The attention the Braves have given to position player prospects has paid huge dividends so far this season with a number of impressive performances already in the first month. First round pick Tate Southisene led off for Augusta with his third long ball of the season, and his .917 OPS on the season has been a huge plus for the GreenJackets. After a poor stretch of play John Gil is back to playing great in Rome, notching another three hit game as part of another big offensive day for the Emperors.

(15-8) Gwinnett Stripers 11, (11-12) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 9

Box Score

Statcast

• Jim Jarvis, SS: 0-3, 2 BB, .366/.490/.512
• Nacho Alvarez Jr., 3B: 1-5, .203/.304/.237
• Aaron Schunk, 1B: 5-5, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, .338/.393/.575
• Austin Pope, SP: 1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 4.32 ERA
• Hayden Harris, RP: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2.08 ERA

Gwinnett and Jacksonville played in a barn burner, and it was a late push by the Stripers and Aaron Schunk’s huge day at the plate that pushed them over the edge in the end. On the run preventation side of the ball the Stripers relied on a host of pitchers in a bullpen game and in the early innings struggled to get any sort of consistent success. The pitching staff led by spot starter Austin Pope and reliever Tayler Scott had trouble throwing strikes consistently, and they weren’t helped at all by an abysmal defensive performance. The Stripers pitching staff allowed six walks and the defense coughed up five errors, leading to five unearned runs charged against them. They allowed eight runs through the first four innings of play and trailed 8-4 heading into the latter half of the game. Finally Anderson Pilar gave them a small bit of good work over 2 2/3 innings with no earned runs allowed, and the offense woke up enough to make a late comeback.

Throughout the Stripers lineup they were able to find offensive impact in this game, but nobody was more successful than Aaron Schunk. Schunk had hits in all five of his at-bats in the game, and in the early innings his offensive output carried the team and kept the game close. He led off in the second inning with a double that sparked a rally, eventually scoring a run as part of Gwinnett’s effort to put two on the board. The next inning he went deep with the biggest swing of the game, smashing his fifth home run of the season to make the game 6-4. Schunk’s one out single in the sixth inning led to another scoring chance and his third run scored of the game, but it wasn’t until the seventh that Gwinnett really had their chance to break out. Brewer Hicklen was hit by a pitch and Jim Jarvis drew a walk, setting up the middle of the lineup with two outs. Chadwick Tromp loaded the bases for Schunk, who responded with a clutch single for his fourth hit of the game, driving in two and cutting the deficit to 9-7. Brett Wisely followed that up with a bloop double to bring the game within one, but with two runners in scoring position Jose Azocar struck out to end the inning. Hicklen would be the hero of the evening with his next at bat, cracking a two-run home run that put the Stripers ahead for good in the eighth inning. Schunk capped off his day with another RBI single, his fifth of the game, and in total Schunk scored or drove in seven of the Stripers 11 runs.

Swing and Misses

Anderson Pilar – 8

Tayler Scott – 7

(9-8) Columbus Clingstones 0, (8-9) Birmingham Barons 11

Box Score

• Patrick Clohisy, CF: 0-4, .296/.345/.481
• David McCabe, 1B: 1-4, .264/.409/.623
• Ambioris Tavarez, 2B: 1-2, BB, .194/.356/.306
• Garrett Baumann, SP: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 7.27 ERA

It was a forgettable day for the Clingstones all around as they struggled in every facet of the game. They were stifled on offense despite making plenty of contact throughout the game, with a large majority of their outs coming on weak ground balls and early count outs. The Birmingham staff filled up the strike zone and Columbus went after their pitches, and the only player with a notably good day was Ambioris Tavarez. Tavarez had an early walk for the first Clingstone baserunner of the game and later on had the game’s second hit, though in both cases his time on the basepaths was short-lived. David McCabe had a single early on in this game that pushed his hitting streak up to five games, accounting for the Clingstones’s only other hit, and thus far this season he has reached base safely in all but one of his games played.

Garrett Baumann had two solid games to work himself back after a poor opening start, but came back down a bit in this outing as he struggled to elevate his fastball. It was one of those days where despite throwing a lot of strikes he struggled to land pitches in locations that would him swings and misses, and hitters were able to rack up hits and extend at bats until he made mistakes. All three of his walks came in at bats that he could not finish the hitter off, losing the plate appearance to a walk in a full count. He landed neither of his secondary offerings well at all and had to rely on his fastball to get many of his outs, a tall task for him when he isn’t able to keep the pitch on the edges. Most of his issues came down to his mechanics being a bit off as he was falling off to his glove side a bit and pulling most of his pitches down and in that direction, though in the second inning he did a much better job of locking in his mechanics. In particular his strikeout to end the second inning was a great example of him getting his body downhill and towards home plate, and he located pitches nicely there including a deep slider for a whiff to finish the at bat. Ultimately though he never got a great feel for a consistent secondary, and got tagged for a home run in the next inning when he left his changeup up in the strike zone. Until this point he had managed to avoid allowing any runs, but Birmingham had him dialed in at this point and he only had two whiffs on 17 swings in the inning.

Swing and Misses

Blayne Abeyta – 7

Garrett Baumann – 6

LJ McDonough – 5

(8-9) Rome Emperors 9, (11-6) Greensboro Grasshoppers 5

Box Score

• Isaiah Drake, LF-RF: 1-5, .231/.315/.385
• John Gil, SS: 3-4, 2B, BB, RBI, .246/.353/.421
• Eric Hartman, CF: 1-4, .306/.368/.694
• Logan Braunschweig, DH: 2-4, 2B, HR, .282/.417/.436
• Cam Caminiti, SP: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 4.26 ERA

There are few things more certain than the Rome Emperors giving prospect fans something to like on any given day, and even with the early wake up call the offense was rolling. A six run fifth inning was the key to a win to bring the team within a win of .500, and John Gil had a second big day in a row to start this series. The first six Emperors of the game went down in order, but Logan Braunschweig made his first impact of the game by smoking a double to lead off the third inning, and he came around to score on a Jake Steels groundout to give Rome an early lead. A rough couple of innings from Cam Caminiti did give the game over to the Grasshoppers briefly, though not before Gil made his first mark on the game. Gil scorched a line drive over to third base that deflected off of the defender, and he motored in for a leadoff double though he was stranded there. In the fifth inning Braunschweig made another impact on the game, going down to get a sinker down and in and lifting it for a solo home run. Rome started rolling after this, with a walk to Colin Burgess and hits from Austin Machado and Isaiah Drake loading the bases up for Gil. Gil drew a walk to move everyone up a spot, forcing home a run, and bringing the deficit down to 4-3. Eric Hartman then took a hit by pitch to tie the game, and Cody Miller gave Rome a lead with a sacrifice ground out. Mason Guerra, who led off the inning, netted the hit that gave Rome a little breathing room, sneaking a single up the middle to drive home two runs and push the lead to 7-4. Braunschweig had a chance for a second hit of the inning and gave a liner the other way a good ride, but it was right at the left fielder for the final out and ended Braunschweig’s perfect day at the plate. Gil had leadoff singles in both the seventh and ninth inning, getting him a second straight three hit day. Gil also stole a base to move into the South Atlantic League lead with 11 on the season.

Cam Caminiti started this season off with three terrific performances, but his Wednesday was fraught with inconsistency and a command performance that fell a bit short of the standards he has set in the first month of 2026. Caminiti had reasonable command of his fastball in the early going, keeping the pitch in the upper third of the zone and escaping some mistake sliders to work through two scoreless innings, however the signs of trouble were there. Caminiti missed with his fastball way out of the zone high, and could not get his slider down at all and got lucky leadoff man Wyatt Sanford was too far ahead and yanked one a long way foul. In the second inning they made some adjustments to correct the high misses, but he started leaving the fastball over the plate and at all points was not able to make many swing-and-miss pitches. In the third inning his arm slot started to dip and pitches sailed on him again, and this time Sanford took advantage of a mistake slider. The first pitch of the at bat was a slider up in the zone and Sanford turned it around and smacked it down the line for an RBI double, tying the game. In his second trip through the order Caminiti’s command started to show even more holes and the Grasshoppers put a three spot on him in the fourth inning. It’s close to as bad as you’ll see Caminiti pitch all around as none of his pitches worked throughout the outing, though he was ultimately able to salvage the start and keep Rome in the game until they broke through in the next half inning.

Swing and Misses 

Cam Caminiti – 6

Riley Frey – 5

Ian Mejia – 3

(10-7) Augusta GreenJackets 2, (9-8) Columbia Fireflies 6

Box Score

• Tate Southisene, 2B: 1-4, HR, .246/.425/.492
• Alex Lodise, SS: 2-4, .268/.358/.394
• Luis Guanipa, DH: 0-4, .333/.348/.500
• Derek Vartanian, SP: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 5.40 ERA

This game got off to an exciting start for GreenJackets fans, though excitement in the game probably peaked after the second hitter. On pitch number two Tate Southisene got a slider out over the plate, and he was waiting back on it. He crushed a leadoff home run up onto the berm in left center field, and the GreenJackets had the early lead to work with. Alex Lodise followed up by turning and crushing an inside fastball, and though he fell short of a home run by hitting it into the deepest part of the ballpark he was able to sprint around for a triple and give Augusta an early opportunity to put up a crooked number. With the way Luis Guanipa has been hitting he seemed like the man for the task, but he rolled over a fat slider on the first pitch and was retired without Lodise being able to advance. Nick Montgomery then got carved up by a steady diet of sliders low and away and struck out for the second out, and the scoring opportunity was officially closed when Junior Garcia popped out to the shortstop. Augusta gave up the lead but retook it on a Cooper McMurray single in the top of the second inning, then went the rest of the game without scoring a run. Lodise and Guanipa each had a couple of good moments in the rest of the game, with Lodise going the other way for a single to lead off the third inning. Guanipa followed by putting a charge into a fly ball into the right center field gap, but it died at the base of the wall for a fly out and Augusta didn’t have a lot left in the tank after that point.

Derek Vartanian had two pretty interesting starts to open his season, but had his worst on Wednesday as his command of his slider and splitter were not good enough to help him find consistent success. From the very early portions of the game Vartanian was clearly struggling to keep his slider close, and the Fireflies hitters were able to lay off of it and force him into using his fastball and splitter in the zone. His splitter had a few moments where he laid some nasty pitches fading off the plate to get whiffs, but he also pulled way too many up over the plate and had to dance around trouble throughout the game. It was one of those splitters staying at the top of the strike zone that got tagged for a home run in the third inning, his third home run allowed so far in two games. Vartanian’s mix of pitches is solid enough to be worth a continued eye over the remainder of the season, especially given how sharp he looks despite not pitching competitively all last season due to injury. His velocity looks good and though the command was spotty in this one it’s well in line with the inconsistency you would expect from someone who has missed so much time, and though his fastball is fringy right now he has enough life on it to survive upper level hitters.

Swing and Misses

Derek Vartanian – 19

Carter Lovasz – 6

The Yankees thoroughly handled the Red Sox for a second night in a row, making it 17 consecutive shutout innings to start The Rivalry off in 2026 before Brent Headrick allowed a single baserunner home in the ninth inning. Max Fried kept them in check all night, tossing eight innings to keep the rest of the ‘pen fresh, and Amed Rosario continued to showcase how good of a decision it was to re-sign him by launching a three-run homer in the first inning to set the tone.

New York’s tenuous position atop the division remains intact, but there was a chance to pick up ground with a full slate of games going on around them. The results ended up being more of a mixed bag.

Toronto Blue Jays (10-14) 3, Los Angeles Angels (12-14) 7

The Angels built themselves a steady lead over the course of six innings, stringing a run together in each of the third through fifth innings on a Jo Adell sac fly and homers from Nolan Schanuel and Mike Trout. Toronto, meanwhile, couldn’t solve José Soriano and his 0.24 ERA on the season, though they had some good shots at it. The Blue Jays collected seven hits in five innings against the Angels ace, getting a man on in every inning Soriano pitched. They couldn’t string together anything more than singles though, and ran themselves into trouble with a caught stealing as well as a double-play ball to limit the scoring threats.

Things changed in the seventh, as Kazuma Okamoto worked a one-out walk and Andrés Giménez doubled to put runners on. Tyler Heineman grounded out to second to score the first run, but that brought them to two outs. Needing to get those hits, they finally fell as Nathan Lukes doubled and Ernie Clement singled to tie the game at three.

Just as they tied things up, though, the Jays’ pitching staff unraveled and gave it all right back. Trout was the one to work a one-out walk, and after stealing second Adell singled to put runners on the corners. Brayden Fisher was brought in to escape the jam and got the second out via strikeout, but then he served up a walk to Yoán Moncada and Schanuel doubled to unload the bases. Vaughn Grishom popped a ball into no-man’s-land in right field to score one more for good measure and like that the Angels walked out of the inning up another run despite blowing their three-run lead in the top frame. The Jays couldn’t muster anything in the eighth, and the ninth saw them strand two as Lukes struck out and Clement grounded to third to end it.

Other Games

Tampa Bay Rays (13-11) 6, Cincinnati Reds (16-9) 1: The Reds have been playing excellent ball to start the year, but Tampa got to them early in this one. They scored three runs off of Brandon Williamson in the second inning thanks to back-to-back walks to start the frame, added another on a Junior Caminero solo shot in the third, and drove him from the game in the fifth when they got an RBI single from Ryan Vilade. Cincinnati managed to avoid the shutout by lifting a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth, but they otherwise had no answers to Nick Martinez as the 35-year-old pitched eight innings and scattered five hits with a singular walk.

Baltimore Orioles (12-13) 8, Kansas City Royals (8-17) 6: Pete Alonso got his new team off to a strong start with a two-run shot in the first inning, but Kansas City cut into that lead immediately with a Vinnie Pasquantino solo homer. The Royals flipped the lead in their favor in the fourth inning when Pasquantino led off with a double and scored on a Carter Jensen single, who later scored himself on a single from Lane Thomas. Baltimore answered back in a big way in the sixth inning, with six straight batters reaching safely capped off by Coby Mayo’s three-run blast to go ahead 8-3. KC clawed back three of those runs on homers from Jensen and Kyle Isbel in the bottom half of the sixth, but the only baserunner they’d get the rest of the way would be Nick Loftin reaching via error in the ninth.

Houston Astros (10-16) 2, Cleveland Guardians (14-12) 0: The Astros covered all the offense this game would see in the first inning, and who else would be responsible but Yordan Alvarez. Houston’s MVP candidate launched his league-leading 11th home run of the year, a two-run shot that would be all that Peter Lambert and company needed to secure the win.

Detroit Tigers (13-12) 5, Milwaukee Brewers (13-10) 2: Casey Mize was on his A-game, dealing six innings of one-run ball while striking out seven batters to earn the win. His lone mistake came in the third, when a two-out walk to Brice Turang set him up to steal second base and score on a William Contreras single and briefly put Milwaukee ahead. Detroit went up for good with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, Spencer Torkelson launching a two-run shot in the former while Kevin McGonigle and Colt Keith knocked in runs in the latter. The two sides traded a run apiece in the eighth inning, and a wild Kenley Jansen allowed the tying run to get on base in the ninth but managed to slam the door shut on Turang to pick up the save.

Seattle Mariners (11-15) 5, Athletics (13-12) 4: Logan Gilbert wasn’t at his sharpest on Wednesday, working just four innings and allowing three runs on six hits and two walks. Fortunately for him, he exited with just a one-run deficit, and the Mariners erased it in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly before taking the lead in the next frame thanks to J.P. Crawford and Cal Raleigh getting aboard ahead of Julio Rodríguez who grounded a run in. Nick Kurtz wasn’t ready to call it quits, hitting a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth, but Seattle was ready to rally. A leadoff single was erased on a double-play, but Raleigh and Rodríguez singled to put the winning run in scoring position. Josh Naylor obliged, lining a single to left to walk it off.

Texas Rangers (12-12) 4, Pittsburgh Pirates (14-10) 8: A seven-inning gem from Braxton Ashcraft was neutralized by his bullpen entering for the eighth and promptly blowing the two-run lead Pittsburgh had built. They got it right back in the ninth though, as back-to-back singles followed by a fielder’s choice play at the plate went the Pirates’ way. Oneil Cruz made the tension drop shortly afterwards, as he greeted Jalen Beeks out of the ‘pen with a three-run homer to make it a more comfortable four-run game — the Rangers went down in order in the bottom half to make it a moot point.

Hello friends!

The Mariners got back into the win column yesterday in a 5-4 walk-off victory over the A’s. The M’s enjoy an off-day today as they embark on a road trip to St. Louis and Minnesota.

Busch Stadium is one of those parks I’ve always wanted to see in person, though I think Coors is No. 1 on my list. What non-Seattle ballpark is at the top of your to-visit list?

In Mariners news…

• Bryce Miller is set to rehab with the Everett AquaSox on Friday as he continues to build up his workload.
• Ryon Healy has at least one fan when it comes to his broadcast booth work in the form of Mariners legend Ichiro. Healy is expected to re-join the booth again in late May/early June.
• Over in The Feed, Eric Sanford asked which established Mariner you’re most worried about.

Around the league…

• The Padres have agreed to a one-year contract with right-hander Lucas Giolito. The veteran starter will join San Diego’s Single-A squad while he builds up his workload.
• The Mets finally won a game, but at what cost? Star shortstop Francisco Lindor exited the game with left calf tightness.
• Juan Soto’s return to action was marked by controversy when he admitted to the media that he didn’t speak to any of his teammates during the 12-game losing skid.
• Ben Clemens at Fangraphs broke down what makes right-hander Nolan McLean so good.
• Munetaka Murakami’s heater continues, as the infielder belted a homer in his fifth straight game to tie the MLB rookie record. His 10 round trippers on the season are just one behind Yordan Álvarez for the MLB lead.
• Lew Wolff, a real-estate developer who was a partial owner of the Oakland A’s, blames the Giants for the A’s leaving the Bay Area. Evan Drellich at The Athletic has the report. ($)
• Seattle/T-Mobile Park is marked safe.

The carousel of Braves pitchers has been in full effect the last few days.

Reynaldo Lopez’s Tuesday start lasting just one inning depleted the bullpen for Wednesday.

That in turn led to Didier Fuentes being called to start Wednesday’s game, moving the rest of the rotation’s starts back a day. But when Fuentes lasted just three innings and Atlanta was forced to use Martín Pérez, who was scheduled to start Thursday’s series finale in Washington, out of the bullpen, it sent the carousel on another spin.

It landed on another call-up, but this time for a debut. The Braves are promoting 2022 first-round pick JR Ritchie (35th overall pick) to make his first major league appearance as Atlanta looks to win its fifth straight series Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park.

Ritchie, 22, started the season as a top-100 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America (84th), Baseball Prospectus (88th) and MLB Pipeline (90th). He’s also surged up the Braves’ farm system, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 2 prospect in the organization.

The timing is right for a few reasons. Notably, he’s on normal rest after last throwing for Gwinnett last Saturday. But also, he’s been in strong form which makes him a viable candidate for a major league opportunity.

The 2025 season was his breakout as he went all the way from High-A Rome to Triple-A, posting a combined 2.96 ERA over 140 innings. But the right-hander has taken that to an even higher level early this season in Gwinnett. Over five starts with the Stripers, he’s allowed three runs over 27 1/3 innings for a 0.99 ERA. The strikeout numbers (28) are good. The walks (13) are the only real blip on his stat line.

For his debut, Ritchie will be facing a better-than-expected Nationals lineup through 25 games. Washington’s offense is seventh in the majors in home runs (30) and eighth in batting average (.255), scoring 17 combined runs in the last two games against the Braves.

Ritchie’s counterpart on the mound will be Washington’s Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.12 ERA). A former first-round pick himself by the Nationals in 2020, the right-hander will be making his sixth start of the season and the 17th of his career since debuting in 2022.

Cavalli has yet to allow a homer this season — which could be tested against a Braves lineup which had it third four-homer game of the season Wednesday and is tied for second in the majors with 36 homers — but has allowed a .290 opposing batting average and has battled some control issues with 18 strikeouts to 12 walks in 19 2/3 innings.

It bears mentioning, though, that he had no walks in his last outing, when he needed 92 pitches to get through four innings in Washington’s extra-innings loss to San Francisco Saturday, giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts.

This will be Cavalli’s first time facing the Braves, who are the only NL East opponent he hasn’t yet pitched against.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Thursday, April 23, 1:05 p.m. ET

Location: Nationals Park, Washington, DC

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: Braves.tv, MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

The San Diego Padres entered the middle game of their three-game set against the Colorado Rockies with a share of the lead in the National League Western Division. The Padres were looking to win the second game to maintain their position without having to see what the Los Angeles Dodgers did in their game against the San Francisco Giants, but thanks to an ugly outing from Walker Buehler they were unable to do so. San Diego dropped the middle game to Colorado 8-3 and will try to win the series in the final game today at 12:10 p.m.

Buehler has been competing with German Marquez and Matt Waldron, who was recently recalled from Triple-A, to maintain his place in the back of the Padres’ rotation. That competition got a little tighter on Wednesday when San Diego announced the signing of starter Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal with an option for the 2027 season. Buehler needed to produce a strong showing against Colorado, but he did anything but that. The right-hander allowed four runs on eight hits over 2.2 innings with three walks and two strikeouts. His ERA sits at 5.75 on the season. The eight hits allowed by Buehler were part of 15 hits the Rockies had on the night against Padres pitching.

San Diego looked to be getting off to a good start against Colorado starter Tomoyuki Sugano with Jackson Merrill hitting a one-out single to score Ramon Laureano in the top of the first inning. However, the Padres did not score another run until the top of the seventh inning when Luis Campusano hit a solo home run to left field. San Diego tacked on a final run in the top of the ninth inning after Campusano doubled to start the inning and advanced to third on an error. Jake Cronenworth grounded out to bring Campusano home to make the final score, 8-3. Campy was the bright spot on offense for the Padres, finishing his night 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored.

Padres News:

• Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, are expected to be the majority owners of the Padres once the sale is finalized. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported there will be several minority owners as well and some current owners will remain in place with Feliciano.

• The free-agent signing of Giolito will help to bolster a San Diego pitching rotation that is currently missing Yu Darvish, Joe Mushgrove and Nick Pivetta. Griffin Canning is working his way through minor-league rehab starts as he looks to return to the MLB club and will force the Padres to make some difficult decisions about their rotation once he and Giolito are added to the big-league roster.

• Waldron had a difficult return to the rotation in his first outing of the season for the Padres. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball believes that is largely due to the fact that he is still building up for the season, but the injury to Pivetta forced him to expedite his timeline. She added the organization and fans should not be quick to judge Waldron after just one start and that his metrics show there is success ahead for the right-hander.

Baseball News:

• The New York Mets, with some help from Juan Soto who returned from the IL, finally snapped their 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins, but they may have lost their shortstop Francisco Lindor, who left the game with calf tightness. The win for the Mets means they no longer have the longest active losing streak in MLB. That title now sits with the Philadelphia Phillies who dropped their eighth consecutive game with a 7-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

• The New York Yankees missed out on a third consecutive shutout, but Max Fried delivered eight scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox en route to the win.

• Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a 432-foot three-run home run that banged off the top of the right field foul pole. The home run helped the Pirates beat the Texas Rangers 8-4.

• Jose Soriano allowed seven hits but did not allow a run over five innings, which led the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. It also dropped Soriano’s ERA to a league-best 0.24.

• Josh Naylor had the last of three consecutive ninth inning hits that put the Seattle Mariners past the Athletics 5-4 in walk-off fashion in Seattle.

• Shohei Ohtani dropped his ERA to 0.38, but the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the game to the San Francisco Giants 3-0. Ohtani saw his 53-game on base streak come to an end in the loss.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

Just nine games are on the schedule across the big leagues today, but there are still plenty of solid betting opportunities. 

My MLB player props will highlight Tyler Glasnow, Munetaka Murakami, and Jacob deGrom. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Thursday, April 23.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Tyler Glasnow	Over 6.5 Ks	-110
Munetaka Murakami	Over 0.5 RBI	+170
Jacob deGrom	Over 6.5 Ks	-136

Tyler Glasnow Over 6.5 strikeouts (-110)

Tyler Glasnow has always been a strikeout pitcher, and 2026 has been no different. The hard-throwing righty has racked up 29 Ks in 25 innings of work so far.

Glasnow has cashed the Over in strikeouts in three straight starts. In fact, he’s only hit the Under once this season.

The veteran struck out seven last time out, and he had another seven Ks in the outing before that. Glasnow has 16 strikeouts in 13 road innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the San Francisco Giants tonight. 

San Fran is also striking out 8.33 times per game across their last three, and Glasnow had 11 Ks in 11 2/3 innings against them in 2025. 

• Time: 3:45 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNLA, NBCSBA

Munetaka Murakami Over 0.5 RBI (+170)

I rolled with this pick on Wednesday, and Munetaka Murakami came through once again, homering for the fifth straight game and driving in two runs.

He’s now cashed the Over in RBI in five games in a row as well, collecting a whopping 10 RBI during that span. The man cannot be stopped offensively. 

Murakami has 13 of his RBI off right-handed pitchers, and he’ll be up against Mike Soroka today. The righty has allowed six earned runs across his last two starts, and Murakami is also batting .288 off right-handed hurlers with seven of his 10 home runs. 

• Time: 3:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN, DBacks.TV

Jacob deGrom Over 6.5 strikeouts (-136)

Jacob deGrom is still one of the best in the sport when healthy, and he’s showing it this season. The veteran has a 2.29 ERA through four starts, striking out 25 in 19 2/3 innings of work.

He’s hit the over in Ks in two of his outings in ‘26, and there’s reason to believe he’ll rack up the swings-and-misses today. 

The Texas Rangers take on the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are 22nd in team strikeouts with nine per game. deGrom has 28 Ks in 81 at-bats against them. He had six strikeouts in his lone start at home this year.

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNP, RSN

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Pirates 8, Rangers 4

• Well, that was some unpleasantness.
• Jack Leiter was really good. Until he wasn’t.
• Leiter allowed a first inning run, on a two out Bryan Reynolds double followed by a Marcell Ozuna single, but those were the only two hits he allowed through four innings. He needed just 20 pitches to get through the first nine batters of the game.
• Once the Pirates turned the lineup over, though, the at bats started getting longer and longer. Leiter needed 16 pitches to get the final two outs of the third, including an 11 pitch at bat to end the inning when he struck out Brandon Lowe. In the fourth, he needed 19 pitches, including a nine pitch at bat against Bryan Reynolds and a seven pitch walk to Ryan O’Hearn.
• Still, things seemed to be going fine, and Leiter seemed to be in position to go six, maybe seven innings.
• The Pirates went single-K-walk (on 8 pitches)-K to start the fifth, and retiring Brandon Lowe for the third out would preserve the Rangers’ 2-1 lead.
• But no. Lowe singled home a run. Then Bryan Reynolds singled to right, scoring a run, and Brandon Nimmo made a terrible throw back into the infield that Leiter fell and twisted his ankle trying to back up, allowing Lowe to score all the way from first.
• Leiter looked like he might be seriously injured on the play, which would have made things catastrophic. Somehow, though, he was well enough to finish the inning, retiring Ozuna on a fly out.
• Final line for Leiter was five innings, four runs, three earned, five Ks, 15 whiffs, two walks. He now has a 4.97 ERA on the year.
• The surprisingly effective Tyler Alexander gave the Rangers two innings of scoreless relief, followed by a shutout inning from Gavin Collyer. When the Rangers tied the score in the bottom of the eighth, Skip Schumaker turned to Cole Winn to keep the game tied.
• Things didn’t work out. A weakly hit single and a hard hit single put runners on the corners with no one out. A strikeout was followed by a weak chopper to third base that Josh Jung made a less than great throw home on, and it was now 5-4 with two on and one out. Jalen Beeks was brought in to face Oneil Cruz, and Cruz crushed a middle-middle cutter that bounced off the top of the right field foul pole.
• And that was church.
• Offensively, the Rangers got a two run home run by Josh Jung in the bottom of the second, Joc Pederson having walked to lead off the inning, then did a whole bunch of nothing until the eighth inning, when Andrew McCutchen led off with a pinch hit single, Brandon Nimmo doubled, and then Jake Burger singled them home to tie the game at four.
• That was exciting, at least, though the excitement was short-lived.
• It was a frustrating game. And put the Rangers back at .500, and a half-game back in the A.L. West behind Oakland, even though those shit-ass A’s lost.
• Jack Leiter hit 98.5 mph with his fastball, averaging 96.9 mph. Tyler Alexander hit 92.0 mph with his fastball. Gavin Collyer hit 97.5 mph with his fastball. Cole Winn’s fastball topped out at 96.3 mph. Jalen Beeks reached 94.7 mph with his fastball.
• Brandon Nimmo had a 108.3 mph double and a 102.9 mph ground out. Evan Carter had a 101.9 mph single.
• Texas can still take the series on Thursday. Let’s get that rubber game win.

Through the early part of the season the Pittsburgh Pirates have been enjoying a lot of success, with a lot of credit going to their transformed lineup. At 14-10 the Buccos offseason moves are already paying off as they are in the top ten of the latest MLB Power Rankings.

Brandon Lowe was the headliner in the Pirates’ trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in December, and that move was an immediate upgrade for Pittsburgh’s revolving door of temporary second basemen. With Lowe the Pirates got a top ten second baseman in baseball who is a huge power threat. The 31-year-old has consistently been one of the best hitters in baseball since his first major league season in 2018. Aside from his rookie season and his injury shortened 2022 season, Lowe has never hit less than 10 homers in a year. In 2021 Lowe had a career high 39 homers.

Lowe’s start to 2026 has been very productive. He’s currently slashing .267/.375/.600 and already has seven homers. Lowe has been a bright spot in Pittsburgh’s lineup, and “Bam Bam” looks to keep on knocking in runs.

Jake Mangum was another part of the Tampa Bay trade, and while his Major League career is largely just getting started, he has already proven to be a spark plug when he’s on the field. With the Pirates, the 30-year-old outfielder has played primarily in a platoon role, appearing in 18 games so far. 2025 was his first season in the Majors and he showed to be a player with a knack for contact hitting and speed on the base pads, totaling 27 stolen bases and a .296 batting average with the Rays.

This year with the Pirates, Mangum has appeared primarily in left field and has a perfect fielding percentage. In his 18 games Mangum has performed consistently with a .300 batting average, 15 hits and three steals.

For the first time in a decade, the Pirates signed a free-agent to a multi-year contract when they signed Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year $29 million contract. Coming off of his first All-Star season, O’Hearn provides another veteran bat to a lineup that was in desperate need of a makeover. The Sam Houston State product is off to arguably his best start to a season in his career. He is currently ranked in the top ten in the National League for batting average, on base percentage and on base plus slugging percentage.

In the bigger picture of Pittsburgh baseball, O’Hearn represents the fact that the Pirates are making a conscious effort to build a winning team. O’Hearn had multiple suitors in free-agency, but him choosing Pittsburgh signifies the belief he has in the team and the culture that the organization is trying to now build. It’s very possible that this signing proves to be very impactful for the future of the franchise.

The last big signing that the Pirates made in the winter was the addition of Marcell Ozuna to serve as the team’s primary designated hitter. The 35-year-old DH is a three-time All-Star, a one-time Gold Glove defender and a two-time Silver Slugger. Despite his age Ozuna brought a pedigree to the Pirates that was more impressive than most of their signings in recent history. With that being said, Ozuna has largely looked past his prime. To start the season, he has mostly looked lost at the plate, and has been more of a liability than a point of strength for the team.

Despite the slow start that Ozuna has had, he is starting to turn things around. Ozuna’s first homer with the Pirates was a three-run blast that tied the contest against the Nationals on April 16. Against the Rays on April 18, “The Big Bear” looked like he had come out of hibernation by hammering a two run dinger to extend the Pirates’ lead. Is Ozuna the player that he used to be? Likely no. Father Time makes no exceptions. Is he heating up? He has certainly looked better at the plate, where even his shortcomings are looking productive. Though he’s not the player he used to be, Ozuna can still provide meaningful offense for this Pirates squad.

The Pirates still have a long season ahead of them, but to this point their offseason spending has really worked out as we are seeing the most exciting version of the Buccos in quite some time.

As our own Jason Paczkowski indicated early Thursday morning, the Brewers’ High-A Wisconsin affiliate had their game called in the eighth inning on Wednesday night after a player reportedly collapsed in the dugout. While no details have been confirmed to this point, the belief is that the collapsed player is Brewer No. 2 prospect and MLB No. 21 prospect Luis Peña.

The incident occurred while athletic training staff members were checking out Timber Rattlers catcher Marco Dinges after a pitch deflected off his knee. In the video below, you’ll see the Fort Wayne TinCaps third base coach signal for medics after something happened in the Timber Rattlers dugout.

While no confirmation has been made about whether it was in fact Peña, unconfirmed reports say he was rushed to the hospital. He was reportedly stable and responsive as of midnight. Regardless of who the player is, we wish them a speedy recovery.

UPDATE: It was reported by Adam McCalvy on Thursday morning that the player was, in fact, Luis Peña. McCalvy added that Brewer GM Matt Arnold indicated it was an overheating issue, and Peña was transferred to the hospital for IV fluids. He’s reportedly doing better. Seems like a best-case scenario, all things considered.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The Los Angeles Dodgers look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the rival San Francisco Giants in Thursday’s matinee series finale. 

It’s a pitcher’s delight with Tyler Glasnow taking the ball for the visitors and Logan Webb getting the call for the home team. 

My Dodgers vs. Giants predictions and MLB picks see the Boys in Blue avoiding the sweep this afternoon.

Who will win Dodgers vs Giants today: Dodgers (-154)

We’re getting value on the Los Angeles Dodgers for two reasons: they dropped the first two games of the series and will be facing ace Logan Webb.

The San Francisco Giants have plated a total of six runs in their last three games, however, so it's not like this recent success is very repeatable. Their 76 wRC+ against right-handed pitching is a concern, while L.A. leads the league in that category (130). 

Webb (5.40 ERA, 4.42 xERA) is allowing too much hard contact (eighth percentile hard-hit rate) again. Tyler Glasnow, meanwhile, has been deadly (2.62 xERA, 2.58 FIP).

COVERS INTEL: Logan Webb has struggled against the Dodgers, posting a 4.47 ERA and 1.33 WHIP across 108+ innings against his rivals. He's surrendered an .855 OPS to their projected lineup.

Dodgers vs Giants Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-139)

The first two games of this series cruised to the Under with a total of seven runs crossing the plate in 18 innings. With two quality starting pitchers on the bump, here’s betting on another low-scoring contest. 

Glasnow ranks in the 80th percentile or above in xERA, strikeout rate, and walk rate. His elite 24.2 K-BB% will play at Oracle Park, a venue where Webb has a career 2.90 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. 

The Dodgers have cashed the Under in six of their last eight road games and are playing in a pitcher-friendly park with temperatures in the low-60s.

Dodgers vs Giants odds

• Moneyline: Dodgers -160 | Giants +135
• Run line: Dodgers -1.5 (+115) | Giants +1.5 (-135)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Dodgers vs Giants trend

The Dodgers are 4-0 in Tyler Glasnow's four starts this season. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. Giants.

How to watch Dodgers vs Giants and game info

Dodgers vs Giants latest injuries

Dodgers vs Giants weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.