Worldwide Sports News

ST. LOUIS — Francisco Lindor’s 0-for-4 at the plate Wednesday was maybe the least of his problems.

The Mets shortstop committed a mental error defensively and was later picked off first base in an 11-inning, 2-1 loss to the Cardinals.

Lindor forgot the number of outs in the bottom of the first inning and began to jog off the field after stepping on second base for the force on Alec Burleson’s grounder.

But the force was only the second out, and by not throwing to first, Lindor missed an opportunity to complete an inning-ending double play.

Freddy Peralta escaped the inning by striking out Masyn Winn, throwing five additional pitches in the inning.

“I forgot the outs,” Lindor said. “I made a mistake that probably cost Peralta to go an extra inning and more pitches after that. Inexcusable.”

Lindor reached first base on an error in the sixth and was picked off, caught flat-footed, by Matthew Liberatore.

“They got us there,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He was going to go. We thought we had a tip there and they got us with a quick step-off move there. I wouldn’t consider that one as a mental mistake because he was trying to get some momentum there and being aggressive. But the first one [forgetting the outs] is the one that can’t happen.”

Mendoza said he didn’t need to address the issue with Lindor.

“He knows — he was pretty pissed when he came in,” Mendoza said. “Peralta did a hell of a job picking him up, finishing that inning. But you trust the decision-making with this guy. He knows he made a mistake.”

Peralta credited his changeup — a pitch he didn’t use as much last Thursday — for helping him get on track against the Brewers.

The right-hander allowed one earned run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts on this day, departing after 92 pitches.

“I have got a lot of trust with [the changeup] and I thought it was time to use it today,” Peralta said.

Juan Soto’s homer extended his on-base streak against the Cardinals to 41 games.

El Paso Chihuahuas

The El Paso Chihuahuas started their season the day after the San Diego Padres and have played four games, three against the Sacramento Salt River Cats and a first of six against the Tacoma Rainiers. They sit at 2-2 on the season with a win against each team.

Starter and rehabbing pitcher, Matt Waldron, pitched three innings in the debut game, allowing two hits and no runs with three strikeouts. His fastball has greater velocity this season, averaging 93 mph and his sinker is up to 92 mph. He is using a five-pitch mix, relying more heavily on his sinker than his four-seamer and using his knuckleball 27% of the time in his first start (stats per tjstats.ca)

He will be built up and the Padres will need to decide if he will be promoted to the major league club. The way things are currently going, it would make sense to give him an opportunity. He is out of options and can’t be kept in El Paso.

The Chihuahua rotation currently includes RHP Triston McKenzie (two innings pitched, two runs, four walks in his start), LHP Marco Gonzales (five innings pitched, six hits, three earned runs, two strikeouts, a walk and two hit-by-pitch in his start), LHP J.P. Sears (five innings pitched, two earned runs, a walk and two strikeouts in his start). After Waldron finishes his rehab another starter could take his place, presumably LHP Jackson Wolf. RHP Logan Gillaspie has been a relief role so far with the Chihuahuas. RHP Sean Boyle will make the start in the second game versus Tacoma, today.

Utility player Sung-Mun Song has made three starts for El Paso, playing second base and shortstop, going 1-for-5 with six strikeouts, a walk, a single and and three RBI in 17 at-bats. His OPS is .513 with a .235 average.

San Antonio Missions

The Missions play begins Thursday against the Tulsa Drillers in Tulsa, Okla. Their starting rotation highlights top prospect RHP Miguel Mendez with LHP Jagger Haynes, RHP Eric Yost, LHP Luis Gutierrez and RHP Victor Lizarraga filling out the five spots. Relievers Harry Gustin, Johan Moreno, Manuel Castro, Josh Mallitz and Ryan Och headline the bullpen.

Catcher Ethan Salas will be the primary catcher with Brandon Durfee the primary backup. First baseman Romeo Sanabria, a spring standout, will be joined by infielders Francis Acuńa, Ryan Jackson, Carson Tucker and Luis Verdugo. Wyatt Hoffman, son of Padres Hall of Famer, Trevor Hoffman, will be the utility man.

Outfielders Albert Fabian, Braedon Karpathios, Kai Murphy and Kai Roberts will be joined by returner Josh Mears, who retired last June with consistent injury issues. He is back to try again as a former top prospect.

Fort Wayne TinCaps

Fort Wayne begins its season on Friday against the Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Mich. LHP Kash Mayfield leads their rotation followed by RHP Kannon Kemp, LHP Jaxon Dalena, RHP Isaiah Lowe and RHP Carson Montgomery. The roster features RHP Maikel Miralles and LHP Igor Gil as other possible starters. The bullpen has Clark Candiotti, Clay Edmondson, Bernard Jose, Abraham Parra and Jeferson Villabona among others.

Catcher/1B Lamar King Jr. will be backed by Oswaldo Linares and Carlos Rodriguez. Infielders Jack Costello, Zach Evans, Dylan Grego, Jonathon Vastine and Rosman Verdugo are all playing with the Missions this season. Outfielders Jake Cunningham, Alex McCoy, Kavares Tears and Kasen Wells will fill out the roster.

Lake Elsinore Storm

Lake Elsinore begins its season Thursday, playing the Ontario TowerBuzzers in Ontario, Calif., a new team in the California League. LHP Kruz Schoolcraft will head up the rotation and will be joined by LHP Bryan Balzer, RHP Sean Barnett and a large group of starters and relievers drafted and/or signed in 2025. The roles are not currently defined on the roster.

The catchers will be Ty Harvey and Truitt Madonna, both drafted in 2025, along with Victor Duarte who also plays second base and played last season with Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore. The infield will be manned by Luke Cantwell, Kerrington Cross, Justin DeCriscio, Bradley Frye, Jose Verdugo and Jorge Quintana.

Outfielders will be George Bilecki, Conner Westernburg, Ryan Wideman and Kale Fountain, who distinguished himself in the Spring Breakout game with a 455-foot home run.

There will be weekly minor league updates on the Gaslamp Ball site.

Orioles 8, Rangers 3

• That was exceedingly unpleasant.
• Do you want to think about this game? I don’t.
• It almost seems kind of appropriate that it ended on an ABS challenge. Just a blah.
• I don’t want to worry about Nathan Eovaldi. He had some bad luck in the opener, but this game was not bad luck.
• Carter Baumler pitched decently. That’s good.
• Josh Jung had two hits, having been hitless prior to that. That’s good.
• Corey Seager homered.
• I appreciate Corey Seager.
• But don’t think about the rangers.
• Think about Artemis II. Or Artemis Fowl.
• No, just Artemis II.
• Which makes me think of Audrey II. That was a plant though. Very different.
• Jack Nicholson played the dental patient in the original Little Shop of Horrors.
• Nathan Eovaldi hit 97.2 mph with his fastball. Tyler Alexander’s fastball reached 91.3 mph. Carter Baumler touched 95.9 mph with his fastball. Jacob Latz’s fastball maxed out at 95.0 mph.
• Jake Burger had a 104.8 mph ground out. Brandon Nimmo had a 104.1 mph double. Josh Jung had a 103.9 mph single and a 101.4 mph single. Corey Seager had a 101.8 mph home run.
• And now an off day. Both Rangers losses have been right before off days. Maybe they are sad they won’t be playing the next day and lose their mojo.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have created their own pitching factory of flame-throwing arms, making an impact in the majors. 

The team that drafted Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow, Clay Holmes, and others is ushering in a new wave of stars.

Paul Skenes leads the charge as the best pitcher in the National League, entering 2026 with his first Cy Young Award. 

Young pitchers Braxton Ashcraft and Carmen Mlodzinski began their careers in the bullpen but have the stuff and potential to be impactful MLB starters. 

None of them started the season the way Bubba Chandler did. In more ways than just one.

Baseball’s No. 11 prospect and the No. 2 player in the Pirates farm system, per MLB Pipeline, Chandler flashed his immense potential in front of 22,390 fans at Great American Ballpark on Tuesday.

The fifth and final starter on the Opening Day roster to take the ball for the Bucs, Chandler delivered 4.1 no-hit innings against the Cincinnati Reds. 

Chandler consistently flashed a 99-100 MPH fastball and kept Reds hitters off balance with his breaking pitches, including a 94 MPH changeup.

He allowed one unearned run in the third inning on a play that was initially ruled extra bases for former Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, but later changed to an error on Bryan Reynolds.

Reynolds and Oneil Cruz subtly collided in left-center field, resulting in neither player catching the fly ball, allowing Noelvi Marte to score.

That was the positive part of the outing for Chandler, who also struck out six Cincinnati hitters.

Chandler walked six Reds, including three in the third inning that resulted in Cincinnati posting its first tally of the game.  

He only walked four batters in 31.1 innings split between the rotation and bullpen last season, but walks were an issue in the minors.

Chandler walked 53 hitters over 100 innings at Triple-A Indianapolis, compared to 95 hits and 121 strikeouts in 2025.

A strong athlete who was recruited to Clemson as both a quarterback and a two-way baseball player, Chandler has immense talent and potential. It’s all about harnessing it.

Chandler registered an impressive double play off TJ Friedl, quickly turning like a shortstop or a quarterback completing a slant to pick off Jose Trevino at second base.

There’s no denying Bubba Chandler’s potential. In seven games (four starts) last season, the 6-foot-3 right-hander posted a 4.02 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, one save, and 31 punchouts over 31.1 innings.

Chandler is one of 10 early candidates for Rookie of the Year, alongside Konnor Griffin. He would become the second Pirate to win the award in the last three years after Skenes won it in 2024. 

The Pirates are depending on Chandler to improve his control and turn a top 10 prospect into a top 10 starter in the National League. The ceiling and potential are there for Chandler to become the Pirates’ No. 2 starter and pair a considerable 1-2 punch with Paul Skenes.

The two are lined up back-to-back this season after Chandler started on Tuesday and Skenes on Wednesday. Pittsburgh won both games… Both have elite arsenals… Imagine the possibilities.

Meltdowns of varying scale and on competing fronts for the San Francisco Giants, led to a rather ugly 7-1 loss to the Padres this afternoon. 

Hours after the offense blossomed into a 16-hit, 9-run evening, manager Tony Vitello tried to run the good-vibes back, and…the batting order withered in the harsh light of the noon sun. 

The team’s first failure.

The hit total from Tuesday was halved, then halved again. Just a two-out RBI single from Harrison Bader in the 7th saved the Giants from their third shutout in six games. 

Up and down the line-up, San Francisco struggled to lay off high fastballs from Padre pitching. Starter Nick Pivetta, then reliever Jeremiah Estrada, then Mason Miller all pounded the top of the zone and had hitters at their mercy. Bats chased the tails of four-seams to ridiculous heights. Higher and higher their hacks went. There was no ladder they wouldn’t climb.

Pivetta surrendered just a single hit and two walks while striking out 8 over five innings. San Francisco’s only scoring threat came in the 2nd before the right-hander settled-in in the 3rd. Nasty breaking pitches broke down Casey Schmitt and Willy Adames before he finally fanned Rafael Devers on a 95 MPH letter-high fastball. He’d ultimately strike out 5 in a row from the 2nd to the 4th innings. 

The straight fastball is Pivetta’s meal ticket. It really doesn’t look all that special from the couch cushion, especially in terms of velocity. The secret is it just stays up. He shows the pitch to hitters right out of his high release point. They know what’s coming, their eyes get big when they see it out of his hand, and they swing their bats around, bracing for a collision of epic proportion — and it doesn’t happen. The ball boasts that mysterious and confounding rise. Pivetta rode that rise to a 24 Fastball Run Value, good for the 99th percentile in the league in 2025.    

Based on some of the chase he coaxed from Giants bats this afternoon, Pivetta’s pitch is just as enticing as it was last season. Pair it with a snapping curve/slider, and we got the makings of a frustrating day at the plate. 

About the only thing the Giants hitters did was make Pivetta work. They chased him from the hill after the 5th inning — but their fastball issues didn’t go away with him out of the picture. Jeremiah Estrada took over and went right back to punching four-seamers. Higher and higher he’d go up in the zone, and still Adames and Ramos followed. Mason Miller took the mound and cruised triple-digit missiles, chased by a whiplash slider. A brutal 1-2 combo claimed Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, and Bader to end the 9th.

The next collapse came on the other side of the baseball with two costly infield errors behind starter Adrian Houser. Both miscues came on eerily similar plays that led to San Diego’s first two runs of the day. 

With two outs in the 1st and Jackson Merrill on first, Manny Machado rolled a grounder towards Matt Chapman at third. Typically, a no-go zone for grounders. The inning was all but over, but considering how deep he was playing, Chapman had to charge hard, field the ball, and throw over to first on the run. Again, this is not a real concern as we’ve seen this done countless times before. But first baseman Schmitt, in stretching for the ball, missed it entirely. The ball ricocheted off Macado’s stomach into shallow right field, allowing Merrill, who was running on the play and never stopped, to score from first.

By definition, a dumb run. A real dud. And yet that dud, only foreshadowed more to come.  

Fast-forward to the 5th. Two outs, runners at the corners, and another impossibly frustratingly slow ball rolled off the bat of a Padre. Forced to charge in, forced to his left, Chapman once again sent another hurried, off-balance throw across the diamond, and once again, Schmitt couldn’t quite wrangle it, allowing San Diego to double their lead with another dumb run. 

That’s one dumb run too many, and the goofed catch earned Schmitt some free and very blunt advice from Chapman when they met on the mound soon after.    

Obviously both balls in play should’ve led to outs. While the errors were equitably split between the two involved, Schmitt’s inexperience showed. A more seasoned receiver jumps off the bag and tries for the tag on the first throw. On the second, he stays more upright, knowing that an exaggerated stretch exposes more than aids. And then there’s that fundamental truth that if you can get leather on the ball, you should catch it. Schmitt, as a true infielder, has built his whole life around that rule. And while he’s relatively new to the position, he is experienced at catching baseballs, and certainly knows the basic tenet of manning a base: ball, then bag. That being said, Chapman has made better throws, and Schmitt was certainly getting jerked around a bit. The first throw appeared to be spinning up the first base line, taking him uncomfortably close to the oncoming runner. The second was thrown from closer range and kept rising like a Pivetta four-seamer. But those excuses wouldn’t fly with Schmitt if he was the one playing third making that throw across the diamond. A first baseman, as the Ringo of the infield, is there to hold up and support the genius of the others. Managing the skips, short-hops, risers, and palm balls — that’s just part of the first base gig.  

While those glove gaffes set the tone in the series finale, the game wasn’t completely out of reach, or obliterated beyond redemption, until José Buttó took over the 8th and delivered the coup de grâce.

The reliever’s first pitch ended up short-hopping the wall for a lead-off double by Machado. His second found an open seat beyond the left field wall. Ramon Laureano’s 2-run double put San Diego up 5-1 and seemed to shake Buttó to his core. He threw seven straight balls, walking the next two batters. Just when an offering in the zone seemed to be an impossibility, he struck out Freddy Fermin…before walking the bases loaded on four straight balls to Bryce Johnson. San Diego would add two more, extending their lead to the final 7-1, on an infield single and subsequent four-pitch walk.  

Buttó surrendered four runs on three hits and four walks. Of the 28 pitches he threw before he was mercifully removed, Buttó recorded just five strikes (not including the 3 hits surrendered). It got to the point where the only explanation for such a derailment was an injury, and under this pretense he was mercifully removed. Ryan Borucki took over and needed three pitches to induce an inning-ending double-play. 

While a lot of players will be leaving San Diego with their tail between their legs, there were some positives. Overall, a series win is a series win. Two out of three in San Diego is fine by me. 

Luis Arraez, hitting clean-up, collected three of the team’s four hits and scored their only run. Harrison Bader came up with a face-saving, two-out RBI.

Adrian Houser, in his Giants debut, was probably kept in one or two batters too long in the 6th, nor did he get much support around him, but he threw well. He pitched to contact with a sinker-change-up interplay similar to Webb’s, and on a better day more representative of the infield’s abilities, he’ll be rewarded for eliciting those ground balls. 

Speaking of which, while Chapman and Schmitt struggled to connect, Chapman and fellow Gold Glover Patrick Bailey had no trouble teaming up for a couple of slick, run-saving putouts.

At least someone can catch the f***ing ball.     

As a wise giant once said: “it is happening again.” For the sixth time in seven seasons the Mariners carry a 3-4 record after their first seven games. This simply isn’t a roster that gets off to a hot start. And for reasons ranging from the sensible to the silly, that’s basically fine.

For one: it’s cold in Seattle! I probably don’t need to tell you this dear reader but the temperature at first pitch was 47 degrees! Fine for football weather but downright miserable for baseball. It’s so cold that Luke Raley’s bat is deciding that it does not want to be a baseball bat anymore in the cover image.

That cold tends to favor pitchers, so it is perhaps no surprise that today’s contest was a pitcher’s duel for the first five innings. Mariners starter George Kirby allowed a first inning run off a walk, stolen base, and ground ball double up the first base line, but was absolutely dominant for much of the rest of his outing. He rolled through the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings while only allowing two baserunners.

Unfortunately, so did Yankees starter Cam Schlitter whose fastball was absolutely unhittable. Watching the game, it seemed like Raley wasn’t the only player missing a barrel on his bat. Everyone, from superstar Cal Raleigh to little Leo Rivas was swinging through the heater.

Kirby’s dominance game to an end in the sixth inning, which he started with an uncharacteristic leadoff walk. After getting that fraud Aaron Judge — who probably doesn’t even own a robe — to pop out, he struck out Cody Bellinger and seemed poised to hang another zero on the scoreboard. But he couldn’t get his changeup up in the zone against Ben Rice and issued another free pass. And then he grooved a middle-middle heater to Paul Goldschmidt. Oh no.

In an instant, a very winnable 1-run ballgame became an almost-out-of-reach 4-run ballgame. Drat. The Mariners were a grand slam behind the Yanks. Surely there is no coming back from that.

The Mariners brought in Jose Ferrer and Cooper Criswell to relieve George, and they got through the 7th and 8th innings without allowing a run. In the bottom of the eighth, Dominic Canzone and Cole Young hit back to back 1-out singles to put runners on the corners. Leo Rivas struck out reaching for an awful pitch that bounced on home plate for the second out in the inning. Brendan Donovan then took the easiest 4-pitch walk of his life to load the bases. That brought up the number two hitter. Who was that again? Oh right.

Cal Raleigh stood in the batter’s box with three men on and two outs in the inning. The moment was perfect for the 2025 home run champ to get his first of 2026. The city of Seattle held its breath. On a 2-1 count, Yankees reliever Dave Bednar tried to bury a splitter below the zone. But he missed up, a dangerous thing to do against a hitter who loves to send low and away breaking pitches to the moon. Cal swung and made contact with his signature one-handed follow through.

And hit a 2-run single. Not a grand slam, but runs are runs and the M’s were finally on the board. Things were looking up. Right up until Julio struck out on a splitter right down the middle. Oh you thought the M’s had a chance? April Fools!

To add insult to injury the Yanks got a run back in the ninth off of a leadoff home run by Ben Rice. That left the M’s with a 3 run deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Much work to be done. And some of it was! With two outs, Dominic Canzone scored Randy Arozarena from second and advanced to scoring position himself on defensive indifference. That brought up Cole Young to decide the game. Cole fought and scratched and clawed for his life and ground out a nerve-racking 10-pitch at bat. Finally, he got a fastball down the middle and sent it on a good ride towards right field… it flew high up into the roof-covered sky… and settled into Aaron Judge’s glove just in front of the warning track. April Fools!

To play the maybe game for a moment, maybe in August, when its a little warmer and Cole’s a little stronger, that ball gets over the wall. Maybe Cal hits a slam instead of a single. Maybe a lot of things. But here’s a fact. The season is still so, so, so young. There are still 155 games remaining. Last year the Mariners got off to an equally mediocre start and the won the division, in case you forgot. So here’s my fact: you’d be a fool to count them out now.

PHOENIX — Ok, maybe the entire town of Kingman, Arizona, wasn’t on hand Wednesday afternoon to see their hometown hero, but that lower section down right field, toward the concourse at Chase Field, certainly made their presence known loud and clear.

They watched their famous Kingman native mow down the Arizona Diamondbacks, but only this time, the two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal didn’t get his Detroit Tigers teammates to cooperate.

Skubal, despite giving up just one run and six hits in seven dominant innings, lost 1-0 to the Diamondbacks. It was the first time he lost a 1-0 game since May 31 last season against the Kansas City Royals when he also gave up one run in seven innings.

Skubal gave up a home run to Corbin Carroll on his ninth pitch of the game, and allowed only one runner to reach second base after the third inning on shortstop Javier Baez’s error. He threw 60 of his 87 pitches for strikes, but took no solace in his latest dominant performance, with the Tigers having scored in just four of their last 49 innings.

“Obviously, it doesn’t really matter,’’ said Skubal, 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA, vying to join Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson to win three consecutive Cy Young awards. “We lost. The goal of every game that I’m pitching, I want to win. It doesn’t really matter how it happens.

“Individually, fine, but it’s a team game. And we need to win. So it doesn’t really matter how I felt because it comes in a loss.’’

The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers should be one of the more intriguing stops in the system this season. Not necessarily because they’re built to dominate the Carolina League, but because of what they represent. This is what the early stages of a rebuild actually look like.

A roster packed with teenagers, recent draftees, and projection players isn’t going to overwhelm anyone out of the gate. But if things go right, Kannapolis could be where the foundation quietly starts to take shape. It will be less about wins and losses, and more about whether the organization can build anything resembling a functional pipeline again.

The Ballers will have a fresh face guiding that process in Jayson Nix, who takes over for Chad Pinder after Pinder’s rapid ascent to Triple-A Charlotte. Nix brings a blend of big-league and recent coaching experience, having spent time on the Los Angeles Angels’ staff under Ron Washington.

For a roster this young, that experience matters. Development here isn’t just mechanical; it’s about teaching players how to handle failure, adjust, and survive a grind they’ve never experienced before.

Last year’s 64–68 finish certainly doesn’t jump off the page, but the way Kannapolis got there does. They hovered around .500 most of the season before catching fire late, winning 11 of their final 14 games and at least making things interesting down the stretch.

More importantly, the Ballers did what they were supposed to do: develop players. Names like Braden Montgomery and Caleb Bonemer moved up the ranks, and that’s the real currency at this level.

This season, three of Chicago’s top-30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) are set to open 2026 in Kannapolis. Let’s break down that trio, along with a few other names worth keeping tabs on.

The kids are (very) young

This year’s position-player group leans heavily into projection, which is supposed to be a theme across the White Sox system under GM Chris Getz.

Billy Carlson (MLB No. 70, White Sox No. 5)

Carlson is a good place to start. The righty hitter brings a clean swing, but the real story is the glove. With elite defensive grades already, Carlson looks like he could stick on the left side of the infield long-term, and the arm strength backs it up in a big way. If the bat comes through even a little, that’s something.

Jaden Fauske (White Sox No. 7)

Fauske offers a different flavor. A lefty bat with line-drive tendencies and real speed, he’s the type of player who can impact the game without needing to leave the yard. The power may come later, but for now, it’s about getting on base, creating chaos, and covering serious ground in the outfield.

Javier Mogollón (White Sox No. 13)

Then there’s Mogollón, who enters something of a prove-it year. His first full season in 2025 was, to put it bluntly, rough. There were small wins, namely improved plate discipline, but much of his offensive profile took a step back. At 20, there’s still time, but this is where adjustments need to start turning into results.

Other names like Marcelo Alcala, Rylan Galvan, and Stiven Flores round out a group that’s long on tools and short on certainty, which is kind of the point in Low-A.

Arms to watch

On the pitching side, the Ballers won’t overpower opponents, but there’s a bit of intrigue.

Riley Eikhoff

Eikhoff fits the “could be more than the sum of his parts” mold. A compact righty with a knack for generating ground balls, he’s the type who could quietly carve out a role if things click.

Blaine Wynk

Wynk might be the biggest wild card. An eighth-round pick with a fastball that can reach 97 mph, his development hinges on health after a shoulder issue limited his college time. If he’s right, there’s real upside here, and maybe he ends up as a draft-day steal for the Sox.

Daniel Wright

Wright is hard to miss at 6´9´´. His fastball/cutter mix gives him a chance to stick as bullpen depth, even if the track record is more “solid” than “spectacular.” In a system that needs arms, that alone makes him worth watching.

So, no, this team probably isn’t built to run away with anything. But if a few bats pop, a couple of arms stabilize, and the product looks sharper by August, that’s a win. Because in a rebuild like this, Kannapolis isn’t about the standings. It’s about whether anything here looks and feels real.

The Ballers open the season at home on April 2 against the Hill City Howlers (Cleveland’s Low-A affiliate), kicking off what should be a telling first look at this next wave of Chicago’s youngsters.