Category: Sports News

Last week, the White Sox were 2-5. Over this past seven-day stretch, they were 2-5. Sounds like an emerging pattern.

The week opened with incredibly positive energy as the club called up Noah Schultz on Tuesday, and, after a miscommunication, brought up Sam Antonacci on Wednesday. Promoting the organization’s No. 2 and No. 9 prospects is a big deal. So is getting swept at home — and not in a good way.

---

Debuts

Things got underway with a three-game set at Rate Field against the Tampa Bay Rays. Somehow, the teams played the entire series without delay, even amid one of the area’s rainiest Aprils on record. Schultz, a Chicagoland native, made it 4 1/3 innings in his first outing, allowing four runs (three earned), walking four, and punching out four. Was it the debut he had hoped for? Probably not. However, when the offense can only get within one, and the bullpen gives up four more after your exit, it is easier to sleep knowing that you were not the sole contributor to the loss.

The Southpaw made his second start of his young career on Sunday and had quite the bounce back. Five innings of one-run ball, with one walk, six strikeouts, and some run support, is enough to earn the first win of your career.

On Wednesday, it was Antonacci’s turn to rally the South Side around him and earn a win for his debut. Instead, the pitching gave up eight earned runs, four apiece by Sean Burke and Tyler Gilbert. The offense spent the entire game trying to score but was unable to do so until the bottom of the ninth inning. The Springfield native got his first hit in the bottom of the second with a blooper to right field. Hawk Harrelson would’ve called it a “Kansas City special” if he were still on the air. In the same inning, the second baseman also recorded his first caught stealing. Despite the loss, Antonacci went 1-for-3 on the night with a walk and a run scored, so it is doubtful he will ever forget Tax Day 2026.

Pitching

Davis Martin is making a name for himself this season with just four starts under his belt. The righthander opened the series with the Athletics out in Sacramento with seven strong innings. His ERA is now down to 2.16 after giving up just one run, walking two, and striking out four. Martin leads the team with three quality starts. If you were wondering who else on the team has a quality start to their name, the answer is no one.

On the opposite side of positive pitching performances is Seranthony Domínguez. There wasn’t much that went right for the “closer” this week. In three appearances, the struggling righty gave up three runs, hit two batters, walked four, and earned a loss. Domínguez is the star child of an overall struggling bullpen. If there are silver linings here, he did earn a save in Sunday’s win. It was not without drama as two men reached base to bring the tying run to the plate before he shut it down.

Hitting

In the last edition of this recap, much time was spent discussing how the offense was struggling and the severe lack of home runs. This week, round-trippers were abundant. Leading the charge is Japanese phenom Munetaka Murakami. The lefty doubled his home run total during the week by hitting a whopping four long balls. One of them came at home in the bottom of the ninth inning of Tuesday’s loss against the Rays.

Munetaka hit the other three at the highly touted Sutter Health Park against the (just) Athletics. The highlight reel dinger came on Friday night in the form of a grand slam; he smashed it 431 feet over the batter’s eye. If 114.1 mph off the bat wasn’t impressive enough, he hit another home run with the same velocity, 425 feet to right field, in Sunday’s finale.

Mune now finds himself as the first Japanese-born player to hit eight home runs in his first 22 games. Even though he is still striking out at a high rate (33.3%), he is also drawing a considerable number of walks (21.5%). In the six games he played last week, Murakami recorded seven free passes.

The rest of the offense also had itself quite a week. As a team, the South Siders hit 14 home runs. That is an average of two four-baggers per game! The increase in long balls boosted the team’s batting average as well. There are only five batters left on the team that are batting below .200. One of those batters is Antonacci, and it’s a small sample size with only five at-bats under his belt. There is significant room for improvement, but over the last seven days, the White Sox ranked 12th in strikeouts and third in walks drawn. Looking for the light in the dark.

---

The key to success for this team is for the pitching to click at the same time as the hitting. When these things stay in sync for more than three days, this team can put together a winning streak. In lighter news, this is the first time the Chicago White Sox have reached eight wins before May 1 since 2021. That’s either comforting or mildly embarrassing, depending on your perspective. Either way, this is our baseball team.

The Royals released Asa Lacy yesterday.

Lacy, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 Draft, came to the Kansas City organization as a highly touted left-handed pitcher from Texas A&M who, on stuff alone, showed the potential of a frontline starter. The Royals gave him a $6.67 million signing bonus, a franchise record for a drafted pitcher. He was ranked as high as No. 30 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list in 2021, his first full season in professional baseball.

But Lacy never found the command to allow him to take a step forward in his early seasons, and then injuries took over, including a lat/shoulder injury in 2021, a back injury in ‘22 and ‘23 and two Tommy John surgeries — one in the offseason after the ‘23 season and one in ‘25. He’s still rehabbing from the second one.

Jaylon Thompson writes about Jonathan India hitting the Injured List.

The Royals are hopeful India isn’t sidelined long-term. For now, he will meet with team doctors to determine the severity of the injury. “It’s a chronic shoulder issue that he’s had,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You know, it just wasn’t getting better this year. He aggravated it a few times on dives. And it’s loose. It’s something he’s gonna have to get checked out and see if we can help him get through it.”

Sam McDowell writes about the examples the Royals are looking to in these dark times. (Woof)

The 1914 World Series champion sat 14 games under .500 in early July. The Braves — and this is so long ago that they played their home games in Boston — were baseball’s laughingstock, 11 straight losing seasons and barreling toward another before they suddenly and stunningly won 68 of their final 87 games to earn a spot in the World Series.

Caleb Moody at Kings of Kauffman writes about Nick Loftin’s role as he was called up to take India’s spot.

As someone who can play all around the infield and the corner outfield, there’s no shortage of places Loftin could make his mark in this lineup. In fact, as it stands right now, there’s plenty of places he can occupy that the Royals don’t fair well in in comparison to the rest of the league.

We’ve established that Loftin could make a difference at second base, but he could make his mark in the outfield, with Caglianone, Isaac Collins, Lane Thomas and Starling Marte all performing under par.

The Blue Jays had to take a bus from Phoenix to SoCal after mechanical issues with their plane prevented air travel.

Brendan Donovan hits the injured list.

Edwin Díaz will be out several months with loose bodies in his elbow.

Could Mason Miller win the Cy Young?

FanGraphs put out a simulator.

The NFL Draft is this week. Here’s one of many mock drafts. Thursday night is the draft.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid talks about establishing the run.

Free agent QB Jimmy Garoppolo is considering retirement.

The Dallas Cowboys gave kicker Brandon Aubrey a boatload of money.

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama won the defensive player of the year award unanimously, which was a first.

AppleTV show Schmigadoon! is now a Broadway musical also called Schmigadoon!. My wife loved the TV show.

Your song of the day is the cast of Ragtime with New Music.

Triple-A Nashville Sounds (11-9)

Record this week: 5-1

Standout performances:

Luis Lara (No. 11): 7-for-22, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K, 3 SB

Jett Williams (No. 3): 7-for-22, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 5 BB, 6 K

Jeferson Quero (No. 8): 4-for-19, 6 RBI, 7 K

Brock Wilken (No. 21): 4-for-15, 4 RBI, 9 BB

Eddys Leonard: 6-for-16, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 5 K

Shane Drohan (No. 24): 10.1 IP, 11 H, 3 ER, 11 K, 3 BB

Logan Henderson (No. 7): 3 IP, 2 H 1 ER, 3 BBs, 4 Ks

Tate Kuehner: 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hs, 1 BB, 5 Ks

Luis Lara has continued to produce for the Sounds, hitting .318 with an .832 OPS over 22 at-bats this week. The Brewers’ top outfield prospect (aside from Jett Williams) is now slashing .352/.446/.507 in his first 71 at-bats with Nashville. Injuries and ineffectiveness have plagued Milwaukee’s outfield early in the season — if Lara keeps this up for even a couple more weeks, he might see himself in a Brewers uniform this summer.

Another player that probably won’t spend the whole season in Triple-A is Williams, who had three extra base hits while walking almost exactly as much as he struck out. Williams is still only hitting .219 (.653 OPS), but this week’s performance served as a reminder why he’s considered one of the best prospects in the organization. Jeferson Quero didn’t hit for a high average this week, but came through in the clutch with more RBIs (6) than hits (4).

Brock Wilken has had a rough start to the season (7-for-60 with 24 K). Wilken hit 18 home runs in 79 games last year, but only has one through 19 games in 2026. Still, four of those seven hits came this week, which — along with his nine walks — is a sign that he’s figuring things out at the plate.

Shane Drohan served as the staff’s workhorse, giving up more than a hit per inning but limiting Worcester to 3 earned runs over 10 1/3 innings. Logan Henderson and Tate Kuehner also put together solid outings this week.

If it's a day that ends in Y

Luis Lara probably has a multi-hit game.

HE'S HITTING .411 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ADWj6dSvfJ

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) April 16, 2026

Next week’s opponent: @ Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox)

Double-A Biloxi Shuckers (7-8)

Record this week: 2-4

Standout performances:

Dylan O’Rae: 8-for-23, 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 2 K

Jesús Made (No. 1): 7-for-24, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBIs, 5 BB, 2 K

Eduardo Garcia: 7-for-25, 2B, HR

Jaron DeBerry: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

Tyson Hardin (No. 18): 6 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

One of Biloxi’s standout players early in the season has been shortstop Dylan O’Rae, the Brewers’ 2022 third-round pick. He raked at the lower levels of the minors before being promoted to Double-A midway through the 2024 season, where he struggled. O’Rae ended up missing the entire 2025 season to a wrist injury, but he’s back and has been seeing the ball well — hitting over .300 in back-to-back weeks. He’s worth keeping an eye on as he gets his feet under him.

Jesús Made continues to do Jesús Made things, drawing Jose Ramirez comparisons with a monster week that included five extra base hits. He now has a 1.019 OPS, making him a candidate for a Triple-A call-up — although that probably wouldn’t happen until Jett Williams debuts with the Brewers.

DeBerry and Hardin were the only Biloxi pitchers to go more than three innings and record an ERA of 3 or under. Blake Burke (4-for-24, HR) and Mike Boeve (5-for-20, 10 K) both had down weeks.

Jesús Made went 3-for-5 with a walk. His three hits included the double below. Through 15 games Made has a 1.019 OPS.

His two strike approach has been particularly impressive and he’s struck out just twice in his last 35 plate appearances.#ThisIsMyCrewpic.twitter.com/Y8X8a56ZQr

— Cream City Prospects (@CreamCityPro) April 19, 2026

Next week’s opponent: vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas (Los Angeles Angels)

High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (8-5)

Record this week: 4-2

Standout performances:

Josh Adamczewski (No. 10): 6-for-16, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K

Daniel Dickinson (No. 29): 7-for-16, 1 BB, 3 K

Josiah Ragsdale: 5-for-16, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 6 K

Andrew Fischer (No. 5): 5-for-15, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K

Luis Peña (No. 2): 4-for-15, HR, 1 BB, 2 K

Braylon Payne (No. 13): 5-for-12, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 K

Braylon Owens: 7 1/3 IP, 3 ERs, 6 Hs, 3 BBs, 13 Ks

Bryce Meccage (No. 21): 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

Pretty much every highly-ranked position player prospect on the Timber Rattlers has showed up to start the season. Josh Adamczewski (1.302), Luis Peña (1.059), and Braylon Payne (1.011) all have OPSes over 1.000 through the first thirteen games of the season. Marco Dinges (.955) isn’t far off of Peña and Payne.

Andrew Fischer is slashing .256/.375/.419 with 11 RBI, tied with Adamczewski for the team lead. The 20 strikeouts in 43 at-bats stand out, but there’s little reason for concern at this stage.

For one, Fischer was able to significantly reduce his strikeout rate during his final college season, showing an ability to adjust his approach while maintaining success at the plate. This is also his first full year in pro ball, so some week-to-week volatility is expected as he gets used to higher-level pitching. The strikeouts are worth monitoring, but the overall profile remains encouraging — especially if his K rate begins to stabilize over the next few weeks. Even while striking out so often, he’s still producing an OPS near .800.

Luis Peña needed some time to adjust to High-A last season, but whatever he did this offseason is already paying off. Peña is now slashing .400/.488/.571 with just six strikeouts on the year. He’s totaled three extra-base hits so far, but he’s only 19 — the power should show up in games sooner rather than later. Hard to nitpick a teenager who’s hitting .400 while making this much contact.

It’s been a tougher introduction to High-A for Eric Bitonti (No. 25), who has struck out in 18 of his first 37 at-bats (48.6%). The raw power is still very real — arguably among the best in the system — but it hasn’t translated yet, with just one home run to this point.

Us: "Nice base hit up the middle" 👏

Braylon Payne: "Nah — that's a double" ⚡️@payne_braylon#tratnationpic.twitter.com/LJa23lSuIj

— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) April 18, 2026

Next week’s opponent: @ Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres)

Single-A Wilson Warbirds (6-9)

Record this week: 3-3

Standout performances:

José Anderson: 5-for-20, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 1 BB, 12 K

Luiyin Alastre: 5-for-19, 2 2B, 1 BB, 6 K

Juan Ortuno: 5-for-19, 3 BB, 6 K

Tyler Renz: 2 GS, 9 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 7 K

The Warbirds’ offense struggled again this week, as no player with 10 or more at-bats hit above .263. Jose Anderson, who now leads Wilson with three home runs on the season, put together another solid week despite striking out 12 times in 20 at-bats. Brady Ebel went 3-for-19, although he walked more than he struck out. Jadyn Fielder went 1-for-8 with a double, three walks, and four strikeouts.

Tyler Renz started two games for Wilson and pitched well in both, ending the week with a 2.00 ERA. Renz, a 2024 18th round pick, is still just 19 years old and had a 3.19 ERA last year between rookie ball and High-A. His ERA is down to 1.93 through 14 innings this season despite walking twice as many batters per nine innings (6.43) as he did last year (3.04)

JOSEEEEEEEE!#TakeFlight#WelcomeToWilsonpic.twitter.com/wE2kWpn5sL

— Wilson Warbirds (@wilsonwarbirds) April 18, 2026

Next week’s opponent: @ Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Orioles)

Player of the Week

As always, there were a few strong candidates, but Josh Adamczewski clearly separated himself this week.

Adamczewski slashed .375/.524/1.125 with four home runs over the past seven days alone. He wasn’t ranked among the MLB Pipeline top-30 Brewers prospects entering last season, but with the graduation of Brandon Sproat he’s now inside the top 10. If you throw out the seven at-bats he logged in 2023, he’s posted an OPS of .900 or better in every season since joining the organization.

Adamczewski’s overall line this season borders on absurd: .310/.474/.828 (yes, that’s his slugging percentage, not his OPS) with five home runs in just 29 at-bats.

As of now, he’s still listed as an infielder, but he’s not a standout defender there — especially compared to players like Cooper Pratt, Made, and Peña. The Brewers are clearly prioritizing finding ways to get Adamczewski’s bat in the lineup, so they’ve been giving him most of his reps in the outfield dating back to the Arizona Fall League. That’s carried over into the regular season. Adamczewski has started every game this year in left field, with just one appearance at second base (coming as a late-game defensive substitution).

Josh Adamczewski is powering up ‼️

The @Brewers' No. 11 prospect goes deep twice — giving him five in his past six games — for the High-A @TimberRattlers: pic.twitter.com/YYNPWVWxn9

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 18, 2026

Play of the Week

Here’s Luis Lara getting up to rob Nick Sogard of a home run. I hope Pat Murphy saw this.

LUIS.
LARA. pic.twitter.com/NVsSlr22C1

— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) April 18, 2026

I spent the weekend covering the Colorado Rockies from Coors Field. Generally, I come away from events like these with ideas for stories or player profiles, but I wanted to do something a bit different this time. I found manager Warren Schaeffer’s media availabilities interesting in that I think they might answer some of the questions we’ve seen on the Purple Row board.

So, I thought I would turn today’s Rockpile over to him:

On the value of one-run games:

Winning is a skill, and we’re learning how to win right now. Little things in the game, early-approach tendencies that we have right now, flipping them. I mean, it’s a difference of a couple pitches in terms of wins and losses, and it’s very valuable that we’re playing one-run games. It’s way better than playing blowout games, that’s for sure. So we’re learning from them. We’re going to get better from them. I know the boys are grinding through it. They’re right in the fight every night, taking them one day at a time, which is what we want.

On the Rockies final game against the Houston Astros, which ended a six-game losing streak:

It was a collective team approach. There’s no doubt about it. It was discussed before the game, and I think it was a commitment to each other — at least that’s what it looked like to me. It was a commitment to each other to move the line. That’s what it looks like. It’s taking balls, not trying to be the man that drives everybody in, letting the next guy do it [and] just taking what they’re giving you. I thought we did it exceptionally well last night. It may be the best of the season. It’s something to build on. Now, the challenge is to repeat it today and to repeat it the next day, and that becomes who we are.

On Chase Dollander’s progress:

I’m more than comfortable with where he’s at because he’s having a lot of success doing it. He’s settled into a routine. The routines are very, very different from being in the bullpen and starting. I mean, obviously, we want him to be a starter long term. That’s the goal, and especially with the innings that he’s throwing right now, that’s basically what he’s doing. It’s just bulk out of the pen. But I think at the moment, we don’t want to mess with the routine because it’s going really well.

On Dollander’s timeline to return to the rotation:

[There’s] no timeline because he’s helping us win. He’s pitching big innings. He’s pitching important innings for us.

On the benefits of Dollander following an opener:

Well, the routine is huge, and the third time through the lineup, he’s not facing the top four hitters, which is a big deal. That’s the main reason why you open, in general, with anybody, is that you can potentially extend your starter longer into the game without the downside of facing the top of the order, which is a huge, huge number advantage to the offense always.

On using bulk relievers:

It is by design in terms of in April at Coors Field, specifically with us, you have a tendency — we have in the past — to absolutely overuse and destroy your one-inning relievers and pitch them in tight games, down tight games, and then by August and September, they’re fried. So I think this definitely extends our short-inning relievers for a longer time in the year. It’s helped, so far, tremendously.

On facing the Dodgers:

[We’re] very eager — no more eager than going to face the Blue Jays in their park, facing Houston at their place. I mean, respect every opponent, fear none. You’re going to hear me say that a lot. This is a team that, for a long time, has had our number, and for that reason alone, we look forward to tonight. No matter what happens tonight, we’re going to look forward to tomorrow, too.

On developing problem solvers:

This is a game where you fail more than any other game. We fail all the time in this game. So if you’re not dedicated and completely committed to solving problems that arise every single day over a 162-game season, you’re in the wrong business. There is a tendency — I get it — to have this thing be monotonous and to overlook things, but we’re not looking to do that. We can’t afford to do that. That’s not the direction we want to go in. So we all want to be problem solvers and to empower players to be problem solvers and be collaborative in the process is the way that I think work gets done the best.

On empowering players:

So when you empower players, you don’t just say, “Hey, we’re the coach. You do this because this is right.” They might be feeling something different. Each player is an individual. We want to get to the solution. It’s about being right and not who’s right. . . . But the collaborative process is the way everything always gets done the best. So I guess, the best way to put it is it’s not a one-way street. You’re empowering them to think, and you’re telling them, “We want you to come up with solutions as well, and we’ll work together to get to the best place possible.”

On overthinking:

That’s where we come in. A lot. If players are overthinkers — which there’s a lot of them out there — it’s just keeping them on track, keeping them in the lane of where we need to go, instead of going way over here or way over here if it’s detrimental. Believe it or not, sometimes, when you go over here, it leads to a solution. So it’s just a matter of knowing your person and who you’re dealing with and their tendency to go that direction, and the ability to keep them straight.

On lineup construction:

The reason Eddie [Julien] is in the top spot — and he’s staying there — is because he gets on base, and that’s his skill set. And we need guys on base at the top of the order. Tyler Freeman, when he plays, will be right up there with Eddie. We just have to be careful with Tyler at the moment. But those two guys at the top because they get on base and they take good at bats. Rumfield towards the top because he does the same thing. He takes really good at-bats, solid at-bats. [Goodman] up there because he drives in runs. We want to get to a point where our one through nine is taking quality at bats, and that’s what we’re looking for, getting those guys more at-bats than the other ones.

. . .

A lot of the time with [Tovar], it’s the matter of lineup construction, in terms of strategy, what they have in the bullpen, where we think some matchups are going to take place later in the game. Today’s lineup is based on that. Getting pockets for left-handers, pockets for right-handers in what we’re trying to do, knowing where we’re going to pinch hit in games to get the best matchups. So there’s a lot of in-game thinking to it — match up against the starter who you want. Maybe some days you want to get the most runs off of that starter. So you stack your lefties on the top of the lineup.

Schaeffer’s comments gave me a much better sense of the Rockies thinking on Chase Dollander, and I also appreciated getting to see him explain how their system works. I’ll be eager to hear your takeaways.

---

This week on the internet

Please enjoy these GIFs of various Rockies players fishing:

Goodman, Johnston, Julien and McCarthy all gone fishin pic.twitter.com/swix29mlJY

— Christian (@coors_merchant) April 19, 2026

---

The Colorado Rockies’ Early Feedback on the ABS Challenge System | Just Baseball

Patrick Lyons explores what the Rockies are learning about ABS.

Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing tells reporters Rockies’ first-pitch swings are ‘fishy’ |Awful Announcing

The folks over at Awful Announcing did their homework, which revealed — zero surprises here — that the Rockies swing at first pitches a lot, no matter the team they’re facing.

---

---

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

With eleven games under rookie Juan Brito’s major league belt, he is entering a stretch where it will be important for him to prove he can make some needed adjustments to continue top-side with Cleveland.

For Brito’s first 24 plate appearances, things could not have gone much better for the young hitter. He had a 102 wRC+ with a 20.8/8.3 K/BB%. He saw 21% four-seamers, 16% cutters, 10% sinkers, 24% sliders, 22% changeups, and 6% curveballs. In the following 21 plate appearances, Brito has put up a -20 wRC+ with a 42.9/4.8 K/BB%. From promise to disappointment… such is the life of many a baseball player. But, will Brito return to the promise we saw at first?

Well, have opposing pitchers begun attacking him differently? Nothing stands out when we look at pitch mix… Brito has seen a 10% increase in four-seamers (the decline coming from fewer changeups) in the past 21 plate appearances. Have pitchers begun going to different plans in locating those pitches? Aha… yes. During the first half of his 45 major league plate appearances, Brito saw 23.6% of the pitches thrown his way land outside the strike zone. During the second half, that number has increased to 31%. So far in the bigs, Brito has chased 38% of the time (36% in that first 24 PA’s and 39% in the following 21 PA’s), and only made contact outside of the zone 53% of the time. In looking at his chase rates, this doesn’t seem to be a pitch-specific issue; he’s chasing both fastballs and offspeed and breaking pitches outside the zone.

This is the big issue for Brito at the plate. If he is chasing pitches at anything near the rate he is right now, he will not be able to take his walks (obviously) and he will not consistently get pitches he can pull in the air. Brito does not have elite raw power to compensate for any of those losses in value by doing maximum damage on the few pitches he does see in the zone. He is not fast (34% sprint speed), so he will not be stealing bases when he does take a walk. He has to learn to chase less often, take his walks, and force pitchers to bring the ball into the zone where his 86% zone-contact can allow him to pull the ball in the air and be a dangerous offensive presence.

He can’t do what he did tonight as I was writing this article, for example. This is Brito against a fastball outside, a cutter in the zone, and three changeups to end the at-bat out of the zone from Astros’ pitcher Spencer Arrighetti:

Plaster this all over your locker, Juan. Opposing pitchers are going to do this to you until you force them to bring the ball into the zone.

Most folks reading this article are more concerned with Brito’s defense, I suspect. He has -2 Defensive Runs Saved so far and 0 Outs Above Average. It’s hard to tell much from small sample sizes of fielding stats, of course, but he also has looked in over his head at several points, and cost the Guardians a game in Atlanta by muffing a 91 mph grounder hit right at him. Brito can’t be making a notable error every week and costing the team games. There is no surer way to find himself hopping a bus back to the state’s capital.

It’s a critical time for Brito to begin to adjust back, because the team has two options to play second base who are performing quite well. In the majors, Daniel Schneemann has a 153 wRC+ with a 27.6/8.3 K/BB%. and he’s also been an average-good fielder all over the field, including 3 DRS and 5 OAA at second base for his career. In the minors… you guessed it… in 168 plate appearances at Triple-A, Travis Bazzana has a 134 wRC+ and a 22.6/19.3 K/BB% there. Getting Bazzana up soon and getting his feet wet to let him work through the usual struggles he has experience at each new level he reaches could be extremely helpful for a potential playoff run later in the year. Finally, Gabriel Arias is beginning baseball activities, and, while I suspect Rocchio has Wally Pipped his partner at short, I do think the team would promote Arias and demote Brito, rather than risk losing Arias’s glove in a DFA (I leave no comment on whether this is risk worth respecting).

I have been saying for a while that I think Brito’s best position is in the corner outfield. I still believe that’s the case, but, it will rely on him being able to get to his plate discipline and pull-air power on a somewhat consistent basis. I suspect that is what we will see him get the chance to do over the next 2-4 weeks… at which point, we will probably see either Arias OR Bazzana. Meanwhile, I would continue to give Schneemann 2-3 starts a week vs. RHP, at least until he shows signs of cooling off (as Angel Martinez has done).

I have long been a believer in Brito’s plate discipline and pull-fly ball ability. It certainly won’t be the worst or the last time I am wrong if he can’t quite reach his potential in the major leagues, but it would definitely be a tough pill to swallow for a young guy finally reaching his lifelong dream of being a big leaguer, and on a good team. We will keep rooting for you, Juan, even if the arrival of Bazzana is what’s going to drive media attention when it happens.

Sonny Gray exited Monday’s game early with a hamstring injury. While the injury isn’t believed to be serious, Gray is spending at least 15 days on the injured list to recover. The Red Sox play 14 games over the next 15 games, so they’ll need someone to fill in. Gray’s turn in the rotation won’t come back around until Friday, and Tyler Samaniego will replace him for now, but they could turn to a traditional starter when the time comes. So, who should replace him?

Payton Tolle has a 3.00 ERA in three minor league starts. Tyler Uberstine is also on the 40-man roster and can provide bulk innings; he’ll come off the IL in three days. Jake Bennett has been impressive in his short stint in the organization as well. My vote would be for Tolle, but any of the three have a solid case. Lucas Giolito is a free agent as well — that could be fun, but it’s unlikely. Is there someone I’m forgetting? Let me know in the comments.

The past two weeks have been adventurous for the Yankees since their 8-2 start to the season. A lengthy losing skid obliterated their fledgling division lead, then a perplexing four-game set with the Angels showed their greatest strengths and greatest flaws in equal measure. Consequently, it was a relief to watch the Bombers dispose of the Royals in convincing fashion over the weekend to complete the homestand. That gives them a good dose of momentum ahead of the first Rivalry Series of 2026.

The Red Sox are, to the pity of nobody on this pages, struggling. They sit tied for last place in the AL East with an 9-13 record, unable to rely on either a slumping lineup or a scuffling pitching staff. They game saw their ace Garrett Crochet get hammered around for the second consecutive outing over the weekend, and hitters they’re relying on to have big seasons have not answered the call. Roman Anthony is off to a slow start. Trevor Story and Caleb Durbin have been frightful. Marcelo Mayer still hasn’t found his footing in the majors.

How-evah, as John Sterling would say, the Red Sox are still a very talented team the Yankees cannot afford to take lightly. The struggling Crochet will not appear in the series, but three strong starters—including one who always seems to elevate his game against New York—will take the home hill at Fenway Park.

Tuesday: Luis Gil vs. Connelly Early (6:45 pm ET)

This is a bit of a rough draw for the opener. Luis Gil has not looked great through his first two starts—he at least made it through five innings last time, but has allowed seven runs across nine frames. Gil has issued five walks and surrendered four homers, including three against the Angels in an eventual come-from-behind win. It remains to be seen if Gil can reattain his Rookie of the Year vintage, but if he can handle a sleepy Red Sox offense, maybe that can spark a turnaround.

Connelly Early opposed Cam Schlittler in his unforgettable Wild Card Game 3 performance, and was matching Schlittler’s dominance until losing his footing in the fourth inning. And hey, it’s still early, but the 24-year old lefty is looking good. Through four starts he has a 2.29 ERA with 20 strikeouts counterbalancing 10 walks. For what it’s worth, the Yankees feasted on Royals southpaws over the weekend, dispatching both Noah Cameron and Cole Ragans with ease. Will Early be another victim of a suddenly hot New York lineup?

Wednesday: Max Fried vs. Ranger Suárez (6:45 pm ET)

Speaking of left-handed pitching, we have a doozy in the middle game (airing on Prime Video) between two very good lefty starters. Max Fried had a substandard performance against the Angels last time, with Oswald Peraza of all people beating him twice. But he still has a 2.97 ERA through his first five starts and has been particularly strong on the road. Fried pitched great against Boston last year, including a strong Wild Card performance and six scoreless innings in a game at the Stadium in which he had an interesting encounter with a squirrel.

Ranger Suárez was the Red Sox’ big signing to make up for Alex Bregman’s departure to the Cubs. His first four turns through the rotation have been the definition of a mixed bag—two clunkers against Houston and San Diego followed by a pair of scoreless outings against the Cardinals and Tigers. That last game was an eight-inning two-hit masterpiece—Boston ultimately won that game 1-0 in 10 innings. Suárez is at his best when he keeps opposing lineups on the ground; he grabbed 10 of them in that start.

Thursday: Cam Schlittler vs. Brayan Bello (6:10 pm ET)

Schlittler is due to receive a positively venomous reception from the Boston crowd thanks to that aforementioned utter domination of the Sox to eliminate them in the Wild Card Series. It’s hard to believe the Walpole native will be pitching at Fenway Park for the first time—Schlittler’s meteoric rise has come that quickly. He and fellow Massachusetts native Ben Rice are quickly turning New England against them, and that suits Schlittler just fine.

Brayan Bello, of course, is a Yankee-killer. He’s never really been an exceptional starting pitcher, but he routinely elevates his game against the Bombers. Given his 6.75 ERA through four starts, he’s certainly hoping that trendline can continue. Bello threw over 30 pitches in a rocky first inning and exited after four innings with four runs allowed—so the key to the Yankees will be to get after him early.

Phillies News:

• Rob Thomson remains committed to Alec Bohm, should he?
• Gearing up for the TDL in April? Some predict Adolis Garcia might be there already
• The media is already salivating on the manager hot seat with Rob Thomson
• Phillies’ prospect Matthew Ferrara made MLB.com prospect team of the week

MLB News:

• Craig Counsel finds the Dodgers roster advantage “bizarre”
• Small market MLB teams are outperforming big payrolls, undermining owners’ push to cancel 2027 season
• Former Phillie Mick Abel hits the IL with elbow inflammation (uh oh)
• Edwin Diaz still has a bit of NY Met in him still, goes on IL with scheduled elbow surgery

In a season-long search for answers, the Cardinals appear to have some offensive pieces emerging. Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson, rookie JJ Wetherholt, and (hopefully) Jordan Walker can continue to do what he’s done through the first 3 weeks of the season. Between Walker, Nolan Gorman, and Victor Scott II, there existed the biggest questions about their offensive futures on this team. Walker, undoubtedly, has earned himself a lot longer leash with his start. Gorman is doing his Gorman thing, showing flashes of offensive upside, and then stretches where he can’t even touch the baseball.

The St. Louis Centerfielder Victor Scott II spent the offseason with a biomechanical specialist at West Virginia (his alma mater), and he worked to make his swing more efficient. The results early on this season have not shown a tangible improvement.

According to Statcast, Scott’s swing path still appears to be mostly unchanged, if only a minor tweak that Scott is trying to take the ball back up the middle more often than pulling it, which could allow him to leg out of a few more infield hits.

Victor Scott has also moved back in the box slightly on his setup and the stance he has closed himself off more, likely in an effort to keep himself more direct and up the middle with his approach.

What about when he’s putting the ball in play? Looking at his batted ball profile, it appears he is still struggling with pulled groundballs. Scott has cut his “AIR%” in half from 56% down to 33.3%, which is an okay trade-off for a player of Scott’s skill set. The problem is that Scott is not able to do any damage; he is not pulling the ball in the air, only at a putrid 2.4% so far in 2026.

When you look at what Scott has done against individual pitches to try to understand what has given him the most trouble, it’s pretty much everything that’s not a Sinker or Cutter.

Oddly enough, when you go over to Fangraphs, Victor Scott has a 123 wRC+ against LHP. Normally, you don’t see a player perform that well against same-handed pitching. The other unfortunate end of that is that his wRC+ against RHP is 10.

The bottom of the zone with those offspeed/breaking balls is the area of greatest need. Ordinarily, players will have a tough time if there is a spot or two that is tough to cover. When it’s the entire bottom 1/3 of the zone and underneath the zone that can be exploited by the opposition, especially the best in the world at that, it can almost be untenable.

Okay, what about his speed and defense?

Scott is a little bit slower in his reads, but he seems to process the flight of the ball really well, and has above-average to plus closing speed, and is great with closing speed and getting to the baseball once he has an idea of where it might land.

Scott’s 29.6 ft/s is in the 98th percentile in all of baseball. These are the two things that Scott does best. Impacting the baseball and providing any kind of offensive value is not. Which is unfortunate, with nearly 700 MLB PA in his career already, it doesn’t seem like, projecting forward at least, that Scott will be anything more than a 4th OF in MLB long term. Which would prove my initial evaluation of him wrong. I thought he could be someone with 10-15 HR power annually and play gold glove defense in CF, and that could be a nice above-average player on a competitive team.

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently posted his first 2026 MLB mock draft, and included in that piece was the Cardinals at number 13. For that spot, one name that McDaniel talked about was Trevor Condon, who is a prep outfielder from the state of Georgia. McDaniel mentioned that some evaluators around the game whisper the name “McGonigle” when talking about Condon, and that caught my attention QUICKLY. MLB dot com drew comparisons to Brett Gardner or Sal Frelick, which are definitely different profiles, but that was released back in December, and we now have this spring’s results and performance to include in that evaluation. The overall purpose of this blurb in this article is that this years draft class is particularly loaded with some young exciting outfield prospects and while you dont draft for need, if the evaluations are close, position could be a tie breaker, lest we not forget the lurking emergence of Tai Peete or Ryan Mitchell, both of whom could project to play CF long term if their development continue in a positve way, both with considerable more offensive upside than Scott has displayed in his 2+ seasons at the big league level thus far.

Could Scott change something and unlock more offensive ability down the road? Sure. But, at this point, he hasn’t shown anything to convince us otherwise, and those asking the question about what Scott is long-term. It would be hard to argue anything other than a 4th outfielder at this point.

What are your thoughts on Victor Scott? Let me know, and let’s talk about it!

-Thanks for reading

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

You know, over the course of a six-month season, you’ll see every kind of baseball game. Sometimes you’ll see a heavyweight clash between two tenacious clubs, battling with every fiber of their being as they put on a clinic of intense, well-played baseball.

And then other times you’ll see what can only be described as a frenetic slap fight between two mediocre opponents, each apparently trying to give the game away but neither one willing to take it.

You can probably guess which of these descriptions applies to last night’s ridiculous Orioles vs. Royals contest. Somehow, some way, the O’s ended up with a 7-5, 12-inning win in a game that they trailed 1-0 with two outs in the ninth. For 8.2 innings, it was shaping up to be one of the Birds’ most embarrassing losses, one in which they managed a single hit — from the second batter of the game, no less — before the O’s offense vanished for eight innings. Gunnar Henderson got picked off twice. Kyle Bradish allowed 13 baserunners in 5.1 innings to a terrible Royals offense and somehow only one run, owing to the aforementioned terrible Royals offense.

In the end, Samuel Basallo saved the day with the game-tying, two-out, two-strike hit in the ninth and the go-ahead RBI single in the 12th, and Leody Taveras added the cherry on top with his first career grand slam. And still the Orioles almost blew a five-run lead in the bottom of the 12th. That was the game in a nutshell. An O’s victory both thrilling and maddening, equal parts exciting and exasperating. Against any other team it probably wouldn’t have been a win, but the Orioles took full advantage of the worst team in the AL. Mark Brown recapped all the ridiculous action.

I’m not going to go so far as to say that this is a win that will give the Orioles some momentum, because all of their season-long warts were on full display for most of it. Their problems aren’t exactly fixed. Still, it was nice to see Basallo’s bat start to come around and unexpected 2026 stalwarts like Taveras, Rico Garcia, and Anthony Nunez continue to contribute. The O’s need their star players to return to form, but in the meantime they’ve had lesser-known players keeping them afloat so far.

What the Orioles did last night sure wasn’t the way you’d script it, and it’s not a sustainable way to win. But let’s take the victories now and sort the rest out later.

Links

Updates on Holliday, Hiraldo and other injured Orioles – School of Roch

A bunch of injured Orioles appear close to returning, but we probably won’t see Yaramil Hiraldo again this season. My apologies to all the Yaramil Hiraldo stans out there.

Has Jeremiah Jackson solidified his place on the Orioles? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com

By being basically the best hitter on the team? I should think so!

Kyle Goon: Jeremiah Jackson’s fiery start for the Orioles merits a serious look at his long-term lineup spot – The Baltimore Banner

What he said. Jeremiah has been a great story for a 2026 Orioles team sorely lacking in them.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And happy birthday to an Orioles Hall of Famer and the 1973 AL Rookie of the Year, Al Bumbry. “The Bee” spent 13 of his 14 MLB seasons in Baltimore, racking up 252 stolen bases, third-most in O’s history. Enjoy your day, Al! Other former Orioles born on April 21 include lefty Cionel Pérez (30), infielder Ryan Adams (39), catcher Ronny Paulino (45), and MLB’s all-time leader in games pitched, Jesse Orosco (69), who made 336 of his 1,252 career appearances as an Oriole.

On this day in 1996, Brady Anderson set an MLB record by hitting a leadoff homer for the fourth consecutive game. He accomplished the feat in all three games of a series against the Rangers and a game in Boston before that. The kicker? The Orioles lost all four games.

Random Orioles game of the day

On April 21, 2005, the Orioles suffered a 1-0 shutout loss to the Red Sox at Camden Yards. The game’s only run came in the second inning on a Ramón Vázquez RBI groundout that plated future Oriole Kevin Millar. Birds starter Rodrigo López pitched brilliantly, going eight innings while allowing only that one (unearned) run, but the O’s offense had no answer for Red Sox righty Matt Clement, who worked eight scoreless of his own before Keith Foulke nailed down the save in the ninth. The O’s had eight hits in the game, including three by Melvin Mora, but couldn’t get any when it mattered.