DiamondCentric

In the Brewers' first two games without an injured Christian Yelich, Pat Murphy has hit Sal Frelick in the leadoff spot. The change was partially due to a lineup shakeup in Yelich's absence—Brice Turang has moved from leadoff to the 3-hole—but it was also to spark a pressing Frelick's offense. The 25-year-old is hitting just .179/.303/.268 in 67 plate appearances to start the season. "I think what happens is a kid like him that wants it so badly, he gets going, and he's going to try and make it happen right now," Murphy said. "He doesn't look to have a perspective, in a way, of what's going on. That's why I put him leadoff [Tuesday night]." Frelick is much closer to last year's form than his results indicate. After overperforming his peripherals in his breakout season, it's been the opposite to begin his follow-up campaign. His expected production is essentially identical, mainly because he's chasing less and drawing more walks to begin 2026. {C}%3C!%2D%2Dtd%20%7Bborder%3A%201px%20solid%20%23cccccc%3B%7Dbr%20%7Bmso-data-placement%3Asame-cell%3B%7D%2D%2D%3E--> Season wRC+ DRC+ wOBA xwOBA Chase% xwOBAcon 2025 114 101 .332 .299 26.3% .305 2026 71 103 .276 .307 20.9% .290 His abnormally low batting average on balls in play (.209, down from .308 for his career before this) is destined to improve, especially for a hitter like Frelick, who hits plenty of grounders and line drives and can leg out infield hits with his speed. He did see some luck swing his way on Wednesday night as part of the Brewers' comeback win to snap their six-game losing streak. In the eighth inning, Frelick bounced a soft ground ball in front of the plate, where it landed on the dampened dirt from heavy rainfall leaking through American Family Field's roof. He reached when Toronto Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela could not pick up the ball cleanly, ultimately coming around to score the winning run. "He's had some unlucky things go wrong when he's hitting the ball well," starter Chad Patrick said after the game. "Sometimes the baseball gods give you rewards." It hasn't all been bad luck, though. Frelick isn't quite himself right now, in a small but meaningful way. His expected wOBA on contact is down 15 points, which means he's hitting fewer balls in ways that typically produce hits. Murphy believes "wanting it so badly" is the cause. "I think he's the first to try to do too much," Murphy said. "He cares so much. He's so passionate about competing and winning. One of the best I've been around. When it's not going your way, it's hard to be relaxed about it for a kid like him, and he's got to learn to just kind of do a little less, be a little more precise." The biggest difference has been that the baseball is getting on Frelick quicker than when he's been at his best. He's consistently late on the ball. On average, he's making contact about three inches deeper into his hitting zone (the purple dot in the graphic below) than last year (the white dot). Because he's late, Frelick is catching more balls as his bat head is still coming down through the zone, producing more ground balls. Compared to last year, his average attack angle (the vertical angle of the bat relative to the ground at point of contact) has decreased from 9° to 5°, and his ground ball rate has increased from 45.4% to 50.1%. It's not necessarily that Frelick is picking up the ball late, Murphy said, but that his load, which begins with a leg kick, has become exaggerated from trying to do too much. That makes it harder for his swing to be on time. "Think about it. The bigger the move, the bigger the get-ready, the less time you have," Murphy said. "So you have to usually time that up way earlier, if you're going to have a bigger move or a bigger get-ready. He's got some things he has to work through." The good news is that, metrically, Frelick's swing path is effectively the same as last year. As is typically the case for most hitters, the wide chasm between success and failure comes down to milliseconds of timing. "The swings don't change that much," Murphy said. "Even [Joey Ortiz], if he gets straightened out, the swing's going to look similar. It's the decision, and it's the timing of it all—because hitting is so much timing—that's going to change. You'll see that, like, 'Wow, he's on it. Wow, he's on time. Wow, he looks like a different hitter.' But when you break down the swing, it won't be that different. There might be a little angular shift, or there might be a little bit of grip difference. There might be a little bit of freedom in the swing that you don't see." He moved Frelick to the top of the order in part to bring him back to his roots. A leadoff man's job is not to produce power or drive in runners, but to get on base. "That little reminder, that's how he works," Murphy said. "When he's batting seventh sometimes, it's kind of, 'Do they want me to get on base?' It's kind of like, what does it call for? For him to know, you have to tell him." Because his quality of contact did not fully support his results last season, it's probably safer to expect Frelick to be closer to a league-average hitter than the well-above-average bat he was a year ago. Coupled with his speed and defense, that's still a very productive player. Murphy expects him to round into form. "One of the greatest attributes of this guy is he's a winning player," he said, "and winning players know what's needed." View the full article

Jameson Taillon is not off to the start the Chicago Cubs had envisioned. A free agent at the end of the year, Taillon’s importance to the team's playoff hopes greatly increased with the early season injuries to Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton, the latter of which is of the season-ending variety. Is it time for the Cubs to worry about Taillon? Entering the fourth and final year of the $68 million contract he originally signed, Taillon has been a steady presence in the rotation over the past two years after a below-average first season in Cubbie blue. Steady is important! Taillon has always been a strike thrower and he is throwing in front of a defense that has been excellent the last two years, a combination for success. The defense still looks to be a top unit, so what's changed in 2026 that's led to his 4.86 ERA and 6.28 FIP? On the surface, the answer is pretty glaring. He has given up a league-leading five home runs so far this season. You can’t rely on your defense if they don’t have a chance to make a play. While three of those home runs came against the Pirates with the wind blowing out, Statcast has him at 4.7 expected home runs, signaling that we can’t necessarily blame the conditions. So. what is behind this trend and can he reverse it? This answer here also seems to be pretty glaring: a fastball that is down almost 1 mph from last season. He is getting less whiffs on his fastball than he ever has and is sporting an alarming .722 slugging percentage against it, backed up by a .809 expected slugging. While he has slightly increased his velocity each start, history suggests that he is not generally a pitcher who eases into the season and gains more velocity as he goes. He has generally shown his top velocity early on, so expecting him to bridge the gap as the season progresses is a dubious proposition at best. If he can’t gain that velocity back, where does he go from here? Luckily, Taillon seems to understand the need to change the way he attacks hitters based on his diminished velocity, as evidenced in his pitch usage. Last year, Taillon primarily used three pitches against both right-handed and left-handed hitters. Against righties, he primarily used his sweeper (32%), four-seamer (31%), cutter (23%); against lefties he was all four-seamer (44%), curve (24%), change (20%). In 2026, he has the same three-pitch mix against right-handers, but he has altered the usage; he has thrown cutter (31%), sweeper (29%) and 4Seam (28%). Against lefties, he has expanded his pitch mix to include the cutter (23%). Clearly, he has intentionally been throwing a lot less four-seamers and a lot more cutters, especially to lefties. The cutter has been dominant so far in 2026, generating a .071 batting average and .286 slugging against. Throwing that in place of his primary heater is probably a good idea, so why are the results less than stellar? Well, right-handed hitters slashed .258/.281/.492 against him last year, while lefties slashed .191/.249/.361, thanks to a new look kick changeup that dominated them to the tune of .161 batting average and a .261 slugging percentage while being responsible for just one home run. The early returns this year on the changeup are much less impressive: a .400 batting average with a 1.000 slug against with two home runs against in just 37 pitches. What changed (forgive the pun)? It looks like a drop in vertical break may be the culprit. Getting that back to his 2025 standard would be a good proxy for additional velocity, if we're to assume he can't repair both at the same time. The book on Taillon has always been about limiting homers and finding a way to stifle lefties. He found the recipe to success down the stretch last year, and a return to to form would be a huge boon for a Cubs team currently ailing in the rotation. View the full article

An offseason trade that came out of nowhere this winter has not looked good on the New York Mets' behalf thus far. Back in November, the Mets and Rangers came together on a swap that sent Marcus Semien to New York while sending Brandon Nimmo and cash considerations back to Texas. Nimmo has been off to a great start with the Rangers, but Semien hasn’t really gotten things going yet offensively. Through 17 games this season, Semien is only batting .188/.243/.266 with .508 OPS and a 47 wRC+. In a one-week stretch from April 7-14, went 3-for-29. The only positive is that he only struck out three times in that stretch, but he didn't draw a single walk. We’ve seen Semien start to decline in production dating back to the 2024 season. He’s a career .253 hitter and usually is capable of hitting at least 20 home runs per season or more; he hit a career high 45 back in 2021 with the Toronto Blue Jays. Including this year, though, his OPS hasn’t surpassed .700 in three consecutive campaigns. What's Plaguing Marcus Semien At the Plate? Batted-Ball and Contact Quality Semien has been hitting a lot more balls in the air compared to previous years. He's only hitting 23.5% of his balls in play on the ground, a huge improvement over his career 36.8% rate. This is as result of him topping a lot less balls; on average, Semien tops 26.2% of his contact, but that number has fallen to 11.8% early in 2026. It's also interesting to note that when Semien's topped% was higher, it resulted in less weak contact, averaging 3.4% for his career. This year, when he’s cut his topped% by more than half, it’s led to him making weak contact at a 9.8% rate. That's by far his highest in the majors, and more than double than the MLB average mark of 4%. There is an advantage to this situation. Even though Semien is making way more weak contact, with him reducing his topped rate, it’s causing a rise in solid contact. He’s sitting at a 12.2% mark where he’s sat at 6.9% for his career. That may sound oxymoronic, but let's dig a bit deeper to understand. Since squared-up rate was introduced to Statcast back in 2023, Semien’s 35.0% squared-up rate is the highest it’s been since being introduced. This comes from him just making a lot of solid contact; not getting on top, but also not barreling the baseball as much. This also explains why his average exit velocity is down nearly two mph from last year. In essence, he's traded some of his hard contact for a much wider dispersion of weak and solid contact. That may not be the best path to head down, but it does give us a basis to understand what's causing the downturn in his numbers. Plate Discipline Semien has always been known to take a "professional" at-bat. He’ll take his walks at an average rate and keeps his strikeout percentage better than average. For his career, Semien has swung at pitches in the zone 49.6% of the time, just a tad over the league average 48.8%. This year it’s been the highest since his debut season in 2014 at 51.6%. Nothing really has dramatically changed in this sector of his play other than his chase rate. It’s is up to 28.4% this year, whereas it sat at 23.4% last year; this is a huge contributing factor to his 20.0 strikeout percentage which is the highest it’s been since 2021 when it was 20.2%. We know that as players age, their bat speed tends to slow down, leading to more whiffs and strikeouts. That decline in swing speed is likely our missing link. There’s two more key metrics that have seen a dip in recent seasons, not just this year. While his chase rate has been climbing, the contact he’s been making when he chases out of the zone has seen a steady decline. It’s been up to 62.5% in his career, but currently sits at 50%, the same mark as last season. Can the Mets Unlock A New Version of Marcus Semien? It’s still very early in the year, but maybe Semien will have a different type of offensive season this year. He’s always had pretty good power considering his bat speed has always been pretty minimal, which should hopefully mitigate some of the earlier issues we discussed with whiffing and chasing. With Semien in the back half of his career (he's 35), he could lean into his newfound contact trends and try to turn into Luis Arraez-type hitter who just slaps singles around. They have very similar tendencies at the plate being contact hitters with minimal bat speed, while also showing good plate discipline. That's probably an unfair comparison for someone with 254 career home runs under their belt, but what Semien is doing right now isn't working. A late-career renaissance is on the table, but only if he leans into the above-average skills he still possesses. View the full article

This piece was written prior to the Blue Jays' game on Wednesday, April 15. The Blue Jays haven't looked their best with runners in scoring position this season. If you've been watching their games, I doubt you disagree. Tuesday's matchup with the Brewers was a refreshing change of pace. While both of Toronto's home runs were solo shots, the Jays went 4-for-9 with RISP, driving seven more across the plate, including three in the top of the 10th, for a thrilling 9-7 victory. Yet, even after that performance, the offense is hitting just .231 with RISP. Their 171 plate appearances with runners on second and/or third rank 15th in the majors, but their 40 runs scored put them third to last. While their batting average is poor and their walk rate mediocre, the real problem has been a lack of power. The Blue Jays own a .082 isolated power with RISP. Only the Royals (.046) have been worse. League average is a .147 ISO. My immediate concern when I saw those numbers was that this was a reflection of a pointed strategy, not just a small sample size fluke. After all, in theory, power matters less with runners in scoring position. That's kind of the whole point of "scoring position" as a concept. Often, a runner on second or third can score on a single. So, one could argue that it's sound strategy to shorten up and just try to put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Instead of swinging for the fences, swing for a groundball up the middle. This might be true in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game. The rest of the time, it's almost always foolish to sabotage your own chances of hitting for extra bases. Thankfully, it doesn't seem like that's actually what the Blue Jays are doing. Although they've yet to hit a home run with RISP this season, their average bat speed is slightly faster, and their average launch angle is slightly higher in such situations. If they were trying to hit more singles, I'd expect those numbers to be lower. Now, with that said, the fact that Toronto's disappointing power numbers with runners in scoring position probably aren't on purpose is only so much consolation when the main point is that this team has failed to cash in on a ton of scoring windows. It's why they're below .500 with the second-worst run differential in the league. On the flip side, the Jays have been weirdly good with runners on first base (and not second or third). In these specific situations, they've been one of the game's most prolific offenses, with a league-leading seven home runs and .250 ISO. I'd call this a pretty good indication that these splits are mostly noise, especially this early in the season. That doesn't mean they don't matter or they aren't worth talking about. But there's no logical reason the Blue Jays would be so productive with runners on first and suddenly fall apart once those runners reach second or third. I'm annoyed with the way this team has squandered RISP opportunities, but I'm not concerned that it's going to continue. There's another wrinkle to all this that I want to address. For as much as the Jays have floundered with runners in scoring position, they have, strangely enough, hit very well in higher-leverage situations. Leverage index measures the average possible change in win expectancy in any given moment based on the inning, the score, the number of outs, and the number of runners on base. All else being equal, an RISP situation will have a higher leverage index than a non-RISP situation. Still, many other factors go into the calculation. So, you might expect a team that has struggled to produce with RISP to have had similar struggles in higher-leverage situations, but that doesn't have to be true. The 2026 Blue Jays are proof. Through 16 games, the Blue Jays have a .637 OPS and an 83 wRC+ in what FanGraphs defines as "low-leverage" situations. Both numbers rank among the league's bottom 10. In contrast, the Jays rank third in MLB in OPS and wRC+ in medium and high-leverage situations. No team has more hits or fewer strikeouts in these spots, and Toronto's .148 ISO is slightly above league average. What does this mean? Well, contrary to what their performance with RISP would have you think, this offense has come through in the most meaningful spots. It just hasn't been enough. The Jays' issues with RISP have been a problem. Of course they have. But this team has other problems. Too often, the Jays have looked uncompetitive in low-leverage plate appearances. And if they can't come through when the stakes are low, they can't put themselves in a position to succeed when the stakes are high. Consider this: The Blue Jays are slashing .310/.394/.552 in 99 plate appearances with the tying run on base or at the plate. Only the Rays have been more productive in those situations. However, the Jays are frequently playing from far behind or failing to put themselves far enough ahead. Let's say you're losing 8-1, as Toronto was against Minnesota for most of the game last Sunday. Any plate appearance when you're down by seven is going to be low-leverage, but you can't claw back to a higher-leverage situation unless you score some runs when the leverage is low. Similarly, the best way to prevent your bullpen from blowing a game is to give them a big enough cushion. Opportunities to drive in insurance runs are going to have a lower leverage index than opportunities to score the go-ahead run. That doesn't mean those runs aren't critical, especially for a team whose bullpen has already blown six saves. Game-state and leverage splits are almost never predictive, but stats aren't only valuable for their predictive utility. We can also use numbers to tell the story of a season, and these splits are some of the best storytelling stats we have. The Blue Jays haven't looked their best with runners in scoring position this season. Yet, the story behind their early-season struggles goes deeper than their struggles with runners in scoring position. Their failure to produce in low-leverage moments has hurt them just as much. View the full article

I was really hoping that I wouldn’t have to start writing my essays on Trevor Story’s lack of production for the Boston Red Sox again this season. I didn’t want to highlight his glaring offensive issues, his mounting errors, or the fact that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the number two spot in the lineup ever again. Like clockwork. though, here we are. The Red Sox are underperforming and Trevor Story is right in the center of why. [Of course, as I write this, he goes off in a 2-for-4 day with a home run and five RBIs. All stats below are from before that performance, but know that he more than doubled his season-long wRC+ from 22 to 48 in that finale agains the Twins. Perhaps I need to chastise him more frequently...] Going into the series against the Brewers, Alex Cora finally dropped Story from the two hole in the lineup to fifth. Story’s presence behind Roman Anthony in the leadoff spot struck no fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers. In fact, we surmised on the Talk Sox Podcast that having Story hit behind Anthony would only just increase the amount of intentional passes the young slugger would receive this year. Why pitch to someone who has the potential to flip the game on its head with one swing when you could put him on first and throw non-competitive pitches to the guy behind him who will likely swing away at them instead? Story offered no protection as the number two hitter, so dropping him in the lineup made the most sense. While he was batting second, Story slashed .119/.119/.214 with one home run, two RBIs, zero walks, and a 40.5% strikeout percentage. He posted a -18 wRC+ to go along with a -0.5 fWAR. From April 6-14, though, he hit .290/.294/.355 with 10 RBIs, a 2.9% walk rate, and a 20.6% strikeout rate while posting an 74 wRC+. He worked his first walk of the season on April 11 and had his first multi-hit game on April 12. Moving him down in the lineup seems to have unlocked something for him. There’s less pressure on him hitting in the middle of the order and he seems far more comfortable. The one thing Story can’t seem to fix though, is the fact that he’s going to swing away on low-and-away sliders. The book has been out on him for awhile now and when push comes to shove, he’s going to see pitches away out of the zone because the opposing pitcher just knows that bat is going fly. Story often looks shocked each time it happens, like he’s somehow expecting a different result. The only shocking thing is that he sees any other pitches besides those sliders when there’s anything at stake and he’s in the box. Somehow, despite all of that, the biggest hurdle to overcome with Story is on defense. He currently leads the team in errors with four. When a ball is hit to short, you don’t feel great about it. He’s botched some basic grounders by not getting his glove down enough, but more concerning is that he’s making throwing errors that look egregious. They are throws that you expect a major-league shortstop to make, but instead Willson Contreras is left sprawling out on the ground to try and pick a ball in the dirt that’s more than a foot outside of his wingspan. He currently ranks in the bottom half of the league with -1 defensive runs saved and -2 outs above average. Story is a net-negative with the glove at this stage of his career. What should happen, but likely won’t since Cora has doubled down on Story being the shortstop for the Red Sox, is that Story and Mayer should switch positions. Yes, you still need range at second, but it's a less demanding position coverage-wise. Mayer has proven to be a defensive wizard at any position he’s been asked to play for the team, but he’s a natural shortstop. Getting him to his long-term position sooner than later would likely pay immediate dividends for the team. Going back to last season, Story has committed 11 errors in his last 34 games at short. He finished the 2025 season ranked third in all of baseball with 19 errors and currently ranks second in total errors this year. If you were watching the series opener against the Twins, you saw Story's lack of defensive profile on display in the bottom of the first inning. You know what turns a bad inning into a terrible inning for a struggling ace like Garrett Crochet? Whatever it was Story was attempting to do here. The Red Sox need to figure out a solution to the Trevor Story problem sooner than later. Dropping him in the lineup was the first step in the right direction, but there’s still his defensive position that needs to be addressed at some point. Alex Cora is a good manager, and has proven early on this season that he’ll make changes to try and wake his team up. The thing that could put this team over the top is finally taking Story off shortstop and letting him move back to second base. It fully opens the door for Mayer to step into his own at the position he’s going to play long after Story departs the Red Sox. View the full article

Fish On First staffers react to the latest Miami Marlins series and prepare you for what lies ahead. Wednesday's show was hosted by Jeremiah Geiger and featured panelists Ely Sussman, Kevin Barral and Nate Karzmer. The following topics were covered: Second-guessing the Marlins' recent usage of Pete Fairbanks Connor Norby stays hot, still has reverse platoon splits How concerned should we be about Eury Pérez? Triple-A starting rotation depth looking good Is Esteury Ruiz coming for Heriberto Hernández's job? Previewing and predicting the next series against the Milwaukee Brewers You can find Fish Unfiltered and Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our next FOF LIVE episode will be Sunday at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET following the Marlins-Brewers series finale. View the full article

Although it does not directly impact this current Miami Marlins season, we have arrived at a significant milestone on the calendar as it pertains to long-term roster management. Players who were optioned to the minor leagues prior to the start of the MLB regular season and haven't been recalled since have spent 20 days down there, which causes them to lose one of their options. With occasional exceptions for those who miss substantial time due to injuries, a player has three option years. Those options are what allow them to be sent to the minors without being subjected to waivers. Only one option is used per season, regardless of how often a player gets shuttled back and forth between Miami and Triple-A Jacksonville. Out-of-options players must be designated for assignment—which removes them from the 40-man roster—and passed through outright waivers before being eligible to be sent down. Beginning in 2027, Marlins right-hander Bradley Blalock and left-hander Braxton Garrett will be out of options. Both working as starters for the Jumbo Shrimp, Blalock (1.93 ERA and 5.19 FIP in 14.0 IP) and Garrett (0.59 ERA and 2.75 FIP in 15.1 IP) are performing well this season. Garrett in particular is extremely likely to make starts for the Marlins in 2026 as rotation openings inevitably present themselves. Elsewhere on the 40-man, left-handers Dax Fulton and Cade Gibson and infielder Jared Serna have used up their second options. Right-hander Ryan Gusto is three days away from joining them. The discrepancy is due to the stint he had on the active roster filling in for Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks while Fairbanks was on the paternity list. Catcher Joe Mack and right-handers William Kempner and Josh White were just selected to the 40-man this past offseason, so they've only used their first options. With outfielder Kyle Stowers eyeing a reinstatement from the injured list next week, the Marlins must make a corresponding roster move involving another position player. This is a scenario where options become important. At first glance, struggling bench bats Austin Slater and Leo Jiménez may seem like prime candidates to get sent down, but they're both out of options. Are the Marlins willing to DFA Slater or Jiménez and risk losing them for nothing, or would they rather play it safe by optioning the likes of Deyvison De Los Santos or Heriberto Hernández? In my experience covering this front office, the conservative, latter choice is far more likely. View the full article

El Paso rolled 14-1 as catcher Rodolfo Durán hammered a three-run homer on his way to five RBIs, with Jackson Wolf tossing three scoreless innings and Logan Gillaspie earning the win over three perfect frames. San Antonio fell 9-2 despite Fernando Sanchez's 3⅔ innings of one-run ball and six strikeouts. Lake Elsinore dropped a 9-8 decision in 10 innings as reliever Carlos Medina fanned six, Kale Fountain drove in two, and Truitt Madonna doubled. Padres Minor League Transactions No roster moves Durán Drive In Five as Chihuahuas Rout Express The El Paso Chihuahuas demolished the Round Rock Express 14-1, pounding out 16 hits, including three home runs. Starter Jackson Wolf set the tone with three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five and issuing no walks. Chihuahuas pitchers allowed just two hits and struck out 12. Catcher Rodolfo Durán led the offensive attack, going 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in the second inning and a two-run single in the eighth, driving in five. He also scored twice and drew a walk. Carlos Rodríguez added three hits, including a double, with three RBIs and a stolen base, while Pablo Reyes reached base four times on two hits, including a home run, and two walks, scoring three times. Samad Taylor contributed a ninth-inning solo shot among his two hits, and Jose Miranda ripped a triple, scored twice, and drove in a run. Sung-Mun Song chipped in two hits and an RBI. After Wolf, Logan Gillaspie worked three perfect innings with four strikeouts to pick up the win, and Eli Villalobos added two hitless frames with two strikeouts. Garrett Hawkins allowed the lone Round Rock run in the ninth while giving up one hit, two walks, and striking out one. Player AB R H RBI BB K Samad Taylor, LF 5 2 2 1 1 2 Carlos Rodríguez, CF 5 1 3 3 0 0 Sung-Mun Song, SS 5 1 2 1 1 1 Marcos Castañon, 3B 6 0 1 0 0 4 Pablo Reyes, DH 3 3 2 1 2 1 Clay Dungan, 2B 5 1 1 1 0 0 Rodolfo Durán, C 4 2 2 5 1 1 Jose Miranda, 1B 5 2 2 1 0 2 Nick Schnell, RF 5 2 1 0 0 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jackson Wolf 3 1 0 0 0 5 0 Logan Gillaspie (W) 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 Eli Villalobos 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 Garrett Hawkins 1 1 1 1 2 1 0 Missions' Bats Go Quiet In Lopsided Loss To Midland The San Antonio Missions dropped a 9-2 decision to the Midland RockHounds on the road, managing just two runs despite collecting 10 hits. Starting pitcher Victor Lizarraga was roughed up for eight runs, six earned, on six hits across 1⅓ innings and took the loss. He struck out two without issuing a walk, but the Missions trailed 9-0 after two innings. Romeo Sanabria broke through with the only extra-base hit for San Antonio, doubling to left in the fifth inning to plate Braedon Karpathios for the club's first run. The second run came in the sixth when Tirso Ornelas scored on a Karpathios groundout. Ornelas finished 2-for-4 with a run, Francisco Acuna added a double, After Lizarraga's rough start, the San Antonio bullpen stabilized things. Fernando Sanchez worked 3⅔ innings, yielding one run on three hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Francis Peña tossed two scoreless innings with a walk, three strikeouts, and one hit allowed, and Harry Gustin delivered a clean inning, striking out three while giving up two hits and a walk. The relief corps combined for 12 strikeouts but could not undo the early damage. Player AB R H RBI BB K Ryan Jackson, SS 4 0 1 0 1 1 Romeo Sanabria, DH 4 0 1 1 0 1 Leandro Cedeño, 1B 4 0 1 0 0 3 Tirso Ornelas, RF 4 1 2 0 0 1 Carson Tucker, 3B 4 0 1 0 0 2 Kai Murphy, LF 4 0 1 0 0 1 Francisco Acuna, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 Braedon Karpathios, CF 4 1 1 0 0 1 Chris Sargent, C 4 0 1 0 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Victor Lizarraga (L) 1 1/3 6 8 6 0 2 0 Fernando Sanchez 3 2/3 3 1 1 1 6 0 Francis Peña 2 1 0 0 1 3 0 Harry Gustin 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 Musgrove's Fort Wayne Season Debut Rained Out The Fort Wayne TinCaps' road game against the Lake County Captains was postponed by rain. The teams will make it up as part of a doubleheader Friday. The game was slated to be the season debut of two-way Padres prospect Tucker Musgrove, who had been scheduled as the starting pitcher. Musgrove has one of the best four-seamers in the system and a sinker that also can be in the upper 90s. It was not announced whether Musgrove would start Thursday's game or one in Friday's doubleheader. Storm Fall To Ports In Walk-Off Extras Thriller For the second day in row, the Lake Elsinore Storm and Stockton Ports went to extra innings. And like in the series opener, the Storm came out on the wrong end of a walk-off. The Storm lost 9-8 in 10 innings to the Ports on a walk-off single to cap a three-run rally. In the top of the 10th with zombie runner Conner Westenburg aboard, Truitt Madonna doubled to right to push the Storm ahead 7-6, and Kale Fountain then singled to plate Madonna for an 8-6 advantage. Fountain finished 2-for-5 with a double, two RBIs, a stolen base, and a run scored. Starter Jesus A. Castro turned in a solid four-inning outing, allowing two runs, both earned, on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The Storm pushed across four runs in the second inning, highlighted by a Yoiber Ocopio fielder's choice RBI that scored Justin DeCriscio, and the lead grew to 6-1 in the third when Fountain doubled home Bradley Frye, and Jose Verdugo drove Fountain in on a groundout. Stockton chipped away, scoring one in the fifth and four in the sixth to tie the game at 6-6. Ryan Wideman and Westenburg each swiped two bags for Lake Elsinore. Player AB R H RBI BB K Ryan Wideman, CF 4 1 0 0 1 1 Truitt Madonna, C 5 1 1 0 0 3 Bradley Frye, 3B 4 1 1 0 1 1 Kale Fountain, RF 5 1 2 2 0 1 Justin DeCriscio, 2B 4 1 1 0 0 0 Jose Verdugo, SS 3 0 0 1 0 0 Yoiber Ocopio, DH 4 1 0 1 0 1 Luke Cantwell, 1B 2 0 1 0 2 0 Conner Westenburg, LF 4 2 0 0 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jesus A. Castro 4 2 2 2 2 3 0 Joseph Herrera 1 2 4 4 2 1 0 Carlos Medina (BS) 3 2/3 1 0 0 0 6 0 Nick Falter (L) 1/3 2 3 2 1 1 0 Padres Top 20 Prospect Performance Kash Mayfield: DNP Ethan Salas: DNP Kruz Schoolcraft: DNP Bradgley Rodriguez: DNP Humberto Cruz: DNP Miguel Mendez: DNP Ty Harvey: DNP Jorge Quintana: DNP Kale Fountain: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R, SB, K Ryan Wideman: 0-for-4, R, BB, K, 2 SB Jagger Haynes: DNP Lamar King Jr: DNP Romeo Sanabria: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, K Truitt Madonna: 1-for-5, 2B, R, 3 K Michael Salina: DNP Garrett Hawkins: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K Kavares Tears: DNP Deivid Coronil: DNP Francis Pena: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K Bryan Balzer: DNP View the full article

Transactions: DSL Brewers Gold released RHP Enrique Velasquez. Nashville Pre-game media notes Nashville 5, Worcester (Red Sox) 3 Box Score For the second night in a row, the Sounds’ first few hitters carried the offense. Jett Williams led off the game with a triple that rattled around the left field bullpen. Cooper Pratt followed with his first extra-base hit of the season to tie the game at 1-1. Williams was one base twice, Pratt three times, and both players stole their fifth base on the season, as both players are starting to show signs of waking up offensively. In the second inning, Luis Lara put a grounder through the left side to bring in two more runs and make it 3-1 Sounds: It’s become apparent that it is Luis Lara’s world and the rest of us are just living in it. After another three-hit night, Lara is now top three in the International League in hits (24), runs (16), steals (10), average (.414 - shoutout MKE area code) and OPS (1.103). Lara just missed another homerun, which would have established a new career-high for the 21 year-old centerfielder, with this 102.7 MPH rope in the 4th, courtesy of the Nashville X account: The rest of the Sounds’ four through nine hitters combined to go just 2/16 on the night. Logan Henderson (3IP 2H 1R 1ER 3BB 4K) started on the mound for the Sounds. After retiring the first two hitters of the game, Henderson allowed two walks and a single to put the team in an early 1-0 hole. It seems the team is still bringing Henderson along slowly, as he tossed just 59 pitches (36 strikes) in his outing. Henderson gave way to Joe Corbett, who earned the win with 1.2 scoreless innings. Will Childers earned the four-out save, despite putting the tying runs on in the ninth. The 25 year-old Childers has now worked seven scoreless innings to start the season. It will be interesting to see if the Sounds’ hitters can keep the offense rolling throughout this series, as the team takes on two of Boston’s top pitching prospects. Jake Bennett (Boston #7 via MLB Pipeline) will take the mound in an attempt to slow the Sounds offense on Thursday. Bennett has allowed just one earned run, five hits, two walks, and 15 strikeouts in his first 13.1IP at AAA to start the season. The challenge will only increase over the weekend, when Payton Tolle (#15 overall prospect via Pipeline) heads to the rubber on Saturday. Tolle sports a 19:4 K:BB ratio through 15IP this season. Columbus (Braves) 7, Biloxi 3 Box Score As always, you are encouraged to read the official round-up from the team’s site: Shuckers Set Season-High with 13 Walks in Morning Loss to Clingstones The Shuckers quickly fell behind in the Wednesday matinee game at Columbus. Biloxi starting pitcher Brett Wichrowski (5IP 7H 4R 4ER 1BB 5K) was victimized by the long ball in each of the first three innings as Columbus jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Brewers’ top prospect Jesus Made lifted one just beyond the right field wall for his second homer of the season, courtesy of the Biloxi X account: Made also drew two of the Shuckers 13 walks in the game. Unfortunately, Made’s homer was one of just four hits for the Shuckers, and the lone extra-base hit on the day. The Shuckers left 14 men on base and went 0/9 with RISP. After falling behind 7-1, the Shuckers did show some signs of life in the final few frames, but couldn’t break out the big rally they needed. In the 7th Made and Blake Burke drew two-out walks in front of Mike Boeve, but Boeve failed to deliver in the clutch. In the 8th, the Shuckers plated two on a bases loaded walk to the newest Shucker Tayden Hall and on a Dylan O’Rae ground out. That brought the right hitters to the plate as Made (1.033 OPS) once again walked, but Burke (1.025 OPS) grounded out with the tying run on deck. In the 9th, the Shuckers put two men on, but failed to score, falling by the final score of 7-3. Eduardo Garcia, who recently returned from injury, produced two hits in the loss. Bishop Letson will take the mound on Thursday and will seek his first win of the season after two rocky starts (2.2IP 4H 8R 6ER 6BB 3K). Video Hall RBI walk O’Rae RBI groundout Wisconsin pre-game media notes Game 1: Wisconsin 7, Peoria (Cardinals) 3 Box Score Wisconsin Jumps to Early Lead to Beat Chiefs in Game One After mother nature washed out Tuesday’s game in Appleton, Wisconsin and Peoria played two seven-inning games on Wednesday. The Timber Rattlers jumped on the Cardinals’ affiliate early and often in game one. After first inning walks to Braylon Payne and Luis Pena, Marco Dinges and Josh Adamczewski each knocked in runs on singles to center. Dinges RBI Single Adamczewski RBI Single In the second inning, Payne knocked in a run on a single up the middle, courtesy of Wisconsin’s X account: In the third, Adamczewski left the yard with this shot down the left field line: Luis Castillo added a sac fly that made it 6-0 in the third inning. Timber Rattlers’ starter Jason Woodward (3IP 1H 0R 2BB 1K) shut Peoria down for the first three innings and now has 5.2 scoreless innings on the ledger after missing all of the 2025 season. The Chiefs were able to break through for three runs in the 4th off reliver Quinton Low to cut the lead in half. Daniel Dickinson was able to respond with a two-out RBI in the bottom half of the frame. That gave relievers Jesus Flores and Bryan Rivera all the support they needed, as the duo combined to shut out the Chiefs over the final three frames. Other T-Rat notes: Braylon Payne stole a pair of bases and added this snag in center: Dickinson, a 22 year-old sixth round pick in last year’s draft, had his second multi-hit game in his last three appearances, after starting the season 1/16 Andrew Fischer was caught stealing, and is now just 1/5 in steal attempts on the season. Fischer did add this web gem though: Game 2: Wisconsin 6, Peoria (Cardinals) 5 Box Score Home Runs Send Rattlers to Game Two Victory In the second half of the twin bill, Peoria’s top prospect stole the show early when Rainiel Rodriguez (Cards’ #3 prospect via MLB Pipeline) opened the scoring with an RBI triple off Wisconsin Starter Travis Smith (3.2IP 3H 4R 4ER 1BB 3K). Rodriguez then gunned down Luis Pena for his first caught stealing of the year in the bottom of the first to help Tanner Franklin (Cards’ #11 prospect) face the minimum through the first two innings. Peoria would stake Franklin to an early 4-0 lead, but in the third, Wisconsin manufactured a run as Josiah Ragsdale led off with a single, stole second, and then came into score on a double play. Wisconsin was able to knock Franklin from the game in the fifth. After the first two men of the inning reached base via HBP and error, Ragsdale struck again with his first professional homerun to tie the game at 4-4: The 22 year-old Ragsdale was a 7th round pick out of Boston College in last year’s draft. The Snakes gave the lead back in following half inning, but in the bottom of the sixth, Marco Dinges and Adamczewski went back-to-back to give the Rattlers the lead for good: Ethan Dorchies (9.95 ERA in 6.1IP) will make his third start at A+ on Thursday, as the Timber Rattlers look to make it three in a row and stay atop the Midwest League standings. Wilson pre-game media notes Hill City (Guardians) 6, Wilson 3 Box Score Pitching Lifts Hill City Past Wilson The Warbirds have not been the Score Birds early on this season, as the club ranks last or second-to-last in the 12-team Carolina League in batting average (.161), homeruns (4), and runs (45) through their first 11 games. The team did not improve upon those numbers in their 6-3 loss to Hill City on Wednesday night, with just three runs and three hits on the night. Jose Anderson was one of two batters in Wednesday’s lineup to have a batting average over .200 at the completion of the game. Anderson was able to knock in a run on a well-placed fly ball in the first inning. Wilson’s other two runs were scored on a balk and a Pedro Ibarguen walk. The Wilson pitching staff as a whole has also struggled to start the season, as the team ranks in the bottom three in runs allowed (63), strikeouts (107), and WHIP (1.61). Wilson starter Miqueas Mercedes (3IP 6H 4R 4ER 3BB 4K) labored through his outing, tossing 43 of 70 pitches for strikes. Anfernny Reyes, a 22 year-old lefty who is repeating the level to start the season, was impressive in relief. Reyes worked three spotless innings with five strikeouts. Wilson (4-7) will send Enniel Cortez to mound in game three of their series on Thursday night. Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

TRANSACTIONS OF Caden Kendle transferred to Temporarily Inactive List (Cedar Rapids) RHP Travis Adams added to Fort Myers on Major League rehab RHP Billy Oldham transferred from 7-day IL to 60-day IL (Fort Myers) INF Bryan Acuña placed on 7-day IL with left hamstring strain (Fort Myers) INF Ramiro Dominguez promoted to Fort Myers Saints Sentinel St. Paul 9, Lehigh Valley 7 Box Score John Klein: 3 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: Gabriel Gonzalez (3), Emmanuel Rodriguez (3) Multi-hit games: Kaelen Culpepper (3-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Alan Roden (3-for-5, R, RBI), Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-3, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Tanner Schobel (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB) The Saints were victorious in a run-happy game on Wednesday. If John Klein was hoping to flush away the memories of the April 5th start that has bloated his early-season ERA, he’ll need to look towards next week for better luck. The Brooklyn Park native started powerfully, punching out five of the first six batters he saw. But the 96 that startled hitters at the start of the game slipped to the 94, 93 range—evidently the difference between dominance and hittability. Óscar Mercado took him yard in the third. Felix Reyes ended his night with a two-run bomb in the fourth. So it goes. St. Paul’s bats came to rumble, though, and fight they did: Tanner Schobel drew blood with an RBI double in the second, and Emmanuel Rodriguez drilled a frozen rope to left-center in the third to score a second run. Then, floodgates. Carnage. Schobel singled, Walker Jenkins wore a pitch, and Kaelen Culpepper doubled to score both men. Alan Roden dinked one between the wide swath of real estate between the third baseman and the shortstop, setting up Gabriel Gonzalez to hop all over a hanging curveball slapped with a sticky note that said “hit me” on it. Lehigh Valley clawed back with four runs stacked onto Dan Altavilla and Marco Raya—two hurlers who now have season ERAs above 10. But the IronPigs never took the lead. Rodriguez hammered a homer for insurance, and Drew Smith navigated around a few ninth-inning base runners to save the game. Nobody in Philadelphia’s top-30 prospect list played in the game. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 5, Springfield 3 Box Score Ryan Gallagher: 4 ⅓ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K HR: Ben Ross 2 (2, 3), Kala’i Rosario (2), Jose Salas (1) Multi-hit games: Ben Ross (2-for-2, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB) Wichita bludgeoned four homers in a satisfactory win on Wednesday. Coming off a start where he was great, Ryan Gallagher was good. The righty surrendered a first-inning homer—perhaps setting the tone for the rest of the day—before settling into an even if not mildly inefficient rhythm. Runners reached in four of the five frames he appeared. He walked two. The UC Santa Barbara product walked off the mound needing 70 pitches to net 13 outs. The other pitcher netted in the Willi Castro trade, Sam Armstrong, relieved Gallagher, and was also acceptably, overwhelmingly competent. He allowed one run over 3 ⅔ frames, though matched walk and strikeout totals with two apiece. Now, the fun stuff: the homers. The Wind Surge were in a bopping mood on Wednesday. Ben Ross kicked off the slugfest with a lead-off shot, making sure a hanging slider landed where all lethargic breaking stuff should go to die. Then, Kala’i Rosario spotted an outside fastball that looked like it belonged in the opposing team’s bullpen; so that’s where he sent it. Ross returned in the third to smack an opposite-field shot in the direction of five fans who believed their minded business was safe in right field. They were wrong. Jose Salas also homered, but the mighty Powers That Be who control the Wichita Twitter account deemed his blast too boring to post. Poor guy. Aaron Rozek earned the save in his 126th career minor league game. He now has 465 ⅓ innings under his belt in the Twins organization, the 40th-most for the franchise dating back to 2006. Who’s the lucky hurler at the top of the mountain? Pat Dean with 866. Springfield sent the famous switch-pitcher, Jurrangelo Cijntje, to the mound on Wednesday. Ranked as baseball’s 82nd-best prospect—and standing as one of the only men we’ve ever seen who can capably throw with both hands, Cijntje pitched the entire game righty. The Cardinals should be tried for being boring sticks in the mud. Kernels Nuggets Weather intervened on the planned Kernels game; they will play a doubleheader on Thursday. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 3 (10 Innings) Box Score James Ellwanger: 4 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K HR: Eduardo Beltre (2) Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-5), Quintin Young (2-for-5), Yasser Mercedes (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB), JP Smith II (2-for-5, R), Eduardo Beltre (2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI) The Mighty Mussels won on a walk-off on Wednesday. One of these days, James Ellwanger will allow a run. Maybe. Perhaps not. The 3rd-round Dallas Baptist supernova has totaled 11 ⅔ pro innings now—not once has he seen a runner cross home. He may not know such a thing is possible. Wednesday also saw a no-hit outing, though at the expense of three walks. Unfortunately, the Mighty Mussels found Lakeland pitching to also be unfriendly. They racked up runners to no avail, only breaking through when their eighth man to reach base actually came around to score (a previous misadventure with Quinten Young and Yasser Mercedes resulted in the former being thrown out trying to score from second on an infield single.) That sixth inning score was your typical walk/steal/advance-on-a-flyball/run-plating wild pitch sequence. Mercedes was the protagonist. Lakeland realized that homers—especially with someone on base—are way more efficient than going to Station to Station with Bowie or a 21-year-old Latin ballplayer, so they crushed a two-run shot in the seventh. Fort Myers clawed back with an even more turgid progression, turning two singles, a walk, and a challenged (yet confirmed) walk into the game-tying score. In extras, Lakeland plated their customary Manfred Man, which would have won them the game if Eduardo Beltre didn’t sit on a 3-0 fastball and crush the offering out to left field to win the game. MLB’s 30th-ranked prospect, infielder Bryce Rainer, singled and walked in five plate appearances. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – James Ellwanger Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ben Ross PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-4, R, RBI #2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 3-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI #3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 2-3, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-5, HR, R, 2 RBI, K #14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 3 K #15 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K #16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B #20 – James Ellwanger (Fort Myers) - 4 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ St. Paul (6:37 PM) - LHP Connor Prielipp Springfield @ Wichita (6:35 PM) - RHP Mike Paredes Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (4:30 PM) - LHP Dasan Hill Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (Game Two) - TBD Lakeland @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Riley Quick View the full article

During Chris Paddack's time in the major leagues, the lows have largely outweighed the highs. Since an impressive rookie campaign with the San Diego Padres in 2019, his ERA has been north of 5.00. The club he faced on Wednesday night, the Atlanta Braves, has repeatedly been a safe haven through the years. In four career appearances against them, Paddack's 2.14 ERA ranks second-lowest among teams he has encountered a minimum of three times. Paddack owns a 1.32 ERA in three starts against the Cardinals. In the first inning Wednesday night, Jackie Robinson Day around the sport, Paddack's luck against Atlanta seemed like it would persist, setting down the top of the order 1-2-3, including a pair of strikeouts. What followed would be a 28-pitch second inning that prevented Paddack from giving the Marlins the length they needed the night after Eury Pérez only gave the club four innings. After getting Austin Riley to fly out, Ozzie Albies continued his run of torching Miami pitching, blasting a solo home run to get the scoring going for Atlanta. Albies' home run marked his 22nd career blast against the Marlins, tying him with Marcell Ozuna for the sixth most among active players. Atlanta would tack on another run later in the inning when Mauricio Dubón lined a single to left on a hanging, full-count breaking ball that caught too much of the plate. Paddack would, however, settle back into his accustomed groove against Atlanta, firing 1-2-3 frames in the third and fourth. Were it not for a single by another notorious Marlin killer, Ronald Acuña Jr., Paddack would have completed at least five innings for the second consecutive outing. At 92 pitches, Clayton McCullough signaled for another lefty, John King, to finish the frame. Paddack's final line: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 K. After allowing eight runs in his season debut on March 30, Paddack has allowed just five runs (four earned) over his last 15 1/3 innings spread across three appearances. You'd have to go back to the six-start span between May 9-June 7, 2025, the last time Paddack allowed two or fewer runs in at least three consecutive outings. Miami's bats would lie dormant for the first two-thirds of the game, as Bryce Elder fired 5 ⅔ scoreless innings to lower his season ERA to 0.77. The previously mentioned King would falter the following inning, though, when Austin Riley blasted his 16th career home run against Miami. Following a Drake Baldwin RBI single in the latter half of the seventh, Matt Olson, playing in his 801st consecutive game, continued a torrid start to the season, sending the first offering from Andrew Nardi over the right field wall to increase the Atlanta lead to six. Showcasing the resiliency they showed in 2025, Miami would begin to claw back, thanks in large part to Liam Hicks, who hit his team-leading fourth home run of the season. In 18 games to begin the season, Hicks owns a 145 wRC+. Heriberto Hernández, whose misplayed fly ball led to the Olson homer, plated the Marlins third run when he grounded into a fielder's choice. The Marlins fell to Atlanta, 6-3. In 78 lifetime games at Truist Park, the Marlins are a dismal 23-55. The Braves have yet to lose a series through the first three weeks of the 2026 season. Despite the recent skid, manager Clayton McCullough remained steadfast in his belief in his group of guys. "We really like the team we have here, and we have a lot of games to play...so there's a lot to like right now." Looking Ahead Thursday will represent the Marlins' first off-day since April 2, concluding a span of 13 games in 13 days. When they resume play on Friday, they will face off against the Milwaukee Brewers. Janson Junk (0-2, 4.32 ERA) will toe the rubber against his former club. First pitch from loanDepot park is slated 7:10 EST. View the full article

(Editor's note: Sorry for the delay in posting, this episode was lost in the shuffle for a short time.) Alex and Maddie sit down and discuss the mostly positive aspects of both the Brewers and Cardinals series. They talk through why Masataka Yoshida needs to be getting more playing time, but how that’s difficult to do with so many outfielders on the roster. Alex pitches an idea to get Masa more reps by moving Ceddanne Rafaela out of center field, and then the two break down just why Trevor Story could be the biggest flaw on the 26-man roster. To end, they talk through the benefits of calling up Nick Sogard and try to figure out when more help for the bullpen will arrive. 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

The Mets are paying premium on last-minute flights to The West Coast, having arrived for a three-game stint, only to be forced to make a roster change before each game. Transactions, 4/15/2026 GOING COMING Placed on 10-Day IL with Torn Meniscus in Left Knee Promoted from Syracuse Outfielders Jared Young MJ Melendez L/R DoB: 1995-07-09 High Level: MLB (2026) L/R DoB: 1993-11-29 High Level: MLB (2026) The Mets went through Spring Training with a three-way battle for lefty reserve outfielder, and while competition was heated, and Jared Young and MJ Melendez enjoyed the advantage of already being on the 40-Player Roster, Mike Tauchman was said to be the favorite ... until he had to remove himself from the game near the end of camp. A torn meniscus was his diagnosis, and a prognosis of surgery and the likelihood of missing the season was the sad result. This opened the door for Jared Young, who did everything the team could have asked of him, exhibiting life for a batting corps that has had little to show. But strangely, Young has now fallen to the same injury. Hopefully the prognosis is less grave, but here we are on Jackie Robinson Day — so designated because back in 1947, the season didn't begin until this day. So it's still an opening day of sorts, and the Mets are pulling their third lefty-hitting reserve outfielder from the deck. MJ has versatility, playing all the corner spots, infield and outfield, and catching too. But you'll be unsurprised to learn he's off to a slow start as well, punching in with a .216 / .286 / .431 // .717 line in 56 plate appearances thus far for Syracuse. But hey! — six of his 11 hits have gone for extra bases, so maybe he runs into one tonight against Shohei Ohtani. Your Mets Coaching Staff Manager Bench Coach Pitching Coach Hitting Coordinator Third Base Coach First Base Coach Bullpen Coach Ass't Pitching Coach Carlos Mendoza Kai Correa Justin Willard Jeff Albert Tim Leiper Gilbert Gomez José Rosado Dan McKinney DoB: 1979-11-27 DoB: 1989-07-14 DoB: 1990-09-09 DoB: 1992-08-16 DoB: 1996-07-19 DoB: 1992-03-08 DoB: 1974-11-09 DoB: 1989-06-06 Hitting Coach Strategy Coach Catching Coach Coaching Assistant Bat'g Practice Pitcher Equipment Manager Bullpen Catchers Bullpen Catchers Troy Snitker Danny Barnes J.P. Arencibia Rafael Fernandez Kevin Mahoney Kevin Kierst Eric Langill Dave Racaniello DoB: 1988-12-05 DoB: 1989-10021 DoB: 1986-01-05 DoB: 1988-08-03 DoB: 1987-05-11 DoB: 1964-07-09 DoB: 1979-04-09 DoB: 1978-06-03 Your Mets Training Staff Director of Player Health Head Athletic Trainer Assistant Athletic Trainer Reconditioning Coordinator Reconditioning Therapist Head Performance Coach Assistant Performance Coach Performance Coordinator Brian Chicklo Joseph Golia Bryan Baca Sean Bardanett Josh Bickel Dustin Clarke Tanner Miracle Jeremy Chiang DoB: 1972-07-17 DoB: 1978-??-?? DoB: Circa 1980 DoB: 1988-06-23 DoB: 1996-??-?? DoB: 1987-??-?? DoB: 1991-??-?? DoB: ????-??-?? Your 2026 New York Mets Starting Pitchers Clay Holmes Nolan McLean Freddy Peralta David Peterson Kodai Senga R/R DoB: 1993-03-27 R/R DoB: 2001-07-24 R/R DoB: 2996-06-04 L/L DoB: 1995-09-03 L/R DoB: 1993-01-30 Relief Pitchers Huascar Brazobán Craig Kimbrel Sean Manaea Tobias Myers Brooks Raley Austin Warren Luke Weaver R/R DoB: 1989-10-15 R/R DoB: 32291 R/L DoB: 1992-02-01 R/R DoB: 1998-08-05 L/L DoB: 1988-06-29 R/R DoB: 1996-02-05 R/R DoB: 1993-08-21 Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders Devin Williams Francisco Alvarez Luís Torrens Brett Baty Bo Bichette Francisco Lindor Jorge Polanco R/R DoB: 1994-09-21 R/R DoB: 2001-11-01 R/R DoB: 1996-05-02 L/R DoB: 1999-11-13 R/R DoB: 1998-03-05 S/R DoB: 1993-11-14 S/R DoB: 1999-11-13 Infielders Infielders Marcus Semien Mark Vientos Carson Benge MJ Melendez Tommy Pham Luis Robert, Jr. Tyrone Taylor R/R DoB: 1990-09-17 R/R DoB: 1993-12-11 L/R DoB: 2003-01-20 L/R DoB: 1993-11-29 R/R DoB: 32210 R/R DoB: 1997-08-03 R/R DoB: 34356 Also on 40-Player Roster Starting Pitchers Relief Pitchers Tylor Megill Christian Scott Jonah Tong Alex Carrillo Reed Garrett Joey Gerber Justin Hagenman R/R DoB: 1995-07-28 R/R DoB: 1999-06-15 R/R DoB: 2003-06-19 R/R DoB: 1997-06-06 R/R DoB: 1993-01-02 R/R DoB: 1997-05-03 R/R DoB: 1996-10-07 On 60-Day Injured List with torn right UCL. With Syracuse With Syracuse With Syracuse On 60-Day Injured List — right UCL surgery and nerve relocation surgery. On 15-Day Injured List with blistered right finger. On 60 Day Injured List with fractured rib. Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders A.J. Minter Dedniel Núñez Jonathan Pintaro Dylan Ross Hayden Senger Ronny Mauricio Nick Morabito L/L DoB: 1993-09-02 R/R DoB: 1996-06-05 R/R DoB: 1997-11-07 R/R DoB: 2000-09-01 R/R DoB: 1997-04-03 S/R DoB: 2001-04-04 R/R DoB: 2003-05-07 With St. Lucie on Rehab Assignment On 60-Day Injured List — right UCL surgery. With Syracuse With Syracuse, on Seven-Day IL With Syracuse With Syracuse With Syracuse Outfielders Juan Soto Jared Young L/L DoB: 1998-10-25 L/R DoB: 1995-07-09 On 15-Day Injured List with strained right calf On 10-Day Injured List with torn left meniscus. Deslgnated for Assignment Relief Pitchers Richard Lovelady L/L DoB: 1995-07-07 Designated for Assignment, 2026-04-11 View the full article

The Twins will soon be graduating a wave of prospects that they have drafted and developed, dating back to 2022. Now, the members of the 2025 draft class will be starting their 2026 seasons in Fort Myers, and have the chance to build another great wave of talent to lead the Twins into the 2030s.View the full article

The sinker is there to work to the arm side of the pitcher who throws it. It's there to force a same-handed batter not to dive over the plate, so they can't reach your four-seamer on the far corner or your breaking ball. It's there to control that arm-side half of the plate; that's what it does. For Chad Patrick, though, it does something else. Patrick uses the sinker strangely. Of the 58 sinkers he's thrown so far this season, 30 of them were on the glove-side (that is, the first-base-side) third of the plate or farther that direction—in on lefties, and away from fellow righties. Most pitchers struggle mightily to command that pitch, so they don't bother throwing it. The sinker runs to the arm side. If you try to aim it toward the glove side but miss, you're likely to leave a meatball in the heart of the zone. Much of the time, the reward for getting it right there just isn't rich enough to justify the risks of that. Patrick, however, has pretty good command of the pitch, and has gotten good mileage from it. Here's how those 30 pitches have broken down: 12 called strikes 11 balls 1 swinging strike 2 foul balls 2 outs on balls in play 2 singles That doesn't add up to a lot of value in a vacuum, but let's discuss some nuances here. Firstly, using FanGraphs's new Pitch Pairing tool, we can take a look at the way Patrick attacks hitters and the interactions between his pitches. Here, for instance, is his profile against right-handed batters, with his signature pitch—the cutter—as the anchor pitch off which the others are considered to be working. When Patrick is executing well, his cutter forces hitters to sit on it, and his new slurve can be a bat-missing strike-to-ball offering. His four-seamer is nothing special, on its own, but if a hitter is sitting cutter, the four-seamer can induce pop-ups and weak contact, as long as he gets it high enough. Ah, but graphics like these assume the same "start line"—that's what the Brewers, at least, call the point they want a pitcher to target as they release a given pitch, letting it move from there to its real destination—for all pitches. By now, you know that Patrick isn't using the same start line for his sinker that he is for his cutter and the others. He starts that pitch off the outside edge by so much that if he threw the cutter the same way, it would end up in the left-handed batter's box. Instead, he's using the middle of the plate as his start line for the cutter and the slurve. For the sinker, he's starting outside. Tunneling pitches is only one way to generate deception. Sometimes, you want to get hitters looking for the tunneled set (in this case, the cutter-slurve-four-seam tunnel) of pitches, so you can freeze them with a pitch that would be non-competitive if it were part of that tunneled set. That doesn't always work, but when it does, it works gorgeously. Check out this sequence against Maikel García of the Royals, on April 4. This encounter came in the fifth inning. It was the third time García was seeing Patrick, so the hurler started him by landing a sluve in the zone for a called strike. That's conventional: catch a batter by surprise by showing them something unexpected at the front end of a third or fourth look within a game. He next went up to the top of the zone (above it, really) for a swinging strike on the cutter; he was way ahead of García. On his third pitch, though, he just got lucky. He tried to throw one of those strike-to-ball slurves, but got stuck in his own tunnel. The pitch broke off the line of the previous cutter, instead of one more typical of what Patrick throws to righties, and it ended up in the middle of the zone again. With two strikes, García wasn't going to be frozen and beaten so easily. It was still 0-2, but Patrick needed something new to show to a dangerous hitter who was right on him, now. Thus, the backdoor sinker. MDRYNk5fWGw0TUFRPT1fVUFSU1Z3SlNWUXNBWFZGV1Z3QUhDUVVGQUZnRFZ3SUFBMUZXQlFwVUNRWldVUUpW.mp4 Yes, technically, this pitch missed the zone. It didn't matter, though. Patrick had shaped it well and hit his spot. William Contreras framed the pitch well. Most importantly, García was fooled, badly. He was so unready to see that pitch, coming from that angle and landing where it did, that he was in no position to risk Kansas City's second challenge of the game on it. That's the ideal way for the backdoor sinker to work. It's a different thing if you first fall behind in the count. Here's a third-inning showdown with Chase Meidroth back on March 28. You can see what Patrick was thinking, here. He'd missed low with two of his first three offerings, but a front-door cutter had frozen Meidroth, so he was hoping that a hitter in an advantageous count would be sitting on another pitch on the inner half, on which he could turn and burn. Having thrown him the slurve on the previous pitch, he hoped he had Meidroth looking in that same tunnel, and that starting the sinker off the outside edge would freeze him and get Patrick back into the count at 2-2. Instead, Meidroth stayed on the ball and flicked it neatly into right field. TUFYMmRfWGw0TUFRPT1fVTFCWEFsUlhCMU1BV1FRQkJ3QUhDVkJVQUZoV1VnVUFVUVFCQkZBTUJBVlhVbEFB.mp4 With any pitch on which you're hoping for lots of called strikes, sequencing is paramount. Patrick wants righties to sit on the four-seamer and the cutter and the slurve, but he needs count leverage and/or perfect execution to win with the sinker just by violating those expectations. Because he throws the pitch so well to that side of the plate, though, Patrick's sinker is much better against lefties than most right-handed pitchers' sinkers are. Let's take a look at a couple more of those FanGraphs images. First, here's what his arsenal looks like when anchored to the four-seamer. You can see, pretty easily, how a lefty will experience the four-seamer, the cutter and the slurve as a tunnel and struggle to differentiate them. The key to the front-door sinker, then, is that it moves so differently than the rest of the arsenal that given the start line Patrick uses, it'll look to a batter like it's going to hit him, if the batter thinks it's either the cutter or the slurve. To a lefty, the pitch can tunnel a bit with the four-seamer, but it has to be set up in a different way. Here's a glance at the arsenal if we use the sinker as the anchor. So, let's look at one more way the pitch actually worked in a real matchup. In a showdown with the Nationals' Jorbit Vivas on Friday, Patrick started him with a more traditionally located two-seamer, hitting the outside edge of the zone for strike one. (It was initially called a ball, but Contreras got it back with a challenge via ABS.) Next, he dropped a fantastic slurve into the bottom, inner quadrant of the zone, getting ahead 0-2. The question was how to put Vivas away from there. Patrick guessed that Vivas would be looking for the cutter or the four-seamer, upstairs. He was right. Instead of giving Vivas that, though, he threw him a high, front-door sinker. As you can see above, it wasn't pinpoint location, but it worked, because Vivas hit the inside of the ball. He was trying to get his barrel around and through a four-seamer or cutter; the sinker ran off the side of the stick and produced an easy fly ball. NnlNcW9fWGw0TUFRPT1fQlZWUUFsQUdYd1VBREFaUUFnQUhBbFVEQUZnTkFsRUFVMUVEQ0FJSEFRQlVCd2Rl.mp4 Throwing the glove-side sinker takes some fearlessness and guile, as well as tactile command. Patrick has shown all of that this spring. This pitch is one more way in which he frustrates batters, despite his apparent lack of a swing-and-miss out pitch. He works in a three-pitch tunnel with the rest of his arsenal, but when it comes to the sinker, the tunnel isn't the point. Rather, Patrick is inviting batters to hone in on that tunnel—then working beyond it, forcing them to reconceptualize their approach and (if nothing else) be less locked in when he goes back to his tunneled set. View the full article

One of the few bright spots to an otherwise dismal start to the New York Mets' season has been doused. Left fielder-first baseman Jared Young was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a torn meniscus in his left knee. Outfielder MJ Melendez was called up from Triple-A Syracuse to take Young's place on the roster. At 7-11 entering Wednesday's series finale vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers and an offense that has been scuffling, Young stood out in the early part of the season. After making the Opening Day roster, the 30-year-old switch-hitter had produced a .350/.391/.450 slash line with no homers and two RBIs while appearing in 11 games, mainly against left-handed pitching. Young last appeared in Sunday's 1-0 loss to the A's, which is when he reported experiencing soreness in his left knee. He underwent imaging, which revealed the tear. Melendez will be making his Mets debut after playing the last four years for the Kansas City Royals, then signing a split deal with New York in the offseason. At Syracuse, Melendez had a slash line of .216/.286/.431 with two homers and three RBIs in 14 games. View the full article

The Porter Hodge situation took a dramatic turn Wednesday. The right-handed reliever, who has appeared in 75 games over the past two seasons, will have surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow next week, manager Craig Counsell said before Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. That would put most if not all of next season in jeopardy for Hodge. Counsell said Hodge, who began throwing again April 4 after being shut down early in spring training, recently had a setback that led to the decision to have the procedure, which will take place Monday. Right-handed starter Cade Horton is slated to have his UCL reconstruction surgery Thursday. The 25-year-old Hodge made his MLB debut in 2024 and had a fantastic year. In 39 appearances, Hodge compiled a 1.88 ERA and converted nine of 12 save opportunities. His 2025 was almost the opposite of his rookie year as Hodge's ERA blew up to 6.27 in 36 games, including two saves in five chances. View the full article

Each of the Boston Red Sox's affiliates have officially played at least a full series now, with Portland having played the least number of games at eight as of the beginning of this week. While Boston has been playing inconsistently, the four minor-league affiliates have allowed fans a chance to enjoy winning baseball while providing a window into the future. With that said, we’re going to look into three of the best players across the organization since the start of the minor-league season, and three players who have been playing less than optimally. Red Sox's Farm System Standouts Anthony Eyanson, Pitcher (7 1/3 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 13 strikeouts) To say Eyanson is one of the best prospects in the system two weeks into his professional career may not be an understatement. Drafted in the third round of the 2025 draft, the young right-hander is shaping up to be a steal for the Red Sox. Besides his great stat line from his first two starts, Eyanson is also coming off of a perfect outing. In his latest appearance, the pitcher threw 4 1/3 innings without allowing a runner to reach base while striking out seven batters. While it’s only a matter of time before he surrenders his first walk, Eyanson is currently sitting on a phenomenal strikeout rate of 52% rate without any free passes under his belt. Likewise, batters are only making contact on 53.1% of his pitches while whiffing on roughly 22% of his pitches. If a batter does manage to make contact, they’ve mostly been hitting them into the ground, as seven of the 12 balls put into play have turned into ground balls. The lone fly ball surrendered by Eyanson did turn into a home run, however. While Eyanson is being slowly built up as a pitcher, he’s showing just how dominant he truly can be while holding opposing batters to a .120 batting average. If he continues to pitch like this, it’s only a matter of time until he’s promoted to Portland. Franklin Arias, Shortstop (.588/.636/.706, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs) Arias truly broke onto the scene as a top prospect last season when he hit a combined .278/.335/.388 between Salem, Greenville and Portland. This season, he’s started off even hotter through his first six games. Despite being just 20 years old, the shortstop is not being intimidated by the more advanced pitching in Double-A. Arias is flexing a well-rounded plate approach, walking at a 9.1% rate that matches his strikeout rate. He's a dangerous weapon for any offense looking to put pressure on the defense. When he's putting the ball in play, he’s begun the year hitting it less on the ground. With a ground ball rate of 31.3%, that’s equal to the number of baseballs he’s hitting as fly balls. It’s his line drive percentage that has improved to 37.5%. The change in approach and launch angle could help Arias hit for extra bases despite his lack of over-the-fence power. Though one thing to be weary of is his pull-heavy approach early on. Arias is currently pulling balls to the left side of the field at a career-high 62.5% rate. Whether this is a change in approach or just how opposing teams are pitching him is currently unknown but should be watched as the season continues. Tsung-Che Cheng, Infielder (.316/.447/.711, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 6 RBIs) Cheng has surprised many this season with his play on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he’s always been a solid defender between second base, shortstop and third base and that has continued with Worcester as he’s split time at the former two. In 11 games between the two positions, he’s committed just one error. It’s his offense that has been a surprise, however. The infielder wowed everyone at Polar Park on April 10 when he hit for the first cycle in WooSox history. Based on how he hit last year (.207/.305/.267), no one could have predicted this hot start to the season. Though, one thing that has helped him out is his high walk percentage. So far on the young season, he’s walking nearly 18% of the time while striking out in just under 21% of his at-bats. His numbers have stayed roughly in line with his career for ground ball to fly balls with the young infielder putting the ball on the ground 42.9% of the time, a small drop from his 52.9% rate in 2025. He’s also used the entire field as he’s pulled the ball 32.1% of the time while going the other way on 39.3% of his batted balls. This is the kind of profile that will succeed in the big leagues, so more of the same from Cheng would go a long way toward helping his prospect stock. Red Sox's Farm System Disappointments Jorge Juan, Pitcher (1 2/3 innings, 1 hit, 5 runs, 5 walks, 1 strikeout) Juan is an interesting player who joined Portland after the 2025 season began. He made 22 appearances and wasn’t too bad (4.78 ERA in 32 innings), but he also wasn’t too impressive. Coming into 2026 he hoped to break out, but that hasn't been the case just yet. Making two appearances, Juan struggled in his first outing as he failed to get a single out. Instead, he allowed five earned runs without allowing a hit. He also walked three batters and hit another two. It was a very ugly debut to a season for the pitcher. Fortunately, his second appearance went better, as he tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Unfortunately, that’s been it for the right-handed reliever as he was placed on the injured list. His timetable for a return is currently unknown and by the time he comes back, there may not be room for him depending on how the roster in Greenville looks. Antonio Anderson, Infielder (.067/.211/.067, 2 RBIs) In what is a big year for Anderson, the former third-round pick has struggled to get going. In five games, he’s gone 1-for-15 and been leapfrogged on the team’s depth chart. After starting the two of the first three games of the season, Anderson did not play again until April 9. Anderson is currently striking out at the same rate he walks at, a 15.8% rate. He’s shown an ability to understand the strike zone but has struggled to get base hits on the balls he puts into play (.077 BABIP). That may just be a sign of horrendous luck, but he needs to get going if he wants to continue getting playing time. The good news is he’s been hitting the ball on a line drive more often, representing 30.8% of his batted balls compared to 23.3% in 2025. Unfortunately, it’s led to little success for Anderson. Defensively, it hasn’t gone much better as the infielder has played one game at third base and committed two errors. He’s had better success at first base, but playing time there may be hard to come by with Freili Encarnacion also on the roster. Frederik Jimenez, Utility (.000/.294/.000, 2 RBIs) Jimenez has had a rough start to the season. The only player in the Red Sox organization who’s played that’s yet to get a hit, Jimenez is currently 0-for-11 with eight strikeouts. The young utility player is in his age-21 season and hasn’t appeared to improve much from an offensively challenged 2025 season. Despite a 47.1% strikeout rate, Jimenez is also walking at nearly a 30% rate, though it does little to counteract his lack of hits. Of his batted balls, none have been on the ground, with 66.7% of them being fly balls. The remaining 33.3% were line drives. He’s also had a hard time pulling ball, only doing so 25% of the time while only making contact with the baseball on 48.5% of his swings. Defensively, he’s appeared at first base in all four games he played in. He’s been fine on that side of the ball, making 23 outs and turning three double plays while only committing one error, but his bat needs to get going lest he get quickly lost in the shuffle. View the full article

There was plenty for the Minnesota Twins to celebrate on Tuesday night at Target Field after a 6-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. Still, by the time the clubhouse doors opened and the postgame conversations began, the focus had shifted away from the box score. The moment everyone wanted to talk about happened in the fifth inning, and it had nothing to do with a pitch or a swing. As Boston’s Jarren Duran returned to the dugout following a groundout, he directed an obscene gesture toward a fan seated near the Twins’ dugout. The interaction quickly became the center of attention, especially after Duran explained what led to his reaction. "Somebody just told me to kill myself," Duran said. "I'm used to it at this point, you know? I mean, s--- happens. I mean, I'm going to flip somebody off if they say something to me, but it is what it is. I shouldn't react like that, but that kind of stuff is still kind of triggering." It is a jarring quote, and it reframes the moment immediately. What may have looked like a simple loss of composure becomes something far more complicated when placed in that context. Duran has been open about his mental health journey, including severe depression and a past suicide attempt that he discussed publicly in a Netflix series released last year. That transparency has helped humanize a player often seen only through the lens of performance, but it has also opened the door to a darker side of fan interaction. "Honestly, it's my fault for talking about my mental health because I kind of brought in the haters. So I've just got to get used to it," Duran said. "I was just trying to hold it in and not really bring that up to the team. I mean, we're trying to win a game. I shouldn't even bring that up to anybody. ... It just happens." There is a lot to unpack in those words. The idea that speaking openly about mental health invites abuse is a troubling reflection of how conversations like these are still handled in public spaces. At the same time, Duran acknowledges that his reaction crossed a line, even if the comment that sparked it went far beyond anything acceptable. Boston manager Alex Cora said he did not see the incident unfold and had not yet reviewed the video afterward, leaving the situation to be addressed more fully at a later time. This is not the first time Duran has found himself in the spotlight for an interaction with a fan. In 2024, he served a two game suspension after directing an anti gay slur during a separate incident. That history adds another layer to how moments like this are perceived, both inside the game and across social media, where reactions were predictably split. Some defended Duran’s response, arguing that players should not be expected to absorb deeply personal and harmful comments without reacting. Others pointed to the need for professionalism, regardless of circumstance, especially given his prior discipline. Both perspectives exist because this is not a simple issue. What should be simple is the baseline expectation for fan behavior. There is a difference between heckling and crossing a line into something personal and dangerous. Players are public figures, but they are not immune to the impact of words that go well beyond the boundaries of the game. But baseball does not exist in a vacuum. Moments like this serve as reminders that what happens in the stands can carry just as much weight as what happens between the lines. View the full article

Box Score Starting Pitchers: Simeon Woods-Richardson - 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (92 pitches, 57 strikes (62% strikes)) Home Runs: Austin Martin (1), Ryan Kreidler (1) Bottom 3 WPA: Simeon Woods Richardson (-0.39); Byron Buxton (-0.05); Matt Wallner (-0.04) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) It Looked Promising The Twins rolled into this game having already secured the series—making it three in a row—but every game counts as a team builds towards the later part of the spring. Extending their home winning streak to seven games would have been a wonderful way to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day. Instead, dead lumber and lousy leather derailed them in the early innings, putting them in a hole they couldn't escape. The Twins faced 24-year-old lefty Connelly Early, fresh off a late 2025 call-up and still very much in his rookie era. The hot-hitting home lineup welcomed him with a solo home run from Austin Martin, who dropped the barrel on a pitch down and in and pulled it out of the park. Connelly settled in after that, though, and kept the Twins to two hits and one run for the next five innings, before handing things off to the beleaguered Boston bullpen. New Bomba Squad? While today wasn't a great example of multiple home runs, it doesn't take away from the fact that the Twins lineup has shown a lot of consistency in their hitting. It hasn’t mattered who teams send out to the mound. In fact, lefties have posed the team no problems, despite preseason expectations to the contrary. Too early to say it? Maybe. But also… it’s starting to feel a little Bomba-ish. The Twins pull the ball in the air as much as almost anyone in baseball. They're unlikely to make history this time, but if they can keep slugging the way they did even on a down day Wednesday, everyone will have a more fun summer than was forecasted. It's Not Over Until It's Over... or Something Like That. Even in a game where the guys looked down and out, in the ninth inning, Derek Shelton's competitive bunch put up a fight. In the last of 15 straight games between off days, they could have mailed in what shaped up to be a blowout loss, but they didn't. The Twins started chipping away when Tristan Gray sparked momentum with a single, followed by Matt Wallner drawing a walk to put some real traffic on the basepaths. Brooks Lee delivered, too, ripping an RBI single to bring a run home and keep the inning alive. Ryan Kreidler stepped in, then, and made things interesting, right at the death. He hit his second home run of the week, another no-doubter. Suddenly, what felt like a comfortable 9-1 Boston lead had been cut in half, forcing a mound visit and a pitching change as the Red Sox tried to stop the surge. Minnesota didn’t just score—they made Boston sweat. Alas, the comeback fell far short. Simeon Woods-Richardson entered the game hoping to bounce back after a rough outing against the Blue Jays, wherein he was reportedly pitching through illness. If that’s the case, it offers some context—because otherwise, the performance raised concerns for the young starter. He looked sharp through the first two innings, but things unraveled quickly in the third. Three misplays by Luke Keaschall spread acorss two plays helped Boston score twice to flip the score. Trevor Story then delivered a three-run homer to blow the game open, extending the lead to 5-1. Woods-Richardson battled through the fourth inning. Despite walking two more and having poor defensive support again, he managed to escape without further damage. In the fifth, he wasn't so lucky, and the Red Sox extended their advantage to 7-1. The Sox were on Woods Richardson all day, but he got such lousy support from his infielders that it's hard to hang the loss on him. The bullpen gave up two more runs, neutering the eventual would-be rally before it could begin. Jackie Robinson Day Celebrated Today is a very special day across MLB: Jackie Robinson Day. It comes at a moment when the league feels like it has renewed momentum toward inclusion and diversity in the player ranks. Across the league, the percentage of Black players on Opening Day active and inactive lists increased from 6.0% in 2024 to 6.2% in 2025 to 6.8% in 2026. This marks the first time in at least two decades that MLB has had back-to-back years of increases in that percentage. The 0.6% increase from last year is the highest since a 0.7% increase from 2017 to 2018. Woods Richardson and Taj Bradley are proud to be members of the fraternity of Black starting pitchers. Byron Buxton and Josh Bell have two of the four corner lockers in the Twins clubhouse, offering leadership and mentorship to teammates of all races. This is arguably the most important holiday on the baseball calendar; the Twins have much to celebrate, despite the loss. What’s Next? After an off day, the Twins will welcome the Reds to town for the weekend. On Friday, the team sends ace Joe Ryan to the mound (2-1, 3.80 ERA), to face Brandon Williamson (1-1, 5.28 ERA). Postgame Interviews Coming soon. Bullpen Availability Chart View the full article

Things aren’t going particularly well for the New York Mets right now. Before taking the field against the Dodgers in their three-games series finale, they have lost seven straight games and are in last place in the NL East with a 7-11 record. You can say a lot of things about the Mets' struggles thus far, but their catching tandem has been a no-doubt-about-it net positive in 2026. Starter Francisco Alvarez is among the hottest hitters in the league, and backup Luis Torrens offers the kind of defensive reliability that managers relish. Francisco Alvarez Is Breaking Out Let’s start with the one who is behind the plate most of the days, Alvarez. He leads the Mets with four home runs, and his 179 wRC+ ranked eighth among National League hitters with at least 50 plate appearances before Tuesday’s games. That’s not too shabby, seeing as it’s also the best mark in baseball among full-time catchers. Alvarez’s offensive potential has always been enormous. He hit 25 home runs as a rookie in 2023, posted a 101 wRC+ a year later, and finished 2025 with a 124 wRC+ even after nursing a hamate bone injury, broken fingers, and other ailments. He entered 2026 fully healthy and ready to take off, and that’s what he’s doing. Alvarez is basically walking a bit more than ever before while cutting his strikeout rate from 26.4 percent last year to 18.2 percent in 2026. That major improvement, plus his amazing contact metrics, have allowed him to increase his batting average to a solid .283. The backstop is also hitting the ball with authority, so it’s not just empty contact. His 50 percent hard-hit rate ranks in the 79th percentile, and his 23.5 percent barrel rate is absolutely elite, in the 97th percentile. His expected slugging percentage is a jaw-dropping .722, significantly better than his .605 actual mark. So, if you think he has been magnificent, well, he has actually been a bit unlucky, too. Alvarez has managed to grow at the plate every year and against every pitch, as his xwOBA chart indicates that he is one of the most dangerous hitters in the National League: Luis Torrens Has Been An Asset Behind The Plate Torrens is not much of a hitter, with a career 80 wRC+ and a 63 mark this year, in 19 trips to the plate. He justifies his spot on the roster with excellent skills behind the plate, though. Besides being a solid game-caller, Torrens is above-average to excellent in virtually every facet of his craft: blocking, throwing, and framing. In fact, he racked up 10 FRV (Fielding Run Value, a Statcast metric that considers contributions in all those departments) last year, good enough to rank fifth among MLB catchers with at least 600 innings. This year, Torrens already has +2 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and +1 FRV. He is a net positive in the ever-important framing department, and pitchers completely trust him. Torrens’ lack of offense caps his ceiling to a very solid backup, but the Mets are extremely happy with his work. He is the perfect complement to Alvarez. The Whole Package: Alvarez Can Be An Above-Average Defensive Catcher While Torrens’ limited bat prevents him from being an All-Star catcher, it’s fair to say that Alvarez can be a solid defensive backstop. In fact, he has been one in the past, but we would have to go to 2023 to find some of his best work. That season, a 21-year-old Alvarez ranked in the 95th percentile in Fielding Run Value, with 11. He was also in the 97th percentile in framing, so yes: if injuries don’t get in the way, we are talking about a potential two-way contributor at one of baseball’s most important positions. Alvarez regressed to a -5 DRS and -6 FRV last year, but it was also a rough campaign for him health-wise. He is still only 24, though, so a return to his 2023 form or at least close to it is not entirely out of the question. In any case, the Mets have plenty of things to worry about right now, but their catchers definitely aren’t one of them. View the full article

In a boxing match, you don't spend your time waiting and hoping for the chance to land one haymaker. If the other person in the ring were ready to go down and never get back up on the strength of one solid blow, they wouldn't be in the ring with you. Pugilism feels outdated in the 21st century, but there's a reason it was once called the "sweet science": the challenge within it is intricate. You do want to wait and build toward something, but it's the opening to deliver six or seven telling blows, not one. That's how the Twins are turning in a devastating offensive effort so far this year, and especially during the sizzling nine-game heater on which they enter the final game of their series against the Boston Red Sox. They're patient, but they're also opportunistic—and that doesn't just mean hitting mistake pitches out of the park. "Well, I don't know if I expected, you know, multiple seven-run innings or whatever they've been," said manager Derek Shelton on Tuesday. "I think the thing that has been the most impressive is how we've done it. It hasn't been just a homer, a hit, a hit, a hit. There's walks mixed in, I mean, hit by pitches, you cannot control, but the cadence to how we're doing it and to be able to sustain innings, I think has been what's the most impressive thing." Shelton is right. When the Twins scored three runs against former Twin Sonny Gray Tuesday night in the fourth inning, the tallies came on four straight hits to start the frame. One of those was a homer, but it was just the opening volley. They hammered away at Gray while he was reeling, with three more hits. In the first inning Monday night, they scored four times on Garrett Crochet without a home run, and they already had three runs on the board against him in the second before crushing two long homers to put the game away. This is not to decry home runs, which remain a focal point of every modern offense, including the Twins'. As Shelton noted, though, it will have to be more than that, if the team wants to sustain the success they've enjoyed over the last fortnight. "We have to manufacture runs," Shelton said. "Home runs are sexy, but they don’t sustain." He went on to say that his focus within each inning is to get a runner to third base with less than two outs, however that has to be done. He believes the team can apply much more pressure to the pitcher and open holes in the defense by consistently creating those situations within innings. Vital to that endeavor is a shared focus, and lots of communication—both in the dugout, and around the batting cage. Shelton believes new lead hitting coach Keith Beauregard has prepared his charges brilliantly, and that they're able to feed off one another because they've learned to speak the same hitting language and pass information quickly. "The greatest indication is, watch our dugout for two innings [Monday]," Shelton said. "Just the enthusiasm, the excitement, the conversation. I think the thing that is imparted is, you see young players now, Keaschall, Lee, coming back, having conversations with guys on deck, guys in the hole. This is what the pitch does. That comes when you have veteran hitters and they have the ability to communicate. And we were fortunate that we were able to add some guys to our group that really have a good way about them." He's talking—everyone around the Twins is talking—about Josh Bell and Victor Caratini. Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee are polished, smart, self-possessed hitters, and Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers have been leading by example for years, but Bell and Caratini have been welcome additions to a mix of hitters who had underachieved over the past two seasons. When information flows freely through the lineup, so does confidence; so does conviction; and so does production. Some of this is technical, rather than merely a vibe. The Twins have five of the biggest bat speed decliners in the sport so far this season, according to Statcast: Caratini, Bell, Buxton, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner. In reality, though, those guys are capable of swinging as hard as ever. As Jeffers began doing more frequently last year, they're merely modulating their swings more—not cutting them down, but changing how they start them and how they visualize finishing them. Under Beauregard's tutelage, these guys are anticipating and preparing with a greater sense of surety, which has them starting earlier and knowing what they're looking for in the box. If they get it, they're already on their way to it, and they don't have to rush their barrel, thus losing accuracy with it. If the pitch isn't what they expected, they have the faith in their preparation and in one another to either take it or whiff on it, rather than making an emergency adjustment that leads to weak contact. Bell was a perfect addition, because he was already doing that before he arrived. "They really haven't asked me to do anything different," Bell said of his approach and his mechanics. "We just talk about what we're looking for and being ready when we get it, and I have no problems with that because the results have been great." For other Twins, the adjustment has been bigger, but the rewards they're now starting to reap make it all feel worthwhile. Kody Clemens gave back the swing speed gains he made in 2025, which allowed him to hit 19 home runs in his first extended playing time in the majors. Unlike Bell, he has ugly numbers so far this year, but he's reached base five times (including hitting a home run) in his last 13 trips to the plate, as he's gotten more used to the marriage between preparation and execution under Beauregard and company. "it’s hard. It’s hard for hitting coaches," Shelton said of his staff's fight to stay on message and keep the hitters onside when the season began with more frustrating days. "And that’s the frustration of hitting coaches. Because players want immediate results. They want immediate success. So the commitment, the conversations, the communication when you’re in the cage is vital. And that’s where that trust is built. And that trust is not built easy." Clemens, at least, had the spring to implement the alterations Beauregard, Rayden Sierra and Trevor Amicone prescribed for his timing. Buxton had no such luck. "For the most part, my swing feels good [now," Buxton said, after breaking out in a massive way Tuesday night after slowly warming for the previous week. "Still a few things to figure out here and there—three weeks, eight at-bats will set you back a little bit." He's referring to his time with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, where he only played sparingly. That also denied him time with Beauregard, Sierra and Amicone, and he admitted to trying to "rush my swing back" in the first days of the season. Now, Buxton is very much in the middle of the Twins' offensive outburst. He not only hit two long homers Tuesday night, but scored the team's first run in the style Shelton seems to prefer. He was on second when Keaschall hit a flared liner to center in the first inning. He initially froze, but saw that Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran got a late break on the ball and turned on the jets. He scored, albeit on a close play after a highly aggressive send. Shelton called the decision to try it "elite," and both the manager and his star chuckled after the game about a shared moment in the dugout later. Buxton asked Shelton whether he thought he should have stayed at third on the play. Shelton said he trusted Buxton, and that he was the one on the field, reading it in the moment. That's the level of trust between the skipper and his offensive leaders, and the level of ownership and energy the lineup is taking, in turn. It won't always be this rosy, but for now, the Twins are rolling, thanks to a corps of hitters playing to their potential under a shaken-up coaching staff and a nice balance of new and old veteran leadership. They have patience, but once the opening comes, they want to land five knockout punches, not just one. View the full article

The San Diego Padres are on something of a roll. After starting the season 1-4, they’ve won 10 of their past 12 and own the second-best record in the National League. Usually, when a team is racking up wins with such ferocity, there is a bit of good fortune at play, but the Padres have gotten off to a 11-6 start despite possessing the least lucky bats in the league. Based on Statcast’s expected statistics, the Padres, as a team, should have a wOBA of .346. That’s the third-best figure in the league, which suggests that this is one of the league’s elite offenses. Well, here’s the thing: Baseball isn’t played in a simulation, and the Padres' actual wOBA is .314, which ranks 17th, and is sandwiched between the Guardians and Angels. While a guardian angel is usually nice company to keep, that’s not the case when it comes to hitting a baseball. So, what the heck is going on here? When Statcast debuted in 2015, the tired excuse of explaining away everything with BABIP finally eased. Make no mistake, hitting them where they ain’t is still a great idea, but exit velocities and launch angles made analyzing hitting as granular as it had ever been. We suddenly knew, with increased precision, the likelihood that any batted ball would be a hit, if it would clear the fence, who was getting hosed by bad luck, and who was really struggling at the plate. However, expected stats are just probabilities based on launch angle and exit velocity. In the real world, you can’t hit 50% of a double; you either get to second and get 100% of it, or you don’t and get 0%. Now, stacking a bunch of probabilities based on real events usually gets you very good results, and it’s why expected stats have steadily grown to almost become the actual stats, which is weird, because one is imaginary, and the other is very, very real, which brings us back to the Padres. The Padres are underperforming their Statcast data by a massive margin. To put human faces to their agony, Francisco Lindor produced a wOBA of .350 last season (right around the Padres' current mark), while Miguel Vargas managed a wOBA of .314. Ask yourself this: would you rather have Lindor come up nine times in a row or Vargas? The simple explanation for this divergence between the expected and the actual is that the Padres are getting unlucky, and their statistics will slowly converge with their expected statistics. While I agree directionally with that notion, it also misses a crucial component. Expected stats are based on all batted balls hit throughout the year, but Petco Park loves to suppress offense, and especially so in April. The Padres have played 11 out of 17 games at Petco, with their other six coming at Fenway and PNC Park. Petco is one of the toughest places to hit, PNC is also a bottom-third hitters' park, and while Fenway is a hitters' park, it is in a very unique way. Fenway suppresses triples and home runs tremendously, but it is the best park in the league to hit doubles. Depending on how you hit the ball, it is feast or famine. Using Baseball Savant’s three-year rolling park factor as our baseline, Petco has a park factor of 97, PNC 99, and Fenway 105. Just on that alone, you’d expect the Padres to underperform their expected stats a tad, but according to research by Kiri Oler of Fangraphs, each of Petco, PNC, and Fenway are 4% less hitter-friendly in April than their overall figure. And on top of that, the time of day can make a dramatic difference in how a park plays. For instance, Petco has a park factor of 99 during the day, nearly league average, but falls to 96 at night, while PNC has a park factor of 97 during the day and 101 at night. Considering the Padres have played seven of their 16 games at Petco at night in April, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see their batted ball results lagging behind their exit velocities and launch angles. With this cocktail of information, we can do back-of-the-envelope math to see what type of park factor the Padres have opened the season with. Using the time of day park factors and inputting the -4% April park factor tax, the Padres, on average, have played in a ballpark with a 94.56 park factor. That’d be the worst park outside of T-Mobile in Seattle (91), which is in a tier of its own. Does this mean the Padres haven’t gotten a little unlucky with their batted balls? Almost certainly not, but the combination of bad luck and a rough-hitting environment is the reason they’re underperforming their expected stats more than any other team. As the weather warms up, so should the Padres’ bats, but in the meantime, maybe try scheduling a few more day games in April. View the full article

In the last decade—and especially on this side of the COVID-19 disruption—we've seen MLB teams move from the traditional starter-backup catching arrangement to one much closer to an even timeshare. The Cubs signed Carons Kelly in late 2024 to accommodate their move toward that very model. With Miguel Amaya establishing himself as (they hoped) the catcher of the present and future, Chicago looked to Kelly to provide stability and keep Amaya's workload relatively low, given his long history of injury trouble. To whatever extent the goal was to keep Amaya healthy, the plan failed. The younger backstop went down with an oblique strain in May, then came back and immediately suffered an ankle sprain in August. Amaya is still dealing with the effects of those injuries, and his track record says he might never be able to carry even an 80-game burden at catcher. Fortunately, though, the Cubs got more than they could reasonably have hoped for from Kelly. A stance and stride adjustment last spring helped Kelly get off to a blazing start at the plate. He struggled after Amaya went down, as his own workload suddenly spiked, but he remained a solid defensive backstop and manager of the game plan on the field. He wasn't a zero in the lineup, either; he just lost the thunder that he showed early in the campaign. Maybe that will happen again this season. The Cubs will be similarly out of good complementary options if Amaya gets hurt again, so the risk that Kelly ends up overloaded remains real. So far, though, he's batting a stellar .333/.455/.467, in 55 plate appearances. Over the last two seasons, he was not only superficially usable at catcher, but genuinely above-average at the plate, according to Baseball Prospectus's DRC+. He ran a 106 in his 2024 season, divided between the Detroit Tigers and Texas. In 2025, that figure held firm, at 104. This season, that figure is up to 118. He's been a weapon in a lineup that has needed him, as some of the players on whom the team expected to rely more heavily have gotten off to slow starts. Shortening his stride unlocked some power for Kelly, but the bulk of his changes came in 2024, before the Cubs got ahold of him. He got more aggressive in the strike zone, without chasing more, and he made more contact on those in-zone swings, to boot. He's held onto those improvements in his first year-plus with the Cubs, taking his offensive game to a new level. Kelly has always had a good eye at the plate. His 10.1% walk rate since the start of 2024 is the same as the one he posted from 2021-23. His strikeout rate has come down, though, from 21.4% to 18.1%, even as he's hit the ball harder. Now that we have bat-tracking data, it's fairly easy to see just how well Kelly's hand-eye coordination serves him. It's not just about making contact; he's squared the ball up on over 28% of his swings since the start of 2024. (The definition of squaring a ball up, for these purposes, is getting at least 80% of the possible exit velocity out of a given swing, based on the velocity of the incoming pitch and the speed of the swing.) This year, although the sample is far too small to assume it will hold, that number is over 38%. The league averages just under 26%. Kelly's bat speed is nothing special, but because he consistently hits it solidly, he doesn't need that lightning-fast rotation. As he's come to understand that about himself, he's gotten better at making good swing decisions and putting the ball in play. He's also been a star behind the plate. Last season, he excelled at blocking pitches in the dirt and preventing runners from advancing on them. He doesn't have an especially strong arm, but as is true of his lack of plus bat speed, he makes up for deficient talent with a surfeit of skill; he's one of the most accurate throwers in the game. He's a slightly below-average pitch framer, but this season, he's found a way to overcome that—and then some. Kelly has challenged nine called balls behind the plate this year, and gotten seven calls overturned. Statcast's model gives him 13 expected challenges, meaning there were some called balls (because he's not a great framer, especially along the lateral edges and at the top of the zone) he could plausibly have also challenged. However, the same model only suggests he should have won 7 of those challenges, so he's merely saved four expected confirmations (and four lost challenges for the Cubs) by being judicious. When hitters have challenged calls against Kelly, meanwhile, they've paid a dear price. Opposing batters are just 3-for-12 when challenging called strikes with Kelly catching this season. In one knot at the very bottom of the zone, he's induced five bad challenges by hitters. The Pirates wasted their challenges as a team on Sunday by challenging two near-identical pitches on which Kelly caught the ball somewhat snatchily, but which turned out to be legitimate strikes. Here's one of them, right away in the first inning: NnlNNzNfWGw0TUFRPT1fVWxCUVZWUlJVRkVBRGdjS1VRQUhDQVJXQUZoUVV3TUFCQVlNQXdSUUFBWUhCQW9B.mp4 And here's the other, in the seventh, just before the Cubs got some momentum and came back to win the game. NnlNNzNfVjBZQUhRPT1fVkFCVEJnRUVYd0VBWEZJQ0FnQUhDUUJTQUFCV1dsa0FWd2NIVVFzQUJGRlhVVkJm.mp4 It might look inelegant, but this style of framing works, and this year, it's become even more valuable than it was in the past. When Kelly catches a ball like that and the umpire makes the right call, there's still one party left who might be fooled: the poor hitter. After what they felt was an especially good take, watching the ball almost into the mitt, many hitters feel overconfident about their own zone judgment, especially when a catcher moves their mitt in an obvious way. Coaxing batters into bad challenges that cost their team the right to appeal decisions later in games is one new way catchers can create value under the ABS system, and lo, Kelly is doing it. He'll be most productive if the team continues to use Amaya as close to half the time as possible. Even if that does continue, he won't have an OPS near 1.000 all season. Kelly has made real and tangible improvements, though, and he's one of those players whose makeup and a key adjustment or two allows them to enjoy a later prime than others. You'll never hear him talked about as an All-Star, let alone an MVP candidate, because constraints on volume make him more effective. Like the 6th Man of the Year in the NBA or the Relief Pitcher Award coming to the BBWAA awards suite this season, though, an award for players who provide value by giving a team length, strength and depth while also playing at a near-elite level during their limited time on the field might ought to exist. If it did, Kelly would be a candidate for it. He's been that good since joining the Cubs, and he has a chance to be even better in 2026 than he was in 2025. View the full article

Jays Centre is counting down the top 20 prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Check out prior entries in the series here: No. 20 to 16 No. 15 to 11 No. 10 No. 9 No. 8 No. 7 No. 6 No. 5 No. 4 No. 3: LHP Ricky Tiedemann It has been a long time since we have seen Ricky Tiedemann pitch in a game. The once top prospect for the Toronto Blue Jays has had setback after setback with an arm injury, as he last pitched on June 10, 2024. Although the talent is undeniable, the question regarding his health remains ever the issue. Tiedemann was added to the 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 draft in order to protect him from getting selected by other teams, but that has now started the clock for him, and the Jays need to see real production out of him before he runs out of option years, The easiest way for Tiedemann to do that is to show that he’s healthy and that his stuff remains as nasty as it was pre-elbow surgery. Unfortunately for Tiedemann, every time that it has felt like he would have a chance to show his skills, he has instead faced a setback. He was unable to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, and despite a full offseason of rest, he had another setback before spring training, forcing him to miss that as well. Before the injury, Tiedemann showed two plus pitches. His fastball sat in the mid-90s and touched 98 mph, with solid ride and a lot of run. He also threw a sweeper with nasty break as his main secondary pitch, but recent reports say that he’s now throwing a different type of slider that will have more velo and have less break in order to reduce injury risk. His changeup was his best pitch out of JuCo, but it took a step back compared to his other pitches as he progressed. Tiedemann is still a physical specimen, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing over 250 lbs, and his whippy arm action creates a ton of deception out of his lower slot. He showed decent command in 2022 and 2023, but as injury concerns popped up, so did walk issues. A lack of reps will most likely cause him to struggle even more with command when he comes back, as he’ll need to regain a feel for his delivery. Tiedemann started the 2026 season on the 7-day injured list, and given his injury history, the Jays are rightfully starting him slowly. He’ll be used mostly in a bulk relief role; his potential as a strong mid-rotation pitcher is tantalizing, but the lack of a clean bill of health and all the time he's missed mean his injury risk is high. If the Jays want to prioritize winning now, they might use him as a reliever in the final stretch instead of focusing primarily on his development. If Tiedemann can stay healthy, however, he may finally showcase the potential that he flashed when he last pitched nearly two years ago. View the full article