Category: Sports News

The Mets and Rockies play a doubleheader at Citi Field on Sunday, but before the games began, manager Carlos Mendoza provided a few updates...

Brett Baty being aggressive

While Baty had been mired in an early-season slump, the young infielder/outfielder has been showing signs of turning things around. Over his last seven games, Baty is slashing .375/.474/.625 with a home run, 5 RBI, highlighted by a three-run monster home run against the Twins on Thursday.

"I think he’s being aggressive with pitches in the strike zone and not missing them," Mendoza said. "Using the whole field, pull side, going the other way. And then the chase I think has gotten better too because he’s not missing those pitches early in the count."

Baty is playing third base in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, with Bo Bichette moving to shortstop. 

Jorge Polanco update

Mendoza was asked once again about the status of Jorge Polanco, who is on the IL with a sore wrist but was also dealing with soreness in his Achilles. 

The manager said that the veteran is still dealing with "a little bit of both," noting the wrist is still an issue when Polanco swings from the left side. However, Polanco is continuing to progress with baseball activities. 

"He’s outside doing some running, so he started doing that outside today," Mendoza said. "Hitting off the tee, flips, so continuing to progress with baseball opportunities."

Polanco was placed on the IL on April 18.

Happy Sunday. I thought I was over the jet lag, when I slept great on Friday night, then last night I couldn’t sleep at all.

Anyway, today we have our first look at Yohendrick Pinango. I remember, back in my school days, the teach would have to say Yohendrick Pi, so that the 12 other Yohendricks didn’t think he was talking to them.

The other interesting thing about this lineup is that Ernie Clement is leading off. I think having a guy who swings at everything leading off is pretty strange. I like him batting with someone on base better. I also think that he’d be a good choice if you wanted to hit and run. But 1/6th of the way through the season, Clement has 1 walk.

On the other hand, I don’t know who I’d put in the lead off spot. I’m all for trying Vlad there, but I’m pretty sure the club will never do that.

Yesterday’s Umpire Scorecard. Quinn Wolcott wasn’t terrible.

Today in Jays History, seven years ago, Vladimir Guerrero made his MLB debut.

Now he is 1001 games into his career. He has a .289/.367/.494, with 185 home runs (and 28 steals). Not a bad start at all.

And the Red Sox fired their manager, Alex Cora (and pretty much their whole coaching start). I’m not a Red Sox fan and I’m no more of a fan of Cora but I rarely take joy in someone losing a job.

It does make me wonder what the plan is for their game today. I suggest picking six guys out of the crowd and randomly aside them a role, Manage, Bench Coach, Pitching Coach, First and Third Base Coaches. Might as well have fun with it.

And I missed this yesterday:

One of my favourite plays ever (in an April game).

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The Kansas City Royals go for the sweep of the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium tonight. 

Headlined by Halos right-hander Reid Detmers, here are our favorite Angels vs. Royals predictions and MLB picks for Sunday, April 26.

Angels vs Royals props for April 26

Pick	Odds
Reid Detmers Over 5.5 strikeouts	-108
Bobby Witt Jr. to record an RBI	+135
Nolan Schanuel 2+ total bases	+125

Angels vs Royals player prop picks

Reid Detmers Over 5.5 strikeouts (-108)

Reid Detmers has looked superb in his return to the rotation. Through five starts, the Los Angeles Angels southpaw owns a 2.76 xERA and 3.05 FIP to go along with a healthy 25.8% strikeout rate.

Detmers has always been able to miss bats, and his 13.3% swinging-strike rate suggests even more Ks are on the way. Hitters haven’t been able to pick up his pitches, leading to a 90th-percentile chase rate.

The Kansas City Royals have struggled offensively against left-handers, posting a 70 wRC+ with a 24.5% strikeout rate. That sets up as a favorable matchup for Detmers, who is averaging 6.2 punchouts per start.

Bobby Witt Jr. to record an RBI (+135)

One Royal who could find success against Detmers is Bobby Witt Jr. The star shortstop is heating up after a slow start, slashing .360/.433/.520 over the last seven days.

Witt has been especially strong against LHP this season, going 9-for-23 at the dish with a 1.027 OPS. Detmers has been lethal against lefties (.161 AVG and 25.7% K-BB%), so run production might boil down to the right-handed Royals bats.

Kauffman Stadium has typically provided a boost for Witt, who’s hitting .311 with a 142 wRC+ in 328 career home games. The Royals have plated 18 runs through the first two games of the series, and Witt stands a good chance of knocking in a run if the offense stays hot.

Nolan Schanuel 2+ total bases (+125)

Seth Lugo takes the mound for Kansas City. The veteran struggled against left-handed bats (1.47 WHIP) a season ago, and with a Stuff+ of just 88, there’s little reason to expect those platoon splits to improve.

Enter Nolan Schanuel, who owns a 107 wRC+ against right-handed pitching while keeping strikeouts in check (14.6% K rate). Lugo posted an underwhelming 9.9% K-BB% against lefties in 2025, and pitching to contact against Schanuel could lead to a few base knocks or an extra-base hit.

Lugo is a soft-tosser who relies on a deep arsenal to keep hitters off balance. He ranks in the 99th percentile in breaking-ball run value, but Schanuel is hitting .286 against off-speed pitches.

How to watch Angels vs Royals and game info

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It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! This week, the Yankees took to the road to face a pair of down-on-their luck rivals, heading up north to Boston and south to Houston for the first time this season. As always, with every road trip, comes a flood of social media posts. What have the Bombers been up to while traveling this week? Let’s get started!

Tales from the Bitter North

It may have been cold, but the Yankees — and the Yankees broadcasters — got into some shenanigans up in Boston, meeting with old friends, freezing their rear ends off, and, in the case of Meredith Marakovitz, once again breaking Wally’s heart.

It wasn’t all fun and games, though. While in Boston, the Yankees visited Walker, a seven year old Yankee fan at Boston Children’s Hospital who is waiting for a heart transplant. Ben Rice, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Aaron Boone went to the hospital directly, and Aaron Judge and others phoned in.

Game Belts

As happens when the Yankees win some ballgames, they passed the Game Belt around quite a bit this week.

Congrats, Ryan!

Yankees starter Ryan Weathers, the son of former Yankees reliever David Weathers, went on the paternity list during this week’s series against the Red Sox. Fortunately, on Thursday, he took to Instagram to announce the birth of his son. Congratulations to the Weathers family — if the pattern holds, we look forward to seeing him in pinstripes in 2056!

Dave’s Thoughts

As always, Yankees radio voice Dave Sims took to Instagram to react to the Yankees’ games this week.

Instagram Shenanigans

The Yankees and YES Network had some fun on the ‘gram this week. First, the Yankees posted another Question of the Day, where we learned which players… like to take their shoes off on the plane. Maybe it’s different in first class, but I don’t know, that just seems unsanitary to me.

Then, the YES Network had some fun with a social media trend about editing photos. Of note, look in the corner — you’ll see that, in this fictional universe, the YES account has exactly 99 unread messages. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

The Cincinnati Reds continued their roster revamp on Sunday morning, activating catcher Jose Trevino off the injured list after he’d been out of action at the big league level since back on April 4th.

Trevino, 33, has logged just 12 PA so far this season as a back issue has been dogging him since the first week of the season. To date, he’s just 1 for 11 with a walk and 3 K, though last year provided evidence that his value comes in ways much more nuanced that just with the bat. He’s an accomplished defender and manager of the pitching staff, and hopefully getting him back in the mix will help solidify a starting rotation that’s had some serious bumps through the first month of the season.

PJ Higgins was optioned back to AAA Louisville to make room on the roster, as the Reds relayed – with a sidenote that pitcher Nick Lodolo was sent out to begin his own rehab assignment.

Trevino notably caught Brady Singer more often than not during the 2025 season, starting 22 of the 32 games in which the former Kansas City Royal righty started. In those 22 games, Singer allowed opposing hitters just a .701 OPS, whereas he yielded an .863 OPS ing the 6 games started by Tyler Stephenson. His 3.58 ERA and 2.74 K/BB were also notably better when pitching to Trevino than when he pitched to Ty Steves (6.14 ERA, 1.42 K/BB).

It was less pronounced with Andrew Abbott, who was excellent regardless last year, but the southpaw did yield a lower OPS to opposing batters in the 10 games he threw to Trevino (.602) than he did when pitching to Stephenson 18 times (.668).

That’s not to say that having Trevino back will completely solve all issues those two starters have faced so far in 2026, but the hope is that it sure won’t hurt to have his game-calling back in the mix.

Trevino will be right back in action on Sunday, as he’s in the starting lineup slated to catch righty Rhett Lowder for the second time this year. In their first outing together, Lowder fired 6.0 IP of scoreless ball against the Texas Rangers back on April 4th.

After actually winning a game on Saturday night, the Phillies will try to repeat the feat on Sunday afternoon in the finale of their series against the Braves.

Aaron Nola gets the start for the Phillies. The veteran righty is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA this season.

He’ll be opposed by Braves ace Chris Sale, who is having another strong season at 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA.

Game time is 1:35 and will be televised locally by NBCSP.

Texas Rangers lineup for April 26, 2026 against the A’s: starting pitchers are Kumar Rocker for the Rangers and J.T. Ginn for the A’s.

Texas plays the series finale against the A’s this afternoon. It is kind of a big game…the difference between winning two straight series and not, the difference between a winning week and a .500 week. If the Rangers win, they will have sole possession of first place in the A.L. West. If they don’t, they’ll be a game back of the A’s in the West.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Pederson — DH

Seager — SS

Jung — 3B

Carter — CF

Burger — 1B

Smith — 2B

Jansen — C

Osuna — LF

1:35 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -120 favorites.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates will attempt a series sweep of their NL Central rival, the Milwaukee Brewers, when the teams meet this afternoon.

My Pirates vs. Brewers predictions expect Pittsburgh to sweep a series in Milwaukee for the first time in a decade.

Find out why in my MLB picks for Sunday, April 26.

Who will win Pirates vs Brewers today: Pirates (+107)

Carmen Mlodzinski takes the bump for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he’s shown improvement in his arsenal. His split-finger usage has nearly doubled from last year, a key reason he’s ranked in the 91st percentile in barrel rate.

Mlodzinski faces a Milwaukee Brewers lineup that’s posted a .074 ISO and a 76 wRC+ over the last two weeks, ranking dead-last in both metrics.

Kyle Harrison is prime for some regression, given his ERA of 3.06 is far exceeding his 4.41 xERA. Pittsburgh’s bullpen also has the fourth-best xERA over the past two weeks and will close out the win. 

COVERS INTEL: Carmen Mlodzinski is averaging 38.4 inches of vertical drop on his split-finger fastball, an increase of 2.1 inches over last season.

Pirates vs Brewers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-110)

We were unfortunate to hit the Under yesterday, with the game tied at 3-3 heading into extra innings. That said, we take that route again today.

Harrison is getting strikeouts on a consistent basis, an area where the top of Pittsburgh’s lineup has struggled at times. 

The Pirates rank sixth in strikeout rate over the past two weeks, which has negated their high BABIP. They’re also right at 100 in wRC+ in that span.

The Brewers have scored just nine runs in their last four games, and their struggles at the plate will help keep this score low.  

Pirates vs Brewers odds

• Moneyline: Pirates +108 | Brewers -113
• Run line: Pirates +1.5 (-194) | Brewers -1.5 (+186)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-104) | Under 7.5 (+100)

Pirates vs Brewers trend

The Pittsburgh Pirates have hit the run line in 15 of their last 22 games (+9.65 Units / 34% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Pirates vs. Brewers.

How to watch Pirates vs Brewers and game info

Pirates vs Brewers latest injuries

Pirates vs Brewers weather

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A pitcher due for negative regression takes the mound for the Kansas City Royals as they wrap up a series with the Anaheim Angels on Sunday Night Baseball.

After being blown out yesterday, the Halos will look to avoid a sweep, and we like their chances to do it.

My Angels vs. Royals predictions and MLB picks see value in backing the underdog tonight.

Who will win Angels vs Royals today: Angels (+102)

Kansas City Royals arm Seth Lugo is getting respect from bookmakers because of his career body of work, but this season's underlying profile suggests regression is coming.

While I don’t have a strong conviction in this game, I see this moneyline as a coin flip, which gives me more than enough value to back Anaheim. 

Los Angeles Angels hurler Reid Detmers is going to give up runs because he’s a chase-reliant pitcher facing one of the most disciplined lineups in baseball. This is a bet on him being serviceable. It’s also a bet on L.A.'s free-swinging approach causing Lugo issues.

Lugo ranks in the Bottom 30th percentile of baseball in chase rate and whiff rate, meaning the things that usually present problems for this L.A. lineup won’t be present.

He also ranks well below league average in barrel rate. Quietly, this Angels lineup has raked, ranking sixth in the MLB in barrel rate.

COVERS INTEL:Seth Lugo’s expected ERA is nearly three full runs higher than his actual ERA of 1.15, which is one of the largest gaps in baseball right now.

Angels vs Royals Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (-110)

It’s hard to back the Angels without also taking the Over, so I’ll do that. I made this a total of 9.3.The Angels' aggressive plate approach should actually work to their advantage, given the pitching dynamics I’ve outlined above.

Conversely, the Royals boast a disciplined order with a 29% chase rate, sitting comfortably below the league average. This suggests Detmers won't find much success baiting them out of the zone.

Forced to attack, he’s much more vulnerable against a KC lineup featuring legitimate barrel threats like Jac Caglianone and Bobby Witt Jr., among others.

Angels vs Royals odds

• Moneyline: Angels +105 | Royals -125
• Run line: Angels +1.5 (-200) | Royals -1.5 (+150)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Angels vs Royals trend

The Royals have cashed the first five innings moneyline in 11 of their last 18 home games for +4.3 units and a 17% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Angels vs. Royals.

How to watch Angels vs Royals and game info

Angels vs Royals latest injuries

Angels vs Royals weather

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The Maven wants you to know that a lof of smart people in the National Hockey League believe that your Rangers stink.

And I'm not talking about Islanders fans nor anyone else who has a vested interested in the Blueshirts' good and welfare. Here's a simple explanation:

I just finished reading Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons who wrote;

"More than one (NHL) agent told me that the Rangers are the worst-run team in the NHL."

This from the most veteran and best sports writer on the continent. Look around the NHL and see who succeeds and fails.

Hottest, fastest young teams in the playoffs are the Canadiens and Ducks. Each team is sprinkled with former Rangers.

Not that long ago, Habs boss (Director of Hockey Ops) Jeff Gorton was turning the Rangers into a contender, along with arguably the most popular off-ice Blueshirt – John Davidson.

One day some MSG genius got Rangers' owner Jim Dolan's ear, fed him some apple sauce and Slim Jim fired Gorton-Davidson, leaving the Faithful with "the worst-run team in the NHL."

We'll find out next season whether it's "the worst-run team in history!"