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Last week, Andrew put out a post on our feed asking for your hot takes, and you all delivered. With the Yankees rolling and on their way to another competitive season, there’s plenty of things to get ambitious about, so let’s see what’s got you all fired up after a month or so of play.

We’re starting off bold here, Hector.

A 105-win season would easily top the output of any recent Yankees team, with only the 2019 team’s 103-win total coming close. There’s also been a dearth of 100+ win teams overall recently, with no one reaching the mark in the last two years. This year’s team is off to a solid start, tied for the second-most amount of wins in the league and clicking without two of their top pitchers as you noted, but maintaining that pace is a taller task than meeting it for a moment. This is a solid hot take.

Now we’re getting into it. Aaron Judge has just turned 34, to be fair — an age that most would agree is where an athlete exits or starts to exit their prime — but he’s coming off of two consecutive MVP campaigns and not shown any signs of slowing down thus far this season. Yes, the batting average isn’t where it was last season when Judge was spraying hard-hit balls and finding the outfield grass with regularity while winning his first batting crown, but he’s getting his walks and driving the ball at the same elite level that he’s been playing at since 2022.

Realistically, the at-least-soft decline it has to come at some point, and the Yankees have more than recouped enough value already out of the contract they inked Judge to in 2023 to justify whatever depreciation in his game comes in those later years. But will it start now, in 2026? I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s certainly a hot take to claim that we are.

Ben Rice is putting himself in the national spotlight, isn’t he? The first baseman has been the Robin to Judge’s Batman in the lineup, crushing his 10th home run on Monday to move himself into a tie with James Wood for the third-most homers in the league. Only Munetaka Murakami (who’s been a hell of a steal for the White Sox thus far), Yordan Alvarez, and Judge have slugged more out of the park, and only Alvarez has a higher OPS than Rice with a narrow lead (1.220 for Alvarez vs. 1.191 for Rice). Offense on a level like that has been the best way to get into MVP discussions of late, and Rice has become a much-more competent fielder than he was last year so he’s no slouch on that end either — he just likely won’t get much credit for it unless he starts siphoning some games behind the plate as well. Regardless, he’s in good standing to make this a reality.

This is a two-parter though, so let’s talk about Cam Schlittler a little bit shall we? Entering play on Tuesday Schlittler currently leads MLB with 1.7 fWAR, putting him marginally ahead of his own teammate in Max Fried (1.5) and the likes of reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and burgeoning Angels ace José Soriano (1.4 each). Soriano has pitched to an absurd 0.24 ERA in six starts, and if he pitches even close to that mark the rest of the way he’d surely draw the eyes of most voters, but Schlittler has actually has a case for surpassing him in the long run: he’s walking just 1.01 batters per nine innings to Soriano’s 3.11, his FIP is a magnificent 1.53 while Soriano runs a (still elite but not as good) 2.23 FIP, and Soriano’s stranding an entirely-unsustainable 100 percent of his baserunners. There’s still plenty of other candidates that’ll be in the field, but Schlittler stands a very good chance of establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the game and perhaps winning the hardware in the end.

So, we’ve got two takes that on their own sound pretty believable, with the Rice one seeming more likely thanks to the parameters having him finish in the top three as opposed to outright winning. Combined, however? It’s certainly bold to claim that both of the Yankees’ emerging stars will become supernovas in the same season. I don’t think anyone around here would mind if it turned out to be the case.

Now we’re getting crazy; this is what we’re here for. Ryan McMahon has gotten out of his own way on the field, separating his struggles at the plate from his ability to be a Gold Glove caliber defender and providing what the Yankees needed at the hot corner. In the process, finding himself out there might have cleared his head enough to start seeing the ball better at the plate as well, as he’s posted a respectable .757 OPS over his last 15 games.

Is that going to spiral all the way into him heating up enough to make the All-Star Game, let alone start it? Highly unlikely, but in the event that it does happen I’ll be going to you for some lotto numbers.

From your lips to God’s ears my friend. It’s been a rough couple of years trying to enjoy baseball in the Bronx during the summer, with June and July being a near-guaranteed cliff for the team to jump off of only to pick themselves back up during the dog days and avoid an actual collapse. Surprisingly, the 2022 Yankees managed to avoid a June-specific falloff, which is kind of funny because they’re the team that I associate with the trend becoming established: they actually had their best month of the year with a 22-6 record then! (The Cristian Javier-led combined Astros no-hitter notwithstanding.)

Of course, that 2022 squad did do its best to fall out of the division lead later on, and the months of July and August were indeed awful for the Bombers. But it’s funny to look back on the rest of Aaron Boone’s tenure and how the team has performed in the middle of the season with him heading the ship.

They started out pretty well all things considered, with Boone’s inaugural season in 2018 being fairly consistent the entire way through and the 2019 team also thriving in that time span. The 2021 team had the first true June swoon, and the last three rosters have all endured it as well, with the 2023 team maintaining the excuse of not having Judge around to buoy the lineup after that fateful encounter with the Dodger Stadium wall. Four out of five seasons suffering from this symptom, with the lone outlier experiencing it just a little later, is a tough track record to beat, but it sure is a hot take to claim they’ll manage just that. Hopefully this is no joke.

Considering only seven out of the 19 members of our own staff here made this pick, I’ll go out on a limb and say this is a scorcher of a take! The 17-year title drought has plenty of people pessimistic about the team’s chances to go all the way, but in all seriousness the team is built to compete and has the pieces for a deep run, should they survive the marathon that is an MLB season in good standing. The pitching staff is deeper than they’ve ever had in this era, and perhaps one of the deepest in franchise history, but the bullpen is an obvious flaw that could be their Achilles heel.

Luckily, that’s the easiest part of a roster to retool within a season, and they have internal candidates down in the minors should they want to go that route too. There’s only going to be so many more shots the Yankees can take at winning a title with Judge and Gerrit Cole fronting the championship push before they have to pay the real price of those lofty contracts, but if they can go all the way this year it’ll all be worth it.

For a third series in a row, the Orioles come up against a team that is currently in last place in its division. This is a surprising statement to make for this next opponent, the Astros, who have consistently been pretty good over the last decade. It is early to give up on them and say the season is a failure, same as it’s early to say the same about the O’s. I’m sure that the Astros would rather be a lot better than 11-17 so far this season.

The problem for Houston so far is its pitching. They are 30th of 30 teams in ERA, bringing a 5.97 team ERA to this series. Yikes. They are 29th in rotation ERA and 30th in bullpen ERA. Two of their active starting pitchers and three of their active relievers have ERAs over 6. Two of their starters, including offseason addition Tatsuya Imai, are on the injured list right now. Neither aspect is working out so far. The Orioles, if you’re wondering, are 18th, with a 4.36 ERA, and the bullpen in particular looks a lot better once you exclude some one-or-two-game-disasters from the mix.

Things are going better for the Astros offense, at least so far. Yordan Alvarez has been going bonkers up to this point in the season, with 11 homers and a 1.220 OPS in 29 games. Former Oriole Christian Walker is having a resurgence after struggling in his first year in Houston; he brings a .946 OPS with seven homers into this series. Imagine having a first baseman with seven homers already this season! Longtime Astros Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are not at their career peaks, but still doing well.

As we know from the series the Orioles just finished, playing a last place team doesn’t mean anything. The Orioles have their own share of problems to overcome and when they do not do that, they lose a game or a series. It would be nice to see them put it together here because tougher times are coming after this. Following their games against the Astros, 12 of their next 16 games will have them facing current division leaders. That could get ugly!

Game 1: Tuesday, 6:35

• HOU starter: Kai-Wei Teng – 2.16 ERA, 0.900 WHIP, 4.63 FIP in 16.2 innings
• BAL starter: Shane Baz – 5.08 ERA, 1.553 WHIP, 3.69 FIP in 28.1 innings

Teng has yet to start a game this season and his high pitch count is 39. It does not look like an opener gambit, but rather one of desperation for lack of other options available. If Teng can give them 60 pitches, they’ll probably be happy with that. He’s not left-handed, nor are any of the Astros starters who are pitching in this series. The 27-year-old from Taiwan was traded from San Francisco over to Houston this offseason. The results have been there out of the bullpen so far. I’m curious to see how that translates multiple times through the order.

Baz needs to have a great start as an Oriole. His best so far is one run allowed over 5.2 innings, a game which the Orioles still managed to use. The other four have not been good. This is more for the sake of the 2026 Orioles season than it is about winning the trade/extension, although obviously it would be nice for the O’s if those things happen as well. We have just not yet seen things out of him to validate Mike Elias’s belief in Baz. The O’s could probably help Baz by putting a better defensive alignment behind him – that .360 BABIP luck is just crazy bad.

Game 2: Wednesday, 6:35

• HOU starter: Peter Lambert – 3.27 ERA, 1.273 WHIP, 1.85 FIP in 11 innings
• BAL starter: Chris Bassitt – 6.75 ERA, 2.063 WHIP, 6.27 FIP in 21.1 innings

Lambert, 29, is a player I have never thought about in my life before sitting down to write this series preview. He was drafted by the Rockies and pitched part of four seasons with them through 2024. He spent last year in Japan and returned to the US this year. Astros injuries have pressed him into service – he’s started two games and they’ve gone well for him so far. If you are wired like me, your first reaction to finding out the Orioles are going to face a relatively anonymous starting pitcher is to think it will go badly for them. Take heart: It doesn’t always go as bad as you remember. Or take despair: Sometimes it does go badly.

You might also despair because Bassitt is on the mound. He also needs to have a great start as an Oriole! His bad starts have been worse than Baz’s bad starts, by far; Bassitt only compares favorably if you’re comparing him against Charlie Morton last year. It is the case that Bassitt is like four runs better in ERA than Morton was before he got bounced from the rotation. Still, Bassitt is not pitching well enough to help the Orioles have a good chance to win games he starts. The only Bassitt win this year saw him allow five runs in 5.1 innings and he was lucky to be bailed out by the offense.

Back in spring training, we were getting stories about how Bassitt was motivated since he came so close to winning the World Series last year. The extra motivation isn’t solving whatever else is going on here. Maybe some day the Orioles will get a veteran clubhouse presence who is both a good teammate and a good player.

Game 3: Thursday, 12:05

• HOU starter: Lance McCullers Jr. – 6.75 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 5.06 FIP in 25.1 innings
• BAL starter: Brandon Young – 2.53 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 3.88 FIP in 10.2 innings

We are far removed from McCullers having been a good MLB pitcher. He last started more than 20 games in 2021, missed 2023 and 2024 entirely due to injury issues, and was terrible in 16 games last year. Unfortunately for Houston, he’s picking up where he left off from last year, with all kinds of problems plaguing his game. As you and I both know, this is no guarantee that Orioles hitters will capitalize on this struggling pitcher. It would sure be nice to see them hit several home runs against a guy who’s already been homer-prone this year.

Young made two starts against the Astros during his rookie season a year ago, experiencing the highest of highs and some pretty low lows as well. The first game, he took a perfect through to two outs in the eighth inning, ultimately pitching eight shutout innings on the road in Houston. Six days later, back home in Baltimore, the Astros blasted him for seven runs in a 5.1 inning outing.

I had no interest in seeing Young start MLB games this season; he’s surprised me so far. It’s unlikely he will continue in the mid-2s for ERA but even if he floats up with an ERA closer to that 3.88 FIP, that is potential “save the season” stuff. You know, if enough else goes right with the Orioles for the performance of their #5 starter to make much of a difference.

**

Returning to the thought from before the matchups, a lot of Yankees games are looming after this series. It’s probably going to be tough for fans to believe that the Orioles can play well against the Yankees if they struggle against another last-place team. Houston is scraping the bottom of the barrel for a patchwork pitching staff. The Orioles offense needs to make something happen here, especially since they aren’t facing any lefty starters.

How do you think this series is going to go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Making declarations about a baseball team before the calendar turns to May is a fool’s errand, but here we are. The Mets have been so bad to begin the 2026 season that it really does feel like their season has gone down the tubes. On top of the fact that they’re 9-19 and tied with the Phillies for the worst record in baseball, they’re playing without Francisco Lindor—their most versatile and arguably best overall player—for the foreseeable future.

Even if Lindor hadn’t suffered a calf injury last week, there would be major concerns about this version of the Mets mimicking their 2024 counterparts in turning things around after a very ugly start to the season. At the time that the team fell to 24-35 in early June, there were at least some signs of life sprinkled throughout the lineup. Six players were hitting above league average by wRC+ up to that point: Mark Vientos (174 wRC+), J.D. Martinez (132 wRC+), Pete Alonso (119 wRC+), Brandon Nimmo (111 wRC+), DJ Stewart (108 wRC+), and Starling Marte (104 wRC+).

As for Lindor, he had experienced a typical slow start at the plate, but his 95 wRC+ combined with his defense at shortstop and his baserunning had him worth 1.4 fWAR on the morning of June 3, 2024. That led the team at the time.

Beginning with their win on June 3, the Mets turned into one of the best teams in baseball, and Lindor was the best player on the team by a wide margin. Over the course of 426 plate appearances, he hit an incredible .303/.376/.566 with 24 home runs and stole 21 bases, giving him 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases in total at the end of the regular season. He earned 6.2 fWAR over that stretch, too, which accounted for the vast majority if his season total of 7.7. And the last of his regular season home runs was the most important, as it gave the Mets the win they needed to clinch a playoff spot on the final day of the season.

Lindor didn’t complete the Mets’ magical comeback alone, of course. As had been the case even during their miserable skid early in that season, he was joined by plenty of above-league-average hitters for those final few months of the season: Jose Iglesias (137 wRC+), Mark Vientos (126 wRC+), Pete Alonso (123 wRC+), Jeff McNeil (113 wRC+), Tyrone Taylor (113 wRC+), Brandon Nimmo (107 wRC+), Francisco Alvarez (104 wRC+), and Starling Marte (103 wRC+). Even Luisangel Acuña, who made just 40 plate appearances, put up a 166 wRC+ as he joined the team in September, while Ben Gamel had a 108 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances.

And the lesser hitters on the team during the comeback stretch weren’t terrible, as J.D. Martinez (98 wRC+), Jesse Winker (97 wRC+), and Luis Torrens (90 wRC+) weren’t that far below league average. Harrison Bader (78 wRC+) and DJ Stewart (51 wRC+) were the only hitters who got significant playing time while really struggling at the plate.

That brings us back to this 2026 team. It would be tough to see this lineup, which has been the worst in baseball so far this year, turning things around even if Lindor were fully healthy and playing to his career norms. Juan Soto has unsurprisingly been the Mets’ best hitter this year with his .304/.418/.413 line and 141 wRC+, but the only other hitter who’s made at least 40 plate appearances and been better than league average is Francisco Alvarez (117 wRC+). Lindor, somewhat fittingly for this piece, had a 94 wRC+ when he hit the injured list, and he had really started to heat up at the plate in the games leading up to the calf injury.

To salvage this season, the Mets would need Soto to have an otherworldly stretch from now through the end of September. He’s sitting on 0.3 fWAR at the moment and probably needs to play at an 8.3 fWAR pace like he did in 2024 with the Yankees—at least while Lindor is sidelined—to get this Mets team back into a spot where playoff contention feels like a real possibility.

And even if Soto does that and Lindor’s return to major league action comes sooner than expected, the two of them simply can’t do it alone. They’d need other players on base to drive in or to get hits behind them to drive them in. It’s certainly possible—maybe even quite likely—that most of those players will improve the rest of the way. It would be hard not to. Luis Robert Jr. (94 wRC+) has cooled off after a hot start at the plate, and the rest of the Mets’ hitters have only been worse. Mark Vientos (80 wRC+), Tyrone Taylor (69 wRC+), Marcus Semien (65 wRC+), Bo Bichette (62 wRC+), Brett Baty (60 wRC+), the injured Jorge Polanco (53 wRC+), and Carson Benge (52 wRC+) are going to have to figure it out. And it’s very hard to buy that MJ Melendez (145 wRC+) is for real in his first 24 plate appearances as a Met when he has a .500 BABIP and a 45.8 percent strikeout rate.

Again, this mess looks insurmountable even in a scenario where the Mets’ entire roster is healthy. But without Francisco Lindor? It’s just so much worse.

Happy Tuesday! A rough outing from starter Luis Castillo led to seven earned runs and an eventual 4-11 loss to the Minnesota Twins yesterday. Cal Raleigh’s seventh home run and RHP Alex Hoppe’s MLB debut were the lone bright spots in the otherwise difficult game. Logan Gilbert takes the mound tomorrow against Twins ace Joe Ryan at 4:40 PM.

In Mariners news…

• Cole Young joined MLB Network yesterday to discuss his performance this season, the Mariners’ pitching staff, and more.
• The Mariners are seeing an early payoff from the Jose A. Ferrer trade after a set of impressive outings.
• Join the Lookout Landing meetup at the Tacoma Rainiers’ game on Sunday, May 17th! Thank you to commenter Sweet Lou and those who have been organizing logistics.

Around the league…

• Toronto Blue Jays RHP Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day IL with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation.
• The Cleveland Guardians are calling up former No. 1 draft pick Travis Bazzana to boost their infield.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers will be faced with a difficult decision regarding their starting rotation as LHP Blake Snell is nearing a return after injury.
• Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown is not planning to fire manager Joe Espada despite a slow start to their season .
• 53-year-old knuckleballer Vincent Towns has broken Roger Clemens’ Atlantic League record for oldest player to appear in a game.
• The New York Yankees have placed veteran designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day IL with a low-grade right calf strain.
• Making a change behind the plate could significantly improve the Miami Marlins’ path to contention this year.
• Brown University pitcher Olivia Pichardo has become the first woman to pitch in Division I baseball!

Through the first few weeks of the professional baseball season in 2026, a headline for the Nationals has been the talent in the farm system blossoming, as many of their top prospects, and a few surprise names, have been raking to begin the year. Chief among that group is shortstop Ronny Cruz, who made the jump to High A Wilmington last week and has continued to go scorched earth, with a 185 wRC+ and 6 home runs in 92 plate appearances between Low A and High A.

It hasn’t just been a couple of names in the Nationals’ farm system making noise; there has been a jump in performance from more bats than ever. Entering today, 22 Nats minor league hitters have a wRC+ of 100 or higher, meaning they are hitting league average or better for their level of the minor leagues. That number is third in all of baseball currently, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers with 24 and the San Francisco Giants with 28.

To put into context just how impressive a stat this is, let’s take a look at this statistic throughout the years for the Nats. In 2025, the Nats had 11 minor league hitters with a wRC+ of 100 or higher, and only 4 were above 120, a far cry from the 16 Nats with a 120+ wRC+ in 2026.

In 2024, only 9 Nats had a wRC+ over 100, and again, only 4 of them were above 120. 2023 was the same story as well, with 12 Nats above 100 and 4 above 120. Before analytics truly took over the game of baseball, the Nats would have 20+ hitters with league-average or higher wRC+ in the minor leagues, and it appears that under Paul Toboni and his staff, they have finally gotten back to that level.

The uptick in offensive performance for Nats minor league hitters has been in all aspects, as not only are walks up across the board thanks to improved approaches being instilled in hitters, but power numbers have shot up as well. Just take a look at the drastic change from years past to now in the Nats system in the chart below.

Nationals Minor League Hitters With A BB/K Ratio Over 0.50 And ISO Over .150

2026: 13

2025: 2 (0 above Complex League)

2024: 2 (0 above Dominican Summer League)

2023: 1 (Daylen Lile)

So to summarize, after back-to-back seasons with 0 players meeting the 0.50 BB/K ratio and .150 ISO benchmark, the Nats currently have a whopping 13 minor league hitters who are surpassing that number in 2026, and some quite easily, such as Seaver King, who has a 0.80 BB/K ratio and .264 ISO. I expected the new coaching staff to help make improvements to hitters’ approaches at the minor league levels, but it was a process that I expected to make multiple seasons, not one that we would see the fruits of the labor so quickly.

The one Nats minor league affiliate still struggling with their approach is the Rochester Red Wings, as the Nats Triple-A ballclub currently has 7 hitters with BB/K ratios under 0.50, and none who meet the BB/K ratio and ISO criteria listed above. Part of the reason for this is that Triple A has pitchers with both better stuff and command than the lower levels, but I also believe the hitters being older and more set in their ways than the new youngsters on the Nats farm plays a role as well.

It is easier to shape and mold the plate approach of a fresh-faced 19-year-old hitter than a 25-year-old hitter who worked his way through the minors with a different approach. With enough time and reps, hopefully the Nationals coaching staff can break through and help some players at the Triple-A level find increased success.

This Week in the Minors is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less-heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: “Who had a good week?”

Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (12-14, 5.5 games back)

It was a rough week for the Storm Chasers; they lost 5 of their 6 games against the Toledo Mud Hens. After winning the first game of the series, 10-5, they lost the next five contests.

Kameron Misner had another powerful week, going 3-for-19 at the plate, with two more homers. John Rave also blasted two more homers. Drew Waters had the best week at the plate, going 7-for-22 with a homer and a pair of doubles.

On the hill, Bailey Falter threw 4.1 innings, giving up 3 hits, 1 run, while striking out 6 batters. Stephen Kolek made another rehab start, he went 3.2 innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, walking 2 and striking out 4. Eric Cerantola threw another scoreless inning and a third, while Steven Cruz also threw 2 scoreless innings.

Omaha returns home for a series against the Louisville Bats, the series runs from Tuesday to Sunday.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (10-11, 4 games back)

The Naturals split a six game series against the Wichita Wind Surge. Every game was tightly contested, including a Sunday doubleheader to wrap up the series.

Jorge Alfaro was 4-for-11 at the plate, with a homer and a double. Carson Roccaforte was 5-for-22 with a double and a homer. Brett Squires was for-8-24 with 5 doubles, a homer and 7 runs batted in. The Naturals hit a pair of walk offs as well; Daniel Vazquez hit a walk-off two run single in the 10th inning to win a game 13-12. Rudy Martin Jr. hit a walk off homer in game one of the Sunday doubleheader.

On the hill, Henry Williams made two starts, totaling in 10 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 run allowed, walking 5 and striking out 8. Drew Beam had his best AA start of his career, going 4.1 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, walking 1 and striking out 6. Frank Mozzicato struggled badly in his one start, going just 1.2 innings, giving up 6 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. Dennis Colleran, who had some Spring Training hype surrounding him and his high velocity continued his season long struggle, giving up 5 runs in a third of an inning over two appearances.

The Naturals remain at home for a series against the Springfield Cardinals, the series runs from Tuesday to Sunday.

Quad Cities River Bandits (10-8 2.5 games back)

The Quad Cities River Bandits took four of six in their series against the Lansing Lugnuts. At the plate, Blake Mitchell was 2-12 at the plate with a homer. Ramon Ramirez was 5-24 with a homer, two doubles and seven runs batted in. Austin Charles was 9-for-25 with three doubles, and five runs batted in. Derlin Figueroa was 4-for-18 with a double.

On the hill, David Shields went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, walking 3 and striking out 6 in his one start of the week. Hunter Alberini threw 2.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits, striking out three. Emmanuel Reyes threw 4 innings of one hit ball in his start, he did walk four but also struck out three. Reyes is a 21-year-old out of the Dominican Republic.

The River Bandits are on the road to take on the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers this week; the series runs Tuesday through Sunday. The River Bandits lost of four of six to the Timber Rattlers when they played earlier this season.

Columbia Fireflies (11-10, 4 games back)

The Fireflies split their six-game series against the Augusta GreenJackets. Jordan Woods, who’s been really good so far on the bump, threw 5 innings of 4 hit ball, allowing 2 runs (1 earned), striking out 4. Woods season ERA now sits at 0.69. Blake Wolters threw 5 innings of 2 run ball, striking out 5 in his start. Wolters season ERA now sits at 1.59. Kendry Chourio didn’t make an appearance this week.

At the plate, Hyungchan Um, a catcher, was 2-for-14 at the plate, with a homer. Um is trying to become the first Royals player from South Korea, and the first Korean born catcher in MLB history. Um just turned 22 last week. Josh Hammond went 6-for-18 with a double, homer and three runs batted in. Sean Gamble on the other hand continues to struggle, he went just 3-for-20.

The Fireflies travel to Myrtle Beach, to take on the Pelicans. The series runs Tuesday through Sunday. The Fireflies took four of six from the Pelicans earlier this season.

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We’ve got a full slate across the big leagues today with some primo matchups. 

My MLB player props analysis will include Tyler Mahle, Willson Contreras, and Andy Pages. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Tuesday, April 28.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Tyler Mahle	Over 4.5 Ks	-120
Willson Contreras	Over 0.5 runs	-110
Andy Pages	Over 0.5 runs	+110

Tyler Mahle Over 4.5 strikeouts (-120)

Tyler Mahle isn’t known as a huge strikeout pitcher, but he’s missing some bats lately.

The right-hander has cashed the Over in Ks three straight starts, and in four of his five outings this season. Last time out, he threw a gem, tossing seven scoreless against the Dodgers while striking out five. 

Mahle has 26 Ks in 25 2/3 innings of work in 2026, and he’ll face the struggling Philadelphia Phillies tonight. Across 68 at-bats against them, Mahle has 20 Ks, and they’re hitting just .235.

The Phils also just struck out 12 times in their finale against the Braves on Sunday. 

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSBA, NBCSP

Willson Contreras Over 0.5 runs (-110)

Willson Contreras has been key in the Red Sox winning three games in a row since the firing of Alex Cora. He’s recorded at least one run in three straight contests, coming across the plate five times during that span. 

Contreras was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs in a victory over the Blue Jays on Monday. What’s important is that his teammates are producing below him in the lineup, and Contreras is consistently getting on base right now. 

• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NESN, SN1

Andy Pages Over 0.5 runs (+110)

Andy Pages has been a breakout star so far for the Dodgers. He’s batting .327 with five home runs, 25 RBI, and 16 runs.

Pages has come across the plate in three consecutive games, and he has three hits during that span. The Dodgers are hitting .277 with RISP, and Pages also has a .374 OBP.

The Cuban has 13 of his runs against right-hander pitchers, and Janson Junk takes the hill this evening for the Marlins. He’s also allowed seven earned across his last three starts. 

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marlins.TV, SNLA

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.