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Welcome to the 2026 MLB Consensus Draft Board. This is the fifth version of the board, which started in 2022 as a top thirty. Since then, it’s expanded to around 150 players on an annual basis, featuring at eight different team sites. So what is the Consensus Board? How is it made? How should it be used? The concept is loosely based on Arif Hasan’s NFL Consensus Board. It’s meant to be a tool for folks getting interested in the MLB Draft. As I was learning about the draft, I struggled to navigate wildly varied rankings and evaluations of players. The Consensus Board takes every major publicly available board and combines them into a consensus ranking, eliminating some of the noise and variance of an extremely challenging evaluation process. We’ve found this process to be useful in ranking players in appropriate ranges through around the first five rounds of the draft. On the board, you’ll find player names, handedness, listed height and weight, age, and a write-up, walking through their strengths and opportunities as a prospect. As we go through the cycle, these will be updated with tweaks, final college stats, etc. Every time a major outlet (Baseball America, ESPN, The Athletic, etc.) releases an updated list, the consensus ranking shifts. As such, the board is a lagging reflection of what the industry thinks of the class and its key players. The final Consensus Board will incorporate at least 10 other boards as inputs. New MLB Mock Draft Board Features There are a few important features to point out to help you navigate the board. There’s a search bar to help you find players of interest. If you click ‘expand’ the board will focus on the write-up you are engaged with, in addition to one immediately above it and one immediately below it. Additionally, you’ll find the logo of your team next to their draft slots to help understand where they are picking. There will be a player slotted there, based on their consensus ranking. Rather than using that ranking as an indicator of who they might actually pick, it’s more useful to use it as a proxy for what caliber of talent is available at that slot. We’ll dig in deeper to team-specific mock drafts later in the cycle. The last important note is that this year the board features ‘push’ updates. It updates automatically every hour. The board is typically updated with new write-ups five days per week, so check back regularly for updates. At #21, The San Diego Padres Select: Logan Schmidt, LHP, Ganesha HS, CA Schmidt is a classic projection lefty, joining Gio Rojas and Carson Bolemon as a trio of prep southpaws who could be selected in the first round in July. He's currently committed to LSU. Schmidt has great size at 6'4, 215, with projection left and the possibility of adding additional strength and weight. He has a smooth, repeatable delivery from the left side, and his stuff took a jump this summer in several high-profile events. His fastball sits 94-96 mph but has been as high as 98 mph. He pairs it with a slider in the low 80s that has a slurvy shape. That will be an area of development, ironing out the shapes of his secondary pitches to maximize his arsenal. Finally, Schmidt also has a changeup, a pitch he sells with great arm speed and generates plenty of fade. It's easy to imagine a future version of Schmidt consistently holding 96-97 mph with his fastball, a tweaked cluster of breaking pitches, with a little additional strength, looking like a force in pro baseball. View the full article

The Chicago Cubs signed left-handed pitcher Hoby Milner in the offseason to pair with Caleb Thielbar as the team's primary two southpaws in the pen. Milner had many years of service with the Milwaukee Brewers and his time overlapped with manager Craig Counsell, meaning there was (and is) a familiarity between the two. Milner has always been a unique reliever; with fastball velocities that are well below the norm (and well below 90mph) and a funky arm slot, he's carved out a role that has allowed him to thrive at times. Thus far with the Cubs, Milner has, on the surface, performed well. His ERA sits at 2.19 on the year, and he's limited left-handed hitters to just a .182 average and a .249 wOBA; this is what he was brought to Chicago to do. In fact, his wOBA against so far (in very limited sample size) for left-handed hitters is better than his career average. However, there are some red flags in his 12 innings and change so far, as well. One of the first flags can be seen within his FIP, which sits at 5.16, nearly three runs over his ERA currently. His expected FIP is over 6.00. On their own, this is not good; when FIP and ERA don't align, something is up. There are ways to outperform your FIP. We only need to look at Cubs icon Kyle Hendricks for this recipe. If you throw a lot of strikes, don't walk hitters, and keep the ball in play specifically on the ground, you can make an entire career of throwing 88mph and beating your FIP. Which brings us to our second red-flag: Hoby Milner is not getting ground balls. Milner is normally a ground-ball machine. Over his previous 264 innings before coming to the North Side, Milner sat at a groundball rate of 51.1%. That puts him just within the top 20 in terms of all relievers over that span (17th to be exact). Yet, so far, his ground-ball rate is sitting below 40% on the year; this is a massive drop in ground balls and a reason for us to pause the idea that he's somehow out-pitching his FIP and that he's well on the way to being a FIP-beater in 2026. The next red flag: a massive drop in strikeouts. Milner, despite throwing below 90mph, has never been a strikeout slouch (even if he was never a standout in that regard) Over that same 264-inning span, the side-armer struck out 22.6% of the hitters he faced. This is a bit below league average, but considering how much lower his velocity sits, this is fairly admirable. Yet in 2026, he's down to just three strikeouts total, good for a 6.1% strikeout rate. That's not good. In fact, while he's struck out only three hitters, he's walked four meaning so far, more walks than strikeouts. So, what's going on? I don't think he's broken and I think this is probably some small sample stuff more than anything. While it's true that his fastball velocity has dipped slightly (down from an 88mph average last year to an 87.5mph fastball this year), his Fangraphs' Stuff+ rating hasn't really seen a drop-off; his overall Stuff+ is at 104 (compared to his career Stuff+ 106) and his fastball Stuff+ is standing steady at 107. In his last outing against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 23, his velocity was 87.8mph. He looks fine in this regard. He's also not struggling to get swings outside the zone, as he has a 29.1% chase rate, which is the highest chase rate the lefty has gotten since 2023. His whiff% and his K% are clearly in the bottom one percent (a K% of 6.1% will do that), so it's hard to figure out why he's not really getting whiffs right away. If the velocity is fine, and the shape is fine, and he's getting more chase... you'd expect the strikeouts to follow. One reason why he may be struggling here a bit: he's featured the sinker more than you'd normally expect. His usage on this pitch is up from 33.4% to over 43% of the time. His whiff% last year on the sinker was 9.7% and this year it's 9.1%. It's just not a pitch that's designed to strike hitters out. It is used for groundballs and batted ball control and I think this is exactly why his FIP, xFIP, and K% are all out of whack: Milner has faced a ton of traffic. In fact, over his 12.1 IP, the vast majority has been when runners were on, the exact time you'd be more careful in terms of throwing strikes. We can see which pitch Milner uses as his "strike-throwing" pitch with a visualization of how he uses his offerings. His sweeper and his changeup are generally used when he wants you to chase off the plate, especially his sweeper. This is not a pitch he wants in the zone, but well out of the zone; it's why it has such a high whiff percentage. His sinker, however, is a pitch that is far more in-and-around the zone. If you're stuck facing traffic on the bases, you don't want to throw a sweeper off the plate. In a worse-case scenario, it's not only a ball, but gets past the catcher and moves the runners up. Instead, you're likely to be much more careful and intentional. Milner's best pitch has generally been that sweeper. This is a weapon out of the hand of the reliever because of how awkward his arm angle is; the only LHP in MLB with a lower arm slot so far in 2026 is former Cub and current Yankee, Tim Hill. He's using it less than normal this year, almost an 8% reduction in usage. Why? Again, there's probably a good argument that contextually, he's been less able to use it dealing with so many runners on base. MVlEYVJfWGw0TUFRPT1fQlFRRlVGWUFBMVFBREFFTFV3QUFWVlVEQUZsVVVRY0FWbFJVVWxjRlV3cFdWZ3BX.mp4 One other part of the story: the injuries the Cubs are facing. So far, the Cubs have had to send all three of their high-leverage relievers, Daniel Palencia, Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey, to the IL. Recently, Caleb Thielbar has also joined those four. The pecking order is all out of whack for Counsell. Milner hasn't always been placed in his best spots. On April 20, he was brought in to face left-handed hitter Kyle Schwarber to end an inning. He was left out to start the next inning as another lefty, Bryce Harper, was leading off. However, he walked the lefty and then got stuck facing Adolis Garcia and Alec Bohm during this inning. Is that the best usage of Milner? Probably not; I suspect the team may have replaced their southpaw with Bohm up and a runner on in a perfect world. Instead, Milner clearly worked around Bohm to put two on to face fellow lefty Bryson Stott. It all worked out; no one scored, but with the lack of bullpen depth right now, the Cubs are left to ask themselves if they would more trust Milner's experience or someone else's inexperience too often right now. What this all means is that we're in a situation where neither his ERA or his underlying numbers are telling us the whole story. What feels most likely is that, due to a combination of pitching injuries jumbling the bullpen pecking order and small sample size, Milner's going to be fine when these things normalize. His stuff appears to be about the same as it always is in both velocity and shape, and he appears healthy. Hitters are hitting him harder, but he hasn't really gotten to use his best pitches as often and he's been put into a lot of situations where runners are on base. Nothing in his profile suggests he's incapable of getting whiffs. In fact, his sweeper whiff rate is actually up from 2025! In the end, it's probably safe to expect that Milner's probably not as good as his ERA would indicate, but not nearly the disaster his xFIP suggests he's been. Data is great, but data sometimes can miss context; all xFIP sees is a lack of strikeouts, not that the Cubs' pitching staff has been ravaged by injury and that the veteran reliever, being one of the few pitchers that Counsell can trust in big moments, has likely been put in situations he isn't well-suited for. While Milner may not be someone who's going to blow you away, his availability during a time in which the Cubs need arms is not-nothing, either. He might not be striking out a ton of hitters, but he's been just effective enough and has helped the Cubs through a rough period in his own way. What do you think of Hoby Milner so far? Do you trust the ERA? Are you worried about the lack of strikeouts? Sound off in the comment section below and start a discussion! View the full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 23-April 24) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs. Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians): 2-2 Season Record: 12-13 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-2 Season Record: 10-7 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels): 3-1 Season Record: 9-10 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels(Minnesota Twins): 1-3 Season Record: 9-10 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 12-13 Series Opponent: Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians) April 23: Grant Rogers toed the rubber to start the game for Buffalo against Columbus, and he twirled a gem by his standards. He made it through five innings, not allowing a single run, walking one, and striking out three. He put Buffalo in a great position to grab a win and get back to the .500 mark. The Bisons' bats took on the task head-on; they were led by three-hit games from Josh Kasevich and William Simoneit. Kasevich would kick off the scoring in the third inning with an RBI single that scored Simoneit. Josh Rivera added to the lead the next inning, when he unloaded on a middle-up changeup and smoked it 104.4 mph off the bat for a 411-foot solo home run. Yohendrick Pinango didn't want to be left out of the fun, as he shot a ball the opposite way for a two-run double in the seventh. With Buffalo holding a 4-1 lead going into the top of the ninth inning, Hayden Juenger came on to close it out for the Bisons. Unfortunately, he imploded in epic fashion. After getting the lead-off hitter to fly out for the first out of the inning, Juenger let the next three batters reach with a single and two walks. He was replaced by Adam Macko, who didn't fare any better, as he gave up the lead on a three-RBI, bases-clearing triple. In the bottom of the ninth, Charles McAdoo picked up the bullpen, with a sacrifice fly to tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the 10th, Simoneit would again come up clutch for the Bisons, singling to center and bringing home the winning run. The Bisons won 6-5 and reached the .500 mark once again. April 24: In a high-scoring game on Friday night, Chad Dallas finally got roughed up, in what would be his worst outing of the season. After giving up a run in the top of the first inning, Dallas coughed up five more runs in the second inning. The scoring barrage was highlighted by Travis Bazzana's two-RBI double to right field. Despite the terrible start, Dallas was able to end on a high note, striking out the side in the third inning, all swinging. The bullpen didn't do much better, as Tanner Andrews and Jesse Hahn combined to give up six runs. The bats tried to keep pace with Columbus. They tallied 11 hits, and everyone in the lineup recorded at least one. Charles McAdoo hit his fourth home run of the season, a 413-foot blast for a solo shot in the fourth inning. The Bisons could have used some of his juice, as they totaled seven doubles on the night, but could only get six runs across home plate. Buffalo fell 12-6 and yet again couldn't cross the .500 mark, falling to a game below it on the season. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 10-7 Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies) April 23: The Thursday night game between New Hampshire and Reading had a back-and-forth feel for much of the night. Gage Stanifer got the start for the Fisher Cats, and his command was very much out of control from the start. He walked three of the first four batters, but really settled in after that. He went four innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run, while walking three and striking out four. Only six of his first 21 pitches went for strikes, but he figured it out, as he finished the rest of his innings with a 74% strike rate. Sean Keys stepped up big for New Hampshire on the day. He opened up the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning. Also, after Ismael Munguia homered to give the Fisher Cats a two-run lead, Keys launched his eighth home run of the year in the fourth. Up four runs, Bryan Rincon cut into the lead with a solo shot off of Stanifer. Aaron Parker added an RBI single, and New Hampshire would hold on to win 6-4. April 24: The Friday night contest was a close game for much of it. Richard Gallardo and Alex Amalfi split the game for New Hampshire, combined for all nine innings, and only gave up six hits, walked just two, and struck out five combined. They held the Fightin Phils to no runs on the night. On offense for the Fisher Cats, Sean Keys once again took center stage. This time launching his ninth home run of the season. A 110.5 mph low line drive missile. In the seventh inning, New Hampshire took charge as Jay Harry drove in a run on an RBI single, Ismael Munguia had a sacrifice fly, and Jace Bohrofen doubled in three runs. Harry would add an RBI triple the next inning, and the Fisher Cats won big, this time 9-0. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 9-10 Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels) April 23: Danny Thompson Jr. is making a name for himself, as he’s now pitched 15 innings this season without giving up a single earned run, striking out 42.9% of the batters he’s faced and walking a little under nine percent. Since getting drafted in the eighth round in the 2025 draft for just $5,000, he’s only given up a single earned run. Peyton Olejnik also pitched well, keeping the Canadians scoreless until the fourth inning, where Carter Cunningham hit a triple to lead off the inning. After an Arjun Nimmala walk, Peyton Williams knocked Cunningham in with a single, and Alexis Hernandez got hit by a pitch immediately after to load the bases. A Jacob Sharp sac fly and a Dub Gleed single scored two more runs. The Dust Devils struck back after Thompson came off the mound, as Jonathan Todd gave up a two-run shot to Anthony Scull. Nimmala gave the Canadians an insurance run on a sac fly, which came in clutch as Carson Pierce gave up a run the inning after. Sharp got his second RBI in the eighth to add another run for the Canadians, and Eminen Flores got his second save with two scoreless innings to guarantee the Canadians’ fifth win in a row. April 24: The Canadians and Dust Devils had a pitching duel. Top prospect Johnny King walked the first two batters but was able to lock in after that, striking out four in three no-hit innings. The Canadians' offense couldn’t get it going, despite Arjun Nimmala getting on base a few times, including a double, but he was one of only three Canadians to get a hit. Holden Wilkerson continues to pitch well, piggybacking off of King, with four scoreless innings of his own. Jay Schueler went another two innings without allowing a single hit, with the Canadians carrying a one-hitter into extra innings. Unfortunately, Trace Baker struggled once again, raising his season ERA to 23.14 as he gave up three runs in extras to break the winning streak for Vancouver. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 9-10 Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins) April 23: In Thursday's afternoon game, the Dunedin Blue Jays got another start from Nolan Perry, who’s been nothing but excellent since returning from Tommy John. His strong stuff showed once again, as he struck out seven of the first nine batters he saw. Enmanuel Bonilla had a strong night, with his second homer of the season and driving in four runs, despite striking out three times. Juan Rosas made his debut for Dunedin, and his first hit for the D-Jays was a three-run homer to give the team a big early lead. Things fell apart after that, as no more Jays crossed the plate after Bonilla drove in two on a single, and the Jays’ bullpen struggled, with Reece Wissinger and Austin Smith giving up two runs each to bring the game to within one, and Noah Palmese blew the save, giving up six runs, including two homers. April 24: The Jays tried to get above .500 after a frustrating loss the day before, and Blaine Bullard tried his best to get them there. The young outfielder went 4-for-5 with a triple and a homer, scoring three of the Jays' four runs, along with two stolen bases. Dayne Pengelly also had a strong start, with just under four innings of scoreless pitching. Luis Victorino's poor outing spoiled the strong performances from those two, as he gave up five runs in relief. Mason Davenport and Jack Eshleman kept the score close, but the Jays offense couldn’t get over the hump, dropping the team under .500. View the full article

Juan Soto has achieved just about everything you can as an individual. He has six Silver Sluggers, is a four-time All-Star, has a batting title, a World Series ring, and a 15-year, $765 million contract. For someone who won’t turn 30 until October of 2028, Soto has already lived a full baseball life, but he still has one major milestone left to collect on his way to Cooperstown—an MVP trophy. The New York Mets’ season might already be over. Following a 7-4 start, they embarked on an epic 12-game losing streak, which sank them to the bottom of the standings. Teams can overcome a 7-16 start, but it leaves them zero margin for error, and the 2026 Mets feel like they’re perpetually carrying a pot of chili into the office. The good news is that they employ Juan Soto. Calling consistency a superpower is boring, but for Juan Soto, it’s why he’s one of the best players in baseball and also probably why he doesn’t have an MVP. The simplest way to explain Soto is that he plays all the time, gets on base all the time, and hits for both contact and power. It’s why he has a career wRC+ of 160, the 19th-highest figure ever, just below some guy named Ty Cobb. Teams covet consistency—it’s why Soto is paid like a king–because it limits downside, but it also limits upside, and that’s tough in the era of Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. While six to seven wins above replacement per season for a decade is worth three-quarters of a billion dollars, it’s not enough to win MVPs when you’re up against 10-WAR Kaijus. However, Soto might not need to have a truly transcendent season at the plate to forge an attractive MVP narrative. The Mets are truly in trouble, but none of it falls directly at Soto’s feet. During the Mets' 12 days of despair, Soto was out with a calf injury. He left the Mets 4-4, came back to find them 7-16, and as soon as he re-entered the lineup—poof, the losing streak ended. Baseball isn’t as simple as one player returns and everything is solved, but stories are. Should the Mets turn their season around, Soto will have a story worthy of an MVP. He’ll be the hero who saved the season. The man who guided a helpless, lost cause out of the depths of despair into the warm glow of the blustery, frozen hellscape that is October baseball in New York. Even as analytics have come to dominate baseball awards voting, I still think there is some romanticism left in the world. Part of the reason Ohtani has walked away with MVP after MVP is his story as a two-way player is like a tall tale. He’s The Natural, just living and breathing, and while the WAR helps, the story is just as intoxicating. If Soto produces his usual .300/.400/.500 triple-slash line, while dragging the Mets out of the cellar, that is a story that will transcend baseball media. It’s the oldest sports story of them all for a reason; people love it. And on top of that, he’ll have the underdog winds at his back. No matter where the Mets finish this season, they’ll be underdogs. That’s their franchise heritage, and it’s the exact predicament they find themselves in. But Soto is also an MVP underdog. He has four top-five finishes, three top-three finishes, and came runner-up in 2021, despite leading Bryce Harper in WAR. He has been oh-so close to winning the award, but the stars just haven’t aligned for him (even though those in the media decide what the stars say). Before it’s all said and done, Juan Soto will very likely win an MVP award. He’s just too good, too young, and too consistent. But there’s a chance he’s this generation's Hank Aaron. Aaron, who finished his career with more home runs than anyone, never once hit 50 in a season, and only won one MVP. In fact, he never finished higher than third outside of his lone win. Aaron, like Soto, was a metronome of consistency, but only once did he lead his league in WAR. Perhaps Soto will consistently, excellently trudge through his career without that single transcendent season to capture voters’ imagination. Or perhaps, he’ll lead the Mets back from the brink, into the playoffs, and secure the one award that has eluded him. This is Soto’s best chance to win MVP, and all it’ll require is one of the great turnarounds in history. That’s no small feat, but that’s why it’s an MVP story. View the full article

David Shields struck out six over five innings of one-run ball, but Quad Cities saw its lead vanish in a six-run, ninth-inning collapse, falling 7-6 to Lansing. Drew Beam fanned six in 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball as Northwest Arkansas dropped a 5-1 decision to Wichita despite Brandon Johnson's hitless 2 1/3 frames in relief. JC Vanek reached base five times in Columbia's 11-10 loss to Augusta, and Omaha fell 4-3 in a rain-shortened game in Toledo. Royals Transactions No Roster Moves Storm Chasers Drop Rain-Shortened 4-3 Decision In Toledo Omaha could not finish what it started, falling 4-3 in Toledo, with the game called after the bottom of the fifth due to rain. Gavin Cross stayed busy on the bases, going 1-for-2 with a run scored, three stolen bases, and a strikeout. Tyler Tolbert finished 1-for-2 with a run, an RBI, and a walk. Drew Waters drew a bases-loaded walk for an RBI, while leadoff hitter Kevin Newman went 1-for-2 with a walk. Kameron Misner walked, scored, stole a base, and struck out once. Luca Tresh, Josh Rojas, and Elih Marrero each chipped in a hit, with Rojas and Marrero adding doubles. The Storm Chasers stranded nine and committed two errors. Right-hander Stephen Kolek opened on the mound and worked 3 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, walking two, and striking out four. The damage came on a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth that pulled the Mud Hens within 3-2. Beck Way was relieved with two outs in the fourth and was tagged with the loss across 1 1/3 innings, scattering two hits and striking out three without surrendering an earned run. Omaha's three runs came in the third and fourth. Misner walked, swiped second, and scored on a fielding error during Abraham Toro's at-bat. The next inning, Cross was hit by a pitch, advanced on Tolbert's RBI single, then came around on Waters's bases-loaded walk for a 3-0 lead. Toledo answered with the home run in the fourth and pushed across two unearned runs in the fifth on a center-field throwing error during a strikeout. Player AB R H RBI BB K Kevin Newman 2 0 1 0 1 0 Drew Waters 2 0 0 1 1 0 Kameron Misner 2 1 0 0 1 1 Abraham Toro 3 0 0 0 0 0 Luca Tresh 3 0 1 0 0 0 Josh Rojas 3 0 1 0 0 1 Gavin Cross 2 1 1 0 0 1 Tyler Tolbert 2 1 1 1 1 0 Elih Marrero 3 0 1 0 0 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Stephen Kolek 3 2/3 4 2 2 2 4 1 Beck Way 1 1/3 2 2 0 0 3 0 Beam's Six Strikeouts Wasted As Naturals Fall To Wichita 5-1 Northwest Arkansas managed just one run on six hits in a 5-1 home loss to Wichita. Justin Johnson led the way, going 2-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts. Cleanup hitter Brett Squires doubled, scored the lone Naturals run, and finished 1-for-4. Leadoff man Carson Roccaforte drew two walks, while Daniel Vazquez also walked twice and added a stolen base. Sam Kulasingam reached twice on a hit and a walk, and Connor Scott matched that line with a single and a walk. Dustin Dickerson added a hit, and Rudy Martin Jr. drew two walks. The Naturals stranded ten runners and committed one error. Right-hander Drew Beam turned in a sharp start, working 4 1/3 innings while allowing one earned run on four hits, walking one, and striking out six. Beam exited with two outs in the fifth after a leadoff double, and the bullpen could not contain the rally. Dennis Colleran Jr. was charged with two earned runs in 1/3 of an inning, and Wichita pushed across three runs in the frame. Brandon Johnson then steadied the relief crew with 2 1/3 hitless innings, walking none and striking out four. Christian Chamberlain surrendered a leadoff home run in the eighth, and an unearned run scored later in the inning on a passed ball. Squires answered in the bottom of the eighth with a double, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on a fielding error during Dickerson's at-bat. Tommy Molsky closed out the ninth on one hit and a strikeout, but the offense could not muster a comeback. Player AB R H RBI BB K Carson Roccaforte 3 0 0 0 2 1 Rudy Martin Jr. 3 0 0 0 2 2 Sam Kulasingam 3 0 1 0 1 0 Brett Squires 4 1 1 0 0 1 Daniel Vazquez 2 0 0 0 2 1 Dustin Dickerson 4 0 1 0 0 0 Connor Scott 3 0 1 0 1 0 Canyon Brown 4 0 0 0 0 2 Justin Johnson 4 0 2 0 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Drew Beam 4 1/3 4 1 1 1 6 0 Dennis Colleran Jr. 1/3 2 2 2 1 0 0 Brandon Johnson 2 1/3 0 0 0 0 4 0 Christian Chamberlain 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 Tommy Molsky 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 River Bandits' Lead Evaporates In Six-Run Ninth-Inning Collapse Quad Cities took a four-run lead into the ninth and could not hold it, falling 7-6 to Lansing. Leadoff man Asbel Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a walk, and two stolen bases. Blake Mitchell singled, walked twice, scored two runs, stole a base, and struck out twice. Erick Torres finished 2-for-3 with a run, an RBI, a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout, while Jose Cerice was 2-for-2 with a run, an RBI, and two walks. Austin Charles added a 2-for-5 day with an RBI and a stolen base. Luke Pelzer drove in a run, Ramon Ramirez scored once, and the River Bandits stranded eleven runners. Right-hander David Shields was sharp on the mound across five innings, allowing one earned run on four hits, walking three, and striking out six, with a solo home run as the only damage. L.P. Langevin followed with two hitless innings, walking two and striking out four. The bullpen unraveled in the ninth. Cory Ronan opened the inning with a walk, struck out the next batter, then walked two more to load the bases. Dash Albus relieved with one out and surrendered a bases-loaded walk, an RBI single, another walk, a wild pitch, and a two-run single, allowing the Lugnuts to plate six runs and seize a 7-5 lead. Quad Cities had built its lead by manufacturing runs across the early innings. Mitchell singled and scored on a Lansing throwing error during Ramirez's at-bat in the first, then Cerice singled in Ramirez. Pelzer's groundout drove in Mitchell in the third, Gonzalez singled in Torres in the fourth, and Charles singled home Pelzer in the fifth. Torres added a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough. Player AB R H RBI BB K Asbel Gonzalez 4 0 2 1 1 0 Blake Mitchell 3 2 1 0 2 2 Ramon Ramirez 5 1 1 0 0 0 Luke Pelzer 5 1 1 1 0 2 Jose Cerice 2 1 2 1 2 0 Austin Charles 5 0 2 1 0 0 Erick Torres 3 1 2 1 1 1 Trevor Werner 5 0 0 0 0 1 Angel Acosta 4 0 0 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR David Shields 5 4 1 1 3 6 1 L.P. Langevin 2 0 0 0 2 4 0 Cory Ronan 1 1/3 0 3 3 4 1 0 Dash Albus 2/3 2 3 3 2 0 0 Fireflies' Comeback Falls Just Short In 11-10 Loss To Augusta Columbia rallied twice but could not protect a late lead, dropping an 11-10 decision to Augusta. Roni Cabrera went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. JC Vanek reached base five times on a 2-for-2 day with three walks, two RBI, a run, and a stolen base. Yandel Ricardo finished 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI, a walk, and a strikeout. Cleanup hitter Brooks Bryan went 1-for-4 with a run, a walk, a strikeout, and a steal of home in the first. Daniel Lopez added a hit, two runs, an RBI, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Connor Rasmussen went 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, and two walks. Josi Novas chipped in a hit, two RBI, and a walk, while leadoff hitter Henry Ramos tripled and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. The Fireflies left seven on base and committed one error. Right-hander Michael Lombardi started and worked two innings, allowing one earned run on a hit while walking four and striking out four. Brandon Herbold was tagged with three earned runs on four hits, including a two-run home run, in one inning of relief. Darwin Rodriguez followed with four innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits, with one walk and five strikeouts. Randy Ramnarace took the loss after surrendering a three-run double in the ninth. Columbia tied the game at seven in the seventh on Vanek's RBI single, fell behind 8-7 in the eighth, and answered with three in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles from Rasmussen, Novas, and Ricardo to take a 10-8 lead. Augusta walked the bases full to begin the ninth, walked in a run, and a three-run double broke the tie for good. Player AB R H RBI BB K Henry Ramos 3 1 1 1 0 1 Yandel Ricardo 4 2 2 1 1 1 Josh Hammond 5 0 0 0 0 1 Brooks Bryan 4 1 1 0 1 1 JC Vanek 2 1 2 2 3 0 Roni Cabrera 5 2 3 0 0 1 Daniel Lopez 3 2 1 1 0 1 Connor Rasmussen 3 1 1 1 2 0 Josi Novas 2 0 1 2 1 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Michael Lombardi 2 1 1 1 4 4 0 Brandon Herbold 1 4 3 3 0 1 1 Darwin Rodriguez 4 5 3 3 1 5 0 Yeri Perez 1 1 3 2 2 1 0 Randy Ramnarace 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Top-20 Prospect Performance Carter Jensen: DNP Blake Mitchell: 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, SB, 2 K David Shields: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, HR Kendry Chourio: DNP Ben Kudrna: DNP Sean Gamble: DNP Josh Hammond: 0-for-5, K Ramon Ramirez: 1-for-5, R Drew Beam: 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Asbel Gonzalez: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, BB, 2 SB Yandel Ricardo: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, BB, K Felix Arronde: DNP Luinder Avila: DNP Daniel Vázquez: 0-for-2, 2 BB, SB, K Steven Zobac: DNP Carson Roccaforte: 0-for-3, 2 BB, K Blake Wolters: DNP Michael Lombardi: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K Warren Calcaño: DNP Frank Mozzicato: DNP View the full article

David Shields struck out six over five innings of one-run ball, but Quad Cities saw its lead vanish in a six-run, ninth-inning collapse, falling 7-6 to Lansing. Drew Beam fanned six in 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball as Northwest Arkansas dropped a 5-1 decision to Wichita despite Brandon Johnson's hitless 2 1/3 frames in relief. JC Vanek reached base five times in Columbia's 11-10 loss to Augusta, and Omaha fell 4-3 in a rain-shortened game in Toledo. Royals Transactions No Roster Moves Storm Chasers Drop Rain-Shortened 4-3 Decision In Toledo Omaha could not finish what it started, falling 4-3 in Toledo, with the game called after the bottom of the fifth due to rain. Gavin Cross stayed busy on the bases, going 1-for-2 with a run scored, three stolen bases, and a strikeout. Tyler Tolbert finished 1-for-2 with a run, an RBI, and a walk. Drew Waters drew a bases-loaded walk for an RBI, while leadoff hitter Kevin Newman went 1-for-2 with a walk. Kameron Misner walked, scored, stole a base, and struck out once. Luca Tresh, Josh Rojas, and Elih Marrero each chipped in a hit, with Rojas and Marrero adding doubles. The Storm Chasers stranded nine and committed two errors. Right-hander Stephen Kolek opened on the mound and worked 3 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, walking two, and striking out four. The damage came on a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth that pulled the Mud Hens within 3-2. Beck Way relieved Kolek with two outs in the fourth and was tagged with the loss across 1 1/3 innings, scattering two hits and striking out three without surrendering an earned run. Omaha's three runs came in the third and fourth. Misner walked, swiped second, and scored on a fielding error during Abraham Toro's at-bat. The next inning, Cross was hit by a pitch, advanced on Tolbert's RBI single, then came around on Waters's bases-loaded walk for a 3-0 lead. Toledo answered with the home run in the fourth and pushed across two unearned runs in the fifth on a center-field throwing error during a strikeout. Player AB R H RBI BB K Kevin Newman 2 0 1 0 1 0 Drew Waters 2 0 0 1 1 0 Kameron Misner 2 1 0 0 1 1 Abraham Toro 3 0 0 0 0 0 Luca Tresh 3 0 1 0 0 0 Josh Rojas 3 0 1 0 0 1 Gavin Cross 2 1 1 0 0 1 Tyler Tolbert 2 1 1 1 1 0 Elih Marrero 3 0 1 0 0 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Stephen Kolek 3 2/3 4 2 2 2 4 1 Beck Way 1 1/3 2 2 0 0 3 0 Beam's Six Strikeouts Wasted As Naturals Fall To Wichita 5-1 Northwest Arkansas managed just one run on six hits in a 5-1 home loss to Wichita. Justin Johnson led the way, going 2-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts. Cleanup hitter Brett Squires doubled, scored the lone Naturals run, and finished 1-for-4. Leadoff man Carson Roccaforte drew two walks, while Daniel Vazquez also walked twice and added a stolen base. Sam Kulasingam reached twice on a hit and a walk, and Connor Scott matched that line with a single and a walk. Dustin Dickerson added a hit, and Rudy Martin Jr. drew two walks. The Naturals stranded ten runners and committed one error. Right-hander Drew Beam turned in a sharp start, working 4 1/3 innings while allowing one earned run on four hits, walking one, and striking out six. Beam exited with two outs in the fifth after a leadoff double, and the bullpen could not contain the rally. Dennis Colleran Jr. was charged with two earned runs in 1/3 of an inning, and Wichita pushed across three runs in the frame. Brandon Johnson then steadied the relief crew with 2 1/3 hitless innings, walking none and striking out four. Christian Chamberlain surrendered a leadoff home run in the eighth, and an unearned run scored later in the inning on a passed ball. Squires answered in the bottom of the eighth with a double, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on a fielding error during Dickerson's at-bat. Tommy Molsky closed out the ninth on one hit and a strikeout, but the offense could not muster a comeback. Player AB R H RBI BB K Carson Roccaforte 3 0 0 0 2 1 Rudy Martin Jr. 3 0 0 0 2 2 Sam Kulasingam 3 0 1 0 1 0 Brett Squires 4 1 1 0 0 1 Daniel Vazquez 2 0 0 0 2 1 Dustin Dickerson 4 0 1 0 0 0 Connor Scott 3 0 1 0 1 0 Canyon Brown 4 0 0 0 0 2 Justin Johnson 4 0 2 0 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Drew Beam 4 1/3 4 1 1 1 6 0 Dennis Colleran Jr. 1/3 2 2 2 1 0 0 Brandon Johnson 2 1/3 0 0 0 0 4 0 Christian Chamberlain 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 Tommy Molsky 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 River Bandits' Lead Evaporates In Six-Run Ninth-Inning Collapse Quad Cities took a four-run lead into the ninth and could not hold it, falling 7-6 to Lansing. Leadoff man Asbel Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a walk, and two stolen bases. Blake Mitchell singled, walked twice, scored two runs, stole a base, and struck out twice. Erick Torres finished 2-for-3 with a run, an RBI, a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout, while Jose Cerice was 2-for-2 with a run, an RBI, and two walks. Austin Charles added a 2-for-5 day with an RBI and a stolen base. Luke Pelzer drove in a run, Ramon Ramirez scored once, and the River Bandits stranded eleven runners. Right-hander David Shields was sharp on the mound across five innings, allowing one earned run on four hits, walking three, and striking out six, with a solo home run as the only damage. L.P. Langevin followed with two hitless innings, walking two and striking out four. The bullpen unraveled in the ninth. Cory Ronan opened the inning with a walk, struck out the next batter, then walked two more to load the bases. Dash Albus relieved with one out and surrendered a bases-loaded walk, an RBI single, another walk, a wild pitch, and a two-run single, allowing the Lugnuts to plate six runs and seize a 7-5 lead. Quad Cities had built its lead by manufacturing runs across the early innings. Mitchell singled and scored on a Lansing throwing error during Ramirez's at-bat in the first, then Cerice singled in Ramirez. Pelzer's groundout drove in Mitchell in the third, Gonzalez singled in Torres in the fourth, and Charles singled home Pelzer in the fifth. Torres added a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough. Player AB R H RBI BB K Asbel Gonzalez 4 0 2 1 1 0 Blake Mitchell 3 2 1 0 2 2 Ramon Ramirez 5 1 1 0 0 0 Luke Pelzer 5 1 1 1 0 2 Jose Cerice 2 1 2 1 2 0 Austin Charles 5 0 2 1 0 0 Erick Torres 3 1 2 1 1 1 Trevor Werner 5 0 0 0 0 1 Angel Acosta 4 0 0 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR David Shields 5 4 1 1 3 6 1 L.P. Langevin 2 0 0 0 2 4 0 Cory Ronan 1 1/3 0 3 3 4 1 0 Dash Albus 2/3 2 3 3 2 0 0 Fireflies' Comeback Falls Just Short In 11-10 Loss To Augusta Columbia rallied twice but could not protect a late lead, dropping an 11-10 decision to Augusta. Roni Cabrera went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. JC Vanek reached base five times on a 2-for-2 day with three walks, two RBI, a run, and a stolen base. Yandel Ricardo finished 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI, a walk, and a strikeout. Cleanup hitter Brooks Bryan went 1-for-4 with a run, a walk, a strikeout, and a steal of home in the first. Daniel Lopez added a hit, two runs, an RBI, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Connor Rasmussen went 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, and two walks. Josi Novas chipped in a hit, two RBI, and a walk, while leadoff hitter Henry Ramos tripled and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. The Fireflies left seven on base and committed one error. Right-hander Michael Lombardi started and worked two innings, allowing one earned run on a hit while walking four and striking out four. Brandon Herbold was tagged with three earned runs on four hits, including a two-run home run, in one inning of relief. Darwin Rodriguez followed with four innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits, with one walk and five strikeouts. Randy Ramnarace took the loss after surrendering a three-run double in the ninth. Columbia tied the game at seven in the seventh on Vanek's RBI single, fell behind 8-7 in the eighth, and answered with three in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles from Rasmussen, Novas, and Ricardo to take a 10-8 lead. Augusta walked the bases full to begin the ninth, walked in a run, and a three-run double broke the tie for good. Player AB R H RBI BB K Henry Ramos 3 1 1 1 0 1 Yandel Ricardo 4 2 2 1 1 1 Josh Hammond 5 0 0 0 0 1 Brooks Bryan 4 1 1 0 1 1 JC Vanek 2 1 2 2 3 0 Roni Cabrera 5 2 3 0 0 1 Daniel Lopez 3 2 1 1 0 1 Connor Rasmussen 3 1 1 1 2 0 Josi Novas 2 0 1 2 1 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Michael Lombardi 2 1 1 1 4 4 0 Brandon Herbold 1 4 3 3 0 1 1 Darwin Rodriguez 4 5 3 3 1 5 0 Yeri Perez 1 1 3 2 2 1 0 Randy Ramnarace 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Top-20 Prospect Performance Carter Jensen: DNP Blake Mitchell: 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, SB, 2 K David Shields: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, HR Kendry Chourio: DNP Ben Kudrna: DNP Sean Gamble: DNP Josh Hammond: 0-for-5, K Ramon Ramirez: 1-for-5, R Drew Beam: 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Asbel Gonzalez: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, BB, 2 SB Yandel Ricardo: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, BB, K Felix Arronde: DNP Luinder Avila: DNP Daniel Vázquez: 0-for-2, 2 BB, SB, K Steven Zobac: DNP Carson Roccaforte: 0-for-3, 2 BB, K Blake Wolters: DNP Michael Lombardi: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K Warren Calcaño: DNP Frank Mozzicato: DNP View the full article

Sung-Mun Song is finally getting his chance. After a spring training interrupted by a groin injury that cost him a spot on the Opening Day roster, the South Korean infielder was called up by the San Diego Padres on Saturday to make his MLB debut this weekend. Song is the extra player for the two-game Mexico City Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and will have to be returned to Triple-A El Paso following Sunday's game, barring an injury to a position player. The 29-year-old Song, a key signing in the offseason, was close to being able to start the season with the Padres, but he still needed some at-bats and was put on the 15-day injured list. He started a rehab assignment with El Paso and spent the maximum 20 days there. With no room on the 26-man roster and no one underperforming, Song was optioned to Triple-A. Song has done well at El Paso, with a slash line of .293/.369/.320 with no homers and 12 RBIs in 20 games. He has not attempted a stolen base. Now Song will get a chance to make his MLB debut in the high altitude of Mexico City. View the full article

The Boston Red Sox have begun the year ice cold at the plate. A lot has been said about the Red Sox being last in the league in home runs with only 15, tied with the San Francisco Giants. It has felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts after the noise generated by a lack of 20+ HR projected hitters in the lineup. Despite a WBC surge, the team has done little to silence doubt on the power front. They came into this season with playoff expectations. Now, anyone can see what is going on offensively and understand that it is simply not up to par. This is more like Bryson DeChambeau in the 2026 Masters: they've completely missed the cut. On April 24, the Red Sox had the thirteenth-lowest swing rate. That, combined with a bottom-ten whiff rate and chase rate, creates a bad recipe when seeking to create a run-scoring environment. With their moves in the offseason, it became clear that the Sox had become more focused on mastering the defensive side of the field, as opposed to winning through power. That strategy, when implemented correctly, can work effectively. Exhibit A would be as recent as last season with the Milwaukee Brewers. Despite being in the bottom three in both barrel rate and average exit velocity, the Brewers still finished with 97 wins and the first seed in the National League. How? By minimizing strikeouts (20.3%, 25th), maximizing walks (9.1%, 6th), stealing bases (164, 2nd), along with pitching prowess (3.59 ERA, 2nd). The method, while unorthodox, is effective when executed, and the Brewers did just that. The Red Sox meanwhile, have the 11th-highest strikeout rate (23.3%), are 20th in walk rate (8.8%), are 24th in steals (13), and are 19th in ERA (4.37). But let's move from beyond the overarching view and into diagnosing what is going wrong and if it can be fixed. The Red Sox Can't Hit the Fastball You read that right. The Red Sox cannot hit the most foundational pitch in the sport of baseball. It's often taught that in order to have success at the plate, crushing the fastball is the first step. A four-seam fastball (FF) is far and away the most-used pitch in MLB, with a whopping 30.56 percent usage league-wide, nearly doubling the second-highest used pitch, the sinker, with a 16.78 percent usage (which, in truth, is just another fastball with more movement). Looking at 2025 results, team OPS against four-seam fastballs line up very similarly to wRC+ as a team against any arsenal. As you can see on the table above, there is a strong correlation between offensive potency and a team's ability to drive a fastball, with each team in the top five of OPS vs. fastballs also being top 10 in wRC+ in general. The Red Sox, meanwhile, have the second-worst OPS against fastballs in the majors (.621) and are also 29th in MLB in wRC+ (78). But it goes far deeper than simply an OPS observation. Their plate approach regarding fastballs is abysmal. Of the 288 home runs hit off of fastballs this season, the Red Sox have contributed just one. They beat fastballs into the ground at the fourth-highest rate in the league (38.2%), have the second-lowest xwOBA against four seamers (.296), and strikeout at the ninth-highest rate (23.6%). They struggle just as much before the ball is put in play. They hardly swing at the pitch (44.1% Swing%, 29th), and when they do they whiff 27.3 percent of the time, the 22rd-highest rate in MLB. Let's narrow it down even more to simply pitches that are in the zone and not put in play. Pictured above is every four-seam fastball taken for a strike in their 1-0 victory over the Tigers, which lasted 10 innings. There are four pitches that are effectively on the black, and one that was a strike by maybe a seam, if not the wrong call. The other seven are pitches to jump on, especially as fastballs. In the line of four down on the left side, three of the four were strikes taken in a 0-0 count. I won't pretend to understand the scouting or approaches that the Red Sox are preaching to the team, especially as a professional hitter. What I will say, though, is that an 0-0 fastball in that location is often the best pitch a hitter will see all at-bat or even the entire game. You'd like to see guys jump on a fastball in that location no matter the count. The greater sin of that cluster of four, is a 3-1 take from Caleb Durbin in the bottom of the sixth inning. For a guy going into the series with Orioles hitting an ice-cold .141 at the plate, these are pitches that need to be jumped on. At the minimum, there needs to be a swing. But it's not just Durbin, it's dang near every lineup regular that can't hit a fastball. Here's a look at the starting lineup in the series finale against the Yankees. The stat to the right is batting average against four-seam fastballs. 1. Jarren Duran .133 2. Ceddanne Rafaela .318 3. Masataka Yoshida .250 4. Willson Contreras .143 5. Wilyer Abreu .143 6. Trevor Story .214 7. Marcelo Mayer .400 (!!!) 8. Caleb Durbin .158 9. Carlos Narvaez .063 The numbers tell a grim story throughout the order. Just three players are hitting over .250 against four-seamers. Not a formula for scoring runs, where the Red Sox rank 25th in the league. Bottom line, the offense is lost and I'm not sure there is a magic solution to right the ship in an instant. Approach problems are deeply ingrained within the culture of a team and it will be a long and arduous process to correct. Even if they do, I seriously doubt it will be in time to make a playoff run. The deeper I got into research for this article, the more disappointed I got in the product we've been forced to watch this season. The .500 Red Sox from 2022-2024 were far more exciting than this; I miss those times dearly. The combination of swinging and missing too much AND taking too many strikes is one heck of a hole to put yourself in. I fear we're nearing the point where it's too late to dig themselves out. View the full article

It's difficult to hide when you're 6'7" and have a fastball that touches 100 mph, but even the most obsessed Miami Marlins fans may have missed seeing Michael Petersen on the team in 2024. The rookie right-hander made only five appearances for the Marlins that season, all of them in September after they had been eliminated from playoff contention. Claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he posted a 4.76 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 4.76 K/9 and 4.76 BB/9. He was waived again at the beginning of the ensuing offseason. In Petersen's second stint in Miami, he is quietly establishing himself as an important piece of the bullpen. Before we get to that, this is a good opportunity to dive into his unusual background. Petersen was born in Middlesex, United Kingdom, located in a historic county in southeast England. He is the only British-born player on an active MLB roster, and the league's first since P.J. Conlon in 2018. Baseball is far down the list of popular sports in the UK, but Petersen's dad loved it and introduced it to the family. As a child, Petersen remembers playing with his twin brother, Thomas, and their friends in the house, creating balls out of wrapping paper and using a cardboard bat. The Petersens moved to California and Michael played at St. Francis High School located in Mountain View, California. That's only about 40 miles south of Oracle Park, where the Marlins are currently playing against the San Francisco Giants. He was drafted four separate times, ultimately signing with the Milwaukee Brewers as a 17th-round pick in 2015. Petersen remains proud of his British roots. He represented his homeland at the 2023 World Baseball Classic and was committed to do so again this year. However, the 31-year-old made the hard decision to sit out the tournament to prioritize making the Marlins Opening Day roster. "I love Great Britain, and I love that team," Petersen told Fish On First. "I wanted to be a part of it, but I have this new pitch that needs to be worked on in front of my team, so I had to make that decision." Team Great Britain went 1-3 and did not advance beyond pool play. "I could've helped," Petersen said. "I was looking at it, and there were games that I wouldn't say they were a pitcher away, but I could have definitely helped. The guys there are still fantastic and I think they were dogs and it would have been nice about to go to battle with them, but making the team was my top priority, and I think being here really did help do that." So far in 2026, Petersen has a 3.38 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 9.28 K/9, 3.38 BB/9 in nine appearances. His average fastball velocity of 96.9 mph leads all Marlins relievers. Opponents are hitting only .136 against his four-seamer with a 28.0% whiff rate. He ranks in the 85th percentile among MLB pitchers with a plus-three fastball run value, per Baseball Savant. Petersen's "new pitch" is his changeup. After throwing only 11 changeups in the majors from 2024-25, he has already tripled that total this season. There's been only one hit off of it so far. "Just something that goes the other way, so I can face both lefties and righties," Petersen said. Petersen collected his first career save on April 8 against the Cincinnati Reds while Marlins closer Peter Fairbanks was on the paternity list. Petersen struck out two in a 7-4 win. "It was awesome just to get that situation," Petersen said after that game. "A lot of trust from my team and my coaches to say 'hey, get out there and see what happens.'" The all-time MLB saves record for a UK-born player is Tom Waddell with 15, so that is potentially within reach for Petersen a few down the road. Petersen has thrown only one inning this week, so there's a high likelihood of him appearing during the remaining two games of the Giants series. View the full article

Another Blue Jay is on the shelf. Nathan Lukes exited early on Friday against the Guardians. Today, the Blue Jays placed him on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. Lukes joins fellow position players Alejandro Kirk, George Springer, Addison Barger, and Anthony Santander on the IL. To replace Lukes in Toronto, the Jays are promoting another lefty-batting outfielder: Yohendrick Pinango. Soon to be 24 years old, Pinango will be making his MLB debut the first time he gets in a game. He is batting .288 with an .857 OPS and a 128 wRC+ at Triple-A Buffalo this season. Pinango was not on the 40-man roster, so the Blue Jays transferred reliever Yimi García from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a space. García is now eligible to return no sooner than May 21. View the full article

It’s official. On Friday afternoon, before the Blue Jays’ weekend tilt against the Cleveland Guardians, Ross Atkins spoke to the media, confirming what many fans were speculating or outright hoping for: Jeff Hoffman is out as the Toronto Blue Jays' closer. The leash seemed to be short for Hoffman from the start of this year. He’s coming off of a 2025 that looked dominant at times but came with its fair share of frustrating blow-ups. Last year, he picked up 33 saves but gave up 15 homers and carried a 4.37 ERA across 68 innings. Hoffman followed that up-and-down 2025 regular season with 12.1 IP throughout the Jays’ World Series run, in which he gave up just two runs. Whether it’s fair or not, a lot of the conversation surrounding Hoffman and the closer role will forever be tied to the second of those runs. Based purely on the eye test, it’s hard to question the move. Hoffman has blown three of his six save opportunities this season, without including his most recent blow-up in Los Angeles when he had to be pulled in the bottom of the ninth after recording just one out, giving up a pair of hits and plunking two more. Fortunately for the Jays, Louis Varland came in and bailed Hoffman out, getting a double play ball on a first pitch changeup, securing the win and his own first big league save. The 2026 numbers aren’t kind to Hoffman either. In 10.2 IP, his ERA sits at 7.59, his walk rate is in the double digits (10.5%) and his WHIP is above two (2.06). The Blue Jays’ 10-15 start hasn’t changed that their ultimate goal is to get back to the World Series and win it, and simply put, based on all of those factors, the Blue Jays no longer believe that Hoffman pitching in the ninth inning with minuscule leads is the best way for them to win enough baseball games to do that. Going forward, the Blue Jays will be going “closer by committee.” Atkins didn’t exactly outline what this means, but it sounds like the Jays will look at their opponent's lineup and who’s due to bat in the ninth inning, and aim to pick the reliever that they believe matches up best against them on the mound for that moment. For example, if three of four batters due up are lefties, there’s a chance Mason Fluharty is asked to get the final three outs. Or maybe there’s a specific pocket picked out for Tyler Rogers, or even Braydon Fisher. Of course, “closer by committee” could also be code for “Louis Varland is the new closer.” For what it’s worth, I did hear from a source within the Jays organization that a closer entrance video and light show were being put together for Varland. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the video and light show will be used, and definitely doesn’t confirm that Varland is the new full-time closer. I still believe that if Toronto's opponent has its 2-3-4 hitters due up in the eighth, Varland is the best option to pitch that inning, and he will be the one to throw it. Varland is off to a ridiculous start to this season, having yet to allow an earned run through his first 12 appearances and 13 innings. He’s struck out over 40% of the hitters he’s faced, and 58.3% of the balls put in play against him have been on the ground. He’s been next to untouchable, and is in second place, only behind the Padres’ Mason Miller, in reliever fWAR with 0.8. The Blue Jays are in good hands with any combination of Varland, Rogers, Fisher, and Fluharty protecting leads late in games, and the ousting of Hoffman gives more flexibility to John Schneider to pick his spots with each of them. The final piece to this puzzle is what Hoffman’s role is going to be moving forward. While the results have been undeniably terrible, and there are clear problems with his ability to locate, Hoffman has been one of the unluckiest relievers in baseball. His .609 batting average on balls in play is the highest among pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched. The difference between his opponents’ batting average (.327) and xBA (.220) is .107, the eighth highest mark among qualified arms on the Statcast leaderboard. Hoffman hasn’t battled many issues with his stuff either. His average fastball velocity is actually slightly harder than it was in 2025, and he’s struck out 42.1% of the hitters he’s faced, second only to – you guessed it – Mason Miller. There are more granular tidbits like his slider having fallen from a 116 and 114 Stuff+ in 2023 and ‘24, respectively, to just 103 in ‘26, and the control issues tell me there may be some mindset and approach adjustments to be made. Still, there’s nothing that I’m seeing that makes me ready to “give up” on Hoffman. The poor results had snowballed past the point of letting Hoffman work through things in the role he was in, but there are lots of positive things to point to if you want to believe that he can, and will, continue to be a big piece of the Jays’ bullpen. His next couple of appearances will likely come in some lower-leverage spots, maybe trying to keep the Jays in a game in which they're trailing instead of holding a lead, but don’t be surprised if Hoffman puts up a few straight zeros and is right back in the mix to be one of the closers on the committee. View the full article

Syracuse used six pitchers to combine on a 3-0 shutout at Worcester, with starter Daniel Duarte tossing 2 1/3 hitless innings and Dakota Hawkins striking out four over three frames. A.J. Ewing, Chris Suero, Nick Lorusso, and Jose Ramos each homered as Binghamton routed Erie 10-2 behind five strong innings from Brendan Girton. Brooklyn fell 6-4 at Hudson Valley behind Kevin Villavicencio's solo home run. A seven-run sixth sank St. Lucie 12-4 to Palm Beach. Mets Transactions New York Mets selected the contract of RHP Carl Edwards Jr. from Syracuse Mets. New York Mets optioned RHP Christian Scott to Syracuse Mets. Syracuse Combines For Shutout In 3-0 Win At Worcester Syracuse pieced together a six-pitcher shutout at Worcester for a 3-0 victory, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Starter Daniel Duarte was sharp across 2 1/3 hitless innings, walking one and striking out three. The Mets pushed across all three runs in the top of the third inning. Yonny Hernández drew a leadoff walk to start the rally, leadoff hitter Nick Morabito worked another walk, and Jihwan Bae lined a run-scoring single to right to make it 1-0. Ryan Clifford added a sacrifice fly that brought home Morabito, and cleanup hitter Christian Arroyo singled home Bae to push the lead to three. Austin Warren picked up the win with 2/3 of a scoreless inning, and A.J. Minter followed with a clean fourth. Dakota Hawkins delivered three hitless innings of relief, walking one and striking out four. Dan Hammer worked 2/3 of an inning, and Anderson Severino closed for the save with 1 1/3 innings of one-hit ball. Bae finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run, a walk, and a stolen base. Morabito went 2-for-3 with a double, a run, and two walks. Arroyo added a hit, an RBI, and a walk, and Cristian Pache contributed a single. Syracuse collected seven hits, drew five walks, struck out seven times, and left nine runners on base. Player AB R H RBI BB K Nick Morabito 3 1 2 0 2 1 Ji Hwan Bae 4 1 3 1 1 0 Ryan Clifford 4 0 0 1 0 1 Christian Arroyo 3 0 1 1 1 1 Vidal Bruján 4 0 0 0 0 0 Cristian Pache 4 0 1 0 0 0 Jackson Cluff 3 0 0 0 1 1 Hayden Senger 4 0 0 0 0 2 Yonny Hernández 3 1 0 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Daniel Duarte 2.1 0 0 0 1 3 0 Austin Warren 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 A.J. Minter 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dakota Hawkins 3.0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Dan Hammer 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 0 Anderson Severino 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Four Home Runs Power Binghamton Past Erie 10-2 Binghamton hit four home runs and rolled to a 10-2 win over Erie. Starter Brendan Girton picked up the win after five innings, allowing two hits, one earned run, three walks, and five strikeouts. Leadoff hitter A.J. Ewing finished 1-for-3 with a two-run home run, three RBIs, a walk, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly. The home offense set the tone in the bottom of the first when Chris Suero launched a solo home run to left, and Nick Lorusso added another solo shot to center in the second. Eli Serrano III pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third on a sacrifice fly that scored Vincent Perozo. The Rumble Ponies broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth, when sacrifice flies from Wyatt Young and Vincent Perozo plated Kevin Parada and Lorusso, and Ewing capped the rally with a two-run home run that scored Matt Rudick to make it 7-1. Cleanup hitter Jose Ramos added another two-run home run in the fifth that brought home Serrano. Lorusso finished 3-for-4 with the home run, a double, three runs, and an RBI. Saul Garcia, Jefry Yan, Ben Simon, and Gabriel Rodriguez combined for four innings of relief behind Girton, striking out eight while allowing one earned run. Binghamton totaled 12 hits, two walks, four sacrifice flies, eight strikeouts, and left four runners on base. Player AB R H RBI BB K A.J. Ewing 3 1 1 3 1 0 Chris Suero 5 1 1 1 0 1 Eli Serrano III 3 1 1 1 0 0 Jose Ramos 4 1 1 2 0 1 Kevin Parada 4 1 1 0 0 2 Nick Lorusso 4 3 3 1 0 1 Matt Rudick 3 1 1 0 1 1 Wyatt Young 3 0 2 1 0 0 Vincent Perozo 3 1 1 1 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Brendan Girton 5.0 2 1 1 3 5 0 Jefry Yan 1.0 0 1 1 1 1 0 Saul Garcia 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Gabriel Rodriguez 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Ben Simon 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Brooklyn's Late Push Falls Short In 6-4 Loss At Hudson Valley Brooklyn dropped a 6-4 decision at Hudson Valley despite a late rally. Starter Irving Cota took the loss after three innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs, and two strikeouts. Hudson Valley took the lead in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly, then added another in the third on a run-scoring single off Cota. Parker Carlson surrendered two more in the fourth on a run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly to push the deficit to 4-0. Garrett Stratton kept the score close with two innings of work, allowing two hits, two walks, and one unearned run. The Cyclones finally got on the board in the top of the sixth when cleanup hitter Ronald Hernandez doubled home John Bay, and they kept coming in the seventh as Kevin Villavicencio singled in Yohairo Cuevas, and Heriberto Rincon followed with a run-scoring single that brought home Villavicencio to cut the lead to 5-3. Hudson Valley answered with a single tally in the bottom of the seventh against Hunter Hodges, and Felix Cepeda worked a clean eighth. Villavicencio led off the top of the ninth with a solo home run to bring Brooklyn within two, but the offense could not connect again. Villavicencio finished 2-for-3 with the home run, a walk, two runs, two RBIs, and a stolen base. Hernandez added a double, a walk, an RBI, and Mitch Voit, John Bay, Yohairo Cuevas, and Heriberto Rincon each collected a single. Brooklyn struck out 12 times and left six runners on base. Player AB R H RBI BB K Mitch Voit 4 0 1 0 0 1 John Bay 4 1 1 0 0 2 Daiverson Gutierrez 4 0 0 0 0 1 Ronald Hernandez 3 0 1 1 1 1 Colin Houck 4 0 0 0 0 3 Yohairo Cuevas 4 1 1 0 0 1 Kevin Villavicencio 3 2 2 2 1 0 Diego Mosquera 4 0 0 0 0 2 Heriberto Rincon 4 0 1 1 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Irving Cota 3.0 4 2 2 0 2 0 Parker Carlson 1.0 3 2 2 1 0 0 Garrett Stratton 2.0 2 1 0 2 1 0 Hunter Hodges 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 Felix Cepeda 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Seven-Run Sixth Sinks St. Lucie In 12-4 Loss To Palm Beach St. Lucie hung with Palm Beach for four innings before a seven-run sixth turned the game into a runaway in a 12-4 loss. The Cardinals struck first with a run-scoring double in the top of the first, and the Mets answered immediately when leadoff hitter Elian Peña walked, stole second, and scored on Randy Guzman's run-scoring double in the bottom half. Guzman gave St. Lucie its only lead in the third with another run-scoring single that brought home JT Benson. Palm Beach reclaimed the advantage with a two-run single in the top of the fourth, but AJ Salgado tied the score at 3-3 with a solo home run to left in the bottom of the fourth. The game came apart in the sixth. Ernesto Mercedes took the loss after recording just one out, allowing one hit, two walks, hitting a batter, and giving up five earned runs as Palm Beach pieced together a wild pitch that brought two runners home, a bases-loaded walk, and a two-run single. Miguel Mejias allowed two more on a triple before getting out of the inning. Starter Cam Tilly worked four innings, giving up five hits, three earned runs, one walk, and four strikeouts. Peña went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks, two stolen bases, and a run, and Guzman finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double. Salgado added two hits and the home run. Vladi Gomez drove in Sam Biller with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth for the final run. St. Lucie finished with nine hits, three walks, 14 strikeouts, and left seven runners on base. Player AB R H RBI BB K Elian Peña 3 1 1 0 2 2 JT Benson 4 1 1 0 1 0 Randy Guzman 4 0 2 2 0 2 Julio Zayas 4 0 0 0 0 4 AJ Salgado 4 1 2 1 0 0 Sam Robertson 4 0 0 0 0 2 Sam Biller 4 1 2 0 0 1 Francisco Toledo 4 0 0 0 0 2 Vladi Gomez 3 0 1 1 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Cam Tilly 4.0 5 3 3 1 4 0 Luke Jackson 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Ernesto Mercedes 0.1 1 5 5 2 1 0 Miguel Mejias 0.2 2 2 2 1 2 0 Joe Scarborough 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Luis Alvarez 1.2 1 2 2 2 2 1 Jorge De Leon 0.1 0 0 0 1 1 0 Top-20 Prospect Performance Nolan McLean: DNP Carson Benge: DNP A.J. Ewing: 1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, BB Jonah Tong: DNP Ryan Clifford: 0-for-4, RBI, K Jacob Reimer: DNP Jack Wenninger: DNP Elian Pena: 1-for-3, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 SB Mitch Voit: 1-for-4, K, SB Nick Morabito: 2-for-3, 2B, 2 BB, K Jonathan Santucci: DNP Chris Suero: 1-for-5, HR, RBI, K Zach Thornton: DNP Wandy Asigen: DNP Will Watson: DNP Eli Serrano III: 1-for-3, RBI Ryan Lambert: DNP Dylan Ross: DNP Antonio Jimenez: DNP R.J. Gordon: DNP View the full article

Kendry Rojas and Connor Prielipp made their MLB debuts on Wednesday night against the Mets. Rojas was called up for a cup of coffee while Kody Funderburk was on paternity leave, so what are the expectations for him to be working on once he's back with Triple-A St. Paul this weekend? View the full article

Every season, the roster turns over a little more, and suddenly the familiar faces that once filled Target Field are scattered across the baseball map. But the whirlwind of the 2025 trade deadline sped that process up in a hurry, sending a wave of Twins to new homes and adding even more names to the “where are they now?” file. Some are thriving in new roles, some are hanging on in unexpected places, and a few might make you do a double take when you see the uniform they’re wearing now. So where did they all go? From former fan favorites to short-term contributors you may have forgotten, here’s a look at where ex-Twins have landed in 2026. Starting Pitchers Jose Berrios, traded to the Blue Jays for Simeon Woods Richardson and Austin Martin back in July 2021, is currently rehabbing an elbow injury in Single-A Dunedin. With two rehab starts now under his belt, he will look to get back in Toronto soon and help the Jays push for a World Series appearance once again. Sonny Gray lasted two years in Minnesota, earning an all-star nod with the team in 2023, and this offseason the 36-year-old was traded from St. Louis to Boston. He has made five starts so far, pitching to a 4.30 ERA (4.49 FIP) with 13 strikeouts in 23 innings. Gray is a middle of the rotation arm for the Red Sox behind ace Garrett Crochet and will look to keep up his success from his two years with the Cardinals. He just went on the Injured List this week. Chris Paddack, traded to the Tigers near the deadline last year for catching prospect Enrique Jimenez, signed with the Marlins this offseason and is a back end of the rotation arm for them. The Sheriff has pitched in five games this year and has a 6.38 ERA (4.64 FIP). He currently leads the majors in losses with four. Zack Littell left the Twins organization in 2020 and has bounced around before making a playoff start for the Reds last year. He waited a long time to receive a major-league deal this winter, eventually signing a one-year deal with Washington in March. He is off to a rough start, giving up a league-leading 11 home runs with a 7.56 ERA (8.62 FIP). Randy Dobnak was a fan favorite in Minnesota for many years and even started a playoff game at Yankee Stadium. He was also traded with Paddack to the Tigers and became a free agent at the end of last season. He quickly signed a minor league contract with the Mariners. He is currently in Triple-A Tacoma, where he has started five games with a 6.00 ERA over 24 innings of work. Relief Pitchers A few relievers from last year’s team lead the way here, with two of them having great success with their new teams so far. Louis Varland hasn’t given up an earned run with the Blue Jays yet in 2026 (0.00 ERA, 0.92 FIP in 13 innings), and Jhoan Duran has pitched masterfully in Philadelphia, saving five games while posting a 1.35 ERA (0.75 FIP). However, he is currently on the injured list with an oblique injury. The flip side of those deadline bullpen deals from Deadline 2025 would be Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart. Jax has struggled with the Rays so far in 2026, possessing an 8.00 ERA (7.59 FIP) in nine innings so far. As for Stewart, he pitched in four games for the Dodgers last season before suffering a right shoulder injury that sidelined him the rest of 2025 and has continued into 2026 so far. Stewart began a rehab assignment with Single-A Ontario about a week ago, so he will look to make a difference at the big-league level again soon. As for other former Twins in bullpens across the league, Caleb Thielbar is pitching well in his second season with the Cubs. Emilio Pagan has been with the Reds for three seasons, saving 32 games for them in 2025 with six already this season. Jorge Alcala pitched for the Twins, Red Sox, and Cardinals in 2025, but with his struggles he now resides in the Blue Jays minor league system with Triple-A Buffalo. Finally, Steven Okert wasn’t great for the Twins when he was acquired for Nick Gordon back in 2024. The now 34-year-old was solid for the Astros last season and is off to a good start yet again with a 3.00 ERA (3.98 FIP) in 12 innings so far. Catchers One of the Twins’ primary catchers the past three seasons, Christian Vazquez rejoined the Houston Astros, the team he was traded to at the 2022 trade deadline. Vazquez serves as the backup to Yainer Diaz and is hitting great to start the year, slashing .343/.425/.629 with two home runs (one less than he had all last year in Minnesota) in 41 plate appearances. Acquired in the Josh Donaldson deal, Gary Sanchez has been a member of the Mets, Padres, Brewers, and Orioles, and currently is the backup to William Contreras in Milwaukee. Sanchez is raking to start the year, hitting .216/.,385/.569 with five home runs in 65 plate appearances. Sanchez is walking more as well, providing lots of value for an injured Brewers squad. A member of the 2019 “Bomba Squad”, Mitch Garver was traded in 2022 to the Rangers for Ronny Henriquez and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Garver spent two seasons with Texas (where he won a World Series ring) before going to the Mariners where he remains the backup catcher behind Cal Raleigh. Garver hit .209/.297/.343 with nine home runs in 290 plate appearances in 2025 and will look to contribute meaningfully to a Mariners team that should be pushing for the World Series. Other former Twins catching out there are Mickey Gasper, currently in the Red Sox organization at Triple-A Worcester, and Jhonny Pereda, who is with the Mariners in Triple-A Tacoma. Infielders Carlos Correa leads the way here. Back where he belongs in Houston, Correa is slashing .284/.366/.386 in 101 plate appearances in 2026 and will look to turn the Astros around as they are currently in last place in the A.L. West after missing the playoffs last year. A return to form for Jorge Polanco was a welcomed sign for Mariner fans in 2025, and his .821 OPS earned a new shiny deal with the Mets for 2026. Polanco isn’t off to a great start in the Big Apple, slashing .179/.246/.286 in 61 plate appearances so far. He is on the IL and missed this week's series with the Twins. After two years with the Twins, Kyle Farmer went to the Rockies for the 2025 season and is now with his home-state Atlanta Braves. A bench middle infielder at this point in his career, Farmer slashed .227/.280/.365 with Colorado last year and will look to help a Braves team that appears to be one of the best in baseball early in 2026. A foursome of former Twin first baseman are still bouncing around the league. Carlos Santana is on the D-Backs now with his best offensive days well behind him. Ty France is on the major league roster for the Padres, with Jose Miranda in the same organization but with Triple-A El Paso. A surprising name to many would be Tyler Austin, who is back in MLB after 5 seasons in Japan. Austin signed a major league deal with the Cubs over the offseason but has yet to appear due to a right knee injury. Last but certainly not least, Alex Kirilloff is now on to real estate due to his numerous injuries over his time with the Twins. A once top prospect, it seems Kirilloff is now living his best life as a real estate agent in Florida, and all Twins fans should be happy for a guy who consistently put his body on the line to compete for our club. Outfielders Harrison Bader was a member of the vast group leaving the Twins at the deadline last year, dealt to the Phillies to bolster their outfield. Now in San Francisco, Bader isn’t having the offensive success so far that he had with the Twins and Phillies last year, slashing .115/.145/.192 in 55 plate appearances. As for other former Twins in the outfield, there aren’t many. Max Kepler hit poorly for the Phillies last season, and the now free agent was handed an 80-game suspension back in January for using a performance enhancing substance. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. made his way to the Braves organization, currently slashing .206/.236/.353 in Triple-A Gwinnett. Michael A. Taylor filled in admirably for Byron Buxton in 2023, and after spending 2024 with the Pirates and 2025 with the White Sox officially retired this offseason. He reunited with the Twins as an outfield coach, spending time with the big-league club in Spring Training and will travel to the minor league affiliates during the 2026 season. Former reliever Ryan Pressly did the same thing this spring, retiring from the game and then joining the Twins organization as a roving instructor Looking across the league, the 2026 baseball landscape has familiar names popping up in new places, each with their own winding path since leaving Minnesota. The frenzy of the 2025 deadline only accelerated that movement, reshuffling the Twins’ roster a ton. Some of these players are still making an impact on contenders, others are grinding through injuries or Triple-A stops, and a few have already moved on to life beyond the game. Together, they tell the story of how quickly things change in baseball, especially in Minnesota, and how a roster, no matter how memorable, is always just moving along. View the full article

On a night when the Rattlers rolled, the win column was empty elsewhere. Transactions: Milwaukee Brewers optioned RHP Carlos Rodriguez to Nashville Sounds. Milwaukee Brewers recalled 3B Tyler Black from Nashville Sounds. Milwaukee Brewers recalled LHP Shane Drohan from Nashville Sounds. CF Jordyn Adams assigned to Nashville Sounds from Biloxi Shuckers. Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Charlotte (White Sox) 11, Nashville 9 Box Score and Game Log Via the Sounds, game details, and we encourage readers to always review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: Leonard Homers Twice in Loss to Charlotte - Sounds, Knights Combine for 20 Runs and 17 Hits As you might imagine in such an affair, that Sounds game summary is loaded both in positive and negative ways. Devour every morsel. This is Eddys Leonard's age 25 season, yet it's his 9th professional campaign - well, 8th, because of 2020. It made plenty of sense for the Brewers to target Leonard (pronounced Lee'-oh-nard) as a minor league free agent after his career-long stint in the Braves' system and enticed him with a big-league camp inclusion. Yet, Leonard only 17 plate appearances before he was dispatched early-on to minor league camp, despite a 6-for-15 line, .526 OBP. All six spring knocks were singles, but the infielder/outfielder was coming off a 2025 AAA season in which he slugged 20 home runs among his 42 extra-base hits. In other words, it would have been nice to have seen a bit more this spring. Watch the first bomb here. Leonard has not spent significant time at shortstop since the end of the 2023 season - 22 games in '24, only one in '25, and none with the Sounds. With Nashville, he has as many errors at second base (three) as games played there. Scroll down to the "Minors Career" section of his MiLB Player Fielding Page and you'll see some cantankerous error totals vs. games played at the three infield positions. Manager Rick Sweet has primarily utilized Leonard in left field (he was the designated hitter Friday night). So, while Leonard has had fine early-season moments with the Sounds, he likely isn't a big-league fit for the Crew at this moment. There's no disguising Coleman Crow's line, and these were three poorly executed pitches taken out for tanks by left-handed bats. Crow also walked four. This was a shocking comedown off Crow's fantastic MLB debut. As was mentioned in our nightly forum game thread: After allowing a game-tying homer and 2 walks (the latter on a full count ABS challenge which extended the inning), the Sounds discussed and elected to let Crow continue at 87 pitches. That choice didn't work out: 3-run homer. Crow exits at 91 pitches, allowing 8 earned runs. At least there's only one more road trip to this launching pad scheduled, that'll be in July. Why was OF Jordyn Adams rushed up to Nashville from Biloxi? Because for now, he's the only spare position player available beyond the one backup catcher. Apparently, Luke Adams is back soon (hand injury) and if Luis Matos clears waivers, things will populate again. Luis Lara reached base three times for a second consecutive night after a mini 1-for-15 dry spell (Lara RBI single). Cooper Pratt's 7th inning line drive single snapped an 0-for-17 skid, though he also walked earlier in the game. Jett Williams was 4-for-4 in SB attempts through six games. Over his next 16 games, he only attempted two steals, one successful. He stole his 6th base on the season Friday while batting 5th in the order (two singles), played center field. Oh, we see you Brian Fitzpatrick, we definitely see you, and so do the Brewers, hopefully. Fitzpatrick impressed whenever he was called upon as a visitor to big-league camp this spring - 6.2 scoreless innings, one walk, seven K's. His ERA is still spotless after an additional 10.2 frames this AAA season, two walks, 11 K's. Wow, Shane Smith. I utilized a ton of keystrokes singing your praises in 2025. Yikes. We'll end on a Brock Wilken high note. Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Rocket City (Angels) 8, Biloxi 5 Box Score and Game Log Catch up with the latest Biloxi pre-game audio interview archives - Added recently were Manager Mike Guerrero (from Friday) and newcomer OF Mark Coley II Shuckers Fall to Trash Pandas on Friday - O’Rae, Burke extend on-base streaks, Jimenez continues scoreless streak We're guilty of accentuating the positive to an extreme at times, but when it comes to key fielding errors, the affiliate game summaries are even more discreet. The Trash Pandas jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first with a two-RBI single from Tucker Flint, an RBI single from Harold Coll and a throwing error that allowed Flint to score. First Coleman Crow, now Jaron DeBerry? The game summary blurb just above didn't point out (nor would we necessarily expect it to, as it did not the 4-0 deficit) that DeBerry's night began walk-walk-walk-infield single-single-ground out complicated by Blake Burke's throwing error-DeBerry pickoff error. Likewise, Nashville's summary noted a key fielding error but didn't name the player (Freddy Zamora). It's a minor point of contention, and to be honest, your box score reviews will provide those details to you. DeBerry has now issued more free passes (16 BB's, 3 HBP's) than innings pitched (18.2). RHP Patricio Aquino didn't fare any better coming in behind DeBerry and has handed out 11 passes of his own in 10.2 innings. The subtitle in the game summary referred to this, but to expand the note - RH reliever Edwin Jimenez has only allowed one baserunner over six innings, fanning seven over his four appearances. Mike Guerrero's bench is once again only one deep beyond catchers. Navigating the dance of balancing all the MiLB rosters is a fun exercise for us armchair farm directors, but in reality, it's super-challenging. You'll find three highlights this AM on the Biloxi 'X' feed. Final highlight showcases the mini mayhem that Dylan O'Rae's speed can produce. Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes (download link) Final: Wisconsin 11, Fort Wayne (Padres) 3 Box Score and Game Log Via the Timber Rattlers, game details: Rattlers Smash Their Way to Fourth Straight Win - Wisconsin scores eleven runs on eleven hits to beat TinCaps Talk about salvaging the night for the Brewers organization! Offense in a moment, but kudos to the RH trio of Bryce Meccage, Bryan Rivera and Chandler Welch, walking only two (Meccage, one HBP by Rivera) and fanning 10. Meccage only needed 66 pitches to get through five innings. and save for one pitch, was very effective. Perhaps we should just toss April (and its associated weather) off the books altogether when it comes to control stats - like some of the pitchers listed above, Meccage sits at 14 BB's through 15.1 innings. Let's revisit this organizational trend around Memorial Day. Oh yeah, the bats. No Luis Pena, Braylon Payne, Eric Bitonti, Daniel Dickinson - rest for all, in particular being cautious with Pena, surely. The bottom five in the order contributed, on base five times, and scoring four runs while driving in four. But my oh my, even Paul Skenes (OK, don't be silly, Jim) could have quieted this group Friday night: VIDEO: Josiah Ragsdale RBI single That quartet finished 9-for-16 with five walks, while both scoring and driving in seven runs. Thankfully the 80-minute rain delay at the start was lifted because Brewers fans needed this game on this night. Quad Cities comes to Appleton starting Tuesday. I see multiple folks on the socials pondering how quickly they need to get themselves to Timber Rattlers games to enjoy this collection of players. Personally, I think you've got time, as fans tend to be promotion-anxious, but then again, to ensure you see each and every one of the current crop of kids, yeah, next week seems prudent. Tayden Hall not moping after being returned to Wisconsin after a brief necessity stay in Biloxi: If you haven't noticed, MiLB is showcasing highlights a bit differently this year, and at the bottom of each affiliate home page, you'll find video highlights, so it's via that route we give RF Luis Castillo's double it's due here. Wilson Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Delmarva (Orioles) 7, Wilson 2 Box Score and Game Log Delmarva Claims Third Straight over Wilson - Warbirds Manage Four Hits in Loss Rightly ruled a single (close decision), but it's too often we say within these reports "here's your lone Warbirds highlight": OK, not quite, as MiLB also provides these views: Catcher Luis Corobo backpick at second base Pedro Ibarguen sacrifice fly RHP Tanner Perry inherited a bases-loaded, one-out situation from southpaw Andrew Healy in the 5th, and immediately a ground ball single allowed two runs to cross. Perry really buckled up after that, saving Manager Eddy Morgan's bullpen with 3.2 innings of work. In fact, because Perry picked off a runner in that 5th inning, he is credited with getting 11 outs despite only facing ten batters overall. Better early-season results were expected from starting RHP Carlos Carra after he made his way to the Carolina League late in 2025 as an 18-year-old. The Mexico native has struggled with command in each of his four appearances (two starts), the recurring theme of today's report, it seems. Right-fielder Handelfry Encarnacion and center fielder Pedro Ibarguen randomly swapped positions to start the 3rd inning., no clear evidence of any fielding struggles in the prior frames. Catcher Luis Corobo was on first base via error to start the 4th when Luis Lameda singled to right. For subscribers, you can watch here at the 03:02:45 hour/minute mark as the game's start was delayed by rain. It was very apparent that Corobo injured his right hamstring area when he was pulled from the game. Corobo turns 19 in a week and has impressed in limited action both offensively and defensively, as was noted by the Delmarva announcer. Now we move to the bottom of the 4th. Again, kudos to the Delmarva PxP guy, as he was acutely aware of Wilson's roster status, noting that the starting first baseman was Eric Martinez, one of the three catchers on the Wilson roster. When Corobo exited, Yannic Walther had to come in from the bullpen to take over behind the plate, having already caught prior games in this series. With two outs in the 4th, an infield single by the Shorebirds placed runners at first and second (03:27:00 hour/minute mark). On the play, shortstop Juan Ortuno and second baseman Luis Lameda collided trying to collect the grounder, with Ortuno taking the brunt. Thankfully both players remained in the game. To begin the bottom of the 5th, Jadyn Fielder replaced Martinez as the first baseman. The "injury delay" in the game log's 4th inning had prompted me to pull up the video thinking it was related to Martinez. That's when I saw the infield play described above. It was correctly surmised that Martinez was needed to work as the bullpen catcher given the Corobo exit. The Warbirds have had only one official in-season transaction (RHP Enniel Cortez to the IL on 4/18), but one would think a backstop from Maryvale could be flying to Salisbury, Maryland today. NOTE: I (and perhaps you) learn that "Delmarva" is not a city of itself but is solely a peninsula divided among three states: Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Wisconsin has a noontime Central matinee Saturday, while the Sounds play two in Charlotte as of 3:05. Biloxi and Wilson have evening starts in the 6:00 hour. Hope everyone has a fine day. Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

You are 23 years old. You are living your childhood dream, playing for the major league team in your home state, roughly an hour from your hometown. You made the Opening Day roster, even, going from Single-A ball to the majors in one offseason. And then, your body betrays you. Not exactly a physical ailment–that is understandable, just a part of sports. No, this is worse. Because it’s a little-known, barely-understood (even by doctors) neurological disorder. It’s been with you your whole life. And now, with the world at your fingertips, it is destroying your dream. The disorder is Tourette Syndrome. The player is Jim Eisenreich. And the story is inspiring. James Michael Eisenreich was born on April 18, 1959, in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Born and raised there, in fact, he attended St. Cloud Tech High School and St. Cloud State University before the Minnesota Twins selected him in the 16th round of the 1980 June amateur draft. Eisenreich signed quickly and played in 67 games for the Elizabethton (Tennessee) Twins in the rookie-level Appalachian League. He did well, hitting .298/.386/.411, and was bumped up to single-A Wisconsin Rapids for a handful of games at the end of the season. In 1981, he returned to Wisconsin Rapids and was sensational, hitting .311/.407/.507 in 585 plate appearances. With the Twins undergoing a youth movement, they extended a non-roster invite to Eisenreich for spring training in 1982. They probably figured they’d get him some experience with the big leaguers. Instead, they got their Opening Day center fielder. Things went well for the first month of the season. The Twins weren’t great, but Eisenreich was hitting around .300 and had smacked a couple of home runs. But then, his lifelong affliction came to the forefront. During a three-game home series against Milwaukee, Eisenreich was removed early from each game, as he was hyperventilating. And then things got worse. The Twins were in Boston. Eisenreich was in center field. And when the tics began, the fans, who by now had read about the rookie’s issues in the newspapers, noticed. The taunts and jeers were too much, and Eisenreich left the game in the fourth inning. The next night, the same thing, except he was removed in the third game. The night after that, he told manager Billy Gardner he didn’t want to play. The team doctors tried different medications. Hypnosis was suggested. He went on the injured list for a few weeks as various remedies were tried. Finally, he found a medication that worked, but it made him tired, and he was not playing as well as he could. When he reduced the dosage, the symptoms returned. Ultimately, he played in 34 games, hitting .303/.378/.424 in 111 plate appearances. Eisenreich reported to spring training in 1983 ready to play, but after a couple of interviews early, he did not want to talk about his condition. “No one seemed able to help me. My attitude became, ‘If you can’t play Major League Baseball, so be it.’ That was tough to admit. Playing in the majors was my lifetime ambition. But I had to face reality, that maybe it wasn’t for me.” --Eisenreich, quoted by Bob Fowler, The Orlando Sentinel, February 22, 1983 But, despite a strong spring training, his struggles returned. After just two regular-season games, he decided to walk away from baseball, with plans to go back to college. The Twins, who had been supportive and understanding throughout, placed him on the disabled list, hoping they could change his mind. They were unsuccessful, at least until the offseason. He returned for spring training in 1984, but things went almost exactly as they did the year before. Good spring training, then the problems returned, and after 12 games, he wanted to walk away again. The Twins, who were now displeased that Eisenreich had changed medications on his own, finally reached a settlement with the player that placed him on the retired list. His career to this point might have been a sad footnote in baseball history. He returned to St. Cloud, getting his baseball fix in softball and semi-pro leagues, where he was, as you might expect, a star. Even better, he figured out the routine that would keep his symptoms at bay. One of his college teammates, Bob Hegman, was by now working in the Royals’ front office and recommended the team take a chance. Shortly after the 1986 season ended, the Royals claimed him for the waiver price of $1. Eisenreich began the 1987 season at double-A Memphis, where he proved he could still hit, posting a video-game-like .382/.469/.705 line in 324 plate appearances. The Royals, trying to hang in the division race with a mediocre offense, called him up in mid-June. He had only appeared in a few games when he got his storybook moment, delivering a pinch-hit double in the ninth for a walkoff win over Minnesota. Because he had suffered an elbow injury in spring training, Eisenreich did not play any outfield in 1987, serving as a DH and pinch-hitter and finishing the year with a .238/.278/.467 line. With the elbow injury and the inability to play outfield, it was tough to find regular playing time, but the important thing was that Eisenreich had proven he could last in the majors. Eisenreich made the Opening Day roster in 1988, but struggled mightily for three months before the Royals optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. He seemed to regain his batting stroke there, hitting .289/.327/.472, and hit .271/.295/.356 when he came back to the majors for 27 games. That might have been the turning point for his career. He enjoyed his finest season to date in 1989, hitting .293/.341/.448 and playing regularly, a total of 134 games. For the next three seasons, he would be a solid bat in the Royals’ lineup and a good glove in the outfield. The Royals let Eisenreich depart as a free agent following the 1992 season, but his career still had quite a bit of time left. He signed with Philadelphia and was their starting right fielder as they made a surprising run to the World Series. Eisenreich hit a three-run home run in Game 2, staking the Phillies to a 5-0 lead in a game they eventually won 6-4, but Toronto would win the Series on Joe Carter’s walkoff home run in Game 6. Eisenreich stayed in Philadelphia through 1996, then signed with the Florida Marlins before the 1997 season. He was now a backup outfielder and first baseman, but his timing was great again as the Marlins reached the World Series. This time, Eisenreich was on the winning side. Although he had only 11 plate appearances in the Series, he posted a .500 batting average, a home run, and 3 RBI. He was on second base when Edgar Renteria’s single scored the winning run and ended the Series in Game 7. Of course, the Marlins followed that title with a fire sale during the 1998 season, and in mid-May, Eisenreich was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deal that made Mike Piazza a Marlin for about five minutes. A free agent after the season ended, Eisenreich discussed a return to the Royals, but the team, still in financial limbo after Ewing Kauffman’s death and under the control of a temporary ownership group, decided they couldn’t afford him. Like many former Royals, Eisenreich had maintained a home in the Kansas City area, so he stayed in the area. He and his wife had started a foundation for youth with Tourette syndrome in 1996, so that his family became his focus. For his career, Eisenreich finished with 1,160 hits and a .290/ 341/.404 batting line. It was a solid career that could easily have been derailed by his affliction, but he was able to overcome that. 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For much of his career, Gary Sánchez has lived on the edge of controlled chaos at the plate, pairing elite raw power with a tendency to chase pitches pitchers were more than happy to offer. This year, though, that balance looks noticeably different. Sánchez is swinging hard, and he’s swinging smarter, trimming his chase rate and showing a more disciplined approach that forces pitchers back into the zone. That shift matters even more for a Milwaukee Brewers lineup currently missing key bats like Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, and Andrew Vaughn. With less margin for error in the lineup, his improved swing decisions are helping stabilize an offense that needs production wherever it can find it. Sánchez was reunited with the Brew Crew in the middle of February, and the 33-year-old has been a much-needed bat during this early part of the season. Sánchez is hitting .236/.391/.582 with five homeruns entering Friday’s action, which is good for a batting run value of +7, in the 91st percentile of all MLB, and 25th overall. His slugging prowess at the plate is Sánchez’s calling card, but the unique surprise so far this year has been his patience. His chase percentage is in the 92nd percentile at 19.7%, while walking 20% of the time puts him in the 98th percentile for walk rate. That walk rate is currently the 8th-best in the league, with teammates Garrett Mitchell and Brice Turang joining him inside the top ten. This change in approach demonstrates extremely uncommon levels of discipline for Sánchez, even when going back all the way to his days with the Yankees. His two best seasons in the pinstripes saw him hit 33 home runs in 2017 and 34 home runs in 2019, earning an All-Star nod each year. However, in 2017, his chase percentage was in the 17th percentile, while his walk rate was in the 39th percentile. 2019 saw similar results, but with both slightly better; his chase percentage was in the 24th percentile, while his walk rate crept above league average into the 55th percentile. This may be a change he’s made in the latter half of his career, as Sánchez’s chase rate has gotten better each season since 2024, but then again, he only played 29 games last season with the Orioles and 89 the year prior in Milwaukee. Neither of those years was a great offensive year for Sánchez (94 OPS+ in 2024 and 100 OPS+ in 2025), so Milwaukee will gladly take the level he is producing at right now. Strikeouts will always be a factor in Sánchez’s game, and those too have been down. He is currently striking out 23.1% of the time, still not great, but below his 26.7% career average. Will that number tick back up? The answer is probably; Sánchez has still been whiffing around his career average. Still, it is easier to deal with a version of Gary Sánchez that strikes out while also walking as much as he currently does. His barrel percentage is something to keep an eye on as well. It is currently way higher (19.4%) than his career mark (14.3%), and even higher than his barrel percentage in both of his all-star seasons. Expect this to go down, at least slightly, but if his quality of contact remains this good, it will be close to a career year in terms of Sánchez’s advanced metrics. It will be intriguing to see if the man Yankees general manager Brian Cashman dubbed “The Kraken” is able to keep this up. Obviously, it isn’t likely, but then again, the Brewers have often worked their magic to get the best out of players, much to the dismay of Cubs fans. Regardless, Sánchez is providing good at-bats for a team that desperately needs them right now, with three of their best bats out for the foreseeable future. Once Yelich, Chourio, and Vaughn return, Sánchez will likely return to his backup catcher role, where he is still more suited in the long run. Even though his role will shift with the team’s health, fans should enjoy these current plate appearances from Sánchez. His “three true outcomes” approach may not be the most preferred, but it is entertaining to watch, and the Brewers need all the entertainment they can get from the lineups they are rolling out on a day-to-day basis. View the full article

The Royals' offense has certainly been going through its fair share of struggles this season. Despite lofty expectations (some analysts claimed that Kansas City had the potential to be a Top-10 offense), they rank near the bottom of the league in most important offensive categories. As of Friday, they rank 28th in runs scored, 25th in OPS and OBP, and 21st in home runs. The Royals do have other problems than their hitting, with their bullpen being another thorn in their sides to start the season. However, for Kansas City to make any ground in the AL Central race, the offense needs to start producing soon. That being said, who are the hitters that can be depended upon for a turnaround? And which ones may have a hard time getting over their respective slow starts? A key to distinguishing promising hitters from discouraging ones may lie in their respective Pull Air% numbers. Why Pull Air% Is Important? There are two reasons why pulling the ball in the air is important: 1. Statistically, pulling the ball in the air is often tied to more positive hitting outcomes, and 2. Pulling the ball would help the Royals take advantage of their new dimensions at Kauffman Stadium. Regarding the first point, here are some reasons why pulling the ball is important, drawn from a variety of sources, including MLB.com, Baseball Savant, and MLB Data Warehouse. When hitters pull the ball, home runs, bat speed, launch angle, and ultimately, runs scored are all optimized. The Royals have actually demonstrated excellent bat speed this year, as their 72.4 MPH average ranks 5th in baseball, according to Fangraphs. Their average launch angle of 15.4 degrees ranks 6th this year, another encouraging sign. Thus, pulling the ball in the air more will give them more opportunities for positive outcomes overall. Regarding pulling the ball in the air to benefit the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, below are some of the dimension changes that occurred this offseason. These changes were done to help the ballpark be more "neutral", especially regarding home runs. Thus, with lower and closer walls, the Royals should take advantage. And yet, Kansas City continues to struggle to hit home runs, even at home. They rank 22nd in HR/FB% at 8.8%. How Are the Royals Performing This Year in Pull Air%? Ironically, the Royals are actually doing pretty well pulling the ball in the air, statistically. According to Savant, the Royals rank 9th in Pull Air% at 20.1%. Hence, the processes of this Royals offense overall are encouraging, but the results just haven't followed (especially in terms of home runs). Here is a look at the Royals' hitters individually this year, ranked by Pull Air%. It's interesting to see how they break down and rank, especially the key hitters in this lineup. Garcia improved his Pull Air% from 16.2% to 19%, which is a step in the right direction. However, the other three have seen declines in Pull Air% from 2025 to 2026. Salvy has dropped 11.5% in Pull Air% since 2025. Cags has dropped 3.8%, and Witt has dropped 1.3%. Perez's is the most alarming, since an 11.5% drop at age 36 signifies that Father Time has finally come for Salvy and his MLB career. It's disappointing, but it's somewhat expected at his age. Conversely, Cags and Bobby seeing regression at their ages and career points is a major concern, as they should be trending up, not down. For Witt and Cags to be a "bash brothers" combo in the middle of the lineup, they need to pull the ball more to take advantage of their incredible bat speed and exit velocity ability. What to Take Away From This Pull Air% Data? The issue with the Royals' hitters and their Pull Air% isn't just the rate itself. They rate pretty well in this category compared to the rest of the league. Thus, one would think that with that being the case, the Royals would be a productive offense, right? However, while the overall Pull Air% is solid, they are getting poor Pull Air% from their key hitters, especially Perez, Witt, and Caglianone. It's hard for a Royals offense to be productive when three of their most important hitters rank below-average in Pull Air%, despite skills that should suggest otherwise (high EV, hard-hit rates, and bat speeds). On a positive note, I think Vinnie could snap out of his streak at some point, because he pulls the ball effectively. That approach will become more apparent when the weather gets hotter, a trend in Pasquantino's career. According to his career splits, his best HR/FB rates came in July (10.9%) and August (21.4%). Thus, when the weather gets hotter and the ball flies more (especially at Kauffman), then Vinnie will start to see more production, especially since he pulls the ball in the air so effectively. As for Perez, Cags, and Witt, though? That's a tougher question. Perez has at least demonstrated he can pull the ball in the air effectively in his career, with his 26.6% Pull Air% last year being a prime example. Cags hasn't pulled the ball much in the Majors so far, but he was much better at doing so in the Minors. Thus, he just may need more time to adapt to Major League pitching and get his timing and pitch recognition down. As for Bobby? His Pull Air% has gone from 17.1% in 2024, which is above the league average of 16.7%, to 15.8% last year and now 14.5% this season. Thus, it's not a surprise that Witt's home run total went from 32 in 2024 to 23 in 2025. He has yet to hit a home run this year. If this Pull Air% trend continues, he'll be lucky to surpass the 20 HR mark. Witt is hitting the ball way too much to the middle of the field, which isn't a recipe for home run success, especially at Kauffman, even with the updated dimensions. Witt may be the biggest key to the Royals' offensive turnaround. For the Royals to be a playoff team, they need him to be a MVP-caliber hitter. That means a 300+ batting average, a 1.000+ OPS, and at least 30+ home runs. It's a lot to ask, but Witt has done it before, and he can do it again. That is, if he gets his Pull Air% back up to at least slightly above league-average levels. Can he do it? There's still plenty of time to make the necessary adjustments to his mechanics and recognition, but he needs to figure something out quickly. View the full article

Dismal months of June and August ultimately did in the Florida Marlins in 2011, but early on that year, the Fish had the look of a contender. On this day 15 years ago, the Marlins kicked off a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in thrilling fashion. Omar Infante’s walk-off single capped a two-run ninth as the Marlins rallied for a 5-4 victory. Through six innings at Sun Life Stadium on April 25, 2011, a pair of solo home runs from Chris Coghlan had accounted for all the Florida offense as the Marlins led 2-1. After struggling against Florida starter Ricky Nolasco, the Dodgers were able to find some offense against the Florida bullpen. Los Angeles took the lead with two runs in the seventh with Jamey Caroll’s RBI single serving as the go-ahead hit. James Loney plated another run in the eighth as the Dodgers pushed the lead to 4-2. The Marlins were able to get that run back in the bottom of the inning as Gaby Sánchez came through with an RBI single. The rally, however, came to an end after Infante was thrown out at third trying to tag up on a Giancarlo (then Mike) Stanton flyout. Brian Sanches worked a 1-2-3 ninth for Florida, but in the bottom of the inning, Los Angeles’ Jonathan Broxton appeared on the verge of doing likewise. After striking out Greg Dobbs and getting John Buck to ground out, Broxton was one strike away from slamming the door. Emilio Bonifácio, however, kept Florida alive by taking a 3-2 pitch for ball four. Hanley Ramírez followed with a single to put the tying run in scoring position. From there, the wheels fell off for the Dodgers defense. As pinch hitter Scott Cousins hit a slow roller to shortstop, Carroll charged, but the ball rolled under his glove and into left field, allowing Bonifácio to score the tying run from third. After intentionally walking Coghlan to load the bases, Infante came to the plate looking to atone for his mistake on the basepaths the inning prior. Infante lined Broxton’s 1-0 pitch into left field. Outfielder Jerry Sands originally came in on the ball and was unable to recover as it sailed over his head, allowing Ramírez to score the walk-off run. Prior to the misplay, Sands was in the midst of a solid night, going 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Coghlan finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored for the Marlins in the victory. Florida went on to clinch the three-game series with a 4-2 win the following night. The thrilling win in the series opener would serve as the second walk-off victory for the Marlins during the month of April and one of five for the year. It came on this day 15 years ago. View the full article

This article was written prior to games on April 24, and prior to the announcement that Jeff Hoffman is no longer Toronto's closer. There’s this annoying fiction in baseball that velocity is the end-all, be-all. If you're a pitcher who can fire it at 100 mph and you kind of know where it’s going, you’re set. You just need one decent off-speed or breaking pitch to keep guys honest, and you can dominate. For years, Jeff Hoffman has been stuck inside that narrative, even though his actual profile is a lot more complicated than the "triple-digit" fantasy suggests. Let’s be real, Hoffman doesn’t actually throw that hard. He’s above-average, but his fastball velocity sits around the 75th percentile for relievers. That puts him smack in the middle between "pretty good" and "elite." The raw ingredients are there, but calling Hoffman a guy who just tries to survive on heat and a prayer is a mistake. This year, he’s been much more calculated. He’s leading with the slider against righties and leaning on the splitter against lefties. On paper, that mix should be enough to anchor any bullpen. Instead, we’re seeing the same frustrating pattern: inconsistency, giving up damage at the worst possible times and a fastball that gets absolutely smoked when hitters find it. This isn't about effort or trusting his stuff. It’s about physics. Specifically, it’s about why throwing hard without the right movement profile is basically a death wish at this level. The real issue is that his heater doesn't behave like a modern power fastball should. Hoffman’s fastball isn’t exactly a “straight fastball,” but it is awfully close. No big-league pitch is truly straight, but there’s a massive gap between "functional movement" and what a hitter perceives as straight. When a hitter calls a pitch straight, they’re talking about a predictable plane and a spin axis that doesn’t fool the eye. Velocity without deception is just driving fast in a straight line on an empty highway. It looks cool, sure, but it doesn't actually test your skills. If you want a challenge, try off-roading. The most dangerous heaters in the league are the ones that refuse to move the way a hitter’s brain expects. Effective movement comes from high-spin, back-spinning fastballs that stay in the air longer, forcing guys to swing underneath the ball. People keep saying Hoffman has below-average ride, but that’s not technically true. The induced movement on his four-seam fastball is 0.7 inches below average (through games on April 23), basically a rounding error. His real issue is regression. He’s lost about 2.5 inches of induced break compared to the 2024 and '25 seasons. That loss of vertical movement is the reason his pitches are getting squared up by batters with swings designed to hunt that flatter plane. Most critics don’t give him credit for his fastball’s well-above-average horizontal break. Most analysts obsess over vertical movement, but Hoffman has this unique east-west shape on his fastball. It’s a different kind of deception, even if it lacks that "rising" effect. Hard fastballs without vertical deception travel way further when they’re barreled. That’s just physics. When the barrel meets the ball squarely, the energy transfer is perfect. The result is a high exit velocity and a ball headed for the flight deck. If you add vertical movement or arm-side run, that contact point shifts by a fraction of an inch. In the majors, those fractions are the difference between a warning track out and a soul-crushing home run. You can see it in his batted ball profile. Hoffman's home run-to-fly ball rate has fluctuated over the course of his career; the past two years, he's given up homers on 21% of his fly balls (per FanGraphs), almost twice the league-average rate. That number isn't a fluke. It illustrates how unforgiving his fastball is when his command is off. He’s in a weird gray zone. His 96-97 mph velocity is plenty fast, but it’s flat enough vertically that hitters can match the plane. Without the vertical break he used to have, the pitch offers zero forgiveness when it leaks over the heart of the plate. Hoffman’s velocity and spin haven't really changed much since his strong 2024, yet the run value on his heater has swung wildly. Basically, it comes down to execution and pitch shape, not just velocity. Modern hitters aren’t just guessing; they’re trained to recognize shapes. That’s why they’re always on those tablets in the dugout, and no, they aren’t playing Clash of Clans. They’re studying exactly how a pitch moves through the zone. A heater without movement is easy to time, even if it’s coming in hot. A normal human won't touch 98, but a big-leaguer isn't intimidated by it. There are no easy solutions to Hoffman’s woes. You can’t simply change a fastball. A pitcher almost never reshapes their fastball in the middle of a season, and it hardly ever works. Messing with the grip or release point creates a ripple effect that can kill command or ruin secondary pitches. A focus on secondary pitches is where Jordan Romano got into trouble when his slider started to hang. However, when hitters are guessing at what’s coming, velocity can play up even without movement. For Hoffman, the goal right now has to be optimization, not reinvention. He has to survive by living on the edges of the zone, leaning even harder on the slider and splitter, and using that weird horizontal movement to mess with timing. Every one of those strategies requires near-perfect execution. Fastballs without elite vertical ride don't give you a "get out of jail free" card when you miss your spot. That’s why Hoffman’s struggles feel so loud. They’re punctuated by home runs, not bloop singles. Jeff Hoffman isn’t broken, and his fastball isn't useless, but he and the Jays are living on a narrow ledge where dominance and disaster are separated by about an inch of movement. It’s the physics of the game playing out in real time, and it’s a reminder that throwing hard is just the start of the conversation. View the full article

TRANSACTIONS Following the Twins loss in New York on Thursday night, the Twins announced that Kendry Rojas had been optioned to St. Paul. On Friday, the corresponding move was announced, and as expected, Kody Funderburk was activated from the paternity list. OF Alan Roden was officially placed on the Injured List with a right shoulder contusion. Ben Ross earned a promotion from Wichita to St. Paul. The 24-year-old infielder is off to a great start in 2026. In 16 games, he is hitting .424/.528/.797 (1.324) with seven doubles, five homers and 16 RBI. He is a tremendous defensive player at shortstop, and he has spent time at third base, second base, and a little in the outfield. RHP Paulshawn Pasqualotto was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Double-A Wichita. The 24-year-old was the Twins 12th round pick in 2023 out of Cal-Berkeley. He pitched in just four games for the Kernels this season and has converted all three save opportunities he’s had and given up only an unearned run over 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He had no walks and eight strikeouts. The Twins signed right-hander Jesse Bergin and assigned him to the FCL Twins. He had been the 11th round pick in 2021 out of UCLA by the Reds. then didn’t pitch in 2022 or 2023. He returned and threw 34 1/3 total innings. He spent most of the 2025 season at Double-A Pensacola. In 35 games and 43 innings out of the bullpen, he was 2-4 with five saves, a 2.51 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, and opponents hit just .168 off of him. The Marlins released him in late March, and the Twins signed him today. He will likely head to Wichita once his arm gets ready. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Indianapolis 4 Box Score It was a bullpen game for the Saints on Friday night. John Brebbia started and gave up one run on two hits over the first two innings. In the top of the fifth inning, Alex Jackson tied the game at 1-1 with a leadoff homer. He already has three long balls this season. In the bottom of the sixth, Gabriel Gonzalez led off with his sixth home run. Emmanuel Rodriguez followed with a walk and stole second base. After Ryan Kreidler reached on an error, Kyler Fedko drove in Rodriguez with a single to make it 3-1 Saints. Ricky Castro came in and threw three zeroes on the board. However, after a walk started the bottom of the sixth, he gave up a home run to Tyler Callihan which tied the game at 3-3. Matt Bowman got the next five outs, two of them on strikeout. He also gave up a solo homer. Luis Garcia came in and tossed a 1-2-3 ninth. The Saints ended with just six hits and three walks in the game. Gonzalez had two hits, and Orlando Arcia went 2-for-4. Rodriguez had two walks. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, NW Arkansas 1 Box Score Jose Olivares is one of the better starting pitcher prospects in the Twins organization. On Friday night, he made his Double-A debut for the Surge. The right-hander worked through some issues to put three zeros on the board. He tossed three scoreless innings despite two hits and four walks. He had one strikeout. Of his 52 pitches, just 23 of them were strikes (44.2%). Paulshawn Pasqualotto came on and duplicated the results with three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked three batters, but he helped himself with three strikeouts. Through four innings, there was no score in the. The Wind Surge put a crooked number on the board in the top of the fifth inning. Maddux Houghton started things out with his third double of the season. After one out and a pitching change, Houghton stole third and scored when the throw was errant. Kala’i Rosario walked and went to second on a Kyle DeBarge single. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Rosario scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Billy Amick. DeBarge scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Wichita added some insurance in the top of the eighth inning. Billy Amick led off the inning with a solo homer, his fourth of the season. Spencer Bengard came in for the seventh inning. He was charged with an unearned run on two hits and a walk over his two innings. Luis Quinones came on for the ninth inning and struck out the side. Jake Rucker was hit by a pitch and later scored on a passed ball for the fifth and final run. Wichita had eight hits and two walks in the game. Ricardo Olivar went 2-for-4 with his fifth double. He has reached base in six straight games. He also has five extra base hits in his past four games. Houghton hit his third and fourth doubles, and walked, in three at-bats. He also stole his sixth base. The Surge had extra base hits and took advantage of some poor defense, which is good, because they went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Just one home run for the Wind Surge, but they still have hit 23 homers over the past nine games. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 4 Box Score A baseball team wants to score early and often. That is exactly what the Kernels did on Friday night in Peoria. They scored one run in the first inning and scored one run in each of the following six innings. The only inning in the first seven innings that they didn’t score one run was the fifth inning, when they scored two runs. It was deja vu all over again for the Kernels in the top of the first inning. Like Thursday night, Eduardo Tait homers in the first to give his team a 1-0 lead. It was his fourth homer of the month. Nolan Santos was the starting pitcher for Cedar Rapids. Unfortunately, he needed 35 pitches and only got two outs. He was charged with one run on one hit and three walks. The outs he got were both on strikeouts. That’s a lot of pitches. Sam Rochard came in and left the bases loaded and a 1-1 game. He went 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run on one hit, a solo home run. In the second inning, Caden Kendle and Jay Thomason walked. After a groundout, Kendle scored on a balk. Marek Houston led off the third inning with his third double. He went to third base on a Tait fly out and then scored on a Brandon Winokur single to center. 3-2 after three innings. Jacob Wosinski worked the middle innings. In three innings, he gave up just one run on two hits (including one homer). He had three strikeouts. Cole Peschl struck out two batters over two scoreless, hitless innings. Christian Becerra gave up one run on two hits in the ninth inning. He struck out two batters. Let’s catch up on that offense. In the fourth inning, Rayne Doncon doubled and scored on a Luis Hernandez single. In the fifth inning, Danny De Andrade led off with a single. Kendle walked again and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. De Andrade scored on a Doncon ground out. Then Kendle scored on a Miguel Briceno single. In the sixth inning, De Andrade struck out but got on base on a wild pitch. Kendle walked yet again. De Andrade scored on a Jay Thomasson double. With one out in the seventh, Briceno singled. Andy Lugo pinch ran for him and stole second base and went to third base on a throwing error. After a Hernandez walk, Houston grounded to shortstop for a force out but beat the throw to first base to get an RBI. What happened in the eighth and ninth innings? Why didn’t they score? I kid, of course, it isn’t that easy. That said, the Kernels did have a runner on base in those final two innings too. Marek Houston went 2-for-5 with his third double. It was his fourth straight multi-hit week this week against Peoria. He is now hitting .303 with an OPS of .808. Tait went 2-for-5 with his fourth homer. Winokur was 2-for-5. Briceno was 2-for-4. Hernandez, Thomason and Doncon each had one hit and one walk while Kendle had three walks in the game. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Dunedin 4 Box Score A four-run fifth innings gave the Mussels a 5-3 lead, and they were able to hang on to give them a dozen wins. Matt Dalquist started and was charged with three runs on six hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. Michael Hilker kept an inherited runner from scoring a third run in the top of the fifth frame. The team’s 20th round pick last July gave up two hits and a walk over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out two batters. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Blue Jays made a pitching change. Their starter was already at 58 pitches after 3 2/3 innings. That was a positive for the Mussels. Jayson Bass got to second on an error and scored on a single by Ian Daugherty. Byron Chourio led off the inning with his first home run of the season. Ricardo Pena followed with a walk. Yilber Herrera doubled Pena to third base. With two outs, Yasser Mercedes did it again. He knocked his fourth home run, a three-run, opposite-field homer to give the team a 5-3 lead. Mitch Mueller worked a perfect eighth inning. Brian Zeldin came on and got the first two outs easily, with a groundout and a strikeout. But then Blaine Bullard hit his fourth home run which cut the Mussel lead to 5-4. Zeldin then hit a batter. However, he got a ground out to end the game and pick up his second save of the year. Chourio went 2-for-3 with the homer. Mercedes homered in back-to-back games and four the fourth time in his last seven games. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul): 2-for-4, HR(5), R, RBI, K. Pitcher of the Day Paulshawn Pasqualotto (Wichita): 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 B, 44 pitches, 27 strikes (61.4%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K (batted second, played CF) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 (batted first, played SS) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, K (batted fourth, played RF) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, HR(4), R, RBI, 2 K, E(2) (batted second, catcher) #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, HR(5), R, RBI, K (batted third, played 1B) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch, Optioned #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 2B(3) R, RBI, K (batted leadoff, played SS) #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch. #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, RBI, K, CS(1) (batted third, played CF) #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - Did Not Play. #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-for-5, R, K, E(5) (batted third, played SS) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch. #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 IL (right elbow sprain) UPCOMING PROBABLES Saturday: St. Paul @ Indianapolis (5:35 pm CT) - RHP Mike Paredes (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (1-2, 3.68 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Eli Jones (1-0, 1.35 ERA) Dunedin @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CT) - RHP Jonathan Stevens (2-0, 4.82 ERA) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 12-14 St. Paul Saints: 9-15 Wichita Wind Surge: 11-8 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 8-11 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 12-7 FCL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, May 4) DSL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, June 1) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View the full article

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Marlins’ bats seemed to respond nicely to the cool California air. In the opener of their first West Coast trip of the season, Miami’s offense came to life in a big way, giving its ace ample run support en route to its 13th win of the year. On Friday night, with temperatures hovering in the low 50s, the Marlins put up nine runs on 16 hits, routing the San Francisco Giants 9-4. Miami is back at .500 for the first time since April 14. “Up and down the lineup, we forced [Adrian] Houser over the plate and we were ready to go,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said postgame. “Our swing decisions tonight were outstanding. It was really just an offensive clinic.” The Marlins jumped on Giants starter Adrian Houser early. With two outs and a run already in, Liam Hicks launched a two-run shot into the right-field bleachers, giving Miami a 3–0 lead before Sandy Alcantara even took the mound. A couple of innings and a couple more runs later, with two men on, Connor Norby crushed a three-run homer to make it 8–0. The ball traveled 418 feet to left-center, the fourth-longest home run of his young career. Norby, who as recently as last week made a mechanical tweak to his batting stance—holding his hands farther from his chest—has already started to see results, homering twice in that span. “Started in Atlanta, just trying to get some rhythm. I’m still working through some timing, but it’s a way for me to keep my back hip less stagnant and not so tense,” Norby said. Miami racked up 11 hits through just four innings against Houser, who was chased early. His season ERA rose to 7.36. In the top of the sixth, following a three-run frame by San Francisco against Alcantara—more on that later—Otto Lopez delivered an RBI single to extend the Marlins’ lead to 9–3, which at the time felt like a crucial insurance run. “They made a little push there, and for him to come up with that knock with two outs, slow things down a bit and push the lead back to six was huge. It’s what Otto has done all season,” McCullough said. In total, the Marlins piled up 16 hits, tying a season high. Every player in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit. “We’re sneaky good,” Norby said of the offense. “When we’re playing like that—and it doesn’t always have to result in a hit—just the toughness of the at-bat, making a pitcher work and throw two or three extra pitches, it takes a toll. The competitiveness and grinding out at-bats always makes a difference throughout a series.” When asked how difficult it will be to stubbornly adjust the lineup for Saturday’s matchup against left-hander Robbie Ray, McCullough said, “We’re going to put the lineup out there that I think is best against Ray. However it goes, I’ll feel confident with the guys that are in there, and we’ll continue to do what I see as best on any given day.” Sandy Alcantara After three excellent starts to open his season (two earned runs in 24.1 innings), Sandy Alcantara had hit a bit of a blip. Following a rough outing in Detroit in which he allowed seven earned runs, he also issued six walks in a home loss to Milwaukee. On Friday night at Oracle Park, however, he was dominant across six innings—aside from one hiccup. “He was fantastic,” McCullough said. “Seventy-five strikes, filled up the zone, and was around the plate with all his pitches. They strung together some hits there in the fifth, but other than that, he was terrific.” Alcantara’s final line: 6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO. He threw a season-high 108 pitches, 75 for strikes. He scattered a few hits over his first four innings but was largely in control, inducing an inning-ending double play in the first and retiring nine straight Giants at one point. His only trouble came in the fifth, with former teammate Luis Arraez in the middle of it. Following a one-out double by Heliot Ramos—the Giants’ first extra-base hit of the night—Drew Gilbert singled to plate San Francisco’s first run. Eric Haase then added an RBI double to right and later scored on a trademark Arraez slap single to left. “I liked that I threw a lot of strikes. I’ll take this start over my last one with the six walks, but I made the adjustment and we got the win,” Alcantara said. He also noted that early run support doesn’t change his mindset. “I know for some guys it’s easy to get comfortable on the mound with a big lead, but for me it doesn’t matter. I keep fighting and attacking hitters like it’s a close game.” With the win, Miami improved to 13–13, while San Francisco fell to 11–15. Right-hander Eury Pérez is set to start Saturday afternoon as the Marlins look to clinch the series, while Robbie Ray will try to force a rubber match for the Giants. View the full article

Box Score Taj Bradley: 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K Home Runs: Brooks Lee (4), Royce Lewis (3) Bottom 3 WPA: Taj Bradley (-0.180), Byron Buxton (-0.140), Victor Caratini (-0.120) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Hey, it’s Tropicana Field again. The stadium with the ambience of an aquarium-themed bowling alley. Oh how we missed ye. Hemingway himself would turn silent in the presence of such architecture. Absent the quality of their arena, the Rays offer an always-competent opponent, especially with Drew Rasmussen on the mound. Will the Twins eschew their post-Mets blues? We shall see. We start with a commentator's curse: Cory Provus—otherwise a quality voice of Minnesota ball—tempted fate and creation with an utterance; that Taj Bradley had faced the most batters in the big leagues in 2026 without allowing a homer. Junior Caminero was at bat. Bryan Woo was the second-place hurler. When the 2-1 fastball finally landed, the Seattle starter was the leader. That’s a kangaroo court fine in any society. The homer dampered what was perhaps an emotional start for Bradley, given that he took the Tampa Bay mound as an opponent for the first time in his career. Oh well. Sentimentality is for the arts. Indeed, Bradley found his former home cold and unforgiving: a Tropicana-special chopped grounder in the third scooted into left field, portending a trip around the bases, a second run for the Rays. Jonathan Aranda then homered in the fourth. Brooks Lee answered with a solo shot in the fifth, but that dastardly Aranda sent a ball flying into the right field bleachers once more—this time off a curveball. Perhaps flashing four fingers is the best way to pitch to him. Camerino too. Rush taught us that choosing not to decide is still a choice; well, opting to send a man to first for free is a method of pitching as well. Yet, it wasn’t one Bradley opted for. Instead, the dynamic bat-speed maniac manning third for Tampa Bay obliterated a ball a mere 435 feet in the seventh, a good five yards shorter than the homer he previously blasted. In about four more flyballs, Minnesota will have him kept in the yard. Royce Lewis sent one caroming off the left field foul pole in the ninth, but the rally was too little, too late: Minnesota couldn't overcome the deficit they built, falling to the Rays 6-2 to start the series. Notes: Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Rays will meet at Tropicana Field once more for a 3:10 battle, with Bailey Over set to start opposite Shane McClanahan. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Morris 47 0 0 0 37 0 84 Banda 0 0 18 0 9 7 34 Topa 0 0 17 17 0 0 34 Acton 29 0 0 0 0 0 29 Sands 0 0 23 0 0 0 23 Orze 0 0 0 11 0 10 21 Rogers 8 0 0 12 0 0 20 Funderburk 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 View the full article

Vince Velasquez's comeback has reached the majors. Again. The Chicago Cubs called up the right-handed starter, who hasn't appeared in an MLB game since 2023, from Triple-A Iowa on Friday. He replaces left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar, who sustained a strained left hamstring in Thursday's 8-7 walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cubs also called up from Triple-A infielder Nicky Lopez, acquired via trade Thursday from the Colorado Rockies. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Velasquez and Lopez, infielder Scott Kingery was designated for assignment and right-handed reliever Porter Hodge was transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL. Velasquez is the latest addition to a beleaguered pitching staff. He last pitched in the majors in 2023 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, before undergoing Tommy John surgery on his 31st birthday in June of that year. He latched on with the Cleveland Guardians in 2024, signing a minor-league contract and even got a call-up last year for a couple days in May, but did not pitch. He figures to get a chance to pitch for the Cubs, who have 10 pitchers on the IL, including four who are now on the 60-day IL. Velasquez had made four appearances, all but one a start, for Iowa this season, with a 3.71 ERA, walking nine and striking out 17 in 17 innings. Lopez had a slash line of .333/.387/.519 with one homer and eight RBIs in 15 games for the Rockies' Triple-A team before being acquired for cash Thursday. Kingery made the Cubs' Opening Day roster, but appeared in just eight games, going 1-for-4. View the full article