Category: Sports News

The New York Yankees (1-0) face the San Francisco Giants, who are 0-1 after losing their first game of the series on Opening Night. Starting pitchers are second-year pitcher Cam Schlittler for the Yankees, who posted a 2.96 ERA as a rookie, and Robbie Ray for the Giants, with a 3.65 ERA in 2025. The Yankees are favored with a moneyline of -130 at BetMGM.

How to watch New York Yankees vs. San Francisco Giants

• Date: Friday, March 27

• Time: 4:35 p.m. ET / 1:35 p.m. PT

• Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA

• TV channel: ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV (Local broadcasts: NBC Sports Bay Area, Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network)

• Live stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• New York Yankees: 1-0 (#3 in AL East)

• San Francisco Giants: 0-1 (#5 in NL West)

Odds

• Point spread: New York Yankees -1.5

• Moneyline: New York Yankees -130, San Francisco Giants +110

• Over/Under: 8.0 (Over -120, Under +100)

Starting pitchers

• New York Yankees: Cam Schlittler (2025 stats: 4-3, ERA: 2.96, K: 84, WHIP: 1.22, BB: 31)

• San Francisco Giants: Robbie Ray (2025 stats: 11-8, ERA: 3.65, K: 186, WHIP: 1.21, BB: 73)

Weather: 71°F at first pitch

“If you can’t beat them, join them.“ Or, in this case, have them join you.

In a move that is not quite as dramatic as someone like Roger Clemens eventually making his way from Boston stardom to the Bronx, the Yankees recently signed right-handed pitcher Luis Garcia to a minor-league deal. And if you were wondering? Yes, it’s that Luis Garcia, the former Houston Astro — the man whose windup kind of makes me seasick even while sitting on the couch, but that’s a conversation for another time.

A pretty successful starter for the Astros in 2021 and 2022, Garcia ascended alongside other young arms who rose to prominence in the post-sign-stealing-scheme environment, like Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier. He had a 3.60 ERA with 324 strikeouts in 312.2 innings for the back-to-back American League champions, winning a ring in ’22.

It’s been a tough road for Garcia since then, as he’s dealt with one scarily large injury bug over the past few years, limiting the righty to just 34.2 innings since the start of 2023. It’ll be a while before Garcia can suit up in the Yankees minor-league system, reserving the entirety of this 2026 campaign for his recovery from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent at the end of last season. Alarmingly, it was Garcia’s second TJS in a rather short period, as his first came in May 2023.

If you remove the health aspect, there were never a ton of performance-related concerns around the now-29-year-old Garcia, as he delivered some productive seasons for the Astros. At the same time, two major surgeries in the span of three years put his career in jeopardy. If the Yankees can rehabilitate him, there might be a solid pitcher in here.

The dominant storyline regarding the Mets all offseason was about the roster turnover. If you look up and down yesterday’s Opening Day lineup, about half of the players in it are new faces, most of whom weren’t even in the organization last season. Yesterday’s 11-7 victory over the Pirates in which the Mets got the best of one of the premiere aces in the game was a total team effort that included contributions from nearly all of these new Mets.

For starters, the pitcher that took the mound to ring in the season in front of the Citi Field faithful was one of those new players. Freddy Peralta’s performance wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to earn him his first win in a Mets uniform. After giving up the two-run homer to Brandon Lowe in the first, he bounced back to strike out the next three batters and ended up racking up seven strikeouts in total. Other than the mistakes Peralta made to Lowe, who either simply had Peralta’s number or is about to enter a new era of dominance as a Pittsburgh Pirate, he had a strong Mets debut.

The Mets were able to erase the deficit created by the Lowe two-run homer yielded by Peralta and then some in the bottom of the first, which became a marathon rally that knocked Paul Skenes out of the game with just two outs in the first. The newcomers in the Mets’ lineup were huge contributors to this rally. Bo Bichette plated the Mets’ first run of 2026 with a sacrifice fly. Jorge Polanco then singled and Luis Robert Jr. worked an 11-pitch walk—one of the key at-bats in the inning because of the bases-clearing triple that followed.

Though of course the sun played a role, Marcus Semien gets credit for a double and an RBI in the inning all the same. Both Robert and Semien would go on to have a multi-hit game. Robert notched RBI knocks in both the fourth and fifth innings, the latter being a slow grounder that he beat out with his speed for an infield hit. In his very first game as a Met, Robert showed why the Mets traded for him (and why they have been trying to do so for years now). His skills on both side of the ball were on full display, as he made a diving catch in center to end the third inning as well. In fact, for all the hemming and hawing about players learning new positions, the Mets played a solid game defensively. The Mets’ new infield contingent made all of the plays—fundies that would have made Keith Hernandez proud if this game had been broadcast on SNY.

It is fitting that Freddy Peralta was followed in the game by Tobias Myers, who came with him in the trade from the Brewers. Myers gave up a solo homer to Ryan O’Hearn and nothing else over three strong innings of work, demonstrating right away the value he provides as a long man in the bullpen—a role the Mets have not had consistently filled for quite some time now.

The only new addition whose day did not quite go as well was Luis Garcia, who was tasked with protecting a six-run lead in the ninth inning. With how Myers was cruising it seemed like he might finish the game, but it seems like the Mets opted to save his bullets and turn to Garcia instead with the more comfortable lead. Garcia was shaky in the ninth, but ultimately got through it with the lead in tact. Overall, yesterday was still a very good day for the new look Mets.

Of course, not all 162 games of this long season are going to look like this—“a near perfectly executed offensive inning,” as Howie Rose described the first-inning rally in what turned out to be a near perfectly executed game all around. There are going to be bad moments where it feels like the team isn’t gelling. But you can see David Stearns’ vision for the Mets within yesterday’s win—a microcosm of what he wants this next Mets era to look like. Some of these new faces, like Bo Bichette, who has an opt-out after this season, may be fleeting pieces as this Mets puzzle comes together. Others, like Freddy Peralta, with whom the Mets are still negotiating on a potential extension, may end up staying awhile. We have a lot of season left to see if this new group has the secret sauce of a championship club. But yesterday was a good start.

Kansas City has a favorable April schedule and needs to take advantage

The schedule to begin 2026 is a bit of a gift for a Royals team that has not gotten off to the strongest starts historically. Last year’s team made it to the end of April at 16-15 and even stayed above .500 through May before having one of the most atrocious months I have ever seen in June, which ended up being too much to overcome in the end. This year, the MLB schedule makers have deigned to give the Royals an early season scheduling gift. Here are the series that they will play through April:

• 3 games at Atlanta Braves
• 3 games vs. Minnesota Twins
• 3 games vs. Milwaukee Brewers
• 3 games at Cleveland Guardians
• 4 games vs. Chicago White Sox
• 3 games at Detroit Tigers
• 3 games at New York Yankees
• 3 games vs. Baltimore Orioles
• 3 games vs. Los Angeles Angels
• 3 games at Athletics

Outside of the nine-game stretch at Detroit, at New York, and home for Baltimore, the other opponents are all fine-to-bad. Milwaukee has a habit of being quite good, but they are projected for a win total in the low 80s. Atlanta is currently missing Sean Murphy, Ha-Seong Kim, Spencer Strider, and several other players right now and is quite vulnerable. Minnesota was gutted last year and only has starting pitching to lean on. There are a lot of opportunities to pick up early wins, and maybe more importantly for this team, early confidence.

The Yankees, Brewers, Braves, Orioles, and Tigers are projected to have winning records, but the Braves are not at full strength. That means half of the teams faced are projected below five hundred and they are projected to be further below .500 than the first five are projected to be above. The projected weighted average win percentage for these 31 games is just .493 helped out by that bonus fourth game against the White Sox. Of the 31 games, 16 are at home and 15 on the road, giving the Royals a slight advantage in their ballpark with new dimensions to fit them.

Getting off to a good start can be huge for this team. They have a chance to get the momentum early in a winnable division. There is only the one short stretch of nine games against Detroit, New York, and Baltimore where the goal would be to win four out of nine, and you would be happy not to have dropped more. The rest of those are all series you should feel like you can win, and it is a matter of banking as many of those as possible. Something like an 18-13 start looks very possible, which would be a nice step toward a successful season.

That would not be enough to guarantee anything over a long season, but for a team like this, it could make a huge difference.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won a World Series title in the abbreviated 2020 season, doing so with the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen, and Corey Seager as key parts of their core.

Every last one of those players is now gone, with all but Kershaw having skipped town long before the 2024 season (when the Dodgers also won a World Series). Kershaw stuck around through the end of the 2025 season before hanging up his spikes for good, and he managed to get a ring as part of the 2025 World Series champion Dodgers, too.

The Dodgers franchise has become an absolute juggernaut, the latest iteration of an Evil Empire that Major League Baseball has so often featured during its glory days. With a trio of titles over the last six seasons, they have seized ownership of the league from the likes of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants, staking claim as the behemoth on every single team’s schedule. And if they continue to have their way with the league this season, it’ll be a three-peat for them come October.

So, it’s not at all surprising that a significant plurality of MLB fans in the latest MLB Reacts poll think it’s the Dodgers who will win the 2026 World Series, too, putting together a three-peat on the backs of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, & Co.

It only took two games for the Dodgers to dispatch the upstart Cincinnati Reds in the first round of last year’s playoffs, an amount of time that makes it hard to even remember the Reds participating on that grand stage. And while the Reds went out and acquired Eugenio Suárez to bolster their offense and can now lean into Sal Stewart for a full season, the Reds face a mountain to climb to even get the chance to take down the Dodgers again at the end of this season.

In fact, the Reds aren’t even on the shortlist of likeliest suitors to tackle the Dodger dynasty. That honor goes to the Toronto Blue Jays, who battled the Dodgers to a scintillating Game 7 just last fall before ultimately dropping the series on a dramatic Will Smith home run.

At least, that’s according to those who responded to the latest MLB Reacts survey.

The revamped New York Mets, a Philadelphia Phillies club reunited with Kyle Schwarber, and a Chicago Cubs club that splurged big to sign Alex Bregman stand as the top competition from the National League side, according to the survey.

The Cincinnati Reds were not among the top contenders to take down the Dodgers, per survey results.

Hunter Brown was strong in his Opening Day start, but only lasted 4.2 IP due to his high pitch count following 4 walks and 9 strikeouts. A.J. Blubaugh then pitched 2.1 IP in relief, likely giving us a look at how the Astros intend to use their bullpen.

You can call the rule dumb. You can call the rule outdated. However, the rule was properly called on a play that cost Yordan Alvarez a first inning home run because his towering blast hit the roof scaffolding at Daikin Park.

They did walk 6 times, so there’s that. However the offensive slumber from spring continued to Opening Day.

Chandler Rome addresses what is still wrong with the Astros’ offense, and 9 prospects to watch this season:

Isaac Paredes got in the game at 1B yesterday:

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There are eight games on the diamond today, and I’ve got a trio of MLB player props to cover you through the night.

My top MLB picks start with Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho, and Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel rounds out the betting card for Friday, March 27.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Daulton Varsho	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-135
Heriberto Hernandez	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-125
Nolan Schanuel	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-105

Daulton Varsho Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-130)

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho posted a rock-solid .355 wOBA and .865 OPS against righties last season, and Athletics starter Luis Severino finished the year with a 4.80 xFIP against left-handed hitters.

Varsho has been on a heater during Spring Training, racking up 19 hits, 12 runs, and 14 RBI while posting a mammoth 1.246 OPS across 53 plate appearances.

• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MLBN, Sportsnet

Heriberto Hernandez Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-125)

Miami Marlins outfielder Heriberto Hernandez posted a .976 OPS this spring after recording a respectable .782 mark against lefties last season.

Hernandez is projected to hit in the middle of the lineup and also draws a favorable matchup against Colorado Rockies southpaw Kyle Freeland tonight.

Freeland has allowed a .361 wOBA to right-handed hitters, posting a 4.98 ERA and 4.78 xFIP over the past three years.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MIAM, COLR

Nolan Schanuel Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-105)

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel went deep in the season opener yesterday, and the 2023 first-round pick projects to return to the middle of the lineup again in a neutral matchup against Houston Astros right-handed pitcher Mike Burrows (career 3.90 ERA and 3.95 xFIP across 99 1/3 MLB innings). 

In addition to being positioned to rack up counting stats, Schanuel has worked on adding bat speed during the offseason. Expect another big performance from the Halos’ youngster at Daikin Park. 

• Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Apple TV

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

The Los Angeles Dodgers (1-0) face the Arizona Diamondbacks (0-1) in the second game of their series, with the Dodgers favored by a 1.5-run spread and a moneyline of -250. Starting pitchers are Ryne Nelson for Arizona, who had a 3.39 ERA in 2025, and Emmet Sheehan for Los Angeles, whose 2025 ERA was 2.82.

How to Watch Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Dodgers

• Date: Friday, March 27

• Time: 10:10 PM ET / 7:10 PM PT

• Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

• TV Channel: ARID

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team Records

• Arizona Diamondbacks: 0-1 (#3 in NL West)

• Los Angeles Dodgers: 1-0 (#1 in NL West)

Odds via BetMGM

• Spread: Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5

• Moneyline: Los Angeles Dodgers -250 / Arizona Diamondbacks +200

• Over/Under: 8.5

Starting Pitchers

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Ryne Nelson (2025 stats: 7-3, ERA: 3.39, K: 132, WHIP: 1.07, BB: 41)

• Los Angeles Dodgers: Emmet Sheehan (2025 stats: 6-3, ERA: 2.82, K: 89, WHIP: 0.97, BB: 22)

Weather: 72°F at first pitch

Opening Day is often thought of as a beginning for, well, obvious reasons. But, sometimes, I guess it’s an ending as well. Jason Heyward has announced his retirement after a 16-season MLB career:

For many of us, Heyward’s career was a big part of Braves fandom. His hype, amazing first MLB game, and overall awesome rookie season dovetailed with me going from a guy who largely just watched all the games to being really interested in how everything in baseball worked. His Braves tenure overlapped with a resurgence in the team’s fortunes after a few years wandering in the wilderness after the division title streak ended, though he also had to endure the disappointing conclusions to the 2011 and 2014 seasons. And, of course, his trade to the Cardinals heralded the first (and perhaps only, if we’re lucky) demonstrative Atlanta Braves rebuild.

Heyward put up nearly 20 fWAR in his five seasons as a Brave, matching his rookie season’s 4.7 with another 4.7 in his final season pre-trade. His best season actually came immediately after he was dealt to the Cardinals — 5.6 fWAR. He he actually hit better as a rookie, which was his best offensive season overall (134 wRC+). However, his defense didn’t rate highly that year as compared to the next decade-plus of his career, hence the higher overall performace in 2015. His career included five Gold Gloves, an All-Star selection in his rookie season, and a World Series title in 2016 with the Cubs — despite his lackluster performance that year for his third team.

His career descended into more a role player/clubhouse guy vein from 2021-onward, though he did have a nice half-season while outhitting his xwOBA a bunch for the Dodgers in 2023. He’ll now put some of those experiences to work in mentoring the next generation of athletes at his eponymous academy.

Thanks for the memories, Jason Heyward. We’ll always have that amazing debut game against the Cubs in 2010. I know it’s a baseball moment I won’t ever forget.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Boston Red Sox paid Kristian Campbell early last April because the organization believed in the 2023 fourth-rounder after his meteoric minor league rise. 

His MLB experiment came crashing down after just 11 weeks in the show last season. Campbell struggled defensively at second base and hit just .223 in 67 games. The Red Sox sent him to Triple-A Worcester to reset his environment and allow the young talent to refine his offensive approach and find his defensive strengths.

Entering 2026, Campbell returns to Worcester with a settled field to convince the big league club that he can contribute again at a high level. 

“It’s really comfortable because this is my second time, second season being in that environment,” Campbell said at WooSox Media Day on Thursday. “My first season, I was kind of all over the place between three levels. Last year, I debuted with all new guys. This year I’m with the guys that I was with the very first year again. So I’m really in a comfortable spot to compete, get better, to work on things I need to work on.” 

Part of his growth will include more time in the outfield, an area he gained some minor league experience in before, and where he could excel given the way his Georgia Tech coaches raved about his athleticism. The 23-year-old must find his true home defensively, so he’s more than willing to move around in the best interests of the Red Sox. 

“I really love the outfield,” Campbell said. “Obviously, I don’t really have that much time out there considering I started out in the infield, but being able to play everything. Obviously, I would like to focus on the outfield right now because that’s what I’ve been working on the most. And I really like the outfield to be honest. You know, if they need me or want me to play the infield, I can always go back to it if they want me to. But I like the outfield. So that’s what I’ve been working on the most right now.”

Whether he eventually finds his way as an infielder or outfielder, he finds himself pretty far down the depth chart right now, fighting a roster logjam. With that in mind, Campbell might be a trade candidate. He spoke to the “scary” realities of moving organizations at the trade deadline in 2025. But he stuck around this offseason and can now shift his focus to performing at Polar Park. 

“You don’t really have to worry about anything right now,” Campbell added. “Just worry about competing every day, putting up good at bats, playing good defense, doing the little things right. Whenever the season keeps going, you gotta play all 162 games. You look back and if you do everything right in the beginning, you’re gonna have a good season to look back on.”

Offensively, Campbell ran into trouble when he strayed from his natural profile that ignited his fantastic 2024 run. In 2025, he chased too much. He didn’t pull the ball. He didn’t make enough hard contact. Now, restoring his roots at the plate and on the bases shapes his expectations for 2026. 

“Not trying to do too much, just going back to my hit and running game,” Campbell explained. “Kind of like a throwback to what I did in college and kind of what I did when I first got into the system a couple years ago. Just seeing the ball deep, hitting it, keeping the ball low, not really trying to force too many home runs or try to force too much in general. Just let it happen naturally. Don’t try to force it out or do anything crazy. So just be simple and let the accidents be home runs like I grew up.”

Campbell continued: “That’s pretty much my approach going into it. And I’ve been working on it and trying to get my head around it. But that’s what I want to do. I mean, obviously getting bigger and stronger. You want to show how much power we have sometimes, but sometimes it can play against you. And I feel like it plays against me sometimes when I try to force something to happen versus letting it happen naturally. You know, like three years ago, I wasn’t as big and I wasn’t even trying to hit a home run because I knew I probably couldn’t. So I was always just trying to keep the ball low, get my hits, get my singles and doubles. Really doubles, try to get a bunch of doubles and let the home runs happen if they happen. And I’m just trying to get back to that approach and not try to do too much too fast. That’s the main thing.”

Campbell knows the expectations and the pressure of winning in Boston that will meet him when he eventually finds his way back to the big leagues. He appreciated that aspect of the Red Sox clubhouse the last few weeks in Fort Myers and knows what’s at stake in 2026 and beyond. 

“People take it really serious,” Campbell shared. “Everybody comes to Boston to win. Nobody really comes to Boston to mess around. I feel like I really realized that last year and this year too, that all the guys that came in know what it’s like playing against Boston because they weren’t on the team before. And they take it really serious and they really enjoy being around and being in a new environment. So it’s really easy to connect with them and for them to jump in and be a part of the plan immediately is big. So it’s really exciting and the guys we’ve got, all the new guys we’ve got are really cool. So I’m excited to watch them start this season out strong and watch the team start off strong [on Opening Day]. So yeah, it’ll be fun.”

Campbell and the WooSox start the 2026 season Friday against the Syracuse Mets.