Sunderland make two changes, both in defence, to the side that lost 4-3 at Villa Park. Dan Ballard and Trai Hume replace Luke O’Nien and Reinildo.
Forest bring in Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus for Murillo, who has a muscle injury, and Dilane Bakwa. Igor Jesus came off the bench at half-time last weekend, with Forest losing at home to Burnley, and scored the final goal in their 4-1 win. The man who scored the first three, Morgan Gibbs-White, will roam from the left.
Apr 17, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Casey Legumina (64) pitches to the Texas Rangers during the seventh inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
The Tampa Bay Rays are acquring right-handed pitcher Casey Legumina from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Ty Cummings.
Legumina, 28, was originally selected in the 8th round of the 2019 draft by the Minnesota Twins; Legumina was actually drafted twice prior to signing with the Twins (25th round in 2016 by Toronto & 35th round in 2018 by Cleveland). After quietly working his way up through Minnesota’s system, the Twins would trade Legumina to the Cincinnati Reds for Kyle Farmer in November, 2022. It was with Cincinnati that Legumina made his big league debut, appearing in 11 games during the 2023 season and compiling a 5.68 ERA | 6.73 FIP with a 18.0 K% & 14.8 BB% over 12.2 IP.
Legumina spent one more season with Cincinnati and then was claimed off of waivers by Seattle in February, 2025. Since joining the Mariners, Legumina compiled a 5.43 ERA | 4.15 FIP with a 23.5 K% & 10.3 BB% over 61.1 IP. The Mariners designated Legumina for assignment April 21st following a string of appearances in which he allowed six runs on 10 hits over 4.1 IP.
The cost to acquire Legumina was minor leaguer Ty Cummings, whom the Rays originally acquired from the Mariners as the Player to be Named Later in the Randy Arozarena trade. The 24-year old was originally a starting pitcher in the Rays system but they recently moved him to the bullpen. Prior to this trade, Cummings had made 3 appearances in Double-A, compiling a 1.69 ERA | 4.57 FIP over 5.1 IP.
Legumina is out of options, so the Rays will need to clear a spot on the active roster as well as on the 40-man roster. Marc Topkin is reporting that the move will be made official over the weeknd or on Monday.
In a move to bolster their bullpen, the Mets are calling up relief pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. and optioning Christian Scott to Triple-A Syracuse, SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes confirmed.
Scott made his first start in the big leagues since 2024 on Thursday night, but struggled in a short outing. The 26-year-old walked the bases loaded in the first inning and then walked in a run. He didn't fair better in the second inning, walking the leadoff man and then plunking Byron Buxton.
Overall, Scott finished after 1.1 IP and allowed one run on no hits with five walks and a strikeout.
Edwards, 34, joined the organization in the offseason and has started four games for Syracuse this year in the minors. He's gone 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA and 1.247 WHIP over 17.0 IP.
The veteran hurler has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in the majors across 11 seasons with eight different teams. In 2025, Edwards owned a 4.50 ERA over 6.0 IP with the Angels and Rangers. His best seasons in the bigs came from 2016-2018 with the Chicago Cubs, posting a 2.60 ERA over 58 appearances in 2018. Overall, Edwards has a career 3.56 ERA and 334 strikeouts over 300 appearances in 286.0 IP.
ST. LOUIS -- In a season that was blatantly obvious, at least prior to the Olympic break, that the St. Louis Blues were not a playoff team and looking more and more like a shoe-in for a lottery pick, the fan faction became divided.
On one side, you had the 'Embrace the Tank' faction, that was clamoring for a lottery pick, getting one for the first time since 2008 when the organization took defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with the fourth pick, and on the other hand, you had the loyal diehards that wanted to see the team turn things around and play competitive hockey.
And with each Blues win, when they went 17-5-3 in the final 25 games to go from second-worst in the NHL standings only to the Vancouver Canucks to now jumping all the way up to 11th from the bottom and having just a slim three percent chance (3.5 percent if it includes the first-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings the Blues acquired in the Justin Faulk trade) of winning the draft lottery and moving up, the tanksters continued to get louder and louder.
Why in the world would you double down and not only mess the season up but also mess up the chance at a lottery pick, they screamed? And when the Blues were putting together a stretch of three four-game winning streaks among their 17 wins in the final 25 games, the other side could be heard from with a collective, "finally."
So how should this be viewed? Did the Blues mess up their chance at drafting the next star in the organization or is this a steppingstone to finding a blueprint for playing the way that this group can have success moving forward and let the chips fall where they may when it comes to draft prospects?
Of course, there will be more clarity on this when the draft lottery takes place on May 5, but from the Blues' perspective, they've prepared for either scenario. But in the process, there was never a question of playing poorly just to play poorly and lose compared to playing the right way.
"Once
the season’s over, you wish you had the high pick," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "It’s the pain
of going through that to get it. I did talk to the players after the
trade deadline and I told them, our mandate (was) we’re going to
bring up younger players and we’re going to put them in positions
that reflect what we want to see them. Theo [Lindstein] came up, he never played
an NHL game and he was a top four defenseman. It’s not like we hid
him as a seven. [Dalibor] Dvorsky against the other teams’ top players a lot
of nights with Robert [Thomas]. [Otto] Stenberg came up, [Logan] Mailloux, what was his ice
time pre- and post-Olympics? I said to the players, ‘We have a plan.
Your job is to disrupt the plan. You’re professionals. This is how
you make your living. I expect you to disrupt our plan, and they did
and I give them full marks. Could we have picked (No.) 2 or 3 this
year? It would have ... I think there would be less belief in our group.
In the players that you have asked about, that you have talked about,
there would be a lot less belief in that if we just had rolled over
and just got door-matted for the last seven weeks of the season."
As it sits now, the Blues have the Nos. 11, 15 and 32 picks in the first round; they have the New York Islanders' second first-round pick from the Brayden Schenn trade, which belongs to the Colorado Avalanche, and Armstrong was asked if those picks, depending on where they align after the draft lottery and playoffs are concluded, could be part of a trade or move up.
Everything is in play.
"We’re
all going to have our amateur scouting meetings," Armstrong said. "We’re all going to
go to the U-18s, Alex [Steen] and I and the decision-makers on the amateur
side. That’s (today), we leave. We’ll be in Slovakia for 10
days. We’ll come back, we’ll go to the combine, we’ll interview
the players. After that we’ll go to amateur scout retreat with part
time, full time (scouts). We’ll get our list together and the way that I’ve
done it in the past is OK, give me lines, blocks of players. Where’s
a block? So if there’s a block of four guys and we want to get into
that block, then yeah. Yes we would, I guess that’s the long
answer. We would move up if we can. We’ll also move back if we
don’t like what we see. We can use the picks, we can use prospects,
we can use players, but every team is the same in that fashion. If
there’s somebody there that we believe is in a block outside of our
pick and we can acquire him, we’ll give it our best chance. You
also have to have someone that wants to move out of that pick too."
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We’re nearly a month into the MLB season now, and I’m targeting some players whose starts have me expecting big things from them tonight.
I’m looking for Gavin Williams to continue striking out batters at a fast rate, and for Bo Bichette to build off his best game of the year.
Read on to see all my best MLB player props for Friday, April 24.
Best MLB player props today
Player
Pick
Odds
Gavin Williams
Over 5.5 strikeouts
+104
Bo Bichette
Over 2.5 H/R/R
+125
Kyle Tucker
Over 0.5 RBI
+170
Gavin Williams Over 5.5 strikeouts (+104)
Cleveland Guardians starter Gavin Williams has struck out about a batter per inning throughout his career, but he’s never mowed down hitters like he’s doing in 2026. Not only is he holding batters to 3.9 hits per nine innings, but he’s also striking out 12.1 per nine, by far the highest rate of his career.
The Toronto Blue Jays have been the hardest team to strike out in the majors this year, but in modern baseball, that doesn’t make them immune to strikeouts. The Jays have struck out at least six times in nine of their last ten games. Williams has 7+ strikeouts in four of his first five starts this season, and should be able to hit this very reasonable total tonight.
Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Peacock, SN1
Bo Bichette Over 2.5 hits + runs + RBIs (+125)
Bo Bichette had been slowly heating up after a terribly slow start, but New York Mets fans finally got the breakout game they were waiting for from their new addition on Thursday. Bichette went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs to help extend the Mets' winning streak to two.
Bichette will have a shot to stay hot tonight as he faces off against Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen, who has a 7.84 ERA and 2.226 WHIP as a starter this year. The entire Mets lineup should be able to build on last night’s outburst around him as well, which makes Bichette an excellent pick to get at least three combined hits, runs, and RBIs tonight.
Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Rockies.TV, WPIX-11
Kyle Tucker Over 0.5 RBI (+170)
The vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers offense has gone cold over the last three days, scoring just four runs in a three-game series with the San Francisco Dodgers. But even that’s not enough to cool off their overall numbers: Los Angeles is averaging 5.48 runs per game, and leads the majors with an outstanding .828 OPS.
Kyle Tucker sits in the middle of this lineup, and while he’s had a relatively slow start, he’s still been able to pick up 13 RBIs in his first 24 games. I see no reason to believe that Jameson Taillon (1-1, 3.97 ERA) will shut down the Dodgers tonight, and if the top of the lineup gets on base, Tucker will be in a great position to drive in at least one run.
Time: 10:15 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Apple TV
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
On this day 94 years ago, Bill Cissell was shipped east to Cleveland. | (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)
1901 It wasn’t planned this way, but three games in other cities were postponed by rain, putting the White Sox in position to host the first major league game in American League history. Some 9,000 fans at South Side Park — or maybe it was 14,000, reports conflict — saw the home club beat the Cleveland Blues, 8-2. The White Sox scored five times in the first inning, and ran the score to 7-0 in the first two frames. Still, the win took just an hour-and-a-half to complete.
Roy Patterson started, and got the complete-game win. Outfielder Billy Hoy took the first White Sox at-bat. Fred Hartman’s single scored the first two runs in (MLB) American League history.
Hoy was deaf and mute, and referred to himself by his nickname, Dummy — correcting people who called him William. In order for Hoy to understand what the umpires were calling, the arbitrators came up with a series of hand signals indicating safe/out and ball/strike.
The ceremonial first ball, by the way, was supposed to be thrown out by Robert Burke, special counsel to the mayor of Chicago. Burke declined, however, stating that he was afraid the ball might get hit back to him. (True story!)
1932 The White Sox traded infielder Bill Cissell and righty reliever Jim Moore to Cleveland for utilityman Johnny Hodapp and outfielder Bob Seeds. For a four-player deal it was a nothingburger of a trade, but the White Sox probably got the short end of the stick: Moore reported to the minors and never played another MLB game but Cissell was great for the remainder of the season (2.4 WAR, .320/.354/.440), while Seeds slashed .290/.342/.372 for 0.8 WAR in full-time play and Hodapp was terrible (-0.6 WAR despite being just two years removed from leading the AL in hits and doubles.
1946 Ed Walsh, the second-best pitcher by WAR in White Sox history and author of a six-year run in the majors more dominant than anyone, ever, was elected to the Hall of Fame.
1955 In a game at Kansas City just one day after the White Sox set a major league record with 29 runs, White Sox starter Dick Donovan was hit early and often by the Athletics. When manager Marty Marion came out to take the ball from him, Donovan — making his starting debut with the White Sox and showing his competitive spirit by being concerned about a possible return trip to the minors — refused to give it up!
Marion had to reassure Dick that he’d remain in the rotation before Donovanwould turn the ball over and leave the field. That season, he’d win 13 of 17 decisions before an emergency appendectomy felled him in late July.
That injury may have cost the White Sox the pennant, as Donovan wasn’t the same after the surgery and the Sox finished in third place, five games behind the Yankees at 91-63-1.
1994 Still mired in a somewhat slow start for a defending division champion, the White Sox lost to Detroit, 7-6. Chicago blew two leads, and then lost the game itself after rallying to tie in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Why is this loss notable? White Sox No. 4 and 5 hitters, Julio Franco and Robin Ventura, hit back-to-back homers — twice, and in consecutive plate appearances in the game.
In the top of the sixth, tied 3-3, Franco led off with a homer to deep right field, and Ventura repeated the act. In the eighth, down 6-4, Franco again led off with a solo shot, and Ventura tied the game with a homer.
The loss (on a Cecil Fielder single in the ninth) dropped the White Sox to 11-7, tied for first in the AL Central.
2010 With a 7-11 record, it was still far from a magical season. But the White Sox accomplished something that had never happened before in their history: walk-off home runs on back-to-back days. In this game, Alex Ríos clocked a two-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Mariners and David Aardsma, 5-4. The Seattle reliever completely melted down in the ninth, entering up 4-2 and giving up a one-out home run to Paul Konerko to move the White Sox closer. An A.J. Pierzynski fly out and Carlos Quentin walk later, the stage was set for Ríos’ record-setter.
On April 23, it was Andruw Jones who achieved the feat, clocking a full-count, two-out pitch out for a 7-6 White Sox win in front of 24,653 happy fans.
Now, this was NOT the first time the White Sox had won consecutive games on walk-off homers, but the previous time, the wins came on the same day. J.C. Martin and Ken Berry upended Cleveland with game-ending homers on July 25, 1967.
The Nationals looked to even the series with the Braves yesterday afternoon at Nationals Park, and were in position to possibly steal the win going into the 7th inning tied 2-2. Unfortunately, the bullpen let them down once again, as Cionel Perez was tagged for 3 runs after getting just one out, bringing his ERA on the season to 8.25.
The Braves brought 2 more across, one against Gus Varland and one against Julian Fernandez, but they wouldn’t need them, as the bats were silent outside of solo shots from James Wood and CJ Abrams, as the Nats lost 7-2 and dropped 3 out of 4 in the series against the first-place Braves.
For the first time practically all season, the Nationals will now get to face a subpar roster playing subpar baseball in the Chicago White Sox. While they certainly aren’t a disgrace of a club by any means, and have actually won 5 of their last 10 games, the White Sox are probably the first team the Nationals have played who have limited expectations in 2026, and mostly aren’t surpassing them so far on the year. This is an opportunity for the Nats to finally let their muscles flex a little and come away with two or three wins, which will inch them back closer to .500.
The White Sox bats are led by the scorching hot rookie from Japan, Munetaka Murakami, who has homered in his past 5 games and has an impressive 170 wRC+ on the season. They’ve also received strong starts from their other young bats, as the 24-year-old Colson Montgomery has a 135 wRC+ and the 26-year-old Miguel Vargas has a 116 wRC+. Similar to the Nats, the bottom of their lineup isn’t anything to be afraid of, but the heart of their order has some thump to it for a club without many expectations of winning this season.
The White Sox pitching staff hasn’t been great in 2026, with a club ERA just under 5, but they do have some bright spots, such as their 24-year-old closer Grant Taylor with a 1.15 FIP, or their 22-year-old top prospect left-hander Noah Schultz, who has looked sharp in his first 2 big league starts, and the Nats will get a chance against this weekend.
Game One – 7:40 PM EST
WSH: LHP PJ Poulin (2-0, 4.97 ERA)
CHW: LHP Bryan Hudson (0-0, 1.69 ERA)
In a rare occurrence, we have a double-opener to begin the series tonight in Chicago, as PJ Poulin will start the game for the Nats before handing off the bulk work to Miles Mikolas, and Bryan Hudson will start for the White Sox before former National Erick Fedde is expected to take it from there.
Game Two – 4:10 PM EST
WSH: RHP Jake Irvin (1-3, 6.00 ERA)
CHW: LHP Noah Schultz (1-1, 3.86 ERA)
Irvin’s last start was an improvement over his previous ones, as although he gave up 3 runs over 5 innings of work, he didn’t allow a single free pass, as compared to the 8 combined walks he had issued in his last 2 starts. Schultz looked impressive in his 2nd career start last time out vs the Athletics, striking out 6 and giving up just 1 run across 5 innings of work.
Game Three – Sunday 2:10 PM EST
WSH: LHP Foster Griffin (3-0, 3.38 ERA)
CHW: RHP Sean Burke (1-2, 4.10 ERA)
Griffin further solidified his case as the most effective arm in the Nationals’ rotation last time out, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs against the Braves, a quality start. Burke also looked sharp in his last outing, going 6 innings and giving up 2 runs against the Diamondbacks.
Can Nats Arms Neutralize Hot White Sox Bats?
The top of the White Sox order has been doing damage recently, and now they get to face one of the weaker pitching staffs in baseball in the Nats. Can Blake Butera get creative in his deployment of the bullpen, which now includes new callup Riley Cornelio, to work around his weak starters this weekend, or will the Sox bats feast once more?
The Chicago Cubs (16-9) begin their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (17-8) in a meeting of divisional leaders. The Dodgers are favored with a -160 moneyline compared to the Cubs' +135. Starting pitchers are Jameson Taillon for the Cubs, with a 3.97 ERA, and Emmet Sheehan for the Dodgers, with a 5.85 ERA.
Top Philadelphia Flyers prospect Porter Martone has impressed his teammates, the organization, and fans with how well he's played so far, but he's quickly earning the respect of his peers, too.
Ironically, one of those peers is an NHL star who was often the comparison for the 19-year-old forward.
Florida Panthers standout Matthew Tkachuk, on his "Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk" podcast, had nothing but good things to say about Martone in the early goings of his NHL career.
"Yeah, Martone, he looks unreal. He had that snipe that ended up being the game-winner. But he looks so confident. Some of these younger players in Philly are making that team fun to watch," Tkachuk said.
"If you look at some of those forwards, man, like, they just buzz around. . . That Martone, he's solid. I haven't played against him--it's hard to say how good these guys are or what type of player they are, because I haven't played agains them yet--but watching them, this team might be for real. They might be for real. They might just be a sneaky, sneaky wagon."
Between the regular season and playoffs, Martone has scored 13 points in 12 total games, registering a point in each of the three Stanley Cup playoff games the Flyers have played against the Pittsburgh Penguins here in Round 1.
The 2025 No. 6 overall pick delivered a key assist against the Carolina Hurricanes, too, to help the Flyers clinch their playoff berth.
The big moments aren't too big for Martone despite his age and relative inexperience, and it has obviously manifested on the scoresheet as well.
For someone like Tkachuk, a player who Martone plays very similarly to despite not having quite the same level of nastiness and physicality, is a huge compliment and a testament to Martone's work ethic and talent.
PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 18: Brad Miller #15 of the St. Louis Cardinals in action during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on September 18, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Almost everyone wants to forget the weirdness of the 2020 MLB season. The Dodgers winning a piece of metal after a 60-game season that saw divisions reworked and paper cutouts as fans in the stands was a real clincher to the strange year. Taxi squads and constant COVID tests were the norm, and the St. Louis Cardinals missing a dozen players at a time due to an outbreak is something that only 2020 could provide.
One player who took advantage of what we would now deem a “small sample size” was lefty utility man, Brad Miller. Signed just before the world shut down in 2020, Miller arrived as a bench option and left as a cult hero. From his “old school” refusal to wear batting gloves to his historic 7-RBI night in Cincinnati, we’re breaking down the 48 games where “Miller Time” took over Busch Stadium (even if no one was there to see it).
Brad Miller did not need batting gloves to help lead the Cardinals’ offense in 2020
In this episode, we discuss:
The 2020 Time Capsule: Navigating the strangest season in MLB history—from the 60-game sprint to the arrival of the Universal DH.
Bare-Handed Blast: Why Miller’s no-batting-gloves style resonated with the St. Louis faithful. September 1st, 2020: A deep dive into Miller’s career-high 7-RBI masterclass against the Reds.
The Impact of the DH: How a last-minute rule change turned a $2M utility signing into the team’s co-leader in home runs.
Life After St. Louis: Tracking Brad’s journey to 100 career homers and his recent transition to the broadcast booth.
Fiftieth anniversary of an FA Cup win still central to their city’s identity forms an evocative backdrop to Saints’ semi-final against Manchester City
Two years ago, when sixth-tier Maidstone won at Ipswich to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time, their manager, George Elokobi, distilled the unique, enduring impact of an FA Cup giantkilling into five syllables: “This binds us for life.”
The same bond, only even more powerful, will be in evidence on the south coast in the next week. All connected with Southampton hope to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their only FA Cup final triumph having reached another final.
The Chicago Cubs (16-9) make the West Coast trip to Los Angeles for a three game series with the Dodgers (17-8).
Chicago is on a nine-game winning streak that came against the Phillies and the Mets. Outside of playing those two teams, Chicago is 7-8 versus the rest of the schedule. The Cubs are posting the second-best ERA over the last seven days (2.09), while the offense is third in batting average (.303).
Los Angeles is in the midst of their worst stretch of the season at 2-4 over the last six games. In that span, the Dodgers are hitting .254 (13th), while the pitching staff has the ninth-best ERA (3.96). On the season, Los Angels ranks first and third in those two categories.
Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.
Game details & how to watch Cubs at Dodgers
Date: Friday, April 24, 2026
Time: 10:15 PM EST
Site: Dodger Park
City: Los Angeles, CA
Network/Streaming: Apple TV
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Cubs at the Dodgers
The latest odds as of Friday:
Moneyline: Los Angeles Dodgers (-168), Chicago Cubs (+139)
Spread: Cubs +1.5 (-143), Dodgers -1.5 (+119)
Total: 8.0
Probable starting pitchers for Cubs at Dodgers
Friday's pitching matchup (April 24): Emmet Sheehan vs. Jameson Taillon
The Cubs’ Moises Ballesteros is hitting .392 with 20 hits and 33 total bases over 51 at-bats
The Cubs’ Michael Busch is hitting .198 with 18 hits and 22 strikeouts over 91 at-bats
The Dodgers’ Andy Pages is hitting .337 with 30 hits and 49 total bases over 89 at-bats
The Dodgers’ Alex Freeland is hitting .213 with 13 hits and 23 strikeouts over 61 at-bats
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Cubs at Dodgers
The Cubs are 13-12 ATS this season
The Dodgers are 13-12 ATS this season
The Cubs are 15-9-1 to the Over this season
The Dodgers are 13-12 to the Under this season
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Dodgers and the Cubs
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday's game between the Dodgers and the Cubs.
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Dodgers on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Dodgers at -1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Over on the Game Total of 9.0
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Mar 10, 2026; Clearwater, Florida, USA; New York Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. (96) fields a ground ball in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies during spring training at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
The Yankees drafted shortstop George Lombard Jr. in June 2023, back when he was an extremely toolsy but raw 18-year-old prospect. They chose ceiling over floor, something that they don’t always do, and so far, it’s hard to say they regret their choice.
No, Lombard hasn’t made his MLB debut. He isn’t particularly close to doing so, and it might not happen this year at all. However, it’s easy to feel good about the progress he has made going up through the ranks. The Yankees have to be happy with his ability to learn and adjust. So far, Lombard has taken a bit to get used to every level he has played in, but sooner or later, he gets going and excels.
Last year, Lombard completely tore up High-A in 24 games, slashing an incredible .329/.495/.488 with a 194 wRC+ in 111 plate appearances to earn his ticket to Double-A. There, he hit .185 with an 86 wRC+ in his first 24 games, but eventually figured out some things and finished the level with a 111 wRC+ in 469 trips to the plate.
This season, Lombard is off to a scintillating start in Double-A, much like it happened last year in High-A. He is slashing a robust .350/.420/.650 with a 172 wRC+, six doubles, four home runs, and three stolen bases in 69 plate appearances before Thursday’s game.
It’s still too early to say if he really mastered Double-A or if pitchers there will eventually find some holes in his swing, but if Lombard keeps this up for a few more weeks or months, he might find himself in Triple-A. Fifteen games are obviously a tiny sample, but the young infielder is looking excellent in Somerset.
He is doing it aided by a swing change: in 2025, his hand placement was higher and closer to his body, but he decided to lower it this year (h/t Ryan García), and it has apparently helped.
A hitter lowering his hands usually wants to shorten the path to the ball, which can make the swing more compact. It is looking more explosive than ever before.
This doesn’t mean that a longer path and a higher placement don’t work for some prospects, but the idea is to keep things as simple as possible. Sometimes, less is more. And, for Lombard, the lowered hands seem to be working just fine.
It’s important to note that Lombard’s power pace, while impressive, is bound to cool off a bit. He simply won’t continue hitting a home run for every four fly balls. That doesn’t mean there can’t be an improvement there in comparison to the rates he usually runs in that department, between five and eight percent.
He is hitting the ball hard frequently and is showing a very nice batted ball mix, with 31.9 percent line drives, 34 percent ground balls, and 34 percent fly balls. The liners will come down a bit, but as long as he keeps the fly ball percentage up and the ground ball percentage down, he will be fine long-term.
We are talking about a prospect who already has two plus tools: fielding and baserunning/speed. The offensive profile, once very raw, is starting to take shape, and it’s hard not to be excited about Lombard’s ceiling. The floor might not be as high as some top prospects, because he entered the year with a middling .243 batting average and a .376 slugging percentage in the minor leagues. The ceiling, however, is exciting, and it could come with 25 home runs and 40 stolen bases with a high OBP.
Watching him perform and put up huge numbers in Double-A is proof that he belongs in the upper minors. His development has been amazing to watch, and while it is still not finished, it’s easy to imagine him playing games for the Yankees sometime in the next year and a half.
Apr 4, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II (23) at bat during the ninth inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-Imagn Images | Allan Henry-Imagn Images
The situation for the Phillies has gotten beyond the level of ugliness. It’s so dire that I was actually encouraged by them getting to extra innings before losing on Thursday.
On the other hand, the Phillies’ opponents this weekend have had just about everything go right this season. Is it possible that the Braves somehow stole the Phillies’ mojo like Dr. Evil did in the second Austin Powers movie? At this point, I’m not ruling anything out.
As for things that are going right for the Braves, outfielder Michael Harris II is near the top of the list. In 2022, Harris displayed superb defense in centerfield and recorded an OPS of .853 to earn the National League’s Rookie of the Year award. He pretty much matched those numbers the following season, but his performance at the plate dipped the past two years. He was still good on defense – he’s certainly made his share of highlight plays against the Phillies – but his on-base percentage fell to .268 in 2025, and he had become an offensive liability.
Harris certainly seems to have his mojo back this season, putting up a slash line of .316/.356./.565. He’s still only 25 years of age, and player development is often non-linear. It’s possible that Harris simply needed to re-adjust to how pitchers were attacking him in recent years, and he will be a positive at the plate going forward.
Trivia
By popular demand, trivia has returned! I think I may reserve the song battles for the weekday series and trivia for the weekends.
Remember how it works: Answer in the comments, don’t confirm answers, and try not to look it up.
Who was the first Phillies to hit a home run at Truist Park (opened in 2017)?
Non-Phillies thought
It’s nice to see that the Flyers have broken the brains of Penguins fans.
Also, everybody watching the game can agree on one thing.
Vlader faking two injuries and stopping play with the penguins in prime scoring opportunities is wild. Never have seen that let alone in a Stanley Cup playoff game. Absolute disgrace. Is he gonna dive and fake injuries on…
Sometimes I wish I could be as blissfully un-self-aware as a guy calling himself “Penguins Jesus” calling anything cringy and weird.
Additional thought about the series
I’m at a loss here. I thought the Phillies would take a small step back from last year, and I know several fans thought the step back would be considerable. But I don’t think anyone could have predicted the team look like one of the worst – if not the absolute worst – in baseball.
Say what you will about the offseason, but this group is mostly the same one that won the division with ease in 2025. I never would have suspected that Nick Castellanos, Ranger Suarez, and Matt Strahm were the glue holding it all together. Obviously losing Zack Wheeler has hurt, but the Phillies did go 35-19 in August and September last year when he was either injured or showing reduced effectiveness.
I’m somewhat reminded of the 2023 Eagles where they had a load of talent on the roster, but the situation had gotten so bad by the end of the season that they looked incapable of winning a game.
At this point, I’m not sure if it’s good news or bad news that it’s still only April. Sure, there’s lots of time left to dig out of this hole, but if the team really is as bad as they’ve looked, then we have a lot more bad baseball left to endure.
I’d say it would be great for the Phillies to get their act together and win this series. But Truist Field hasn’t been all that hospitable for the Phillies even when they were playing well. At this point, I think it would be a real accomplishment if they can find a way to win a single game this weekend.
Gavin Williams
Bo Bichette 
Kyle Tucker 
