Category: Sports News

The Cardinals rotation has not performed particularly well. Individual games are quite good here and there, check out McGreevy’s line from his start today, but on the whole they are near the bottom of the league in many important pitching indicators.

We were joined by Benjamin Hochman of the Post-Dispatch to consider the rotation from an interesting angle. Given a “trust pie,” how would we divide the pie amongst the current starters for the Cardinals? This convo had it all: stats, vibes, insider info from Benjamin and, of course, pie!

Would certainly be curious to see how you all would divide your trust pie amongst the staff. I’ve put all the relevant links below, would be awesome if you could subscribe as you listen! We appreciate your time — and thanks for listening!

The Mets are signing veteran outfielder Austin Slater to a minor league deal, as confirmed by SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes.

Slater, 34, has appeared for six big league teams over his 10-year career and is seen as a good right-handed bat against left-handed pitching. 

He has a .263/.354/.423 slash line for a .777 OPS in 911 career at-bats against lefties with 30 home runs and 113 RBI.

Slater spent spring training with the Detroit Tigers, but was released from his minor league deal after failing to win a job on their Opening Day roster. He latched on in Miami on a minor league deal soon after and appeared in 12 games with the Marlins before he was DFA'd on April 23. He had four hits in 23 at-bats (.174) with nine strikeouts and four walks with the big league club.

This will be his second stint in New York after the Yankees added him ahead of the trade deadline last season in a deal with the White Sox. However, Slater struggled during his time in The Bronx. The bad run began with him sustaining a hamstring strain in his third game with the club. After returning from the IL, he didn't hit the ground running and was left off the Yankees' postseason roster. 

Overall, Slater had just three hits in 25 at-bats (.120) over 14 games with 16 strikeouts and no walks with the Yanks. 

He did have a solid start to 2025 with Chicago, slashing .236/.299/.423 for a .721 OPS (100 OPS+) over 51 games. Slater has a .247/.335/.381 slash line for a .711 OPS (99 OPS+) in 711 career big league games.

Slater's signing was reported on Sunday, soon after it was reported that the Mets designated veteran outfielder Tommy Pham for assignment.

The two moves came after New York lost both games of Sunday's doubleheader, managing just one run on 10 hits, as the Colorado Rockies completed a three-game sweep at Citi Field.

HOUSTON — It may only be for a few days, but Jasson Domínguez is headed back to the big leagues.

The Yankees are calling up Domínguez from Triple-A, a source confirmed on Sunday, with Giancarlo Stanton likely headed to the injured list ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas.

Aaron Boone said before Sunday’s 7-4 loss to the Astros at Daikin Park that the Yankees would make a decision on Stanton by Monday after the veteran DH injured his calf Friday night.

Domínguez, who was batting .326 with a .893 OPS at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, may only be up for a few days, until Anthony Volpe is ready to return from the IL. The shortstop was expected to need at least a few more rehab games as he finishes off a comeback from October surgery on his left shoulder, though it’s possible he could rejoin the Yankees as soon as Friday’s series opener against the Orioles in The Bronx.

In the meantime, Domínguez will likely get some action — either at DH or in left field — as the Yankees are scheduled to face a trio of right-handed starters against the Rangers.

After the Yankees re-signed Cody Bellinger and had Trent Grisham accept a qualifying offer this offseason, Domínguez came into camp needing an injury to open a spot for him on the big league roster. That did not happen, but he still had a strong camp and then went to Triple-A and continued to perform. That includes a quality showing against lefties — against whom he struggled last season — batting 7-for-18 (.389) with a 1.172 OPS against them.

Stanton, meanwhile, felt some improvement in his right calf Saturday but still spent the weekend getting treatment, as the Yankees played a man short trying to give him time to see how much he recovered. The Yankees believe they got Stanton out of Friday’s game before it became something more serious, but it was still likely to cost him some time.

As for Volpe, the plan was for the shortstop to play in a few more rehab games after finishing Sunday 8-for-26 across eight games — going a full nine innings in the field in two of them — in what is essentially his spring training.

“Still working on [timing], still getting there,” Boone said. “It’s only been two weeks of games. Still getting there, but I know he feels really good and feels ready to contribute too.”

The Mets have designated veteran outfielder Tommy Pham for assignment, according to multiple reports.

The move came soon after New York lost both games of a doubleheader, managing just one run on 10 hits on Sunday as the Colorado Rockies completed a three-game sweep at Citi Field. Pham went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in the first game, a 3-1 defeat.

A corresponding move had yet to be announced. New York is in the midst of a team-wide slump, and has scored one run or fewer in 10 of the first 28 games of the season, including both games Sunday.

The Mets signed Pham to a minor league deal in late March and called the 38-year-old up earlier this month. He appeared in nine games with the team and went hitless in 13 at-bats with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Pham first signed with the Mets in 2023, appearing in 73 games before he was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of the trade deadline, slashing .268/.348/.472 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI. Pham has always hit left-handed pitchers well, posting a career .802 OPS with 49 home runs against lefties. 

Pham played for 10 teams during his 13 big league seasons. In 449 plate appearances over 120 games for Pittsburgh last season, Pham slashed .245/.330/.370 for a .700 OPS (94 OPS+) with 10 homers and 17 doubles.

[Editor’s note] Due to an incorrectly constructed Google form, I don’t know whose responses are who! So enjoy this game of “Guess the Snakepitter”! LOLExcept for Mak. Thanks for still putting your name, Mak.

So what did the disappointing series against the White Sox tell us?

Response 4: I think it says more about the Chicago White Sox than it does about the Arizona Diamondbacks. The White Sox aren’t the historically bad team that they’ve been the last couple seasons is the main take home here. As far as the Dbacks go, I think this roster is going to need a revamping. You have three position players in Ryan Waldschmidt, LuJames Groover, and Tommy Troy who almost certainly could contribute more than some of the other position players on the roster. There are several veteran relief arms and a few pitching prospects I think it would be a huge improvement over some of the arms currently in the bullpen.

Makakilo: The White Sox series showed excellent batting will often prevail over average pitching.

Response 2: That the bullpen weaknesses we all feared really are still there. But it also showed that this team is more resilient than last season’s. Also, Merrill Kelly is still rusty.

Response 1: That the pitching is still Arizona pitching. And the offense needs to be more consistent. It also told us that Murakami is far more likely to be a Dodger in 2027/2028 than we would’ve thought 2 months ago.

Perhaps more importantly, what did it not tell us?

Response 4: I don’t think it tells us how either team’s 2026 season will go. The White Sox could very well slip and finish with a losing record, and that applies to the Dbacks as well

Makakilo: The White Sox series did not tell us anything about the Diamondbacks chances to reach the playoffs.

Response 3: It still didn’t tell us what sort of pitching we actually do have and it also is still looking like the team is not firing on all cylinders on offense. So what we still don’t know is how this offense is going to fare moving forward. Would the real versions of roster members please stand up?

Response 1: That the season is over. We had a bad series. Ok. Get up, shake it off, move on. Bigger fish to fry.

What is our level of concern with Merrill Kelly and Ryne Nelson?

Response 4: They’ll both be fine. Not going to stress about a sub-4 ERA in Merrill Kelly’s case, and an ERA barely over 4 in Ryne Nelson case. Even Paul Skenes has had a bad start this year, so it happens, and I wont stress or worry about it until this becomes an extended trend.

Makakilo: I’m optimistic that the problem can be fixed. Perhaps it was the mix of pitches. For reasons that are unclear, in their two recent starts, Kelly and Nelson pitched a much higher than normal percentage of four-seam fastballs (MLB com and Baseball Savant). Before he left the game, Kelly had about half four-seam fastballs, when a quarter is his normal. In his first four batters, Nelson pitched 8 four-seam fastballs and one slider, when 60% is his normal.

Response 2: With Merrill Kelly, right now it is around 3-4 out of 10. He looked mostly decent but rusty in his season debut. Oddities galore muddied his second performance where rust and said oddities led to the game spiraling out of control. But he needs to start looking sharper moving forward or that concern is going to escalate quickly. With Ryne Nelson, it’s somewhere around a 7 out of 10. When he is on his game, he is getting the swings and misses. But it really seems like he isn’t trusting his defense to make plays and is trying to strike everyone out, which is leading to him getting swatted around. It really looks like he is grinding through a bit of a confidence problem all around. Those can snowball into nightmare seasons in a hurry and he is still learning to adapt to the Majors. I would be less concerned if he had another full season of decent performance under his belt. If he has another blow-up or two in his next two starts, it might be time to look at piggy-backing a tandem starter situation with Pfaadt on days when Nelson would be the starter.

Response 1: Medium for both. Nelson was supposed to be the next Mainstay. And the old Mainstay is old. I trust and believe in both. Trust the process (and keep an eye on Reno pitching lines).

The Diamondbacks are playing in Mexico as this is being written. What are your thoughts on MLB’s attempts to grow the sport beyond the US/CA borders?

Response 4: I think MLB needs to do a lot more like this to grow the sport. Mexico has been a market that could be tapped into much more, so having series there is a start. I’d like to see more regular season games hosted in WBC countries. What MLB really needs to do though is get games back on free, over-the-air television. Games being broadcast on local television is what got me into baseball for the long haul. New fans arent going to plunk down money on a sport they aren’t even sure they like! If over-the-air TV isnt an option, then my suggestion is for MLB to broadcast a game each day, rotating so every single team gets a couple games available for free with no blackouts each season. THAT would do more to grow the game than having games in random non-American/Canadian countries.

Makakilo: Baseball Reference shows this season there are 8 players in the Majors who were born in Mexico. With two players, the Blue Jays have more than any other team. Baseball shows what team cooperation and healthy competition can look like. The world would benefit if more countries followed the model of baseball.

Response 3: I love the motivation for the Mexico City series. I am getting sick and tired of such international exhibitions costing AZ home games. At the same time, it puts AZ out there more than other teams. I expect the balls to be flying at that altitude, which could get interesting.

Response 1: It’s fine. I wish there was more of this. I’m confused why it’s two games with days off on either side though. I thought the excuse for why international series were so difficult was jet lag, but the series takes place in US Central time zone so that doesn’t add up. Neither does travel time since it’s closer than NYC to Phoenix. As for there only being two games… idk I guess this is just MLB being MLB. Honestly I just hope we fare better than when MLS teams have to go down to play “tournament” matches in Mexico. They almost always seem to get sick. For a soccer team that’s a minor blip on the schedule. For a baseball team? Huge ramifications for end of season record.

Last time the Athletics played the Texas Rangers, the teams split a four-game series in Sacramento. This time, the A’s emerged victorious in a best-of-three battle in Arlington. The two runs they scored in the first inning proved sufficient to win a game in which they overcame an injury to their starter and a 1-for-13 performance with runners in scoring position.

Facing Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker, the A’s offense got going early. With two outs in the first inning, Rocker walked A’s left fielder Tyler Soderstrom and designated hitter Brent Rooker. Hot-hitting right fielder Carlos Cortes stepped up to the plate and promptly smoked his first triple of the season over the head of the Rangers center fielder Evan Carter, scoring those two runners to give his team an immediate 2-0 lead. That would be the first of three hits in this game for Cortes, who capped off an incredible week at the plate.

Athletics starting pitcher J.T. Ginn only needed to throw six pitches in a scoreless, shutdown first inning. After giving up a leadoff single, he got Joc Pederson to ground into a double play before retiring the dangerous Corey Seager on a line out snagged nicely by first baseman Nick Kurtz.

In the second inning, A’s center-fielder Lawrence Butler came close to hitting a two-run home run. However, it went just foul near the foul pole and he ended up lining into an unlucky double play. Rangers third baseman Josh Jung, who hit the go-ahead home run last night, led off the home half of that inning with a double. Ginn escaped the jam unscathed, striking out Texas’ catcher Danny Jansen to strand Jung and another runner on base.

The next inning, the A’s somehow went scoreless despite the final three batters smoking the ball. Soderstrom crushed a two-out double to the right-center gap, but was left stranded when third baseman Jung made a nice play to field Rooker’s hard-hit grounder and then threw him out.

With Ginn through three scoreless, the A’s sought to give him more of a cushion. Cortes and shortstop Jacob Wilson led off the fourth with back-to-back singles. Rocker got out of the jam by retiring the next three A’s hitters. He got some help from his first baseman Jake Burger, who made a diving stop to rob Butler of a hit.

With one out in the fourth inning, Ginn left the game with right arm soreness, abruptly ending his outing and forcing the A’s to turn to their bullpen earlier than expected. Reliever Joel Kuhnel came out of the bullpen on short notice and got the final two outs of that inning.

The Athletics wasted another scoring opportunity in the fifth. Catcher Shea Langeliers was left at second base after hitting a double down the left field line. Despite all of the baserunners he allowed, Rocker only gave up those two first-inning runs over six innings of work.

The team was planning to skip left-hander Jacob Lopez’s next turn in the rotation as right-hander Aaron Civale is scheduled to start the first game of the home stand against the Kansas City Royals. So, in the wake of Ginn’s injury, Lopez entered this game out of the A’s bullpen in the fifth inning.

Making his first relief appearance of the season, Lopez pitched a scoreless first inning. The sixth inning did not go as well. Jung hit a lead-off double and then Lopez fielded Carter’s bunt, but threw wildly to first, allowing Carter to reach safely and Jung to score the Rangers first run.

Right-handed reliever Justin Sterner replaced the rattled Lopez and came up huge! He pulled a Houdini to escape a bases loaded, no outs jam, striking out two-straight Rangers before getting right fielder Brandon Nimmo to fly out to end the inning.

Seeking insurance runs, the A’s got a two-out rally going against Rangers left-handed reliever Tyler Alexander in the seventh on back-t0-back singles by Kurtz and Langeliers. Unfortunately, Soderstrom flew out to end the inning and stop another scoring opportunity.

Following scoreless innings from Hogan Harris and Jack Perkins to maintain the A’s advantage, the A’s loaded the bases in the ninth looking to extend their lead. In that inning, Kurtz was intentionally walked, overtaking Rickey Henderson for the most consecutive games drawing a walk in franchise history. Alas, Rooker struck out on three pitches to send it to the bottom of the ninth with the Athletics still clinging to their one-run lead.

Perkins finished off the Rangers in the ninth, setting them down in order to complete his second two-inning save of the road trip and lock up the series win for the first-place Athletics.

As a result of their win, the team gets to enjoy a happy flight home and an off day tomorrow before beginning a new series against the Royals. On Tuesday, Civale will look to pitch better than he did in his first Sacramento start during the A’s previous home stand. He will be opposed by left-hander Kris Bubic, who is 2-1 with a 4.08 ERA through his first five starts this season.

If you had any doubt about the 2026 Mets being a terrible baseball team, surely it was erased this afternoon as the team scored just one run across two games of a doubleheader against the Rockies at Citi Field. In the second game, the Mets were shut out, a recurring theme early of a season that feels like it’s ending right before our eyes even though the calendar hasn’t yet turned to May.

As was the case in the first game of the doubleheader, the Rockies scored three runs, and it was once again more than enough as Colorado won by a 3-1 score. The fact that the Mets’ pitching staff only gave up three runs was a minor miracle, as Kodai Senga shit the bed for the third-straight start. He lasted just two-and-two-thirds innings, gave up three runs, struck out one, walked three, and allowed three hits. If not for admirable work by Carl Edwards Jr. in relief of him in the third, he might’ve been charged with more runs. And even with the assist that he got, Senga has a 9.00 ERA and looks like a pitcher who shouldn’t be getting major league starts.

Edwards wound up pitching three-and-a-third innings without allowing any runs, and Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, and Devin Williams each threw a scoreless inning. You’d typically say that they kept the game within reach by doing so, but the Mets’ lifeless lineup really meant that three of the team’s high-leverage relievers were simply able to get some work.

As for those Mets hitters, they had six hits on the day, only one of which went for extra bases. The team is not competitive, and it’s hard to imagine that will change. The Mets are 9-19. Their season is very likely over.

You could look back at what we were writing here just shy of two years ago and point out that it’s possible to turn a miserable season around. It’s still only April, but barring a major turnaround, the Mets could get to mid-June with the worst record in baseball over the past twelve months. That is a massive failure for a team that spent over $300 million on its roster both last season and this.

Thankfully, the Mets are off tomorrow. They’ll begin a three-game series against the Nationals—their first series against a National League East opponent this year—on Tuesday night at Citi Field. Tickets are still available.

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Rox bottom has never looked worse.

Any optimism the Mets carried into the weekend after snapping a 12-game losing streak and winning two straight was completely siphoned over six hours Sunday.

Manager Carlos Mendoza’s beleaguered bunch managed only one run over 18 innings in getting swept by the hapless Rockies in a Citi Field doubleheader.

The three-game series sweep by Colorado was complete with the Mets’ 3-0 loss in the nightcap. The Mets fell 3-1 in the doubleheader’s first game.

With Monday’s off-day, questions will continue to swirl about Mendoza’s job security. Mendoza isn’t the one swinging to weak contact at the plate, but Mets owner Steve Cohen can’t fire the entire team.

Chase Dollander and his 100 mph heat provided the resistance in the nightcap. It was quite the contrast to journeyman Jose Quintana’s assortment of junk in Game 1.

In the nightcap, Kodai Senga continued his free fall by lasting only 2 ²/₃ innings and allowing three earned runs on three hits with three walks. It was a third straight start in which the right-hander failed to complete even four innings.

Hunter Goodman’s two-run homer in the third that gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead suggested Senga might be facing short work. And after Senga walked two batters in the third inning, manager Carlos Mendoza removed him.

Carl Edwards Jr., in his Mets debut, gave the team a chance with 3 ¹/₃ scoreless innings in relief. Edwards, who struck out five, walked three batters without allowing a hit.

The Mets had a chance to rally in the fifth after Carson Benge and Ronny Mauricio delivered consecutive singles to begin the inning. But Tyrone Taylor’s ensuing line drive was snagged by first baseman TJ Rumfield and was turned into a double play.

The Mets took a shot at a late rally in Game 1, but it fizzled in the eighth. After Juan Soto walked to load the bases with one out, Luis Robert Jr. popped out and Mark Vientos struck out, eliciting boos from the crowd.

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Nolan McLean was removed after five innings in which he allowed two runs, one unearned, on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

The start matched McLean’s shortest of the season — he also went only five innings against the Pirates in his initial outing.

McLean allowed an RBI single to Troy Johnston in the fourth, but the inning could have gotten much worse. With the bases still loaded and nobody out, McLean struck out Kyle Karros before getting Brett Sullivan to hit a soft comebacker that started a 1-2-3 double play. The rally started with two straight singles before Rumfield walked to load the bases.

Taylor’s homer leading off the bottom of the fifth tied it 1-1. Quintana had retired 11 straight batters before Taylor cleared the fence in left-center for his second homer this season.

Vientos’ throwing error helped the Rockies score an unearned run in the sixth. Vientos, at first base, fielded Rumfield’s grounder and attempted a throw to second to nail Mickey Moniak. But the throw hit Moniak, leaving the bases loaded and nobody out. Huascar Brazobán replaced McLean and induced a double-play grounder from Johnston, with the run scoring.

Brazobán surrendered an RBI single to Jake McCarthy in the seventh that widened the Mets deficit to 3-1. Sullivan’s double started the rally. Luis Torrens nailed McCarthy attempting to steal second before Jordan Beck reached on a pitch clock violation for ball four. Brazobán retired Edouard Julien for the final out.