The Athletics have been very kind to Over backers when playing at home, clearing the total all but once while averaging more than 12 combined runs.
My Royals vs. Athletics predictions see another high-scoring game in the cards on Tuesday night.
Let’s take a closer look at my daily MLB picks for April 28.
Who will win Royals vs A's today: Royals moneyline (-120)
The Athletics will skip Jorge Lopez’s spot in the rotation, instead handing the ball to Aaron Civale.
Civale owns a 4.38 SIERA, 4.51 xFIP, and 13.4% soft contact rate, indicating his 3.86 ERA is a little generous for how he has pitched.
The Kansas City Royals rank fifth in walk rate, eighth in hard hit rate, and ninth in batting average against righties this month. They’re well equipped to exploit an underwhelming arm like Civale — especially with star Bobby Witt Jr. now playing up to expectations.
Expect Kansas City’s offense to power them to victory.
COVERS INTEL: Civale has allowed homers on 8.1% of fly balls this year, well below his career average of 12.6%. It's unlikely to hold given his 2026 hard contact rate of 49% is a career-worst.
Royals vs A's Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (-105)
Kansas City’s offense has a favorable matchup and the run environment only adds to it. Sutter Health Park is hitter-friendly and warm weather is expected, with the temperature in the 70s.
While the Athletics are much better against right-handed pitching, Kris Bubic owns a low soft contact rate and gives up a lot of fly balls. That’s a recipe for danger against an Athletics team sitting 11th in SLG.
Even if Bubic holds up early, Kansas City’s bullpen sits 27th in xFIP this month. That gives the Athletics a real path to run generation.
Todd Cordell's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 6-3, +2.18 units
Over/Under bets: 3-6, -3.72 units
Royals vs A's odds
Moneyline: Royals -120 | A's +100
Run line: Royals -1.5 | A's +1.5
Over/Under: Over 9.5 | Under 9.5
Royals vs A's trend
The Athletics have hit the Over in 10 of their last 11 games at home (+8.85 Units / 72% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Royals vs. A's.
How to watch Royals vs A's and game info
Location
Sutter Health Park, West Sacramento, CA
Date
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
First pitch
9:40 p.m. ET
TV
Royals.TV, NBCSCA
Royals starting pitcher
Kris Bubic (2-1, 4.08 ERA)
A's starting pitcher
Aaron Civale (2-1, 3.86 ERA)
Royals vs A's latest injuries
Royals vs A's weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
Celtics in five was probably the most commonly predicted outcome of this first-round series between Boston and Philadelphia. As the series returns to Beantown for the fifth game on Tuesday night, it’s certainly looking like that outcome will come to fruition after the Sixers laid another egg, this time on their home floor, in the fourth game.
But if you’re a Sixers fan, don’t you care about how it goes down? You should. Despite being a heavy underdog in this series, the opportunity to play the Celtics provided the Sixers with a good measuring stick for where they are. For as much as Philly got clowned for repeatedly losing in the second round under Brett Brown and Doc Rivers, it’s looking like we’re about to go three straight seasons without the Sixers even winning one round in the postseason. Most fans view this as an expected sign for a franchise whose title contention window has already closed.
However, there is something to be said for the effort Philadelphia played with in Games 2 and 3. The Sixers won Game 2 convincingly on the road and fought tooth and nail with the Celtics in Game 3 and ultimately Boston just made too many shots down the stretch and proved to be the deeper and more talented team — which we all knew. If the Sixers can give a similar effort on Tuesday night, they can at least walk away with a sliver of optimism heading into the offseason, or perhaps back to Philly for a Game 6.
Now, you might be saying, what’s the point of a sliver of optimism here? Surely they’re not going to do the unthinkable and win three straight games and stun the Celtics, right? No, they’re not. The season is going to end for the Sixers sometime this week. But when you think about next season, you have to understand that the top-end talent on Philadelphia’s roster likely isn’t going anywhere. Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe will certainly be back for 2026-27 and it’s probably too early to get off of either Joel Embiid or Paul George’s contracts. Perhaps there’s an ounce of hope that George could be moved since he has one less year remaining of a hefty salary than Embiid does, but don’t hold your breath.
The two-timeline theory has been floated around in discussions about the Sixers in recent years as a result. One timeline urges Daryl Morey to do everything he can to assemble a contender for one last ride with Embiid on the roster. The other timeline suggests Morey focuses on what kind of team can be built around Maxey and Edgecombe with Embiid and George simply being expensive distractions from that goal. Even if you’re a firm subscriber in following the second timeline, Embiid and George are likely still around for next season as we said. So, wouldn’t you feel at least mildly encouraged if the Sixers at least competed with the best the East had to offer for three games out of five if it does end on Tuesday night?
While there is a whole offseason to play out across the NBA this summer, when you look at the current state of the rest of the Eastern Conference, does anyone appear to be on Boston’s level from a talent perspective? Top-seed Detroit is down 3-1 in its first-round series against Orlando. New York is in a battle with Atlanta that’s now been reduced to a best-of-three. Ditto for Cleveland against a Toronto team that was also in the lottery with the Sixers in 2025. It’s very possible — if not probable — that if the Sixers had drawn literally any other opponent other than the Celtics, we’re not already eulogizing the season heading into Game 5.
Think about where the Sixers were one year ago. They won 24 games in 2024-25, everyone was injured at various points of the season, and things certainly looked even more bleak than they do right now regarding the future of the franchise. Not that this season has been anything remarkable, but the 45 wins is still a shrewd improvement and it wouldn’t take a ton to feel like 50+ wins is on the table next season.
However, the only way that vibe even becomes somewhat mainstream amongst its fanbase is if Philly can at least prove it belongs on the same court as Boston for a third time in this series. Why are we trying so hard to extract a moral victory here? Well, there’s really no other choice. Surely, some of the role players will be different next season. But instead of comparing and contrasting two different timelines, could the timelines simply be merged into a decent 2026-27? It’s not impossible.
Tuesday night also poses a good test for how much belief the team still has in its head coach. Not that Nick Nurse was dealt the best hand, but as the saying goes, you dance with the girl you brought. I think most fans would feel that in the only other playoff series Nurse coached the Sixers in, their effort was adequate. Philly lost a hard-fought six-game series to New York in which the Knicks closed the series out with a one-point win in Game Six. The Sixers were very close to forcing a deciding seventh game at Madison Square Garden.
Remember what happened after that series ended? Morey went out and signed George to the four-year max contract that he’s still playing on now. Not that we’re rationalizing the George contract, but the Sixers weren’t waving the white flag after a competitive series against one of the East’s other top teams two years ago, so why would they now? But, of course, the question is just how competitive has this series been? After all, in the first and fourth games of this series, the Sixers didn’t even belong on the same floor as the Celtics. Tuesday night can offer a little bit more clarity on just how much talent is currently on this Philadelphia roster.
The Minnesota Wild (2-2) hit the ice on Monday for a practice before traveling for Game 5 against the Dallas Stars (2-2) in Dallas.
Both Mats Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin took the ice and skated with the team.
“I think it’s a good sign," Wild head coach John Hynes said on Zuccarello practicing. "We’ll see how he felt and what his response is from that. But it is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Trenin has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury.
“Trenny is the same," Hynes said. "It’s good that they both skated but they now have to see how they’re feeling. We’ll probably know more in the morning.”
Hynes said that the two will be questionable to play in Game 5. He also said they were in Game 3 and both missed. He also said Zuccarello would be in Game 4 and he did not play either.
“I’d put them at questionable right now.”
But it is a positive that they both skated.
If both play, the question is who comes out?
Bobby Brink and Nico Sturm did not play Game 1. They both started playing once Zuccarello and Trenin missed games.
The simple move is to take both of those out again if Zuccarello and Trenin return. With Zuccarello out, Brink has been on the top line and top power play.
On Monday, with Zuccarello on the top power play unit, Brink was on the second unit. This would suggest Brink would stay in since he was on the second power play unit.
We know Sturm will be out. So, who is the second? It is hard to imagine Nick Foligno is taken out, just for PK reasons, so it is safe to assume it will be the rookie Danila Yurov.
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Federal prosecutors plan to bring a new bribery charge against NBA player Terry Rozier in the wide-reaching gambling scheme case.
Key Takeaways
Rozier is alleged to have solicited and accepted a bribe.
The former Miami Heat guard pleaded not guilty to his original fraud charges.
Prosecutors plan to file the new charges in the coming weeks.
Rozier is already facing fraud charges from last October’s federal indictment. In court on Monday, a lawyer for the U.S. Eastern District of New York said there is new evidence that alleges Rozier solicited and accepted a bribe, according to a report from The New York Times.
The former Miami Heat guard is accused of depriving “the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets of Mr. Rozier’s honest services,” a prosecutor said.
The announcement to seek bribery charges came after Rozier’s attorney asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. The new charges will be filed in mid-May and brought to a grand jury.
Rozier is scheduled to appear in court on June 10 for an update on his case.
Original charges
Rozier was arrested just after the NBA season started for wire fraud and money laundering. He was released on a $3-million bond and pleaded not guilty in December.
According to the initial federal indictment, Rozier tipped off a friend, Deniro Laster, that he would exit a game early in March 2023, claiming an injury, when Rozier played for the Charlotte Hornets.
Laster informed a group of bettors who are linked to the Jontay Porter and NCAA basketball gambling scandals. Using that information, the group placed more than $200,000 in wagers on the unders for Rozier’s player props.
Rozier and Laster received a portion of the winnings and allegedly counted the cash at Rozier’s home. Rozier was placed on unpaid leave by the NBA following his arrest, and the Heat released the guard earlier this month.
Another case
Damon Jones, a former player and assistant coach in the NBA, was also named and charged in the October 2025 indictment. He’s expected to plead guilty on Tuesday to charges of providing bettors with injury information for profit.
Jones initially pleaded not guilty, but requested a change-of-plea hearing earlier this month. He’s also charged, along with suspended Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, with rigging a poker game with the mob. Jones has pleaded not guilty to that charge.
Seeking a boost for their struggling offense, the Cleveland Guardians are set to promote 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana for Tuesday's home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, according to multiple media reports.
Bazzana, a second baseman from Australia, was the top selection after a stellar college career at Oregon State. During his three seasons in the minor leagues, he's posted an elite .391 on-base percentage with 14 home runs and 25 stolen bases in 135 games. That should make him a significant upgrade over incumbent second baseman Juan Brito, who has posted a .176/.250/.255 slash line in 15 games.
The Guardians (15-15) begin play on April 28 just a half game behind the first-place Detroit Tigers in the American League Central Division. However, they're averaging just 4.0 runs per game – which ranks 25th out of the 30 MLB teams.
The 23-year-old received his first invitation to major league spring training this year and also played with Team Australia in the World Baseball Classic.
Travis Bazzana with a 110.1 mph laser for his second roundtripper of the year.
Tanner Bibee and the Cleveland Guardians look to bounce back from a 3-2 defeat when they host Nick Martinez and the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of their three-game series.
Bibee has been dealing, and my Rays vs. Guardians predictions expect Cleveland to even the series.
Who will win Rays vs Guardians today: Guardians (-130)
Tanner Bibee has allowed just two earned runs over his last 12 innings and is pitching his way back into form.
The Cleveland Guardians bullpen ranks 16th in baseball with a 3.88 xERA, giving them a more reliable bridge in the back end.
Tampa Bay Rays starter Nick Martinez is dealing, but he carries a 4.67 xERA with a 10th percentile whiff rate, meaning his strong ERA is living on borrowed time.
Neither pen is an absolute, but Cleveland's is clearly the lesser evil. Back the Guardians to bounce back at home.
COVERS INTEL:Martinez boasts a 2.10 ERA, but his 4.65 xERA and 4.47 xFIP suggest his stats are a mirage.
Rays vs Guardians Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (+102)
We should see some offense tonight at Progressive Field.
Bibee has surrendered five home runs in 30 innings this season, and Tampa's contact-heavy lineup strikes out the least of any team in baseball, meaning balls will be in play all night.
Martinez has a 17.5% whiff rate and a 4.67 xERA, suggesting runs are coming his way, too.
Tampa's bullpen also cannot be trusted, as it ranks 28th in baseball with a 5.44 xERA.
Phil Naessens' 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 4-7, -2.20 units
Over/Under bets: 5-5, -0.16 units
Rays vs Guardians odds
Moneyline: Rays +122 | Guardians -127
Run line: Rays +1.5 (-170) | Guardians -1.5 (+163)
Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-100) | Under 7.5 (-104)
Rays vs Guardians trend
Cleveland has beaten Tampa Bay in seven of their previous 10 meetings. Find more MLB betting trends for Rays vs. Guardians.
How to watch Rays vs Guardians and game info
Location
Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
Date
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
First pitch
6:10 p.m. ET
TV
Rays.TV, CleGuardians.TV
Rays starting pitcher
Nick Martinez (1-1, 2.10 ERA)
Guardians starting pitcher
Tanner Bibee (0-3, 4.45 ERA)
Rays vs Guardians latest injuries
Rays vs Guardians weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
WICHITA, KS - JULY 05: Patrick Copen #41 of the Tulsa Drillers pitching during the game between the Tulsa Drillers and the Wichita Wind Surge at Equity Bank Park on Saturday, July 5, 2025 in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Lexi Ashcraft/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
A Dodgers minor leaguer has won a weekly award in each of the first four weeks of the 2026 season. The latest honoree is Double-A Tulsa pitcher Patrick Copen, who on Monday captured Texas League pitcher of the week honors for the week of April 20-26.
It was the third scoreless outing in four starts this season from Copen, who made 17 starts for Tulsa last season before starting this year repeating Double-A. He led all Dodgers minor leaguers in 2025 with 152 strikeouts, and this year he leads as well with 31 strikeouts in the early going.
Copen on the season has a 1.23 ERA in his four starts, with 31 strikeouts and 12 walks in his 22 innings. His strikeout rate is up (35.6 percent, after 23.1 percent for the Drillers in 2025) and his walk rate is down (from 16 percent to 13.8 percent).
ARLINGTON, TX - APRIL 25: Jacob Wilson #5 of the Athletics plays defense at shortstop during the game between the Athletics and the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Courtney Kramer/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Morning A’s fans.
Yesterday’s off day allowed the Athletics to travel back home to Sacramento and prepare for their next series, a three-game matchup against the Kansas City Royals. This’ll be the first time these two teams face each other this year. Kansas City is off to a slow start at just 11-17 so far in the early going. That puts them last in the AL Central, even behind the Chicago White Sox. Not a great place to be if you’re KC, though they didn’t exactly enter this season as obvious Wild Card contenders, never mind the division.
While the Royals have announced their starters schedule for the series, the A’s have yet to make any official assignments for their starting pitchers for this series. That said, we can expect to see some combination of Luis Severino, Aaron Civale, and Jacob Lopez in this series. Severino is coming off a quality start last time out when he stiffled the Texas Rangers’ offense for six+ innings of work, allowing just one run his last time out. That’s more of the production that the team was hoping for from their veteran starter. If the team doesn’t alter their rotation order, Sevy would line up to get the ball in the series finale.
We know that Civale won’t be getting bumped from the rotation anytime soon thanks to his quality start to his season, but as for Lopez he might not have quite as long a leash. The left-hander is coming off a solid start where he pitched into the sixth inning in Texas but he’s still got an ERA close to 6. With other options waiting in the wings in Triple-A Lopez needs to string together a few quality starts if he wants to resolidify his place in the rotation. He currently lines up to get the ball this evening to kick off the series, but the fact that the team hasn’t announced its scheduled starters for this series could be a sign that the coaching staff is considering making a change in the backend of the rotation. We’ll see who gets the ball this evening. Whoever gets the call will be going up against KC lefty Kris Bubic.
First pitch is at 6:40 this evening. Have a great Tuesday, guys.
Find out what @Athletics special assistant Grady Fuson has to say about promising young #Athletics prospects like Leo De Vries, Henry Bolte, Gage Jump, Jamie Arnold, Luis Morales, Mason Barnett & more – only on A’s Cast @athleticscast24…https://t.co/6jYa1HBkkj
— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) April 28, 2026
A couple less-than-stellar health updates on a pair of pitching prospects:
RHP Braden Nett looked dominant in his first appearance for AAA Vegas on Saturday after returning from a shoulder injury, throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings with 5 Ks. But he may have possibly re-aggravated his injury. He's currently being examined, so let's hope for the best.
— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) April 27, 2026
RHP Henry Baez is currently still rehabbing from a shoulder injury at the A's complex in AZ with no set timetable for a return to action. Meanwhile, LHP Will Johnston is set to begin a throwing program in AZ after dealing with a back injury.
— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) April 27, 2026
A’S RECENT MOVES: SS Ali Camarillo to LAN 3B Jared Sprague-Lott/OF Gavin Turley/RHP Blake Hammond/RHP Jackson Holmes to STK OF Carlos Pacheco/RHP Josiah Romeo/RHP Roberto Urdaneta/RHP Wilfred Alvarado to ACL A’s DH Brent Rooker off IL, IF Andy Ibanez DFA’dhttps://t.co/joKXkyUAPy
— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) April 28, 2026
In June of 1858, Abraham Lincoln warned us that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Fast forward eight score and seven and a half years later, and he might as well have been talking about the 2026 Boston Red Sox. Given the backdrop, it’s all too fitting that the conflict and internal turmoil within the organization came to a head in abrupt and decisive fashion in the middle of a Border State on Saturday night.
Make no mistake, this was a complete and total purge of Alex Cora and his lead henchmen by Craig Breslow and whoever he has in his corner. But perhaps just as importantly, it’s the quickest conclusion possible to a conflict that threatened to corrode and destroy the 2026 Red Sox season from within.
I’m not here to tell you Alex Cora is the reason behind the team’s 9-17 start, just as Craig Breslow alone is not the reason for the team’s 9-17 start. To me, the No. 1 reason the Red Sox started 9-17 is because Alex Cora and Craig Breslow were constantly at odds with each other — Obsessed with their own personal Game of Thrones that was only going to end when one got the other fired.
As long as this relentless bickering over how the organization was run, who had say over what, and who had sway with the players persisted, the results were going to be subpar. Want to get a group of guys to perform as less than the sum of their parts? Have everybody row in different directions and see what happens.
This is why I’m happy Cora is gone. I didn’t necessarily need it to be him, but I needed it to be one of the two because nothing was getting resolved here until the divorce papers were signed.
Want another clue as to how bad the rift was between Cora and Breslow? This purge happened in April! These two were so incapable of coexisting successfully that Breslow literally took the first opportunity he had to deliver a knockout punch to not just Cora, but all the people closest to him. A total power play to seize the crown!
This is also a good time to stop and say that while Chaim Bloom and Craig Breslow may look, sound, and feel the same at first glance, they’ve proven to be very different people when it comes to this aspect of the game. Craig Breslow revealed over the weekend he’s a stone cold killer when you engage him in backroom chicanery. He learned from the role Alex Cora played in running Bloom out of town and made damn sure he wasn’t next in line. (Although I’ve got news for him: He probably is going to be next in line if he doesn’t pull this plane out of its nosedive fast.)
This also makes me wonder: Is this part of the reason nobody wanted Craig Breslow’s current job? Back in the fall of 2023, when the team had to go through nearly a dozen candidates before settling on Breslow, did people walk out because they didn’t want to engage in this type of behavior to survive? Cora made no secret about eventually wanting to work his way into the front office, and I’d have to imagine that seemed like an enormous threat to anybody who got close to that seat. Perhaps they accidentally set up an interview process destined to find the only person willing to go to the same lengths as Cora when it comes to grabbing power within the organization.
I mean, the optics here are wild. You’ve got one guy making Machiavellian moves to protect himself after creating a talented but flawed roster where the pieces don’t fit together, and another guy posting this on Twitter after being shown the door:
And can I just say, this is one of my least favorite things Alex Cora has ever posted. Happy? Sir, YOU LOST! You were in last place, you were part of a crew that ran the ship around, and you got taken out by the guy we all know you eventually wanted to replace. Nobody who is that happy is sending out “Reply All” emails at 4:00am.
Regardless of how it happened, Craig Breslow now sits atop the mountain. It’s his team, his roster, and his philosophy running the show. I don’t know if it’s the right philosophy (and there’s certainly plenty of reasons to believe it’s not), but I do know it had no chance of working when it was part of a list of competing agendas. At least now, his vision will sink or swim on its own.
And for his sake, it better swim, because Breslow’s made a ton of enemies on his trip to the top and they’re just waiting to get their pound of flesh. The only way to keep them quiet and quell the hit pieces and consequences that are guaranteed to surface soon is to stack so many wins on top of this crime scene, it becomes unrecognizable.
Ultimately, the funniest possible outcome for the Red Sox over the next couple of weeks is for the team to rip off something like a 12-2 stretch on the field while the front office and Alex Cora’s people just unload hit pieces against each other in the media. Now that would be quintessential Red Sox baseball!
Apr 23, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ildemaro Vargas (6) hits against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Vargas, 34, made the most of his five games started last week for the D-backs, going 8-for-22 (.364) with a double, a triple, four home runs, 12 RBIs and seven runs scored, tripling his homer output for the season. A 10-year big league vet who has never posted a full-season WAR above 1.5, Vargas currently leads the NL with a .367 batting average, .722 slugging percentage and 1.104 OPS and has hit safely in each of the 20 games he’s played this season.
This was also the first Player of the Week honors for Vargas, and the first for Arizona since Eugenio Suárez won for the fourth time in ’25 on July 21.
“Sitting where we stood at the very beginning of the season, what the schedule was going to look like, where we were on the injured list, ending up here at 13-10, 23 games in, I’ll take,” general manager Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke last week. “Not excited about some of the parts of what’s going on, but I think these guys have grinded pretty hard and played really well in large pockets.”
“We’re deep, and we got guys coming back,” Soroka said on Thursday. “So it’s an exciting team to be a part of, and it’s easy to rally around guys like Vargas and (Geraldo) Perdomo who keep the life going around here. It’s been a good atmosphere.”
Because for the first three frames of Saturday’s game, Gallen’s stuff looked sharp, his command was dialed in, and he was generating whiffs on both his knuckle-curve and slider despite the lofty 7,300-plus foot elevation of Mexico City.
If Gallen was beginning to generate some forward momentum, a stint on the IL or a skipped rotation turn might have derailed it. That may still be the case, depending on if his shoulder nags him in the coming days.
But for now, it looks like a somewhat safe bet that Gallen won’t miss much time, if any. That, of course, could still change.
Chad Patrick was traded by the D-backs to the Athletics for Jace Peterson at the 2023 trade deadline. Last year he posted a 3.53 ERA in 120 innings for the Brewers, who acquired him in November of 2023. This year he has a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings, lowering his career ERA to 3.34 in 143 innings.
Twice the Brewers have used Patrick as the bulk pitcher behind an opener, and it’s possible they may do so again for this game. The official starter has not been named as of this writing.
Get ready, Cleveland. The Travis Bazzana era is about to get underway.
The Guardians are calling up Bazzana (their No. 1 prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline) from Triple-A Columbus, a club source told MLB.com on Monday night. The 23-year-old second baseman and No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft could make his big league debut as early as Tuesday vs. the Rays at Progressive Field.
This has been a memorable year already for Bazzana, who was a non-roster invitee in big league camp this spring for the first time while also representing his home country of Australia in the World Baseball Classic. Though he was ultimately assigned to Columbus near the end of camp, he made a strong impression with both his performance and work ethic.
Veteran shortstop Trevor Story called Breslow’s explanation of Cora’s firing when Breslow met with the team Sunday morning not “satisfactory.” Reliever Garrett Whitlock noted that Breslow didn’t give players the chance to ask questions during that meeting.
The Houston Astros have a knack for disappointing Aprils. Despite usually being projected as the favorite or second favorite in the AL West every year for the last decade, the last time the Astros didn’t have a losing record at some point in the second half of April was 2019. But year after year, they’ve tended to get a powerful second wind. Excluding 2020, for obvious reasons, they haven’t finished with fewer than 87 wins in a season since 2016; overall, Houston has the second-most wins in baseball since the start of the 2017 season. During those previous mediocre starts, the projections have stood by the Astros. This time… not so much.
To see the last time the Astros started this dreadfully, you don’t have to go back very far. In 2024, they hit their nadir after 26 games, at 7-19. I wrote then, as I do now, about the hole they were digging for themselves. Though it was still an uphill battle to come back in the AL West — they in fact did, handily — the projections never turned sour. ZiPS projected the Astros to win 88 games going into that season, and despite their 7-16 record at the time I wrote that article, the computer still thought they’d continue to win games at the previously predicted rate.
ZiPS does not have the same optimism that it had in 2024.
Rockies right-hander Chase Dollander fired seven scoreless innings to earn a win against the Mets on Sunday. The outing lowered his April ERA to a pristine 1.29. He’s piled up 34 strikeouts over 28 innings this month. Sunday’s outing was the first traditional start of the season for Dollander. He’d pitched exclusively out of the bullpen to begin the year, typically as a bulk reliever following an opener.
Dollander’s win over the Mets came at Citi Field. It was his fifth appearance on the road this season, compared to just two games at Coors Field. The young righty has been able to tame the hitter-friendly venue so far. Dollander allowed a run over 4 1/3 innings at home against the Phillies in his second outing of the season. He limited the Padres to a run across six innings early last week, piling up nine strikeouts. Colorado scored one run total in Dollander’s two home games, saddling him with the loss both times.
TAMPA, FLORIDA - MARCH 21, 2026: Tate Southisene #19 of the Atlanta Braves bats during the third inning of a Spring Breakout game against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 21, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
With about a month of the season now elapsed we’ve had a solid chance to get our first looks at prospects throughout the Atlanta Braves system. Many players have stood out so far, especially on the offensive end with the Braves recent focus on hitting talent, and the performances of some players have caught national attentions in recent weeks. MLB Pipeline just released their Prospect Team of the Week for the week of April 21st through 26th, and three Braves feature on the list. 2025 First Round pick Tate Southisene is the biggest name of the bunch, though the performance of Eric Hartman in Greensboro and Rolddy Munoz’s resurgent season in Gwinnett’s bullpen also carry strong storylines.
A trio of Braves, MLB's No. 26 overall prospect and a player making his second straight appearance on this squad headline the Team of the Week.
As the primary leadoff man and second baseman for the Augusta GreenJackets, Tate Southisene has been every bit as good as his draft status would make Braves fans hope. Southisene had a bit of a shaky first week where he struggled with his timing a bit, but over the past two and a half series has had as many walks as strikeouts to go along with an impressive .314 isolated power. Last week in Columbia was the peak of the powers so far. Southisene hit safely in all six games to extend his hitting streak to eight, and was bringing the thump as well with two home runs and two doubles. His eye at the plate continued to be a major asset as he also drew eight walks while striking out only six times, and in total Southisene had a 1.267 OPS. Much was made of the complexity of Southisene’s load up and swing prior to the draft, but the Braves have put in immediate work to quiet his motion down. He is still going through an adjustment period but is taking to these big changes remarkably, and the arrow is up for him so far this year.
While Southisene has been the name to watch in the system, it’s been Eric Hartman who has provided the largest impact so far. He started out the week with a three home run game in the opener in Greensboro, and he didn’t slow down at all throughout the series. He finished with five total home runs to bring his season total to a South Atlantic League-leading eight, and he is also leading the lead in isolated power while being top five in hits, OPS, and wRC+. If there has been any knock on Hartman so far it has been his swing and miss numbers and approach at the plate, but he had a good week at the plate in that regard as well. His absurd 1.702 OPS last week led the system, and his strength at the plate has already been enough to bump his projection up a bit.
The final prospect of the week nod went to Rolddy Munoz, who has yet to allow a run this season for the Stripers. He had two dominant relief appearances last week, retiring all six of the batters he faced with four strikeouts. Munoz has not made a significant change to arsenal this season, but he is throwing first pitch strikes a bit more often and it has allowed him to work more effectively with his slider. He has a cut a chunk out of his walk rate (though his low in-zone rate hints as some regression there) and is utilizing his slider more often than he did last season.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 26: Cody Bellinger #35 celebrates with Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on April 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Maria Lysaker/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Last week, Andrew put out a post on our feed asking for your hot takes, and you all delivered. With the Yankees rolling and on their way to another competitive season, there’s plenty of things to get ambitious about, so let’s see what’s got you all fired up after a month or so of play.
We’re starting off bold here, Hector.
A 105-win season would easily top the output of any recent Yankees team, with only the 2019 team’s 103-win total coming close. There’s also been a dearth of 100+ win teams overall recently, with no one reaching the mark in the last two years. This year’s team is off to a solid start, tied for the second-most amount of wins in the league and clicking without two of their top pitchers as you noted, but maintaining that pace is a taller task than meeting it for a moment. This is a solid hot take.
Now we’re getting into it. Aaron Judge has just turned 34, to be fair — an age that most would agree is where an athlete exits or starts to exit their prime — but he’s coming off of two consecutive MVP campaigns and not shown any signs of slowing down thus far this season. Yes, the batting average isn’t where it was last season when Judge was spraying hard-hit balls and finding the outfield grass with regularity while winning his first batting crown, but he’s getting his walks and driving the ball at the same elite level that he’s been playing at since 2022.
Realistically, the at-least-soft decline it has to come at some point, and the Yankees have more than recouped enough value already out of the contract they inked Judge to in 2023 to justify whatever depreciation in his game comes in those later years. But will it start now, in 2026? I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s certainly a hot take to claim that we are.
Ben Rice is putting himself in the national spotlight, isn’t he? The first baseman has been the Robin to Judge’s Batman in the lineup, crushing his 10th home run on Monday to move himself into a tie with James Wood for the third-most homers in the league. Only Munetaka Murakami (who’s been a hell of a steal for the White Sox thus far), Yordan Alvarez, and Judge have slugged more out of the park, and only Alvarez has a higher OPS than Rice with a narrow lead (1.220 for Alvarez vs. 1.191 for Rice). Offense on a level like that has been the best way to get into MVP discussions of late, and Rice has become a much-more competent fielder than he was last year so he’s no slouch on that end either — he just likely won’t get much credit for it unless he starts siphoning some games behind the plate as well. Regardless, he’s in good standing to make this a reality.
This is a two-parter though, so let’s talk about Cam Schlittler a little bit shall we? Entering play on Tuesday Schlittler currently leads MLB with 1.7 fWAR, putting him marginally ahead of his own teammate in Max Fried (1.5) and the likes of reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and burgeoning Angels ace José Soriano (1.4 each). Soriano has pitched to an absurd 0.24 ERA in six starts, and if he pitches even close to that mark the rest of the way he’d surely draw the eyes of most voters, but Schlittler has actually has a case for surpassing him in the long run: he’s walking just 1.01 batters per nine innings to Soriano’s 3.11, his FIP is a magnificent 1.53 while Soriano runs a (still elite but not as good) 2.23 FIP, and Soriano’s stranding an entirely-unsustainable 100 percent of his baserunners. There’s still plenty of other candidates that’ll be in the field, but Schlittler stands a very good chance of establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the game and perhaps winning the hardware in the end.
So, we’ve got two takes that on their own sound pretty believable, with the Rice one seeming more likely thanks to the parameters having him finish in the top three as opposed to outright winning. Combined, however? It’s certainly bold to claim that both of the Yankees’ emerging stars will become supernovas in the same season. I don’t think anyone around here would mind if it turned out to be the case.
Now we’re getting crazy; this is what we’re here for. Ryan McMahon has gotten out of his own way on the field, separating his struggles at the plate from his ability to be a Gold Glove caliber defender and providing what the Yankees needed at the hot corner. In the process, finding himself out there might have cleared his head enough to start seeing the ball better at the plate as well, as he’s posted a respectable .757 OPS over his last 15 games.
Is that going to spiral all the way into him heating up enough to make the All-Star Game, let alone start it? Highly unlikely, but in the event that it does happen I’ll be going to you for some lotto numbers.
From your lips to God’s ears my friend. It’s been a rough couple of years trying to enjoy baseball in the Bronx during the summer, with June and July being a near-guaranteed cliff for the team to jump off of only to pick themselves back up during the dog days and avoid an actual collapse. Surprisingly, the 2022 Yankees managed to avoid a June-specific falloff, which is kind of funny because they’re the team that I associate with the trend becoming established: they actually had their best month of the year with a 22-6 record then! (The Cristian Javier-led combined Astros no-hitter notwithstanding.)
Of course, that 2022 squad did do its best to fall out of the division lead later on, and the months of July and August were indeed awful for the Bombers. But it’s funny to look back on the rest of Aaron Boone’s tenure and how the team has performed in the middle of the season with him heading the ship.
They started out pretty well all things considered, with Boone’s inaugural season in 2018 being fairly consistent the entire way through and the 2019 team also thriving in that time span. The 2021 team had the first true June swoon, and the last three rosters have all endured it as well, with the 2023 team maintaining the excuse of not having Judge around to buoy the lineup after that fateful encounter with the Dodger Stadium wall. Four out of five seasons suffering from this symptom, with the lone outlier experiencing it just a little later, is a tough track record to beat, but it sure is a hot take to claim they’ll manage just that. Hopefully this is no joke.
Considering only seven out of the 19 members of our own staff here made this pick, I’ll go out on a limb and say this is a scorcher of a take! The 17-year title drought has plenty of people pessimistic about the team’s chances to go all the way, but in all seriousness the team is built to compete and has the pieces for a deep run, should they survive the marathon that is an MLB season in good standing. The pitching staff is deeper than they’ve ever had in this era, and perhaps one of the deepest in franchise history, but the bullpen is an obvious flaw that could be their Achilles heel.
Luckily, that’s the easiest part of a roster to retool within a season, and they have internal candidates down in the minors should they want to go that route too. There’s only going to be so many more shots the Yankees can take at winning a title with Judge and Gerrit Cole fronting the championship push before they have to pay the real price of those lofty contracts, but if they can go all the way this year it’ll all be worth it.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 10: Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros speaks to Willy Vasquez #83 of the Baltimore Orioles after hitting a double during the third inning of a spring training game at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on March 10, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For a third series in a row, the Orioles come up against a team that is currently in last place in its division. This is a surprising statement to make for this next opponent, the Astros, who have consistently been pretty good over the last decade. It is early to give up on them and say the season is a failure, same as it’s early to say the same about the O’s. I’m sure that the Astros would rather be a lot better than 11-17 so far this season.
The problem for Houston so far is its pitching. They are 30th of 30 teams in ERA, bringing a 5.97 team ERA to this series. Yikes. They are 29th in rotation ERA and 30th in bullpen ERA. Two of their active starting pitchers and three of their active relievers have ERAs over 6. Two of their starters, including offseason addition Tatsuya Imai, are on the injured list right now. Neither aspect is working out so far. The Orioles, if you’re wondering, are 18th, with a 4.36 ERA, and the bullpen in particular looks a lot better once you exclude some one-or-two-game-disasters from the mix.
Things are going better for the Astros offense, at least so far. Yordan Alvarez has been going bonkers up to this point in the season, with 11 homers and a 1.220 OPS in 29 games. Former Oriole Christian Walker is having a resurgence after struggling in his first year in Houston; he brings a .946 OPS with seven homers into this series. Imagine having a first baseman with seven homers already this season! Longtime Astros Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are not at their career peaks, but still doing well.
As we know from the series the Orioles just finished, playing a last place team doesn’t mean anything. The Orioles have their own share of problems to overcome and when they do not do that, they lose a game or a series. It would be nice to see them put it together here because tougher times are coming after this. Following their games against the Astros, 12 of their next 16 games will have them facing current division leaders. That could get ugly!
Game 1: Tuesday, 6:35
HOU starter: Kai-Wei Teng – 2.16 ERA, 0.900 WHIP, 4.63 FIP in 16.2 innings
BAL starter: Shane Baz – 5.08 ERA, 1.553 WHIP, 3.69 FIP in 28.1 innings
Teng has yet to start a game this season and his high pitch count is 39. It does not look like an opener gambit, but rather one of desperation for lack of other options available. If Teng can give them 60 pitches, they’ll probably be happy with that. He’s not left-handed, nor are any of the Astros starters who are pitching in this series. The 27-year-old from Taiwan was traded from San Francisco over to Houston this offseason. The results have been there out of the bullpen so far. I’m curious to see how that translates multiple times through the order.
Baz needs to have a great start as an Oriole. His best so far is one run allowed over 5.2 innings, a game which the Orioles still managed to use. The other four have not been good. This is more for the sake of the 2026 Orioles season than it is about winning the trade/extension, although obviously it would be nice for the O’s if those things happen as well. We have just not yet seen things out of him to validate Mike Elias’s belief in Baz. The O’s could probably help Baz by putting a better defensive alignment behind him – that .360 BABIP luck is just crazy bad.
Game 2: Wednesday, 6:35
HOU starter: Peter Lambert – 3.27 ERA, 1.273 WHIP, 1.85 FIP in 11 innings
BAL starter: Chris Bassitt – 6.75 ERA, 2.063 WHIP, 6.27 FIP in 21.1 innings
Lambert, 29, is a player I have never thought about in my life before sitting down to write this series preview. He was drafted by the Rockies and pitched part of four seasons with them through 2024. He spent last year in Japan and returned to the US this year. Astros injuries have pressed him into service – he’s started two games and they’ve gone well for him so far. If you are wired like me, your first reaction to finding out the Orioles are going to face a relatively anonymous starting pitcher is to think it will go badly for them. Take heart: It doesn’t always go as bad as you remember. Or take despair: Sometimes it does go badly.
You might also despair because Bassitt is on the mound. He also needs to have a great start as an Oriole! His bad starts have been worse than Baz’s bad starts, by far; Bassitt only compares favorably if you’re comparing him against Charlie Morton last year. It is the case that Bassitt is like four runs better in ERA than Morton was before he got bounced from the rotation. Still, Bassitt is not pitching well enough to help the Orioles have a good chance to win games he starts. The only Bassitt win this year saw him allow five runs in 5.1 innings and he was lucky to be bailed out by the offense.
Back in spring training, we were getting stories about how Bassitt was motivated since he came so close to winning the World Series last year. The extra motivation isn’t solving whatever else is going on here. Maybe some day the Orioles will get a veteran clubhouse presence who is both a good teammate and a good player.
Game 3: Thursday, 12:05
HOU starter: Lance McCullers Jr. – 6.75 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 5.06 FIP in 25.1 innings
BAL starter: Brandon Young – 2.53 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 3.88 FIP in 10.2 innings
We are far removed from McCullers having been a good MLB pitcher. He last started more than 20 games in 2021, missed 2023 and 2024 entirely due to injury issues, and was terrible in 16 games last year. Unfortunately for Houston, he’s picking up where he left off from last year, with all kinds of problems plaguing his game. As you and I both know, this is no guarantee that Orioles hitters will capitalize on this struggling pitcher. It would sure be nice to see them hit several home runs against a guy who’s already been homer-prone this year.
Young made two starts against the Astros during his rookie season a year ago, experiencing the highest of highs and some pretty low lows as well. The first game, he took a perfect through to two outs in the eighth inning, ultimately pitching eight shutout innings on the road in Houston. Six days later, back home in Baltimore, the Astros blasted him for seven runs in a 5.1 inning outing.
I had no interest in seeing Young start MLB games this season; he’s surprised me so far. It’s unlikely he will continue in the mid-2s for ERA but even if he floats up with an ERA closer to that 3.88 FIP, that is potential “save the season” stuff. You know, if enough else goes right with the Orioles for the performance of their #5 starter to make much of a difference.
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Returning to the thought from before the matchups, a lot of Yankees games are looming after this series. It’s probably going to be tough for fans to believe that the Orioles can play well against the Yankees if they struggle against another last-place team. Houston is scraping the bottom of the barrel for a patchwork pitching staff. The Orioles offense needs to make something happen here, especially since they aren’t facing any lefty starters.
How do you think this series is going to go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Making declarations about a baseball team before the calendar turns to May is a fool’s errand, but here we are. The Mets have been so bad to begin the 2026 season that it really does feel like their season has gone down the tubes. On top of the fact that they’re 9-19 and tied with the Phillies for the worst record in baseball, they’re playing without Francisco Lindor—their most versatile and arguably best overall player—for the foreseeable future.
Even if Lindor hadn’t suffered a calf injury last week, there would be major concerns about this version of the Mets mimicking their 2024 counterparts in turning things around after a very ugly start to the season. At the time that the team fell to 24-35 in early June, there were at least some signs of life sprinkled throughout the lineup. Six players were hitting above league average by wRC+ up to that point: Mark Vientos (174 wRC+), J.D. Martinez (132 wRC+), Pete Alonso (119 wRC+), Brandon Nimmo (111 wRC+), DJ Stewart (108 wRC+), and Starling Marte (104 wRC+).
As for Lindor, he had experienced a typical slow start at the plate, but his 95 wRC+ combined with his defense at shortstop and his baserunning had him worth 1.4 fWAR on the morning of June 3, 2024. That led the team at the time.
Beginning with their win on June 3, the Mets turned into one of the best teams in baseball, and Lindor was the best player on the team by a wide margin. Over the course of 426 plate appearances, he hit an incredible .303/.376/.566 with 24 home runs and stole 21 bases, giving him 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases in total at the end of the regular season. He earned 6.2 fWAR over that stretch, too, which accounted for the vast majority if his season total of 7.7. And the last of his regular season home runs was the most important, as it gave the Mets the win they needed to clinch a playoff spot on the final day of the season.
Lindor didn’t complete the Mets’ magical comeback alone, of course. As had been the case even during their miserable skid early in that season, he was joined by plenty of above-league-average hitters for those final few months of the season: Jose Iglesias (137 wRC+), Mark Vientos (126 wRC+), Pete Alonso (123 wRC+), Jeff McNeil (113 wRC+), Tyrone Taylor (113 wRC+), Brandon Nimmo (107 wRC+), Francisco Alvarez (104 wRC+), and Starling Marte (103 wRC+). Even Luisangel Acuña, who made just 40 plate appearances, put up a 166 wRC+ as he joined the team in September, while Ben Gamel had a 108 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances.
And the lesser hitters on the team during the comeback stretch weren’t terrible, as J.D. Martinez (98 wRC+), Jesse Winker (97 wRC+), and Luis Torrens (90 wRC+) weren’t that far below league average. Harrison Bader (78 wRC+) and DJ Stewart (51 wRC+) were the only hitters who got significant playing time while really struggling at the plate.
That brings us back to this 2026 team. It would be tough to see this lineup, which has been the worst in baseball so far this year, turning things around even if Lindor were fully healthy and playing to his career norms. Juan Soto has unsurprisingly been the Mets’ best hitter this year with his .304/.418/.413 line and 141 wRC+, but the only other hitter who’s made at least 40 plate appearances and been better than league average is Francisco Alvarez (117 wRC+). Lindor, somewhat fittingly for this piece, had a 94 wRC+ when he hit the injured list, and he had really started to heat up at the plate in the games leading up to the calf injury.
To salvage this season, the Mets would need Soto to have an otherworldly stretch from now through the end of September. He’s sitting on 0.3 fWAR at the moment and probably needs to play at an 8.3 fWAR pace like he did in 2024 with the Yankees—at least while Lindor is sidelined—to get this Mets team back into a spot where playoff contention feels like a real possibility.
And even if Soto does that and Lindor’s return to major league action comes sooner than expected, the two of them simply can’t do it alone. They’d need other players on base to drive in or to get hits behind them to drive them in. It’s certainly possible—maybe even quite likely—that most of those players will improve the rest of the way. It would be hard not to. Luis Robert Jr. (94 wRC+) has cooled off after a hot start at the plate, and the rest of the Mets’ hitters have only been worse. Mark Vientos (80 wRC+), Tyrone Taylor (69 wRC+), Marcus Semien (65 wRC+), Bo Bichette (62 wRC+), Brett Baty (60 wRC+), the injured Jorge Polanco (53 wRC+), and Carson Benge (52 wRC+) are going to have to figure it out. And it’s very hard to buy that MJ Melendez (145 wRC+) is for real in his first 24 plate appearances as a Met when he has a .500 BABIP and a 45.8 percent strikeout rate.
Again, this mess looks insurmountable even in a scenario where the Mets’ entire roster is healthy. But without Francisco Lindor? It’s just so much worse.
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - APRIL 26: Jose A. Ferrer #45 of the Seattle Mariners delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium on April 26, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Happy Tuesday! A rough outing from starter Luis Castillo led to seven earned runs and an eventual 4-11 loss to the Minnesota Twins yesterday. Cal Raleigh’s seventh home run and RHP Alex Hoppe’s MLB debut were the lone bright spots in the otherwise difficult game. Logan Gilbert takes the mound tomorrow against Twins ace Joe Ryan at 4:40 PM.
COVERS INTEL: Civale has allowed homers on 8.1% of fly balls this year, well below his career average of 12.6%. It's unlikely to hold given his 2026 hard contact rate of 49% is a career-worst.
