Today feels like my first Guardians’ loss “hangover” of the year.

José Ramírez had some solid contact but his worst AB of the game came with the bases loaded as he continues to press. Slade Cecconi continued his pattern of looking like he should probably be a reliever (Cantillo had the same issue, though, so there is time). Matt Festa made me look silly for being his number one defender, or was it Stephen Vogt for thinking he is a fireman against left-handed hitters rather than Tim Herrin? Nick has the recap of an 11-5 loss here.

Good thing we have a game tonight to try to flush it. With Parker Messick vs. Martin Perez on the marquee, this would be a big one to win.

AROUND MLB:

Tigers beat the Marlins, Blue Jays beat the Twins, and Royals beat the White Sox.

Good morning, LSB.

The Rangers fell to the Dodgers last night in a wild game that I fell asleep on the couch during.

Shawn McFarland writes about the Rangers’ ninth-inning rally that ultimately was for naught.

The Athletic’s game story discusses the Max Muncy of it all.

Wyatt Langford hit his first homer of the year but then had to leave the game due to quad tightness.

Elsewhere the Rangers are pushing back Cody Bradford’s next rehab start.

Jacob deGrom, in the other hand, appears good to go for Sunday.

And finally, the Mariners already broke their Ichiro statue.

That’s all for this morning. The Rangers play the Dodgers again tonight at a slightly earlier 8:10 with Jack Leiter on the mound for Texas.

Have a good weekend!

Dodgers pitchers at the four minor league affiliates combined to strike out 43 batters on Friday night. After three wins, a bid for a perfect night was spoiled just two outs away in the California League.

Player of the day

Patrick Copen took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in Double-A Tulsa’s win at Springfield, continuing his fantastic start to the season.

Copen struck out nine in 6 1/3 scoreless innings on Friday night, matching his Double-A high, set last June 6. He allowed single walks in the third and fifth innings, and two walks in the fourth. Springfield stole three bases off Copen in the fourth inning, putting runners in scoring position for the only time against him in the game. All three at-bats with RISP during the frame were strikeouts by Copen.

The no-hitter was broken up on a single with one out in the seventh inning by Springfield right fielder Travis Honeyman. That ended Copen’s night at 88 pitches.

Copen has allowed no runs in 11 1/3 innings in his first two starts of the season. He had three double-digit strikeout games for High-A Great Lakes last season, all in May — 12 strikeouts on May 7, 11 on May 18, and 10 on May 24. The right-hander led all Dodgers minor league pitchers with 152 strikeouts in 2025.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Jack Suwinski’s home run in the sixth inning off Cal Quantrill provided the only run of the game in the Comets’ win over the Round Rock Express (Rangers).

Christian Romero pitched five innings, working around four hits thanks to no walks during his night, with two strikeouts. Wyatt Mills pitched a perfect eighth and ninth innings to earn the save.

Oklahoma City only had three hits in the game, with the other two singles by first baseman James Tibbs III and shortstop Noah Miller, both of whom have reached base in all 13 games this season.

Double-A Tulsa

While Copen put up zeroes on the mound, catcher Griffin Lockwood-Powell and center fielder Kendall George provided most of the offense for the Drillers to beat the Springfield Cardinals.

George doubled home Lockwood-Powell and first baseman Joe Vetrano in the third inning for the first tallies of the game. Then Lockwood-Powell hit a two-run shot in a three-run fourth inning that provided more than enough support.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons had six hits all game, and bunched five of them up in a three-run third inning that provided just enough to outlast the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers).

Great Lakes got a one-out single by Jose Izarra in that third inning, then with two outs got consecutive singles by Mike Sirota, Eduardo Quintero, Logan Wagner, and Jose Meza, the latter three each plating a run.

A group effort on the mound made that inning hold up, including starter Logan Tabeling with his one run allowed in three innings. Myles Caba struck out four in two scoreless innings, and Davis Chastain struck out five in 2 1/3 innings. Alex Makarewich struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning to earn the save.

Loons pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts in the game, one more than their previous season high set on Thursday.

Class-A Ontario

Accimias Morales allowed three runs in the ninth inning in the Tower Buzzers’ walk-off loss to the Inland Empire 66ers (Mariners). Up 5-3 in the final frame, Morales recorded one out but allowed a walk and four hits, the latter the winning single for the decisive run.

Jesus Tillero, like Copen, also has a 0.00 ERA after two games. After Cam Leiter allowed three runs in the first two innings, Tillero followed with six scoreless frames and five strikeouts, giving him 13 strikeouts in 11 scoreless innings this season.

Shortstop Emil Morales doubled twice and drove in three runs. Second baseman Mairoshendrick Martinus also doubled twice and scored a run.

Transaction

Friday: Right-hander Wuillians Herrera joined Ontario from Arizona. When the 22-year-old from Venezuela first pitches for the Tower Buzzers, it will be his first time pitching at a full-season affiliate.

Friday scores

• Oklahoma City 1, Round Rock 0
• Tulsa 5, Springfield 2
• Great Lakes 3, West Michigan 2
• Inland Empire 6, Ontario 5

Saturday schedule

• 11 a.m. ET: Great Lakes (Zach Root) at West Michigan (Rayner Castillo)
• 4:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (River Ryan) vs. Round Rock (TBA)
• 4:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Wyatt Crowell) at Springfield (Mason Molina)
• 6:35 p.m.: Ontario (TBA) at Inland Empire (Danny Macchiarola)

According to Jon Heyman, the Mets will call up Craig Kimbrel before today’s game against the Athletics. Kimbrel, a 16-year veteran who was an All-Star with the Braves, Phillies, Cubs, and Red Sox, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in January. Kimbrel is currently fifth all time with 440 career saves, just ahead of former Mets Francisco Rodriguez (437), John Franco (424), and Billy Wagner (422).

In six spring training appearances with the Mets, Kimbrel struck out five, walked five, and put up a 4.50 ERA. Kimbrel made one appearance with Single-A St. Lucie this past week, throwing a scoreless, hitless, walkless, strikeout-less inning.

While Kimbrel has a storied career as one of the greatest relievers of the 21st century, no one is expecing that Kimbrel to be who the Mets get. But with both Richard Lovelady and Luis Garcia struggling mightily as of late, it is not surprising that the Mets would begin the fabled bullpen churn.

Here is how our Grace Carbone described Kimbrel in his 2026 Season Preview:

Over the course his career, Kimbrel has logged a 2.58 ERA in 821.2 innings, with 1,282 strikeouts and a 1.020 WHIP. He has 440 saves, which is the fifth most all-time, and a career 159 ERA+ that’s well above average for a reliever. He’s accumulated 22.7 bWAR in his career, on par with other top closers of his era like Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman.

A lot of that accumulation and excellence came earlier in his career, however, and Kimbrel has turned into a solid relief option instead of a feared closer. His first nine seasons in the major leagues produced some really tremendous work. He had a 1.80 ERA in 470.1 innings with 772 strikeouts, 291 saves, a 0.910 WHIP, and a 222 ERA+. In those nine seasons, he was worth 17.7 bWAR, won Rookie of the Year in 2011 with the Braves, made nine All-Star teams, finished top ten in Cy Young Award voting five times, and even received MVP votes from 2011 to 2013.

Since 2019, when he signed with the Cubs, he has put up a 3.83 ERA in 289 innings and earned just 107 of his career saves, less than a quarter of career total. He has just 414 strikeouts in that time with a 1.204 WHIP and a 110 ERA+, far below his usual dominance. He accumulated just 2.9 of his career WAR during that time as well.

Last year, he was somewhat effective in a limited role. In 12.0 innings with two different teams—the lion’s share being with the Astros—he had a 2.25 ERA with 17 strikeouts and a 1.417 WHIP. He didn’t get any saves, but he had a 197 ERA+ and accumulated 0.4 bWAR in such limited time. He might not have been a star closer, but in an admittedly extremely small sample, he was a good late inning relief option for the Astros down the stretch.

A corresponding move has not yet been announced.

Hartman continued his strong offensive start to the season for the Emperors despite the loss.

(8-5) Gwinnett Stripers 6, (6-6) Nashville Sounds5

• Aaron Schunk, 1B: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-4, R
• Rolddy Munoz, RP: 1.1 IP, 3 K
• Eliser Hernandez, SP: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Box Score

It took some late inning magic and a bit of luck, but Gwinnett managed to get the win by walking off Nashville on Friday to move up to three games over .500 on the season.

Eliser Hernandez got the start on the mound for the Stripers and while he wasn’t exactly dominant, it was enough to keep Gwinnett in the game long enough for them to battle back-and-forth.

Across 5.2 innings of work, Hernandez managed to work around scattering six hits and issuing three walks on the night while holding Nashville to just two earned runs on his part.

One pitching performance to highlight on the night was Rolddy Munoz who tossed a scoreless outing in his 1.1 innings, while striking out three in the process. Through five appearances this season, Munoz has tossed 7.2 innings while striking out seven, while opponents are batting just .120 against him thus far.

It’s a smaller sample size, but encouraging nonetheless from the 25-year-old as he looks to try and break through into the big league bullpen.

At the dish, Gwinnett got several key contributions en route to the win.

Aaron Schunk continued his hot start to the season as he launched his third homer of the season on Friday — a two-run shot to extend the Gwinnett lead to 4-0 in the third — while raising his OPS on the season to .936 as well.

Tied at 5-5 headed into the bottom of the ninth, Ben Gamel reached on an error before coming around to score eventually on a wild pitch, walking things off for Gwinnett.

In other offensive performances, Jose Azocar laced a double on the night while Jim Jarvis also notched a base hit and scored a run as well in the Stripers’ win.

(3-4) Columbus Clingstones 6, (3-3) Montgomery Biscuits 4

• Cal Conley, 2B: 2 3B, RBI, R
• Ambioris Tavarez, 3B: 2-3, R, BB
• Garrett Baumann, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Box Score

Columbus improved to 3-4 on the young season as the Clingstones rode a solid starting pitching performance and a handful of key offensive contributions in the process.

On the mound, Garrett Baumann managed to work around three earned runs and six hits to produce six innings of work while striking out five and walking two. While it wasn’t his best, it’s a right sight better than Baumann’s first start of the year in which he gave up nine runs (seven earned) in just 3.1 innings of work.

Hopefully it’s just earlt season jitters or something of that nature for Baumann, who is expected to take a significant leap this season.

At the plate, Cal Conley had a bit of a rare night in the sense that he laced not one, but two triples on the night while driving in one of Columbus’ six runs on the night.

In addition to Conley, Ambioris Tavarez continued his solid start to the season at the plate on Friday as well.

Going 2-3 with a run scored and a walk to his credit, Tavarez improved his OPS to 1.071 on the season. While we’ve emphasized that it’s extremely early in the season and a smaller sample size, it’s incredibly encouraging to see Tavarez make significant strides at the plate and show a much more mature approach thus far.

(3-4) Rome Emperors 4, (5-2) Bowling Green Hot Rods 6

• John Gil, SS: 1-4, HR, RBI, R, BB
• Owen Carey, LF: 1-4, 3B, R
• Eric Hartman, CF: 2-5, 2B, HR, RBI, R
• Cam Caminiti, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 K

Box Score

Rome fell short against Bowling Green on Friday, losing by a 6-4 final despite a handful of key offensive performances from Emperor batters.

Cam Caminiti got the start for Rome and while he didn’t have his best stuff — as he scattered six hits and allowed two earned runs across six innings while striking out six — he managed to keep Rome relatively in the game for the most part.

Caminiti’s biggest issue so far in this early season is that he has been hit around quite a bit. In 9.2 innings, the southpaw has given up nine hits, including a homer, while opponents are batting .250 against him so far. The good news is that he has only issued two walks on the year, so hopefully he’s able to limit the damage in terms of hits and homers and he’ll be able to build off that moving forward.

Offensively, Rome got key performances from the usual suspects as John Gil launched his second homer of the year and Eric Hartman put up a marquee night as he laced a double and a homer to raise his OPS to a team-high 1.037 on the season to this point.

Owen Carey got in on the offensive fun, as he laced a triple in the top of the second and eventually came around to score.

(3-4) Augusta GreenJackets 7, (2-5) Delmarva Shorebirds 3

• Tanner Smith, C: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Connor Essenburg, DH: 1-4, 3B, RBI
• Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4, 2B, R, BB
• Ethan Bagwell, SP: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 5 K

Box Score

Augusta got one game closer to .500 on the season on Friday as the GreenJackets rode a solid pitching performance from Ethan Bagwell to a win.

Across seven innings of work, Bagwell did scatter seven hits, but managed to limit the damage to just three earned runs on the night while striking out five and walking not one batter. Through two starts, Bagwell has shown excellent command as he has walked just one batter in 13 innings pitched, while striking out 11 and allowing just the three runs.

It will be interesting to see how Atlanta handles Bagwell and his progression, as he will most likely be ready for a promotion to Rome by the end of May if not sooner.

At the plate, Augusta got a surprise performance out of catcher Tanner Smith, who homered and drove in a pair of runs on the night while Connor Essenburg continues to impress as the 2025 draftee tripled and drove home a run in the process for Augusta on Friday.

Alex Lodise also tallied an extra-base hit on the night while scoring a run and walking as well for the GreenJackets.

The Yankees dropped their series opener against the Rays on Friday, officially creating their first losing streak of the season with their third straight loss. It’s been a reversal of fate in the last week or so, as the team’s bats have gone from doing enough to support their stellar pitching staff to barely managing to get multiple hits in a night. That has enabled their rivals to gain back ground after the Yanks jumped ahead of the pack, and the same was true last night.

Toronto Blue Jays (6-7) 10, Minnesota Twins (7-7) 4

Patrick Corbin’s Blue Jays debut didn’t get off to a great start, as the Twins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first thanks to Ryan Jeffers launching a three-run shot. However, that was as good as it got for Minnesota — they got four hits in the other eight innings, and only one of them helped out with a Brooks Lee solo shot in the fourth getting them their only other run.

On the other side, Toronto was dormant for the first three innings but exploded in the fourth. Three of the first four batters to step to the plate hit doubles, plating two of them, and then Andrés Giménez singled to make it 4-3 Twins. Brandon Valenzuela tipped the scales with a two-run shot — his first career homer — to give the Blue Jays the lead for good and capped off the five-run frame, and from there Toronto scored at least a run in every other inning that they batted in.

St. Louis Cardinals (8-5) 3, Boston Red Sox (4-9) 2

The Red Sox acquired Dustin May at the deadline last year from the Dodgers in a trade that has infamously gone south fast, as the main get for LA in James Tibbs III has been on a tear in the minors since, and then May pitched to the tune of a 5.40 ERA in all of six appearances for the Sox. May became a free agent and signed with St. Louis over the offseason, and just to rub salt in the wound turned around and held them down in his first time facing off with them since the move. He pitched six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) with four hits and no walks against four strikeouts. All of the damage came in the fourth inning, when Trevor Story grounded into an RBI and later managed to steal home on a double steal.

The Cardinals scored the first run of the game back in the second inning, getting a leadoff double from Ramón Urías and eventually a sacrifice fly to bring him home. The fifth inning was when they managed to take the lead back after Connelly Early exited with one out, Zack Kelly entering in relief and immediately causing a jam. He gave up a single to Jordan Walker and walked Urías, surrendered another single to Thomas Saggese that tied the game at two, fired off a wild pitch and then allowed a sac fly to fall behind 3-2. The inning mercifully ended on a Pedro Pagés fly out, but Boston mustered just one hit the rest of the way and failed to score them.

Seattle Mariners (5-9) 9, Houston Astros (6-8) 6

Tatsuya Imai has had a very Jekyll and Hyde beginning to his MLB career, debuting with a clunker of a game against the Angels before rebounding with 5.2 shutout innings against the A’s. The pendulum swung back to terrible, and the results were extreme — he failed to escape the first inning, letting the first five batters reach on three walks, a single, and a hit-by-pitch. A groundout exchanged a third run in the inning for the second out of the frame, but another walk forced Joe Espada’s hand and he relieved his starter after recording just two outs. Imai’s ERA is a gaudy 7.27 now, something that surely would’ve gone over well in New York had the Yankees landed him.

Surprisingly, the Astros managed to get him off the hook for the loss immediately despite the short start. Houston scored three runs of their own in the second, loading the bases with no outs before Emerson Hancock battled back to get two consecutive outs. However, he needed three, and Christian Vázquez doubled instead to clear the bases.

So, with the score knotted at three again the Mariners needed another jolt from an offense that has been fairly dormant thus far, especially the top of their order. Randy Arozarena is one of the few bats that has been turning it on, and he broke out with a two-run shot in the fifth inning to take the lead back for good.

The seventh inning put the nail in Houston’s coffin, as they put up a four-spot to triple their lead. Dominic Canzone smashed a double to the wall in right field to get the scoring started, a wild pitch brought home a second, J.P. Crawford got a much-needed hit to score the third run and raise his batting average to .150 on the year, and Cal Raleigh capped off the rally with a groundout to plate the fourth run. Yordan Alvarez did launch a three-run missile to cut the deficit in half in the eighth, setting up a tense ninth inning when Andrés Muñoz walked two batters to bring the tying run to the plate. Jeremy Peña couldn’t convert, however, grounding out as Muñoz picked up his first save of the year.

Other Games

Detroit Tigers (5-9) 2, Miami Marlins (8-6) 0: The Tigers have hardly been inspirational to start the year, but they got a much-needed gem from Keider Montero to lead the way in a shutout. He pitched six innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven while his offense converted three-straight singles into a run in the second and Javier Báez managed to pull a ball placed near the bottom of the other batter’s box out to left field for a solo shot in the fifth. He may strike out a ton on that very same pitch, but at least he proved he can do damage to that pitch if he ever makes contact.

Atlanta Braves (9-5) 11, Cleveland Guardians (8-6) 5: For a time, Cleveland looked to be in good position to win this game. They managed to chase Bryce Elder from the game in the fifth inning after working a pair of walks and punching an RBI single to take a 2-1 lead, but it all came crashing down in a disastrous sixth inning. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off with a homer, Matt Olson followed up with a two-run shot two batters later, Dominic Smith punched a run in on a single, and then Michael Harris Jr. fulfilled the rule of thirds with another home run to bring six total runs in across the inning. The floodgates opened from there, Atlanta scoring two runs in the seventh and eighth innings each, while Cleveland mustered up three in the eighth but could do no more than that.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 4, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) 2

Enrique Bradfield Jr. singlehandedly delivered the Tides a comeback win, driving in all four Norfolk runs — two in the seventh and two in the eighth — to fry the Jumbo Shrimp. For much of the game, the Norfolk lineup was absolutely dominated by Jacksonville starter Robby Snelling, the Marlins’ #2 prospect, who racked up 12 strikeouts in his five scoreless innings. But they rallied against the bullpen. In the seventh, Bradfield socked a game-tying, two-run homer, a 376-foot shot to right. It was Bradfield’s first of the year and just the eighth of his professional career, an impressive bit of power for a guy not known for his pop.

An inning later, Bradfield came up again with the bases loaded in a tie game, and lined a sharp single to center to plate two runners. What a day at the plate for Enrique, who can fast-track his arrival to the majors if he’s able to show this kind of offense on a more consistent basis. No other Tides hitter had a particularly notable day, and Jackson Holliday wasn’t in the lineup.

Starter Nestor German held the Jumbo Shrimp to one run in 4.2 innings in his third start of the year, and four relievers combined to allow just one (unearned) run. Chayce McDermott and Andrew Magno each worked a scoreless frame with two strikeouts. A rehabbing Kyle Stowers was 0-for-3 against his former team.

Box score

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 11, Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 6

The Baysox busted out the bats with their first double-digit run total of the season. Nearly everyone in the lineup contributed. Seven of the nine batters had a hit, seven of nine had an RBI, and seven of nine scored a run. First baseman Ethan Anderson went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, Carter Young hit a three-run homer, and Aron Estrada swatted a solo shot. The Baysox also went 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position. You’re going to win a lot of games that way.

The ample run support boosted starting pitcher Luis De León, who gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits in five innings. It was a solid if unremarkable effort from the Orioles’ top pitching prospect. Three Chesapeake relievers allowed a run apiece but each also struck out three.

Box score

High-A: Frederick Keys 3, Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox) 2

Joseph Dzierwa is good, y’all. The 2025 second-round pick delivered an excellent seven-inning start, giving up six hits, striking out three, and walking nobody. He has a 1.38 ERA in his first two pro starts after a standout showing in spring training. The Keys assured Dzierwa wouldn’t be left with a no-decision by scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth on a Braylin Tavera RBI double.

Cleanup man Victor Figueroa powered a two-run homer to account for Frederick’s other runs. Wehiwa Aloy went 2-for-4 while Nate George took an 0-for-4 from the leadoff spot, though he did have an outfield assist. Ike Irish did not play. In the bullpen, Hans Crouse and Ryan Cabarcas each worked a scoreless inning to preserve the one-run victory.

Box score

Low-A: Augusta GreenJackets (Braves) 7, Delmarva Shorebirds 3

A Delmarva loss prevented the Orioles affiliates from pulling off a clean sweep on this night. It was a tie game entering the seventh before Augusta plated two runs in the sixth and another pair in the eighth. Shorebirds starter Brayan Orrantia gave up three runs in 3.1 innings, and reliever Dalton Neuschwander was tagged with the loss in his professional debut, allowing two runs. Neuschwander was the Orioles’ 10th-round pick last year.

The Shorebirds’ runs were driven in by Jordan Sanchez, on an RBI double, and DJ Layton, on a bunt single. Designated hitter Junior Aybar led the team with two hits, including a double.

Box score

Saturday’s scheduled games:

• Norfolk: vs. Jacksonville, 6:35 PM. Starter: Levi Wells (1-1, 2.00)
• Chesapeake: vs. Erie, 6:35 PM. Starter: Christian Heberholz (0-1, 27.00)
• Frederick: at Winston-Salem, 6:30 PM. Starter: JT Quinn (0-0, 2.08)
• Delmarva: vs. Augusta, 7:05 PM. Starter: Esteban Mejia (0-1, 2.08)

Good morning folks! I hope you’re all having a pleasant Saturday.

The Mariners partied on Friday night, taking down the Astros in an offense-happy affair 9-6.

Believe it or not, Cole Young remains the Mariners’ top position player so far by fWAR. Do you believe in his performance so far? On the one hand, he’s looked very mature as a 22-year old and is playing stellar defense. On the other, he’s got jut a .294 xwOBA.

In Mariners news…

• In case you missed it, the Ichiro statue unveiling went wrong when the statue’s bat broke during the big reveal.
• Major League Baseball introduced a new all-access YouTube series called “Chasing 162” which will follow Julio Rodríguez and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong in their chase to stay healthy all season long.
• Aaron Goldsmith talked about how Randy Arozarena being in a contract year could make things difficult for the Mariners when they call up Colt Emerson.
• John Trupin dug into what’s going on mechanically with Cal Raleigh and why he’s bullish that the Big Dumper can turn it around.
• Over at ESPN, David Schoenfield also took a look at what’s going on with Raleigh through the first two weeks of the season.
• Max Ellingsen continued his countdown of the Mariners’ top prospects by writing up the team’s No. 3 farmhand, right-hander Ryan Sloan.
• Lance Brozdowski dug into another trick the Mariners are trying with their pitchers.

Around the league…

• The Athletics have placed designated hitter Brent Rooker on the injured list with an oblique strain, ending his 213-game streak of games played.
• Shohei Ohtani broke the all-time on-base streak for a Japanese-born player, surpassing Ichiro with his 44th in a row.
• The Penner Sports Group, which is the majority owner for the Denver Broncos, has purchased a 40% stake in the Colorado Rockies.
• With the Kansas City Chiefs recently having left town for Kansas, city officials are considering issuing $600 million in stadium bonds to keep the Royals around.
• Former Mariner Mike Ford has joined the Rays front office, seemingly ending his playing career.
• Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman has seemingly mastered his pre-pitch setup, putting him in prime position for the best defensive season of his career.
• April stats are weird, and a lot of factors go into them being weird.

Kris Bubic struck out a career-high 11 in his win over the White Sox last night.

“I think being able to locate those in zone and get chase on them when you get ahead in counts (was key),” Bubic said.

“I think to be able to do both of those successfully was huge tonight. “I’m not a guy that’s pumping upper 90s or something like that. But that enabled me to get through those middle innings and get some quick outs there.”

Bubic had the breaking ball going last night, writes Anne Rogers

Case in point: Bubic struck out White Sox leadoff hitter Chase Meidroth three times Friday night. The first came on a sweeper – that Perez correctly challenged as a strike – and the next two on sliders.

“The spin can play to both righties and lefties,” Bubic said. “… Just pairing both of those spin to righties with the sweeper early, being able to steal strikes with that, and then finishing with a fastball up or a gyro slider down below. The pairing was really good there, and the mix was really good.”

Craig Brown laments the offense, but pleads for patience.

All I can do at this moment is remind you that we aren’t even 10 percent of the way into the season. Andy Pages has a .438 on base percentage. Aaron Judge has a .488 slugging percentage. These things are going to change a great deal between now and the end of the season. The Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox each have just four wins. They are better than this.

The Royals are supposed to be better than what we’ve seen this week.

The angst is understandable. Scars run deep and we’ve seen plenty to scare a normal person completely off baseball. Some of the action we’ve seen this year—again, especially this week—has been dull and uninspired. Yet the season is young. The story is still being written. That’s why I’m here; that’s why I chronicle this team. I want to see how it ends.

Jesse Borek at MLB.com writes about Kendry Chourio retiring all 14 hitters he faced this week.

Just two balls even left the infield against Chourio, both coming as flyouts in the second. Despite throwing a first-pitch strike to just six batters, the Royals’ No. 3 prospect finished with a 64.4 percent strike rate (38 of 59). Righty Jhon Reyes and lefty Jordan Woods combined to finish off the shutout, allowing a lone single as a blemish on their marks.

It marks Chourio’s second career start in which he retired every batter he faced, coincidentally having done so against Myrtle Beach on Aug. 14, 2025. Only four members of the Pelicans’ lineup were the same this go-round, with a whole new batch finding out the hard way what Carolina League batters have learned in short order: Chourio’s stuff is legit.

Andrew Apostolakis at Royals Keep has more on Chourio.

Chourio’s delivery is simple and repeatable, his lean frame athletic and increasingly strong. He commands the strike zone with a poise and confidence that belies his youth. That command, combined with his velocity and movement, gives him a profile that could project as a frontline starter if he continues on this trajectory. Advanced metrics show that Chourio’s season pitching percentiles include below-average wOBA (40th percentile), strikeout rate (55th percentile), whiff rate (31st percentile), CSW percent (40th percentile), swing percent (26th percentile), and SwStr percent (42nd percentile) per FanGraphs. However, he posted a strong ground-ball rate in the 80th percentile and an excellent walk rate in the 74th percentile, at just 7.1 percent, highlighting his ability to control the strike zone and keep hitters on the ground.

Pete Grathoff covers the mixed reaction from fans over the new City Connect jerseys.

Athletics slugger Brent Rooker lands on the Injured List.

The Cubs get Seiya Suzuki back.

The Tigers lose outfielder Parker Meadows to an arm fracture.

How long-term extensions have become commonplace for top prospects.

Nick Gonzales tries to retract his ABS challenge, but he wins it anyway.

How Ben Rice went from starring in the Ivy League to Yankee Stadium.

The average MLB salary rises to $5.34 million with the Mets topping all payrolls.

The White Sox expand plans for pope-themed hat giveaways.

Which teams should be panicking?

The Rockies add new minority owners, a group that owns a stake in the Broncos.

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Your song of the day is The Doors with Cars Hiss by My Window.

Ladies and gentleman, James Wood is all the way back. After a rough second half and a concerning first couple series, the big fella is back to absolutely destroying baseball. I have to say, I’ve got to eat some crow on this. I said the Nats had a James Wood problem, and it turns out the other 29 teams are the ones with a James Wood problem.

In my defense, I was not the only one concerned. After a rough finish to last season, which saw him strike out nearly 40% of the time in the second half, there was reason to be concerned. However, at the end of the day, raw talent usually wins out. Everyone knew the talent level of Wood, it was just frustrating to see him not put it together after his amazing first half.

So what has gotten Wood back on track? The biggest thing I have seen is that Wood is hunting mistakes. For a while, Wood was simply too passive at the plate. He was letting too many meatballs just whiz by him into the strikezone. Right now though, you cannot sneak a heater by this guy.

Wood has clearly been in the lab with Matt Borgschulte working on his approach at the plate. During Blake Butera’s press conferences when Wood was struggling, he kept mentioning how Wood told him his swing was feeling great. That felt odd to me at the time, but now it makes sense. Wood did not have a swing problem, he had an approach problem.

He and Borgschulte have figured out the right balance between patience and aggression. Right now, Wood is just hunting fastballs and spitting on the breaking stuff. He is also hammering balls to center and left center, which is what Wood does when he is at his best.

The Nats have had a lot of great hitters over the years, but I am not sure any of them have quite the same amount of raw horsepower that Wood does. Last night, he hit two balls over 115 MPH. In the first inning, he hit an absolute laser on a line that almost carried out of the deepest part of American Family Field.

This kind of power is why he was a part of the Home Run Derby last year. Ironically, that event seemed to mess with his swing, so I don’t think he will be going back anytime soon. Wood being slightly hot and cold makes sense given his size and age. He is a massive dude who has plenty of moving parts to his swing.

That makes it frustrating when he is not on his game. However, when all those parts are moving well, it is like watching a beautiful symphony of destruction. Right now, his mishits are going about 100 MPH off the bat.

Seeing Wood when he is locked in makes his struggles even more frustrating. He is such a talented player, who has bat to ball skills when he is on his game. Wood has just three strikeouts compared to four walks in his last five games. This is not a Joey Gallo type that just misses at an insane clip. He works deep counts and can be passive when he is off, which can lead to strikeouts. 

There is some pure hitting ability here though. His quality of contact and line drive approach means his average will never get that low either. Even after his disastrous second half, Wood still had a respectable .256 average. When he is right, Wood is not just a one dimensional slugger.

This heater is insane to watch. The big fella has four straight multi-hit games. He is also the only player with multiple batted balls over 116 mph so far this season. His 24.3% barrel rate and 59.5% hard hit rate are absolutely bonkers.

After his strikeout heavy start to the season, Wood has managed to get his strikeout rate below 30%. That 30% mark feels like a magic number for him. With how big he is, there will always be strikeouts and that is fine. However, he can still be an elite hitter with a k% in the high 20’s. Once it gets to 30%, things start to get dicey for him. Right now, he is not even in the top 10 for number of strikeouts.

It is great to see that number get under control because we all know what Wood does when he makes contact with the ball. I would argue that Wood has the best opposite field power in baseball. He makes ballparks look small and hits balls out at crazy low trajectories. 

For a lot of players, they need to tap into their pull side to hit for power. However, that is not the case for Wood. He is at his best when he is thinking about going the other way. Wood is such a physical freak that he can hit balls out to left field like a right handed pull hitter. His air pull percentage is 2.7%, and do you know what, that is fine by me. 

When you have outlier power like Wood does, just do what makes you comfortable. For Wood to take the next step and become a 50 home run guy like Aaron Judge, he may need to pull it more, but he is 23, there is plenty of time for that.

For now, it is great to see Wood exhibiting a confident approach at the plate. At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, he was constantly on the defensive. Now, he is taking the initiative and putting pitchers on the back foot. When James Wood is doing that, he is one of the best hitters in baseball.