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The San Francisco Giants made a roster move on Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before starting a series against their rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. And unfortunately, it’s a move that sees one of the best stories of the young season come to a halt … for a while, at least.

San Francisco announced that backup catcher Daniel Susac had been placed on the 10-Day Injured List, retroactive to April 20, with right elbow ulnar neuritis. Taking Susac’s place on the active roster is veteran Eric Haase, whose contract has been purchased from AAA Sacramento. Haase was not on the 40-man roster, so the Giants cleared a space by moving injured reliever José Buttó to the 60-Day IL, as his season is presumably over.

It’s a bummer of a setback for Susac, who was enjoying a stellar rookie season after being a Rule 5 selection from the A’s back in December. Susac started his career with back-to-back three-hit days, and on the year is 11-23 with two doubles, one triple, one walk, and just three strikeouts, with five runs batted in and some decent defense behind the dish. That, combined with Patrick Bailey’s miserable start to the year in the batter’s box — the two-time Gold Glove winner is slashing just .151/.211/.151 — had resulted in the catcher situation inching a little closer to an even split rather than a pure starter/backup situation. But that will be on hold for a while, and hopefully Susac’s injury doesn’t take long to heal.

As for Haase, he was brought in over the offseason on a Minor League contract, and given a chance to compete with Susac for the backup role in Spring Training. He had a pretty decent spring, hitting well (8-28 with two home runs, one double, and four walks), but striking out 14 times. He was granted his release at the start of the season when he didn’t make the roster, but after not receiving any offers around the league, re-signed with the Giants on a Minor League contract, and has been playing in AAA ever since. In nine games with the River Cats, Haase is hitting 9-36 with two home runs, two doubles, two walks, and 13 strikeouts. He has also helped the roster by playing a little bit of left field after the Giants found themselves shy on bodies following the promotions of Drew Gilbert and Will Brennan to the Majors.

It’s interesting that the Giants opted to bring up Haase, rather than Jesús Rodríguez, an exciting prospect who was already on the 40-man roster, and who is having a blistering season so far in AAA (.344/.408/.492, with just six strikeouts in 71 plate appearances). Perhaps they’re waiting to bring up Rodríguez for when they have a larger role for him, rather than icing him on the bench where he’ll only play once or twice a week. Or maybe they just prefer the defense, leadership, and dependability of the veteran Haase, a 33-year old who has been in the squat for nearly 300 Major League games.

The Giants are nearly a month into the season now, and still all of their transactions have been due to injuries.

Freddie Freeman was activated off the paternity list ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, after the Dodgers first baseman missed two games for the birth of his daughter.

Freeman and wife Chelsea welcomed their fourth child on Sunday, London Rosemary Joy Freeman, they announced on Instagram.

In the series opener against the Giants, Freeman is back at first base and batting third.

Ryan Ward was optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City after playing in both games in his first stint in the major leagues. The 28-year-old started at first base on Sunday at Coors Field, and had two hits, including a run batted in, in his major league debut against the Colorado Rockies. Ward also struck out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of Monday night’s blowout win in Denver.

Ward in his two games with the Dodgers had two hits in six at-bats.

The Dodgers got very good production out of first base in Freeman’s brief absence. In addition to Ward’s two hits and RBI on Sunday, Dalton Rushing started at first on Monday and hit two home runs with three RBI, continuing his sublime start to 2026.

Anytime the Yankees show up on the schedule, regardless of the standings, it presents an opportunity for either a dramatic shift in mood, or a dramatic amplification of whatever mood is already in place. Tonight is no different as the Red Sox and Yankees meet for the first time in 2026 with the Red Sox off to a horrible start, but still somehow only four games behind New York.

The good news for the Red Sox is they have the pitching advantage on paper tonight. The bad news is each game of the series presents a more unfavorable matchup on the mound. In other words, it would greatly behoove the Sox to grab this game tonight as a loss tonight could quickly start mounting the deficit by Thursday.

For Early, this matchup also presents an opportunity to turn the page on last year’s loss in New York during Game 3 of the Wild Card series when he was thrown into the fire just four starts into his major league career and outpitched by the extremely unlikeable Cam Schlittler.

Lineup wise, the odd man out in the latest chapter of the “five guys don’t fit into four spots” saga is once again Jarren Duran. Masataka Yoshida will bat third as the DH, and Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu once again make up what’s establishing itself as the best version of the Red Sox outfield.

It’s Red Sox vs. Yankees, and even on a cold Tuesday night in April, there’s still nothing else quite like it!

⚾️ First Pitch: 6:45 pm – Fenway Park

📺 TV: NESN+

📻 Radio: WEEI

Entering the 2026 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation contained the reigning Cy Young winner, the No. 2 pitching prospect in baseball, and the former franchise leader in strikeouts by a right-handed pitcher.

None of the three, or Braxton Ashcraft, have been the Pirates best starting pitcher this year. 

It’s the guy everyone, including myself, thought was destined to start in the bullpen.

Carmen Mlodzinski has been Pittsburgh’s most consistent and most effective starter through the first month.

Hear me out.

The Pirates have one of the best rotations in baseball and contribute largely to the team’s 3.22 overall team ERA, the second-best in baseball. 

Mlodzinski leads the rotation with a 1.77 ERA and is the only starter below 2.00. He’s only allowed four earned runs over 20.1 innings.

Paul Skenes’ ERA sits at 3.27 and is inflated due to five runs allowed and only recording two outs on Opening Day against the Mets, largely due to two defensive blunders. Skenes has allowed three runs in his other 21.1 innings.  

When examining who’s been the best, it’s hard to ignore the expectation vs. reality.

Pirates fans and media members thought the Bucs were bound to sign a left-handed starting pitcher as the fifth starter out of camp, but it never happened.

The initial belief was that Jose Urquidy could be a bounce back option… he’s in Triple-A Indianapolis.

Mlodzinski recorded a career-high eight strikeouts in his first start against New York and has pitched deeper into games every outing, from 4.1 innings to 4.2, 5.1, and six full innings pitched.

In his last two starts against the preseason NL Central favorite Chicago Cubs at windy Wrigley, Mlodzinski allowed six hits, walked three, and struck out two, but a run didn’t cross the plate.

He appeared in relief of opener Mason Montgomery against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday and pitched arguably the best game of his MLB career.

Mlodzinski totaled a career-best six innings with two hits, two walks, five strikeouts, and another scoreless outing.

The 27-year-old starter hasn’t allowed a run in his last 12 innings. 

Pirates starters didn’t allow a home run over the first three series. Mlodzinski hasn’t allowed one in four outings.

Mlodzinski isn’t overpowering hitters, but changing speeds and using solid location to put away the game’s best hitters. 

Mlodzinski is in the 98th percentile in offspeed run value (3) and the 90th percentile in barrel percentage (1.7%). While opponents are hitting the ball hard off him 51.7% of the time (10th percentile),  his even ground ball rate of 51.7% has limited the damage. 

The first full month of baseball has gone better than anyone could have imagined following a 6.04 ERA in five April starts in 2025.

Another concern for Mlodzinski was facing the lineup for a third time. In 9.1 frames past the third inning, Mlodzinski has given up only three runs. 

In 11 innings over the first three innings, the starter has allowed one run and five total hits. 

Not taking anything away from Skenes, Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, or Bubba Chandler, who have all had great moments, Mlodzinski is pitching the best he’s pitched since the Pirates drafted him in 2020.

The Pirates are short on pitching depth after Johan Oviedo and Mike Burrows were dealt for bats, plus Jared Jones not expected back for another month.

Mlodzinski has been everything the Pirates could have asked for and more, but the key is sustaining it

Mlodzinski will start Tuesday night as the Pirates begin the first of three against the Texas Rangers.

First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. as Mlodzinski will pitch against the American League for the second time. 

The Seattle Mariners announced Tuesday afternoon that they have designated RHP Casey Legumina for assignment, recalling rookie RHP Alex Hoppe for additional bullpen depth.

The move comes on the heels of a difficult outing for Legumina, but the righty had been reasonably effective in the early stages of the season prior to being tasked with the heart of the lefty-heavy Athletics order in the 8th inning of Monday night’s knotted affair. Asked predominantly for mop-up and low-leverage work, the Gonzaga product amassed a 5.43/4.15 ERA/FIP in 61.1 innings over the past two seasons with Seattle, a total of -0.9/0.0 bWAR/fWAR. At times, Legumina became the de facto long reliever for the M’s, pitching at least parts of multiple innings in half his appearances in 2026 and more than a handful a season ago. Though the Bean Man could be claimed to fill out another club’s bullpen, it’s plausible he passes through waivers and returns to Triple-A Tacoma for Seattle to call upon again.

His departure gives the Mariners a nearly fully rested bullpen headed into the final two tilts of a 13-game set without off days. The 27 year old Hoppe has yet to make his major league debut, having spent the first few weeks of 2026 with the Rainiers in Tacoma. Even without Legumina’s tough outing a night ago, Hoppe was pushing the M’s to make a move, with eight scoreless outings (well, one unearned run) as Tacoma’s de facto closer, punching out 12 and walking just three while yielding only four hits in 8.0 innings.

Nick Vitalis wrote Hoppe’s 40 in 40, which you can read here for some detail and a spectacular celebrity comp, and Kate should have some more details on Hoppe this afternoon to boot. The short of it is… Hoppe has had command issues, having been a 6th round pick out of UNC Greensboro by the Boston Red Sox in 2022 as a cost-saving senior sign whose expectation was to climb the ranks swiftly. Instead, it’s been a trickier traversal, with three rounds at Double-A Portland from 2023-2025 before cracking Triple-A Worcester last year.

As you can see from the clip below, Hoppe eschews some recent trends in pitch design and development. He’s “just” 6’1, but creates a steeper angle with a rather over-the-top delivery that makes his heater and breaking ball appear to tunnel well.

These pitches also make it difficult for hitters to elevate, as Hoppe has run high groundball rates for much of his career and has continued to do so in his short time this season. If and when he pitches for Seattle, he’ll be the first Mariners player to make their MLB debut in 2026.

It is undeniable that the heartbeat of the Cincinnati Reds roster is their starting pitching. During the 2025 regular season, in particular, that group posted an impressive 19.4 fWAR combined, a mark that was good for third-best in all of Major League Baseball (behind only the big spending Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers).

That’s by design, too. A quick glance at the projected 2026 rotation shows a cadre of former 1st round picks (Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns, Nick Lodolo, Hunter Greene) as well as a 2nd rounder (Andrew Abbott). In other words, the Reds are well aware the importance of the rotation, the attrition that always hits it, and how their business model means they need to draft and develop the best arms they can get as early in drafts as it can be.

The 2026 group hasn’t been exactly as planned, however. Greene is out until mid-summer after having elbow surgery this spring, while Lodolo has been sidelined as he battles through a recurring blister issue that’s cost him time as well as impacted which pitches he can actually throw. The current group, buoyed by veteran Brady Singer and lefty Brandon Williamson, has obviously held up well enough for the Reds to sport a 15-8 overall record so far, but they haven’t exactly been brilliant in leading the roster there.

For instance, their 6.21 K/9 ranks second worst among starting rotations league-wide. Their 4.80 expected ERA is the 8th highest, while their 4.77 xFIP ranks 3rd worst. Getting guys like Lodolo – and Greene, eventually – is only going to improve that mark, and it appears the Reds are finally getting close to that happening.

As MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed, Lodolo threw 50 pitches across a trio of innings in a simulated game yesterday down in Tampa, and he’s set to head out on a rehab assignment with High-A Dayton where he’ll pitch four innings, ideally, on Sunday.

One of the batters he pitched to in said simulated game was Jose Trevino, who’s been on the IL for the last two weeks with a back/neck issue. Trevino came through the sim game unscathed, too, and it appears he could rejoin Cincinnati’s active roster as early as Wednesday.

The band is getting closer to being back together!

Here’s the Astros’ lineup:

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

For the Cubs:

Let’s talk about it.