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Through the first couple weeks of the season, Walker Jenkins is already showing some interesting trends. The power hasn’t shown up yet, but his approach, contact, and patience at the plate point to a hitter taking a real step forward. View the full article

Wilyer Abreu was quiet this past weekend in St. Louis. But through two and a half weeks, his 2026 campaign has been anything but. Entering this offseason, there were a lot of question marks about the Boston Red Sox offensive outlook moving forward. When the front office left a handful of those questions unanswered, baseball experts and fans alike were left wondering where hits and runs would come from. Abreu quickly became a lead candidate of internal options that would have to take a step forward if the team was going to achieve its goals of getting back to the playoffs this coming fall. So far, he's more than answered the call. Across MLB, Abreu is 7th in hits, 12th in BA, 13th in SLG, and 16th in OPS. Those marks are all good for first among Red Sox hitters, as his team-leading 178 wRC+. In general, he sits at or near the top in every other offensive statistic for a Red Sox team that desperately needed a hitter to step up and do consistent damage. What has led to Abreu’s early success this season? To start, when he swings, he is making a lot of contact. His zone-contact percentage, which measures his contact percentage when he swings at pitches in the strike zone, has steadily climbed throughout his career but now sits at 88.1%. For pitches out of the zone, he is chasing right around his career average, but this season he is making more contact when he chases at 55.2%, well above his career average. Contact is a great start, but it is what he is doing with the contact that really matters. His barrel percentage and hard-hit rate are both at career highs at 14.6% and 50.0%, respectively. While not his absolute best, his max exit velocity this season is 113.1 MPH, which is harder than any ball he hit in 2025. That kind of contact quality is what leads to All-Star nods, Silver Sluggers, and, potentially, MVP votes. Maybe the biggest question was if Abreu could hit better against lefties as he began a full-time role sans a platoon split. The numbers tell the story. His career slash line split against lefties is .219/.278/.336 with a .286 BABIP. His slash line split against lefties in 2026 is .333/.375/.467 with a 137 wRC+. Obviously, we are only in mid-April, but the early returns are cause for optimism. If the rest of the team has you feeling pessimistic, it's fair to point out that his walk rate is at a career low 7.5%, which is more than two points below last year. This should steady as the season goes on, but it is something to keep an eye out for. All in all, his contributions on both offense and defense have been worth 1.0 fWAR, which is tied for the fifth-highest mark in baseball. There is no doubt that Abreu has been a catalyst for a Red Sox's offense that's weathering slow starts from nearly everyone else. Abreu will look to carry the momentum forward and if his teammates team follow his lead, they will find themselves playing in October. View the full article

The competition for right-handed starter Lucas Giolito is heating up, which means there could be a decision soon on one of the top free agents from this past offseason. According to The Athletic on Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres are the top contenders to land the 2019 All-Star who has yet to find a home despite a moderately successful 2025, his first season back from Tommy John surgery. Giolito had a 4.17 FIP (3.41 ERA) in 26 starts for the Boston Red Sox last year. The Cubs and padres are in need of fortifying their starting rotations. The Cubs are in a more precarious situation at the moment. Right-hander Cade Horton, last year's NL Rookie of the Year runner-up, is likely to undergo season-ending surgery on his right UCL in the latest blow to an injury-ravaged staff. Left-hander Matthew Boyd, the Cubs' Opening Day starter who is on the 15-day injured list with a strained left biceps, is slated to have one rehab appearance before rejoining the rotation next week. Padres Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta left Sunday's game with stiffness in his right elbow. More on his fate, which is likely to include a trip to the injured list, could be revealed Tuesday. Giolito, who had three top-11 finishes in AL Cy Young Award voting (2019-2021) with the Chicago White Sox, is a Southern California native who has said he has been throwing bullpen sessions of 75 pitches to stay in shape and hasn't signed because no team has met his price. View the full article

The competition for right-handed starter Lucas Giolito is heating up, which means there could be a decision soon on one of the top free agents from this past offseason. According to The Athletic on Tuesday, the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs are the top contenders to land the 2019 All-Star who has yet to find a home despite a moderately successful 2025, his first season back from Tommy John surgery. Giolito had a 4.17 FIP (3.41 ERA) in 26 starts for the Boston Red Sox last year. The Padres and Cubs are in need of fortifying their starting rotations. Padres Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta left Sunday's game with stiffness in his right elbow. More on his fate, which is likely to include a trip to the injured list, could be revealed Tuesday. The Cubs are in a more precarious situation. Right-hander Cade Horton, last year's NL Rookie of the Year runner-up, is likely to undergo season-ending surgery on his right UCL. Left-hander Matthew Boyd, the Cubs' Opening Day starter who is on the 15-day injured list with a strained left biceps, is slated to have one rehab appearance before rejoining the rotation next week. Giolito, who had three top-11 finishes in AL Cy Young Award voting (2019-2021) with the Chicago White Sox, is a Southern California native who has said he has been throwing bullpen sessions of 75 pitches to stay in shape and hasn't signed because no team has met his price. View the full article

In this week's episode, Nick talks about how Anthony Eyanson, Juan Valera, Mikey Romero, and Franklin Arias, among other prospects, have gotten off to hot starts. He breaks down what's been good and what they still need to work on. He also gives a quick update regarding Kutter Crawford's first rehab start for Worcester. 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 Toronto Blue Jays are off to a slow start this season in every aspect of the game. These struggles have resulted in a 6-9 record after the Minnesota Twins series, despite starting the season 3-0. A disappointing part of their start was going 1-5 over two series against the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox, MLB's two worst teams last season. The Blue Jays slow start can be attributed to many contributing factors. Firstly, the injury bug has run rampant through the clubhouse, holding many key players out. Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, José Berríos, Yimi García, and Anthony Santander started the season on the injury list. Shortly into the season, Cody Ponce, Addison Barger, Alejandro Kirk, and George Springer joined them. Secondly, the offense has struggled, posting a -25 run differential (the second-worst in MLB). They rank 24th in runs per game (3.80) and 28th in runners left in scoring position. Lastly, the pitching staff ranks 27th in ERA (4.81) and 16th in WHIP (1.31), but first in strikeouts (168). The ERA and WHIP are heavily skewed by Brendon Little (24.55 ERA and 3.55 WHIP), who was a surprising weak link to start the season, and Josh Fleming (12.00 ERA and 2.67 WHIP). Also, catcher Tyler Heineman has made two appearances on the mound in blowouts, resulting in a 15.00 ERA and 2.67 WHIP. Because of the injuries and struggles, the Blue Jays have made several roster moves to fill holes and hopefully find some consistency. Patrick Corbin signed a one-year, $1 million contract on April 3, and a day later, Tyler Fitzgerald was acquired from the San Francisco Giants for cash considerations. They were both optioned to the minors after being acquired, but were soon recalled, joining the Blue Jays a few days later. Little was optioned to Triple A to get a breather and hopefully figure out a fix, while Fleming was designated for assignment (and later re-signed on a new minor league contract). To fill an opening, Joe Mantiply was recalled. Over 4 2/3 innings, he has a 5.79 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and an 8:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Kirk will miss approximately six weeks recovering from surgery for a fractured and dislocated left thumb. His replacement is rookie Brandon Valenzuela, who was going to be the backup catcher but has been asked to start more than expected, as Heineman is dealing with back spasms. Heineman’s injury isn’t expected to require a stint on the injury list, but if he were to miss extended time, the Blue Jays don’t have many internal answers to fill his shoes. CJ Stubbs played in just one game last season with the Washington Nationals, but he’s the only option at catcher with big league experience, unless a free agent is signed. Nathan Lukes has been starting in right field for Barger, who isn’t expected to spend much longer than the 10-day minimum on the injury list. Fitzgerald or Myles Straw can be called on to replace Lukes if a left-handed pitcher is on the mound. After Springer’s injury, Eloy Jiménez’s contract was selected from the minors. The former Chicago White Sox was a solid performer during spring training and in Triple A, earning Player of the Week honors after starting the season slashing .375/.429/.542 with five RBIs. He will fill the DH role until Springer’s return, which could also be just after the minimum 10-day injury list stint. In another move to add some depth, the Blue Jays acquired Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox for 18-year-old prospect Jordan Rich and a player to be named later or cash. Sosa will bring MLB experience to the bench. However, he doesn’t come with the greatest resumé. He’s a subpar defender, and in his five MLB seasons, he has only had one decent year, his breakout campaign in 2025. It was the first time he played in more than 100 games, and he hit 22 home runs, scored 57 times, and drove in 75, while slashing .264/.293/.434. This season, Sosa has struggled, hitting only .212 over 33 plate appearances with a 40 wRC+. The White Sox are moving on to their younger prospects, and even though Sosa is only 26, Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth are performing well in the middle infield, and there are rumors that Sam Antonacci will be called up soon, making Sosa expendable. The Blue Jays are trying to find any solution to bolster their offense after a lack of production to begin the 2026 campaign. They may have more decisions to make when Barger and Springer return if their replacements are performing well. If Jiménez is not performing when Springer returns, then it’s not a huge loss to put him on waivers. If he is performing, then Fitzgerald, Lukes, or Davis Schneider can be optioned to Triple-A. Lukes has been abysmal in his 29 plate appearances this season, posting a -37 wRC+, but he is a left-handed bat that can come off the bench. He joins either Valenzuela or Heineman (whichever isn't starting behind the plate) as the only lefty bat options on the bench. Both catchers are switch-hitters. Fitzgerald and Schneider both offer defensive flexibility, being able to play multiple infield and outfield positions. Neither is a substantial offensive threat, but both have shown some power in their brief MLB careers. They’re both right-handed bats, so one would make sense to option after Sosa officially joins the active roster. Sosa is out of minor league options. Schneider has been red-hot in 2026, so Fitzgerald is certainly more likely to be sent down today. What happens when Springer and/or Barger return is a different question. After making room for Sosa, the Blue Jays will hope they are done moving their chess pieces around, at least for now. The biggest power threats remaining on their 26-man roster – Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Daulton Varsho, and Jesús Sánchez – need to get going offensively, with none having more than two home runs. Also, Kazuma Okamoto has been slow to adjust to the American style of baseball. He has two home runs, but only four runs and three RBIs in 60 plate appearances. Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease need help in the starting rotation; both have ERAs under and 26 strikeouts in three starts. However, Corbin, Eric Lauer, and Max Scherzer each have an ERA higher than 7.50. The bullpen has been a bright spot, throwing 15 1/3 scoreless innings in the Twins series, a franchise record, but the Blue Jays still lost the series and were outscored 25 to 10. Hopefully, the injury bug is extinguished, and the team finds a way to turn its slow start around. The good thing about baseball is that it has a long season, so there is plenty of time for a team to turn its season around. A World Series is still the ultimate goal, and the Blue Jays are making the moves to get there. View the full article

The Royals have had a lackluster start to the 2026 season. They currently stand 7-9, which is a disappointing start to the season for a team that was looking to compete in the AL Central. It’s still early, so this could just be a blip on the radar, but this week will be important in helping turn the season around and not dig a hole that the team cannot dig itself out of this year. This could be a key week in facing the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees on the road. A few things to keep an eye on this week to see if we are not seeing more of the same include if the hitters can step up and hit like they are expected to, if the starting rotation can continue to give the team a chance to win, and if the team can take some games from playoff teams from a year ago. Tough Offensive Start It has been a tough start to most of the Royals' lineup, as they are hitting .221 with an OBP of .311, good for 24th and 19th, respectively. The .655 OPS ranks 24th in MLB and will need to improve if the team hopes to build some momentum as we get deeper into the season. Only four players have a league average OPS of .693 or better, while other potential key contributors fall quite a bit below that. Carter Jensen, Maikel Garcia, and Kyle Isbel have been bright spots in the lineup, but expecting those three to continue hitting the way they have over the first couple of weeks of the year could be a big ask, specifically in Isbel’s case, who has a career OPS+ of 84. Maybe he has improved and will be closer to league average, but the .316 batting average to go along with an .895 OPS is a big ask of a player who has been a below-average hitter prior to this season. Garcia signed a big contract and is expected to be a key contributor in the lineup, so his getting off to a strong start is a bit less of a surprise. Jensen is a young hitter with plenty of upside and is someone who the team was hoping would take a step forward this season. Bobby Witt Jr. has had a down year by his standards, as he has a league-average OPS to this point. With the talent he has, it would be quite the surprise not to see him be the MVP caliber player he is the rest of the way. The rest of the lineup, specifically from bigger-name players, is where they have struggled mightily at the start of the year. Salvador Perez has hit for a slash line of .153/.219/.288 to start the year, and the Royals and their fans are hoping this isn’t the start of a decline for a mainstay in the Royals lineup for the past 15 years. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino has also had a rough start to the year, with an even worse slash line than Perez, hitting .153/.246/.169. Both players have had a rough start to the year, but will likely get closer to their career splits the rest of the way. This week will be a tough test for the offense, as they face the AL Central favorites to start the year, the Detroit Tigers, and the vaunted New York Yankees. Both teams are looking to rebound from tough weeks, so the Royals pitchers could be in for an interesting week ahead. To this point in the season, the starting rotation for the Royals has been solid. Kris Bubic and Michael Wacha have been very good, each with three starts and ERAs of 2.50 and 0.43, respectively. Seth Lugo has also delivered sterling results, pitching to a 1.53 ERA in his first three starts as well. Cole Ragans has struggled in his first three starts this year, pitching to a 5.91 ERA, and will look to get back to form, facing off against Framber Valdez to start the road trip. The bullpen has had its moments this year, being led by closer Lucas Erceg, who has recorded five saves in the seven wins this season. The rest of the bullpen has been spotty, so more consistency will be key, especially if the offense continues to struggle. While they may not finish with those numbers, they are a promising start and something to continue building on, because the starters will need to face two lineups in the Tigers and Yankees that have some starters either looking to build on a good start or get their seasons headed in the right direction. The Tigers have the 10th-best team OPS, while the Yankees, similar to the Royals, have struggled to the 25th-best team OPS to this point. Pitching, on the other hand, has been solid for both teams, as the Yankees rank 2nd in team ERA and the Tigers rank 11th. While the opponents might be tough this week, this could prove to be the week where the Royals' season does one of two things. Either it turns around and goes as the team, and fans were hoping it would, or they continue digging themselves into a hole that will be tougher and tougher to dig out of. The keys will be the offense starting to get back to form and not relying on the top three or four hitters, the pitching continuing to keep them in games, and the bullpen being more consistent beyond Erceg. How important do you think this week is for the Royals? View the full article

Iowa Cubs reporter Tommy Birch broke the news Tuesday that the Cubs are adding LHP Luke Little and RHP Ryan Rolison to their active roster. With Hunter Harvey (triceps) and Phil Maton (knee) on the shelf, and recently recalled Charlie Barnes unavailable due to pitching three innings of mop-up work, the Cubs' bullpen was in need of fresh arms. The 6-8 LHP Little has struggled with command in Triple-A Iowa, currently sporting a 1.96 WHIP paired with a 4.70 ERA. He has struck out nine batters in seven innings on the mound, but 10 walks in that time frame seem to indicate that he's slated for mop-up duty in Chicago. Rolison has a slightly lower 3.68 ERA, but a higher WHIP at 2.00. Walks are his bugaboo; he has six walks in just seven innings pitched. Rolison does have ten strikeouts, so maybe he can corral his electric stuff in Chicago. View the full article

The way Francisco Alvarez is barreling the ball right now is something we have not seen from him since his debut in 2022, and it is as advertised. In 2023, Alvarez showed flashes of his 70-grade raw power that was bestowed upon him coming up in the New York Mets' farm system, hitting 25 home runs with a .431 slugging percentage. But that was still the tip of the iceberg with the young catcher; it was agreed that he had more power in the tank. Since then, Alvarez has gone through constant injuries that has limited his full potential. Finally, here in 2026, we're seeing the absolute best version of him. In 15 games played so far this season, Alvarez currently ranks in the 97th percentile or higher in expected slugging percentage and barrel rate. His four home runs so far are a testament to his prodigious raw pop; Alvarez also has a .312 xBA, light years above his previous seasons. The past two seasons, Mets fans have been dumbfounded as to where this consistent power went. Some of that blame could be passed onto former Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez, who notoriously critiqued Alvarez's power-focused approach. Chavez believed Alvarez needed to focus less on pulling the ball and swinging for the fences and focus more on hitting consistently and using all sides of the field. That's good advice in a general sense, but not exactly befitting of who the star catcher is. So far this season, Alvarez has a 45 percent pulled ball rate, and the results are not shocking to believe. With the way Alvarez is playing and the way the Mets are struggling to win games, it might be time for Manager Carlos Mendoza to move Alvarez up in the lineup; he's mostly been used in the bottom-third of the order. In Saturday’s game against the A’s, Alvarez was moved up to the No. 6 spot. In that game, Alvarez went 2-4 with a 109 mph home run to center field. If Alvarez continues to hit the way he is right now, the cleanup spot might be calling his name sooner rather than later. Alvarez.mp4 There are many reasons why the former No. 1 overall prospect in baseball has yet to fully break out. Whether it was hand injuries, bad slump, bad advice, or the quality play of Luis Torrens behind him. Now that Alvarez has found his groove at the plate, the Mets should take the training wheels off and let him fully enjoy the life of being a face-of-the-franchise slugger. View the full article

Amid the rollercoaster of developments those who follow the Minnesota Twins have been forced to endure since the 2023 ALDS Game 4 loss to the Houston Astros, one narrative has remained constant: Minnesota has too many left-handed-hitting corner outfielders. From former president of baseball operations Derek Falvey refusing to part ways with Max Kepler when Matt Wallner, Alex Kirilloff, and Trevor Larnach were perceived to be on the cusp of becoming full-time major-league contributors to new top executive Jeremy Zoll opting to roster Larnach (whom many view the same way they saw Kepler years ago) and James Outman over an inexperienced, higher-upside bat in Alan Roden or top prospects Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins, navigating a conversation about the team feels like wading hip-deep through a bog full of lefty outfielders. Frustration continues to mount around the organization’s positional redundancy, with Twins decision-makers opting to roster Outman over Roden, despite the 28-year-old possessing the third-lowest wRC+ (384 of 386) among hitters with at least 10 plate appearances in baseball this season. Much of that angst is overblown: Outman is occupying the same role DaShawn Keirsey Jr. did early last season, in that he is with the club to enter as a late-game defensive substitution, pinch-run, and give Byron Buxton a break from center field once a week. Still, disdain remains. Does Minnesota roster too many left-handed hitting corner outfielders in the majors and Triple-A, or has that narrative become overstated? Is keeping Outman just to keep him a needless case of stockpiling? Let’s take a look. To preface, I want to provide context for the numbers below. Using FanGraphs’s RosterResource, I sifted through all 30 organizations’ MLB and Triple-A depth charts, tallying left-handed hitting position players who have played left and/or right field in the majors and Triple-A this season. That player had to have made at least one appearance at either corner outfield spot (for example, Kody Clemens counts as one of the Twins' left-handed hitting corner outfielders, despite accumulating only three innings played in left field this season). Players who exclusively play center field don’t count (for example, Justin Crawford hits left-handed; however, he has only played center field for the Philadelphia Phillies this season, making him ineligible). That being understood, let’s actually take a look: Rank Team LHH cOFs 1 New York Mets 9 2 Chicago White Sox 8 2 Cleveland Guardians 8 2 Tampa Bay Rays 8 5 Baltimore Orioles 7 5 Boston Red Sox 7 5 Houston Astros 7 5 Kansas City Royals 7 5 Minnesota Twins 7 5 Texas Rangers 7 5 Toronto Blue Jays 7 5 St. Louis Cardinals 7 13 Detroit Tigers 6 13 New York Yankees 6 13 Seattle Mariners 6 13 Colorado Rockies 6 13 Milwaukee Brewers 6 18 West Sacramento Athletics 5 18 Los Angeles Angels 5 18 Los Angeles Dodgers 5 18 Miami Marlins 5 18 San Diego Padres 5 18 San Francisco Giants 5 18 Washington Nationals 5 25 Arizona Diamondbacks 4 25 Atlanta Braves 4 27 Chicago Cubs 3 27 Cincinnati Reds 3 27 Pittsburgh Pirates 3 30 Philadelphia Phillies 2 Immediately, one will notice that the Twins are tied for fifth place with the Orioles, Red Sox, Astros, Royals, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Cardinals, rostering seven left-handed hitting corner outfielders between the parent club and Triple-A. The Rays, Guardians, and White Sox rank immediately above them, tying for second place with eight apiece. The Mets take the top spot, leading the league with nine rostered lefty corner bats between the majors and Triple-A. On the flip side, the Cubs, Reds, and Pirates tied for second-fewest in the majors and Triple-A, with three. The Phillies have the fewest, with Brandon Marsh and Gabriel Rincones Jr. being the only two left-handed-hitting corner outfielders across the two levels; this is what happens when Max Kepler takes too much epitrenbolene. Given how much attention this narrative has received within Twins Territory, it's unsurprising to see that the Twins are toward the top of the league. As mentioned earlier, though, they keep good company, tied with seven other organizations for fifth place and one left-handed-hitting corner outfield subtraction away from tying for 13th with the Tigers, Yankees, Mariners, Rockies, and Brewers. With some of the best and worst organizations residing at both ends of the spectrum, it becomes clear there is no simple correlation between the number of left-handed hitting corner outfielders an organization rosters in the majors and Triple A and success on the field. Instead—and this will shock you, dear reader—it’s the quality of left-handed-hitting corner outfielders an organization has and how they deploy them that matters most. You could do this math differently by counting (or not) switch-hitters, first basemen and designated hitters, and those are part of the narrative where the Twins are concerned, to be sure. Still, this implies some fans have made too much of the perceived roster imbalance over the last year or three. No Mets fans are upset with Brett Baty and Carson Benge receiving the majority of opportunities in both corner outfield positions with Juan Soto injured. Yet, they would be if president of baseball operations David Stearns had prioritized handing MJ Melendez, Mike Tauchman, or Ji Hwan Bae opportunities over them. Falvey prioritizing Kepler over Wallner, Larnach, and Kirilloff seasons ago, and now Zoll handing Outman a corner outfield spot over Roden because the former no longer has minor-league options, is why such disdain has grown around the club’s handling of that position-player archetype. And while that angst is justified, one thing needs to be understood: The Twins' decision-making process regarding left-handed-hitting corner outfielders has been sound. Outman has been utilized so sparingly that his not yet generating a hit over 15 plate appearances while striking out at a 53.3% rate has been inconsequential. Roden is more deserving of a 26-man roster spot than Outman. Given the minimized role he would have with the major-league club, however, it makes more sense for the optionless Outman to occupy this very minimal role than Roden, particularly this early in the season. Again, Minnesota has a high number of left-handed hitting corner outfielders between the majors and Triple-A, in relation to the rest of the league. Still, it's not an excessive amount whatsoever, with the club’s current corner outfield tandem (Wallner and Larnach) being primary contributors to the lineup’s early-season success at the plate. View the full article

Shota Imanaga is back. Both literally, since he signed a qualifying offer this past offseason to remain with the Chicago Cubs, and performance-wise, as he has 2.81 ERA through his first three starts in 2026. Of course, the same caveat that comes with every piece of baseball analysis in mid-April exists here: it’s early. After all, this is the same guy that the Cubs passed over in Game Five of last year’s Division Series after he got rocked in Game Two. Or is it? A look at some of the under-the-hood numbers might give us an idea. [All stats courtesy of FanGraphs.] Year xERA FIP K% BB% 2024 3.36 3.72 25.1% 4.0% 2025 3.73 4.86 20.6% 4.6% 2026 2.68 2.18 33.3% 6.7% Well, okay! All four metrics here would suggest that Imanaga is as good as he has ever been in a Cubs uniform after taking a step back last season. The walk rate is a bit elevated, but if that is coming along with the jump in strikeout rate, the Cubs, and their fans, probably take that trade off. To help understand how repeatable this is for the lefty going forward, we’re going to have to take this a step further. He’s still allowing a ton of fly balls, however, he is allowing less loud contact, as well as more fly balls to the opposite field, where they tend to do less damage. That, plus the increase in strikeout rate, is what is helping to keep those advanced numbers like his xERA and his FIP so low. Let’s get the raw stuff out of the way first: Imanaga’s velocity is up this season. After throwing his four-seam fastball at an average of 90.8 mph last season, that figure is up to 92.2 mph this season, according to Baseball Savant. That might feel like a small difference, but it is a meaningful one. This rise in velocity, plus a higher arm angle (up to 40 degrees this season after sitting at 36 degrees, on average, last year), has resulted in less drop and less arm-side movement on the four-seam fastball, two massive developments for a pitcher who tends to live up in the zone. Combine those two things and we’re seeing a massive increase in quality from Imanaga’s four-seamer. Per FanGraphs, the Stuff+ rating on his four-seam fastball is at 110, which is up from 99 last season and 105 from his rookie year in 2024. The actual results on the four-seam fastball, which plagued him last season, have rebounded accordingly. After hitters slugged .567 on the pitch last year, that number is down to just .217 this year. We can also utilize Location+ to help us evaluate how well a pitcher is locating a pitch. Location plus is measured based on where a pitch should be thrown to based on the count. For example, a fastball is most effective when thrown to certain places in a 2-0 count, but also most effective when thrown to a different place in an 0-2 count. Just like stuff plus, higher is better, and Imanaga is certainly trending in that direction this year. Year Location+ Fastball Location+ Splitter Overall Location+ 2024 111 109 109 2025 108 109 108 2026 126 117 116 Woah! Location plus is suggesting that Imanaga is spotting both his fastball, and his splitter, in much more effective spots this season than he ever has been. Of course, our next step has to be to take a look at where Imanaga is throwing his fastball and his splitter. Thanks to the handy dandy new heat maps pivot feature over at FanGraphs, we can do just that. Here are heat maps for the location of his four-seamer, with 2025 on the left and 2026 on the right. First is against left-handed hitters, and second is against right-handed hitters, with the perspective being from behind home plate. Imanaga is making an effort to keep the ball both up and outside, rather than just up. This is helping him stay off barrels and avoid some of the loud contact in the air that we saw last season. It would also explain the jump we’ve seen in fly balls to the opposite field. Here are the same charts for his splitters: The veteran is staying on the outside part of the plate, just like he is with his fastball; however, his splitter is much further down, and in a lot of cases, even further outside of the strike zone than it was previously. As a result, hitters are chasing more than they ever have against Imanaga. Per Baseball Savant, his 40.5 percent chase rate would be a career high, and that is in the 96th percentile of pitchers this season. There is risk in doing that, of course. That is explained by the bloated walk rate. Throwing more pitches outside of the strike zone is going to result in more walks. Plus, hitters will likely adjust to seeing splitters that low more often, but then again, a splitter properly located down there is just so tough to lay off of when paired with a fastball on the high and outside corner of the strike zone. All of this suggests that while it may be early, Shota Imanaga is either currently as good as he was in the 2024 season, or perhaps even better. The jump in his velocity, as well as better and different execution of both his four-seamer and his splitter, have resulted in a jump in his strikeout rate and less loud contact when hitters do put the ball in play. With Cade Horton’s early season injury bogging down the rotation, this is great news for the Cubs, because they just might need this version of Shota Imanaga for the rest of the season. View the full article

After departing the Brewers' loss to the Nationals Sunday in the fifth inning, Christian Yelich landed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a groin strain. For much of the last seven years, Yelich's career has been a question of health. He can help the team whenever he's on the field, but he missed 45 games with multiple injuries in 2021. In 2024, his season was cut short by a back injury that finally required surgery. He's only played 69 games in the outfield since the start of 2024, which is one way the team has shielded him from injury risk, but even as a designated hitter, he's spent considerable time on the shelf. That makes it worrisome any time something crops up for Yelich. He's not as available as you might wish even at the best of times, so every injury seems to threaten weeks of scrambling for offense, without the team's most consistent hitter. This time, however, the data says we can be a bit more optimistic than that. Over the last 10 seasons, Baseball Prospectus has logged 100 groin strains suffered by position players. Those players have returned, on average, in just under four weeks, and the median number of days missed is a not-so-bad 20. Of those 100 injuries, 71 saw the player return to play within four weeks, and only seven stretched beyond eight weeks. The Brewers indicated that the injury is significant, but not severe, which indicates that Yelich probably won't fall into that long-term injury bucket. Yelich's age and his track record are reasons not to expect him back within two weeks, but the fact that he's the team's DH works in his favor. Without the need to prepare for explosive lateral movements or sudden changes of speed and/or direction in the field, he should be able to get back into the mix relatively quickly. The Brewers need him back as soon as possible, since they're still without Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn and have been inconsistent in run production so far this year. They won't want to rush him back, but Yelich's return-to-play timeline should be relatively short. In the meantime, the team called up Greg Jones, who will complement the existing outfield corps of Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Brandon Lockridge, Luis Matos and Blake Perkins. So far this season, none of those players (save Mitchell) has been as good as the team hoped, so some of the extra available playing time might accrue to Gary Sánchez, William Contreras and Jake Bauers. The team needs Yelich, but their depth is better than that of most teams would be if they were facing three early losses of the same magnitude as Yelich, Chourio and Vaughn. This should be a short-term absence, and though the waters are choppy for the Crew right now, a time at which they might be back to full strength isn't far away. View the full article

Matthew Boyd threw a bullpen session on Sunday and will make his second rehab start in Iowa later this week. Boyd, on the IL with a bicep injury, seems to have dodged a long-term issue. If all goes well, he'll be slated to pitch next week in a home series vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. Boyd's return will bolster a pitching staff that has been beset with injuries. Cade Horton is done for the season, and the bullpen lost Phil Maton (knee) and Hunter Harvey (arm) for a period of time. Their absence is particularly troublesome with the Cubs about to play 13 games in 13 days. View the full article

Last season, no team in baseball topped the Chicago Cubs when it came to lifting the ball to the pull field. The North Siders pulled and elevated 21.8% of their batted balls. It's their signature skill, because they don't like to emphasize raw bat speed and the line-to-line lethality that comes with it. Always focused on controlling the strike zone and accepting their walks, the Cubs preach a swing designed to lift and pull, so that batters can live with a bit less bat speed than their counterparts elsewhere in the league and (hopefully) focus more on building a successful approach. (It doesn't hurt that a lineup full of such players is likely to be at least a little bit cheaper than one filled with similarly talented but toolsier sluggers.) That plan comes with drawbacks, though. The team right behind the Cubs in terms of pulling the ball in the air most often in 2025 was the Cleveland Guardians—hardly the best company one could hope to keep. It's good to pull the ball in the air, but the more you zero in on doing so, the greater the tradeoffs you make along the way. A team with an average rate in that respect might do much more damage than the average club when they do so, or much less, and that will determine whether they're good at that aspect of offense or not. The Cubs are playing a numbers game, filling the sky with pulled hits and relying on plenty of them falling or carrying out of the park. That probabilistic approach makes sense, but one more focused on payoffs might be equally productive. In small segments of a season, the variance of a concerted effort to hit pulled fly balls becomes more obvious. The Cubs trail only the Diamondbacks and the Twins in the share of their batted balls that are pulled in the air this year, but they're much less productive than they were in 2025—or, perhaps more saliently, they're equally as frustrating and unproductive as they were in their worst stretches last year. It's not that they're not able to execute their offensive gameplan; it's that that execution isn't paying off. The Cubs rank sixth in MLB in the percentage of plate appearances ending with a pulled batted ball with an exit velocity of at least 90 miles per hour and a launch angle between 0° and 50°. We're eliminating softly hit balls and pop-ups here, and still, the Cubs are sixth in baseball at producing them. Now, here are the Run Value figures for those batted balls for each of the top 10 teams in that frequency. In other words, this is the number of runs above average (for all plate appearances) produced by well-struck, pulled batted balls for the teams who hit the most such balls. Dodgers - 44 Diamondbacks - 28 Padres - 31 Guardians - 34 Angels - 35 Cubs - 21 Royals - 26 Rangers - 29 Rockies - 33 Yankees - 33 Chicago stands out like a sore thumb. The Cubs just aren't getting results when they hit these balls, on which the expected level of returned value is quite high. To visualize it a different way, here are all 30 teams plotted by the percentage of plate appearances ending in this type of batted ball, and per-100 run value thereupon. The Dodgers are the best in the league at hitting those high-value balls, and they get above-average bang for their buck, too. That's no surprise. The Cubs have been doing a slightly watery Dodgers impression, offensively, for at least three years now. The Astros lead the league in rate of return, without regard to how often they produce pulled air balls; we can partially chalk that up to their short-porched home park. The Reds, clearly, need to rethink their offense. They don't hit nearly enough of these balls, and they don't get as much value per pulled air ball as they should, given that it should only be their very best contact that looks like that. The Cubs, though, are arguably the anti-sweet spot. They're spending a large share of their plate appearances in pursuit of the rich rewards of pulling it sharply, but they're not getting juice from the extra squeezing. Their weighted on-base average on these batted balls (.682) is the lowest in baseball. Again, you still want to pull the ball with authority, as much as you can. A .682 wOBA means ending a plate appearance with the same expectation of contribution to scoring as if you took a pitch outside the strike zone. Trying to do this as much as they do comes with costs, though, and the costs the Cubs are paying are outweighing the returns they're enjoying—because those returns have been, in the peculiar relative sense we're talking about here—are paltry. No team in baseball is getting less from pulling the ball hard and on a line. Is this just bad luck? Is it the pitcher-friendliness of Wrigley Field, especially in the cold weather of March and April? Or is this team too focused on producing a particular kind of batted ball, at the expense of producing lots of hits and runs? The answer is: all of the above. The ball is relatively dead again this year, as it was in 2025. It's not a great time to be an offense dependent on hitting fly balls to the pull field. Nor is the modern Wrigley a good place to be doing so. It's still, in an important and overriding way, a good strategy, but the Cubs are executing it under conditions—and perhaps with personnel—ill-suited to let them get the most out of it. There's a lot of season left, and this devotion to the objective of producing high-expected value batted balls should be good for the team over the balance of it. For now, though, it's part of why they've been frustrating, and why they're losing games. Approaches unusually focused on pulled air balls lead to more easy outs than others, when things are going wrong. That can narrow your path to victory. For three years in a row, Cubs teams trying to get back over the hump have been easily outpaced by Brewers teams with less offensive talent. Those teams had more ways to spark rallies and score runs than this team has. It forces Cubs fans to be patient, but the team can't afford to just wait for things to change. They need to think about how to be more flexible and resilient, even as they anticipate the positive kind of regression. View the full article

In need of bullpen assistance after Monday night’s loss to the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Jack Anderson from Triple-A Worcester, per Ari Alexander of 7News Boston. Anderson, who was a selection in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft back in 2024, spent most of 2025 with the Portland Sea Dogs before making three late season starts for Worcester. 2026 has been an up-and-down year so far for the 26-year-old after pitching for Great Britain during the World Baseball Classic. Since the minor-league season began, he’s made two starts for Worcester tossing 9 2/3 innings. In that span, he’s allowed four runs on eight hits (one home run) and three walks. He also struck out nine. There has yet to be a corresponding roster move; both the active roster and the 40-man roster are currently full and will require reconfiguring to make room for Anderson. View the full article

We're roughly two-and-a-half weeks into the Triple-A season, with the other three levels—Double-A, High-A, Low-A—having just more than a week of games under their belt. Already, there are some standouts among San Diego Padres' minor-league players worth highlighting... as well as some things to be concerned about. Every two weeks, we will check in with the Padres' farm system to recap some notable performances, good and bad. We will also keep tabs on the Friars who are on the injured list and making their way back on a rehab assignment. San Diego Padres Rehab Report IF Sung Mun Song (right oblique tightness) In 14 games, Song has a .280/.357/.320 slash line with two doubles, nine RBIs and six runs scored. He's drawn six walks and struck out 16 times in 44 at-bats. He also has five multi-hit games, including going 2-for-5 on April 12. RHP Griffin Canning (Achilles) Canning has made two starts at El Paso, most recently Friday, going 5⅔ innings, allowing two runs on six hits with five walks and eight strikeouts. He 62 pitches last Friday as he builds back up his pitch count. LHP Yuki Matsui (strained left groin) Matsui made his third appearance for El Paso on Saturday. After two scoreless one-inning appearances, he allowed his first run on two hits vs. Albuquerque. He's allowed a combined four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. RHP Matt Waldron (hemorrhoid surgery) Waldron has been sensational at El Paso with three scoreless starts over 12 innings. He's allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out 12. He went five innings and 58 pitches Thursday in his most recent start. Padres' Farm System Standouts CF Jase Bowen (Triple-A El Paso) Bowen has been flashing his diverse talents with a slash line of .264/.316/.585 to start the season. That includes the seventh cycle in Chihuahuas history on April 3 vs. Tacoma, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs and four runs scored. He capped it with an eighth-inning triple. Bowen entered Sunday tied for the Pacific Coast League lead in triples (2), tied for third in extra-base hits (9), fourth in slugging percentage (.638) and tied for sixth in total bases (30). He had his fourth multi-hit game Saturday. Kash Mayfield (High-A Fort Wayne) Padres Mission's No. 2 prospect has been unhittable in two starts this season. His four no-hit innings Friday followed three no-hit frames in his season debut April 3. He has walked a combined five in those outings, while striking out four each time. The 2024 first-round draft choice spent all of 2025 at Low-A Lake Elsinore and led the organization with 13.05 strikeouts per nine innings (minimum 50 innings). CF Ryan Wideman (Low-A Lake Elsinore) The No. 9 prospect on Padres Mission is showing some promising signs after a 26-game stint at Lake Elsinore last year. Last year's third-round draft choice has a .278/.366/.444 slash line with one homer and seven RBIs in nine games. He has nice power-speed potential, with one home run already and four stolen bases. Plus, he's already drawn four walks, while striking out eight times. A year ago, he walked 12 times and struck out 32 times in those 26 games. Padres' Farm System Disappointments LHP Marco Gonzales (Triple-A El Paso) Gonzalez's rough spring has continued into his first three starts of the season. In 13⅔ innings, he's allowed a whopping 25 hits and 17 runs (12 earned) with one walk and nine strikeouts. The hits and runs are the worst marks in the PCL. In his most recent outing Wednesday vs. Albuquerque, he allowed 13 hits and 10 runs (five earned) in 3⅔ innings. Didn't pitch at all in 2025 as he came back from left flexor tendon surgery in September 2024. RHP Victor Lizarraga (Double-A San Antonio) The San Diego-born starter continues to have issues with walks, issuing five while also surrendering three hits and recording just one out Thursday vs. Corpus Christi; he was tagged for seven runs, all earned. He also gave up six free passes in five innings in his first start April 2 at Tulsa. Last year, Lizarraga had 60 walks in 101⅓ innings, mostly at Double-A, with two games at Triple-A. IF Rosman Verdugo (High-A Fort Wayne) Verdugo is off to a 3-for-25 start (.120), including 11 strikeouts. He began the season hitless in 13 at-bats before delivering a walk-off single Thursday in a 2-1 win over Lansing. He reached base for the first time via hit by pitch two plate appearances before his game-winner. He notably followed that by walking in his first plate appearance Friday and getting his second hit in the fourth inning. Verdugo got his third single in four games Sunday, so perhaps he's busting out of his slump. View the full article

For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the second edition of our Fish On First Prospect Report, which includes several important injury updates near the bottom of the page. This report covers the games played from April 7-12. Triple-A Jacksonville The big story this past week was left-handed pitcher Robby Snelling (Fish On First No. 2 prospect), who struck out 12 over five innings of work in his last start against the Norfolk Tides. For his performance, he was named Fish On First Prospect Minor League Player of the Week. Snelling's best weapon that night was his fastball, which generated half of his strikeouts. The pitch topped out at 96.4 mph and averaged 94.0 mph. He landed his four-seam all three times for first-pitch strikes. The only concern is that the velocity of the pitch went down as the game progressed, averaging as low as 92.8 mph in the fourth inning. Four of Snelling's strikeouts came on his curveball and the other two on his changeup. His changeup generated six whiffs, more than any other pitch that night. Although many years removed from being a prospect, Braxton Garrett dazzled in his last start, going six shutout innings, not allowing a hit and striking out six. Garrett was named the International League Pitcher of the Week for April 6-12. Through his first three starts this season, he has a 0.59 ERA, 2.75 FIP, 9.98 K/9 and 2.93 BB/9 through 15 ⅓ innings pitched. Fastball velocity continues to not be very impressive, topping out at 92.8 mph and averaging 90.7 mph. His secondary offerings have been great. All three whiffs on his slider came on strikeout pitches and was helped out by a high percentage of ground balls. Through his first three starts this season, he has a 64.5% ground ball rate, which is the highest of his career at any level. The high ground ball rate has allowed him to be efficient, averaging 11 pitches per inning in his last start. Garrett isn't blowing anyone away, but he has been efficient, getting ground balls and mixing his pitches well. A call-up back to the big leagues shouldn't be far off. On the offensive side, Jacob Berry has gotten off to a strong start, slashing .300/.370/.425/.795 with one home run, seven RBI and a 121 wRC+. After being known for slow starts, this is certainly a change of pace for the 24-year-old. Early results have shown him striking out only 17.4% of the time, which is less than his 2025 campaign (18.6 K%). For a second straight season, he is walking 10.9% of the time. The downside continues to be his defense, committing five errors at third base. There is still no home defensively for Berry and that may hold him back from reaching the majors until there is a clear spot for him. He has played a little bit of right field and first base, but is below league average at those positions. Double-A Pensacola The Wahoos took to the road for the first time, trekking to Biloxi to take on the Shuckers. Overall, pitching struggled in the series paving the way for a Biloxi series win. The Wahoos had a minus-22 run differential. Dillon Lewis, Fish on First’s fifth-ranked prospect, started to showcase his extremely loud tools in this series. He hit his first home run as a member of the Marlins organization on Wednesday and added three more hits over the course of the week, ending the series at 4-for-20. The 22-year-old also stole two bases. Lewis is an optimal mix of size, strength and speed. He also showcases the ability not to get too overzealous and try to force power at the plate, keeping his actions fluid. For a hitter of his caliber, he has a fairly quiet approach and comes by extra bases easily due to both his ability to drive the ball and his foot speed which is well above average for an athlete of his stature. Long story short, this is a ball player in every sense of the word. As long as he continues to improve pitch recognition and keep his K rate within reason at the upper levels of the minors, there’s a very high ceiling for this player and potential to reach it in pretty short order. Ian Lewis Jr., one of few Bahamians still in the Marlins organization (no relation to Dillon), made some noise over the weekend, particularly on Friday when he stole four bases. His primary offensive strength, Lewis accomplished the feat without the benefit of a hit. The marker set a Blue Wahoos single-game franchise record. One of the longer tenured minor leaguers in the system, Lewis is pending minor league free agent participating at the Double-A level for the first time. While strikeouts have never been a huge problem for him, he also hasn’t earned an ordinate amount of walks. With the bat, he makes contact but does not drive the ball well and has struggled to keep it off the ground. Last season, he posted a 55% ground ball rate. Lewis doesn’t have to and likely will never hit for power, but he will need to at least start improving his bat speed and exit velocities if he is going to have a significant MLB impact. At the very least, Lewis is a plus defender and plus-plus pinch-runner off the bench. High-A Beloit It took another doubleheader, but the Sky Carp were able to get all of their games of a six game series in this week after being limited to just two games to open their season. Home at ABC Supply Stadium for the first time this year, they split the slate with Cedar Rapids. After dropping their Opening Day game, Beloit plated a whopping 35 runs the rest of the week, including 15 in the final game of the series. Juan Matheus, who was part of the trade return for Ryan Weathers this offseason, hit three home runs in 2025. In the final game of this series, he hit two long balls, part of a 3-for-6, 10-total-base game. Along with the two homers marking his first career multi-homer game, his five RBI were also a career-high. The performance was the cherry on top of a great series for Matheus in which he went 8-for-23 with five extra base hits. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the 5’11”, 155-pounder, but Matheus hits the ball hard at a consistent rate. He’s also put the ball in the air at a staunch pace, limiting his ground ball rate to around 40% yearly since joining the full-season ranks. Matheus is also a patient hitter who had limited strikeouts and held down solid walk rates including 12% at the highest level of pro ball he’s played at in 2025. One thing limiting Matheus’ ceiling is the fact that his batted ball profile is very pull heavy: he favored the pull side over 50% of the time last season, including 61% at High-A. With likely reaching his raw power ceiling, that pull-heavy propensity will be exploited at the next level. He will need to develop at least some ability to go the other way to reach a starter’s ceiling. That said, Matheus, who is a good fielder capable of playing multiple positions and who has good speed, has a solid floor as a future bench player. It’s nice to see him hitting consistently early in his Marlins tenure. Through eight games, he has a 179 wRC+. It’s been quite a year already for Canadians in the Marlins organization. Catcher Connor Caskenette is no exception. The native of Duncan, British Columbia, owns one of the hottest starts to the season system wide, having gone 7 for his first 15 with two home runs and six RBI. He’s also recognizing High-A pitching very well, having walked eight times and struck out three times. Finally, he’s showing surprisingly good wheels especially for a backstop, having already stolen four bases. The Marlins’ 12th-rounder in 2024, Caskenette is repeating High-A after being limited to 62 games between Beloit and Pensacola last season. Caskenette came out of the draft being scouted as a high-value pick for Miami, capable of plus average exit velocities and a high power production ceiling. The walks he’s put up against High-A stuff are also of little surprise to evaluators who lauded his low whiff rates and recognition of both velocity and offspeed pitches. Caskenette is definitely a bat-over-glove prospect, having committed 10 errors and allowed a whopping 130 steals on 144 attempts last season. It is highly likely he will move off the backstop position, possibly to first base or a corner outfield spot. The bat should carry him to a decent floor though especially if he continues to find fences and limit Ks. Liomar Martinez struggled with control in his first outing of the season but he wiped the slate and rebounded nicely against the Kernels. Much more in and around the zone, the 6’2”, 165-pound righty worked five innings on three hits and two earned runs. He struck out nine and, most refreshing of all, did not walk a batter. Liomar averaged 95 mph with his fastball and reached as high as 98. He particularly impressed with his changeup that showed nice arm-side fade and sole vertical drop. The first two starts of Liomar’s season sum him up pretty well: everything hinges on control consistency. A lanky arm who throws with high effort through a delivery that consists of a lot of moving parts, there’s reliever risk here, but good raw stuff gives him a solid floor. With control consistency via quieter mechanics, Martinez has the ceiling of a back-end starter. The upper minors will be a crucial test for him. That step could be taken late this year or to start next year. Low-A Jupiter Both Luis Ramirez and Samuel Carpio are off to strong starts this season, yet to allow an earned run through their first three appearances. Ramirez, who the Marlins signed back in 2022, has recorded six strikeouts and zero walks through four inning of work. Carpio, who was signed just a year later, has three strikeouts in three innings pitched. Walin Castillo, who is repeating Low-A, has posted a 1.29 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 9.00 K/9 and 6.43 BB/9 through seven innings pitched this season. Offensively, Carter Johnson is slashing .192/.382/.346/.729 with one home run, three RBI and a 130 wRC+. Although you'll see a low batting average, he is getting on base by walking 20.6% of the time. Abrahan Ramirez, who was acquired in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade in 2024, is repeating Low-A. Through the first eight games of the season, Ramirez is slashing .364/.462/.409/.871 with three RBI and a 166 wRC+. At 21 years old, he's still got plenty of time to develop, and as the season progresses, you should see a promotion to High-A. Injuries/rehab Fish On First has learned that right-hander Grant Shepardson will be undergoing Tommy John surgery in the near future. Shepardson, 20, was last seen pitching in last month's Spring Breakout game. He would've been assigned to Jupiter if healthy entering the regular season. Instead, he isn't expected to return to game action until mid-2027. Outfielder Cam Cannarella is the latest early-round pick from the 2025 draft class to be sidelined. He fractured his left wrist during Saturday's Sky Cap game. Kyle Stowers (Grade 1 right hamstring strain) participated in two rehab games with Jacksonville last week, going 1-for-6 with three strikeouts. His lone hit had an exit velo of 108.2 mph. As of this writing, Stowers is playing in his third rehab game and serving as the designated hitter. In two rehab starts with Jupiter, Thomas White (oblique strain) tossed a combined six innings, allowing two runs (one home run) on three hits, 10 strikeouts and six walks. Control/command continues to be an issue for White, but sources tell FOF that he's been cleared to rejoin the Jumbo Shrimp. He will make his first AAA start of the season on Thursday. This week's MiLB schedule Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Charlotte Double-A Pensacola vs. Knoxville High-A Beloit at South Bend Low-A Jupiter at Palm Beach View the full article

Over the first couple of weeks of the St. Paul Saints’ season, top Twins prospect Walker Jenkins has given a glimpse of both the positives and the areas that still need to come along. On the surface, his numbers might not immediately jump out. He’s hitting just .242, and there’s only one extra-base hit to his name so far. But once you dig a little deeper, there’s quite a bit more going on—and much about which to be hopeful. The most encouraging development has been his approach at the plate. Jenkins currently owns an on-base percentage north of .400, which stands out immediately when paired with that .242 batting average. That disparity is fueled by his ability to consistently reach base via the free pass. Through 42 plate appearances, Jenkins has drawn eight walks, compared to just six strikeouts. That comes out to a 19% walk rate and a 14.3% strikeout rate, both of which are extremely strong marks. For context, he walked just nine times across 102 plate appearances in St. Paul last season. Not only is the discipline there, but it’s taken a very noticeable step forward. Jenkins's swing rate is down to 39.5%, after sitting above 50% in Triple-A last year. He’s being more selective, laying off pitches out of the zone (his chase rate is a sensationally low 17.2%), and consistently working himself into favorable counts. For a hitter his age, that kind of approach is a really strong sign. And when he does decide to swing, he’s connecting. Jenkins currently holds a 90.2% contact rate on pitches in the strike zone. The percentage of pitches on which he swings and misses is lower than it's been since his time with Low-A Fort Myers as a teenager. There are also signs of progress when it comes to the quality of contact. Jenkins’s average exit velocity is up over 91 MPH, with a 90th percentile EV of 109.6. His raw power has never been in question, but more consistent hard contact is an important next step in his development. That said, the power production hasn’t shown up in games just yet. He has just one double so far, and his isolated power (ISO) sits at .030. That’s obviously well below where you’d expect it to be, even with the improved underlying metrics. It's just not possible to stack extra-base hits without elevating the ball more than he is right now. Jenkins is currently sporting a 56% ground-ball rate, which is a notable jump from the 41% mark he posted last year. He'll have to refine his approach to allow that hard contact and that control of the zone to persist as he starts lifting the ball. It’s worth emphasizing just how small a sample this is. A mere 42 plate appearances aren’t enough to draw any firm conclusions, and things like ground-ball rate can fluctuate pretty widely across 30 balls in play. If that number starts to come down even a little bit, the power output should follow. Jenkins dealt with a hamstring strain during spring training, but that appears to be fully behind him. [Ed. note: It would be a HUGE problem if his hamstring were only partly behind him; we believe it is both literally and figuratively behind him for the time being.] He’s already stolen three bases on three attempts, which is a strong indicator that he’s moving well and trusting his body again. That added element on the bases is another part of his overall profile that can impact the game even when the bat is still coming around. Combined with his on-base ability, it gives him multiple ways to contribute offensively. The early returns don’t need to be loud (in terms of raw outcomes) for there to be clear progress in the underlying profile. What stands out most is Jenkins controlling the strike zone at a high level, limiting the swing-and-miss, and showing more consistent impact when he does make contact. Those are the kinds of traits that tend to translate over a full season far more reliably than any short-term, surface-level results. The next step is fairly straightforward: elevating the ball more consistently. If he continues to pair this level of contact quality with a more optimal launch angle, the extra-base production should begin to follow naturally. For now, though, this is an encouraging start to the season for the Twins’ top prospect. The underlying indicators point to a player who is refining his offensive game in real time, even if the box score power hasn’t fully caught up yet. It will likely still be a little while before Jenkins makes his way to the major leagues, but if this early-season foundation holds, he remains firmly on track for a midseason arrival. With his all-around offensive profile, he has the potential to settle in at the top of the Twins’ lineup as soon as this summer. View the full article

What keeps jumping out when you watch this year’s edition of the Jays, night after night, is not just the injuries or the uneven offense or even the tough luck. It is the pace and intensity at which John Schneider is running his bullpen, an approach that resembles postseason baseball far more than a 162‑game marathon that is barely three weeks old. Through the first 15 games of the season, the Blue Jays bullpen has been asked to cover six or more innings five separate times. Five times in 15 games. Granted, one of those times was to cover for Cody Ponce’s injury-shortened start, but that usage is not a blip or a one-off occurrence; it is one-third of the schedule to this point. League-wide, managers will accept the occasional bullpen-heavy night in April, but not with this kind of frequency. Even in the modern MLB environment where starters rarely push deep, the league average starter still logs just over five innings per outing, with bullpens handling roughly 44 to 45 percent of total innings across a full season. What Schneider is doing right now pushes that percentage into October territory. Fifteen games in, Toronto has already used 18 different pitchers (excluding Tyler Heineman). It is a level of early‑season churn matched only during the shortened 2020 season and a brief stretch in 2005. In a normal year, with normal health, the team wouldn’t get to that number until late May or June. Sure, injuries have been a headline. Ponce, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos hitting the shelf has forced Schneider’s hand. But injuries alone don’t explain usage patterns this aggressive. Managers still make choices about leverage, rest and sequencing, and the Jays’ coaching staff has consistently chosen urgency over restraint. You can see it not just in how often the bullpen is used, but how it is used. High-leverage relievers are being deployed early and often. The rubber arms are already being ridden hard. Tyler Rogers, who Schneider openly calls a manager’s dream, is being leaned on in exactly the way contenders lean on trusted relievers in September. Rogers made 81 appearances last season, and Schneider joked in spring that he might make more this year. That is funny in March. It is less funny when the season has just started and the comment already rings true. In October, everything is leverage-driven. You empty the tank because there is no tomorrow to protect. The game is a puzzle in which the manager has a good idea of what pieces fit where. Fatigue is less of an option because elimination is the alternative. April baseball is supposed to be the opposite. It is about survival, length and accepting short-term messiness to preserve long-term health. What Schneider is doing blurs that line. Ironically, this past weekend’s starts by Eric Lauer and Max Scherzer that fans are pointing to as examples of patience might actually underline the same philosophical problem. Take Lauer’s outing against Minnesota. He gave up seven runs in a single inning and was clearly fighting command and traffic. Schneider left him in to wear it, stretching him to 5.1 innings in a game that was already getting away. On the surface, that looks like restraint. Let the starter take his lumps, save the bullpen. But look at the broader context. That choice came after a series of games in which the bullpen had already been worked aggressively. Lauer was not left in because April is about protecting arms. He was left in because the bullpen was already taxed. Those are not the same thing, and the difference matters. The same thing showed up in Scherzer’s start against the Twins. After exiting early against the Dodgers with forearm tendinitis, he returned and allowed eight runs in just over two innings. Schneider gave him a chance to escape, perhaps hoping the veteran could stabilize and absorb more outs. Instead, the game unraveled further. Scherzer wore the loss, but again, this decision was made inside a framework where bullpen conservation felt reactive rather than planned. Six bullpen arms were used in an 8-2 loss that never felt close. Granted, there was an off-day the next day, but six? As discussed in another article, the appearance of position players on the mound highlights a growing concern about the healthy arms in the pen. Heineman has already logged three innings as a catcher pitching. When position players are being used before the calendar hits mid-April, it suggests a staff that is already being protected from itself. If this were a team scuffling at the bottom of the standings, the argument might be different. A manager might feel pressure to steal games any way possible. But the Blue Jays are not buried. Their playoff odds have dropped from the start of the season, but this is a roster built to endure the long season, not sprint through it. That is why the urgency feels misplaced. Schneider is managing as if every series carries October weight. Every late-inning move feels sharpened for the moment instead of smoothed for the future. That approach can win you games in April, but it can also have an unintended negative impact in August. Bullpen fatigue rarely announces itself early. It shows up months later as lost velocity, reduced command and soft tissue injuries that never feel accidental but also never feel traceable to a single moment. It shows up when arms that were automatic in June start missing spots in September. It shows up when October arrives and the bullpen that carried you there suddenly looks human. Schneider just signed a contract extension. His players trust him, and his track record says he understands how to win. Winning managers sometimes see threats everywhere, and when you see threats everywhere, you play defense constantly. The modern game has already shortened starts, inflated bullpen importance and compressed margins. That makes restraint more valuable, not less. When everyone is managing on the edge, the teams that last are the ones that choose when not to. You can’t win the World Series in April, but you can make it harder to win one later. The way the bullpen is being handled right now suggests a team already braced for October collisions, even though the season has barely cleared its first turn. That approach may steal wins, but it risks something far harder to replace, which is margin. There is still time. The length of the season hides early mistakes. Last season is a great example of that. Everyone is focusing on the mounting pressure on the lineup to break out in a consistent manner, but at the same time, Schneider and his coaching staff are feeling the pressure too. As a result, the Blue Jays bullpen is being asked to perform at playoff intensity in a season that has barely begun. In a year in which Toronto’s championship window is real, patience might end up being the most important attribute of all: patience from the fan base during this slow start, and patience from the coaching staff before they pick up the bullpen phone. View the full article

When the offseason began, most people expected continuity in the Minnesota Twins' ownership structure. Instead, the winter delivered a surprising shakeup. After the Pohlad family sold minority shares of the franchise, leadership within the organization shifted in ways many did not expect. For years, Joe Pohlad was the public-facing leader of the club. However, as the offseason unfolded, Tom Pohlad stepped forward to guide the organization. The transition became even more notable later in the winter, when longtime president of baseball operations Derek Falvey stepped away from the Twins. With that departure, Tom Pohlad took on an even more prominent role and assumed responsibility for the business side of operations heading into the 2026 season. The sudden shift caught many fans off guard. Ownership changes rarely happen in such a visible way during an otherwise quiet winter—and this one came just a few months after the fan base was crestfallen to learn that there wouldn't be a more official transfer of power. Since taking over, however, Pohlad has implemented several noticeable changes. Some have been widely welcomed, while others still leave observers wondering about the long-term impact. Since Tom took over, there have been some obvious changes that can be viewed in multiple ways. Let’s dive in. Around the Team More Regularly Pohlad has been vocal about his intention to stay close to the team. That promise has already been visible. He spent significant time at spring training with his entire family during the club’s stay in Florida. The visibility has continued into the regular season. Players have seen him greeting them outside the locker room after big wins. He spoke to the club during the celebration marking Byron Buxton reaching 10 years in the big leagues. He also made the short trip to St. Paul for the Triple-A home opener to support the organization’s top minor-league club. In short, Pohlad is more visible around the organization than any member of the ownership group has been in recent memory. That level of involvement can be encouraging, especially for fans who often wonder how closely ownership is involved in the day-to-day operations of the team. At the same time, some will naturally wonder where the line lies between supportive presence and over-involvement. Rating: Somewhere in between. The jury is still out. Speaking to the Press More Often An extension of being around the team more frequently is that Pohlad has also become more available to the media. Reporters now have the opportunity to ask him questions when situations arise during the season. Under previous leadership, media availability from ownership was rare. It usually happened before the season began, after the season ended, or during major organizational announcements. Regular conversations with ownership during the middle of the 162-game grind were almost nonexistent. No one expects ownership to address the press daily, and that should become unnecessary over time. However, the willingness to speak when something noteworthy occurs provides needed clarity for fans and transparency for the organization. Rating: Positive. Increased communication is generally a good thing. Cheap Beer and Other Happy Hour Specials Beyond Pohlad’s personal visibility, the Twins have clearly made an effort to reconnect with fans. Attendance and fan sentiment have taken a hit over the past couple of seasons, and the club appears determined to change that narrative. One initiative has been the introduction of $2 beers before first pitch on Friday and Saturday home games. The idea is to create a happy hour atmosphere leading up to the start of the game. On certain nights, the team has also offered discounted snacks and hot dogs. Ballpark prices have steadily climbed across the league, especially for families attending games together. Creating opportunities for fans to save money while enjoying the ballpark experience is an easy way to build goodwill. Rating: Positive. Lower-cost options benefit both the fans and the atmosphere. Drop in Ballpark Pass Price Another fan-friendly move came with the adjustment to the team’s Ballpark Pass. This season, the Twins lowered the early purchase price to $229 for the entire year, if fans bought the pass early in the offseason. The pass grants entry to every home game, including Opening Day, though it does not guarantee an assigned seat. If a fan attends every home game, that works out to less than $3 per game. There is also a monthly option at $59 for fans who prefer flexibility rather than committing to the full season. Last year, the pass carried a price tag of $324. The reduced cost makes the product far more accessible, especially for younger fans or people who simply enjoy stopping by the ballpark for a few innings. Rating: Positive. This is a creative way to fill the stadium. Opening Day Fiasco The home opener at Target Field did not go according to plan. An hour-long power outage delayed fans from entering the ballpark, leaving thousands standing outside waiting for the gates to reopen. Opening Day always draws one of the largest crowds of the season, so the situation created plenty of frustration. The organization responded quickly once the issue was resolved. The Twins extended the pregame happy-hour prices through the end of the second inning to ensure that fans who had been waiting in line could still take advantage of the deals. While the outage itself was not ideal, the response softened the blow. Rating: Positive. The team made a quick adjustment to improve a difficult situation. Redoing Opening Day The Twins took things one step further in the days following the outage. As an additional gesture, the team offered fans who purchased Opening Day tickets a free ticket to the April 17 game against the Cincinnati Reds. That game will feature another round of happy-hour specials, a live band during the pregame celebration, and fireworks after the final out. The organization could have easily blamed the outage on factors outside its control and moved on. Instead, the team chose to turn the moment into another opportunity to reconnect with its fan base. Rating: Positive. It shows a willingness to go the extra mile for fans. Not every development will be universally praised, and some observers will continue to watch closely to see how involved ownership becomes moving forward. Still, the early moves suggest a real effort to increase transparency and rebuild goodwill with fans. For an organization entering a new chapter, that may be exactly the type of start the Twins need. What are your thoughts about the changes made under Tom Pohlad? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Chicago Cubs Affiliate Overview (April 10th - April 12th) Triple-A Iowa Cubs Season Record: 8-6 Series Opponent: Omaha Storm Chasers Series Standing: 2-3 Double-A Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 5-4 Series Opponent: Rocket City Trash Pandas Series Standing: 4-2 High-A South Bend Cubs Season Record: 4-2 Series Opponent: Peoria Chiefs Series Standing: 4-2 Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 5-4 Series Opponent: Columbia Fireflies Series Standing: 2-4 Triple-A Iowa Cubs Season Record: 8-6 Series Opponent: Omaha Storm Chasers Series Standing: 2-3 April 10 (Game 1): Iowa opened with early execution as Justin Dean singled, stole second, and scored on a BJ Murray RBI single. Kevin Alcántara added a double, but the offense stalled. Omaha broke through with a four-run third inning, stringing together extra-base hits and singles to take control. Iowa’s pitching could not recover from the surge, and the offense was held scoreless the rest of the way in a 6-1 loss. April 10 (Game 2): Iowa fell behind early as Omaha capitalized on walks and timely hits to build a 3-0 lead. Christian Bethancourt’s two-run home run in the fifth ignited the offense, and Iowa tied the game in the sixth behind doubles from Jonathon Long and Pedro Ramírez. The bullpen held through extra innings, but Omaha broke through in the ninth with a two-run single, handing Iowa a 6-4 loss. April 11: Iowa responded with a 7-3 win, rallying after an early deficit. James Triantos drove in a run, and Justin Dean added a two-run single before Ben Cowles delivered a two-run double in a decisive sixth inning. Jonathon Long extended the lead with a run-scoring double. Iowa’s pitching stabilized after early pressure and limited Omaha to three runs, closing out the game effectively. April 12: Game canceled. Double-A Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 5-4 Series Opponent: Rocket City Trash Pandas Series Standing: 4-2 April 10: Knoxville fell behind early as Rocket City scored across the first four innings. The Smokies responded in the fifth with Carter Trice’s double, RBI singles from Alex Madera and Jefferson Rojas, and a two-run double from Alex Ramírez. Knoxville trimmed the deficit to one, but Rocket City added three runs in the eighth. A bases-loaded chance in the ninth produced only one run in a 9-6 loss. April 11: Both teams were scoreless through five innings before Knoxville broke through in the sixth. Rocket City responded in the eighth, but Devin Ortiz homered to cut the deficit. In the ninth, Karson Simas tied the game with an RBI hit, and Ortiz delivered a sacrifice fly to complete the comeback. Knoxville’s pitching held early and limited late damage in a 4-3 win. April 12: Knoxville took a 1-0 lead on Devin Ortiz’s home run but fell behind in the eighth. The Smokies tied the game in the ninth on a Haydn McGeary double after a bases-loaded walk cut the deficit. In the 10th, Rocket City used the extra-inning runner to score three runs on a bunt, single, and double. Knoxville added a run but fell 7-4. High-A South Bend Cubs Season Record: 4-2 Series Opponent: Peoria Chiefs Series Standing: 4-2 April 10: South Bend took control early as Reginald Preciado drove in two runs with a double. Kade Snell and Owen Ayers added middle-inning production, and Angel Cepeda extended the lead with a three-run double. Peoria mounted a late rally, loading the bases in the ninth, but South Bend’s pitching held to secure an 8-6 win. April 11: Trailing early, South Bend erupted for seven runs in the seventh inning. Cameron Sisneros opened the rally with a home run, and Leonel Espinoza followed with a three-run shot. Drew Bowser added a two-run single, and Matt Halbach homered late. South Bend’s pitching limited Peoria after the early innings in a 9-3 win. April 12: South Bend led early before Peoria scored four runs in the fifth. In the ninth, Leonel Espinoza doubled and Owen Ayers delivered a two-run home run to reclaim the lead. The bullpen closed the final inning, preserving a 5-4 win and completing the series sweep of the weekend games. Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 5-4 Series Opponent: Columbia Fireflies Series Standing: 2-4 April 10: Myrtle Beach struck first as Ty Southisene set the table with aggressive baserunning and Alexey Lumpuy drove in two runs with a single. Columbia answered quickly and added runs in the middle innings. Despite multiple stolen bases and baserunners, Myrtle Beach could not capitalize further and was held scoreless after the third in a 6-2 loss. April 11: The Pelicans traded runs early and reclaimed the lead in the seventh after Ludwing Espinoza tripled and scored. Jairo Diaz extended the lead with a three-run home run in the eighth, but Columbia responded with a late rally, tying and taking the lead on a double and sacrifice fly. Myrtle Beach was retired in order in the ninth in a 10-8 loss April 12: Columbia built an early lead with a first-inning grand slam and added runs in the fourth. Myrtle Beach responded with a solo home run from Cole Mathis but struggled to generate sustained offense. Late runs from Eli Lovich and Derik Alcantara narrowed the gap, but the early deficit proved decisive in an 8-3 loss. Cubs Transactions Chicago Cubs placed RHP Hunter Harvey on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 9, 2026, with right triceps inflammation. Chicago Cubs selected the contract of LHP Charlie Barnes from Iowa Cubs. View the full article

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Overview (April 10 - April 12) Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Series vs. Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians): 4-2 Season Record: 10-4 Double-A Portland Sea Dogs Series vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays): 3-3 Season Record: 4-4 High-A Greenville Drive Series at Hub City Spartanburgers (Texas Rangers): 3-3 Season Record: 3-6 Low-A Salem RidgeYaks Series vs. Wilson Warbirds (Milwaukee Brewers): 5-1 Season Record: 7-2 Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Season Record: 10-4 Series Opponent: Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians) Series Standing: 4-2 April 10: Tsung-Che Cheng hit for the first cycle in WooSox history, leading them to a 8-5 victory. Jake Bennett earned the win in his third start of the season, continuing his excellent start to his 2026 campaign. He went five and ⅓ innings and limited the Clippers to just one run while striking out four. The lone run is only the second he’s allowed through three starts and 13 innings, bringing his ERA to 0.68. Bennett, acquired in a deal that sent Luis Perales to the Washington Nationals, is the Red Sox 7th top prospect and could make his big league debut later this season. In relief, the WooSox bullpen was shaky to say the least. Kyle Keller went one and ⅔, allowing one run on one hit. Noah Song took the bump next, but allowed two more runs (one unearned). Song has had a rough start to his season, allowing six runs in 5 and ⅔ innings, a worrying sign for the 28-year-old. New veteran signee Tommy Kahnle converted his save opportunity, sealing the win for Worcester through one and ⅓ innings of work, allowing a run but preventing the comeback. The story of the game came from the plate, where Tsu-Che Cheng hit for the first cycle in Worcester history. In the bottom of the second, he crushed his second triple to deep center field, speeding around the bases as Petey Halpin failed to make the catch. Then, two innings later in the bottom of the fourth, Cheng hit another ball to center. This time it was a line drive double that drove in a run, making the score 4-0. In the sixth, Cheng worked a long at bat and on the seventh pitch, launched his third homer of the year to left field. In the eighth with one man aboard, Cheng laid down a bunt to complete the cycle. He advanced to third on a throwing error and drove in a run, his second RBI of the day. He accounted for half of the WooSox hits. Other than Cheng, the WooSox were solid. Kristian Campbell went 1-2 with three walks, smoking a double and driving in one run. Vinny Capra also recorded one RBI, driving in Cheng after his second inning triple. April 11: Worcester fell in shutout fashion 7-0 in Kutter Crawford’s first rehab start back from injury. Crawford made his first start since Sept. 2024 after missing the entirety of the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery. He turned in three innings of shaky work on 60 pitches, 43 of which landed in the strike zone. He gave up five runs, six hits, and three homers and got the loss. On the bright side, he struck out five and allowed only one walk. The WooSox bullpen rebounded from a rough Friday. Wyatt Olds gave up one hit and struck out five in two innings and Jacob Webb gave up one run in two innings. Tayron Guerrero had a lockdown eighth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced. Catcher Nathan Hickey got the opportunity to close out the game, and gave up one run, one hit, and one walk across one inning. Worcester was stagnant at the plate, a sharp contrast from their success on Friday. They got blanked in the runs column, and only got on base six times. Anthony Seigler picked up a double in his second game of the season, while Nate Eaton and Braiden Ward picked up the only other hits for the WooSox. Matt Thaiss, Nick Sogard, and Mikey Romero each picked up a walk, but that was all she wrote for the WooSox, who simply couldn’t get any offense going. April 12: The WooSox cruised to a 8-2 win behind a solid outing from Payton Tolle. Tolle continued to build his case for a call up on Sunday. He struck out six across five innings, and only allowed three hits and a walk. He got his second win of the season in his third start as he continues to rebound from a poor season debut. Seth Martinez made his fifth appearance, pitching two innings in relief, allowing one run on a solo home-run. Devin Sweet gave up one more run in his one-inning appearance, and Tommy Kahnle closed out the game allowing one hit in one inning. The WooSox got their offense going early on a two-run blast from Allan Castro in the second inning, his second of the season. Then just an inning later, Castro hit another one, this time a grand slam. He teed off, hitting a bomb to right field and giving Worcester a 6-0 advantage with all of their runs coming via Castro’s homers. In the fourth, Nick Sogard added on with a sac-fly to drive in Vinny Capra. Then, Nathan Hickey added the WooSox final run of the evening with another sac-fly to drive in Tsung-Che Cheng. The WooSox rolled to a win as they continue to be one of the hottest teams in Triple-A Double-A Portland Sea Dogs Season Record: 4-4 Series Opponent: New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays) Series Standing: 3-3 April 10: The Sea Dogs fought back to .500 after a solid all-around win. It was a combined effort on the bump for Portland. Dalton Rogers started the game, allowing two unearned runs on two hits over three and ⅔ innings. He was solid in his first start of the season, striking out two but surrendering three walks. Cade Feeney came in in relief, pitching two and ⅓ scoreless innings and earning the win. He allowed two hits and gave up two walks, but limited the damage. Erik Rivera started the seventh and finished the game strong. He allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out three. He earns his second save of the year and keeps his ERA at 0.00 through five innings over two games. The Sea Dogs offense was fueled by another outstanding performance from Franklin Arias. The shortstop went 3-4 with an RBI and a run. The 20-year-old has 10 hits through 17 at-bats, posting an astonishing .538 batting average and a 1.303 OPS. Arias is building on his case to be the Red Sox next budding superstar. Besides Arias, the Sea Dogs offense has struggled through the early stages of the season. Five players have a batting average below .200, and only two players aside from Arias have an OPS over .800. Despite the lackluster start, Portland had a decent day on Friday. Eight players recorded a hit, and three recorded an RBI. It’s the first step towards success as the Sea Dogs settle into the season. April 11: The Sea Dogs won their second straight behind solid pitching. John Holobetz took the mound to start the afternoon for Portland. He built on a strong start to the season, striking out nine of the 17 batters he faced over three innings. He surrendered three hits and two walks, allowing a lone run in another solid start. Jorge Juan came in next, allowing only one hit in one and ⅔ innings pitched and earning himself the win. He bounced back strong from his April 7 outing, where he got shelled for five runs without recording an out. Caleb Bolden earned the hold for two and ⅓ innings of work in which he gave up only two hits and struck out two. Patrick Halligan came in to close out the victory and he succeeded. He pitched a solid inning, allowing one baserunner via a walk, and securing the save, and win for the Sea Dogs. It was a quiet day at the plate for Portland, who only scored twice. Franklin Arias accounted for half of the team's hits, adding another strong game to his outstanding season so far. He went three for four with a run scored, increasing his batting average to a stunning mark of .588, the only Sea Dog with an average above .250. Marvin Alcantara drove in Portland’s first run on a ground-rule double that scored Caden Rose, and Nate Baez followed that up with a sac-fly to drive in Arias. That was the only offense for the Sea Dogs as they prevailed by a thin 2-run margin. April 12: Portland gave up 13 unanswered runs, losing 15-9 in a beatdown. Hayden Mullins got the start for Portland and turned in four innings of decent work. He struck out seven, but allowed two runs (one unearned) on four hits and two walks. It was a marked improvement from his first start of the season, but nothing to write home about. Joe Vogatsky got the ball in relief, and was downright shelled. In just an inning and ⅓, he allowed eight earned runs on one walk and six hits. He gave up two home-runs and got the loss in a second consecutive appearance that just didn’t go his way. Max Carlson gave up another three runs in two and ⅔ innings as the Sea Dogs struggled. Second baseman Drew Ehrhard got the chance to end the beatdown, but allowed the Fisher Cats to tack on another two runs. It was a rough day all around for the Sea Dogs pitching staff, who never gave the offense a real chance to win. Despite the lopsided box score, the offense was solid. Ronald Rosario went three for five with one RBI and two runs, and Erhard went two for five with five RBIs. After his pitching stint, Ehrhard went to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and clobbered his second homer of the season, adding three runs for Portland. In the fifth inning, Nelly Taylor stole home as Ehrhard and Will Turner advanced to second and third. It gave the Sea Dogs a 5-2 lead, but not for long. The offense went quite from the fifth inning to the ninth, as Portland gave up a jaw-dropping 13 unanswered runs. Clear inconsistencies continue to plague the Sea Dogs as they will look to get back above .500 against Altoona on Tuesday. High-A Greenville Drive Season Record: 3-6 Series Opponent: Hub City Spartanburgers (Texas Rangers) Series Standing: 3-3 April 10: The Drive fell narrowly 3-2 in a game that didn’t feature much offense. Kyson Witherspoon made his second professional start on Friday and showed flashes of brilliance. Over four innings he struck out six and didn’t relinquish a walk, but gave up three hits and two runs (one unearned). It was a marked improvement from his start a week ago, but a far cry from his ceiling. In relief, Ben Hansen pitched an outstanding three innings, allowing just one baserunner via a walk, and striking out four. It was a stark contrast from his season debut just a week prior in which he gave up six runs in just one and ⅓ innings. P.J. Labriola got the ball to close out the game, but struggled. Over one and ⅔ innings he walked three and gave up a walk-off single, giving himself the loss. The Drive struggled to produce at the plate. In a combined 31 plate appearances, Greenville got on base just four times by way of a walk and three hits. The seventh inning was the most productive for the Drive, they scored two runs on a hit by pitch and a bases loaded ground out. The offensive struggles continue to pile up for the Drive in the early season. Only two batters are hitting over .200 as they fall to 2-5. April 11: The Drive won their third game of the season behind dominant pitching. Anthony Eyanson started the second game of his professional career on Saturday, and didn’t disappoint. He followed up a solid start last week with an even better one this week. He threw four and ⅓ perfect innings, not allowing a single baserunner. Of the 13 batters he faced, he struck out over half of them, amassing seven K’s on the day. He lowered his ERA to 1.23 as he continues to be outstanding in his first professional season. Behind him was Jay Allmer, who walked two and gave up one run on a line drive to left field through two innings. Finally, Calvin Bickerstaff earned the win and closed out the game with two and ⅔ innings of no-hit ball while striking out three. The Drive were also better at the plate. The scoring didn’t start until the seventh inning, when Antonio Anderson hit a sac-fly that drove in Nazzan Zanetello. Then, in the eighth inning, two runs scored on an Adonys Guzman single. Zanetello followed that up with a hit of his own, hitting his first double of the season to tack on two more runs. Finally, Zanetello scored again on a wild pitch to give Greenville their sixth run of the day. April 12: Greenville returned to the loss column, falling 6-5 in a battle. Marcus Philips started the game for the Drive, but was shaky at best. He threw three innings, giving up three runs (one unearned) on three hits and a walk. It’s been a difficult start to the season for Philips, who’s given up five total runs in three and ⅔ innings across two games. Austin Ehrlicher wasn’t much better. He went two innings, giving up another three runs (two unearned) on two hits. He was given the loss for his performance. Joey Gartrell was solid for the Drive. He went two innings, and only allowed two baserunners via walks, and struck out two. Despite his strong showing, he was given the blown save as he was unable to contain the Spartanburgers. Steven Brooks closed out the game for Greenville, giving up two hits in one inning, allowing a walk and striking out two. It was a rough outing overall for the Drive. Justin Gonzales played his first game since April 9, going one for three with an RBI single in the third. Yophery Rodriguez and Adonys Guzman had two hits apiece, and Guzman totaled three RBIs. He hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth to give the Drive the lead, however it was quickly relinquished. The Drive’s only other run came on a Henry Godbout groundout with the bases loaded that drove in Rodriguez. As a team, they recorded just four strikeouts, but failed to capitalize with bases loaded on multiple occasions. Low-A Salem RidgeYaks Season Record: 7-2 Series Opponent: Wilson Warbirds (Milwaukee Brewers) Series Standing: 5-1 April 10: The RidgeYaks eked out a victory 5-4 amid a strong start to the season. Madinson Frias got the nod on Friday, his second start of the season. Frias rebounded hard after a disastrous outing last week in which he gave up a staggering six runs in just one and ⅓ innings pitched. In three and ⅓ innings on Friday he struck out four and gave up two runs. However, he allowed five walks as he struggled with his command. Luckily for the RidgeYaks, Ethan Walker was the epitome of dominant. In four and ⅓ innings in relief he gave up just one hit and two walks, and struck out an eye-popping nine batters, earning the win. He lowered his ERA to 1.29 as he continued his strong start. Adam Bates came in with a save opportunity, and did just that. Despite giving up two runs on two hits over one and ⅓ innings, he finished the game strong and got the win for Salem. The RidgeYaks were steady at the plate. They drew six walks and amassed eight hits, driving in five runs en route to the win. Kleyver Salazar continues to stand out, bumping his batting average to .353 over the first part of the season and driving in a run on his third double of the year. Additionally, D’Angelo Ortiz is living up to his name. The 21-year-old crossed the plate once and picked up a single. Skylar King hit Salem’s lone home run of the night, mashing a solo shot in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. April 11: Salem fell 6-3 as they had a hard time generating offense in their second loss of the season. Jose Bello, the last remaining piece of the Rafael Devers trade, made his first start of the season on Saturday. The 20-year-old allowed one runner via a walk in two innings, but was otherwise solid. Christian Fouch came in relief to start the third inning, and it was all downhill from there. Foutch walked five batters, allowing three runs but not a single hit. He only lasted two and ⅓ innings before getting the loss and being replaced by Harry Blum. Blum’s outing was similarly disastrous, he only lasted two innings and gave up three runs on three hits and one home-run. Gilbel Galvan lasted the longest for the RidgeYaks, turning in two and ⅔ innings of solid work. He struck out five, walked three, and allowed just one hit in the best outing of the day for Salem. The bats were just okay for the RidgeYaks, as they scored just three times on seven hits. The offense didn’t wake up until the seventh inning, and by then it was almost too late. Kleyver Salazar hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. One inning later, Avinson Pinto scored on an Ilan Fernandez sac-fly. In the ninth, Pinot grounded out to shortstop, and Ty Hodge scored. That was all she wrote for the RidgeYaks as they struggled to wake up their bats, striking out twelve times en route to a 6-3 loss. April 12: The RidgeYaks were absolutely dominant on Sunday, pouring on 16 runs and cruising to victory. Devin Futrell was lights out in his season debut last week, and nothing changed on Sunday. The Vanderbilt alum was nearly perfect through five innings, allowing one baserunner on a walk. His ERA stays at 0.00 as he continues to impress, earning the win on Sunday. Nicolas De La Cruz tacked on one hitless inning in his second appearance of the season. Griffin Kilander took the bump next, but faltered, going an inning and ⅔ and allowing three runs, three hits, and walking three. Wuilliams Rodriquez steadied the ship, going a perfect one and ⅓ innings and sealing the win for the RidgeYaks. The real story of the day came from the plate for Salem. All nine hitters reached base safely, and all but one crossed the plate at least once. Andrews Opata continued his strong start, going three for five with two runs and two RBIs. Enddy Azocar also recorded three hits, as well as two walks, reaching base safely in all five plate appearances. He crossed home four times, and drove in one RBI. Luke Heyman also recorded three runs, and drove in three RBIs, hitting his first homer of the season, and driving in two on a single. It was a team effort from the RidgeYaks, who only struck out a combined three times and recorded 14 total hits. View the full article

The San Diego Padres spent their weekend completing a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies, extending what has become a nice rebound from a sluggish start to the year. Unfortunately for Nick Castellanos, he was pinned down a bit from contributing to the repeated offensive outbursts from the collective. Not only from some general misfortune, but more specifically from Rockies outfielder Jordan Beck. Down early against Colorado on Saturday night, Castellanos put a ball into the air toward the right field seats. As it traveled and looked destined for his first home in a Padres uniform, Beck had other ideas: Not that it was a tank of a potential home run, mind you. Castellanos' exit velocity was 98.3 and the contact carried a .290 expected batting average. It would've been a homer in just one out of 30 major-league parks (Houston). The robbery component might've been overblown. But between that and each of the 91.6 MPH groundout with a .350 xBA and a 97.9 MPH line out with a .740 xBA that he also experienced over the weekend, there's a more general string of bad luck that he's running up against so far. Many of Castellanos' underlying metrics look quite good: The xBA alone is indicative of a player that should be seeing far better results than he has to this point. Castellanos has made good contact (as indicated by his Hard-Hit%) while avoiding groundball contact to an excessive 28.0 percent clip. Yet, this is a player who will carry a line of just .200/.263/.286 and a 54 wRC+ into the new week of games. Despite the hard luck associated with that kind of batting line, there are some positives to takeaway. Castellanos' strikeout rate (17.6 percent) and walk rate (8.8 percent) would each represent the best marks of his career. That hard contact rate is also significantly higher than it was last season by roughly 14 percent. These are all objectively good things that should likely be leading to better results than the ones Castellanos has received so far. If the discipline reigned itself in just a bit, he could take greater control over said outcomes. That's the one negative component we've seen out of Castellanos to this point in the young season. Even with a swing rate that is down a couple of percentage points and a chase rate that has remained within one percent of where it was last year, Castellanos has made less contact than last season by about three percent thus far. There isn't anything discernibly different in the types of pitches at which he's swinging, but merely his ability to make contact in and around the zone. Perhaps there's a susceptibility to swinging at less favorable pitches that has emerged given a small spike in his called strike rate (by about two percent), but we're still working within too small a sample to identify real trends there. The takeaway here is that Nick Castellanos has actually been varying shades of fine in 2026. The numbers say he should be quite a bit better, though, and if he's able to drive up the contact rate and create additional batted ball opportunities, his case looks to be one of those that is the natural ebb and flow of fortune in April of a new season. View the full article

Working long plate appearances, taking extra bases, and playing tight defense have all been attributes of Pat Murphy's successful Brewers teams, but so has relying on the back end of their bullpen. In both 2024 and 2025, Milwaukee relievers logged the fourth-most innings of any bullpen in baseball. In that span, their 18.1 RA9-WAR ranks second to only the Cleveland Guardians' bullpen, at 18.2. Because WAR is not precise enough for a tenth of a win to be a reliable difference, it's reasonable to say Murphy's bullpens have been the most valuable in the sport. It's been a different story to start this season. Through 15 games, Brewers relievers have had results near the middle of the pack, ranking 17th with a 96 ERA- (an ERA 4% lower than the league average, after accounting for the ballparks where they've pitched). The group is coming off an especially tough week, too. Since last Saturday's doubleheader in Kansas City, Milwaukee relievers have allowed the third-most runs in baseball. That's far too small a sample to push the panic button. Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, and Ángel Zerpa having a combined 7.27 ERA on April 14 is nothing to worry about, on its own. There have been warning signs in their stuff, though. All three have lost velocity on their upper-90s fastballs, lowering the quality of those pitches. Megill and Uribe, in particular, have both lost at least 1.5 mph from last season. The Stuff+ model at FanGraphs, which graded Megill's heater among the best in baseball and Uribe's as above-average, now sees both as underwhelming pitches. {C}%3C!%2D%2Dtd%20%7Bborder%3A%201px%20solid%20%23cccccc%3B%7Dbr%20%7Bmso-data-placement%3Asame-cell%3B%7D%2D%2D%3E--> Pitcher Season Primary FB Velo Primary FB Stuff+ Breaking Stuff+ Overall Stuff+ Trevor Megill 2025 99.2 116 141 125 Trevor Megill 2026 97.4 97 114 103 Abner Uribe 2025 98.7 102 120 115 Abner Uribe 2026 97.3 96 130 106 Angel Zerpa 2025 96.6 128 110 112 Angel Zerpa 2026 95.7 107 116 106 Stuff-wise, Zerpa is the least concerning. His sinker still has excellent depth and is getting ground balls, and he now has a tighter slider that tunnels better off that pitch. Better days could be ahead for him. Sitting around 97 mph isn't unprecedented for Megill, either. He averaged 97.8 mph last April before averaging nearly 100 until a flexor strain sidelined him down the stretch. Upon returning from that injury, though, Megill sat 97.5 in his regular-season return and 98.5 in the postseason. Since those elbow problems cropped up, his triple-digit velocity hasn't been there. Even at 97, Megill's heater is still much firmer than the league average for right-handed pitchers. However, he needs plus velocity to keep that fastball from finding barrels. Megill backspins his fastball from a high slot, so it averages 19.0 inches of induced vertical break and just 4.4 inches of arm-side movement. That's a very straight fastball, so Megill's goal is for hitters to swing late or underneath it. Without touching triple digits, it becomes easier for hitters to time up that fastball and get on top of it, instead of getting underneath well-struck fly balls that fall near the warning track for flyouts. That already became apparent in Megill's second outing of the season against the Tampa Bay Rays, when Nick Fortes drove a high fastball into the right-center gap for what was ultimately a game-winning double. SzRCVmVfWGw0TUFRPT1fRGxRRVhWeFdVbGNBRGxjSFVBQUhBMU5lQUFNQUFGa0FVMXdIVkZJRVVsQUhVUWRS.mp4 At 99-plus, a swing against that fastball is almost certainly a whiff or a flyout popped high into the air. At 96.4 mph, Fortes didn't perfectly barrel it, but he got on top of it enough to hit a high line drive with a 20-degree launch angle that split the gap. If his best fastball doesn't return, Megill faces a tougher path to being an effective late-inning reliever. He may have to lean more on his breaking ball, which he's continued to spin progressively more like a slider each year. So far this year, it's down to just -3.2 inches of induced vertical break, but has the same velocity as last year. Uribe may be the reliever to watch most closely, given his diminished stuff and the circumstances leading up to it. Unlike Megill and Zerpa, his breaking ball has also lost velocity. Whereas Megill has a history of taking time to warm up, Uribe is throwing slower than he ever has in his big-league career—something that started in the postseason last year. "If you remember last year at the end, it wasn't coming out great right at the end in the last two series [in the playoffs]," Murphy said after Uribe surrendered a lead on Sunday against the Washington Nationals. "In the last series, we pitched him at least twice [in the NLCS], maybe three, but it wasn't coming out the same. It got better, and he shows flashes, but it isn't as good." Uribe has still limited hard contact so far, but his whiff rate has cratered from 32.0% last year to 12.5% this season. That's not quite uncharted territory for him in a six-game sample, but when paired with the velocity decrease, it looks more suspicious. "Yeah, I'm sure it is," Murphy said when asked if that lower velocity is leading to fewer whiffs. "Again, you just look at that one number. You've also got to look at the movement and the patterns of it all." Uribe's stuff is moving less, too. His sinker has lost an inch of sink, going from 6.2 inches of induced vertical break last season to 7.3 this year (a lower single-digit number means more depth on pitches like sinkers, sliders, and changeups). It last had that shape in 2024 from a slightly higher arm slot. Opponents slugged .436 against it that year, and that was with Uribe averaging nearly 99 mph. The loss of velocity and movement follows a career-high workload last season. Uribe appeared in 75 regular-season games, tied for the sixth-most among relievers. Of the relievers with at least that many appearances, only Uribe averaged at least one inning per outing. He then pitched six more innings across five postseason appearances. He already looked fatigued by that point, and his stuff has not bounced back since. Uribe hasn't been Murphy's only sudden bullpen workhorse. Jared Koenig (career-high 72 appearances last year before losing velocity this spring and spraining his UCL), Bryan Hudson (60 2/3 innings through August in 2024 before losing velocity), Nick Mears (pitched in 46 of 95 team games between April and July 2025), and Aaron Ashby (50 innings in regular-season team games from July onward last year, a pace of 100 innings per season) all went prolonged stretches with extraordinary workloads during his first two seasons as manager. It's all part of the aggressive "win tonight" approach inspired by Murphy's days as a college head coach. Baseball at that level is chaotic. The season is shorter, and runs score in bunches due to the lower quality of pitching and defense. Having experienced that environment for more than 20 years, whenever Murphy sniffs a win, he puts the pedal down to secure it. That includes leaning on his best relievers. Murphy hasn't just used them to protect tight leads, but also with four- or five-run leads, and sometimes to keep the Brewers in close games when they're trailing. Using those pitchers in those situations isn't always necessary, though. Multi-run comebacks are not actually that common, meaning lower-leverage relievers can usually eat innings that are not save situations without meaningfully altering the outcome of the game. Pitching Jake Woodford in a five-run game, for example, is unlikely to change which team wins, and it keeps the high-leverage guys fresh to be at their best for protecting close leads. To his credit, Murphy never puts relievers at risk of injury with any single appearance. The Brewers' pitching coaches and high-performance team help him determine who is and isn't available every night based on pitch counts, number of appearances that week, and biomechanical data. Still, he's been reluctant to trust pitchers who are less proven or with whom he's less familiar. He'll use his best arms on days they're cleared to pitch, but in situations where they don't have to pitch. "We've been pretty good about limiting pitch counts and limiting days in a row, days per week, altering the early work, altering different things," Murphy said. "We have to be mindful of it. But, I mean, what are the options? Just say, 'Okay, here, kid in Triple-A. Come on up, close tonight.' It's probably not going to lead to a lot of success." As such, while he wants to mitigate health concerns, he often remains as aggressive as those guidelines allow. "How do you protect yourself from it without hurting your team?" he said earlier last weekend about preventing injuries to relievers. "Because you can't afford to just throw other guys in there. So how do you do that?" It's unfair to definitively blame Murphy's aggressive management for the Brewers' current bullpen troubles. At times, it has even facilitated comeback wins. However, from an outside perspective, diminished stuff from overuse—and, as a result, losses like the one they endured on Sunday—always looked like a potential future consequence. At the very least, the club should look back to determine how pitchers like Uribe, Koenig, and Megill ended up in their current states. It's an especially relevant question amid Ashby's current workload. Murphy said before Opening Day that he intended to pitch him at a similar rate to that 100-inning pace from the second half of last year. He's made good on those plans so far, throwing the left-hander a league-leading nine times in 14 games for 12 2/3 innings. That has put Ashby on pace to throw 92 2/3 innings over a full season. Some of those innings have been avoidable. On April 4 in Kansas City, Murphy used Ashby in the sixth and seventh innings with a five-run lead in the first game of that doubleheader. Woodford, acquired by the Brewers as a low-leverage long reliever, had not pitched in five days and ultimately went eight days between appearances. While game situations may force a manager to use some relievers more often than others in a given week, that lack of workload balance is striking. By all accounts, Ashby's body has handled his innings well so far. One of the reasons Murphy feels comfortable using him so often is that he wants to pitch as frequently as possible. The Brewers should monitor him closely, though, with an eye on how that usage might impact his effectiveness in the future. Milwaukee has enough talented arms to have a strong bullpen again this season. Regardless of how they got here, though, the reality is that Murphy's preferred relievers do not look like themselves. As the dust settles in the coming weeks, roles could look much different than they did on Opening Day. Along the way, the Brewers must also ensure that what has happened to Uribe and others is less likely to happen to Ashby and whoever else climbs Murphy's trust tree. Maybe that means setting stricter guidelines for when a reliever is available. If that's not the problem, it could mean a different change. Either way, if these velocity drops are not just a blip on the radar, they must lead to action. View the full article

Andrew Morris’s MLB debut might not look dominant in the box score, but the underlying numbers tell a much different story. From upper-90s velocity to advanced command and a deep arsenal, there was a lot more to like than what meets the eye. View the full article