 4-5 and knocked 2 runs in, raising his OPS to .889 and his wRC+ to 136. He’s certainly someone the Giants will be comfortable using if they have a hole on the roster that needs filling.

And shortstop Thomas Gavello, who has had to play out of position quite a bit given Osleivis Basabe’s injury and Tyler Fitzgerald’s departure, only hit 1-4 with a strikeout, but smashed his 2nd home run of the year.

Gavello, who is the perfect type of gritty utility player to have in AAA, has just a .614 OPS and a 42 wRC+, despite having a share of the team lead in home runs.

AA Richmond (5-1)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 3-2
Box score

Not to be outdone by their big brothers on the opposite coast, the Flying Squirrels also ran their winning streak to 5 games. And they did it in mildly dramatic fashion, with a 2-run comeback rally in the 8th inning, thanks to a bases-loaded single by first baseman Sabin Ceballos (No. 43 CPL), who hit 1-4 with a strikeout.

A very nice pitching performance for Richmond, with began with a 2nd nice start for LHP Greg Farone. A 7th-round pick out of Alabama in 2024, Farone is fronting a fairly uninspiring Richmond rotation despite mediocre results in High-A Eugene last year.

So far he looks right at home. Farone wasn’t quite as dynamic as on Opening Day, when he struck out 8 batters in 4.2 innings, but he was damn good. He tossed 4.1 frames, gave up just 3 hits (all singles) and 2 walks, struck out 5, and allowed just 1 run.

The strikeout stuff is definitely worth keeping an eye on for Farone, who turns 24 next month. He got a lot of Ks in the 1st half of last year, with 13 strikeouts per 9 innings with Low-A San Jose. But that number dropped to just 7.9 following his midseason promotion. Last year was his debut season, so the hope is always that he simply faded as he wore down following a big workload (he pitched 105.2 innings); but the fear, of course, is that his stuff just doesn’t play at higher levels.

We need a larger sample before making any grand proclamations, but so far in the Eastern League he has 13 strikeouts in 9 innings, and that’s fantastic.

Following Farone was a great story: RHP Mitch White. No, White is not the same Mitch White as previously played in the Giants system … this Mitch White is a 26-year old who was signed over the winter out of indy league ball, and is playing affiliated baseball for the 1st time in his life. I love those stories, and the Giants have a fair amount of them (including his Richmond teammate on the other side of the ball, Dayson Croes).

White made his pro debut in the season opener, and this was his 3rd game. It was also his best, as he threw 2.2 innings with 3 hits, 0 walks, and 1 run allowed, while striking out 4. Hopefully that’s the start of him finding his rhythm, and showing what he’s capable of in AA.

Rounding out the strong pitching day was RHP Cameron Pferrer, who was dynamic, pitching 2 no-hit innings with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Pferrer, a 27-year old who was an undrafted free agent in 2024, has yet to allow a hit through a pair of appearances this year.

The hitting was more mild-mannered, with no huge games. Right fielder Turner Hill had the best game, hitting 1-3 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout. It’s been a great start to the year for Hill, who turned 27 a few days ago. The 2023 undrafted free agent isn’t known for his bat, but he’s up to an .870 OPS and a 123 wRC+ on the year. Hill has a profile very similar to Jared Oliva: strong defense across the outfield, some burners for the basepaths, and just enough hitting to survive. And speaking of those types of players, center fielder Jonah Cox stole his 6th base of the year in as many games. Gotta love that!

High-A Eugene (5-1)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 14-5
Box score

Well, they can’t all be winners. While Sacramento and Richmond were achieving 5-game winning streaks, Eugene saw theirs come to an end. It was bound to happen eventually … it never seemed likely that they’d go undefeated this year, after all.

The star — if losses are allowed to have stars (I think so, especially in the Minors) — was someone who has spent the entirety of his brief Minor League career making the Giants look very smart: right fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL).

San Francisco drafted Cohen in the 3rd round in July, and it raised a few eyebrows because he wasn’t on many people’s radars. Most notably, despite being picked 85th overall, he wasn’t on the top 500 draft prospect lists at Baseball America or Fangraphs.

But listening to people who specialized in Cohen’s region (he played collegiately at Rutgers), it became clear that he was being overlooked, and fairly dramatically. His post-draft performance at Low-A San Jose supported that, as he posted an .840 OPS and a 139 wRC+ in 28 games, with just an 11.5% strikeout rate.

San Francisco rewarded him with an opening assignment in High-A, and after a slow start, he’s starting to turn things on in a big way. Thursday was one of his best days as a pro, as he hit 3-5 with all 3 of his hits being doubles. The 22-year old lefty also drew a walk, though he had a strikeout and an error as well.

With that, Cohen is up to a .767 OPS and a 110 wRC+, while still sporting a remarkably low strikeout rate of just 13.3% (he also has 4 stolen bases). I don’t think anyone can question that draft pick anymore!

A nice day for first baseman Robert Hipwell, who was in dire need of one. Hipwell hit 2-3 with a double, 2 walks, and a strikeout, which came after starting the season 0-10 with 6 strikeouts.

Strikeouts are the big thing for the left-handed Hipwell to work on. After a glimpse of Low-A in 2024 following his 6th-round draft selection, the recently-turned 23-year old spent all of 2025 at that level, where he had nice numbers (.824 OPS, 125 wRC+), but struck out a ton (31.2%). That will be the biggest thing to watch in High-A, as he’ll need to cut back on the Ks in order to advance to the upper Minors.

Also a good day for second baseman Zane Zielinski, who hit 2-4 with a double and a hit by pitch. The 2024 9th-round pick is repeating the level after skipping Low-A and spending his entire debut season with Eugene. His numbers weren’t great (hence the repeat), but he’s been hot to start this year.

The pitching was an absolute mess. It started at the top, as RHP Niko Mazza got rocked for the 2nd straight game, ceding 4 hits and 4 walks in just 3 innings, which tagged him for 3 runs (he did have 5 strikeouts, though). Mazza, an 8th-round pick in 2024, really just could not find the strike zone, as he threw just 31 of his 66 pitches for strikes. Mazza’s debut season in Low-A last year was a success, as he had a 2.22 ERA in 21 starts. But there were some worrying signs, as he had just a 4.36 FIP, thanks in large part to walking 5 batters per 9 innings. So far this year that has remained an issue, as he has 7 walks in just 5.1 innings (and also 7 hits and 7 earned runs).

Unfortunately, the pitcher who followed him was even worse, as RHP Cole Hillier gave up 3 hits, 3 walks, and a hit batter in just 1.1 innings, while allowing 3 runs.

But unfortunately, neither Mazza nor Hillier could compete with the disaster that took place on the mound for RHP Liam Simon. Here’s how his game went:

Single
Walk
Hit batter
Walk
Double
Single
Fielder’s choice with his own error

In all, Simon recorded no outs, and had 5 earned runs tagged to his name. Unfortunately the issues that plagued him in his return from injury a year ago — an inability to find the strike zone — are still there for the 2022 5th-round pick. After walking 38 batters in 26.2 innings in High-A a year ago, the 25-year old has issued 5 walks in just 1 inning in 2026.

If you like pain, I’ll keep going. Simon was replaced by RHP Austin Strickland, who gave up more baserunners (5) than outs recorded (4). In all, Strickland hit a better, walked 3, and ceded a double, while getting hit with 3 earned runs. Ouch.

But hey, it’s not all bad! RHP Ryan Vanderhei gave up just 1 hit in 1.2 scoreless innings, with 4 strikeouts! A great game for the 2023 10th-rounder, who has 7 strikeouts (and no walks!) in just 3.2 shutout frames this year.

Low-A San Jose (4-2)

San Jose Giants lost to the Visalia Rawhide (D-Backs) 9-7
Box score

If you had any question as to whether shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL) was going to slow down, I have a very happy answer for you: no. No he is not going to, it seems.

Thursday was yet another dynamic game for Level, who seems intent on transcending from breakout prospect into star. It was just another day at the office for Level against Visalia, as he hit 2-4 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout. Over the last 4 games, Level is hitting an unthinkable 11-19 with 7 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and just 2 strikeouts. Yes, I think a 1.493 OPS and a 258 wRC+ will play, personally. And yes, I think he should keep hitting like that. That would be a very nice thing.

One other note on Level: while there is a question as to whether he’ll be able to stay at shortstop or move to second base down the road, he’s getting all the reps in San Jose, while the defensively-excellent Lorenzo Meola (No. 23 CPL) is mostly playing second base. Level split time in the middle infield last year during his short stint of being teammates with Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL), but has not played second base this year (though he has 1 start at designated hitter, at which point Meola did get to slide over to short).

First baseman Jeremiah Jenkins had a fantastic day, hitting 2-5 and smashing his 1st home run of the year, while also striking out. A 22-year old lefty taken in the 14th round of the 2024 draft, Jenkins has only played 3 times this season, but has made the most of his opportunities, hitting 5-12 with 2 extra-base hits and 2 walks. That’s a nice sight, after he struggled with the level last year.

Mostly a bad pitching day. LHP Jordan Gottesman made the 2nd start of his young career, and there was a lot to like even though it didn’t go particularly well. The 2025 6th-round pick out of Northeastern did a great job staying in the strike zone, with 46 of his 68 pitches going for strikes, and 6 strikeouts with 0 walks in 3.2 innings. But he did hit a batter and give up 3 hits, which included a home run, and that resulted in a 3-run outing. It hasn’t been a superstar showing in his 1st week as a pro, but it’s been very, very solid.

RHP Alix Hernandez had a phenomenal game, pitching 2 perfect innings with 3 strikeouts. A 21-year old from Venezuela, Hernandez has some truly nasty stuff (for his career he has 164 strikeouts in 118.1 innings), but was limited to just 14.1 Complex League innings last year. Walks have really been the only thing that have plagued him in his career, and so far, so good: he hasn’t issued any in 3 innings of work this season.

Home run tracker

2 — Jesús Rodríguez — [AAA]
2 — Thomas Gavello — [AAA]
1 — Jeremiah Jenkins — [Low-A]

Friday schedule

Sacramento: 6:45 p.m. PT vs. Las Vegas (SP: Carson Seymour)
Richmond: 4:05 p.m. PT vs. Altoona (SP: Joe Whitman)
Eugene: 1:05 p.m. PT at Vancouver (SP: Hunter Dryden)
San Jose: 7:00 p.m. PT vs. Visalia (SP: Argenis Cayama)

With a slight turnaround from the debacle of a season start the White Sox went through — namely, sweeping the defending AL champs — it seemed like the right time to spin things a bit more positively. So the question this week prodded you to pick an aspect of White Sox baseball that has most improved in 2026.

By almost two-thirds, you chose the bats:

It’s early, and a lot depends on whether you ignore the improvement on offense in the second half (roughly, post-Colson Montgomery arrival). Undoubtedly this is a better team on offense than the start of 2025; better than the end of last year? We’ll see.

Still, it’s hard to image what to choose otherwise, with the rotation, bullpen and defense all sketchy.

The national questions this week involved picking the winners of each division. Let’s just roll them all out at once:

The Mariners being the biggest runaway in the American League, more so than the Tigers, is interesting. Still, those two popular favorites, along with the Red Sox, are all struggling early.

You can tell this survey was taken after Opening Day, because suddenly everyone is all up in the Brewers’ bandwagon.

Did you miss out on this round of questions? No worry, sign up here to participate in our weekly emailed surveys, and have your White Sox voice be heard!

This week’s Reacts is brought to you by FanDuel.

After going 5-1 on their first road trip of the season, the Dodgers return to Chavez Ravine for a six-game homestand. First up, the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers are currently in first place in the AL West, sitting at 7-5. In fact, they are the only team in that division with a winning record. They were swept by the Cincinnati Reds, and then swept the Seattle Mariners before heading to L.A.

Texas will send Kumar Rocker to the mound for his second ever Major League start. In his debut last Saturday against the Reds, Rocker allowed two runs in the first inning, due in part to sloppy defensive plays. He then settled in and went four scoreless innings more, stranding a runner at third with no outs in his final inning.

The Rangers offense hasn’t scored more than three runs in any of their last seven games. The team of course employs Old Friends Corey Seager and Joc Pederson and were joined this season by Andrew McCutcheon. Not an ex-Dodger, but probably everyone’s friend.

Interestingly, so far this season the Rangers have the fewest challenges to the new ABS system with 12 – nine by batters, and only three by their catchers. The Dodgers have had 22 total, with six coming from the batter and 16 from the catcher.

For their part, the Dodgers will send Tyler Glasnow to the mound. Glasnow has looked good so far this season, giving up four hits, two earned runs, and going six full innings in each of his first two games.

The Dodgers will look to reignite their offense that was so hot to begin their road trip, scoring 45 runs in four games. Friday night’s game will also be the first of the two Shohei Ohtani “greatest game” bobbleheads, highlighting his three home runs in Game 3 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Rangers
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Most of the time, a new season means a new beginning.

It is infrequent that iterations of a roster are repeated year after year. When things don’t go right, it is common for significant changes to be made. As all of you reading this know, the Phillies have sought to buck that trend in recent seasons.

Through 12 games, the Phils are 6-6. The starting pitching has been decent, if not great. The bullpen has largely been very good. The offense, however, has been abysmal.

Let’s get all the ugly stats out of the way. Entering Friday’s three-game weekend series against the Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park…

• The bats have not scored a run in 20 consecutive innings.
• In the final two games against San Francisco, they went 8-for-62 and slashed .129/.239/.145 with a .384 OPS.
• Outside of the 10 runs they scored against the Rockies last Friday, they’re averaging 2.9 runs in their other 11 games.
• They scored 7 runs in the first inning against Colorado Friday and have scored 12 runs since then.
• They have a .658 OPS through 12 games this year, their lowest over the first 12 games of a season since 2016.
• They are hitting .200 with a .637 OPS with runners in scoring position. That is the 2nd-worst batting average in MLB.

It’s ugly. When a lineup is struggling like this, it’s easy to say the team looks despondent and/or uninspired. Of course, these same Phillies have authored three stirring late-game comebacks in the first 12 games, winning two of them with late rallies. Those are not the actions of a group that is going through the motions, but these same players, on this same offense, managed just one extra base hit in their final two games in San Francisco. They struggled in Colorado, too. One good game does not lead into the next.

To be clear, no one should be surprised by any of this. No one should have been fooled into thinking the 2026 offense was going to be any different than the ‘25 or ‘24 or ‘23 group. The struggles of 2026 are not unique to this season. Unlike most teams, the Philadelphia Phillies have been, for better or worse, largely the same exact team on offense over the last four years.

For the anti-“run-it-back” crew, that’s obviously a major problem, and they’re not wrong. The inconsistency and streakiness of this group is maddening and, like clockwork, it usually submarines their shot at a World Series title every October.

However, it’s fair to note that these same Phillies experience struggles like this every season, and usually finish with an offense that is in the top-10 of most major offensive categories. As I have written previously in this space, a majority of outside observers would characterize this group as being pretty darn good on the whole, and the numbers would back it up.

One of the major storylines last April and May was the team’s inability to slug. Remember that? The Phillies were getting on base a bunch, but flailing with runners in scoring position, especially with power. While the Phillies’ .721 OPS was 11th through the first month of the season last year, their .385 slugging percentage was 17th.

They were 13th in runs scored, tied for 19th in homers. This year, they are 19th in runs scored, tied for 9th in homers, 15th in OPS and 14th in slugging. Again, none of these numbers are good, but by the end of the 2025 season, the Phillies had the 4th-highest OPS in Major League Baseball. Their .797 OPS after the All-Star Game was 2nd-highest, behind only the Yankees’ .799. They slugged .471, which was the best mark in MLB in the second half. Their 110 homers were 2nd-most, their 340 runs scored were tied for 4th and they were tied for 3rd in wRC+.

I don’t say this to try and convince you that this team is going to win the World Series in 2026, nor that you shouldn’t be frustrated or expect more from this team. I say it to remind you of a simple truth.

There is nothing new under the sun with the Philadelphia Phillies.

And here’s the thing. Changing the lineup around isn’t going to do much. Is Rob Thomson right to move Adolis Garcia up to the No. 4 spot in place of Alec Bohm? Absolutely. Is it a good thing the struggling Bryson Stott be removed from the No. 5 spot and replace by the much-better Brandon Marsh? You bet. But the Phillies are still missing one big, middle-of-the-order bat. That was true before the season began, and it remains true now. It will likely remain true as they enter the postseason as well.

One change they could make is to shake up the coaching staff and relieve hitting coach Kevin Long of his duties. Given the nature of the players, it’s doubtful much would change if the front office makes that move. I wouldn’t begrudge the Phillies from doing so if they wanted to shake things up, but our expectations in that eventuality should be managed.

As I also wrote about recently, the Phils aren’t the only team struggling offensively in the first few weeks of the season. It’s pretty ugly out there, folks. The problem we have in Philadelphia is that these aren’t new problems. This offense is four years old. We know what it can do and what it can’t.

So you can overreact to the sheer ugliness of what the bats are doing right now. It’s brutal to watch. But they will get hot. They will break out. I can say this with extreme confidence because they do this every single year. We get all worked up about the broken bats, and then, once the weather gets warmer, they start putting runs on the board.

It’s all meaningless. This team is going to make it to October, have no fear about that. Whether it’s as a wild card or a division winner, the Phillies have the talent to get back to the tournament. It’s all about what they do then, and with the same roster feeling the same pressure year after year, it’s difficult to believe things will be different.

So, yes, it’s understandable to be annoyed, despondent, disgusted and frustrated at the lack of offense and the quality of at-bats this group of veteran stars is having. But if you’re hitting the panic button right now or surprised at what you’re seeing play out, you shouldn’t be.

The Phillies will hit in the regular season. They really will. It might be unpleasant to watch until they do, but it will happen.

Which team is projected as better?  On 9 April, FanGraphs projected the Phillies to win more games (89 vs 81).  Nevertheless, both teams have significant odds of reaching the playoffs (68% and 35%).  And either team could win this series.

Why cheer for the Diamondbacks?  The Diamondbacks values include don’t cheat by taking performance enhancing substances.

“…Rojas became the eighth Phillie to be suspended for PED use since 2009. He’s the ninth, if you include Max Kepler, who is a free agent but played with the Phillies last season and was suspended for 80 games in January after he tested positive for a PED.” — Marcus Hayes, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2026

The recent three players (per Wikipedia):

• Jose Alvarado, May 2025, Exogenous Testosterone
• Max Kepler, January 2026, Epitrenbolone
• Johan Rojas, March 2026, Boldenone

“They are three totally different situations. So no, I do not think it’s an issue.” — Rob Thomson, Phillies Manager

My view is the Phillies will not make improvements until they stop making excuses.

How good is the Diamondbacks offense? At Chase, against the Tigers, the Diamondbacks batters were better than last season (5.67 vs 5.07 runs per game).   That is meaningful because the Tigers pitching staff was ranked fifth best in the Majors.  Can the Diamondbacks batters do just as well against a pitching staff ranked better than the Tigers (third best vs fifth best)?  Adding to the difficulty is that this series is an away series.

Phillies Pitcher to Watch. 

Andrew Painter.  As the Phillies number 2 prospect, this season he made his debut in the Majors. Let’s look at his abbreviated story.

After Tommy John Surgery in July of 2023, he missed the 2023 and 2024 seasons.  In 2025, he pitched in AAA.

“Last season [2025], Painter’s arm angle dropped slightly. He addressed the issue in the offseason and has continued to do so in camp. The team’s pitching coaches believe a return to his former (higher) arm angle will bring back his control and command.” —  Jim Salisbury, Match 2026

In spring training, one indication of improved control and command was his 8 strikeouts with only 2 walks.  Another indication was his .209 OBP and .293 SLG. Data from Baseball Savant.

“I felt pretty comfortable out there.  Right when I toed the rubber, I felt in control of the game. It didn’t speed up on me. That’s the big thing, just take deep breaths and not allow the game to speed up on you.”  — Andrew Painter, March 2026

In his debut, he pitched 5.1 innings with 1 earned run.  His 8 strikeouts exceeded his 1 walk.  Two positives were his 8.3 hard-hit percentage and his 0.57 expected ERA. Data from Baseball Savant.

Pitching Matchups.

Friday, 3:40 PM MST.

Michael Soroka. In his first two starts of the season he allowed a total of 1 earned run in 10 innings.

Last season, opponents did not score any runs in his last 6.2 innings pitched. In his first two starts of the season, he extended that streak to 13.1 innings before a earned run was scored.

There is much to admire about Michael Soroka’s consistency.

Jesus Luzardo. His first two starts of the season were at two extremes: First he allowed 6 earned runs in 6 innings against the Rangers; Then he allowed 1 earned run in 6.2 innings at Coors. What will happen in this start?

This matchup of starting pitchers is advantage Diamondbacks.

Saturday, 10:05 AM MST.

Brandon Pfaadt.  In his first game of the season, the positive was that five of his six innings he held the Tigers to three batters.  The negative was the inning when the Tigers scored 5 earned runs.  In his second game, he allowed 3 earned runs.

In the Snakepit article, one of my wagers was that Pfaadt will total more than 10 wins this season. Will this be his first win? I’m feeling somewhat confident.

Taijuan Walker.  In 2017-2018, he started 31 games for the Diamondbacks.  His ERA+ was excellent (ranged from 124 to 135).

After that, he pitched for four teams, the latest is the Phillies.  His performance seemed to bounce between average seasons and excellent seasons.

In his first game of the season, the Nationals scored 4 earned runs against him in the first inning.   In his second game, the Rockies scored 3 earned runs against him in the first inning. Perhaps this season will be an average season for him.

This matchup of starting pitchers is slight advantage Diamondbacks.

Sunday, 10:35 AM MST.

Zac Gallen. In the season opener, he held the Dodgers scoreless for four innings. That’s big. (although the Dodgers scored in the fifth inning – very few elite pitchers can keep the Dodgers scoreless for long).  Then he pitched six scoreless innings against the Tigers.  Then he allowed 1 earned run in 5 innings against the Mets. My expectation is that Zac Gallen will pitch at least 4 scoreless innings.  After that, he may give up a run or two.

Andrew Painter.  As a Diamondbacks fan, I hope the Diamondbacks batters find ways to prevent Andrew Painter from repeating his amazing performance in his debut in the Majors. 

In his second game, in the third inning the Giants got 4 hits (3 earned runs) showing that Painter is human.

In any case, remember to look for fans dressed in white coveralls!    “A few fans in right field dressed in white coveralls and called themselves ‘Painter’s Painters’.” — Matt Gelb

This matchup of starting pitchers is even, perhaps with a very slight edge Diamondbacks.