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Major League Baseball, after sinking in 2024 to its lowest Black population in the sport since 1955, has now shown an increase in back-to-back years for the first time in about two decades, according to MLB’s research.

The African American population is 6.5% on this year’s opening-day rosters and injured lists, a rise from 5.7% in 2024 and 6% last year.

MLB officials are encouraged that developmental programs are starting to produce results, with 20 of the 62 African American players participating in their youth academies, Breakthrough or Dream Series or an invitational. It also includes nine former first-round picks.

There’s also optimism there will be gains in the future with just eight Black players older than 32, and 34 of the players 27 years or younger. There were 17 Black minor-league players on 40-man rosters on opening day, which was reduced to 16 when the Milwaukee Brewers called up outfielder Blake Perkins.

Still, it’s alarming that there are six teams who opened the season without a single Black player on their roster, double the total of last year.

The Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates are all without a single African American player. The Padres also don’t have a Black player in the minors on their 40-man roster.

There are 11 teams with no more than one Black player on the roster, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will celebrate Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in 1947 on Wednesday against the New York Mets.

Two of the smallest-market teams have the most Black players in baseball, the Minnesota Twins and Cincinnati Reds. The Twins have six Black players on their roster, including two Black starting pitchers_Taj Bradley and Simeon Woods-Richardson. The Reds have five Black players on the roster.

Together, the Twins and Reds comprise of 17.7% of the African American population in baseball.

While MLB continues to try to develop more Black pitchers and catchers, with an annual Dream Series each year in Tempe, Arizona, Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin remains the only everyday Black catcher. Baldwin, the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year winner, is the first everyday African American catcher since All-Star Charles Johnson, who last played in 2005.

“It’s definitely a position you don’t see many Black players," Baldwin told USA TODAY Sports, “so it’s kind of nice to break that stereotype and gives you the motivation to keep going.’’

And although there are 13 pitchers on every MLB team, there currently are only 13 Black pitchers in the league. Reliever Joe Ross, who made the Diamondbacks’ opening-day roster, was designated for assignment last week.

“My why is being able to grow the numbers of African American players within our sport," Reds starter Hunter Greene told USA TODAY Sports in December, “or at least give the opportunity to the Black community. It's up to the kids to want to continue to pursue baseball. But it's clear as day, I'm 10 toes down in my why. …I've seen my impact in real time."

While the Black population in baseball is slightly growing, MLB continues to see gains internationally, with 26.1% of its players born outside the United States, spanning 16 countries and territories. Japan has 14 players in MLB, its most since 2010. Canada has 17 players, the country’s most since 2013, including Black Canadians Josh and Bo Naylor. The Dominican Republic has 93 players in the big leagues, leading all foreign nations.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Black MLB players see growth again in 2026 population

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” — Robert Burns

Often the best judge of a general manager’s character is not what happens when things go according to plan, but what happens when those plans go sideways. In some sense, fans will want to hold Dana Brown accountable for not having contingency plans for some of these injuries and poor play, but some of that is not reasonable. The question is what happens from here.

I often wish I could be a fly on the wall when general managers and other executives talk. Dana Brown could be forgiven for feeling some desperation. It is hard to imagine so many plans going awry so quickly and so completely. On the one hand, the team sits at 6-7 and they have been in more dire straits before. Seemingly, they have been in worse position in each of the past three seasons at different points of the season. So, panic is not on the level of believing you are tumbling out of contention in mid-April.

The panic probably results from a number of calculated gambles that have all come up snake eyes. Jake Meyers pulled up lame in his first at bat of the game and could be disabled. When the Astros broke camp the assumption was that Zach Cole would be ready to step in and take over in that instance. He fell on his face this spring and then broke his foot in AAA. He is out a couple of months at least himself. The team can deploy Brice Mathews this year, but his K rate is close to 50 percent. That’s problem number one.

Problems two through infinity are all on the mound. The club hoped that Mike Burrows would step up and become a number two starter. That hasn’t happened yet. Tatsuya Imai looked good in his second start, but he is hardly a sure thing either. The only sure thing in the rotation is no longer a sure thing. Hunter Brown is on the shelf for at least a month.

The news went from bad to worse when Cristian Javier suddenly left the game before throwing a pitch in the second inning. He wasn’t off to a good start to begin with. Couple that with the sudden ineffectiveness of Bryan Abreu and you could be forgiven for looking past the 6-7 record and expressing more pessimism in the moment. For a general manager in the last year of a contract, this is the nightmare scenario. A normal general manager on a longer leash would exercise patience. A guy that wants to win now to keep his job must be sweating bullets.

I make no bones about the fact that I am a data driven guy. However, this commentary is not offered in the form of a lab because the labs have to remain pure to the search for truth and knowledge. This is more a gut feel. My gut is based on data and analytical thinking in part, but there is also an emotional bent to it. This feels like an avalanche. The temptation is to make some kind of trade to bring a jolt into a team reeling from sudden injury woes. That instinct would be a mistake.

Part of this is based on science. Vince Gennero used to be the president of SABR and he wrote a landmark book called “Diamond Dollars.” In that book he posited a lot of revolutionary ideas and one of those was the sweet spot of when to spend. Most good players are worth three to five wins. Six plus win players are rarely available and players worth less than three wins are probably not worth a major investment. That is true for free agency, but it is also true for trades.

The hot name right now is Sandy Alcantara. He is an impending free agent, so it is fairly certain that the Marlins will deal him before the deadline to recoup some value there. He is 2-0 with an ERA under 1.00 in the early part of the season, so it appears he is back to top form. The temptation is to think that a healthy Brown and Alcantara could team with Burrows and Imai to form a pretty good top four of a playoff rotation. That is assuming that it would be enough to get into the playoffs.

Gennaro posited that the sweet spot for making moves was when a team was somewhere around 85 wins. Those three to five wins would throw you into the playoffs. This is probably where commenters would point out that I picked them to win 85 games. This was based on a healthy Brown and a reasonably effective Cristian Javier and Bryan Abreu. This has the look of an 80 win team now. I’m not sure that warrants expending prospect capital to turn the tide.

This is the other half of the equation. The Astros don’t have a ton of hot prospects. Kevin Alvarez, Ethan Frey, Xavier Neyens, and Walker Janek qualify on that front. An Alcantara (or other similar player) would cost at least two of them. With Yainer Diaz looking overmatched, trading Janek has to be seen as a no go. That leaves you two of the three others (and probably one more prospect). In a system with few impact position player prospects, that would be extremely painful and Alcantara would be a pure rental.

Not making a trade does not mean surrendering. You have depth in Sugar Land that might help you stem the tide. Obviously, situations can change. Just a week ago we were feeling good about a 5-2 baseball team. It isn’t the losses that hurt. It is losing three players in the span of a week. This feels like 2025 all over again. It feels like fixing holes in a boat with chewing gum. That’s not the right time for desperation moves. The best move is to hope everything stabilizes. If it does then you can reevaluate a decision to add down the line. If it doesn’t then all the additions in the world won’t matter.

[Warning: Mixed metaphors incoming. Polar bears don’t like the heat. But human ballplayers do go hot and cold, respectively and metaphorically.]

When the Orioles signed Pete Alonso last winter, they knew they what they were getting: the big, slow, mashing first baseman whose value resides entirely in the batter’s box. Not a fielder. Not a base stealer. A big bat, designed to hit dingers, strike fear in the hearts of opposing starters, and do little else.

So when Alonso dove headfirst into second base in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s come-from-behind win against the White Sox—belly flopping across the bag on a hustle double that ignited the go-ahead rally—it felt like a statement… maybe? … about this team and its character, surely, but more importantly, about what version of Pete Alonso we might come to expect.

One double is a rounding error in the career of this five-time All Star. (He’s hit 185, if you were wondering.) But it felt encouraging in context. The truth is, through the first twelve games of 2026, Alonso has been… ice-cold. Not, to prolong this strained image, like a Polar Bear romping in the Artic; more like, well, a first baseman you worry might be overpaid, granted a generous five-year, $155 million contract. He’s hitting .188 with a .264 OBP and .556 OPS.

Wednesday didn’t fix that. But maybe it was the start of improvement. Twelve games, as we know, is nothing.

Also, there are other things going right. Alonso is pounding the ball right now. He’s posting career-highs in exit velocity (95.1 mph) and hard-hit percentage (60.6%). He’s walking at normal rates, and he’s not chasing, either.

The story seems pitch-specific. Alonso is a hitter who loves to hit fastballs, and this year, results-wise, despite good contact, it’s not going well: his average off heaters is .185, although with an expected average (.241) about seventy points better. Interestingly, the launch angle on this pitch is way down: 5 degrees. So is his bat speed: 72.9 mph, down from above 75 in most seasons since MLB Statcast started keeping track. With a lot of ground balls off heaters, this helps to explain why his power is way down, as evidenced by a career .261 ISO (isolated power) and a .104 mark so far this season.

Also, his strikeouts are up: 28.3% versus a career 22.9%. This seems to be driven by swinging strikes against breaking balls, a 40.7% whiff rate that’s a career high in the way you don’t want. It seems Alonso is having difficult timing up offspeed and breaking pitches, and he’s seeing more of them, especially on the first pitch, than ever.

Alonso is struggling to hit lefties (.100 LH vesus .211 RHP splits, respectively), but he’s struggling to hit lefty fastballs most of all. He still doesn’t have a hit off this pitch, despite already seeing 26 of them so far. As for right-handed pitchers, his worst work is against changeups: he’s still hitting .000 off these.  

I’m curious about the bat speed, but otherwise, my best guess, these problems are fluky and small sample-size-based and shouldn’t continue. The weather is still cold, Alonso’s career lefty-righty splits are .231/.260, and power has always been his greatest strength. If I had to guess, I’d say he still hasn’t found his timing.

Back on Wednesday, that sixth-inning double came off an 86-mph sweeper from a right hander. This is a pitch Alonso hasn’t had much luck with all season. Instead, this time he put a charge into one to the gap, and then he ran. Hard and true, pulling out a double with a dive into the bag before later scoring on a wild pitch. It was inspiring hustle from the big man.

Pete Alonso’s designated role on this team is clubhouse leader and big bat. So far, he hasn’t found the latter, for interesting reasons. But there’s a lot more to him as a hitter and he’s certainly already earned a lot of trust with his impressive career track record and leadership role on this new team.

Once the power shows up, the Polar Bear will be an anchor of this lineup. He’s here to play.

The Orioles are now 6-6, back at .500 after Wednesday’s sweep-clincher over the White Sox, and they feel like a team that’s finding something. Whether Alonso ends up being a difference-maker in the traditional sense remains to be seen. But this week, when the moment called for effort over elegance, he delivered.

Columbus Clippers 0, Worcester Red Sox 5

Clippers fall to 7-5

Columbus managed just four hits on Thursday and Nolan Jones had two of them, going 2-for-4. The only other player to reach base safely twice was Kody Huff, who went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Logan Allen was tagged for four runs on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched.

Will Dion had 1.1 scoreless frames of relief and Hunter Gaddis allowed one run on one hit with a hit by pitch in his one inning of rehab work.

The lone bright spot was Daniel Espino, who continues to pitch spotlessly, striking out two batters in a scoreless inning of work. I can’t wait until they start allowing him to pitch more than one inning at a time.

Akron RubberDucks 1, Harrisburg Senators 12

RubberDucks fall to 3-3

This one was uuuuuugly. Christian Knapczyk was the lone source of runs for Akron, hitting a fourth inning solo shot over former Guardian prospect Alex Clemmey.

Other than that, the only offensive bright spot was Jose Devers, who went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.

Starting pitcher Khal Stephen was OK, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits in 3.2 innings pitched. He struck out five and walked two.

Reliever Jack Carey had an especially rough day, giving up five runs on three hits and two walks in just 0.1 innings.

Position player Guy Lipscomb got to pitch late in the game, giving up a pair of runs in one inning.

Lake County Captains 4, Dayton Dragons 7

Captains fall to 3-3

The top of Lake County’s batting order accounted for nearly all of the team’s offense in this game.

Jace LaViolette’s bat woke up from its ancient slumber as he picked up his first two career hits as a professional ballplayer. He went 2-for-5 with a double.

Jaison Chourio reached base safely three times, going 2-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases.

Nolan Schubart walked twice and scored a pair of runs while both Anthony Silva and Garrett Howe went 1-fo-3 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Jackson Humphries was solid, allowing three runs on three hits in 5.0 innings with four strikeouts and two walks.

Miguel Virguez was tattooed for four runs on four hits and a walk in just 0.2 innings of work. Cam Walty cleaned up the mess with 2.1 innings of scoreless long relief and three strikeouts.

Hill City Howlers 3, Fredericksburg Nationals 8

Howlers fall to 3-3

Fredericksburg jumped all over starting pitcher Joey Oakie with four runs in the first inning and two more in the second, although three of the runs were unearned.

Oakie’s final line was 3.0 innings pitched, six runs, three earned on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Jervis Alfaro was sensational in long relief, striking out seven in 4.0 scoreless innings of work.

Jose Pirela was a standout on offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.

Luis De La Cruz also went 2-for-3 with a walk. No one else reached base twice or had an extra base hit.

When the Phillies acquired Jonathan Bowlan in a trade over the winter with the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Matt Strahm, you would have been forgiven if it was the first time you were ever hearing about someone named Jonathan Bowlan. The 29-year-old had only appeared in 37 career MLB games to that point, spending the majority of his professional career in the minor leagues.

But the Phillies apparently saw something more in Bowlan, and despite an unglamorous spring, he has found himself primarily used as the third right-hander out of the Phillies bullpen after Jhoan Duran and Brad Keller thanks in part to the previous absence of Orion Kerkering. So far in 2026, Bowlan has allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings pitched. But he also has five strikeouts and has yet to walk a batter.

He’s flashed some impressive stuff, as Bowlan is averaging 97.5 MPH on his fastball, a full 2 MPH increase from 2025. He’s thrown his new sweeper ten times and has generated a swing and miss on nine of those pitches. In addition to adding that sweeper, the Phillies also have had Bowlan change his pix mitch so far, throwing his changeup more and his slider less than he has in the past. Again, this is in a miniscule sample size of just 84 total pitches, but it will be interesting if this mix is the plan going forward.

Meanwhile the man traded for Bowlan, Matt Strahm, has allowed three runs in 4.2 IP for the Royals with two walks and five strikeouts. But whereas Bowlan’s velocity is up two miles per hour, Strahm’s is down two miles per hour to 90.1 MPH from his already diminishing 92.3 MPH from last season. The direction of both relievers will be something interesting to track as the 2026 season goes on.

So, what are your first impressions of Jonathan Bowlan? Is there something here and he’s only scratching the surface of what the Phillies pitching program can pull out? Or is he just an unimpressive depth reliever? Has anything Bowlan’s done stood out in any way to you, good or bad?

Good morning, LSB.

The Rangers were off yesterday.

They spent the off day releasing their new city connect uniforms.

Evan Grant has details on the jersey paying homage to North Texas’ Mexican heritage.

Jeff Wilson says the Rangers are bringing back red.

Elsewhere Wilson also has notes on the Rangers’ big sweep before they take on the mighty Dodgers.

Grant takes a look at where the team stands before its long road trip.

Grant also had a long YouTube Q&A where he answered fan questions.

And finally Evan will be waiting tables at Rodeo Goat today to raise money for Mercy Street Dallas.

That’s all for this morning. The Rangers take on the Dodgers tonight 9 with Kumar Rocker getting the late start for Texas.

Happy Friday!

NC State’s 2026 season took a significant hit as multiple sources have confirmed that JR RHP Jacob Dudan will require Tommy John Surgery for a torn UCL, ending his season and dealing a significant blow to the Wolfpack.

A potential 1st round pick in this year’s MLB Draft before the injury, this likely marks the end of Dudan’s Wolfpack career as he will still be a top three round draft pick come July. The junior from Huntersville was 4-1 with a 3.60 ERA this year over 50.0 innings, spanning eight starts. He had a 30.4 K% against a 5.9 BB% with hitters mustering just a .229 batting average against him.

The clear question here is around the workload that the team was placing on Dudan. Transitioning from his role as a high-leverage bullpen arm in 2024 and 2025, Dudan threw 100+ pitches in each of his last six starts, including 110+ in four of the last five. Given the high velocity and a heavy slider mix for the righty, it’s fair to question if he should have been allowed to work such high pitch counts.

With Dudan out, JR LHP Cooper Consiglio will likely slide into the weekend rotation, joining JR LHP Ryan Marohn and JR RHP Heath Andrews. That in turn pulls a valuable arm from an already thin bullpen for State.

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The Chicago Cubs will look to improve their winning streak to three games when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates in an NL Central clash at Wrigley Field on Friday, April 10.

My top Pirates vs. Cubs predictions and MLB picks expect Chicago to pull off the victory, with the total going Over the number this afternoon.

Who will win Pirates vs Cubs today: Cubs moneyline (-140)

The Chicago Cubs will receive a boost with Seiya Suzuki making his season debut this afternoon, and the Cubbies have also been on the unlucky side to start the year.

Chicago ranks second in hard-hit rate and sixth in barrel percentage, so positive regression to a 25th-ranked BABIP is coming.

Additionally, Pittsburgh Pirates righty Carmen Mlodzinski has surrendered a 68.0% hard-hit rate through two starts, and three of his five offerings have negative pitch values.

Chicago starter Shota Imanga is also eyeing statistical correction with his 4.50 ERA above his 3.03 xERA and 3.48 xFIP.

COVERS INTEL: Seiya Suzuki was third in wOBA on the Cubs in 2025, and he posted a monster .467 mark during his five-game rehab stint.

Pirates vs Cubs Over/Under pick: Over 6.5 (-113)

The wind is forecasted to be blowing in at the Friendly Confines, but Chicago isn’t truly going to live up to its Windy City moniker. 

As noted, the Cubs are positioned to have a breakout day at the dish, and have scored 24 runs across their past four games.

And, while Imanga has solid underlying numbers, the Pirates can also do damage.

Pittsburgh has a deeper and more potent lineup than in years past and ranks seventh in wOBA against lefties to start the season.

Pirates vs Cubs odds

• Moneyline: Pirates +133 | Cubs -138
• Run line: Pirates +1.5 (-156) | Cubs -1.5 (+150)
• Over/Under: Over 6.5 (-113) | Under 6.5 (+108)

Pirates vs Cubs trend

The Cubs have covered the run line in 10 of their last 14 games at home (+7.25 Units / 43% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Pirates vs. Cubs.

How to watch Pirates vs Cubs and game info

Pirates vs Cubs latest injuries

Pirates vs Cubs weather

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Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees hit the road to take on the Rays from newly-renovated Tropicana Field.

5 things to watch

Offense looking for answers

The Yankees dropped their first series of the season, losing two of three games against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium. But it's not the fact that they lost, it's how it went down.

After Amed Rosario was the hero on Tuesday night, the offense went silent, dropping the final two games while scoring a total of two runs. After scoring two runs in the first inning of Wednesday's game, the Yanks picked up just two hits (and no runs) across the next 17 innings. 

While the players who have struggled to start the season continued to scuffle, the top of the order hasn't been great of late.

Aaron Judge was 1-for-9 with two walks and two strikeouts in the A's series. Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Cody Bellinger had just four hits combined in the three games. 

Even Ben Rice, the team's hottest hitter, was just 2-for-10. As good as the pitching has been for the Yankees, they'll need more production from the hitters to achieve their goals.

Bottom of the order woes

A big part of the offensive outage has been the bottom of the order.

Ryan McMahon, Jose Caballero and Austin Wells are a combined 12-for-96 this season, including 2-for-18 in the three-game set against Oakland. That has forced manager Aaron Boone to shuffle the lineup in a number of ways. Rosario has started at third and second base recently, while McMahon and Caballero were given games off. 

McMahon even made his first MLB start at shortstop this week just to give a different look. Now, aside from Rosario's heroics on Tuesday, the lineup shuffling didn't work, but we should expect more this weekend. Boone confirmed Giancarlo Stanton will take one game off this weekend (likely Saturday) to give Judge a game at DH. 

How often will we see Rosario in the starting lineup? Can the bottom of the order improve, even a little, this weekend?

Luis Gil's season debut

After the Yankees broke camp with just four starters -- thanks to a number of off days -- the team is ready to bring Gil back.

Gil will make his season debut in the series-opener on Friday. The young right-hander was up-and-down in spring training, which resulted in him starting the season in the minors, but now it's time for him to try and reclaim his spot.

As Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon work toward returns, and Will Warren and Ryan Weathers -- starters who can potentially be sent down once reinforcements arrive -- pulling their weight, Gil needs to get off to a good start.

He made one minor league start and allowed three runs in 4.2 innings. He struck out six but walked four, a problem that plagued Gil in 2025. 

Can Max Fried bounce back?

Fried got off to a scorching start to the season, not allowing a run in his first 13.1 innings. That momentum came to a halt against the Marlins on Sunday when he allowed three runs across 6.2 innings on a miserable, rain-delayed outing.

While still effective, the Yanks will need Fried to help them get back on track. The Yankees don't know what they'll get from Gil on Friday, so Fried on Saturday may be what stands between New York and a four-game losing streak.

Back at the Trop

The Yankees are well-acquainted with Tropicana Field, but it's been a while since they've actually traveled to St. Petersburg to take on their division rivals.

After spending their road games against Tampa Bay at their spring training facility last season, New York will finally return with all the quirks that come with the stadium that has housed the Rays since 1998. 

As Boone said prior to Thursday's series finale against the A's, he doesn't know what to expect when the team arrives.

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Aaron Judge

The Yankees will see two southpaws this weekend and Judge has 11 home runs in 53 career games at Tropicana Field. 

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?

Max Fried

The last time Fried allowed three or more runs in back-to-back starts, you'll have to go back to mid-August of last season. Don't anticipate that happening this weekend.

Which Rays player will be a thorn in the Yankees' side?

Junior Caminero

Caminero has gotten off to a hot start, and it's easy to see him smashing a home run or two this weekend.