Just for curiosity, I checked the math on flipping a coin and getting heads eight consecutive times. You’d expect to find four such sequences out of 10,000 flips, or about once every 2,500 times. I think I could take that math and apply it to once every 15 years if you were a team that played around .500 ball. I feel safe in saying there are some assumptions in there that don’t hold up to scrutiny. This isn’t a coin flip. The last six of these wins are at home. Even if we give both of these two teams credit for their capabilities and not how they’ve played over the first month of the season, I suspect the Cubs are a bit better than a coinflip at home against them.

Without drifting into the abstract, we know that the Cubs last won eight in 2023. As we talked about yesterday, that team wasn’t particularly good (winning 83). So this kind of streak isn’t necessarily a launching pad. That said, if you figure 88 wins is an almost definite playoff berth, the team accomplished nine percent of the wins they will need for the season over the last eight games. There are never guarantees, but this kind of stretch can alter the trajectory for a team. It’s way too early for “if the team played .500…” but if they played .500 the rest of the way, they’d win 84. The point is, the team doesn’t have to do much to reach 85 wins which is either going to be just in or just out of the playoffs.

It’s going to get harder, but enjoy this.

The formula is much the same as what it has been throughout the streak. The Cubs held the Phillies to two runs. They’ve allowed 20 runs over the eight wins (2.5 per game). But it’s not a one way equation. The offense put up seven. They’ve scored 58 runs over the eight wins (7.25 per game). So a 7-2 win is right within the center of the range of outcomes.

The top offensive performers? Alex Bregman, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong. So in brief, the guys who they didn’t get much production out of over the first 20 games are leading the way now. A seamless rotation and passing of the torch. Everything you’d hope for out of a team. My confidence in this team in the regular season is based exactly on what we are seeing. In the grind of the regular season, roster depth is the key to piling up enough wins to be a playoff team. The sheer number of Cubs, particularly offensively, who can beat you is significant.

The Cubs had 13 more hits in this one. Seven different Cubs had hits. Seven different Cubs scored. This was a deep and balanced attack. The pitching was terrific. Seven singles, two doubles and no walks. It was not enough offensive production for the Phillies to sustain any offense.

Another fun win. Four-game series sweeps are pretty rare. The last one of those for the Cubs was back in 2021. Yep. Another not good season. So these rare occurrences are certainly not predictive. Hopefully this streak puts quite a bit of win in the sails of this team. This probably isn’t a great team. But perhaps it can ride this wave for quite some time.

Three Positives:

• Alex Bregman gets my top spot with three hits including a triple. He scored a run. He’s heating up.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong also had three hits, one a double. He drove in two. Pete’s also heating up. He’s hitting .345 over his last eight games.
• Ben Brown. I felt like the game was very much in the balance when he came in. He faced 10 batters, retiring seven, five of those by strikeout. It was 4-2 when he entered and 6-2 when he left.

Game 24, April 22: Cubs 7, Phillies 2 (15-9)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Alex Bregman (.220). 3-5, 3B, R
• Hero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.127). 3-4, 2 RBI, SB
• Sidekick: Michael Busch (.093). 2-4, HR, RBI, R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Moisés Ballesteros (-037.). 1-4, 2B, R
• Goat: Dansby Swanson (-027.). 0-3, BB
• Kid: Nico Hoerner (-017.). 1-5, R

WPA Play of the Game: Edmundo Sosa batted in the second with runners on first and second with one out, the Phillies down one. He doubled and a run scored. (.157)

*Cubs Play of the Game: PCA batted with a runner on second and two outs in the second. He doubled in a run. (.115)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 23 Winner: Shōta Imanaga received 247 of 258 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Nico Hoerner +9.5
• Michael Conforto/Shōta Imanaga +7
• Seiya Suzuki/Jacob Webb -8
• Pete Crow-Armstrong -13

This was a “rotation” game for the Rizzo award. Every one who was on the positive side for the game had been on the negative side for the year and vice versa. H&G has so much inertia towards the center.

Up Next: Next stop Javy Báez? I’ve given you my favorite No. 7, my favorite No. 8 and now let’s see if we can get to my favorite No. 9. It won’t be easy, but I don’t want this ride to stop. In a rare occurrence, three-fifths of the NL Central lost Wednesday night. The Cubs move into sole possession of second, half a game behind the Reds. The Brewers drop to last. The win pace sits at 101.25. Unbelievable.

Edward Cabrera (2-0, 2.38 ERA, 22.2 IP) starts for the Cubs. He had a quality start and a win last time out and then got an extra day off. The Phillies start Cristopher Sánchez (2-2, 1.59, 28.1) for the sixth time. Last time, he was a tough-luck loser, throwing six innings and allowing eight hits and no earned runs. He struck out eight and has struck out 39 already.

It’s a tough one on paper. But find a way and keep this rolling.

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The New York Yankees will try to complete a road sweep of the Boston Red Sox tonight behind the electric Cam Schlittler.

My Yankees vs. Red Sox predictions believe Boston righty Payton Tolle is completely outmatched, and my MLB picks will take the Bombers moneyline on Thursday, April 23. 

Who will win Yankees vs Red Sox today: Yankees moneyline (-143)

I’ve tried to find a scenario where the Boston Red Sox should be less than a +150 underdog to avoid the sweep against New York Yankees righty Cam Schlittler, and I just can’t get there. I’d play this to around -160.

Schlittler threw eight scoreless innings and registered 12 strikeouts against his boyhood team in last year's postseason.

Schlittler's most thrown pitch, the fastball, has been one of the best pitches in baseball, ranking in the 100th percentile of run value.

Boston righty Payton Tolle, meanwhile, is walking over 10% of batters he faces and is carrying a 4.70 xERA.

New York shouldn’t need to score much to get the win.

COVERS INTEL: Schlittler’s chase rate sits at 41% through five starts, ranking him in the Top 2% of the sport.

Yankees vs Red Sox Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-120)

I’m not sure this one looks much different from yesterday when Max Fried threw eight scoreless innings in a near-shutout win. I’ll back the Under here with a projected total of 8.1. 

This Under lives and dies with Schlittler, and I'm fine with that. He’ll get plenty of chase, as Boston’s Top 7 whiff rate and Bottom 7 chase contact rate looms large..

Tolle's command issues could let the Yankees get to four or five runs, but this still doesn't feel like an eight-run ballgame.

Yankees vs Red Sox odds

• Moneyline: Yankees -150 | Red Sox +130
• Run line: Yankees -1.5 | Red Sox +1.5
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Yankees vs Red Sox trend

The Red Sox have hit the Under in 24 of their last 40 games at home (+7.35 Units / 17% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Red Sox.

How to watch Yankees vs Red Sox and game info

Yankees vs Red Sox latest injuries

Yankees vs Red Sox weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Team News

Vargas on a heater to begin 2026, bringing unexpected power to D-backshttps://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/ildemaro-vargas-hits-two-home-runs-for-d-backs-against-white-sox

Ildemaro Vargas Powers Diamondbacks to Ugly Win Over White Soxhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/ildemaro-vargas-powers-diamondbacks-ugly-win-white-sox

Latest Ildemaro Vargas-Diamondbacks reunion paying off big-time early: ‘He always brings energy’

https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/ildemaro-vargas-keeps-coming-back/3618328/

Taylor Clarke a different pitcher in 2nd D-backs stint

https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/taylor-clarke-2/3618520/

Anything Goes

This day in history:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-23

This day in baseball:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/April_23

Women buy 96% of candles produced.

According to a survey, 4% of men who buy candles are either buying it as a gift or for a female they are related to.

Germany has a unique tradition for newlyweds.

Polterabend is a German wedding custom that symbolizes life after marriage. Just before couples are wed, their families and friends would break things such as dinnerware and vases – with the exception of glasses. After their loved ones have trashed the place, the couple should then clean the whole place.  

 There were female gladiators in Ancient Rome! A female gladiator was called a gladiatrix (plural gladiatrices). They were extremely rare, unlike their male counterparts.

Morning, all!

Wyatt Langford has a grade 1 flexor strain in his right arm, which marks the fifth IL stint for a soft tissue injury in the first two years of his career. Skip Schumaker says it’s because he “has more muscles than most people.”

Langford is hoping to spend no more than the minimum amount of time on the IL.

Evan Carter was denied an ABS challenge last night because he had left the batter’s box on his way to first base on a called strike three.

Skip Schumaker described last night’s loss as a “weird” one, with Jack Leiter coughing up the lead in the fifth after cruising to the first four innings and Cole Winn and Jalen Beeks giving up another lead in the ninth.

Leiter labeled the outing “beyond frustrating,” capped off as it was by his tripping over a pile of equipment while trying to back up a play.

The Athletic has a piece up answering fan questions about life on the road for MLB players where we learn that the players rate the Rangers’ clubhouse facilities at the top of the league.

It has been 23 years since a major league closer has won the Cy Young Award. Plenty of today’s top relievers still have their warts — specifically, the occasional blown save that tarnishes their regular season. Thus, making it virtually impossible for them to gain any traction in the Cy Young voting. 

However, San Diego Padres Mason Miller is the perfect storm. His statistical numbers are impossible to believe because few relievers have been that dominant. 

Here is Miller’s 2026 line:

0.00 ERA – 0.353 WHIP – 27 K – 2 BB – 8 Saves – 11.1 IP

Miller has been unhittable. 

You have to be amazed that no major league hitter can make contact off him during an at-bat. They cannot pick up the ball out of his hand. Unlike answering multiple-choice test questions, guessing is not a sound approach to getting a base hit.

Boasting the majors’ best fastball/slider combo, Miller has fanned 71% of the batters he faced. His four-year major league career strikeout rate is a 41.4%. The league average is 22.5%.

Since he arrived in San Diego, the formula for Miller’s success has been simple: three batters up, three batters down for a Friars win. Over that span, the big right-hander has allowed only two runs in 34.2 innings pitched. More importantly, the Padres’ closer is two innings away from setting the franchise record for scoreless innings. In 2006, Cla Meredith set the franchise record by pitching 33.2 scoreless innings.

Closers can win the Cy Young Award

In MLB history, nine relievers have won the Cy Young Award. The most recent winner was the Los Angeles Dodgers closer Eric Gagne in 2003. He converted 55 consecutive save opportunities to a 1.20 ERA. A former Padre is on the list, as Mark Davis recorded 44 saves with a 1.85 ERA to win the award in 1989. 

It is difficult for a closer to win the Cy Young Award, primarily because their workload cannot match a starting pitcher’s final total. Thus, it is hard to make an argument for a pitcher who throws 70-80 innings in a season to a starter who logs close to 200 innings for their team. 

Analytics’ role in selecting award winners

Today’s award voters are highly influenced by the game’s analytic numbers, especially in the Wins Above Replacement category. However, the Cy Young Award’s criteria require that they prioritize each candidate’s performance throughout the season. This stipulation gives specialists like relief pitchers a chance to build a case for their workload.

WAR is designed to place a value on a player’s importance to their team’s win total. The metric formula for pitchers is straightforward because it measures every run (earned and unearned) that happens on the field per nine innings. 

bWAR is an analytical stat created by Baseball Reference that allows closers to be viable candidates for the Cy Young Award. The metrics are results-driven because relief pitchers get credit for their ability to strand base runners.

Yes, Miller will blow a save opportunity, but it may not come this season. Baseball just works that way. Dominance is limited for some players, but for others, it lasts a long time. 

The Cy Young Award debate hinges on value: is the closer a more worthy candidate because they’re called to lock down the final three outs to a potential win, or the starter, who must navigate a lineup several times to earn a victory? 

Voters have run out of excuses; Miller’s dominance has outgrown the “small sample” label. What he has accomplished since putting on a Padre uniform might be enough to put him in the Cy Young Award conversation.

In 2020, the COVID pandemic resulted in a stilted cadence to the typical draft evaluation process. Nevertheless, the draft continued onward and the Royals picked Asa Lacy fourth overall. However, the Royals recently released Lacy, who threw only 80 professional innings in the minors since being drafted.

Lacy had only 4 starts and 24 innings pitched in the 2020 college season before it was shut down prior to the draft. He put 88+ innings on tape in 2019, but across his three seasons at Texas A&M we’re talking 152 innings. Something like a quarter of those innings came as a reliever in 2018. Lacy was no exception – Max Meyer, who was picked third overall, had 148 innings of college tape with an even higher percentage of innings as a reliever.

All this to emphasize – teams were working with precious little data going into the 2020 MLB draft.

Having said that, the industry still did its normal rankings process. FanGraphs rankings had Lacy at number 2. MLB Pipeline had Lacy at number 3. Max mentioned in his early news article about Lacy’s release that Baseball America also had Lacy at number 3.

Again, all this to emphasize – given the limited information everyone had, the industry held Lacy in high regard. Picking him at fourth overall was a totally reasonable pick.

But, it being 2026, we have a lot more information on how the other players picked in that draft panned out. Could the Royals have made a “better” decision? I don’t really think they could have given the information at the time, results-based analysis, blah blah blah. But let’s look anyway!

You can see the whole first round on Baseball Reference here.

Spencer Torkelson went first overall to the Tigers. As a guy who made it to the major leagues and is still playing for the Tigers in 2026, picking Tork went better for them than picking Lacy did for the Royals. But that’s not much of a bar to clear. Tork’s accrued 2.6 fWAR across 2200 plate appearances, something like a 0.7/600 PA fWAR pace. He has two 30+ homer seasons but his career wRC+ is exactly 100 to this point. Not what you want from a first baseman, but he’s only 26. Maybe there’s more to come.

Heston Kjerstad went second overall to the Orioles. He also made it to the majors but has yet to make an impact with a career wRC+ of 83 and a negative fWAR.

Max Meyer went third overall to the Marlins and is maybe only just now emerging. He made a handful of starts in 2024/25 but the cumulative performance was about replacement level. This season, he has five roughly average-ish starts under his belt and may grow into a contributor for another team after the Marlins inevitably trade him.

Austin Martin went fifth overall to the Blue Jays. He never played a game at the MLB level for the Blue Jays as they traded him to the Twins for José Berríos at the trade deadline in 2021. Martin showed an Isaac Collins-like performance in 2025 – high OBP, low power, OF spot – and is really showing out so far in 2026 with a .484 OBP in 62 plate appearances. He is 27 years old and who knows what else he’s got in the tank.

Emerson Hancock went sixth overall to the Mariners and has mostly forgettable/replaceable performance prior to 2026. Similar to Max Meyer though, he has taken a step forward *so far* this season with a FIP under 4 and ERA under 3 in 5 starts. We’ll see if that holds.

Nick Gonzales was taken 7th overall by the Pirates and has a career 83 wRC+ in almost 1000 plate appearances. Robert Hassell III was picked 8th overall by the Padres and was the first high school player selected. He has 70 games of bad hitting so far, but he’s only 24. Zac Veen was taken by the Rockies at 9 and hasn’t hit since AA. Reid Detmers was taken 10th overall by the Angels, has shown some promise, and is not yet 27.

You can keep going on this kind of analysis yourself if you’d like. The next guy was Garrett Crochet, who has been excellent for the past two season but is getting knocked around this season. Pete Crow-Armstrong was taken 19th by the Mets and just signed a big extension.

Overall, six guys taken in the first around in 2020 never made the majors. Lacy just happens to be the highest pick of those guys. To me, that’s roughly a normal rate for the first round as a whole. It’s unfortunate that it happened to a guy picked fourth overall with such a high prospect evaluation. Typically a guy picked that high *does* at least make it to the majors. But I think the Royals made a good pick with the information they had, and they’re not the only team whose pick in this particular first round did not work out.

I hope Lacy can get healthy and catch on somewhere, if that’s what he wants.

The attention the Braves have given to position player prospects has paid huge dividends so far this season with a number of impressive performances already in the first month. First round pick Tate Southisene led off for Augusta with his third long ball of the season, and his .917 OPS on the season has been a huge plus for the GreenJackets. After a poor stretch of play John Gil is back to playing great in Rome, notching another three hit game as part of another big offensive day for the Emperors.

(15-8) Gwinnett Stripers 11, (11-12) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 9

Box Score

Statcast

• Jim Jarvis, SS: 0-3, 2 BB, .366/.490/.512
• Nacho Alvarez Jr., 3B: 1-5, .203/.304/.237
• Aaron Schunk, 1B: 5-5, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, .338/.393/.575
• Austin Pope, SP: 1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 4.32 ERA
• Hayden Harris, RP: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2.08 ERA

Gwinnett and Jacksonville played in a barn burner, and it was a late push by the Stripers and Aaron Schunk’s huge day at the plate that pushed them over the edge in the end. On the run preventation side of the ball the Stripers relied on a host of pitchers in a bullpen game and in the early innings struggled to get any sort of consistent success. The pitching staff led by spot starter Austin Pope and reliever Tayler Scott had trouble throwing strikes consistently, and they weren’t helped at all by an abysmal defensive performance. The Stripers pitching staff allowed six walks and the defense coughed up five errors, leading to five unearned runs charged against them. They allowed eight runs through the first four innings of play and trailed 8-4 heading into the latter half of the game. Finally Anderson Pilar gave them a small bit of good work over 2 2/3 innings with no earned runs allowed, and the offense woke up enough to make a late comeback.

Throughout the Stripers lineup they were able to find offensive impact in this game, but nobody was more successful than Aaron Schunk. Schunk had hits in all five of his at-bats in the game, and in the early innings his offensive output carried the team and kept the game close. He led off in the second inning with a double that sparked a rally, eventually scoring a run as part of Gwinnett’s effort to put two on the board. The next inning he went deep with the biggest swing of the game, smashing his fifth home run of the season to make the game 6-4. Schunk’s one out single in the sixth inning led to another scoring chance and his third run scored of the game, but it wasn’t until the seventh that Gwinnett really had their chance to break out. Brewer Hicklen was hit by a pitch and Jim Jarvis drew a walk, setting up the middle of the lineup with two outs. Chadwick Tromp loaded the bases for Schunk, who responded with a clutch single for his fourth hit of the game, driving in two and cutting the deficit to 9-7. Brett Wisely followed that up with a bloop double to bring the game within one, but with two runners in scoring position Jose Azocar struck out to end the inning. Hicklen would be the hero of the evening with his next at bat, cracking a two-run home run that put the Stripers ahead for good in the eighth inning. Schunk capped off his day with another RBI single, his fifth of the game, and in total Schunk scored or drove in seven of the Stripers 11 runs.

Swing and Misses

Anderson Pilar – 8

Tayler Scott – 7

(9-8) Columbus Clingstones 0, (8-9) Birmingham Barons 11

Box Score

• Patrick Clohisy, CF: 0-4, .296/.345/.481
• David McCabe, 1B: 1-4, .264/.409/.623
• Ambioris Tavarez, 2B: 1-2, BB, .194/.356/.306
• Garrett Baumann, SP: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 7.27 ERA

It was a forgettable day for the Clingstones all around as they struggled in every facet of the game. They were stifled on offense despite making plenty of contact throughout the game, with a large majority of their outs coming on weak ground balls and early count outs. The Birmingham staff filled up the strike zone and Columbus went after their pitches, and the only player with a notably good day was Ambioris Tavarez. Tavarez had an early walk for the first Clingstone baserunner of the game and later on had the game’s second hit, though in both cases his time on the basepaths was short-lived. David McCabe had a single early on in this game that pushed his hitting streak up to five games, accounting for the Clingstones’s only other hit, and thus far this season he has reached base safely in all but one of his games played.

Garrett Baumann had two solid games to work himself back after a poor opening start, but came back down a bit in this outing as he struggled to elevate his fastball. It was one of those days where despite throwing a lot of strikes he struggled to land pitches in locations that would him swings and misses, and hitters were able to rack up hits and extend at bats until he made mistakes. All three of his walks came in at bats that he could not finish the hitter off, losing the plate appearance to a walk in a full count. He landed neither of his secondary offerings well at all and had to rely on his fastball to get many of his outs, a tall task for him when he isn’t able to keep the pitch on the edges. Most of his issues came down to his mechanics being a bit off as he was falling off to his glove side a bit and pulling most of his pitches down and in that direction, though in the second inning he did a much better job of locking in his mechanics. In particular his strikeout to end the second inning was a great example of him getting his body downhill and towards home plate, and he located pitches nicely there including a deep slider for a whiff to finish the at bat. Ultimately though he never got a great feel for a consistent secondary, and got tagged for a home run in the next inning when he left his changeup up in the strike zone. Until this point he had managed to avoid allowing any runs, but Birmingham had him dialed in at this point and he only had two whiffs on 17 swings in the inning.

Swing and Misses

Blayne Abeyta – 7

Garrett Baumann – 6

LJ McDonough – 5

(8-9) Rome Emperors 9, (11-6) Greensboro Grasshoppers 5

Box Score

• Isaiah Drake, LF-RF: 1-5, .231/.315/.385
• John Gil, SS: 3-4, 2B, BB, RBI, .246/.353/.421
• Eric Hartman, CF: 1-4, .306/.368/.694
• Logan Braunschweig, DH: 2-4, 2B, HR, .282/.417/.436
• Cam Caminiti, SP: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 4.26 ERA

There are few things more certain than the Rome Emperors giving prospect fans something to like on any given day, and even with the early wake up call the offense was rolling. A six run fifth inning was the key to a win to bring the team within a win of .500, and John Gil had a second big day in a row to start this series. The first six Emperors of the game went down in order, but Logan Braunschweig made his first impact of the game by smoking a double to lead off the third inning, and he came around to score on a Jake Steels groundout to give Rome an early lead. A rough couple of innings from Cam Caminiti did give the game over to the Grasshoppers briefly, though not before Gil made his first mark on the game. Gil scorched a line drive over to third base that deflected off of the defender, and he motored in for a leadoff double though he was stranded there. In the fifth inning Braunschweig made another impact on the game, going down to get a sinker down and in and lifting it for a solo home run. Rome started rolling after this, with a walk to Colin Burgess and hits from Austin Machado and Isaiah Drake loading the bases up for Gil. Gil drew a walk to move everyone up a spot, forcing home a run, and bringing the deficit down to 4-3. Eric Hartman then took a hit by pitch to tie the game, and Cody Miller gave Rome a lead with a sacrifice ground out. Mason Guerra, who led off the inning, netted the hit that gave Rome a little breathing room, sneaking a single up the middle to drive home two runs and push the lead to 7-4. Braunschweig had a chance for a second hit of the inning and gave a liner the other way a good ride, but it was right at the left fielder for the final out and ended Braunschweig’s perfect day at the plate. Gil had leadoff singles in both the seventh and ninth inning, getting him a second straight three hit day. Gil also stole a base to move into the South Atlantic League lead with 11 on the season.

Cam Caminiti started this season off with three terrific performances, but his Wednesday was fraught with inconsistency and a command performance that fell a bit short of the standards he has set in the first month of 2026. Caminiti had reasonable command of his fastball in the early going, keeping the pitch in the upper third of the zone and escaping some mistake sliders to work through two scoreless innings, however the signs of trouble were there. Caminiti missed with his fastball way out of the zone high, and could not get his slider down at all and got lucky leadoff man Wyatt Sanford was too far ahead and yanked one a long way foul. In the second inning they made some adjustments to correct the high misses, but he started leaving the fastball over the plate and at all points was not able to make many swing-and-miss pitches. In the third inning his arm slot started to dip and pitches sailed on him again, and this time Sanford took advantage of a mistake slider. The first pitch of the at bat was a slider up in the zone and Sanford turned it around and smacked it down the line for an RBI double, tying the game. In his second trip through the order Caminiti’s command started to show even more holes and the Grasshoppers put a three spot on him in the fourth inning. It’s close to as bad as you’ll see Caminiti pitch all around as none of his pitches worked throughout the outing, though he was ultimately able to salvage the start and keep Rome in the game until they broke through in the next half inning.

Swing and Misses 

Cam Caminiti – 6

Riley Frey – 5

Ian Mejia – 3

(10-7) Augusta GreenJackets 2, (9-8) Columbia Fireflies 6

Box Score

• Tate Southisene, 2B: 1-4, HR, .246/.425/.492
• Alex Lodise, SS: 2-4, .268/.358/.394
• Luis Guanipa, DH: 0-4, .333/.348/.500
• Derek Vartanian, SP: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 5.40 ERA

This game got off to an exciting start for GreenJackets fans, though excitement in the game probably peaked after the second hitter. On pitch number two Tate Southisene got a slider out over the plate, and he was waiting back on it. He crushed a leadoff home run up onto the berm in left center field, and the GreenJackets had the early lead to work with. Alex Lodise followed up by turning and crushing an inside fastball, and though he fell short of a home run by hitting it into the deepest part of the ballpark he was able to sprint around for a triple and give Augusta an early opportunity to put up a crooked number. With the way Luis Guanipa has been hitting he seemed like the man for the task, but he rolled over a fat slider on the first pitch and was retired without Lodise being able to advance. Nick Montgomery then got carved up by a steady diet of sliders low and away and struck out for the second out, and the scoring opportunity was officially closed when Junior Garcia popped out to the shortstop. Augusta gave up the lead but retook it on a Cooper McMurray single in the top of the second inning, then went the rest of the game without scoring a run. Lodise and Guanipa each had a couple of good moments in the rest of the game, with Lodise going the other way for a single to lead off the third inning. Guanipa followed by putting a charge into a fly ball into the right center field gap, but it died at the base of the wall for a fly out and Augusta didn’t have a lot left in the tank after that point.

Derek Vartanian had two pretty interesting starts to open his season, but had his worst on Wednesday as his command of his slider and splitter were not good enough to help him find consistent success. From the very early portions of the game Vartanian was clearly struggling to keep his slider close, and the Fireflies hitters were able to lay off of it and force him into using his fastball and splitter in the zone. His splitter had a few moments where he laid some nasty pitches fading off the plate to get whiffs, but he also pulled way too many up over the plate and had to dance around trouble throughout the game. It was one of those splitters staying at the top of the strike zone that got tagged for a home run in the third inning, his third home run allowed so far in two games. Vartanian’s mix of pitches is solid enough to be worth a continued eye over the remainder of the season, especially given how sharp he looks despite not pitching competitively all last season due to injury. His velocity looks good and though the command was spotty in this one it’s well in line with the inconsistency you would expect from someone who has missed so much time, and though his fastball is fringy right now he has enough life on it to survive upper level hitters.

Swing and Misses

Derek Vartanian – 19

Carter Lovasz – 6

The Yankees thoroughly handled the Red Sox for a second night in a row, making it 17 consecutive shutout innings to start The Rivalry off in 2026 before Brent Headrick allowed a single baserunner home in the ninth inning. Max Fried kept them in check all night, tossing eight innings to keep the rest of the ‘pen fresh, and Amed Rosario continued to showcase how good of a decision it was to re-sign him by launching a three-run homer in the first inning to set the tone.

New York’s tenuous position atop the division remains intact, but there was a chance to pick up ground with a full slate of games going on around them. The results ended up being more of a mixed bag.

Toronto Blue Jays (10-14) 3, Los Angeles Angels (12-14) 7

The Angels built themselves a steady lead over the course of six innings, stringing a run together in each of the third through fifth innings on a Jo Adell sac fly and homers from Nolan Schanuel and Mike Trout. Toronto, meanwhile, couldn’t solve José Soriano and his 0.24 ERA on the season, though they had some good shots at it. The Blue Jays collected seven hits in five innings against the Angels ace, getting a man on in every inning Soriano pitched. They couldn’t string together anything more than singles though, and ran themselves into trouble with a caught stealing as well as a double-play ball to limit the scoring threats.

Things changed in the seventh, as Kazuma Okamoto worked a one-out walk and Andrés Giménez doubled to put runners on. Tyler Heineman grounded out to second to score the first run, but that brought them to two outs. Needing to get those hits, they finally fell as Nathan Lukes doubled and Ernie Clement singled to tie the game at three.

Just as they tied things up, though, the Jays’ pitching staff unraveled and gave it all right back. Trout was the one to work a one-out walk, and after stealing second Adell singled to put runners on the corners. Brayden Fisher was brought in to escape the jam and got the second out via strikeout, but then he served up a walk to Yoán Moncada and Schanuel doubled to unload the bases. Vaughn Grishom popped a ball into no-man’s-land in right field to score one more for good measure and like that the Angels walked out of the inning up another run despite blowing their three-run lead in the top frame. The Jays couldn’t muster anything in the eighth, and the ninth saw them strand two as Lukes struck out and Clement grounded to third to end it.

Other Games

Tampa Bay Rays (13-11) 6, Cincinnati Reds (16-9) 1: The Reds have been playing excellent ball to start the year, but Tampa got to them early in this one. They scored three runs off of Brandon Williamson in the second inning thanks to back-to-back walks to start the frame, added another on a Junior Caminero solo shot in the third, and drove him from the game in the fifth when they got an RBI single from Ryan Vilade. Cincinnati managed to avoid the shutout by lifting a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth, but they otherwise had no answers to Nick Martinez as the 35-year-old pitched eight innings and scattered five hits with a singular walk.

Baltimore Orioles (12-13) 8, Kansas City Royals (8-17) 6: Pete Alonso got his new team off to a strong start with a two-run shot in the first inning, but Kansas City cut into that lead immediately with a Vinnie Pasquantino solo homer. The Royals flipped the lead in their favor in the fourth inning when Pasquantino led off with a double and scored on a Carter Jensen single, who later scored himself on a single from Lane Thomas. Baltimore answered back in a big way in the sixth inning, with six straight batters reaching safely capped off by Coby Mayo’s three-run blast to go ahead 8-3. KC clawed back three of those runs on homers from Jensen and Kyle Isbel in the bottom half of the sixth, but the only baserunner they’d get the rest of the way would be Nick Loftin reaching via error in the ninth.

Houston Astros (10-16) 2, Cleveland Guardians (14-12) 0: The Astros covered all the offense this game would see in the first inning, and who else would be responsible but Yordan Alvarez. Houston’s MVP candidate launched his league-leading 11th home run of the year, a two-run shot that would be all that Peter Lambert and company needed to secure the win.

Detroit Tigers (13-12) 5, Milwaukee Brewers (13-10) 2: Casey Mize was on his A-game, dealing six innings of one-run ball while striking out seven batters to earn the win. His lone mistake came in the third, when a two-out walk to Brice Turang set him up to steal second base and score on a William Contreras single and briefly put Milwaukee ahead. Detroit went up for good with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, Spencer Torkelson launching a two-run shot in the former while Kevin McGonigle and Colt Keith knocked in runs in the latter. The two sides traded a run apiece in the eighth inning, and a wild Kenley Jansen allowed the tying run to get on base in the ninth but managed to slam the door shut on Turang to pick up the save.

Seattle Mariners (11-15) 5, Athletics (13-12) 4: Logan Gilbert wasn’t at his sharpest on Wednesday, working just four innings and allowing three runs on six hits and two walks. Fortunately for him, he exited with just a one-run deficit, and the Mariners erased it in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly before taking the lead in the next frame thanks to J.P. Crawford and Cal Raleigh getting aboard ahead of Julio Rodríguez who grounded a run in. Nick Kurtz wasn’t ready to call it quits, hitting a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth, but Seattle was ready to rally. A leadoff single was erased on a double-play, but Raleigh and Rodríguez singled to put the winning run in scoring position. Josh Naylor obliged, lining a single to left to walk it off.

Texas Rangers (12-12) 4, Pittsburgh Pirates (14-10) 8: A seven-inning gem from Braxton Ashcraft was neutralized by his bullpen entering for the eighth and promptly blowing the two-run lead Pittsburgh had built. They got it right back in the ninth though, as back-to-back singles followed by a fielder’s choice play at the plate went the Pirates’ way. Oneil Cruz made the tension drop shortly afterwards, as he greeted Jalen Beeks out of the ‘pen with a three-run homer to make it a more comfortable four-run game — the Rangers went down in order in the bottom half to make it a moot point.

Hello friends!

The Mariners got back into the win column yesterday in a 5-4 walk-off victory over the A’s. The M’s enjoy an off-day today as they embark on a road trip to St. Louis and Minnesota.

Busch Stadium is one of those parks I’ve always wanted to see in person, though I think Coors is No. 1 on my list. What non-Seattle ballpark is at the top of your to-visit list?

In Mariners news…

• Bryce Miller is set to rehab with the Everett AquaSox on Friday as he continues to build up his workload.
• Ryon Healy has at least one fan when it comes to his broadcast booth work in the form of Mariners legend Ichiro. Healy is expected to re-join the booth again in late May/early June.
• Over in The Feed, Eric Sanford asked which established Mariner you’re most worried about.

Around the league…

• The Padres have agreed to a one-year contract with right-hander Lucas Giolito. The veteran starter will join San Diego’s Single-A squad while he builds up his workload.
• The Mets finally won a game, but at what cost? Star shortstop Francisco Lindor exited the game with left calf tightness.
• Juan Soto’s return to action was marked by controversy when he admitted to the media that he didn’t speak to any of his teammates during the 12-game losing skid.
• Ben Clemens at Fangraphs broke down what makes right-hander Nolan McLean so good.
• Munetaka Murakami’s heater continues, as the infielder belted a homer in his fifth straight game to tie the MLB rookie record. His 10 round trippers on the season are just one behind Yordan Álvarez for the MLB lead.
• Lew Wolff, a real-estate developer who was a partial owner of the Oakland A’s, blames the Giants for the A’s leaving the Bay Area. Evan Drellich at The Athletic has the report. ($)
• Seattle/T-Mobile Park is marked safe.

The carousel of Braves pitchers has been in full effect the last few days.

Reynaldo Lopez’s Tuesday start lasting just one inning depleted the bullpen for Wednesday.

That in turn led to Didier Fuentes being called to start Wednesday’s game, moving the rest of the rotation’s starts back a day. But when Fuentes lasted just three innings and Atlanta was forced to use Martín Pérez, who was scheduled to start Thursday’s series finale in Washington, out of the bullpen, it sent the carousel on another spin.

It landed on another call-up, but this time for a debut. The Braves are promoting 2022 first-round pick JR Ritchie (35th overall pick) to make his first major league appearance as Atlanta looks to win its fifth straight series Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park.

Ritchie, 22, started the season as a top-100 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America (84th), Baseball Prospectus (88th) and MLB Pipeline (90th). He’s also surged up the Braves’ farm system, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 2 prospect in the organization.

The timing is right for a few reasons. Notably, he’s on normal rest after last throwing for Gwinnett last Saturday. But also, he’s been in strong form which makes him a viable candidate for a major league opportunity.

The 2025 season was his breakout as he went all the way from High-A Rome to Triple-A, posting a combined 2.96 ERA over 140 innings. But the right-hander has taken that to an even higher level early this season in Gwinnett. Over five starts with the Stripers, he’s allowed three runs over 27 1/3 innings for a 0.99 ERA. The strikeout numbers (28) are good. The walks (13) are the only real blip on his stat line.

For his debut, Ritchie will be facing a better-than-expected Nationals lineup through 25 games. Washington’s offense is seventh in the majors in home runs (30) and eighth in batting average (.255), scoring 17 combined runs in the last two games against the Braves.

Ritchie’s counterpart on the mound will be Washington’s Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.12 ERA). A former first-round pick himself by the Nationals in 2020, the right-hander will be making his sixth start of the season and the 17th of his career since debuting in 2022.

Cavalli has yet to allow a homer this season — which could be tested against a Braves lineup which had it third four-homer game of the season Wednesday and is tied for second in the majors with 36 homers — but has allowed a .290 opposing batting average and has battled some control issues with 18 strikeouts to 12 walks in 19 2/3 innings.

It bears mentioning, though, that he had no walks in his last outing, when he needed 92 pitches to get through four innings in Washington’s extra-innings loss to San Francisco Saturday, giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts.

This will be Cavalli’s first time facing the Braves, who are the only NL East opponent he hasn’t yet pitched against.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Thursday, April 23, 1:05 p.m. ET

Location: Nationals Park, Washington, DC

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: Braves.tv, MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

The San Diego Padres entered the middle game of their three-game set against the Colorado Rockies with a share of the lead in the National League Western Division. The Padres were looking to win the second game to maintain their position without having to see what the Los Angeles Dodgers did in their game against the San Francisco Giants, but thanks to an ugly outing from Walker Buehler they were unable to do so. San Diego dropped the middle game to Colorado 8-3 and will try to win the series in the final game today at 12:10 p.m.

Buehler has been competing with German Marquez and Matt Waldron, who was recently recalled from Triple-A, to maintain his place in the back of the Padres’ rotation. That competition got a little tighter on Wednesday when San Diego announced the signing of starter Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal with an option for the 2027 season. Buehler needed to produce a strong showing against Colorado, but he did anything but that. The right-hander allowed four runs on eight hits over 2.2 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. His ERA sits at 5.75 on the season. The eight hits allowed by Buehler were part of 15 hits the Rockies had on the night against Padres pitching.

San Diego looked to be getting off to a good start against Colorado starter Tomoyuki Sugano with Jackson Merrill hitting a one-out single to score Ramon Laureano in the top of the first inning. However, the Padres did not score another run until the top of the seventh inning when Luis Campusano hit a solo home run to left field. San Diego tacked on a final run in the top of the ninth inning after Campusano doubled to start the inning and advanced to third on an error. Jake Cronenworth grounded out to bring Campusano home to make the final score, 8-3. Campy was the bright spot on offense for the Padres, finishing his night 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored.

Padres News:

• Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, are expected to be the majority owners of the Padres once the sale is finalized. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported there will be several minority owners as well and some current owners will remain in place with Feliciano.

• The free-agent signing of Giolito will help to bolster a San Diego pitching rotation that is currently missing Yu Darvish, Joe Mushgrove and Nick Pivetta. Griffin Canning is working his way through minor-league rehab starts as he looks to return to the MLB club and will force the Padres to make some difficult decisions about their rotation once he and Giolito are added to the big-league roster.

• Waldron had a difficult return to the rotation in his first outing of the season for the Padres. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball believes that is largely due to the fact that he is still building up for the season, but the injury to Pivetta forced him to expedite his timeline. She added the organization and fans should not be quick to judge Waldron after just one start and that his metrics show there is success ahead for the right-hander.

Baseball News:

• The New York Mets, with some help from Juan Soto who returned from the IL, finally snapped their 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins, but they may have lost their shortstop Francisco Lindor, who left the game with calf tightness. The win for the Mets means they no longer have the longest active losing streak in MLB. That title now sits with the Philadelphia Phillies who dropped their eighth consecutive game with a 7-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

• The New York Yankees missed out on a third consecutive shutout, but Max Fried delivered eight scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox en route to the win.

• Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a 432-foot three-run home run that banged off the top of the right field foul pole. The home run helped the Pirates beat the Texas Rangers 8-4.

• Jose Soriano allowed seven hits but did not allow a run over five innings, which led the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. It also dropped Soriano’s ERA to a league-best 0.24.

• Josh Naylor had the last of three consecutive ninth inning hits that put the Seattle Mariners past the Athletics 5-4 in walk-off fashion in Seattle.

• Shohei Ohtani dropped his ERA to 0.38, but the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the game to the San Francisco Giants 3-0. Ohtani saw his 53-game on base streak come to an end in the loss.

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Just nine games are on the schedule across the big leagues today, but there are still plenty of solid betting opportunities. 

My MLB player props will highlight Tyler Glasnow, Munetaka Murakami, and Jacob deGrom. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Thursday, April 23.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Tyler Glasnow	Over 6.5 Ks	-110
Munetaka Murakami	Over 0.5 RBI	+170
Jacob deGrom	Over 6.5 Ks	-136

Tyler Glasnow Over 6.5 strikeouts (-110)

Tyler Glasnow has always been a strikeout pitcher, and 2026 has been no different. The hard-throwing righty has racked up 29 Ks in 25 innings of work so far.

Glasnow has cashed the Over in strikeouts in three straight starts. In fact, he’s only hit the Under once this season.

The veteran struck out seven last time out, and he had another seven Ks in the outing before that. Glasnow has 16 strikeouts in 13 road innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the San Francisco Giants tonight. 

San Fran is also striking out 8.33 times per game across their last three, and Glasnow had 11 Ks in 11 2/3 innings against them in 2025. 

• Time: 3:45 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNLA, NBCSBA

Munetaka Murakami Over 0.5 RBI (+170)

I rolled with this pick on Wednesday, and Munetaka Murakami came through once again, homering for the fifth straight game and driving in two runs.

He’s now cashed the Over in RBI in five games in a row as well, collecting a whopping 10 RBI during that span. The man cannot be stopped offensively. 

Murakami has 13 of his RBI off right-handed pitchers, and he’ll be up against Mike Soroka today. The righty has allowed six earned runs across his last two starts, and Murakami is also batting .288 off right-handed hurlers with seven of his 10 home runs. 

• Time: 3:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN, DBacks.TV

Jacob deGrom Over 6.5 strikeouts (-136)

Jacob deGrom is still one of the best in the sport when healthy, and he’s showing it this season. The veteran has a 2.29 ERA through four starts, striking out 25 in 19 2/3 innings of work.

He’s hit the over in Ks in two of his outings in ‘26, and there’s reason to believe he’ll rack up the swings-and-misses today. 

The Texas Rangers take on the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are 22nd in team strikeouts with nine per game. deGrom has 28 Ks in 81 at-bats against them. He had six strikeouts in his lone start at home this year.

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNP, RSN

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