Worldwide Sports News

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (6-5) lost 3-1 (BOX SCORE)

Gordon started for Sugar Land and pitched really well striking out 5 over 5.1 innings allowing just one unearned run. The pen allowed a couple of runs as Tacoma extended their lead. In the 9th, the offense picked up one run on an Unroe RBI single but that would be it as Sugar Land fell 3-1.

Note: Gordon has a 1.76 ERA this season.

• Shay Whitcomb, SS: 2-for-4, 2 SB
• CJ Alexander, LF: 1-for-3, R, BB
• Collin Price, 1B: 1-for-2, 2B, 2 BB
• Kellen Strahm, RF: 1-for-3, BB
• Riley Unroe, 3B: 1-for-4, RBI

• Colton Gordon, LHP: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• Jose Fleury, RHP: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• Michael Knorr, RHP: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
• Alimber Santa, RHP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Hudson Leach, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (2-3) won 9-6 (BOX SCORE)

The Hooks got on the board in the 2nd inning scoring 4 runs on a Bush solo home run, a run on an error and a Spence 2 run single. Mayer got the start but ran into trouble in the 2nd inning allowing 3 runs as he was pulled after just 1.2 innings. He was relieved by Swanson who allowed 1 run over 3.1 innings. The offense picked up another run in the 6th on a Ferreras RBI single, though the Mission tied it in the 8th. The teams exchanged runs in the 10th but in the 11th, the Hooks picked up 3 runs on a Bush bases loaded walk and RBI singles by Austin and Nelson. David closed it out with a scoreless 11th as the Hooks won 9-6.

Note: Bush has a 1.200 OPS this season.

• Joseph Sullivan, RF: 0-for-2, R, 4 BB
• Pascanel Ferreras, 2B: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB
• Lucas Spence, CF: 2-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB
• Walker Janek, C: 0-for-6
• Will Bush, 1B: 2-for-5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• Trevor Austin, 3B: 1-for-5, RBI, BB
• James Nelson, LF: 1-for-5, R, RBI, BB, SB
• Tommy Sacco, SS: 0-for-4, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SB

• Bryce Mayer, RHP: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Nic Swanson, RHP: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• Trey Dombroski, LHP: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Derek True, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• Alejandro Torres, RHP: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• Ramsey David, RHP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (WIN)

A+: Asheville Tourists (2-3) won 8-7 (BOX SCORE)

Asheville got on the board first scoring 4 runs in the 3rd inning on a Call solo HR, a run scoring on an error and a Schiavone 2 run HR. Taylor got the start and pitched well striking out 7 over 4 innings allowing just 1 run. The Grasshoppers took the lad in the 5th but the Asheville offense responded with 2 runs in the 6th on a Hernandez groundout and Powell RBI double. After the Grasshoppers tied it again, Thomas connected on a 2 run HR in the 8th to give Asheville the lead. The pen allowed a run in the 9th but held on for the 8-7 win.

Note: Cruz is hitting .364 this season.

• Caden Powell, RF: 1-for-5, R, 2B, RBI
• Ethan Frey, LF: 0-for-5
• Jason Schiavone, 1B: 2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• Max Holy, SS: 0-for-3, R, BB
• Narbe Cruz, 2B: 3-for-4, 2 R
• Justin Thomas, CF: 2-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• Chase Call, DH: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI
• Alberto Hernandez, 3B: 1-for-3, R, 2B, RBI, BB

• Andrew Taylor, RHP: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
• Nate Wohlgemuth, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
• Yeriel Santos, RHP: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (WIN)
• Eurys Martich, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K (SAVE)

A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (1-4) lost 6-5 (BOX SCORE)

Potter started for the Woodpeckers and allowed 2 runs over 3 innings with 4 strikeouts as he made his professional debut. The Woodpeckers got on the board in the 4th inning on a Monistere RBI double. Oakes relieved Potter and was pitching well but allowed 2 runs in the 6th, as he also went 3 innings allowing 2 runs. The offense rallied for 4 runs in the 7th to take the lead on an Ochoa 2 run single and 2 runs scoring on errors. Varela allowed 2 runs in the top of the 8th as the RiverDogs retook the lead. The offense was unable to respond as the Woodpeckers fell 6-5.

Note: Huezo has two triples in four games.

• Kevin Alvarez, RF: 0-for-5
• Xavier Neyens, 3B: 0-for-3, R, BB, SB
• Nick Monistere, 2B: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, SB
• Anthony Huezo, DH: 1-for-4, 3B
• Josh Wakefield, CF: 0-for-3, R, BB, 2 SB
• Arturo Flores, C: 0-for-2, R, BB, SB
• Nehomar Ochoa, 1B: 1-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB

• Nick Potter, RHP: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• Kellan Oakes, RHP: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Leomar Rosario, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Jose Varela, RHP: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: Spencer Arrighetti – 7:05 CT

CC: James Hicks – 7:05 CT

AV: Cole Hertzler – 5:30 CT

FV: TBD – 5:35 CT

Morning, all!

The Rangers’ 2022 top international signee, Anthony Gutierrez, will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL in the second inning of his first game. Someone has a little Anthony Gutierrez doll they’ve been sticking pins in as he has yet to play more than 80 games in a season.

Cody Bradford has hit a setback in his return from elbow surgery, though it’s unclear if it will significantly delay his planned return to the Rangers in May.

Jacob Latz is embracing his versatility, making five appearances thus far in multiple roles without giving up an earned run.

Evan Grant will be serving burgers at two different Rodeo Goat locations on Friday to benefit disadvantaged youths.

MacKenzie Gore only allowed one hit over five innings while striking out nine yesterday to complete a sweep of the Mariners.

This is the first time the Rangers have managed to sweep a series against the Mariners since 2023.

When you are trotting out Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, and MacKenzie Gore it definitely ups your chances of sweeping a three game series.

The Rangers say their data indicates that fly balls are going deeper at Globe Life than last year, so maybe this low scoring homestand is just a result of great pitching.

After a very fun road trip to open the season, the Nats got a serious reality check on their first home stand. The boys went 1-5, which was a serious gut punch to the fanbase. Any hopes of being surprisingly competitive feel gone, but what can the Nats do to be a fun team? It is early, but fans are already celebrating off days.

It is too much to ask this group to be a good team, but I still think they can be a fun and scrappy bad team. However, they need to do a few things to make that possible. That is what we are going to break down here. 

First off, they are going to have to fix the pitching. It is not going to be a good pitching staff or even an average one, but can Paul Toboni make some roster tweaks to make sure this is not the worst pitching staff in baseball? An easy way to make a season not fun is to have the worst pitching staff in baseball.

As things stand right now, the Nats have the worst pitching staff in all of baseball. With that in mind, they have plenty of spots up for grabs. Paul Toboni should take advantage of that and try out as many arms as he can. Those could be waiver claims or calling guys up from Rochester. They are going to have to cobble together a pitching staff, so that will mean a lot of turnover.

One guy I would really like to see sometime soon is Riley Cornelio. That could be as a starter or in the bullpen. The 25 year old looks like he has leveled up again after an impressive 2025 season. His stuff looks sharper and he has been getting a lot of whiff in AAA. In his two starts, Cornelio has 13 strikeouts in 9.1 innings. He is on the 40 man roster, and could be an upgrade either in the rotation or bullpen.

I want to see any arm that looks promising in AAA get a shot in the big leagues. Cornelio and Andrew Alvarez are obvious candidates to get called up because they are on the 40 man roster. We know Miles Mikolas is over the hill, why not give some of these younger arms a shot.

There was some optimism for the Nats pitching staff coming out of Spring Training, but that is gone. For the pitching staff to not be absolutely miserable, we are going to need to see a lot of turnover. I want to see as many guys get chances as possible. If they are not producing, it is on to the next guy.

The pitching staff is not going to be the reason for this team being fun though. That would be the offense. So far this season, the offense has looked really good, other than yesterday. The at bats look better than last year and there is a real plan at the plate.

For this team to be fun, these improvements need to have at least some staying power. A breakout that would really excite me is Brady House. Ever since Spring Training, the 22 year old has looked way better at the plate. He has always been able to hit the ball hard, but now he has a plan at the plate and is doing a better job elevating the ball.

The Nats have not had a legitimate answer at the third base position since Anthony Rendon left. Even if the Nats lose a bunch of games, a lot of that will be worth it if House proves he is the long term answer at third base. House is a fun player to watch when he is on his game. He is aggressive, but is learning how to control that swing happy approach. House also makes consistent loud contact, which we love to see.

Another guy who absolutely hammers the ball is James Wood. He is another key player if the Nats want to be fun. When he is on his game, he is an absolute joy to watch. Wood consistently hits balls over 110 MPH. That kind of laser show is very fan friendly. His opposite field homers are also awe inspiring. He can hit a ball 430 feet and it does not even look like a full swing.

When Wood is struggling though, he is not a very fun player to watch. Strikeouts, especially strikeouts looking are frustrating to watch. We know Wood strikes out a lot when he is struggling. However, when he is on his game, he keeps the strikeouts in check. Wood only has two strikeouts in his last 15 at bats, which we love to see.  

The offense will be the unit that makes the Nats fun, and Wood is their most talented offensive player. That means he will bear a big responsibility in making this team watchable. However, there are plenty of solid bats in this Nats lineup. CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile, Luis Garcia Jr., and even Joey Wiemer have shown they can be very fun when they are on heaters.

One player who is not with the team now that can make the Nats more exciting is Dylan Crews. After a rough spring, Crews was surprisingly demoted to AAA. However, we will see him at some point this year. When Crews is hitting, he can be a fun player to watch. He is a very energetic player and can provide a spark. If he shows life at the plate, it would provide optimism to a fanbase that is tired of losing.

While there was some hope after that first road trip, it seems like that was a false dawn. The Nats are going to lose a lot of games this year. However, that does not mean this team is destined to be unwatchable. If the offense keeps clicking and the Nats front office finds at least a couple answers on the pitching staff, this could be a fun bad team rather than a totally depressing one.

The Tulsa Drillers were the only one of the four primary Dodger minor league teams to win a game on Wednesday. The Drillers delivered a massive slugfest with at least one run scored in each of the first six innings to hand the Springfield Cardinals their first loss of the season.

Player of the day

The Dodgers number one prospect and a top 15 one according to MLB.com’s preseason rankings, Josue De Paula, was at the forefront of that scoring outburst from the Tulsa Drillers. Hitting second, De Paula capitalized heavily on a great game from the leadoff man, Kendall George, as well.

It wasn’t the most powerful of games early on, but with singles in three of the first four innings, De Paula kept the line moving and earned a couple of RBI. Eventually, the Dodgers’ star prospect hit one of the two home runs the Drillers would have, going deep in the fifth inning to virtually put the game to bed.

De Paula is now 8 for 22 in this start to the season with the Tulsa Drillers, and that home run represented his second extra-base hit of the campaign, his first long ball. De Paula’s five runs batted in on this one represented the most he has ever had in a single game.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Another candidate for Player of the Day, Ryan Ward, unfortunately, didn’t receive much support from the rest of the offense in his 4-for-4 performance, ultimately leading to a 6-2 defeat. Going 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position, the Comets couldn’t get back into a game they trailed right from the outset, allowing three runs in the first two innings.

The game was, however, closer than the final scoreline would indicate, considering half of the Express’ six runs came in at the top of the ninth. Cole Irvin didn’t get off to the best of starts, but he did what was asked of him when you factor in that poor start, delivering a bit of length following a short outing from Jackson Ferris the evening prior.

One of the primary storylines of the minor league season for the Dodgers, James Tibbs III, was held in check with a 1-for-5 performance. Tibbs III also contributed negatively defensively in the outfield, with an error in right during the first inning.

Double-A Tulsa

Even Luke Fox’s tumultuous outing, with three walks in four innings, wasn’t enough to derail a commanding win from the Tulsa Drillers, who scored all the team’s 10 runs by the end of the sixth frame, thus creating a comfortable situation for a bullpen to wrap things up with five scoreless frames.

The bottom of the order couldn’t produce with hits, but they still played a key role, responsible for three of the 10 runs the Drillers scored, all having reached base via walks. At the top, Kendall George and Josue De Paula proved to be a menacing duo, responsible for seven of the team’s 10 RBI.

Perhaps the one negative is that the over-aggression on the basepaths saw Josue De Paula caught stealing twice, but he made the most of one of those situations, seeing George score from third in a runners-at-the-corners scenario.

High-A Great Lakes

A Jesus Galiz two-run single had the Great Lakes tied at 2-2 with the West Michigan Whitecaps deep into the eighth inning of what was evidently a close affair. However, left-hander Cody Morse really didn’t have it coming out of the bullpen and allowed three runs on five hits to take the loss in this one as the Loons dropped this one 5-2.

Needing their eighth-hole hitter to provide all of the production, the Loons delivered a disappointing offensive performance, particularly at the top of the order—the first three batters combined to go 1 for 12. Eduardo Quintero now only has three hits in 19 at-bats this season.

Class-A Ontario

When the Tower Buzzers scored three runs in the top of the ninth, they looked set for a memorable 10-8 win in a back-and-forth affair against the 66ers, but the Inland Empire matched those three runs in the bottom of the frame to win it in walk-off fashion, 11-10.

Neither pitching staff had much positive to write about, but what separated the two and was ultimately the downfall of the Tower Buzzers was the walks. While the Inland Empire offered only four free passes, Ontario pitchers delivered a ridiculous 14 free passes in nine innings of play. Such a high number wasn’t confined to a specific player or two, as all five of the Tower Buzzers’ pitchers allowed multiple walks (Estrada, Geronimo, Porco, Gagnon, and Jiménez).

Offensively, the production was quite evenly distributed, with a specific shout-out to Jarod Elkins, the only Ontario hitter with multiple extra-base hits, including a two-run homer in the second.

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Wednesday scores

• Round Rock 6, Oklahoma City 2
• Tulsa 10, Springfield 4
• Ontario 10, Inland Empire 11
• Great Lakes 2, West Michigan 5

Thursday schedule

• 3:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Sterling Patrick) at West Michigan (Hayden Minton)
• 4:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (River Ryan) vs. Round Rock (TBD)
• 4:35 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Adam Serwinowski) at Springfield (Jurrangelo Cijntje)
• 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at Inland Empire (Jose Romero)

Hello friends!

The Mariners’ slide continued yesterday as the bats slept in during a 3-0 series finale loss to the Rangers. The team has gifted us with an off-day today, which hopefully helps them reset before they face the similarly-struggling Astros.

Have you been keeping up with any other teams in the league so far this year? Since the M’s have been so unfun to watch, what squads have you enjoyed getting to see so far?

In Mariners news…

• In case you missed it, Victor Robles was placed on the injured list with a pectoral strain. The Mariners called up Connor Joe to take his spot.
• The M’s announced their full slate of OTA (over the air) affiliate-covered games for the 2026 season.
• Jeff Passan wonders if Emerson Hancock’s success will finally prompt the Mariners to trade one of their starting pitchers.

Around the league…

• In case you missed it, the Braves and Angels got into a good old fashioned brawl on Tuesday night when Anaheim outfielder Jorge Soler came swinging at Atlanta pitcher Reynaldo López.
• Angels right-hander Robert Stephenson had his 2026 season come to an end thanks to elbow surgery.
• Things keep getting worse for the Astros, who lost starter Christian Javier and outfielder Jake Meyers with injuries during yesterday’s game.
• Orioles righty starter Zach Eflin underwent Tommy John surgery, taking him out until mid-2027.
• Giants manager Tony Vitello revealed that the team has already had three clubhouse incidents since the season started.
• The MLB strike zone is taller and narrower than ever, wrote Bradley Woodrum at Baseball Prospectus. ($)
• Michael Baumann at Fangraphs dove into the incredible start to the season for Angels right-hander José Soriano.
• The Reds have DFA’d recent top prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand. He does hit right-handed, just sayin’.
• Over at Fangraphs, Ryan Blake explained how bat speed changes with the temperature at the ballpark.
• Rockies to the moon!

• Well, I guess that’s neat.

Anders’ pick…

• Looking to waste some time? Check out the new MLBguesser game and test your photographic memory.
• The Seattle Storm is offering all Washington state residents 18 years and older two free tickets to a game on their birthday. If your birthday occurs during the offseason, your tickets are valid for a May contest.

All winter long, the buzzword about the Red Sox pitching rotation was “depth.” But a few weeks into the season, that depth hasn’t shown up yet, with the rotation looking top-heavy and overly reliant on Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

But if you have to be top-heavy in the rotation, it helps to have someone as good as Crochet at the top. He played stopper this week against the Brewers and, as one of the few Red Sox players who has heard “sell the team” chants before, he knew how to deal with the bad vibes at Fenway: “It’s weird because regardless of how you feel about the ownership group, the chants always come with you guys make an error, you guys walk a run in, you guys strike out with the bases loaded. They are (expletive) on us, but not saying it. It’s weird. It’s just passion, at the end of the day. We know when we’re doing bad. … I think it’s fair to want more and want us to get the job done and just play clean baseball. I don’t think that’s asking a lot of us to play clean baseball.” (Rob Bradford WEEI)

After Crochet and Gray, the next most reliable arm has been rookie Connelly Early. And the Red Sox are lucky to have him, considering that there’s a slightly altered universe wherein, as opposed to getting ready to face the Cardinals, Early would be getting ready to invade Kharg Island. That would be horrible for many, many reasons. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

Early’s not the only rookie arm on the Sox right now, though. Reliever Tyler Samaniego made his big league debut against the Brewers yesterday, striking out Lexington native Sal Frelick with the first three pitches he threw. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Samaniego is going to get plenty of chances to show he belongs. After a relatively healthy spring training, the inevitable pitching injuries are finally here. Johan Oviedo has avoided surgery for now, but he won’t be throwing for the next six weeks and will be out until at least June. The news with Justin Slaten isn’t quite so bad, but his oblique injury will sideline him for a couple of weeks. (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

While the Sox need more from the pitching staff, they also need more from the lineup, including vets like Trevor Story. Luckily, Alex Cora sees signs that Story is turning things around. (Hayden Bird, Boston.com)

Lots of things have gone wrong for the Kansas City Royals in 2026 so far. The bullpen has been a complete and abject disaster, with a 6.40 ERA in 45 painful innings. Power left-handed batters Jac Caglianone and Vinnie Pasquantino have combined for zero home runs and only three doubles in 93 plate appearances. Their pitching ace, Cole Ragans, has a 5.91 ERA across three starts of only 10.2 innings.

But the Royals are built to weather those sorts of things and still do well. They have excellent starting pitching depth and talent overall. They steal bases effectively. Their defense is still solid.

However, the Royals stand 5-7, two games under .500, because something is happening that the team is absolutely not built for, and that is for Bobby Witt Jr. to be in a prolonged slump.

Witt is, without a doubt, the Royals’ most talented and reliable asset. He’s on a Hall of Fame track, and displays a level of athleticism and poise that few professional athletes in general have. He’s great and Kansas City is lucky, beyond lucky, to have him.

Witt has also simply looked lost this year. Witt slugged .256 in 2024 and .205 in 2025, but it took him until his 12th game to get his first extra base hit, a double; he’s still searching for his first home run. His strikeout rate of 19.2% would be his highest since his rookie year.

Take a look at his Statcast dashboard and you’ll get a visual feel for what’s going on. Here’s his 2025 Statcast info:

And the same screen from his 2026 page:

Witt’s average sprint speed is a full mile per hour slower than last year, which isn’t great. But there are three real problems with Witt this year compared to last year: he’s not barreling the ball, he’s not squaring up the ball, and he’s not pulling the ball.

You can see pretty quickly that most of Witt’s hits this year have been on the opposite half of the field. Witt had a lot of hits to the opposite half of the field, but you can see that only four of his 23 homers were hit to the opposite half of the field in 2025. In other words, Witt’s most dangerous power is pull-side power, and he has simply not pulled the ball this year. Notably, Statcast doesn’t display same-day batted ball events, and you can see that his first extra base hit of the year was—you guessed it—a line drive to the pull side.

In the late part of the clip, Royals broadcaster Jake Eisenberg says that “That’s the thing about hitting the ball hard, you do it consistently, the more you do it, the more likely those results are gonna come.” And Eisenberg is right there, but he’s only partially right—you have to hit the ball hard at launch angles that result in the highest hit probabilities. Broadly speaking, Witt hasn’t been doing that, and his lower barrel rate shows that.

Witt hasn’t been totally useless, to be sure. Quite the opposite; Witt is an elite defensive shortstop and an accomplished base stealer. He’s also walked more often this year, too. That’s why he has a cool 0.4 Wins Above Replacement already (a nearly 5.5-WAR pace) despite an OPS safely below .700. He’ll start hitting home runs, and the Royals will start scoring more runs. That is inevitable.

The real biggest problem with Witt’s slump here to start the season is that it highlights just how shallow the team is. Kansas City simply does not have the offensive talent to compensate whenever its core cog isn’t rotating like it should. They have too many hitters that make too many outs, from Salvador Perez’s abysmal .281 OBP since the start of 2025 to Lane Thomas’ slightly-less-but-still abysmal .294 OBP since 2024. You’ve also got guys like Nick Loftin (career OBP of .296) and Kyle Isbel (career .292 OBP) and Michael Massey (career .283 OBP). Caglianone has an OBP of .250 so far in the big leagues. There’s not a lot of trust to go around, in other words.

When Witt isn’t hitting well, it just becomes uncomfortably obvious that the Royals have basically been a 75-win team with a league MVP talent strapped to it Looney Tunes-style. Consider: they won 86 games in 2024 when Witt was a 10.5 WAR player, and they won 82 games last year when Witt was an 8 WAR player. If you replace Witt with, like, Yuniesky Betancourt or Mark Teahen or whatever, there’s no way either of those teams end up with a winning record.

It’s not a bad thing to rely on superstars to do superstar things. That’s totally a reasonable roster construction strategy. It’s just that those superstars, when used correctly, are what takes a team from good to great. Right now, Witt is taking the team from bad to good. And that is an uncomfortable position for Witt and the team to be in.