Category: Sports News

For once, we have some good injury news to report here in Braves Country. Earlier today, Walt Weiss provided some new information on both injured pitcher Spencer Strider and injured catcher Sean Murphy. While Strider still seems to be working his way towards health, the return of Murphy appears to be relatively imminent. Walt Weiss informed the media that Sean Murphy will be beginning a rehab assignment on Friday.

Needless to say, this is a very positive development on both fronts. Assuming Spencer Strider’s live BP goes well, that could be the prelude to a rehab assignment for him that should get him back on the field shortly. As far as Murphy goes, he was seen taking BP during Atlanta’s last homestand so this news doesn’t come as much of a surprise since it was apparent that he was ramping up baseball activities in recent times.

The obvious hope is that we don’t hear about any setbacks for either Murphy or Strider — oblique injuries are tricky to deal with in Strider’s case and hopefully Murphy will be pain-free for the first time in a handful of years. It’s still genuinely shocking to know that Murphy had been playing with a bad hip for as long as he did but as long as it’s taken care of and he can return to the lineup and be productive, then that’ll simply be water under the bridge.

So again, it’s lovely to be able to talk about some good injury news around here for once. We’ll keep you posted on any further developments concerning injury updates but for now, we’re getting closer and closer to the Braves getting their intended band back together at some point in the near future.

For once, we have some good injury news to report here in Braves Country. Earlier today, Walt Weiss provided some new information on both injured pitcher Spencer Strider and injured catcher Sean Murphy. While Strider still seems to be working his way towards health, the return of Murphy appears to be relatively imminent. Walt Weiss informed the media that Sean Murphy will be beginning a rehab assignment on Friday.

Needless to say, this is a very positive development on both fronts. Assuming Spencer Strider’s live BP goes well, that could be the prelude to a rehab assignment for him that should get him back on the field shortly. As far as Murphy goes, he was seen taking BP during Atlanta’s last homestand so this news doesn’t come as much of a surprise since it was apparent that he was ramping up baseball activities in recent times.

The obvious hope is that we don’t hear about any setbacks for either Murphy or Strider — oblique injuries are tricky to deal with in Strider’s case and hopefully Murphy will be pain-free for the first time in a handful of years. It’s still genuinely shocking to know that Murphy had been playing with a bad hip for as long as he did but as long as it’s taken care of and he can return to the lineup and be productive, then that’ll simply be water under the bridge.

So again, it’s lovely to be able to talk about some good injury news around here for once. We’ll keep you posted on any further developments concerning injury updates but for now, we’re getting closer and closer to the Braves getting their intended band back together at some point in the near future.

Maybe this is the spark the Blue Jays need.

A fired-up John Schneider — who literally turned red in the face — got ejected on Tuesday night after arguing what he thought was an improper balk call against his starting pitcher.

In the top of the fifth inning with the Blue Jays trailing 2-0 to the Dodgers, starter Kevin Gausman was called for a balk, allowing Hyeseong Kim to advance from first base to second.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider was LIVID and got ejected after a called balk pic.twitter.com/0e9lec93zl

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 8, 2026

Schneider was immediately incensed and got in the face of home plate umpire Dan Merzel, who called the balk. Merzel promptly gave the Toronto skipper the heave-ho.

But that didn’t mean Schneider didn’t get his money’s worth, as he got right in the face of the ump for over 30 seconds of an impassioned argument.

In the short term, though, the ejection proved unfruitful; Los Angeles’ Alex Freeland brought in Kim with an RBI single during the very same at-bat.

It’s been a slow start to the year for the American League champions, who were 4-6 entering Tuesday night’s showdown, a 2025 World Series rematch.

Toronto started the new season with a series-opening sweep of the A’s but lost back-to-back series to the Rockies and White Sox, the latter a sweep on the South Side of Chicago.

Monday night proved to be another brutal day for the Blue Jays in a 14-2 loss to the Dodgers that saw World Series hero Miguel Vargas pitch the final inning. On top of the loss, starter Max Scherzer left his outing with a forearm issue. And, before Tuesday’s game, the Blue Jays announced starter Cody Ponce is likely out for the year after undergoing ACL surgery.

“I don’t want the woe is me, you know what I mean? It’s what can we do now?” Schneider told reporters Monday night. “Right now, not just our depth is being tested, our creativity is being tested as a group, like, how are we going to cover this, what are we going to do? It’s not always perfect, but we take a lot of pride in that and players do, too. The last five games have been really tough. But they’re in a good frame of mind.”

Every now and then last season, Ben Rice would pay a visit to his Baseball Savant page.

“Especially when things were, in terms of luck, not really going my way,” Rice said Tuesday. “I would just check on it.” 

What the Yankees first baseman would find was a lot of red, meaning most of his underlying metrics — like average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and expected batting average and slugging percentage — were among the higher percentiles in the majors.

Of course, that reassurance only went so far when he was not consistently getting the surface-level numbers that his batted-ball data suggested he should be — which placed him among the best hitters in the game, like having the seventh-best hard-hit rate (56.1 percent, tied with Rafael Devers and just ahead of Juan Soto) and boasting the ninth-best average exit velocity (93.3 mph, between Devers and Bobby Witt Jr.).

“I think you can only put so much stock into it, because the reality is the actual performance was not on par with the best players in the league,” Rice said before the Yankees opened a series against the A’s. “It was solid last year, but it wasn’t what the process stuff said it should be or could be or would be. In my eyes, it’s a performance-driven sport. It’s like, let’s keep finding ways to get better. Of course the process looks good, but how can we make it even better? How can we make it so you can get more power, more hits, more walks, fewer strikeouts?”

At least early on this season, the process numbers have lined up with the performance numbers, giving the lefty slugger a chance to end up among the game’s best in both areas.

Rice entered Tuesday batting .370 with an MLB-best 1.380 OPS, four doubles and three home runs. He was averaging an exit velocity of 97.6 mph, which was the second-highest mark among qualified hitters, with a league-leading 77.8 percent hard-hit rate.

“It’s good,” Rice said before offering the usual caution that comes with this time of year. “It’s so early. We always say we’ll evaluate at the end of the year. There’s no point in evaluating it now.”

But everything has been encouraging in terms of Rice looking like he is set to take another step up as the middle-of-the-order bat the Yankees believe he can be — including the fact that he has walked in nine of his 36 plate appearances.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“I think just the consistency of the at-bats every single day and the patience right out of the gate [has stood out],” manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve liked about our offense so far, is the patience, especially this time of year. Guys want to get going, or guys that are off to a little bit of a slow start, you want to get those hits, you start chasing that and then you play into the hands of the pitcher. … Benny’s been really, really good at controlling the strike zone and then when you come in there, he can really hurt you.”

In Rice’s first full season in the big leagues last year, he hit .255 with 26 home runs and a .836 OPS, which ranked 27th among qualified hitters. And yet the Yankees believed he was even better than those numbers indicated because he was hitting into a fair amount of bad luck.

Rice found some validation in those underlying metrics — after coming up through a minor league system in which he was evaluated on those “process-oriented” numbers like hitting the ball hard, he said — but it also helps to see the ball find grass, or a seat.

“There’s always a hole over the fence, so,” Rice said with a grin.

In the small sample size of the early season, Rice was also pulling the ball at a 50 percent clip — notably higher than his 37.7 percent mark last season. But he said that was not by design.

“I never try to do that,” he said. “If I do that, I’m screwed. That’s something that I do naturally. I work more on, at least in my practice, in staying through the middle of the field, because I know in the game, I speed up.”

The San Francisco Giants continue their series against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight from Oracle Park.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be left-hander Robbie Ray, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.38 ERA, 4.39 FIP with 11 strikeouts to three walks in 10.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 7-2 win over the New York Mets on Thursday, in which he allowed two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in 5.1 innings pitched.

He’ll be facing off against Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who enters tonight’s game with a 0.79 ERA, 1.23 FIP, with 17 strikeouts to four walks in 11.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Phillies’ 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals last Wednesday, in which he allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in 5.1 innings pitched.

Game #12

Who: San Francisco Giants (3-8) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (6-4)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

The San Francisco Giants continue their series against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight from Oracle Park.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be left-hander Robbie Ray, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.38 ERA, 4.39 FIP with 11 strikeouts to three walks in 10.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 7-2 win over the New York Mets on Thursday, in which he allowed two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in 5.1 innings pitched.

He’ll be facing off against Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who enters tonight’s game with a 0.79 ERA, 1.23 FIP, with 17 strikeouts to four walks in 11.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Phillies’ 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals last Wednesday, in which he allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in 5.1 innings pitched.

Game #12

Who: San Francisco Giants (3-8) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (6-4)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

At this point in his career, Ronny Mauricio was supposed to be a bigger part of the Mets' plans. 

The talented youngster had five-tool potential coming up through the system, but injuries and ineffective at-bats when given a chance led to Mauricio starting the 2026 season down in Triple-A. It's not uncommon for an organization to want to give young prospects every day at-bats, especially when there's no lane on the big league club. 

But aJuan Soto IL stint has thrust Mauricio back onto the Mets roster, and he made the most of his opportunity on Tuesday.

With the score tied at 3 in the 10th inning, Mauricio pinch-hit for Tyrone Taylor with Francisco Lindor on third base and one out. Mauricio got behind 0-2 to Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald, but the switch-hitter got a fastball he could handle up in the zone and laced a single into right field to deliver the Mets their fourth straight win.

"Baseball. It’s crazy, right?" manager Carlos Mendoza said of the moment. 

Crazy considering how just hours before first pitch, the Mets skipper laid out Mauricio's role on the team while Soto recovers from his calf strain. He doesn't anticipate Mauricio starting games, instead being used like he was on Tuesday. A versatile, left-handed bat off the bench and Mauricio provided just that. 

"Took it well. Appreciative of the conversation we had," Mauricio said of his conversation with Mendoza before the game. "He’s very clear, very transparent. We know the situation is right now. So right now, I'm just here to help the team out in any way possible and I'll be ready once my name is called."

The single was Mauricio's first walk-off of his career. The last Met to record a walk-off hit in their first plate appearance of the season was Alberto Castillo, also an RBI single, back on Opening Day 1998.

"Incredible, honestly," Mauricio said of his feelings about getting the hit. "The first at-bat of the year, to see the ball go over his head. It's really special."

RONNY MAURICIO WALKS IT OFF FOR THE METS! pic.twitter.com/7Q9PoLXtn3

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 7, 2026

"I like that he stayed on the fastball. It’s easy, especially when you get behind 0-2 to start looking for pitches, whether it was the sweeper from Sewald," Mendoza said of Mauricio's at-bat. "He’s a good fastball hitter. I’m glad he stuck to it and he executed."

Mendoza said that he had Mauricio start to get ready for a potential pinch-hit opportunity in the seventh inning. With the D-backs' bullpen bereft of left-handers, he knew Mauricio would be used to take on a right-hander. 

Mauricio said he started to warm up and swing a bat around the fifth inning, but admitted that the most difficult part of his situation is that he doesn't get the same reps. However, it has prepared him to be ready mentally for whenever his name is called. 

"My focus was already to put the ball in play," Mauricio said. "Way before I got to the plate, I was already preparing myself for that. Put the ball in play and hopefully it drops somewhere.”

With Soto out for 2-3 weeks, Mauricio will likely see some more pinch-hit opportunities in the near future. Once the Mets slugger returns, however, Mauricio will likely be sent back down. The 25-year-old understands the situation and is just ready to control what he can. 

"Obviously, in this game, there's a lot of highs and lows," he said. "The most important thing is to continue to work and the rest of it will take care of itself."

Mauricio slashed .226/.293/.369 with six homers and six doubles over 61 big league games (184 plate appearances) in 2025. At still such a young age, the Mets see a role in the organization for Mauricio. While he may not have a lasting impact, the team is confident he can help them win games whenever he's on the roster.

"I’m proud of him. I’m glad he was able to get the job done," Mendoza said of Mauricio. "For the team, they know how hard it’s been for him. Not only going through injuries, but the whole year itself last year, when he didn’t play much. He goes down to Triple-A and he comes back up today and gets a huge hit for us. Shows you, we’re going to need everyone in here. Everyone that walks through those doors they’re important and they’re going to contribute. We’re going to give everyone a chance. I’m glad he got the job done today."

Dave Portnoy is already over the Red Sox. 

The Barstool Sports founder and diehard Boston sports fan ripped the team after their latest gaffe on Tuesday before they won, 3-2. 

“Holy shit this team sucks!” Portnoy wrote on X. “A little league team could have turned that double play.   My god this team sucks.  SELL THE TEAM!  SELL THE TEAM! SELL THE TEAM!!!  #dirtywater”

Holy shit this team sucks! A little league team could have turned that double play. My god this team sucks. SELL THE TEAM! SELL THE TEAM! SELL THE TEAM!!! #dirtywater

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 7, 2026

Portnoy appears to be referring to an ugly play involving shortstop Trevor Story and second baseman Marcelo Mayer.

With one out and a runner at first in the top of the fourth against the Brewers at Fenway Park, Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz hit a chopper up the middle that appeared to be an easy double-play ball. 

Instead, the Red Sox ended up not getting a single out on the play, after a botched exchange between Story and Mayer at the bag and a lousy, late throw to first by the latter. 

The play encapsulates what has been a miserable start to the season in Beantown. 

What are we doing man pic.twitter.com/MZK2cUSBWP

— Lucas Parmenter (@Lucasparmenter0) April 7, 2026

After Tuesday’s game win over the Brewers, the Red Sox sit at 3-8 and in last place in the American League East. 

Portnoy, who vowed to bet on the Red Sox in every game this season, was already fed up with the franchise last week, mere days into the season, ripping ownership and the front office alike in a rant on “Wake Up Barstool” on Thursday.

“Watching every pitch is miserable. It’s ruining my life,” Portnoy said. “And a major part of it is John Henry, the ownership of the Red Sox. 

“Somewhere along the way, the Red Sox and this ownership group stopped trying to win. Content with being average to decent,” he continued. “This team is just to make money, not to win championships.”

The AL East-leading Yankees will visit Fenway Park to take on their rival two weeks from Tuesday. 

Realmuto exits early — and what we learned in Phillies' sloppy loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SAN FRANCISCO — Finding sustained success at Oracle Park continues to be an issue for the Phillies.

They won the first game of the series Monday, their first win in a series opener in the Bay Area since 2014.

While Cristopher Sánchez taking the ball gave them a good chance to win the series, Philadelphia will now keep waiting for its first series win in San Francisco since May of 2013 after dropping Tuesday night’s contest 6-0 to the Giants.

And the 11th game of the season certainly did not get off to a good start.

In the bottom of the first, the Phillies got some bad news. Giants first baseman Rafael Devers followed a ball back, and it pierced J.T. Realmuto’s foot beyond the foot pad on his leg guard.

It was later announced that the Phillies’ catcher suffered a bruised right foot. The situation felt familiar. During opening week last season, Realmuto left a game with a similar injury after getting hit on March 29.

Rob Thomson, a former catcher himself, was cautious then, and that could very well be the case again after he pulled Realmuto this time. It’s obviously difficult to compare injuries one-for-one, but Realmuto missed only one game last time around. At 35 and on a multi-year deal, being careful with his body makes sense.

Rafael Marchán has been an adequate backup, a switch-hitter and a timely bat when given the opportunity. More to come there.

ROCKY ACE OUTING

While the first inning got off to a rocky start, with Sánchez allowing a run on two hits, the Phillies’ ace continued to work in and out of trouble. The outing was reminiscent of Andrew Painter’s a night ago.

He posted a 74 percent strike rate in the outing and continued to fill up the zone, but the Giants kept putting the ball in play. San Francisco entered the night with the lowest OPS in baseball at .578, but it is not a club that racks up strikeouts, ranking around the middle of the league in team strikeout rate.

The Giants finished with 11 hits. Sánchez has allowed double-digit hits just once in a Phillies uniform before this. The last time came on Aug. 11, 2024, when Arizona collected 12 against him. When the Giants put the ball in play Tuesday, they did it with authority, posting a 44 percent hard-hit rate. That was a big jump from their league-worst 34.2 percent entering the night.

Sánchez’s final line was not one of his best: five and a third innings, four earned runs, six strikeouts and the aforementioned hit total. But that still does not tell the full story.

SLOPPY DEFENSE, BOOST IN RIGHT

And that has a lot to do with the fact that the Phillies have not gotten off to a great defensive start, something that showed up clearly Tuesday.

In the third inning, Willy Adames lined his second double of the night into the left-center gap. Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford did not get a great jump on the ball, one he may have had a chance to catch if he had reached the wall in time.

The rookie is still getting a feel for the different outfields around baseball.

A batter later, though, Adolis García came up firing on a Matt Chapman single and gunned down Adames at the plate. It was a great throw and tag by Marchán, and it kept the score at 1-0 at the time. The ball left García’s hand at 89.2 mph. It was the first tracked throw for him this season, but he ranked in the 92nd percentile in arm strength last year, averaging 91.9 mph.

It is a throw the Phillies are not used to seeing out of right field. Nick Castellanos averaged 81.6 mph on his throws last year. A complete difference.

But the defense continued to wobble.

Otto Kemp, still not a left fielder by trade, badly misread a ball in the bottom of the fifth with two outs. He broke the wrong way, spun around and could not track it down. It is a ball Brandon Marsh, an outfielder by trade, likely catches. That miscue came after Trea Turner couldn’t corral a ground ball at short.

Those plays forced Sánchez to throw more pitches than he should have and added to both his hit total and the overall feel of the outing. It was a pitching performance that should not be judged solely by the box score.

STRUGGLES VS. LHP

It has been an inconsistent start to the season for the Phillies at the plate. There have been bursts of offense, comeback wins and then stretches of total silence, like Tuesday night.

The Phillies faced Giants left-hander Robbie Ray, whose final line was as emphatic as his post-pitch grunts: six and two-thirds innings, four hits, seven strikeouts and no runs allowed. He had the Phillies’ bats twisted up all night. They could not get anything going against the former Cy Young winner.

And Ray’s outing underscored one of the Phillies’ biggest issues to begin the year: hitting left-handed pitching.

The club is slashing .165/.277/.258 against southpaws. That is the worst average in baseball. It should improve with time, but for a team whose two biggest stars hit from the left side, it is worth watching, especially if the right-handed platoon bats are not producing in the matchups they are supposed to help win.

The Phillies will get a right-hander from the Giants in the rubber game of the series. They are set to face the soft-throwing Tyler Mahle, who has posted a 7.00 ERA through his first two starts. Aaron Nola will go for Philadelphia.

Game two in Anaheim, can the Atlanta Braves shift the momentum to show the same team we’ve gotten glimpses of in the earlier series?’

I’ve always been told, if nothing changes… nothing changes. And changes have been made to the lineup to opt for an opportunity to snap this losing streak the team has found itself in. The Los Angeles Angels smell blood and another win to extend their streak to four games.

One thing is for sure… We’ll have something to talk about late tonight. Let’s hope it’s mostly positive.

First pitch is set for 9:38 p.m. EDT.

Game Notes

Preview

Lineups

Game two in Anaheim, can the Atlanta Braves shift the momentum to show the same team we’ve gotten glimpses of in the earlier series?’

I’ve always been told, if nothing changes… nothing changes. And changes have been made to the lineup to opt for an opportunity to snap this losing streak the team has found itself in. The Los Angeles Angels smell blood and another win to extend their streak to four games.

One thing is for sure… We’ll have something to talk about late tonight. Let’s hope it’s mostly positive.

First pitch is set for 9:38 p.m. EDT.

Game Notes

Preview

Lineups

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

You can’t predict baseball, except for the times that you can. The Yankees are off to another strong start, the Dodgers look as great as ever, and the Brewers, despite middling projections, are once again in first place in the NL Central, all developments that are far from shocking. Some things, it feels you can just set your watch to.

But for every expectation met, there’s been an expectation subverted thus far this year. And so we ask, almost two weeks into the season, which of the Yankees’ AL opponents has most surprised you with their start to the year?

Typically, surprises can come in the pleasant variety, but not so in this poll, as we have four shaky starts to choose from here. One is from an AL West rival, with the Mariners sputtering to a 4-7 on the heels of a division title and an ALCS last year. Seattle’s lineup hasn’t hit yet, but they’re at least only two games back of an Angels squad no one expects to remain in first for long.

On the other side, we have the AL East, with the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Red Sox all off to disappointing starts. Baltimore and Toronto are both on four wins apiece, sitting 3.5 games back of the Yankees. The new(ish)-look O’s have just been somewhat shaky out the gate, while the Jays have to be concerned with the toll injuries are taking on their roster, with Alejandro Kirk, José Berríos, Shane Bieber, Addison Barger, and Trey Yesavage all on the IL.

And then there are the Red Sox, 2-8 in their first 10 games. Their bats have slumped to a .682 OPS, nearly every pitcher on the roster not named Garrett Crochet or Aroldis Chapman has gotten shelled (both have still had toughmoments, too), and Roman Anthony’s defense has become an early-season meme, and not in a good way. Boston entered 2026 with hopes of building on a surprisingly strong 2025, but they’ve quickly found themselves 5.5 games back in the division.

So what do you think? Which start has surprised you the most? Is it that of an AL East foe, or the slumping Mariners?