“We have to be better than this.”

I don’t know if Torey said this phrase the past week. Probably not.

Difference with previous seasons, in my opinion, is that this team was never bound for play-offs. The starting pitching has become worse over the years, with several big signings not living up to the money they signed for and an ace that never became one and does not seem to bounce back. Apart from the one in shackles.

The last time we had a decent bullpen is almost a decade ago. Ever since it is a patchwork, but an ugly one. Yes, many big money signings do not pan out, but there are also other big money signings that do pan out.

The batting lineup was terrific over the past seasons, and the Diamondbacks did not seize the opportunity to bank on it. With several sluggers gone, there is not much left.

The Diamondbacks cannot do better than this. Lovullo said “we will be fine” after the series against Texas. What is fine? A .500 team? Probably. I had them pegged below .500 at the beginning of the season, so .500 would be fine, I guess. A disappointment none the less. A lost season once again.

Whenever you feel down, at least you always have the Colorado Rockies to cheer yourself up.

No news in Colorado.

Maybe you don’t remember, but the Colorado Rockies made a change in their front office the past off-season. The son of owner Dick Monfort became team president, former Diamondback general manager Josh Byrnes came over from the Dodgers and was made general manager, though he will report to new president of baseball operations Paul Podesta, who came over from the NFL Cleveland Browns with a big thank you from Deshaun Watson.

They didn’t do much, as expected. They let starting pitcher Germán Márquez go, he signed with the Padres. Instead they signed a trio of starting pitchers to a one year contract: Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano. The batting lineup saw Thairo Estrada and Orlando Arcia leave, instead Willi Castro was signed to two-year contract, while the Rockies also traded for our Jake McCarthy, infielder Edouard Julien from the Twins and first baseman TJ Rumfield from the Yankees. On paper, you could say the Rockies became better, though it is hard to believe they could be anything worse than the 43-win team from 2025.

Manager Warren Schaeffer is allowed to continue to let the Rockies do whatever they want to do on the field.

It is easy to laugh about the Rockies, but they are not that far behind the Diamondbacks, at the moment: 3.5 games. Since May 4 the Diamondbacks have a batting line of .184/.281/.290, which is just 1 WRC better than the last placed batters of the San Diego Padres over the same time period. The Rockies are not that much better, by the way, with a .235/.291/.394 batting line.

Since May 1, the Rockies are 3-8, but have been able to get some runs in. At the moment of writing they are wrapping up a series against the Pirates, and scored 6 off Mitch Keller in 5.2 innings, who got the win in his matchup before that against the Diamondbacks, when we couldn’t muster more than 2 runs off him over 6 innings.

So, yeah, you could say that the doctor’s prescription is to take a trip to Denver, get some fresh air and get better, though given the state of the Diamondbacks, you might wonder if the Rockies are able to take advantage and make things look even worse for Arizona.

One to gladly do so will be Jake McCarthy, who obviously is enjoying a fine season so far in Denver. His .288/.356/.500 batting line and 129 OPS+ is one of the best on his team. Especially the past two weeks McCarthy has been on fire with a 217 WRC+. Jake is taking more walks and hitting the ball a lot harder than he did in Arizona. His BABIP is similar to that of two seasons ago, so it isn’t that surprising that McCarthy is enjoying success in Colorado. It is a bounce-back season like he did two years ago. Painful though that it is happening in Colorado, especially with the hindsight of having Alek Thomas designated for assignment recently.

Matchups.

Game #1 Fri 05/15 6:40 PM MST, Merrill Kelly (ARI) vs Kyle Freeland (COL).

• Merrill Kelly. 5 GS, 26.0 IP, 2 W-3 L, 7.62 ERA, 6.64 FIP, 1.92 WHIP, 20/18 K/BB. $18,000,000.
• Kyle Freeland. 6 GS, 30.0 IP, 1 W-4 L, 6.00 ERA, 5.47 FIP, 1.47 WHIP, 28/8 K/BB. $16,000,000.

The strike-percentage is still bollocks and BABIP said Merrill Kelly was lucky against what is probably the worst team in the MLB right now. But, we will take those 7 innings and 1 run against to have ourselves think that Kelly will become the mainstay once again. He really needs to improve his command though.

Thankfully, Merrill will go up against Kyle Freeland. Freeland had a great start of the season, but injured his shoulder before a start against the Padres on April 12. He hasn’t been himself since returning from a stint on the injury list and got knocked around against Reds, Braves and Phillies (16 earned runs in 14.1 innings).

Freeland has faced the Diamondbacks 22 times in his career, with a lifetime 5.94 ERA and 4-9 win-loss record, though his stats at Coors Field are better against the Diamondbacks than at Chase Field. Last time he pitched against the Diamondbacks was in 2024, at Coors, and Freeland got a no-decision, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings.

Kelly saw the Rockies twice last season, and got a win in both of his matchups, one at Chase (7 shutout innings) and one at Coors (6 innings of 3 run ball). In total, he has faced the Rockies 17 times, taking 9 wins and 3 losses. With a 4.12 ERA in 9 games, with 5 wins, you could say he performs well in Colorado’s thin air environment.

Game #2 Sat 05/16 7:10 PM MST, Eduardo Rodríguez (ARI) vs Tomoyuki Sugano (COL).

• Eduardo Rodríguez. 8 GS, 48.0 IP, 4 W-0 L, 2.25 ERA, 4.19 FIP, 1.21 WHIP, 33/22 K/BB. $21,000,000.
• Tomoyuki Sugano. 8 GS, 42.0 IP, 3 W-3 L, 4.07 ERA, 5.61 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 24/12 K/BB. $5,100,000.

Last time I wrote about Eduardo Rodríguez, I was a bit bullish on his recent performances back then. He continued to deliver two gems after that, against the Pirates and Mets. With just 1 earned run over his past two games, 15.1 innings, there isn’t much to criticise, although it is obvious he won’t be able to deliver such a performance game after game unless he becomes Eduardei Rohtani.

Sugano is an unfamiliar face for the Snakes, as he has never faced the Diamondbacks before in his career. That makes sense as this is only the second season for the 36-year old Japanese pitcher in the MLB. Last season he was a back-end starter for the Baltimore Orioles.

Sugano was performing very well until recently, but lost his latest two matchups, giving up 9 runs in 10.1 innings against Phillies and Mets. According to statcast he has the staggering amount of 7 different pitches: 4-seamer, split finger, cutter, sinker, slider, sweeper and curveball. All that off-speed and breaking ball arsenal is to hide a weak fastball collection (his 4-FB averages below 93 mph). Sugano has good command and hardly walks a batter.

Game #3 Sun 05/17 1:10 PM MST, Michael Soroka (ARI) vs Michael Lorenzen (COL).

• Michael Soroka. 8 GS, 43.1 IP, 5 W-2 L, 3.53 ERA, 3.18 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, 47/12 K/BB. $6,750,000.
• Michael Lorenzen. 10 G, 9 GS, 44.0 IP, 2 W-5 L, 6.55 ERA, 4.92 FIP, 1.84 WHIP, 31/14 K/BB. $7,750,000.

After the stinker against Milwaukee, Soroka pitched well against Pittsburgh and Texas and you could fairly say that he is de facto our top of the rotation, together with Eduardo Rodriguez. Who would have thought that at the beginning of the season? Soroka has faced the Rockies just once in his career and that was last season. At Coors Field he pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Despite striking out 9, he had to settle with a loss.

Michael Lorenzen has huge arms and therefore deserves to be on the Expendables. Ever since leaving Cincinatti, he has been mildly successful as a starting pitcher for several teams, last season in Kansas. With the Royals he pitched against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field and delivered 7 painful shutout innings, mowing 7 snakes down and snatching a win.

This season he has struggled, though seems to have been somewhat unlucky, although how unlucky can you really be when the lineup of two of the worst teams (Astros and Mets) scored 14 runs off you in less than 8 innings? Lorenzen has good control, but his command is off this season. He averages 94 mph on his fastball and also handles a changeup (normally his best pitch), sinker, curve, cutter, sweeper and slider.

TV: NESN

First Pitch: 6:45 p.m. ET

The Red Sox send their main pitching acquisition to the mound in search of a series win (weather permitting) Thursday night. Ranger Suarez faces the Philadelphia Phillies for the first time. He also makes his first start since leaving his last outing with hamstring tightness on May 3 against the Houston Astros. 

Here’s who the Red Sox will send to the plate Thursday night.

The Phillies counter with Jesus Luzardo. Philadelphia’s current lefty has had a remarkably unlucky start to 2026 with a 5.77 ERA despite just a 2.95 FIP. 

Another Thursday of Blog Lord game coverage, another coveted reverse jinx. I fixed Kody Clemens a couple weeks ago, and now hopefully the same can be said for Zebby Matthews after he delivered the best start of his career. 

This Miami lineup is sneakily talented, but you wouldn’t know it if you only watched this series opener (Ober 89 pitch Maddux) and closer. Matthews cruised through the seven innings, allowing just four hits and one walk while racking up five strikeouts and nine roundball outs. For a guy with home run issues like Zebby, that last number is particularly encouraging. 

The only real threat the Marlins put together came in the very first inning. Back-to-back singles from Liam Hicks and Otto Lopez put two runners on for the middle of the lineup, but Matthews quickly retired the next two batters to escape the jam. From there, everything was on cruise control. Following the two first inning singles, Zebby retired 19 of 22 batters he faced and not a single one reached second base. All said and done: seven shutout innings on just 83 pitches. That’s how you save the bullpen after last night’s SWR disaster-class. 

On the offensive side, things got off to an inauspicious start for the hometown nine. The first three Twins batters reached base to load ‘em up with no outs, but lefty Braxton Garrett struck out Josh Bell, Victor Caratini, and Luke Keaschall for a good old fashioned Twins NOBLETIGER. 

The first three batters reached AGAIN to start the second, but Austin Martin made sure not to waste it this time. A ground rule double broke the seal and plated the first two Twins run of the afternoon. Bell and Caratini each redeemed themselves in the inning as well, with a Bell double scoring two more and a well-placed groundout allowing Minnesota’s fifth run of the inning to come in. 5-0 Twins after two. 

A James Outman RBI single scored one more for the good guys in the third, but things went very quiet for the bats until the eighth inning after Miami finally scratched one across home. After 13 straight Twins outs, Luke Keaschall hit a one-out single. A two out walk brought up Outman, who again delivered an RBI hit, this time a double that scored Keaschall and Ryan Kreidler. Austin Martin followed with his second hit of the day for good measure to make it 9-1. 

Game, series, match. We’ll see you tomorrow night for the border battle with the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Thanks to the relative mid-ness of the entire American League outside of Tampa and New York, the Twins (at 20-24) sit just 3.5 games out of the division and 1.5 games out of a wild card spot a quarter of the way to the season. The competition is talented and won’t stay down forever, but the bullpen has been significantly better in recent weeks with some young additions and the Twins are right in the thick of things. Better yet, the team should start looking even better over the next few weeks as Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, Cole Sands, and Alan Roden start to work their ways back. Plus, they have 4-5 top 100 prospects on the doorstep that still should contribute at some point this season. 

Don’t count this group out quite yet!

STUDS

• Zebby Matthews: 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, BB, 5 K, just 83 pitches
• Greatest Twin of All Time Ryan Kreidler: 2-3, BB, 2 R
• Austin Martin: 2-4, R, 2B, BB, R, 3 RBI
• James Outman???: 2-3, 2B, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI

DUDS

• No duds Twins win!!!!
• One small dud for Matt Wallner for getting demoted but the past two times that’s happened he’s come back and been the Twins’ best hitter. Let’s do that a third time.

Comment of the game goes to SooFoo for correctly identifying the Byron Buxton injury cause. 

Thursday notes…

• STREAKING THE WRONG WAY: If the Cubs lose tonight, they will match their longest losing streak, five games, immediately after any of their 26 winning streaks of at least 10 games since 1901. They lost five straight after winning 10, May 6-17, 1917, and after winning 11, July 25-Aug. 4, 1944. They also lost four in a row after winning 13, May 5-19, 1928. Then they won three, lost, won and lost, for a record of 4-6 starting with the loss that snapped the winning streak. They were 3-7 in the next 10 in 1917 and 2-8 in 1944. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• TRYING TO AVOID THE SWEEP: The Cubs last were swept in three games at Atlanta on Sept. 26-28, 2023. They won the finale in 2024 to avoid a sweep, then lost the first and won twice last year. The Cubs have been swept in 12 three-games series and one four-game series at Atlanta. This is their 189th series there. The Cubs lost the first two games, then won the third, of eight series, and lost the first three, then won the fourth, twice. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• WHERE ARE THE BATS?: The Cubs have made no more than five hits in each of their last four games. Since 1901, they had three streaks of five games, in 1955, 1981 and June 16-20, 2021. They had a six-game streak May 4-12, 1961. The current streak is their 14th of four since 1901 and their fifth since 1955. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Ron Santo’s sixth-inning homer broke a 2-2 tie and the Cubs held on to defeat the Padres 3-2 at Wrigley Field. Milt Pappas threw a complete game and the contest ran just one hour, 55 minutes. It happened 55 years ago today, Friday, May 14, 1971.

Cubs lineup:

Braves lineup:

Ben Brown, RHP vs. Chris Sale, LHP

Ben Brown threw exceptionally well last Friday against the Rangers, throwing four no-hit innings, with 31 strikes in 46 pitches, allowing just one walk.

He’ll likely be allowed to go a bit farther tonight, though I wouldn’t expect more than maybe 65 pitches or so, with Javier Assad still available to back him up.

Brown made two relief appearances against the Braves last year totaling 2.1 innings, with one hit, two walks and two runs allowed, with five strikeouts.

Chris Sale has always been a very good MLB starter — when he’s healthy. That was the case in 2024 when he won the NL Cy Young Award. Last year he made just 20 starts, but still was a 4 bWAR pitcher.

This year, he’s been exceptional in eight starts, with a 2.20 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 49 innings. Last year he started against the Cubs Sept. 10, 2025 in Atlanta and allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings. Carson Kelly homered against him. Alex Bregman is 6-for-24 with two homers against Sale.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Truist Park.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Braves site Battery Power. If you do go there to interact with Braves fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

The Phillies wrap up the series against a former friend. Here are the lineups, let’s discuss.

For the Phillies:

For the Red Sox:

Juan Soto wasn’t too concerned after fouling a ball hard off his ankle during his at-bat in the bottom of the third in Wednesday night’s walk-off win over the Tigers. 

Soto completed the AB, then took his next turn in the sixth. 

But concern certainly grew from Mets fans when the star outfielder was lifted for a pinch-hitter with two men on and two outs in a tie ballgame in the seventh. 

X-rays came back negative, and Soto told reporters Thursday that they were simply trying to play things safe.

“I’ve done it before,” he said. “I wasn’t able to push at that point, it was getting slow, so I was just trying to make the smart move but I know how to handle it.”

Soto was deemed well enough to jump right back into the Mets’ lineup for Thursday afternoon's series finale, and he showed no ill-effects as he put together a much-needed big day at the plate. 

The left-handed slugger was retired in each of his first two at-bats but then delivered in his next two, lining a two-out go-ahead single in the bottom of the fifth before hitting a solo homer to center leading off the seventh. 

He came into the day hitting just .146 with three RBI and a .502 OPS over 11 games in May. Those numbers improved after Thursday's performance.

“It’s always great to come through for your team,” Soto said. “Definitely in a big situation with guys in scoring position there, just trying to bring them in and take the lead, I think it’s huge.”

New York, of course, held on from there to secure the series sweep of the Tigers. 

With those three come-from-behind victories now in the books, the suddenly hot Mets have now taken three of their last four series and have won eight of 12 games thus far in May as they gear up for a highly-anticipated Subway Series over the weekend against the suddenly slumping Yankees.

“It shows we’re capable of doing whatever we want,” Soto said. “At the end of the day it’s all about us -- what we want to do is right there in front of us, we just have to go out there and get it.”

The Mets and Yankees have certainly had different starts to their 2026 seasons. The Yankees are 10 games over .500 and at times have looked prime for another deep October run. The Mets, meanwhile, are 18-25, and have been one of the more disappointing teams around the league. 

But baseball can be a funny game, and as of late, the tides have turned. The Yankees have lost six of their last eight games, while the Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers on Thursday afternoon behind a five-homer day from the offense and seven strong innings by Nolan McLean. 

Add all of that up, and this weekend’s Subway Series at Citi Field should be must-watch baseball. 

“Subway Series are always special,” said Carlos Mendoza, who served on the Yankees coaching staff before becoming the manager in Queens. “It brings an extra energy, it’s gonna be packed, it’s gonna be electric. They’re fun. But again, control what you can control, come back tomorrow and take care of business one day at a time. But it’s always fun, the Subway Series.”

Another Met who has experience on both sides of the Subway Series is Juan Soto. After one prolific season with the Yankees, Soto, of course, signed a massive 15-year contract with the Mets.

Soto switching teams has been a huge topic of conversation between Mets and Yankees fans, and the outfielder knows the energy will be ratcheted up at Citi Field this weekend.

“The vibe that you feel in the stadium outside is just great,” said Soto, who hit one of the Mets’ five homers on Thursday. “The fans, the field and everything just feels different, and it feels great to be out there.”

One of the biggest factors of the Mets’ sweep of the Tigers was the injection of energy provided by rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, with Ewing hitting his first major league home run in Thursday’s win. 

Ewing may be a man of few words, but he admitted that he’s very much looking forward to his first taste of the crosstown rivalry.

“Absolutely,” he answered when asked about looking forward to the series. “100 percent.”

It’s old news by now, but it’s worth remembering some of these smaller stories in what figures to be a long season of losing. The other night, the Giants outfielders performed a final out act?… dance?… behavior?… performance? that received a strong response from those empowered to deliver and enforce a “Knock it off.” If you’ve already forgotten news from two days ago:

There’re Drew Gilbert, Harrison Bader, and Jung Hoo Lee smashing their cups together as all bros do in celebration after the final out of a baseball game. Yep. A tradition as old as the game itself. Totally normal stuff, right? WRONG! Obviously!

When I was in 8th grade, our boys’ basketball team set out to go 12-0 that season and when we got to around 7-0 or 8-0 we were really feeling ourselves. I went to a small Catholic school, and when we celebrated a little too hard after a couple of made shots on the opponents’ court to clinch that 7th or 8th straight win, on the following Monday we were taken into the convent garden and scolded by our principal, Sister Catherine, and the head of the parish himself, Father Lannigan. We were lined up, told that we were to immediately stop all forms of celebration and to play the game “like gentlemen.”

I don’t think we went undefeated that year (maybe 11-1?), but what I do remember is that talking to, in part because of Father Lannigan’s borderline farcical Irish brogue, but also because it felt unfair. It wasn’t formative in that I learned a valuable lesson about sportsmanlike conduct, but that I learned how powerful the spectators’ experience is on a performance. The audience matters more than the performance or the performers because it’s their feedback that delivers the enduring value judgment, either through paying money to watch or being a critic, formally or informally as a fan.

So, if Buster Posey doesn’t like what he’s seeing — even with the easily accessible experience of being a player — then that’s the end of that. If you don’t think it’s Buster who’s trying to prevent this particular memory from being a part of his business, consider this: as Andrew Baggarly reminds us in his newser from last night’s loss (and, if anyone doesn’t follow our recaps with Baggs’s work right after, you’re missing out — he’s been on a real heater with his write-ups during this eventful Dodgers series), Posey is a proud baseball traditionalist:

Although Giants president Buster Posey has publicly stated his disdain for fraternization between opponents, there’s an understanding that Adames is who he is. There should be room for a social butterfly to exist even in an organization that hired manager Tony Vitello to instill the kind of fighting spirit that could antagonize opponents at times.

Like letting Luis Arraez play second base in order to sign him, looking the other way while Willy Adames exchanges hot goss with his fellow millionaires was the cost of acquiring the player. But letting Drew Gilbert bang his teammates in public? It’s too much, and Gilbert is easily sanctioned.

That’s going to do it for most baseball fans. Most baseball fans recoil at the notion of seeing anything vaguely human on a baseball field. Just baseball, spitting, scratching, high fiving, and butt slapping. Nothing more. The hint of sexuality — especially homosexuality — is the sort of thing that might trigger apoplexy in spectators and shareholders. And like everything meaningful in the world, keeping shareholders happy is all that matters.

Going back to that scolding at the convent, for the rest of the season we were assigned a chaperone. A teacher from another grade would attend all of our games and reported back to Sr. Catherine and Fr. Lannigan. We didn’t run afoul of the fun police the rest of the season, and we probably learned a lesson that we are always going to represent more than ourselves. That name on the jersey isn’t just our team; it’s everyone at our school and in that community. We 8th graders had offended the sensibility of some parents for high fiving and “YEAH”-ing on the court a little too hard in the moment and, okay, I’ll admit, there was one guy who held his hand up after making a three, running backwards a few steps, then turning that hand around and talking to it — so, you know, as a decrepit sports blogger now, I guess I can see a little bit why the decrepit people tasked with educating children and maintaining the school’s reputation might’ve been a little annoyed.

The Giants added a couple of new investors in the offseason and the last thing Buster Posey wants them to see is the players on the payroll acting “weird” or “obscene.” Or maybe he personally doesn’t feel it’s appropriate for Giants players to behave that way on the field — though, I’d hope nobody would dare invoke the “won’t somebody think of the children?!” reaction when most kids aren’t awake to see that celebration. But to add Drew Gilbert and Tony Vitello and a bunch of other big personalities to a team and then ask them to not be themselves just seems like another bad idea by a team that has had a lot of them over the past few years.

Players of a losing team having a little fun after one of their few wins by doing something people could see on TV for 25+ years on The Simpsons or How I Met Your Motherdoesn’t really strike me as controversial, even as we live in a culture now fully captured by conservative values, but then again, it (gasp) went viral! So, maybe that had everything to do with it. Forget that baseball players are generally odd ducks and what they find interesting or amusing or exciting is usually far afield from what the average baseball viewer or non-player does — “that ain’t right” is a trump card the outsider gets to play most of the time. If the Giants were winning a lot, perhaps that could’ve Uno reversed the outcome.

Anyway, here’s a good image from a bad site.

Hopefully, this shameful episode will remind baseball players to refrain from doing anything they find to be fun while in view of the cameras.