Worldwide Sports News

On Tuesday night in San Francisco, the Phillies faced left-handed Giants’ starter Robbie Ray. The 34-year-old lefty entered the contest with two solid starts under his belt, a 5 1/3 inning performance against the Yankees in which he gave up two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts in a 3-0 loss, and a 5 1/3 inning outing in which he allowed two runs to the Mets on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.

But against the Phils, he was even better, logging 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, giving up three hits and three walks with 7 Ks against a makeshift lineup that featured right-handed platoon hitters Edmundo Sosa in place of Bryson Stott, Otto Kemp in left instead of Brandon Marsh, and Dylan Moore subbing for an injured Alec Bohm. Adding injury to insult, J.T. Realmuto had to leave the game after taking a foul ball off his foot behind the dish, with Rafael Marchan replacing him before Realmuto’s first at-bat.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson, along with the team’s analytical department, likes platoon match-ups. Marsh and Stott in particular have traditionally struggled against left-handed pitching. Sosa has long been one of the best utility infielders in baseball and rakes against lefties, while Kemp is a right-handed bat Dave Dombrowski and the rest of the front office has been overly enthusiastic about since last year ended.

So far, left-handed pitchers have owned the Phillies, particularly their right-handed hitters.

The Phils have slugged just two dingers off left-handed pitchers this season, one by back-up catcher Rafael Marchan and one from Bryce Harper. Their .158 team batting average against them is dead last in MLB, their .268 on-base percentage (OBP) is 4th-worst, and their team .510 OPS is 3rd-lowest.

Their strikeout and walk rates are middle of the pack. They’re just not squaring anything up. That can be seen clearly with a 14.9% line drive rate and 21.6% hard-hit rate that both rank 27th out of 30 teams. It’s a lot of weak contact, lazy fly balls and pop outs.

Here are the lines left-handed starters have put up against the Phillies thus far:

• MacKenzie Gore (Rangers): 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K
• Jacob Latz (Rangers): 4 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K
• Foster Griffin (Nationals): 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K
• Robbie Ray (Giants): 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 7 K

They are 0-4 in games started by a left-hander and 6-1 in games started by right-handers. Against all righties, the Phils are hitting a robust .260 with a .333 OBP and a .429 slugging percentage. Their .762 OPS against right-handers is 6th-highest. Thankfully, most pitchers throw with their right hand, but enough throw with their left for it to be kind of a significant problem.

Last year, the Phillies enjoyed pretty good success against lefties. Their .747 team OPS against southpaws was 6th-best, with a wRC+ of 106 that was 9th. Schwarber, a lefty himself, was best against them, sporting a team-high .964 OPS with 23 home runs. Three right-handers followed, Sosa (.895 OPS), Trea Turner (.836) and Alec Bohm (.818), with Harper (.815) the only other regular with an OPS above .800 against them.

In a more limited sample size this year, only Marchan, with a 1.000 OPS in just five plate appearances, is over .800. Bryson Stott, who usually sits against left-handers and very rarely starts against them, has the 2nd-highest OPS (.750) in six PAs. Harper is next with a .748 OPS in 23 PAs.

While Schwarber is off to a really slow start (.461 OPS, .150 AVG) against them, it is the Phils’ right-handed batters that are dragging their production down. Adolis Garcis is hitting only .200/.200/.200 in 10 PAs, Kemp is batting .143/.205/.143 in eight PAs, Turner’s slash line is an obscene .059/.158/.118, and Realmuto has yet to get a hit off a left-hander in just four plate appearances.

It is still early days in 2026. Thomson will continue to implement his platoons, but at some point, some tinkering may need to be done with the back-end of the roster.

Right-handed hitting outfielder Bryan de la Cruz has followed up a solid spring with a powerful start to the season in Lehigh Valley, sporting an .866 OPS and three home runs in his first nine games. And power-hitting prospect Felix Reyes, who opened some eyes with his raw power this spring, is learning to play the outfield and has an .827 OPS in nine games at AAA. Both could be options to replace Kemp if his defense in left field and offensive production doesn’t pick up in the next few weeks.

As for the rest of the lineup, it’s going to require the team’s right-handed stars, Turner, Bohm, Garcia and Realmuto, to start making a dent against left-handed pitching.

The Chicago White Sox are once again looking to avoid yet another series loss. They’ll try to salvage the finale against the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon after dropping the first two games of the set. It’s not quite panic time because it’s far too early for that, but a win would at least allow fans to feel slightly less miserable.

There is, however, a reason for a bit of cautious optimism today: Sean Burke.

The righthander (0-1, 3.60 ERA) was sharp his last time out on April 3, tossing six innings of one-run ball while allowing just four hits and striking out seven. It was the kind of outing the South Siders desperately need more of, as he was competitive and, most importantly, efficient. Manager Will Venable didn’t have to start burning the bullpen in the third inning. If Burke can come anywhere close to that form again today, the Sox might actually have a chance to keep things respectable.

On the other side, the Orioles hand the ball to Kyle Bradish (0-2, 6.23 ERA), who, on paper, looks like an opportunity. Baltimore’s righty has been hittable to start the season, and if there were ever a time for the Sox lineup to resemble a functional offense, this would be it. That said, we’ve been here before, as “get-right” spots have not exactly been automatic for this group.

Chicago’s skipper will once again try to piece together enough offense to support a starter who’s giving them a fighting chance. With the injuries starting to pile up, this lineup is looking more and more like a patchwork quilt.

Meanwhile, Baltimore just keeps doing what good teams do: applying pressure and waiting for mistakes.

The first pitch is set for this afternoon at 1:10 p.m. The weather is finally warmer, and hopefully the bats take notice. You can watch on CHSN or listen in on ESPN 1000.

When the Yankees acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon last July, the general consensus was that they were bringing in a player who made up for his lack of pop at the plate with some of the best defense in the game. Although he has yet to earn a Gold Glove, this lack of hardware has been less the result of his defensive prowess and more the unfortunate reality of manning the hot corner at the same time as Nolan Arenado and Matt Chapman: his 66 Defensive Runs Saved and 46 Outs Above Average since 2017 trail only these two. McMahon’s first few months in pinstripes last season reinforced this expectation, for as he struggled with the bat down the stretch, the third baseman flashed the leather repeatedly, putting together a nice defensive highlight reel that culminated in a timely catch falling into the Red Sox dugout during Game 3 of the Wild Card Series.

Heading into 2026, the Yankees hoped that they would be able to unlock some of his potential at the plate, but were ultimately content with him serving as the defensively-strong left-handed half of a third base platoon with Amed Rosario. Unfortunately, while his offensive woes to start the season were not unexpected (even if this season-opening slump is particularly bad), it has been his early-season defense that has attracted the most attention — and not in a good way. After accruing 10 DRS and 7 OAA last season, making him a finalist for the NL Gold Glove at third despite only spending half the season there, McMahon has struggled out of the gate this season, having accrued -3 DRS and -2 OAA in just 67 innings heading into action last night.

While these numbers are drastic, we are still just a few games into the season, and defense is something that can take some time to stabilize. A quick film analysis, though, can give us a bit of insight into whether or not we should worry just yet, or if we can pump the brakes on the defensive alarms and instead focus all our criticism about McMahon’s bat rather than his glove. And so, I dove into the MLB Film Room, which had 14 plays listing McMahon as the primary fielder heading into last night’s game — six groundouts, three popups, three singles, one double, and one E5. Of these plays, I found a handful worth going through.

Let’s get started with the one E5, a throwing error by McMahon against the Seattle Mariners back on March 30th.

At first glance, this error might not look like a throwing error, as the ball reaches first baseman Ben Rice on one hop, and indeed, you can make the argument that a more experienced first baseman than Rice probably makes that play—even if he’s improved early on. But the truth is, this shouldn’t have been a tough play in the first place. The ball gets to McMahon on a fairly easy hop, and the batter, Seattle backup catcher Mitch Garver, is not a fast runner (he ranked in the 16th percentile last season). There’s no reason for McMahon to underthrow it to such an extent that the ball bounces on the grass as far out as it did, especially since he took a second to set himself before throwing.

Fortunately, while throws from the hot corner are more likely to need a scoop than one from the shortstop or second baseman, McMahon’s arm being this wild seemed to be very much a fluke thing. Here’s another play from the very next day:

An almost identical play, with a very different result: a throw right at Rice’s eye level.

What about the three singles? Well, two of those three occurred on slow “swinging bunts” down the third base line:

Of these two, the first was an almost impossible play, with the ball winding up in no-man’s land. The second is a play I would’ve liked to see McMahon make, and indeed one that he has made frequently; but there is ultimately a reason why it was listed as a single, not a throwing error.

The third single, on the other hand, is a bit more concerning to me:

I’m not quite sure what happened here; thanks to the lefty shift, McMahon was playing in the role of the shortstop, and wound up in a position where he could neither make the play or get to the third base bag with enough time to give Cody Bellinger a target to throw the ball, resulting in A) the pitcher essentially covering the bag as the same time as him, and B) because of that, nobody backing up the throw. The good thing about this play, though, is that this isn’t so much an issue to watch for than it is a weird confluence of events. If it happens again, would I be concerned? Absolutely — but not about McMahon’s defense, but about the infield’s assignments when in the shift.

Last, but certainly not least, the double:

Ouch! The ball, 104.1 mph off the bat, deflected off McMahon — first off his glove, then possibly off his head — before careening into left field for a double off the bat of Randy Arozarena. Yea, these plays happen; I’m not too concerned.

And ultimately, that’s where I think I current stand after watching McMahon’s defensive highlights so far: not too concerned. At the end of the day, good, dependable defense doesn’t exactly skyrocket up the OAA and DRS charts, while one or two misplays can drop you down quite a bit, allowing statistical noise to rear its head in the early going. Now, if the metrics remain negative in May and June, then it’ll be time to start looking more deeply under the hood; but for now, we don’t need to stress it when the ball gets hit to third — only when the third baseman comes up to the plate, with Amed Rosario perhaps breathing down his neck.

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

With all 30 teams taking to the diamond today, the bases are juiced for MLB player props options, and I’m ready to drive in some winners.

My best bets for today include Will Warren going super punchout on the free-swinging A’s, and the Tigers’ Riley Greene finding his timing against a familiar foe.

Those and more MLB picks for Wednesday, April 8 below.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Owen Caissie	2+ Hits, Runs, and RBI	+110
Will Warren	Over 5.5 Strikeouts	-108
Riley Greene	Over 1.5 Total Bases	-105

Owen Caissie Over 2+ Hits, Runs, and RBI (+110)

The Miami Marlins are a young and fun team, and I can’t wait to see how ownership screws this up again. For now, I’m along for the ride, and they’re providing us with some great value when it comes to player props as well.

It looks like they have something in rookie outfielder Owen Caissie. The 23-year-old was part of the return for Edward Cabrera, and he’s off to a great start. Caissie enters this game against the Cincinnati Reds, hitting .296 with a .947 OPS, with two home runs, nine RBI, and four runs scored.

Basically, he’s been doing it all for the Fish, and should be back in the lineup tonight after getting a couple of days off thanks to facing some left-handed starters.

The Reds hand the ball to right-hander Brady Singer. The veteran right-hander has a 4.62 expected ERA over the last three seasons and is off to a tough start in 2026, giving up five runs on 11 hits and three walks in nine innings.

I love Caissie to continue his production tonight.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Reds.TV, Marlins.TV

Will Warren Over 5.5 strikeouts (-108)

Will Warren is coming off a solid first season with the New York Yankees. But the 26-year-old right-hander is ready to take his game to the next level in 2026.

Warren has surrendered three runs on nine hits over his first two starts and is coming off a performance against the Marlins in which he struck out six batters. And I’m betting he keeps racking up the Ks in tonight’s matchup against the Athletics.

The A’s have a lot of exciting young pop in their lineup, but their “swing for the fences” mentality also results in a lot of strikeouts.

Their 30.1% strikeout rate is the highest in the big leagues at this point in the season. So, at close to even money, I’m more than happy to back Warren to go Over 5.5 punchouts.

• Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Prime Video

Riley Greene Over 1.5 total bases (-105)

It’s been a bit of a slow start to the season for Riley Greene, but I like the Detroit Tigers’ star outfielder to find his swing against a familiar foe.

The Tigers visit their Central Division rivals, the Minnesota Twins, on Wednesday night. The Twins hand the ball to Bailey Ober for this one.

Ober has also been trying to find his good stuff through his first two starts, surrendering six runs on eight hits and three walks over eight innings of work.

That should make getting Greene out tough. Greene is 6-for-18 with a double and two dingers in his career vs. Ober. That’s good for a .338 expected batting average and a .719 expected slugging.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FS1

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.

TV: NESN

First Pitch: 1:35 p.m. ET

Has the day arrived? Can the Red Sox finally win a series in 2026?

Boston snapped a three-game losing skid when Garrett Crochet earned the win over Milwaukee flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski. Now, the Red Sox stay alive for Wednesday’s matinee rubber match at Fenway.

Trevor Story gets off his feet for the afternoon and will be the designated hitter, while Andruw Monasterio plays shortstop and bats second. Sonny Gray gets the start after six innings of two-run ball in the win in the Fenway opener against the San Diego Padres. 

Here’s who the Red Sox will send to the plate in the series finale. 

The Brewers counter with old friend Shane Drohan, Boston’s 2020 fifth-round pick who made two stints in the Red Sox system. The lefty posted a 4.29 career ERA in the minors and finally makes his big-league debut in his age-27 season. 

Texas Rangers lineup for April 8, 2026 against the Seattle Mariners: starting pitchers are MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers and Bryan Woo for the M’s.

Texas is going for a sweep today. Let’s sweep!!!

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Langford — LF

Seager — SS

Burger — 1B

Pederson — DH

Carter — CF

Jansen — C

Smith — 2B

Duran — 3B

1:35 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +110 favorites.