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Over the weekend in Chicago, Ryan Divish reported that Domingo González was present in the visiting clubhouse in case José A. Ferrer’s wife went into delivery. Ferrer stuck around, working out of a bases loaded jam on Sunday unscathed, but he did not end up making the trip to Houston with the rest of the squad.

Should González appear in a game the next few days, he will be making his Major League debut, and would be the third Mariner to do so after fellow righties Alex Hoppe and Nick Davila. The 26-year-old was claimed off waivers from Atlanta last August, and survived the offseason roster churn before being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. He’s been off to a strong start in his first Pacific Coast League action, tossing 15 innings of 1.80/2.60 ERA/FIP ball, and has issued just two walks alongside a tidy 50% ground ball rate. Seattle is González’s third org, having played in affiliated ball since 2018 when he was signed by the Pirates out of the Dominican Republic, and as you may have heard, we love a debut at Lookout Landing.

As for Ferrer, the M’s will have their workhorse reliever sidelined for most, if not all of the upcoming series. Acquired in December for catcher Harry Ford in a much-discoursed-about trade, he’s led the Mariners’ bullpen corps in appearances and innings pitched at 21 and 20, respectively. Despite falling victim to some tough BABIP luck early on, his 1.80/2.42 FIP have proven to be quite dependable. He’s also worn quite a few hats in the first six weeks of the season – especially with Andrés Muñoz scuffling and Matt Brash and Gabe Speier down – whether that’s filling in at closer, getting that third out against a tough lefty hitter, or covering multiple innings. We at LL congratulate Ferrer and his family on the arrival of their child.

The San Francisco Giants took two out of three from their longtime rivals just about three weeks ago and it was one of those things where the team, having embarrassed itself across multiple games and a couple weeks, walked away from the wins as a sign that they’d turned a corner. We’ve all been so desperate to believe that the team isn’t as bad as it has been through 40 games this season that any positive is turning point and every negative is “small sample size.” Well, the Dodgers didn’t have Mookie Betts in San Francisco for that series loss and here in LA this week, they’ll have Mookie Betts back for all four games. Does that mean the Giants are doomed?

I certainly thought this season series and rivalry was fait accompli and we were destined to watch the Dodgers perform every Mortal Kombat finisher on our favorite team for the rest of our lives and when that didn’t happen I thought, “Hey, maybe the Giants aren’t as bad as they’ve looked.“ And maybe, given the Dodgers performance in and since that series, the Giants had wounded them in a meaningful way. LA was 16-6 before the series, averaging 6 runs per game. They’re 8-10 since and averaging around 4. So, does the baseball world owe the Giants thanks for disrupting the team everybody hates?

Nah. Unfortunately, that credit should go to the Rockies — and the injury bug that infected Mookie Betts with a strained oblique. Just before venturing to San Francisco, the Dodgers split 4 games in Coors Field. The Dodgers are built to beat anybody anywhere, and when they couldn’t best one last place team, it’s interesting to see them struggle with another in the series immediately after. Small sample size shenanigans here, too? Yeah, probably.

The Dodgers are 10th in offense since April 17th (the start of the Rockies series) with a team wRC+ of 103. If you adjust for just after the Giants’ series, they’re 16th (98 wRC+). I won’t disgust you with the Giants standings in either split. Their pitching has been better than that in every split.

Now, Mookie Betts had the worst offensive season of his career in 2025 and is unlikely to bounce back much more than around league average, given his age (33). Still, dropping into a lineup with all the familiar names and faces doesn’t make the Dodgers worse and getting him back just in time for a rivalry series is meaningful.

We thought the last Giants-Dodgers meeting was a beatdown in waiting or a temperature check of either franchise, but all it really did was serve as a speed bump to the Dodgers running away with the best record in the sport. Shohei Ohtanit’s 89 wRC+ over the past few weeks is maybe a bit of a story, but it’s drowned out by the emergence of Alex Freeland, the reliability of Max Muncy, and Kyle Tucker getting hot. Meanwhile, the Giants are really only making the kind of headlines that an ailing franchise generates. Trading a Gold Glover, demoting former veterans they had planned all offseason long to count on throughout the year, their manager not being clear about pitching changes… it’s a team covered in flop sweat — and it’s only May 11th!

That means this series has the chance to be a staggering embarrassment yet again for… the Dodgers! That’s right. If a global superpower can’t win a series against Buster Posey’s Baseball Mogul 2014 sim, then it deserves all the derision that can be mustered. Dave Roberts was on a Hall of Fame trajectory as manager, but dude lost a series to the 2026 San Francisco Giants, trending to be one of the worst teams in franchise history. I’m sorry, but he simply oughtn’t be taken seriously anymore. Embarrassing! Disgraceful! But also, laugh out loud, especially if the Giants are actually competitive in this series after ditching Patrick Bailey and putting Logan Webb on the IL.

Series overview

Who: San Francisco Giants (16-24) at Los Angeles Dodgers (24-16)
Where: Dodger Stadium | Los Angeles, California
When: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:10pm PT
National broadcasts: MLB Network simulcast (Thursday)

Projected starters
Monday: Trevor McDonald (RHP 1-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Roki Sasaki (RHP 1-3, 5.97 ERA)
Tuesday: Adrian Houser (RHP 0-4, 6.19 ERA) vs. Yoshinobu Yamamato (RHP 3-2, 3.09 ERA)
Wednesday: Robbie Ray (LHP 3-4, 2.76 ERA) vs. Shohei Ohtani (RHP 2-2, 0.97 ERA)
Thursday: Landen Roupp (RHP 5-3, 3,09 ERA) vs. Emmet Sheehan (RHP 2-1, 4.79 ERA)

Players to watch

Dodgers

Mookie Betts: He’s consistently able to draw walks and hit doubles against the Giants, and even though his injury has held him back from doing any of that this year, it’ll be worth watching to see if he can come back and do it to the Giants at will.

Max Muncy: No ocean for him to hit dingers into, but he went homerless against the Giants in that series loss and so I’d expect him to not have zero homers in these next four games.

The Dodgers’ bullpen:Four game series really do allow teams to take the full tour of their opponent, and while the Dodgers’ lineup is impressive and scary and their rotation is very good on paper, it’s their bullpen that usually offers more growl than bite. That feels especially true with Edwin Diaz hitting the IL with loose bodies in his pitching elbow. That means the Dodgers have been injury bitten to the point that last year’s big free agent closer acquisition, Tanner Scott, is back in that role.

Giants

Willy Adames: In the last series preview I wrote,

This series will be the definitive test to determine whether or not Willy Adames passed away at some point this season and what we’re seeing haunt the Giants lineup right now is, in fact, a g-g-g-ghost.

He went 5-for-14 against Pittsburgh so, we must consider the possibility that he is not a ghost and is still alive to the point of finally starting to look like a major leaguer again. Great timing?

Bryce Eldridge / Rafael Devers: Great to see Eldridge get his first homer and see Devers sock two last week, but the Giants will need both to put up big performances if they’re going to compete in the next four games. Devers is 10-for-30 with 4 doubles and a pair of homers here in the month of May.

Tony Vitello watch

Did Buster Posey visit Tony Vitello’s house during the hiring process? If so, I wonder what that was like. If not, why not?

Prediction time

The Dodgers will not sweep.

After today’s day off, the Rockies have a busy May with 16 games in a row and 19 in the next 20 days to close out the month.

Here are five things to look out for as Colorado heads into the stretch.

More NL West games

After only 11 games against NL West teams (just the Dodgers and Padres), the Rockies will play 13 of their next 19 games against the Diamonbacks (7), Dodgers (3) and Giants (3). Considering the Padres and Dodgers are the best teams in the division — currently battling for first place — the Rockies have a chance to improve on their 3-8 record in the division.

More interleague play

Colorado is off to an impressive 6-3 record against the American League this season. With a series sweep over the Astros and a series win against the Blue Jays, interleague play has treated the Rockies well. The Rockies will host the Texas Rangers (May 18-20) and try to continue their winning ways against the AL.

Another Skenes showdown

The Rockies will conclude their six-game Pennsylvania road trip with a three-game series beginning Tuesday in Pittsburgh. The series will start with the Rockies facing Paul Skenes for the third time in his career. In two appearances, both in 2025, he’s 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings with 15 strikeouts and two walks.

In their only faceoff at PNC Park, Skenes threw seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 win over Colorado. At Coors Field, Jordan Beck hit a three-run homer in a sixth-run sixth inning that chased Skenes from the game after giving up four runs on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

The Rockies won that one 8-5.

McCarthy heats up with reunion coming

When the Rockies traded for Jake McCarthy on Jan. 10, it looked like they added speed and depth to their outfield roster. When the season started, McCarthy struggled with a .184 batting average and .279 on-base percentage through his first 14 games in purple. Then came April 19. McCarthy has been on a tear since, including hitting Colorado’s only grand slam of the season. You can see the remarkable difference in his play.

It will not only be interesting to see if McCarthy can sustain these numbers and force the Rockies to put him in the lineup, but also how he performs when he faces the Diamondbacks. The reunion vs. his former team will start in Denver with a three-game set this weekend before McCarthy returns to his former home for a four-game series at Chase Field next weekend.

Bark at the Park

Get ready to hoist your dogs for the Simba Cam; Bark at the Park is taking over Coors Field on May 18-19 against Texas. While dog owners and their canines usually sit in the Rockpile, it’s fun to visit dogs walking on the left field concourse if you go to either game. Both ticket packages for bringing dogs to the game have sold out.

The other noteworthy promotion the Rockies have on tap is Military Appreciation Day on May 16 against Arizona. Festivities include a pregame parade around the warning track for all active duty or military veterans and their immediate families, a pregame salute from multiple military branches, a large flag on-field presentation, a Hunter Goodman T-shirt giveaway for the first 15,000 fans and more.

Conclusion

After going 13-14 in April, the Rockies haven’t fared as well in May. Through the first nine games, Colorado is 2-7. How the rest of the month goes could really determine if the Rockies can get back on track and seize some momentum.

What are you most excited about or worried about as the Rockies tackle the remainder of the May schedule?

Are you going to Bark at the Park or Military Appreciation Day?

Share in the comments.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

While the Cubs dropped two of three to the Rangers, it’s hard to be too terribly upset with their performance recently. After all, they are 20-5 over their last 25 games, including two 10-game winning streaks and an active 15-game winning streak at Wrigley Field. All of these streaks are historic. The last time the Cubs had multiple ten-game winning streaks in a season or a home winning streak longer than 15 was 1935, a season where they went 100-54 before losing the World Series 4-2 to the Detroit Tigers.

Starting a new winning streak won’t be easy, however. The Cubs will take their 27-14 record into Truist Park in Atlanta for a three-game set that begins on Tuesday where they’ll take on the only team in the National League with a better record. The Braves have opened the 2026 season with a 28-13 record.

A quick look at the team hitting leaderboards at Fangraphs shows that the Cubs and Braves have both gotten off to hot starts offensively this season:

I sorted this table by fWAR which shows the Cubs leading all of MLB heading into this week’s series with the Braves. However, if you sort by different categories the Cubs generally rank between first and fifth with the Braves right in the same mix. For example, by wRC+ the top three teams are the Dodgers, Braves and Cubs. By OBP the top teams are the Cubs, Dodgers, Pirates and Braves. This should be a great matchup.

While season-long numbers are preferable for larger sample sizes and and stability, who’s hot at a given moment could impact a specific series outcome more. To that end, I’ve run tables for each teams batters over the last two weeks. I’ve limited it to players with at least 20 plate appearances during that time. First up, the Cubs:

A few things jump out immediately. First of all, Michael Conforto is on quite the hot streak, and I imagine Craig Counsell will try to ride that hot streak as long as he can, especially given the struggles of his other designated hitter against righties, Moisés Ballesteros. However, looking more closely at Ballesteros’ numbers, he really looks like he’s gotten unlucky during this two-week stretch. He’s still striking out less than 18 percent of the time and walking at a decent clip. An .032 BABIP might be the worst BABIP I’ve ever seen in a stretch of 45 plate appearances. Combine it with the fact that he’s had a 33.3 percent hard hit rate during that stretch with a healthy 15.2 percent barrel rate, and that seems like a slump Ballesteros should break out of any moment.

Additionally, both Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch seem to have broken out of their early season slumps and have been on a a bit of a tear. Busch is slashing .295/.448/.500 with a wRC+ of 172 and a home run over his last 58 plate appearances. Seiya is slashing .275/.388/.550 with a wRC+ of 154 with three home runs over his last 49 plate appearances. The good news is that aside from a .400 BABIP and .500 ISO from Conforto and a slightly overheated .387 BABIP from Busch, the only thing that looks unsustainable in this table is the bad luck some hitters have been experiencing.

Turning to the Braves offense:

A big note at the top, the Braves’ best player, outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is currently on the injured list with a strained hamstring, so the Cubs won’t have to deal with Acuña at the top of the lineup. They will have to deal with a red-hot Matt Olson and Cubs killer extraordinaire Ozzie Albies, however. Olson has six home runs in his last 52 plate appearances and is slashing .295/.385/.773 during that stretch. Albies has three home runs and a .283/.358/.543 slashline over the last two weeks. Finally, keep an eye on last year’s Rookie of the Year, Drake Baldwin. He’s also got three home runs to go with a .261/.370/.478 slashline in his last 54 plate appearances.

At the bottom of this chart, Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Riley and Michael Harris II are having the opposite experience of Ballesteros, riding relatively hot BABIPs for each of them to lackluster production. Yastrzemski is on the strong side of a platoon and unlikely to play when Shōta Imanaga takes the mound on Wednesday, however, Riley and Harris II are regulars who should be in the lineup for all three games against the Cubs.

This battle of offensive titans in the National League will be one to keep an eye on early this week. Here’s hoping the Cubs bats can stay hot in Atlanta

For all the consternation about Caleb Durbin’s bat, at least his glove appears to working just fine. “Not hitting stinks when you feel like you’re a good hitter and you feel like you should be helping the team and producing on that side of the ball, but I know I can impact the game outside of just hitting home runs,” Durbin said. “The defense, I take a lot of pride in that. I’ve seen how important that is throughout the course of the season, so for me, that’s the standard.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

Unfortunately, the man playing immediately to Durbin’s left has not been so reliable in the field this year. And after a costly error is yesterday’s game, it’s time for the Sox to rethink Trevor Story at shortstop. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

But at least Story isn’t ducking responsibility. “It shows that it’s tough to win in this league making mistakes like that. Can’t happen. You’ve seen the way we can play when we are playing good defense. It’s a strong suit of ours this year. That one’s on me and I have to clean that one up.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

Story is right that defense has been a strong suit of the Red Sox, and the pitching hasn’t been bad, either. And the pitching staff will get a boost when Ranger Suarez returns from his minor hamstring injury this Thursday, when he’ll face his former team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Before he takes the ball, Brayan Bello will once again follow an opener tomorrow night before Sonny Gray pitches on Sunday. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Speaking of returning from (hopefully) minor injuries, Roman Anthony hopes to return when he’s eligible to come off the IL on May 15. “There’s so much that goes on in the hand, and I’ve never dealt with a hand issue before,” said Anthony. “So, I think just getting the news back, understanding that it’s nothing very serious, is the best news we could have gotten. The treatment is pretty simple, trying to get a lot of blood flow circulating around the wrist and the arm. Nothing too crazy. Just a little sprain. The ligament near the ring finger. Nothing that will take too long. So, I think that’s the best part.” (Rob Bradford, WEEI)

But the Red Sox don’t need Anthony to merely return to health, they need him to return to being the hitter he was in his first taste of the big leagues last year, because right now the Red Sox offense is embarassingly sub-par at Fenway Park in particular. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)

Perhaps Anthony will be aided by Chad Tracy, who appears to have brought “calm to the chaos” that was the Red Sox in the immediate wake of the Alex Cora firing. (Steve Buckley, The Athletic)

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Despite a bumpy start, the Texas Rangers are right in the mix in the wide-open AL West, and they’ll look to build on a strong weekend as they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Texas enters this matchup on the heels of back-to-back shutout victories over the free-scoring Chicago Cubs, and my Diamondbacks vs. Rangers predictions expect Nathan Eovaldi to keep a faltering Arizona offense at bay here.

Read on for my free MLB picks for this May 11 battle.

Who will win Diamondbacks vs Rangers today: Rangers moneyline

-125 at Polymarket

It’s about time the Texas Rangers’ offense woke up, and there were encouraging signs in the Cubs series, including Josh Jung’s six-hit weekend.

Tonight, they hand the ball to ace Nathan Eovaldi, who’s back on track with a 2.45 ERA in his past five starts. Texas has picked up victories in Eovaldi’s last two outings, so I’m riding with the hosts, who’ve also won three of their last four outings at Globe Life Field.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks have lost four in a row on the road, and they’re 3-7 in their last 10 games. Plus, Arizona is sweating on the health of 1B Carlos Santana, too.

COVERS INTEL: Only three teams have gathered fewer hits than the D-Backs (304) this season, and the visitors have scored two runs or fewer in four of their last five games.

Diamondbacks vs Rangers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5

-110 at Polymarket

Both starters are capable of putting the clamps on hitters, and I’m not ready to trust two of the shakier lineups in the majors this year. That makes the Under an appealing play, and it’s been a winning ticket in the D-Backs’ past five games.

Eovaldi only allowed one run through eight innings last Wednesday against the New York Yankees, while Arizona starter Michael Soroka had a similarly steady outing that same night.

Though the visitors have trended towards the Over this season (20-17), the Under is 23-15 in Texas’ 38 games — and that feels more realistic tonight.

Diamondbacks vs Rangers odds

• Moneyline: Diamondbacks +113 | Rangers -117
• Run line: Diamondbacks +1.5 | Rangers -1.5
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Diamondbacks vs Rangers trend

The Under is 7-3 in the Rangers’ last 10 contests. Find more MLB betting trends for Diamondbacks vs. Rangers.

How to watch Diamondbacks vs Rangers and game info

Diamondbacks vs Rangers latest injuries

Diamondbacks vs Rangers weather

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Professional baseball has been around for a century and a half, with a rich tradition of players. One of the things I love about the game is that although there are different eras – some with more offense, some with less, some with more home runs, some with more steals – the game is essentially the same. But the different eras provide an opportunity for different skillsets to excel. You have precise hitters like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams in the “golden era”. You have dominant, intimidating pitchers in the 60s like Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. You have blinding speedsters in the 70s and 80s like Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson. You have big boppers in the home run era like Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr.

But some of these players came before our time, before YouTube, when we can only listen to or read the stories of those that saw them in their prime. An off day seems like the perfect time to ask a simple baseball fan question: if you could travel back in time and watch one player at the absolute peak of his powers, who would it be?

By many accounts, Leroy “Satchel” Paige was among the greatest to ever pitch. His feats are legendary. There was the story of time the he intentionally walked the bases loaded to face Josh Gibson, then struck him out on three fastballs. There are accounts of him telling his fielders to sit down, for they weren’t needed, or Paige telling the hitter what was coming, knowing his pitches couldn’t be touched. He made his MLB debut at age 42 (or thereabouts, no one knew his true age), and was a very solid pitcher well into his 40s, even throwing three scoreless innings at age 58.

So I would love to see Paige in his prime. Did he live up to the legends? What was fact and what was fiction? How much fun was it to see him engage in his showmanship?

Who played before your time that you wish you could get a chance to see?