DiamondCentric

Ahead of his years offensively, Franklin Arias is one of the best contact hitters in the Minor Leagues, but can he stick at shortstop? View the full article

Alex and Maddie sit down and talk through the potential causes for Garrett Crochet’s lackluster start and why a phantom IL stint may make sense but couldn't happen right now. They dive into the bullpen woes while giving Jovani Moran his much-deserved flowers and speculate just where Tommy Kahnle has been. They preview the upcoming Yankees series by worrying about the team's offensive woes. Finally, they talk through the most recent Jarren Duran outburst and ponder how much longer he may be playing in Boston. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talk-sox-podcast/id1783204104 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qPrPXEngu0CxgTmlf0ynm Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-talk-sox-podcast-244591331/ Listen on Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/4tmd121v Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@talksox View the full article

In this video, we do a deep dive of Ben Kudrna, significant riser Kendry Chourio, 2025 teenage phenom David Shields, Blake Mitchell, and potential AL rookie of the year candidate Carter Jensen. View the full article

When Peter Seidler and Ron Fowler purchased the San Diego Padres in the middle of the 2012 season, the Padres were in a rough spot. The team had not made the playoffs since 2006 and was mired in their fourth losing season in five years. Outside of a 90-win campaign in 2010 that saw the Padres miss out on the NL Wild Card by one game, San Diego had not had much success. The team had won 71 games in 2011 and would finish with 76 wins in 2012. San Diego was mostly irrelevant in a division dominated by the Giants and Dodgers. In the first seven years of Seidler and Fowler’s ownership, not much changed for the Friars. San Diego’s streak of losing seasons reached nine. The Padres lost at least 90 games four years in a row between 2016 and 2019, and finished either fourth or fifth in the NL West every season between 2015 and 2019. That’s not to say the team was not trying. AJ Preller was hired as the team's general manager in 2014, and he immediately began his tenure by making high-profile trades and free agency additions. He brought in All-Star caliber players like Justin Upton, James Shields, and Matt Kemp. When that failed to produce a winning team, he pivoted, selling Shields to acquire a young prospect, the son of former major league infielder Fernando Tatis. In 2018, the Padres signed another former All-Star and World Series champion, Eric Hosmer, to an 8-year, $144 million contract. But the biggest move, the one that sent a message to the league, was the 2019 signing of third baseman Manny Machado to a 10-year, $300 million deal. That signing, combined with the promotion of Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2019, was the beginning of a new era for the Padres. Peter Seidler Takes Control of Padres & Pushes Them To Greatness Over the first seven years of his co-ownership, Peter Seidler did not have complete control. That changed in 2020, when Seidler purchased a significant share of Ron Fowler’s stake in the Padres and took over as the team’s chairman, as he became the largest stakeholder in the organization. That was the same year the Padres finally achieved a winning record and returned to the postseason for the first time since 2006. That 2020 campaign began a run of success that San Diego was not used to. Even after missing the playoffs in 2021, the team was improving, and under Seidler’s leadership, the team decided to make another major investment into winning by investing into their pitching staff. The Padres added a pair of ace starting pitchers in Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, and would eventually extend both. It was a sign that Seidler and Preller were willing to spend the money that it would take to make San Diego a contender again in the NL West. In 2022, the fruits of their labor paid off. The Padres found themselves neck-and-neck with the Dodgers in the NL West, despite missing Tatis due to a suspension. That led Seidler to green light perhaps the biggest trade in Padres history at the 2022 trade deadline, when San Diego sent a package of four prospects, including James Wood, Robert Hassell, MacKenzie Gore, and CJ Abrams, to the Nationals, in exchange for 23-year-old superstar Juan Soto. With Soto on board, the Padres would make their deepest postseason run since losing the 1998 World Series. San Diego reached the NLCS for the third time in franchise history, and although they would go on to lose 4-games-to-1 against the Phillies, it was another year of improvement for San Diego. Seidler continued to green light more spending in 2023, as the Padres extended Manny Machado through 2033 and signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million contract. With Soto, Tatis, Machado, and Bogaerts hitting atop the lineup, and Cy Young winner Blake Snell anchoring the rotation, the team’s 82-80 record felt like a massive letdown. Considering the team had a +104 run differential, it was also a massive outlier. Their expected win-loss record, with a +104 differential, would have been 92-70, which would have comfortably sent the Padres to the playoffs. When Peter Seidler died on November 14, 2023, his stated goal of seeing the Padres win a World Series unfortunately hadn't come to fruition. But surely, Seidler would be proud of the way his brother John has handled the team since his death. Under John Seidler’s leadership, the Padres have won 90 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history, and reached the postseason in back-to-back seasons for the second time. These past seasons (2022-2025) are the best four-year stretch in Padres’ history, with a combined record of 354-294. San Diego ranks seventh in the MLB over the past four years, and fifth in total team fWAR. Even after trading Soto to the Yankees, the Padres managed to improve. The Seidler family’s tenure of Padres ownership was marked by big spending, big swings on the trade market, and an unprecedented run of success over the past four years. With José E. Feliciano now set to take over, it will be interesting to see if those trends continue, or if the organization will plan to scale back its spending and rebuild its farm system. View the full article

There are nights when the conversation after a game centers on a big swing or a dominant pitching performance. Then there are nights like this one, where the spotlight shifts squarely behind the plate. On Sunday, home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt had a difficult outing in the matchup between the Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins, missing 22 ball and strike calls over the course of the game. Notably, sixteen of those calls went against Cincinnati, including four blown strikeouts, ultimately creating a +2.78 run value in favor of Minnesota. Despite that imbalance, the Reds walked away with a 7-4 win in 10 innings, overcoming both the Twins and a strike zone that never quite settled in. Missed calls occur in every game, but this game's total and several key mistakes significantly affected the outcome and further highlight debates on umpire reliability. It was also the seventh game this season in which an umpire has missed 20 or more ball-and-strike calls, continuing a trend that has kept the automated ball-strike system in the conversation around the league. The Calls That Mattered Most While the total number is eye-opening, a few specific moments carried the most weight in terms of run expectancy. In the top of the fourth inning, with one out and a runner on first, Bailey Ober appeared to lose a full count battle against Spencer Steer. A pitch ruled a strike should have been ball four, ending the at-bat and putting another runner aboard. Instead, the Reds lost that opportunity. An inning later, Ober benefited again. Facing Matt McLain with two outs and a runner on second in a 1-2 count, a pitch off the plate was called strike three to end the inning. That erased a chance for Cincinnati to extend the frame and potentially push across a run. Minnesota was not entirely immune. In the bottom of the seventh, Connor Phillips appeared to punch out Trevor Larnach on a full count with two outs and nobody on. Instead, the pitch was called a ball, resulting in a walk that prolonged the inning. Still, the overall trend was clear. The majority of impactful misses leaned in Minnesota’s direction. To Cincinnati’s credit, the game did not spiral. Even with the inconsistencies, the Reds continued to grind through at-bats and leaned on timely hitting to keep things close. They also successfully used a challenge in extras, a fitting end on a night where the strike zone had been under scrutiny from the first inning on. For Minnesota, this is a frustrating kind of loss. The numbers suggest they were on the favorable side of the missed calls, yet they still could not convert that advantage into a win. Games like this highlight a larger issue. Even when external factors tilt in a team’s favor, execution still determines the outcome. The Twins had opportunities, some aided by the strike zone, but could not deliver the knockout blow. Umpiring will always be part of the game’s human element, but nights like this add fuel to the ongoing debate about consistency and potential technological solutions. When 22 calls are missed, and the imbalance is this pronounced, it becomes impossible to ignore. View the full article

On April 21, 2025, Agustín Ramírez began his major league career with high expectations. He was arguably the top position player prospect in the Miami Marlins organization, with an impactful bat that could be plugged into the middle of the order, plus the ability to play catcher on a part-time basis. Tuesday marks one full year of the "Gus Bus" experience. It has been a mixed bag. For starters, Ramírez has been durable. With few exceptions, the Marlins have started him as their designated hitter on days when he isn't catching, using him in 158 total games. That easily leads the team over the past calendar year (Otto Lopez ranks second with 145 games). Ramírez also has the most plate appearances (676) and runs scored (83) since debuting, trailing only All-Star Kyle Stowers in home runs (23). However, the overall quality of his hitting has been below average. Ramírez's career slash line of .230/.288/.408/.696 with a 90 wRC+ (100 represents league average). The results are pretty much the same regardless of whether he's facing left-handed or right-handed pitching. Ramírez offers an exciting combination of raw power and contact ability. He has one of MLB's fastest bat speeds and a career strikeout rate of 19.8%. His career hard-hit rate is 45.3%, similar to the likes of Marcell Ozuna and Teoscar Hernández. Even with a full year body of work, it's fair to say that Ramírez has been the victim of bad luck. Hitters with his batted ball quality usually perform well on balls in play, but his career BABIP is only .255, which is 36 points below the league average during that span. He should see some improvement moving forward, especially if he reduces his ground balls. Ramírez has been worse than replacement level according to both Baseball-Reference (-0.6 bWAR) and FanGraphs (-0.1 fWAR), and that is mainly because of his defense. Used exclusively as a catcher, Ramírez has totaled minus-16 defensive runs saved and minus-14 fielding run value. He leads MLB catchers with 13 errors and 22 passed balls since the start of 2025. There have been 100 stolen bases with him behind the plate compared to only 10 runners caught stealing, as his pop time is inconsistent and he frequently mishandles the ball when transferring it from his glove. While some of these weaknesses are physical, Ramírez told Fish On First earlier this month that "the mental side has been the biggest thing for me" regarding the transition from the minors to the majors. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough insists that there have been "real strides" made by the 24-year-old since his rookie season. "I think all the work he put in this offseason has continued to put, it's showing." Ramírez has also added a bit of value with his usage of the new ABS challenge system, overturning 14 balls into called strikes on 21 challenges (a 66.7% success rate). Unfortunately, big mistakes overshadow his small improvements. On this homestand alone, Ramírez effectively lost the Marlins a game on Friday when he was unable to make a catch in the 10th inning, and his poor blocking allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to manufacture runs on two separate occasions during's Monday game (which Miami won). With terrific catching prospect Joe Mack on track to reach the majors this summer, Ramírez is certain to see a more limited workload defensively. The question will be whether his bat heats up enough to still keep him in the lineup on a daily basis. View the full article

The issues in the Twins' bullpen go deeper than just a few rough outings. Here’s what’s actually going wrong, and some possible changes that could fix it.View the full article

Minor League Week in Nutshell Things were pretty rough at the Major League level for the Royals this past week, as they went winless in Detroit and the Bronx. However, things were a bit more positive with the affiliates in the Royals' farm system. Omaha went 4-2 against Indianapolis, improving their record to over .500 for the season, a big turnaround from a year ago. Northwest Arkansas had a rougher week, going 1-5 against Corpus Christi. The losing week brought their record to one game under .500. In the lower levels, Quad Cities had a 4-2 week in Cedar Rapids, despite a game getting rained out on Wednesday. They split a doubleheader on Thursday and then pulled out the series finale on Sunday. As for the Fireflies in Columbia, they split with Charleston, going 3-3 last week on the road. They led in the series finale on Sunday but were unable to close out the victory or the series. They still have a record above .500. Here are the records of the four Royals Minor League affiliates, as of April 20th. Omaha: 11-9 Northwest Arkansas: 7-8 Quad Cities: 6-6 Columbia: 8-7 Omaha Highlights I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but Kameron Misner continues to show the Royals organization that he may deserve a shot in Kansas City at some point, especially considering the Royals' offensive woes to begin the season. This week, in 19 at-bats, he hit .368 with a 1.192 OPS. That included two home runs, seven RBI, a double, three walks, and six strikeouts. Misner is not only showing power in Triple-A, but a sound approach at the plate as well. This season with the Storm Chasers, he is posting a 15.8% BB% and 0.71 BB/K ratio. While it's Triple-A, that's the kind of approach that's needed in this Royals lineup. On the pitching end, Chazz Martinez had a solid week, allowing no runs on two hits and three walks while striking out six in three innings of work. For the season, Martinez is posting a 41.7% K% and 20.8% K-BB% in six innings of work. While the TJ Stuff+ metrics aren't great (98 overall), he's done an excellent job limiting hard contact while generating solid whiff and chase rates, as seen below. The four-seamer is an interesting pitch with crazy horizontal break (18.3 HB), and it generates a decent amount of chase (26.9%) and whiff (31.8%) as well as weak contact (.241 xwOBACON). As a result, the four-seamer has a 102 TJ Stuff+ and a 57 grade. Unfortunately, his other offerings don't rate as well stuff-wise, with his sweeper having a 30 grade and changeup sporting a 47 grade. Still, Martinez could be an Evan Sisk type who simply can generate chase and whiff effectively due to his arm angles, even if he may not have the most overpowering stuff profile. Northwest Arkansas Highlights While some of the Nautrals' top hitters cooled off this week (Carson Roccaforte had a .733 OPS, and Sam Kulasingam had a .550 OPS), Brett Squires continued to be locked in. In 24 at-bats, the Oklahoma product hit .417 with a 1.083 OPS. That included a home run and seven RBI as well as four walks to five strikeouts. In 67 plate appearances this year, Squires is hitting .333 with a 1.047 OPS. He also has four home runs, 18 RBI, and four stolen bases. Without a doubt, Squires has been the Naturals' most consistent offensive performer to begin the 2026 season. The pitching end was more of a mixed bag for the Naturals, with many starters posting ERA marks in the double digits this week. However, one arm that continues to impress is lefty reliever Oscar Rayo. In two appearances and 4.2 IP this week, he allowed only one hit, zero runs, no walks, and struck out six batters. Not only did Rayo have a 0.00 ERA, but also a 0.21 WHIP. For the season, Rayo is posting a 1.35 ERA and 0.45 WHIP in 13.1 IP. He hasn't allowed a single walk and has a 27.7% K%. When looking at his percentiles this year, there is a lot to like from the Nicaraguan lefty. With a 31.3% whiff rate and 34.3% CSW with the Naturals this year, Rayo could be a reliever who could sneakily move through the Royals system and make a case for a roster spot this offseason. Quad Cities River Bandits One prospect who needed to make some gains this year was Austin Charles. Charles has been known for his lanky frame and raw athleticism. However, he struggled in his first exposure to High-A ball as a 21-year-old last season. In 59 games and 232 plate appearances, Charles hit .200 with a .469 OPS. He didn't hit for much power, as evidenced by his 0.093 ISO. Furthermore, he struck out a lot, as illustrated by his 25.9% K%. As a result, his prospect stock dropped a lot this offseason, as he barely made many Top 30 lists and was omitted on some, due to his poor performance in Quad Cities in 2025. This year, it's been a different story for Charles in his second go-around in Quad Cities. Over the past week, he hit .563 with a 1.463 OPS. He had a home run, six RBI, three stolen bases, and three walks to three strikeouts. For the year, he's hitting .353 with a 1.035 OPS in 43 plate appearances. He also has a home run, eight RBI, and five stolen bases. The most impressive stat? He has seven walks to six strikeouts. The plate approach is really coming around for Charles to begin 2026. In terms of pitching, Justin Lamkin continues to impress, even with a rotation that includes the Royals' top pitching prospect, David Shields. In two starts and 7.2 IP, Lamkin posted a 2.35 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and struck out 12 batters. In three starts this year, he has a 1.54 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 2.93 FIP, 39.1% K%, and 26.1% K-BB%. While the former Texas A&M product doesn't have elite velocity, he is deceptive in his delivery, which helps his stuff play up against hitters. We could be looking at a Kris Bubic or Noah Cameron 2.0 in Lamkin. Columbia Fireflies Highlights Roni Cabrera was an intriguing name when he came over from Texas with Cole Ragans in the Aroldis Chapman trade in 2023. While Ragans has gotten all the spotlight, Cabrera has gone under the radar, though the 20-year-old hasn't quite accomplished a whole lot yet in affiliated ball before this year. This past week was a memorable one for the 20-year-old Fireflies outfielder. In 17 at-bats, he hit .353 with a 1.028 OPS. Cabrera also had a double, two triples, five RBI, a stolen base, and two walks to three strikeouts. In 48 plate appearances this season, he is hitting .270 with an .889 OPS with a homer, 12 RBI, four stolen bases, eight walks, and 11 strikeouts. The former Rangers signing can be a little erratic, especially on the basepaths (he's been caught three times). However, he's the kind of dynamic player that could provide a spark at the MLB level. On the pitching side for Columbia, Michael Lombardi only made one appearance, but it was a sensational one. In four innings of work, the former Tulane product struck out 11 while allowing three walks, three hits, and no runs. A two-way player in college, it seems like Kansas City is having Lombardi focus on pitching, which explains why he's only pitched 10.1 innings this year. It's about development, not results, this year for Lombardi. However, the results have been pretty impressive so far. In three appearances, Lombardi has a 2.61 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 1.94 FIP, 46.5% K%, and 34.9% K-BB%. He's also sported impressive whiff and CSW rates, as illustrated below via his TJ Stats summary. The stuff is absolutely electric, and it isn't out of the question to believe that Lombardi could end up as the third-best pitcher in the Royals system and a Top-10 prospect by the end of the 2026 season. View the full article

Admittedly, Joey Ortiz hasn't gotten a perfect set of chances in the majors. He was blocked when he was first ready for the big leagues, during his final season with the Orioles organization. He was displaced for a year after being traded to the Brewers, when he slid to third base to play alongside Willy Adames. He's hit at the bottom of the batting order most of the time over the last year-plus, where you often get one fewer plate appearance than players at the top of the card; see the starting pitcher one fewer time; and hit with fewer runners on base in front of you. He's battled a few nagging injuries. Since the start of last August, during which time teammate Brice Turang has over 350 plate appearances across all competitions, Ortiz has just 165. Unfortunately, it's impossible to justify giving him more than that. In fact, he probably ought to have fewer. Ortiz is batting .200/.255/.227 since Aug. 1, 2025, including regular-season, playoff and World Baseball Classic games. He hit one home run during Cactus League play this spring, but that's the only one he's hit since the second game after last year's All-Star break, at any level. Ortiz is, fundamentally, broken. Hitters go through phases during which their timing is badly off, or when the ball doesn't carry for them or during which line drives always seem to find gloves. This is something different, and worse. Ortiz is simply overmatched, in a way no other hitter in the league is. To understand how true this is, you first need to know the following: Ortiz has a relatively flat swing. His swing path tilt has slightly increased in each year of his career, from 27° in 2024 to 29° this season, but the league averages between 32° and 33°. The flatter your swing is, the more important it is for you to catch the ball out in front of your body. Steeper swings can hit the ball sharply even deep in the hitting zone, but a flat one can only produce a ball with a good chance to be a hit (or any chance to be an extra-base hit) if the batter's intercept point—the place where the bat and the ball meet, or would have met, in the case of a whiff—is at least 27 inches in front of a hitter's center of mass. The league's average intercept point is closer to 31 inches in front of the body, and again, a flat swing usually does better in that range or slightly farther in front. Some steep swings can work with a contact point in the mid-20s, but the lower your tilt, the farther out front you must catch the ball to be productive. Ortiz has always let the ball travel pretty deep. Often accused of being passive at the plate, he's trying to be selective and to see the ball well before making a swing decision—but therefore, he lives life on the edge of being late to the hitting zone. He runs one of the lowest attack angles in the league, even when going well, which means that he barely gets through the process of slashing his bat down into the hitting zone before meeting the pitch; he's not working upward with the barrel nearly as much as most hitters are. Since the start of the second half last year, though, this has all gone to an extreme at which having success as a big-league batter is no longer possible. Ortiz's average intercept point, relative to his center of mass, has receded month by month: April 2025: 29.4 in. May 2025: 31.2 June 2025: 28.7 July 2025: 29.6 August 2025: 28.8 September 2025: 26.5 April 2026: 23.7 The ball is, as they say, in Ortiz's kitchen. He's no waterbug, but no one is strong enough to hit the ball hard—especially to the areas of the field where that can pay off best—when catching it that deep. Looking at the intercept point relative to his stance (and relative to the same visual for last year) illustrates the problem tidily: He's tried opening his stride, as the ball gets on top of him, to square his barrel to the pitch earlier in his swing and fight it off. As the numbers tell you, it's not working. Few hitters in the league have an average intercept point deeper than the front edge of home plate, where Ortiz was even last year. No one else in the league has one 9 inches past the front edge, as Ortiz has so far this season. The second-deepest intercept point in the league belongs to the Rays' Chandler Simpson, the slap-hitting super-speedster. Simpson's sheer speed allows him to survive with an intercept point 6.8 inches past the front edge of the plate, but hitting for power is out of the question for him. Right now, it's out of the question for Ortiz, too, even though the Brewers shortstop has about three scouting grades of bat speed on the Tampa outfielder. Simpson offers a good següe to the obvious alternative to Ortiz at shortstop, though, and therein lies (arguably) a dilemma. David Hamilton isn't hitting much better than Ortiz this season—just .178/.339/.178—but the fundamentals of his profile are much stronger. He needs to make some significant adjustments, and he doesn't have Ortiz's bat speed, either, but he can drive the ball a bit and has made much better swing decisions than Ortiz has. His own intercept point is dangerously close to being too deep, but he has a much steeper swing than Ortiz's, and if he wants to create more space to catch the ball out front, he has a simple means of doing so: get deeper in the batter's box. As ugly as the batting average is (and despite the lack of an extra-base hit by either player), there's no question that Hamilton is a better hitter than Ortiz, right now. The question, instead, is whether the Brewers will ever feel comfortable eschewing Ortiz's defensive brilliance in favor of the upside Hamilton provides in the batter's box. That question is complicated, and its answer might simply be 'no'. Pat Murphy and the Brewers coaching staff trust Ortiz at shortstop to a unique degree. They like everything about the way he plays the position, including the ways he's improved since coming to the club. He's sure-handed and smart, in addition to having a quick first step and plus range. He makes all the plays a team can ask a shortstop to make, and he never seems to make a glaring mistake. Hamilton is more spectacular, but less consistent. He has better range than Ortiz, and perhaps a stronger arm. He's creative, and his ceiling at the position might be higher. However, there are occasions on which he speeds up too much in the effort to make a play, leading to bobbles or outright drops of playable grounders. Rushing that way can also lead to bad throws, which are compound errors: they nearly always give a runner an extra base. With the game on the line, the Brewers absolutely (and rightly) trust Ortiz more than they trust Hamilton at short, even though the latter is a better athlete and can make a wider array of plays. So far this year, the magnitude of Ortiz's brokenness at bat has led to Hamilton getting six of the 21 starts at shortstop, but for that raio to flip—for the lefty-batting Hamilton to take on the majority of the playing time at the position—one of a few things will have to change. More stability from third baseman Luis Rengifo would nudge things in that direction; it would mean the team needs Hamilton at third base less. More of Hamilton's offensive skills translating to results would create more momentum for a change, too. Most of all, though, the team needs to see Hamilton make the routine play routinely, even in non-routine moments. If his steadiness with the glove catches up to Ortiz's, he'll become the starting shortstop immediately (if briefly; Cooper Pratt, Jesus Made and more are on the way). For now, though, Ortiz remains a part of the team's daily plans, despite his utter inability to muster any offense. Hamilton needs things to break his way, but he also has a chance to make his own breaks, by slowing down ever so slightly in the field. View the full article

The early-season hole they’ve dug for themselves got deeper for the Royals on Sunday. After New York weather delayed the day's first pitch for nearly three hours, the Royals quietly bowed 7-0 to the Yankees in a dispiriting, lackluster effort that completed a winless six-game road trip, extended their losing streak to seven, and left them in sole possession of last place in the American League Central. Even the lowly White Sox have been better than this club, which is now tied with the Mets for the worst record in the majors. This is not the strong contender for postseason play so many expected it to be. Sunday’s loss sank the Royals eight games below .500, a depth they hadn’t reached since 2023 when they lost 106 times. Little has gone right for the 2026 club, and its problems run deeper than the outfield bats, which have become the usual culprits for extended dry spells. What, then, lies ahead? A lot, especially with 140 games left before the regular season ends and the playoffs begin. Even so, and some reasons for hope notwithstanding, KC’s miserable 7-15 start suggests it may be time for even the most optimistic fans to recalibrate their expectations. The Royals Are Not the Team Fans Want Them to Be Kansas City was allegedly an improved team when spring training began. But expectations may have been too high, and prognosticators too kind. After all, the front office failed for the second straight winter to land the big new bat it’s so sorely needed, settling instead for Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas. Collins’ first full big league season performance with Milwaukee last year — he homered nine times, drove in 54 RBI, and posted a .368 OBP and .263 average in 130 games — made him attractive, and Thomas’ 28-homer, 86-RBI 2023 effort with Washington gave Kansas City hope. But Collins and Thomas haven’t given the offense enough … or anything close to it. Together they’re 17-for-91 (.186) with a homer and five RBI. The Royals also didn’t fix second base. Instead of cutting disappointing Jonathan India loose, they re-signed him for $8 million only to see him fail to deliver at the plate; his .167/.310/.313 line through Sunday speaks volumes. Michael Massey also isn’t hitting (.174/.208/.261), and he’s been spending some time in left field as manager Matt Quatraro continues to hunt for someone to stake a strong claim to that position. And what big bats the Royals do have are floundering. Vinnie Pasquantino’s .157/.234/.265 line is terrible, and he didn’t hit his first homer until Thursday. Salvador Perez has three homers, good for second on the club behind Carter Jensen’s five, but going 0-for-4 Sunday dropped his average to .152, and whispered speculation about possible age-related decline has grown louder. Although he boasts a .362 OBP, Bobby Witt Jr. hasn’t been himself — he still hasn’t homered and is batting a certainly serviceable, but un-Witt-like .280. Maikel Garcia’s fast start has cooled (he’s 2 for his last 20), and he finished Sunday hitting .256, which may not bode well for him continuing in the leadoff spot to which Quatraro restored him to begin the season. As a team, and at the close of Sunday’s loss, the Royals were averaging 3.2 runs per game. They ranked last in the majors in runs scored (71), 28th in SLG (.362) and OPS (.356), and 27th in average (.218) and OBP (.310). The Royals’ Rotation Has Struggled Recently That Kansas City’s problems now run deeper than its offense has become painfully apparent. Even starting pitching, by far the club’s greatest strength, is starting to find the going rough. Noah Cameron gifted the Yankees three home runs in one inning Saturday, Detroit tagged Kris Bubic Friday for five charged runs in 4.2 innings Friday, and the Yanks battered Cole Ragans for seven runs in 4.1 frames Sunday. Fortunately, though, the starters’ body of early work has been decent — collectively, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Cameron, Ragans, and Bubic had the majors' 10th best ERA (3.66) and 11th best OAA (.219) when Sunday’s game ended. The Royals’ Bullpen is a Mess The bullpen’s ineptitude rivals that of the offense. KC relievers have blown four saves, their horrific 6.18 ERA is the big leagues’ worst, and they’ve been tagged with an unacceptable seven of Kansas City’s 15 losses. Yes, star Carlos Estevéz’s injury hurts, but the fact that he’s pitched only once means the bullpen must bear much of the blame for the club’s poor start and continuing struggles. Is it Time to Rethink the 2026 Royals? Yes. No big league team is or can be perfect, but Kansas City’s imperfections are glaring. Perhaps general manager J.J. Picollo found the offseason price of a new big bat too high and settled for less than he wanted and his club needed. Perhaps Perez is running out of gas. Maybe some of the club’s talent is overrated, and was from the start. Improvement is needed. And sooner, not later; the club can’t wait for the midsummer trade deadline. But the history of this typically conservative franchise suggests no new, truly impactful major league hitter will arrive this season, and hoping the rotation and bullpen pick up the slack all season is too much to ask. Although it’s still early, this club is in trouble. View the full article

The early weeks of the minor-league season are often about shaking off rust and adjusting to new levels, but a trio of Twins arms are already in midseason form. From Triple-A St. Paul to Low-A Fort Myers, Minnesota’s pitching pipeline is flashing both upside and results. This week’s hot sheet highlights three standout performances that underscore just how deep this system has become on the mound. LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul Saints) How He Got Here: Prielipp entered the season as the Twins' top pitching prospect, and he has done everything possible to build off a tremendous 2025 campaign. Finally healthy after years of elbow issues and multiple surgeries dating back to his college days, Prielipp captured Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors and climbed to Triple-A by season’s end. Minnesota handled him with care, limiting him to 82 2/3 innings, but that total still exceeded his combined workload from 2020 through 2024. Hitting the Hot Button: Prielipp wasted no time setting the tone in his start last week. He retired the first five hitters he faced before allowing a two-out single in the second inning. That minor blemish did little to slow him down as he quickly induced a ground ball to end the frame. The third inning was where everything clicked. Prielipp struck out the side on just 12 pitches, overpowering hitters with efficiency and command. His only real mistake came in the fourth inning, when he surrendered a leadoff home run, briefly trimming the Saints' lead. Outside of that swing, he was dominant. Prielipp worked five innings, allowing just one run on four hits while walking one and striking out a career-high eight. It looked every bit like a pitcher knocking on the door of the big leagues—and the door is open to him, as he joins the parent club on their road trip this week on the taxi squad. LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul Saints) How He Got Here: Rojas arrived in the organization as part of the deal that sent Louis Varland to the Toronto Blue Jays. At the time, Twins officials viewed him as an underrated arm with the potential to crack top-100 prospect lists. That optimism took a hit after a rough introduction to Triple-A, where he allowed 25 runs in 27 1/3 innings. Injuries have also played a role, limiting him to just 280 innings across five professional seasons since he signed out of Cuba. Hitting the Hot Button: Rojas followed Prielipp in the start mentioned above, as he continues to build back up after opening the year on the injured list. His fastball showed life immediately, punching out the first batter he faced. He scattered a couple of singles across the sixth and seventh innings, but otherwise kept hitters off balance. The only moment of trouble came in the eighth, when he allowed a single and a walk with two outs, but he responded by striking out the next hitter to escape the jam. Rojas finished with 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out two. More importantly, he looked healthy and in control, which is exactly what the Twins need from him at this stage. He was in a perfect position to take over the roster spot (briefly) vacated by Kody Funderburk going on the paternity list, and will probably get at least a look in the bullpen during the team's series against the Mets. RHP Riley Quick (Fort Myers Mighty Mussels) How He Got Here: Quick’s path to pro ball has been about patience and recovery. After returning from Tommy John surgery at the University of Alabama, he posted a 3.92 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 62 innings. The Twins selected him with the 36th overall pick in the 2025 draft and signed him for $2.69 million. Rather than rushing him, Minnesota opted to hold him back until 2026 to carefully manage his workload. Hitting the Hot Button: Quick is already rewarding that patience. In his second professional start, he tossed three hitless innings while striking out five hitters on just 48 pitches. Through his first two outings, Quick has yet to allow a hit across five innings, while racking up 10 strikeouts. The raw stuff that made him a first-round pick is showing up immediately, and the early results suggest he could move quickly if he continues to throw strikes and maintain his health. He won't be in the lower levels of the minors for long. This week’s hot sheet is a reminder that Minnesota’s pitching pipeline is more than just potential. Prielipp and Rojas could make their big-league debuts this week, and Quick is flashing the upside that made him a high draft pick. If this is what the early season looks like, the Twins may soon face a different kind of challenge: figuring out how to fit all of this pitching talent into their long-term plans. What stood out about these prospects over the last week? What other prospects are you keeping an eye on? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

The New York Mets are 7-15 as of the week of April 20, good for a .318 winning percentage. That’s the worst record in the league, tied with the Kansas City Royals. To think that they were 7-4 on April 7 and have lost 11 games in a row is particularly painful for fans. New York is already eight games out of first place in the NL East, and we haven’t even played one month of baseball. It’s truly baffling how difficult it has been for this team to win ball games in the last couple of weeks. The Mets have been in a total free fall since then. There’s no other way around it: this has been a brutal stretch, one that could potentially prove costly in late September. You can’t win a division or secure a postseason spot in March and April, but you can certainly lose them. Losing Juan Soto Hurt, But The Mets' Offensive Issues Don’t End There What exactly has happened? Well, many things, as you probably can expect. Since April 8, the day on which the 11-game losing streak started, they have had the worst offense in the league with a horrific 51 wRC+. In contrast, the best unit, the Atlanta Braves, is sporting a 138 mark. It’s hard to consistently win games when the entire offense is so incompetent. This is where the loss of Juan Soto to a calf injury hurts a lot. People were prematurely celebrating the fact that the Mets were 4-0 since the superstar’s injury, but now that the sample is bigger, they are 4-11, and the losses keep coming. Carson Benge is sporting a 31 wRC+ throughout the full season to this point, the same as Brett Baty. Two newcomers, Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco, both have a 54 mark. Marcus Semien is at 76, and Mark Vientos came crashing back down to earth after a hot start and is now at 71. Only four players with regular or semi-regular playing time have been above-average offensively, and two of them are injured: Francisco Alvarez (152 wRC+), Luis Robert Jr. (118), Soto (160), and Jared Young (137), who recently suffered a meniscus tear. Yes, the Mets have faced some particularly difficult pitchers, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. Since April 8, they rank 28th out of 30 teams with seven home runs, but that’s not even the most concerning part. They are next-to-last in walk percentage with a ghastly 4.7-percent mark. You may win some games without hitting home runs, but you at least have to get people on base failing that. The (not so) Amazins are doing neither right now. Mets' Pitching Has Been Subpar If you thought the pitching outlook over the course of the streak would be better, think again. Since that fateful April 8, the Mets have the second-highest ERA in the league at 5.70. Only the Houston Astros have a worse mark. Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes have been rock-solid as starters, but the rest of the rotation has fallen short of expectations. The Mets’ main problem has been Kodai Senga and his 8.83 ERA for the season. Basically, Senga was excellent in his first two starts and horrible in the last two, so it might be just a blip. It’s worth noting that his average fastball and sinker velocity has been fluctuating a bit, and that might have something to do with his recent struggles. Since the Mets’ skid started, their bullpen boasts a 6.05 ERA, the fourth-worst in the major leagues. Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, the new faces and anchors of the unit, have been inconsistent in recent outings. The Mets have been fairly average in defensive stats across the board during their stunning collapse, but other factors have come into play, such as bad managerial decisions, baserunning gaffes, and mounting pressure. Is There Hope For The Mets? Soto is expected to return during the upcoming homestand, which is excellent news. The Mets, however, need to get their offense going beyond their superstar. Some of these struggling hitters could be on the verge of enjoying better outcomes, such as Bichette (.245 wOBA vs. .313 xwOBA) and Francisco Lindor (.279 vs. .323), but others, such as Benge, Vientos, and Baty, might need a serious overhaul in their mechanics and/or plate approach. Likewise, the Mets’ pitching minds and available talent suggest things should be better moving forward, but the Senga situation should be closely monitored with so many viable rotation options waiting in the wings in Triple-A. This is a team with enough talent to overcome most of its recent issues, and there’s also a strong farm system that could offer short-term solutions and ammunition for potential trades. Some roster construction decisions, however, are starting to be questioned, such as the infield corners and the lack of better and more reliable outfield depth. The Mets aren’t as bad as their 7-15 record indicates. But when you lose 11 straight games at any point, there are going to be serious doubts about your ability to contend for the World Series title as currently constructed. View the full article

Not much was known about 28-year old Ryan Watson when he was acquired by the Boston Red Sox back in December in a complicate process in which he was selected and then promptly traded by the Athletics in the Rule 5 Draft. Then again, the same could be said about Garrett Whitlock after he was taken from the Yankees' minor league system in 2021, and Justin Slaten when he was acquired from the Mets via trade in 2024. It was the continued success of those two however, that gave fans some hope that the Red Sox could once again strike gold via the Rule 5 Draft, something most teams don’t usually hit on once let alone potentially three times. On paper, Watson profiled as an arm that checked a lot of boxes the Red Sox have gravitated towards in their recent reliever acquisitions. Pitching for Sacramento, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, the 6-5 righty with great extension and a five-pitch mix owned a 4.26 ERA and 3.73 FIP across 50.2 innings while amassing 11.37 K/9 (28.1 K%) and 2.84 BB/9 (7.0 BB%) ratios. Those who follow FanGraphs will know that while those walk numbers put him into the average (2.9 BB/9, 7.7 BB%) to above-average (2.5 BB/9, 6.5 BB%) tier, his strikeout numbers graded out as excellent. It was those numbers one would think that made Watson a standout target for Breslow and ones he’d hoped Watson would carry over in his opportunity with Boston. Now ten appearances into his big-league career, and the owner of a 8.10 ERA and 7.38 FIP, it would appear the only thing Watson has carried over (outside of continuing to throw the kitchen sink at hitters), is his borderline elite ability to get downhill. His 7.2 feet of extension is good for the 95th percentile across MLB. After that, not much else has gone right; he’s not attacking hitters nearly enough to consistently be successful, and when he is, they’re lighting him up. Watson finds himself in just the second percentile in K% (10.5%) and 27th percentile in BB% (12.3%), both far cries from what made him such an appealing option to the Red Sox in the first place. Add in a league-average 25.3 Whiff% (48th percentile), a lack of chase on really any of the pitches in his repertoire (23.1%, 11th percentile), and the fact that he’s getting barreled up at a pretty frequent pace (16.3 Barrel%, 7th percentile) and 44.2% HardHit% (31st percentile), and you have a pitcher who is flirting with danger pretty much every time he steps out on the mound. Those choosing to come to Watson’s defense may argue that it is far too early to write him off after just 13.1 innings in the majors. Instead, time must be given to him like it was expected to be given to Whitlock and Slaten, who, similarly to Watson, were looked at as multi-inning arms out of the bullpen in their rookie campaigns. That argument falls apart rather quickly though when you look back and realize just how soon both were able to shed that label and become legitimate weapons and important pieces to Boston’s bullpens during those seasons. The 2021 campaign saw Whitlock dominate right out of the gate on route to becoming one of the most trusted relievers the Red Sox have had to this date. In his first ten outings, he accumulated a 1.77 ERA and 2.97 FIP over 20.1 innings pitched with a strong 9.30 K/9 (27 K%) and 1.33 BB/9 (4 BB%). If there was a spot where Whitlock struggled similarly to Watson, it was in his HardHit%, which came in at 46%, though the former was far better at keeping away from danger, holding opponents to a measly .227 average against. Fans will remember Slaten’s 2024 debut as the spot where he was tasked with coming into the 10th inning of a 3-3 game on Opening Day in Seattle and being asked to get out of a first-and-third, zero-outs jam with Mariners star Julio Rodriguez at the plate. As we all know that matchup went to Rodriguez, who walked off Slaten and the Sox, ruining the start to his big-league career. Following that, he absolutely dominated in his next 10 outings, pitching to a tune of an 1.40 ERA and 2.07 FIP in 17.1 innings with a 7.27 K/9 (23 K%) and similarly to Whitlock, outstanding 1.04 BB/9 (3 BB%). Contrary to what Watson has done so far, Slaten was also able to stay away from opponents' barrels, with a HardHit% of just 37% and opponents average of .140. While it is a totally fair case to make for giving rookies time to adjust to the top level, Watson, who is older and therefore should arguably be more polished, has not done a whole lot to instill any confidence in continuing to send him out there. Especially when he hasn’t been able to do the main thing that garnered him praise from Alex Cora in spring training when he was fighting for a roster spot: pound the strike zone. What may also be damning for Watson — outside of another rough outing yesterday where he entered the ninth with a five-run lead and ended up giving way to Aroldis Chapman to secure what became an 8-6 Boston victory — is the fact that the organization has not been shy at bringing up reinforcements so far this season. We’ve already seen the debuts of Tyler Uberstine, Tyler Samaniego, and Jack Anderson. With the likes of Payton Tolle (three starts, 3.00 ERA, 15.0 IP), Jake Bennett (four starts, 0.55 ERA, 16.1 IP), Seth Martinez (six appearances, 2.51 ERA, 14.1 IP), Devin Sweet (seven appearances, 3.86 ERA, 11.2 IP) and Tayron Guerrero (seven appearances, 1.42 ERA, 6.1 IP) all off to strong starts in Worcester, it’s beginning to feel like Watson may need to go on his Whitlock/Slaten-type run sooner rather than later if he wants to continue Boston’s trend of Rule 5 Draft Pick supremacy. Otherwise, he may wind up with a one-way ticket back to Sacramento. View the full article

MIAMI, Fla. — Otto Lopez quickly impressed people in his first season with the Miami Marlins in 2024. The former waiver claim ended his rookie campaign with a .270 batting average, 20 stolen bases, and elite defense at second base. Offensively, Lopez's main assets were his contact ability and speed. The Dominican native boosted his home run total the following year, from six to 15. Lopez made even more contact and lowered his ground ball rate, yet his overall slugging percentage actually went down. Early in his age-27 season, it's all seemingly coming together. Lopez has found a home in the heart of the Marlins lineup—and near the top of some prestigious leaderboards. Now playing shortstop, Lopez is quantifiably hitting the ball harder than he ever has. Entering Tuesday, his hard-hit rate of 53.6% puts him above the 90th percentile of MLB hitters. Contrast that with the previous two seasons, when he ranked below average. The only qualified shortstop who edges him out in that category is Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles (53.8%). His barrel rate—defined by Baseball Savant as the percentage of balls put into play with a perfect combination of exit velocity and launch angle—is also a career-high of 13.0%. This has culminated in a team-best 10 extra-base hits, the latest being a go-ahead RBI double in Monday's Marlins win. From a physical standpoint, Lopez credits hitting coaches Pedro Guerrero and Chris Hess with helping him engage his lower body more than his upper. He’s also been toying with “The Stack” this year, which is a bat-like tool with added weights that help improve swings, specifically by increasing bat speed. Lopez’s average bat speed is slightly higher than it was last year (72.1 miles per hour compared to 71.7 in 2025). Marlins manager Clayton McCullough says Lopez’s newfound power production is not just a byproduct of how he’s swinging, but what he’s swinging at. His pitch selection is allowing him to capitalize on the pitches he can inflict the most damage on, as opposed to just putting a ball in play. “There's less empty at-bats,” McCullough said. “There's less early-count chase. There's been less early-count soft contact. I think he just looks very hitterish right now.” Perhaps most impressive has been Lopez’s ability to add power without sacrificing his contact ability. His 16.3% strikeout rate and 19.5% whiff rate are both roughly on par with his typical career marks. “I think he has just given himself more of a chance to do this with consistency and regularity because the (pitches) that he's firing at give him the best chance to do that,” McCullough said. Getting balls up, out, over the plate, getting them elevated, or pitches that he can drive.” misisx.mp4 If Lopez were to maintain his .554 slugging percentage throughout 2026, it would be the 11th-highest single-season mark in Marlins history. The only shortstop who has ever topped that for this franchise was Hanley Ramírez in 2007 (.562 SLG), on his way to placing 10th in National League MVP voting. “He's a physically strong guy,” McCullough said of the 5’10”, 185-pound shortstop. “Maybe it doesn't appear that way. It's a really compact body. He's strong. He's got strong hands. There's speed in his bat. So I think it's not, to me, that completely shocking, that we're seeing some of this.” View the full article

This piece was written prior to the Blue Jays game on Monday, April 20. The thing about run differential is that it paints a pretty clear picture of whether a team is good or not. You can hide a shaky bullpen for a week. You can ride a hot bat for a series. You can even be convinced that a few one-run losses are just bad luck and that the baseball gods will eventually even the score. But run differential provides a general overview of where a team sits. And right now, that truth isn't pretty for the Toronto Blue Jays. Entering their game on Monday, the Jays sit at -26, which places them 27th in Major League Baseball. Only the White Sox (-31), Royals (-32) and Phillies (-42) are worse. That is not the company the Jays expected to keep this season. Not after the front office spent the winter talking about stability and internal growth. Not after the rotation was reinforced and the lineup was supposed to take a step forward. Yet here we are with the Jays sitting at the bottom of the AL East in run differential. The AL East has always been a division that punishes weakness. It is the most unforgiving environment in baseball and rarely allows a team to fake its way into contention. Even in seasons when the standings look tight, the underlying performance usually reveals who is built for the long haul. That is why run differential matters so much. It is not just a measure of how many runs you score versus how many you allow. It is a measure of how competitive you are against the best. And the Jays have not been competitive enough. The Yankees sit near the top of the league with a +28. They are the only team in the division with a positive mark. The Orioles are one decisive win away from breaking even. The Rays are winning games despite a negative run differential (-11), while the Red Sox (-13) have a similar overall record to the Jays. The Jays have already lost games in just about every way possible over the first few weeks of the season. There have been games in which the offense disappeared for innings at a time. There have been games where the starters weren't great. There have been games where the rotation looked strong but received no support. And then there were the games against teams like the White Sox, who swept the Jays despite having one of the worst run differentials in the league themselves. That sweep showed that the Jays are not imposing their will on weaker opponents. Manager John Schneider and hitting coach Dave Popkins have acknowledged that Jays hitters are not “hunting” right now. Instead, they are reacting. Falling behind in counts and/or not extending at-bats to shift the advantage. The strange thing is that the Jays are not alone in their run differential challenges this season. Across the league, run differential is painting a picture that does not always match the standings. In the National League Central, all five teams sit within two games of one another in the standings. Yet, the first-place Reds have a -3 run differential, and the Cardinals, tied for second, have a -10 run differential. The Cubs, Pirates, and Brewers all have positive run differentials in the double digits. It is a division in which the numbers and the results are not aligned. It is a division that feels like it is waiting for someone to take control. Then there are the Braves, who are crushing everyone with a +62 differential. Atlanta is the only team in baseball that looks like it is playing a different sport. The Braves score in bunches. They pitch with authority. The Alex Anthopoulos team is a model of what a contender looks like. They are the reminder that run differential is not just a statistic. It is a statement. Elsewhere in the National League East, the Marlins sit at +1. They are all but the definition of average. They are not dominating anyone, but they are not being dominated either. They are floating in the middle of the pack, waiting for someone to define their season for them. So what does all of this mean for the Jays? It means that they are not just struggling. We all know their injury situation, but the run differential tale suggests deeper issues. Teams with strong differentials tend to make the playoffs. Teams with weak differentials tend to fade. There are exceptions, but they are rare. The Jays are not just losing games. They are losing them by margins that suggest they might not be competitive enough to survive the grind of the season. The Jays have been here before. They have had seasons where the talent looked good on paper, but the results never matched. They have had seasons where the offense looked dangerous but never delivered in big moments. They have had seasons where the pitching looked strong, but the bullpen could not hold leads. This season feels like a combination of all of those frustrations. It feels like a team that is stuck between what it wants to be and what it actually is. The Jays are not a bad team, they are a flawed one. They are a team that has enough talent to compete but not enough consistency to dominate. They are a team that can beat anyone on a good day but can lose to anyone on a bad day. The question is whether the Jays will listen. The front office has always believed in this roster. They have always believed that the core is strong enough to win. The numbers are telling a different story. Clearly, the team is in need of more offense. They need more bullpen stability, and, above all else, they need to find some urgency. The rest of the AL East isn’t waiting to see what happens with the Jays. The Jays cannot afford to remain in the division’s basement. They need to start winning games by margins that reflect their talent. That means more games like Sunday's win against the Diamondbacks. All the pieces, including the injured ones, are there. They have the rotation. They have the core hitters. They have the experience. Consistency comes through discipline. Quick innings in the field and extended innings at the plate. You won’t score eight runs in the first inning every game, but you can force the opponent’s pitcher to throw 20 or 30 pitches in each of the first two or three innings. Analyzing run differential at this point in the season is more of a warning than a destiny. The Jays are simply not where they need to be. There is still lots of time to turn things around. Soon, if not right away, they need to start treating every game like it matters. The warm glow of last season’s success has nearly disappeared. In 2025, the Jays finished the season with a run differential of +77. Yankees were +164, the Red Sox +110, the Rays +31 and the Orioles -111. The Guardians won the AL Central division with a run differential of -6, while the Dodgers’ +142 was eclipsed by the Brewers, who wrapped up 2025 at +172. What does that all tell us? Balanced teams tend to win. Shocking? No, but when teams can turn a negative into a positive, good things can happen. The question for the Jays is whether they will. View the full article

For the Florida Marlins in 1996, Gary Sheffield set a single-season home run record that would last for more than two decades. One of his more heroic blasts from that memorable season came on this day 30 years ago. Down by four runs through five and a half innings and by three at the seventh-inning stretch, Sheffield’s three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh capped a four-run inning as the Marlins rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers to complete the three-game series sweep, 5-4. Through four innings at Joe Robbie Stadium on April 21, 1996, things were scoreless. Todd Hollandsworth, the eventual National League Rookie of the Year and later a 2003 World Series champion with the Marlins, singled in the first run in the top of the fifth off Florida ace Kevin Brown. An inning later, Eric Karros unloaded off Brown with a three-run homer to turn a one-run lead for Los Angeles into a 4-0 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, the Marlins were able to get on the board, thanks to three straight RBI singles from Sheffield, Jeff Conine and Terry Pendleton. In the bottom of the seventh, Florida got its first cracks at the Los Angeles bullpen. After six strong innings from starter Pedro Astacio, manager Tommy Lasorda turned to Antonio Osuna. Charles Johnson was able to single off Osuna to start the Florida seventh, but the right-hander responded by getting Kurt Abbott to fly out before striking out Andre Dawson. Quilvio Veras followed with a single to bring the tying run to the plate, and just like that, Osuna’s night was over. Lefty Scott Radinsky was tasked with facing Joe Orsulak, and for the most part, he did his job, getting Orsulak to roll one to first. Radinsky ran over to cover, but Karros’ throw was off target, allowing a run to score. As Sheffield came to the plate, Lasorda went back to the bullpen and righty Darren Hall. Hall gave up five runs in the eighth in the series opener. Against Sheffield, he fared no better. On a 2-1 pitch, Sheffield was able to line one over the wall in center field for the go-ahead three-run home run. What had been a 4-0 deficit just an inning prior had become a 5-4 Marlins lead. David Weathers and Yorkis Pérez combined to strand a runner in scoring position in the eighth. Pérez and Terry Mathews combined to retire the Dodgers in order in the ninth. Although the contest was scoreless through four innings, it did have some fireworks early on. After Astacio hit Greg Colbrunn in the helmet with a pitch in the second, Brown threw behind the Dodgers pitcher with two outs in the top of the third, causing benches to clear. No ejections were made. The victory served as the second comeback win of the series and completed the three-game sweep for the Marlins. The Dodgers outhit Florida 10-6, but two of the Marlins’ hits, including the biggest one of the night, belonged to Sheffield. It came on this day three decades ago. View the full article

MIAMI, FL — Max Meyer has been perhaps the most consistent Miami Marlins starting pitcher this season. On Monday night against a St. Louis Cardinals team that is off to a hot start, he turned in his best start so far in a 5-3 win for the Marlins. Meyer struck out a season-high eight in 5 ⅓ innings of work. He allowed two runs on three hits and walked two. "It was really his whole mix," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "Certainly the slider goes into games, and even though the sweeper, the velocity at which he's able to throw those pitches kind of gets different movement on it. Some get a harder, more straight down; the sweeper has a little more horizontal. I thought his changeup was really good, especially in the middle innings, to be able to go to that pitch as well, even right-on-right to give him a different look. He used his fastball well today." In addition to the strikeouts, Meyer also fielded three grounders, singlehandedly recording 11 outs on a night when he faced 23 total batters. His 63.6% ground ball rate was another season-high and the fifth-highest of his career. Meyer is most known for his slider, but his sweeper had the higher usage against St. Louis (32%) and was responsible for eight of his 17 whiffs. It's a weapon he has been developing since 2025. "One of my biggest pitches now. Grades out the best, I'm pretty sure," Meyer said regarding the sweeper. "I'm glad I can locate it with two strikes and get strikes with it, go back door with it, throw it in 3-2 counts and 0-0 counts. I'm just comfortable with the grip and the movement on it, and it's going to be a big pitch for me the whole season." Now through five starts, Meyer has a 3.96 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 10.08 K/9 and 3.96 BB/9. Prior to this season, his career averages were a 5.29 ERA, 5.20 FIP, 8.46 K/9 and 2.89 BB/9. "I've made some good starts every time, giving the team a chance to win," Meyer said regarding his season as a whole. "Every time I go out there, obviously, I think it's just a couple things every game that make me mad personally, but I can never be mad when I leave the game with the team in a good spot, so that always keeps me going in the next day.." Agustín Ramírez's defensive woes continued with Meyer on the mound. In the top of the fourth inning, after Jordan Walker extended his hit streak to 15 games, he stole second base uncontested because Ramírez dropped the ball on the transfer. Walker then advanced to third on a blockable wild pitch. That allowed Masyn Winn to hit a sac fly and give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The second run charged to Meyer was also aided by Ramírez. In the top of the sixth inning, Calvin Faucher inherited a runner on first base, who moved to third following a Masyn Winn single. Once again, a ball deflected off of Ramírez's glove for what was ruled a wild pitch, allowing the runner to score and tie the game. Miami's offense didn't get things going until the bottom of the fourth when unconventional cleanup hitter Xavier Edwards hit his fifth double of the season. Although Ramírez may have struggled behind the plate, he did make it up by hitting his second home run of the season off of Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy. The ball left the bat at 111.8 mph and went 411 feet to left-center field. The launch angle on Ramirez's home run was 17 degrees, the lowest for any MLB home run this season. In the bottom of the sixth, the Marlins retook the lead for good. Otto Lopez had an RBI double and Liam Hicks collected an RBI single. Hicks provided some insurance for Miami with another RBI single in the eighth. Not only is he tied for the MLB lead with 21 RBI this season, but his 6.3% strikeout rate is the second-lowest mark behind former Marlin Luis Arraez. The Marlins are well-represented in the National League batting title race. Edwards (.341 BA), Hicks (.338 BA) and Lopez (.337 BA) trail only Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages (.367 BA midway through Monday's Dodgers game). Pete Fairbanks, who notched his fourth save of the season, allowed one run, a sac fly from Ramón Urías. He struck out Thomas Saggese and José Fermín to end the game. Unable to win any of their previous five series, the Marlins have an opportunity to end that streak on Tuesday night with Chris Paddack on the mound at 6:40 pm. View the full article

Following his strong start on Monday, Marlins right-hander Max Meyer speaks with the media about his comfort level with his sweeper and how he'd evaluate his 2026 season thus far. View the full article

The Chicago Cubs might not have their closer, Daniel Palencia, and an army of useful relievers at the moment, but don’t fret: Caleb Thielbar is here. Nobody in the Cubs’ bullpen can replace Palencia’s sheer power and upside, but Thielbar has certainly given fans some peace of mind with his performances out of the bullpen in 2025 and 2026. The Ageless Wonder Signed to a one-year deal on Dec. 31, 2024, after a down year with the Minnesota Twins, the superannuated left-hander is reminding us all that age is just a number. Ever since donning the Cubs uniform, he's done nothing but succeed. Last year, the southpaw posted a 2.64 ERA in 58 innings, with a 3.00 FIP and 1.1 fWAR, his highest output since putting up 1.6 fWAR in 2022. This year, it's been more of the same, from a pitcher whom baseball has tried to get rid of multiple times, and who turned 39 in January. In eight frames this season, Thielbar has a solid 2.25 ERA and a 3.50 FIP with 11 strikeouts. Since the start of the 2025 campaign, the lefty’s 2.59 ERA ranks 29th among 126 relievers with a minimum of 60 innings pitched. This weekend, Thielbar notched a save on Saturday and a win on Sunday against the Mets. Evidently, the manager completely trusts him in late-inning situations, and that’s the whole point with high-leverage relievers. Skippers want arms they can trust with games on the line, and he is very much one of them. Thielbar came to Chicago with just four career saves, but he had one last year, has one this year, and could easily collect another 10 or more before Palencia is back. Since landing in Chicago, Thielbar has taken his game up a notch. Before his 5.32 ERA season in 2024, the number ranged between 3.23 and 3.49 from 2021 to 2023. Now, his ERA starts with a 2, and he's throwing harder than ever, with a 93.6 mph average fastball velocity. In fact, he throws about 4 MPH harder now than he did when he first broke into the majors in his 20s, well over a decade ago. An Elite Fastball Leads The Way The pitch earns a very solid 23.4%whiff rate, and has been Thielbar’s bread and butter. It's averaging a whopping 20.2 inches of induced vertical break (IVB), the fifth-best mark among MLB pitchers this year, and yielding an elite .160 xwOBA. It’s no wonder he's increased its usage to 52.4% this year, because hitters just can’t touch it. While it’s true that Thielbar uses his four-seamer more often than any other pitch, he also has whiff rates of at least 25% with each of his additional offerings: curveball (25%), sweeper (28.6%), and slider (33.3%). Remember, the guy is 39 years old—or, forget it. Maybe that's the healthier approach. If a pitcher 10 years his junior were doing what Thielbar has done for most of the last half-decade, with this kind of stuff and the trend arrows pointing in the right direction, you'd have no compunction about letting him take on a relief ace role. The Cubs have to be ecstatic with his recent performance, as they have an elite reliever on a salary that better fits a spare part. Thielbar is proof that players can successfully extend their careers with discipline, work ethic, and an understanding of the science of pitching. It’s fair to wonder where the Cubs’ bullpen, which ranks 21st in baseball with a 0.0 fWAR, would be without Thielbar. He offers solutions to his manager, who knows he is death to lefty hitters but can also get right-handers out if needed. Over the next few weeks, he's likely to be the team's go-to guy, though he really is 39, so the team will use him a bit more judiciously than they might use a younger pitcher with the same stuff. After all, in baseball, no one's actually immortal. View the full article

When Gary Sanchez made his fifth start behind the plate Sunday for the Milwaukee Brewers, it was another opportunity to take advantage of a new strength to his game. Making an automated ball-strike challenge. But the game against the Miami Marlins was the second game with Sanchez did not challenge a pitch from his catching position. Too bad. Sanchez is pretty good at it. Sanchez also didn't challenge an umpire's ball call for one of the Crew's pitchers in his first start at catcher this year. In between, the slugger who has never been known for his defense has gone 4-1 in challenges. That could be because Sanchez has always had a pretty good eye as a hitter. He entered this season with a 9.1% walk rate in his first 11 MLB seasons, jumping up to a spectacular 23.2% this year. The MLB average is 8.4%. Sanchez hasn't been as successful as a challenger when he is hitting, going 5-5. His 10 challenges as a hitter are the most in MLB entering Monday's action. But now he gets to put that skill to use as a catcher. There are two metrics that show that Sanchez's ability to challenge has been right on, while also saying that he hasn't challenged enough. They both have to deal with what Statcast calls reasonable challenges. A reasonable challenge is defined as an incorrect call when the pitch is within 3 inches of the edge of the strike zone and an overturn would gain 0.3 runs and the pitch carries an expected challenge rate of at least 20%. The first is rating the challenges by a catcher. As you will see, all five have been classified as reasonable. Sanchez has a 100% reasonable challenge rate. The only miss he had as a catcher was a curveball that missed by half an inch. The second is the number of reasonable opportunities taken to ask for a challenge. That is where Sanchez has been a bit shy, taking only 19% of the reasonable chances. Some of that could be a credit to the Brewers' pitchers always being on the edges of the strike zone. The other part might be when Sanchez has been told by the coaching staff and the analytics team when he should challenge. Maybe Sanchez develops more confidence in challenging as the season goes along and more data is there to show how good he is at this. Among catchers, Edgar Quero of the Chicago White has the most challenges at 30 and Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals the most successful challenges at 16. Sanchez's running mate, William Contreras, ranks second in both categories at 26 challenges and 15 overturns. To be fair to the umpires in five calls Sanchez has challenged as a catcher, they were all borderline calls and it is easy to see why they might have called a ball. The most egregious call, which wasn't that egregious, was half a ball inside the bottom of the zone. Here is a look at Sanchez's five challenges while catching: First: April 4 at Royals (Game 2) Situation: 0-0 count to Carter Jensen, two outs, bottom fourth, nobody on, game tied 2-2. Sanchez failed to catch a 98.2 mph sinker from Brandon Sproat. Challenge result: Successful. Ball clipped the bottom middle of the zone, making the count 0-1. SANCHEZ_ABS_1.mp4 Second: April 4 at Royals (Game 2) Situation: 0-1 count to Vinnie Pasquantino, two outs, bottom eighth, nobody on, Brewers lead 8-2. DL Hall threw an 84.5 mph slider. Challenge result: Successful. Ball caught the low-outside corner of the zone, making the count 0-2. SANCHEZ_ABS_2.mp4 Third: April 8 at Red Sox Situation: 2-1 count to Roman Anthony, no outs, bottom third, runners on first and second, game tied 0-0. Shane Drohan threw a 93.7 mph four-seamer. Challenge result: Successful. Ball hit the lower outside portion of the zone, making the count 2-2. SANCHEZ_ABS_3.mp4 Fourth: April 8 at Red Sox Situation: 2-1 count to Willson Contreras, one out, bottom third, bases loaded, game tied 0-0. Drohan threw a 77.1 mph curveball. Challenge result: Failed. Ball was just off the lower-outside corner, keeping the count 3-1. SANCHEZ_ABS_4.mp4 Fifth: April 15 vs. Blue Jays Situation: 1-0 count to Lenyn Sosa, two outs, bottom seventh, runners on first and second, Blue Jays lead 1-0. Hall threw a 85.4 mph changeup. Challenge result: Successful. Ball clipped the inside corner at the top of the zone, making the count 1-1. SANCHEZ_ABS_5.mp4 All of this shows that when Contreras needs a day off behind the plate, Sanchez provides value as a catcher. None of his challenges have flipped a walk to a strikeout yet, but that is sure to come. All but one of his challenges have helped swing a count to a more favorable situation for whoever is on the mound for the Brewers. As a hitter, Sanchez has been more aggressive than any hitter in the game with 10 challenges. His five successful challenges are in a five-way tie for the most in MLB, while his five unsuccessful challenges are in a two-with tie with Atlanta's Ronald Acuna Jr. for the most. Only one of Sanchez's hitter challenges has flipped a strikeout and extended an at-bat. Acuna ranks second with eight challenges. Taking those same metrics from above regarding reasonable challenges and applying it to Sanchez the hitter, 60% of his challenges have been reasonable, while he has only taken 50% of the reasonable opportunities to tap his helmet. The question really is: Why does Sanchez feel twice as aggressive when hitting than when catching? Perhaps because it is only his plate appearance at stake as opposed to a pitcher's rhythm. But even that momentary delay would give whoever is pitching a quick breather, something generally unavailable in the pitch-clock era. View the full article

There’s a triumvirate of top-100 hitting prospects playing at CHS Field this spring, on one of Minor League Baseball’s most offensively loaded teams. Naturally, Twins fans are wondering who will debut first. In the early going, Emmanuel Rodriguez has been the most productive and looks the most ready. What’s fueled his incandescent April? A change in approach and setup at the plate. We’ll start with his setup at the plate. Rodríguez has closed his batting stance this year. Slight camera angle differences aside, notice the difference in his setup in the first image (2025) and the second image (2026). What are the potential benefits here? Several, but I want to focus on two; being more closed can help with coverage on the outside part of the plate. Additionally, it can support better hip rotation and directionality with his swing. Both benefits seem to be playing out for Rodríguez through the first month of the season. The outside portion of the plate (down and away) has been a weak spot for Rodríguez, throughout his professional career. Since he hits the ball so dang hard, we’ll use quality of contact as a proxy for his ability to do damage. In 2025, Rodríguez averaged 84.4 mph on batted balls in that quadrant of the zone, good for a .353 slugging percentage. In 2026, it’s 94.3 mph, resulting in a 1.000 slugging percentage at the time of writing. In order to examine the second contention, we need to revisit 2025. Rodríguez had a weird year. He played 52 games at Triple-A, and managed a 134 wRC+ despite only rocking a .166 ISO. For context here, a .140 ISO is around league average. Rodríguez, who will always strike out at an above-average rate, has a power-reliant offensive profile, so sitting at such a low mark was discouraging. He simply wasn’t launching the baseball in 2025. He carried a 51.6% ground-ball rate. Below, you can see his launch angles by zone from last year. Insert sad trombone. The newly closed stance has ameliorated that issue in 2026. While it’s only 16 games, his ground-ball rate is just 31.6%, which has allowed him to tap into a .263 ISO. Peep the launch angles by zone in 2026. That’s looking much more productive. If you want more evidence, he recently hit the hardest ball in St. Paul Saints history (117.1 mph), and he leads all Triple-A players ages 23 and under in EV90, at 110.8 mph. Those numbers probably won’t hold, but they're both markers of top-of-the-scale power. In short, this is the potential 30-home run bat Twins fans have been dreaming of. We should also discuss some changes Rodríguez has made in his approach at the plate. Describing his plate discipline binary pithily as ‘patience or passivity’ has become a staple of our analysis of Rodríguez since he became a notable prospect. Through the first month of the season, he’s made some swing decision tweaks that might finally help put that phrase to bed. In his 52-game 2025 Triple-A sample, Rodríguez swung at 38.1% of pitches. That's as low as anyone goes in MLB. Only Taylor Ward and Juan Soto swung less often in the majors last year. That’s not necessarily a problem, in and of itself, but it’s easy for that lack of aggression to quickly become an impediment. How would this play out disadvantageously? Hypotheticaly, Rodríguez would be waiting for his perfect pitch and quickly get into 0-2 or 1-2 counts. Without elite bat-to-ball skills in his back pocket, he’s in challenging counts too often to be consistently productive. What’s different in 2026? In short, he’s swinging more. His overall swing percentage is up from 37.7% to 44.4%. That's a level at which he's defending the strike zone much more robustly. Rodríguez is swinging at pitches in the zone around 10% more in the early going in 2026. While that has resulted in a higher chase percentage (17.3% in 2025; 23.9% in 2026), this is a trade worth making, because it was such an absurdly low mark to begin with. If Rodríguez carries his current increased chase rate into the majors, it’d still be a top-15 mark in the league. What’s the headline here? Rodríguez is chasing more, but the prize is more of that incredible bat speed directed at hittable pitches earlier in counts. You can see this represented below, with his average exit velocities represented by count. In 2026, we see a greater swath of red earlier in counts. You miss 100% of the swings you don’t take, I guess. How does Rodríguez force himself into the Twins lineup, and at whose expense? That’s a fun discussion, but one for another day. What’s clear is that early in 2026, he’s making the adjustments needed for his specific skillset to thrive in the majors—not just in Triple-A. View the full article

The Kansas City Royals' struggling offense has lost a struggling bat. Second baseman Jonathan India was put on the 10-day injured list Monday due to a left shoulder subluxation. Infielder-outfielder Nick Loftin was called up from Triple-A Omaha. India has not been in the starting lineup since Thursday's 10-9 road loss to the Detroit Tigers. He did come off the bench and had two at-bats Friday vs. the New York Yankees and came in defensively in Saturday's blowout loss. India did not play Sunday. The Royals entered Monday with the third-worst OPS at .635 and are dead last in MLB at 3.23 runs per game. India has helped contribute to that with his .167/.310/.313 slash line with two homers and eight RBIs in 17 of the Royals' 22 games. Loftin made the Opening Day roster, but was optioned to Omaha on April 6. He appeared in four games, two at second base, one at third base and the other in left, going 2-for-9 (.222/.364/.333) with two walks and three runs scored. At Omaha, he had a .303/.385/.455 slash line in nine games. View the full article

Red Sox Affiliate Overview (April 17 - April 19) Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Series at Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers): 1-5 Season Record: 11-9 Double-A Portland Sea Dogs Series at Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates): 4-2 Season Record: 8-6 High-A Greenville Drive Series vs. Bowling Green Hot Rods: 3-3 Season Record: 6-9 Low-A Salem RidgeYaks Series at Hickory Crawdads (Texas Rangers): 1-5 Season Record: 8-7 Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Season Record: 11-9 Series Opponent: Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers) Series Standing: 1-5 April 17: It was a busy Friday for Worcester as they lost both games of a doubleheader 4-2. Thursday’s game was suspended in the fourth inning due to rain, and picked up on Friday with the score 0-0. Prior to the suspension, Jake Bennett worked through three innings and only gave up three hits. He lowered his ERA to 0.55 in his fourth game of the season, a stellar start for the lefty. Seth Martinez lasted two and ⅔ innings to resume play on Friday. He gave up one run on two hits and three walks before turning the ball over to Devin Sweet. Sweet went another two innings, giving up two runs, two walks, and one hit and earning the loss on the day. With a save opportunity on the line, Tayron Guerrero gave up another run on three hits as the Sounds pulled ahead. At the plate, the WooSox didn’t take long to find their groove after the suspension of play. Vinny Capra singled to drive in Tsung-Che Cheng and give Worcester the one-run advantage. Then, four innings later in the top of the eighth, Kristian Campbell drove in Nate Eaton on a line-drive single to tack on another run for the WooSox. It was a slow afternoon at the plate for the WooSox as they only generated six hits and lost 4-2. For attendees of Friday’s games, the second game was like seeing double. The WooSox again fell 4-2 on seven hits this time. Isaac Coffey took the mound to start for Worcester, turning in three innings of quality work. He allowed four runners via two walks and two hits, but struck out four as well. He maintained his 0.00 ERA amid a fantastic stretch to start the season. Tyler Samaniego took the mound next, but wasn’t nearly as good as Coffey. In just one inning he gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. Samaniego is working his way back to the majors after making his debut earlier this month. Tommy Kahnle took over in the fifth and couldn’t rebound from Samaniego's outing. In two innings he gave up two runs on one hit. It’s been a less than ideal start for the veteran as he also tries to crack the big league roster. At the plate, the WooSox continued their performance from the day’s first game. Allan Castro drove in Nate Eaton on a first inning single to take a 1-0 lead. There was some excitement in the second when Braiden Ward was hit in the head with a pitch. He threw his bat in the direction of the mound and the benches cleared. The frustrations are understandable for Ward, who’s been hit eight times already this year. In the sixth, down 2-1, Capra tacked on his second RBI of the day on a sac fly to drive in Campbell. That was all the offense for the WooSox, who again fell 4-2. April 18: Worcester dropped their fifth straight game in a low-scoring affair. It was a bullpen game for the WooSox, who had Reidis Sena start the game. Sena went two innings and struck out four. He allowed one run on a solo home run in the first inning, and only allowed two baserunners otherwise. Noah Song got the nod next, and allowed two hits over two and ⅔ innings. He struck out five as he continued to build his case to be called up. Wyatt Olds pitched the next two and ⅓. He walked two and gave up one run on a sac fly. He got the loss despite striking out four. Kyle Keller pitched the final inning of the game and gave up one hit but no runs. The WooSox’s bats were all but silent at the plate. Only five players recorded a hit and they struck out a combined 11 times. It was an uncharacteristic series for Worcester who have seriously struggled to generate offense. On Saturday, the WooSox only run came from a Matt Thaiss single that scored Allan Castro. Mickey Gasper stood out, drawing two walks and going 1-2 with a double. It was a quiet showing from the WooSox as they fell without protest. April 19: The WooSox got back in the win column with a 4-2 victory. Payton Tolle was scratched from his start just hours before Saturday’s game, with Michael Sansone getting the start in his absence. Sansone was excellent, putting in six innings of shutout work, striking out five, and only giving up two hits. It was Sansone’s longest outing of the year, and the first since his call up from Double-A Portland. Jacob Webb pitched two innings in relief, earning the hold. He gave up two more hits, and allowed the only two runs of the afternoon for Worcester in the bottom of the ninth. Tayron Guerrero came in looking to close out the game for the WooSox, and did just that, earning the save as he rebounded from his rough outing on Friday. The WooSox looked better at the plate as well. Nate Eaton highlighted the afternoon for Worcester with a brilliant game. He went 3-5, crushing a solo homer in the fifth, and driving in Mikey Romero on an eighth inning single. Nick Sogard also knocked in his tenth RBI on a single in the fifth, scoring Tsung-Che Cheng. Cheng tacked on the fourth run of the day for Worcester with a sac-fly in the eighth to drive in Mickey Gasper. Cheng had two hits and a walk, building on a good start to the season. Double-A Portland Sea Dogs Season Record: 8-6 Series Opponent: Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates) Series Standing: 4-2 April 17: The Sea Dogs fell 5-2 on Friday, giving the Curve their first win of the season. Dalton Rogers started things off for Portland, going four and ⅓ solid innings in his second appearance of the season. He gave up two runs on two hits and struck out two. The issue of the day for Rogers came in the walk column. He allowed five baserunners via walk as he struggled with his command. Jay Allmer came in next and his outing was nothing short of disastrous. In his first appearance since being called up from High-A Greenville, he allowed three runs on six baserunners in just one and ⅔ innings. Max Carlson rounded things out for Portland, pitching a dominant two innings without allowing a baserunner. Franklin Arias has been utterly outstanding thus far this season. The Red Sox top position prospect continued his campaign to be called up to Triple-A Worcester with yet another solid performance on Friday. In the third inning Arias absolutely crushed a 440ft home run to dead center, his third of the season as he bumps his batting average to an astonishing .538. It seems like the 20-year-old won’t be in Portland much longer if he keeps up his dominant form. Other than Arias, the Sea Dogs offense was spurred on by Ronald Rosario, who hit his first homer of the season in the fourth inning to give Portland a 2-1 lead. Rosario also drove in a second RBI on a single to right field that drove in Miguel Bleis. Other than Arias and Rosario, the Sea Dogs offense was mostly silent as they fell to the lowly Curve. April 18: The Sea Dogs fell to the Curve again on Saturday, this time by a score of 2-0. Despite getting the loss on the scoresheet, John Holobetz was excellent as he got the start. The 23-year-old turned in seven innings of one-hit ball, and punched out 11 of the 23 batters he faced. The lone run, however, was a solo home run. The righty has a 1.13 ERA through 16 innings of work so far this season. Jedixson Paez pitched one inning in relief, but gave up another solo home run. Paez was selected by the Chicago White Sox in last season’s Rule 5 draft, but was designated for assignment and returned to the Red Sox on April 4. He will look to bounce back from a rough early season with Chicago back in a familiar organization. Portland struggled to generate offense at the plate. Despite a collective seven hits, the Sea Dogs failed to drive in a run. Nelly Taylor was the lone bright spot, hitting two singles as he tried to rebound from a rough early season. Portland’s offensive struggles were evident, especially as Franklin Arias went 0-4 in one of his worst games of the season. April 19: Portland snapped a two-game skid, beating Altoona 5-3. Hayden Mullins got the start for the Sea Dogs, going six innings three-hit ball while striking out eight. It was a strong return to form for Mullins who struggled in his first two starts, lowering his ERA from 9.53 to 4.63. Patrick Halligan came in for the seventh, allowing all three of Altoona’s runs on a three-run shot. Halligan’s season has been a mixed bag to say the least, he’s amassed an 8.64 ERA over eight innings. Cooper Adams came in with two innings left, and shut down any comeback attempt. He went two hitless innings, only allowing two walks as he closed the game for Portland. All of the Sea Dogs' five runs came in a high-scoring fourth inning. Miguel Bleis got the offense going with an RBI single that was deflected by the third baseman, scoring Marvin Alcantara. Ronald Rosario kept it going, driving in Nate Baez on a single and adding onto the lead. Bleis then scored on a wild pitch as Rosario advanced to third. Will Turner stepped up to the plate, driving in Rosario on a sac-fly. Then, to cap off the inning, Max Ferguson hit an RBI single to score Tyler McDonough. Despite the silent bats the rest of the afternoon, it was a much better effort all around compared to earlier in the weekend. High-A Greenville Drive Season Record: 6-9 Series Opponent: Bowling Green Hot Rods Series Standing: 3-3 April 17: The Drive prevailed 8-7 in a walk-off win against Bowling Green. Friday marked Kyson Witherspoon’s third professional start, and it was a rough one. His career hasn’t gotten off to the start he would have liked, but there’s still plenty of time for the young prospect to settle in. Over four and ⅓ innings on Friday, Witherspoon gave up three runs on five hits, allowing two runners by way of walks. He struck out three, but was unsuccessful in lowering his ERA, which rose to 6.17. Ben Hansen came in in relief, pitching three and ⅓ innings while allowing two runs. He gave up two hits but didn’t allow any walks, striking out four. Matt McShane made his first appearance of the season coming off the injured list. It was a so-so return, he went one and ⅓ innings and allowed two runs on one hit, accounting for a blown save. P.J. Labriola took the bump in extra innings and earned the win with one shutout inning, allowing just one baserunner on a walk. It was Labriola’s second consecutive scoreless outing as he continues to rebound well from a rough start to the season. The Drive were excellent at the dish, amassing ten hits and eight runs. Natanael Yuten hit his first homer of the season in the second, driving in Adonys Guzman. The sixth was eventful for the Drive. Freili Encarnacion hit his second of the season in the sixth to lessen the deficit to 5-3. Then, Guzman scored again on a passed ball to cut the lead to one. Up to the plate next was Hudson White, who tripled to drive in Yuten and Yophery Rodriguez. Just one batter later, Yoeilin Cespedes singled to center to drive in White to give the Drive a two run lead. With the game tied 7-7 in the bottom of the tenth, Guzman stepped up to bat and hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field, driving in Isaiah Jackson and capping off the comeback win for the Drive. April 18: The Drive won 4-0 behind great outings from Anthony Eyanson and Devin Futrell. Anthony Eyanson has been living up to the hype to say the least. The Louisiana State alum shoved over five shutout innings. He struck out five and only allowed two runners on two hits. He lowered his ERA to 0.73 as he continued his stellar start to his professional career. Devin Futrell gave up just one hit and one walk, striking out three in his first High-A appearance after being called up from Low-A Salem. The two combined for nine shutout innings, putting the Drive in prime position. At the plate, Greenville took advantage of the strong pitching. Justin Gonzales accounted for two hits and one run, while Yoeilin Cespedes went 2-4 with an RBI single. The one-two punch of Gonzales and Cespedes has been excellent for the Drive as the pair makes up a solid portion of the offense. Jack Winnay had the first RBI of the day for the Drive, driving in Cespedes on an RBI double in the sixth. Later in the inning, Winnay scored on a wild pitch, giving the Drive a 2-0 lead. Additionally, Yophery Rodriguez has stood out recently, and hit an RBI double in the sixth to cap off a three-run inning. April 19: The Drive won their third game in a row to split the series. Marcus Phillips started the game for Greenville and turned in a solid outing. The righty went three and ⅔ innings, only giving up two hits and striking out half of the fourteen batters he faced. Austin Ehrlicher got the next inning and ⅓, putting together a rough outing. He walked three, giving up three runs on two hits, the only runs Bowling Green would score all afternoon. Calvin Bickerstaff put together a solid three and ⅓ innings behind Ehrlicher. Bickerstaff gave up three hits and two walks, but didn’t allow a run, earning the win for Saturday. P.J. Labriola got the nod for the last ⅔ innings of the game, striking out one and earning the save after sealing the win for Greenville. Justin Gonzales continued his strong season, going 2-5 with two RBIs on a single in the second inning and giving the Drive a 2-0 lead. In the eighth, Antonio Anderson drove in Jack Winnay with a sac-fly, and Natanael Yuten drove in Isaiah Jackson on an RBI single to give the Drive a one-run advantage. Mason White also had a strong showing, he went 2-4 with a run. The Drive combined for seven hits, but offensive struggles persist. Not one hitter has an average higher than .300, and five are hitting well below .200. However, Saturday was a positive sign for the Drive who will look to build on their momentum at Asheville this week. Low-A Salem RidgeYaks Season Record: 8-7 Series Opponent: Hickory Crawdads (Texas Rangers) Series Standing: 1-5 April 17: Salem lost 7-5 as it had a hard time on the mound. Madison Frias’ tough start to the season continued in his third start of the season. Through four innings he allowed four runs (one unearned) on four hits and two home-runs. He walked three and struck out three as his ERA ballooned to 10.00. Ethan Walker came in relief, throwing three and ⅔ innings of three run ball. He gave up two hits and only allowed one earned run, but his four walks were an eyesore on the scoresheet. He earned the loss, but despite that his ERA remains an impressive 1.69. Wuilliams Rodriguez sealed the game with ⅓ inning of easy work. The RidgeYaks got off to a hot start on Friday. Starlyn Nunez launched his first homer of the season in the top of the first, and just an inning later Avinson Pinto hit his first, driving in two and extending the lead to three. In the third, Andrews Opata hit a two-run double to left field to give Salem a 5-0 advantage. However, that was all the offense the RidgeYaks could generate as they allowed five unanswered runs and took the loss. April 18: After starting the season 7-2, the RidgeYaks dropped their fifth straight and fell to .500. Jose Bello, the only remaining piece of the Rafael Devers return, made his second appearance of the season. He gave up two hits and one run off of an inside-the-park home run in the second inning before getting pulled after one and ⅔ innings. Christian Foutch put in three solid innings of relief, giving up two runs on two hits, but striking out six. Adam Bates earned the hold in his two and ⅓ innings of work. He allowed four runs on four hits and allowed two runners via walks. Harry Blum had the opportunity to earn a save, but instead went home with a blown save. In just an inning he gave up six runs (one unearned) on five hits and three walks. Overall it was a night to forget for Salem’s pitching staff, who collapsed towards the end of the game. At the plate, the RidgeYaks tried valiantly to make up for the poor pitching performance, but fell short. Enddy Azocar has been strong as of late, and this trend continued. He went 3-5 with four RBIs while launching two homers. Stanley Tucker was also excellent, going 3-4 with two runs and a triple. Frederik Jimenez went 2-4 and drove in one run on a soft line drive to center field. The bulk of Salem’s offense came in the early stages of the game, and they were mostly silent from the sixth on, allowing Hickory to seal the game. April 19: Salem snapped a five-game losing streak, snatching the series finale 4-2. Barrett Morgan made his second start of the season, turning in two and ⅔ innings of one-hit ball and striking out two. He maintained his season ERA of 0.00. Nicolas De La Cruz earned the win for his one and ⅓ innings of work, allowing two hits and a walk, and striking out one. He’s been excellent in four appearances this season, allowing no runs and just two hits through a combined five innings of work. Dalvinson Reyes kept up the good work in his first appearance of the season for Salem. He threw three innings and allowed just two baserunners via walks. He struck out three and earned the hold in his first game for Salem after being called up from the FCL Red Sox. Wuilliams Rodriguez threw the final two innings, and was the only pitcher to allow a run. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk, but prevented a comeback as he closed out the game. D’Angelo Ortiz got the offense started, driving in Avinson Pinto on a groundout in the fifth to put the RidgeYaks up 1-0. Later in the inning, Stanley Tucker scored on a wild pitch to add onto the lead. Ortiz went 2-4 as he continued to be one of Salem’s hottest hitters. In the seventh, Starlyn Nunez tripled to right, driving in both Tucker and Ortiz to tack on two more runs. Luke Heyman went 2-4 as he tried to shake off a rough start, and Pinto went 2-4 as well. Andrews Opata, who leads the team in average, went 1-4 with a single. Salem avoided the sweep, and kept itself above .500 with the win. View the full article

San Diego Padres Weekly Snapshot Record last week: 5-1 Runs scored last week: 22 Runs allowed last week: 19 Standings Scores Game 17 (Tuesday): Padres 4, Mariners 1 Game 18 (Wednesday): Padres 7, Mariners 6 Game 19 (Thursday): Padres 5, Mariners 2 Game 20 (Friday): Angels 8, Padres 0 Game 21 (Saturday): Padres 4, Angels 1 Game 22 (Sunday): Padres 2, Angels 1 Series Breakdown/Highlights Mariners series Game 1: Following a day off and after receiving the bad news before the game that Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta was going on the injured list, the Mariners came to town for the season opener of the Vedder Cup. And right-handed starter Michael King was certainly rocking, even if he didn't hit all the notes correctly. King allowed one run over six innings as the Padres won their sixth straight, beating the Mariners 4-1. King allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five, but his control was off as only 49 of his 85 pitches were strikes. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, the Padres took control of the game. Ramon Laureano had a one-out triple and scored on a single by Fernando Tatis Jr. Xander Bogaerts snapped the 1-1 tie with a two-run single to center, the second of his three hits. Jackson Merrill also had three hits and scored twice, including doubling and scoring an insurance run on Bogaerts' final hit in the eighth inning. That set the stage for closer Mason Miller, who struck out one of the three batters he faced for his fifth save in as many chances. Miller has struck out 20 of the 27 batters he has faced this season while extending his scoreless streak to 29⅔ innings, third-longest in team history and one-third of an inning shy of tying the late Randy Jones for second place. Game 2: If you left the stadium or turned to a different channel early, sorry. You missed a terrific comeback by the Friars, who extended their winning streak to seven games. For the third time in six games, the Padres won in walk-off fashion, with Merrill's double down the left-field line scoring Laureano and Luis Campusano with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to finish off a five-run rally for a 7-6 victory. It was the third career walk-off hit for Merrill, who was already going to be a star of the game. That was because of his third-inning home run robbery of a drive by Mariners superstar Julio Rodriguez in the left-center field cap. Merrill's theft denied J-Rod of a two-run homer and kept the Padres' deficit at 2-0. Merrill called it the best catch of his young career. Still, the Padres did trail 6-0 in the fifth inning before starting their comeback. Bogaerts got things started with his third homer of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth inning that was his third in his last seven games. For Bogaerts, it was his 200th career homer. That was the lone damage off Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock, who good for six innings. Mariners closer Anthony Munoz, a former Friar, came on in a non-save situation in the ninth and couldn't finish the job. There were plenty of good trips to the plate in the ninth and it started with Manny Machado drawing a seven-pitch walk. Tatis had a pinch-hit sacrifice fly, Campusano with another big hit in the form of an RBI single and Laureano's own run-scoring single to pull the Padres within 6-5. That chased Munoz in favor of Jose Ferrer, who inherited runners on first and second with two outs. Ferrer got the count to 2-2 on Merrill, who then laced a double down the left-field line that Randy Arozarena bobbled, allowing Campusano to score from second and Laureano from first without a play. The only two dings on the Padres were Randy Vasquez's first bad start of the season. The right-hander gave up four runs on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts in four innings. Also, catcher Freddy Fermin left the game in the top of the third inning after taking another foul ball off the mask. Game 3: How about an undefeated homestand? Tatis capped a four-run second inning with a two-run single as the Padres won their eighth straight, a 5-2 win over the Mariners. That gave the Friars a three-game sweep of the Mariners and a 7-0 record on this homestand before heading to Anaheim. The Friars' first homestand of the season resulted in a 2-4 mark. The eight wins in a row are the most by a team this young season. Right-hander Walker Buehler earned his first win as a Padre, pitching into the sixth inning and Miller surpassed Jones for the second-longest scoreless streak in franchise history at 30⅔. Only Cla Meredith has a longer run at 33⅔ innings. Miller is 6-for-6 in save opportunities after striking out the side, giving him a spectacular 23 K's in 30 batters faced this season. He has allowed just one hit. The Friars put up all the offense they would need in the second inning against right-hander Luis Castillo. Gavin Sheets doubled with one out, took third on Miguel Andujar's single and scored on Campusano's single to left. Cronenworth's comebacker led to a throwing error by Castillo to load the bases and Laureano grounded to first to plate Andujar. Still looking for a big moment this year, Tatis lined a single to center to drive in two more runs and stake Buehler to a 4-0 lead. Buehler took a two-hit shutout into the sixth inning, but yielded singles to the first three hitters to load the bases, ending his night. Right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez came in and gave up a two-run single to Julio Rodriguez. A groundout and a walk reloaded the bases and manager Craig Stammen had the quick hook, turning to Morejon to again escape a jam. A strikeout and a groundout did the trick, preserving the 4-2 lead. Jason Adam allowed one hit in the eighth and Miller slammed the door in the ninth. Angels series Game 1: Every winning streak must come to an end, but there might have been some other forces at work as the Friars' eight-game winning streak was halted. On a day the Angels announced the death of former outfielder Garret Anderson at the age of 53, Los Angeles sent the starting pitcher off to the best beginning of the season to the mound. It added up to an 8-0 loss for the Padres. Right-hander Jose Soriano allowed just two hits in 5⅔ shutout innings, striking out eight, walking four and lowering his ERA to a microscopic 0.28 after five starts. The Angels jumped on Padres right-hander Matt Waldron, making his season debut as Pivetta's rotation replacement, for six runs in 3⅔ innings. Waldron allowed eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts. The Padres managed just three hits off four Angels pitchers in being shut out for the first time this season. The only real threat by the Friars came in the sixth inning as, with two outs, Machado singled and Bogaerts walked, ending Soriano's day. Sheets flew out to the warning track in right on the first pitch from right-hander Chase Silseth to end the threat. Game 2: A terrific start by German Marquez and another dose of late offense got the Padres back in the win column. Marquez pitched 5⅔ shutout innings, while Laureano and Tatis drove in all the runs in the eighth and ninth innings as the Friars won 4-1. It was their 12th win in 14 games and came a day after their eight-game winning streak was halted. The story early was Marquez, who allowed two hits and two walks while striking out five. It was his second scoreless outing in his last three starts. He was backed by Merrill's third homer-robbing catch of the season, this time in the right-center gap in the second inning on a drive by Yoan Moncada. The Padres likewise were held in check by left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, which left the game 0-0 entering the eighth inning. Fermin, back in the lineup after sitting out two games after taking a foul ball of the mask, and Cronenworth drew leadoff walks. Laureano grounded a single up the middle to score Fermin from second and extend hit hitting streak to seven games. Tatis, shaking off an early slump despite plenty of hard-hit balls, dribbled a grounder to the right side of the infield that barely trickled onto the outfield grass to bring in Cronenworth from third. After mustering two hits in the first seven innings, the Angels got three hits in the eighth off Adam, making it 2-1. In the ninth, Bryce Johnson, who came on as a pinch-runner earlier, singled in his first at-bat, then Fermin and Cronenworth walked again to load the bases. Laureano's sacrifice fly to center made it 3-1 and Tatis made it a three-run cushion on a line drive to right-center. That brought in Miller, who was tagged for just his second hit of the season by Moncada. After a strikeout, Miller issued his second walk of the season before retiring the final two batters. That was the first time an opponent had multiple runners on vs. the closer, who earned his seventh save. Miller's scoreless streak is now at 31⅔ innings, two shy of Meredith's club record. Game 3: Sustainable winning means getting contributions from every part of the roster. Johnson hasn't had a lot of playing time this season, but he made sure to chip in when given the chance. Johnson's opposite-field single in the top of the seventh helped the Friars to a 2-1 win in the series finale. It was the Padres' 13th win in 15 games. Johnson's hit drove in Bogaerts from second for a 2-0 lead. Bogaerts had singled home Tatis in the fourth for the first run of the game. That was enough for King to work with. The right-hander allowed just one hit and struck out six in five innings, although he did walk four. In the bottom of the seventh, facing left-hander Kyle Hart, Oswald Peraza got the Angels' second and only other hit with a leadoff double. A hit by pitch and sacrifice bunt forced a move to Bradgley Rodriguez, who gave up RBI grounder to make it 2-1. That left it up to Miller to finish another one off. The closer struck out two of the three batters he faced for his eighth save. That also boosted his scoreless streak to 31 games and 32⅔ innings, one inning shy of Meredith's club record. The Friars have two days off in the coming week, one due to the travel day to Mexico City for the two-game series vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks. Marvelous Mason Miller Some of the amazing stats for the Padres' closer: In 11 games this season, Miller is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, allowing two hits and two walks with 27 strikeouts in 11⅓ innings. Opponents are hitting .056 and he has a 0.35 WHIP. Has struck out 27 of the 38 batters he has faced (71.1% strikeout rate). Struck out the side in Thursday's game, increasing his strikeout rate over his last nine appearances to 78.1%. It is the third time Miller has struck out 75% of the batters in a nine-game stretch in MLB history. He is the only pitcher in MLB history to accomplish that. Struck out all three batters faced in a game for the fifth time in his last seven appearances, two more times than any other pitcher in his team's first 19 games since at least 1900. Opponents are 0-for-25 with 21 strikeouts against Miller's slider this season, including 0-for-3 with two strikeouts Sunday. His slider has the highest whiff rate of any pitch by any pitcher this season at 77.8%. Random Stats Wednesday's five-run ninth inning resulted in the Padres' first win when trailing by four or more runs in the ninth since June 14, 2019, a game they beat the Colorado Rockies 16-12 in 12 innings. In that game, the Friars scored six runs in the ninth. The Padres had five consecutive games with 10 or more hits during their winning streak, the longest stretch in club history since a six-game run June 4-9, 2013. Since snapping his 0-for-35 stretch that dated to the 2024 season, Luis Campusano had an eight-game hitting streak that came to an end Friday. Five of his nine hits in that run were for extra bases. The Padres have faced opposing starting pitchers who have turned in quality starts in 10 of the Friars' first 18 games. Transactions Tuesday: Placed RHP Nick Pivetta on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Monday with right elbow inflammation. Tuesday: Recalled RHP Alek Jacob from Triple-A El Paso. Thursday: Activated IF Sung-Mun Song from the 10-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A El Paso. Friday: Activated RHP Matt Waldron from the 15-day injured list (hemorrhoid surgery). Friday: Optioned RHP Alek Jacob to Triple-A El Paso. Website Highlights Padres' sale reaching final steps for record $3.9 billion — Brandon Glick Feliciano ushers in LinkedIn-ification of the Padres — Brendan Dentino Who is to blame for Musgrove's setback, Padres, pitcher or no one? — Steve Drumwright Waldron can't replace Pivetta, but he can save his Padres career — Randy Holt Cronenworth might be playing his way onto Padres' bench — Andy Johnson Sheets' grip on Padres' first base job is loosening — Randy Holt Looking Ahead Monday: Off Tuesday: Padres (Randy Vasquez) at Rockies, 5:40 p.m. Wednesday: Padres (Walker Buehler) at Rockies, 5:40 p.m. Thursday: Padres (Matt Waldron) at Rockies, 12:10 p.m. Friday: Off Saturday: Padres (German Marquez) at Diamondbacks (Mexico City), 3:05 p.m. Sunday: Padres (Michael King) at Diamondbacks (Mexico City), 1:05 p.m. View the full article

New York Mets Record Last Week: 0-6 Runs Scored Last Week: 10 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 33 Standings: 5th in NL East 7.5 GB of 1st Place Transactions: 4/13 New York Mets selected the contract of LF Tommy Pham from St. Lucie Mets. 4/13 New York Mets optioned 3B Ronny Mauricio to Syracuse Mets. 4/14 New York Mets released RHP Luis García. 4/14 New York Mets placed RHP Joey Gerber on the 15-day injured list. Right finger blister. 4/14 New York Mets recalled RHP Austin Warren from Syracuse Mets. 4/15 New York Mets placed LF Jared Young on the 10-day injured list retroactive to April 13, 2026. Left meniscus tear. 4/15 New York Mets recalled LF MJ Melendez from Syracuse Mets. 4/16 New York Mets sent LHP A.J. Minter on a rehab assignment to Brooklyn Cyclones. 4/16 New York Mets traded LHP Richard Lovelady to Washington Nationals for cash. 4/18 New York Mets placed 2B Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list retroactive to April 15, 2026. Right wrist contusion. 4/18 New York Mets recalled C Hayden Senger from Syracuse Mets. Scores: Game 16 (4/13): NYM 0, LAD 4 Game 17 (4/14): NYM 1, LAD 3 Game 18 (4/15): NYM 2, LAD 8 Game 19 (4/17): NYM 4, CHC 12 Game 20 (4/18): NYM 2, CHC 4 Game 21 (4/19): NYM -, CHC - Series Breakdown/Highlights Dodgers Series: The Mets took their losing streak to Chavez Ravine to take on the defending world champion Dodgers. The losing streak was extended after the team was swept right out of LA. It wasn't ever really close. In game one, the Mets were shut out 4-0. David Peterson, who took the loss, was not as bad as he was in prior outings this season, though he was on the ropes early. The Mets' offense sputtered two singles against Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski across eight innings. They added one in the ninth against Tanner Scott, though that was erased on a double play. In game two, the Mets had a lead for a half inning after Fransisco Lindor lead the game off with a home run off Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Nolan McLean gave it right back on an RBI single from Will Smith. The two starters traded zeros until the bullpens came in. It took an eighth inning bloop RBI single by Kyle Tucker off Brooks Raley to break the 1-1 tie. Alex Vesia came in and struck out the side to earn the save. In the series finale, on Jackie Robinson Day, Clay Holmes and Shohei Ohtani duked it out on the mound. The Dodgers took a second-inning 2-0 lead on a Hyeseong Kim two-run home run. The Mets got a run back on a RBI ground-rule double by the hottest hitter in the lineup (MJ Melendez), but stranded runners in scoring position when they could have had a big inning. Devin Williams came in for the eighth inning, loaded the bases with no outs and gave up a back-breaking grand slam to Daulton Rushing to put the game out of reach. The Mets got swept, though they scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to avoid total embarrassment. Cubs Series: Kodai Senga got the start in game one of the series. He spotted the Cubs four runs in the top of the first inning. The bottom of the Mets' lineup did respond scoring three runs, but it was not enough. Senga would go on to allow four more runs and ended his day going 3.1 innings, allowing seven runs, six earned. Sean Manaea came in and was able to give the Mets bullpen four innings of work and gave up five runs. The Mets lost 12-4. In game two of the series, Freddy Peralta got the start. The Mets gave him an early 1-0 lead, though that was handed right back. After Peralta waked two batters with two outs in the sixth inning, Carlos Mendoza went to his not-so-trusty bullpen. Brooks Raley came in and gave up a back-breaking pinch-hit three run home run to Carson Kelly. The Mets scored a run in the eighth inning, but it wasn't enough as they fell to the Cubs 4-2. It was the finale where the Mets hit rock bottom. They got good pitching from Tobias Myers, who opened the game, David Peterson who came in for relief, and Huascar Brazoban and Brooks Raley out of the bullpen. Going into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Mets had a 1-0 lead and went to closer Devin Williams. The one run was a solo home run by MJ Melendez. Williams would blow the save in the ninth inning on an RBI double by Michael Conforto into the corner with one out. Williams would escape the inning, but a wild pitch and a sac fly in the bottom of the tenth against Craig Kimbrel gave the Cubs a walk-off sweep. The Mets are now on an 11-game losing streak, their longest since 2004. Website Highlights Brett Baty Is Swinging Wildly and Failing Miserably In the Process New York Mets 2026 Top Prospects Rankings: Nos. 16-20 New York Mets 2026 Top Prospects Rankings: Nos. 11-15 Looking Ahead April 20th: OFF April 21st (vs. MIN, 7:10pm EST): RHP Mick Abel (1-2, 3.98) vs. RHP Nolan McLean (1-1, 2.28) April 22nd (vs. MIN, 7:10pm EST): RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-3, 6.10) vs. RHP Clay Holmes (2-2, 1.96) April 23rd (vs. MIN, 7:10pm EST): RHP Joe Ryan (2-2, 3.29) vs. TBA April 24th (vs. COL, 7:10pm EST) April 25th (vs. COL, 4:10pm EST) April 26th (vs. COL, 1:40pm EST) View the full article