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It might be time for Kaelen Culpepper, as the young shortstop continues to show he’s ready for the next step. With his all-around production and steady play, the Minnesota Twins could have a real spark waiting in the minors. View the full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 9-April 10) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): 3-1 Season Record: 6-7 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 2-2 Season Record: 3-3 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs. Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 1-3 Season Record: 1-6 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs. St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets): 2-1 Season Record: 3-3 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 6-7 Series Opponent: Syracuse Mets (New York Mets) April 9: Thursday's Buffalo Bisons game was one that is the definition of embarrassing. Five errors by Buffalo led to three unearned runs and ultimately a loss that should have been a win. Three batters after an RBI double by Ryan Clifford in the fourth inning, a throwing error by Josh Kasevich allowed the third run of the game to score. The very next batter, Hayden Senger, hit a ball to Ryan McCarty at second base, who misplayed it, leading to another run crossing the plate. The errors weren't just one-sided, as Syracuse helped Buffalo mount a comeback in the sixth. Down 4-0, RJ Schreck started the rally with an RBI single, scoring Yohendrick Pinango. Then a single to right field by McCarty scored Eloy Jiménez, and Cristian Pache threw the ball away, allowing Schreck to score on the play as well. The very next batter, Josh Rivera, hit a ball to the Mets’ shortstop Jackson Cluff, who also had trouble with the throw, committing yet another error that let McCarty score to tie the game up at four. In the seventh, Buffalo was back to playing like the Bad News Bears, as Hayden Juenger threw the ball away on a pick off attempt, moving Pace from second to third. He would then score when Cluff hit a sacrifice fly that would have ended the inning. The run was ultimately the game winner, with the Bisons falling 5-4. Jiménez remains one of the more consistent players for Buffalo. With a walk in the game, he has now been on base in seven of the nine games he has played in. On the mound, the only real standout performance was by Devereaux Harrison. He went two innings in what amounted to a bullpen game, didn't allow a hit or walk, and struck out two. April 10: Buffalo rode a power surge from the bottom of the batting order to their sixth win of the season. Riley Tirotta got a hold of an 84 mph cutter down in the zone and launched his first home run of the season. The big play of the game came off the bat of Josh Rivera in the bottom of the third inning. Following a single from RJ Schreck and walks by Josh Kasevich and Triotta, Rivera unloaded on a 79 mph hanging slider down the middle, sending it over the centerfield fence for a grand slam. For Rivera, the home run came just six days after his first of the season. Unfortunately for the Bisons, he had gone 0-9 in the games in between his home runs. The seven-run lead Buffalo had at the end of the third inning was more than enough for the team, as Chad Dallas was again masterful on the mound. He pitched four innings, giving up two hits and two walks, but no runs at all. He would strike out two, while again limiting hard contact by focusing on more of his offspeed pitches. Brendon Little pitched in relief of Dallas, and he walked a batter before getting a strikeout and then inducing a groundball for a double play. The game went into over a 30-minute rain delay before it was called, and the Bisons won 7-1, as it was an official game at that point. Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Season Record: 3-3 Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) April 9: New Hampshire was up against a tough challenge in a big lefty from the Boston Red Sox organization, Eduardo Rivera. Rivera went four innings pitched and only surrendered three hits and one run, as he struck out seven batters. New Hampshire surrendered runs in the first on an RBI single and a home run in the fourth inning by the Sea Dogs’ Drew Ehrhard. In the sixth inning, Cutter Coffey put the Fisher Cats within one run with an RBI triple after Nick Goodwin drove in a run in the fifth. New Hampshire tied it with a Jackson Hornung RBI single to center field, but the pitching couldn't silence the Sea Dogs. Ahbram Liendo smacked a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as New Hampshire lost this one 4-3. Pitching note: Javen Coleman pitched two clean innings and struck out five batters for New Hampshire. He could be on the fast track to the Blue Jays bullpen if he keeps putting up zeros. April 10: New Hampshire jumped out to an early lead in this one, with two runs in the top of the first inning. Sean Keys smacked an RBI double and then would score later in the inning on a sacrifice fly from Geovanny Planchart. Gage Stanifer was on the mound for the Fisher Cats and was looking exceptional for two innings. He struck out 3 batters and got 6 outs pretty cleanly. In the third inning, things got bumpy. Nate Baez hit a three-run homer to left field, and in the fourth, another run scored on a double, single, and double. Once Stanifer was pulled, another run came in. His final line was 3.2 innings pitched, nine hits, five earned runs, zero walks, and six strikeouts. That said, he really pitched much better than his line showed. He collected 19 whiffs on just 66 pitches. He had 47 strikes to 19 balls. He was really focused on peppering the strike zone tonight, and the pitches were looking very good. For results, though, he may have been in the zone too much. After the fourth inning, hits were hard to come by for both teams, as New Hampshire lost this one, 5-2. High-A Vancouver Canadians Season Record: 1-6 Series vs. Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) April 9: After a five-game losing streak to start the season, Vancouver really needed a win to stop the skid. Landen Maroudis took the mound again and, despite not looking as sharp as he did in his first start, was able to pitch around two walks and four hits by striking out three batters and only allowing a single run. Gilberto Batista also looked much better in relief, with four strikeouts on the night, and pitching nearly four innings. Carson Pierce earned the save in relief, and although he was wild also struck out three batters. The pitching was not the big story, however, as Vancouver’s offense exploded, with outfielder Carter Cunningham and infielder Dub Gleed leading the way with four RBIs apiece. The Emeralds had struggles keeping the ball in the zone, leading to a ton of baserunners for the Canadians, as they walked 12 times, leading to 14 runs scored and, finally, a well-needed win. April 10: The Canadians tried to carry the momentum of their last win over to this game, as Daniel Guerra took the mound. Guerra struck out six batters, but shaky command resulted in four walks, five hits, and four runs given up. Danny Thompson Jr. came in relief and shoved. He too struck out six batters, with the one run he gave up being on an error on a pickoff attempt. The Canadians clawed their way back from the early deficit, as Carter Cunningham continued to produce, with a homer to cut the lead to two in the bottom of the fifth, and in the bottom of the ninth tied the game to send it to extras with an RBI single. The Canadians lost their second game in extras, though, as Kelena Sauer gave up a hit to allow the ghost runner to score, and they couldn’t score their own ghost runner. Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Season Record: 3-3 Series vs. St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets) April 9, Game 1: Game 1 was a continuation from the suspended game on April 7, and Trey Yesavage had his second outing. Bad luck with batted balls spoiled his first inning, as he allowed four singles and a walk in his first inning, which resulted in four earned runs. His pitches did look sharp despite that, and he struck out six batters in only two and two-thirds innings. Two 2025 draftees also showed some pop as Blaine Bullard hit his first professional homer, and JoJo Parker had his first double and RBI in the same inning. 24-year old Brayden Heidel, signed out of indie ball, had his first affiliated outing and struck out four batters without allowing a run in three innings, touching 99 mph with his fastball to keep the Mets from adding to the lead, but the Jays couldn’t get any more runs. April 9, Game 2: In the second game of the day, the Jays came out blazing, with Yorman Licourt scoring on a pickoff attempt, and JoJo Parker with his second RBI double to give them an early 3-0 lead. Troy Guthrie continued to pitch well, going four innings, allowing only a single earned run and striking out four. Austin Smith made his pitching debut as a two-way player but struggled with his command, allowing two walks. Peyton Williams had himself a day, going 3-for-4, including an RBI triple to centerfield as his third one. The Mets rallied back against Diego Dominguez, who gave up three hits and two earned runs, but Jack Eshelman shut the door, striking out the side and earning his first save. April 10: The Jays had their highest scoring game of the season, in an effort to get back to .500. Nolan Perry’s return to the mound after UCL surgery has been fruitful, and despite slightly less sharp fastballs, he utilized his breaking balls extremely effectively, getting nine of his 11 whiffs of the night. The Dunedin offense was really effective against starter Frank Camarillo as they didn’t strike out a single time against him and tallied up seven hits. After Camarillo was taken out, the Jays switched their approach and walked eight times, and scored six more runs as a result. Eric Snow had himself a day, with two hits, two RBIs, and two walks, leading the offensive production for the game. View the full article

Coming off of what was a great two-month debut with the Miami Marlins in 2025, Jakob Marsee entered 2026 with lofty expectations. While his defense and baserunning have remained strong, the bat has been lacking to start the new season. Entering Saturday, Marsee's slash line is .148/.254/.204 with a .224 wOBA and 37 wRC+. It's a stark difference from his 133 wRC+ in 55 major league games last year. On the surface, these numbers are poor, and his expected stats only partially paint a better picture. However, a change to Marsee's stance in the batter's box has seemingly contributed to massive increases in important metrics, which will eventually lead to positive outcomes. First off, Marsee has gotten unlucky. His batting average on balls in play has plummeted from .357 as a rookie to .205 as a sophomore. Regression was expected, but this is an overcorrection that has him way underperforming league averages and his own minor league career norms. 7k4rab.mp4 Marsee's hard-hit rate and average exit velocity are much higher than the prior season. Those alone would point to future success, but I can dig even deeper to prove my case. Marsee's approach is potentially his best tool, and that has for the most part been the same as last year. In fact, his in-zone-contact rate has increased to 95%, up 8% from last season and 7% better than the MLB average. He's putting balls in the air more frequently, with his pulled-air rate rising up to 31%, which is nearly doubled the rest of the league. He is chasing outside the zone a tad more, but still ranks in the 83rd percentile in that department, according to Baseball Savant. The home runs are coming for Marsee if he stays consistent with what he's already doing in these areas. Marsee's new tendency to pull balls is no small-sample coincidence. Consider that last year, he stood 30.4 inches deep in the box, whereas this year, his depth is only 27.2 inches. That positioning has caused his "intercept point" to move 7.9 inches in front of home plate, compared to -0.3 inches previously (slightly behind the front of the plate). For context, league average is 2.9 inches in front. Monitoring Marsee's stance changes will be important to see how he adjusts (or doesn't adjust) to his early struggles. From my view, he shouldn't change a thing. These are all indicators of a strong hitting profile and the hits will soon follow. View the full article

One of the most shocking moves at last year’s trade deadline was sending Carlos Correa back to the Houston Astros in a deal that felt less like a pivot and more like a surrender. The Twins moved on from the highest-paid player in franchise history and paid another team $10 million per season to take him off their hands. That detail still lands like a punchline with no joke attached. Correa’s time in Minnesota never fit neatly into a single narrative. He was the steady hand that helped guide the franchise to its first playoff series win in two decades. He was also the player battling plantar fasciitis, looking like a different version of himself for stretches that mattered. At his peak, he was everything the Twins hoped for when they signed him, including a 5.3 rWAR season in 2022 and a dominant first half in 2024 that led to his only All-Star appearance with the organization. At his worst, he embodied the risk that comes with tying so much payroll to one player with durability questions. So now that the dust has settled, the question is unavoidable. Would the 2026 Twins actually be better if they had just kept him? Payroll Implications Moving on from Correa was supposed to create flexibility. Instead, it created an absence. The payroll dropped from $136 million in 2025 to $107 million in 2026, and those savings weren’t meaningfully reinvested. Keeping Correa at over $30 million annually would have forced a different kind of decision-making. If ownership still wanted to land near the current payroll level, subtraction would have been required elsewhere. Names like Pablo López, Joe Ryan, and Ryan Jeffers immediately come to mind as logical trade candidates. There is also a harsher reality. Trading López before his season-ending elbow injury might have been the most pragmatic move in that alternate timeline. It is the kind of cold calculation teams convince themselves is necessary when a superstar contract sits on the books. Instead, the Twins chose financial relief without roster optimization. The result is a leaner payroll that does not necessarily translate to a more competitive team. Roster Implications The ripple effects go beyond dollars. Without Correa’s contract, the Twins still operated like a team tightening its belt. Free agent additions such as Josh Bell and Victor Caratini came at a modest combined cost, but even those moves feel unlikely in a world where Correa remains on the roster. Instead of Caratini, the backup catching job likely falls to Alex Jackson. Instead of a rotating first base situation, Kody Clemens probably sees a heavier workload by necessity rather than design. The infield alignment becomes even more interesting. Keeping Correa at shortstop likely pushes Brooks Lee into a different role, potentially second base. That shift could open opportunities for Luke Keaschall to find regular at-bats in a corner outfield spot or even factor into the first base mix. In other words, the roster would not just look different. It would feel different. Less flexible in some ways, more top-heavy in others, and heavily dependent on Correa anchoring everything. Correa’s 2026 Performance Back in Houston, Correa has quietly begun writing a new chapter. The Astros shifted him to third base, a move that may prove to be as important as the trade itself. Through the first 11 games, he is hitting .262/.354/.381 with a .735 OPS and a 116 OPS+, while providing above-average defense at the hot corner. It is fair to wonder how much of that success is tied to context. Playing third base reduces the physical toll. Playing in a more familiar environment may also help. And perhaps most importantly, he is not dealing with early-season games in Minnesota weather while handling the demands of shortstop every day. Would he be producing the same numbers with the Twins right now? Maybe. But it feels just as likely that the conversation would once again center on health management and workload. Revisionist history rarely offers clean answers, and this case is no different. Keeping Correa would have given the Twins a higher ceiling on paper. A healthy version of Correa still raises the floor and the expectations of the entire roster. But that version comes with trade-offs. The pitching depth might look thinner. The lineup might feel less balanced. And the financial pressure would force difficult decisions that could reshape the roster in ways that are just as uncomfortable as the reality fans are watching now. In the end, the more frustrating truth is not that the Twins traded Correa. It is that they never fully capitalized on the freedom it offered. The question is not just whether they would be better with him. It is whether they did enough to justify living without him. Would the Twins have been better with Correa in 2026? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Miguel Mendez struck out six over four scoreless innings, and Eric Yost added five strikeouts in four shutout frames, but San Antonio fell 2-1 to Corpus Christi. Kash Mayfield threw four hitless innings in Fort Wayne's 3-0 loss to Lansing. Rordy Mejia tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings for Lake Elsinore in a 5-4 loss to Rancho Cucamonga. Marcos Castañon's pinch-hit, three-run homer in the ninth lifted El Paso to a 10-8 comeback win over Albuquerque. Padres Transactions San Diego Padres placed RHP Jeremiah Estrada on the 15-day injured list. Right elbow tendenitis. San Diego Padres activated RHP Jason Adam from the 15-day injured list. Castañon's Pinch-Hit Three-Run Homer Caps El Paso Comeback In 10-8 Win El Paso trailed 5-0 after the top of the fifth inning before a seven-run bottom half turned the game around. Jase Bowen, Pablo Reyes, and Sung-Mun Song each delivered RBI singles to cut the deficit to 5-3. Mason McCoy then cleared the bases with a three-run double to give El Paso a 6-5 lead, and Rodolfo Durán added an RBI single to extend it to 7-5. Albuquerque tied the game 7-7 in the seventh on back-to-back solo home runs, then took an 8-7 lead in the eighth when a run scored on a double play. In the bottom of the ninth, Sung-Mun Song led off with a double to left. Nick Solak reached on a bunt error, and Nick Schnell entered as a pinch runner. Marcos Castañon then came off the bench and hit a three-run homer to left field, giving El Paso the 10-8 win. Starter Griffin Canning led El Paso's pitching staff with 3 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Garrett Hawkins earned the win in relief, throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing one hit with one strikeout. Clay Dungan led the offense by going 3-for-4. Song finished with two hits, including a double, and Durán added two hits and an RBI. Name Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB Jase Bowen CF 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Pablo Reyes 3B 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Sung-Mun Song DH 5 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 Nick Solak RF 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Nick Schnell PR 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nate Mondou 1B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Marcos Castañon PH 1 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 Mason McCoy SS 4 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 1 1 Carlos Rodríguez LF 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Samad Taylor LF 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Rodolfo Durán C 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Clay Dungan 2B 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 37 10 13 2 0 1 10 3 10 2 Name IP H R ER BB K Griffin Canning 3 1/3 3 1 1 3 4 Miguel Cienfuegos 1 1/3 5 4 4 0 1 Misael Tamarez 1/3 1 0 0 1 1 Evan Fitterer (H, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 1 Eli Villalobos (BS, 2) 1 2/3 4 3 3 1 0 Garrett Hawkins (W, 1-0) 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 1 Totals 9 14 8 8 5 8 Mendez And Yost Combine For Eight Scoreless Innings But Missions Fall 2-1 San Antonio's pitching staff held Corpus Christi scoreless through eight innings, but a two-run homer in the top of the ninth handed the Missions a 2-1 loss. Starter Miguel Mendez set the tone with four scoreless innings, allowing three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Eric Yost was equally effective in relief, matching Mendez with four scoreless innings while allowing just two hits with no walks and five strikeouts. The two combined for 11 strikeouts over eight shutout innings. San Antonio broke through in the bottom of the eighth. Braedon Karpathios led off with a single to left, moved to second on a groundout by Ethan Salas, and scored on a Romeo Sanabria line-drive single to right field, giving the Missions a 1-0 lead. Sadrac Franco entered for the ninth inning. After recording two outs, he issued a walk and then surrendered a two-run homer to center field, giving Corpus Christi a 2-1 lead. Franco took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits with one walk and one strikeout in one inning. The Missions collected seven hits but left 14 runners on base. Ethan Salas reached base twice with a single and a walk. Tirso Ornelas, Kai Murphy, Chris Sargent, and Carson Tucker each added a hit. Name Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB Braedon Karpathios LF 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Kai Roberts CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ethan Salas DH 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Tirso Ornelas RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Romeo Sanabria 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Francisco Acuna SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Ryan Jackson 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Kai Murphy LF 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 Chris Sargent C 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Carson Tucker 2B 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 32 1 7 0 0 0 1 3 11 1 Name IP H R ER BB K Miguel Mendez 4 3 0 0 2 6 Eric Yost 4 2 0 0 0 5 Sadrac Franco (L, 0-1)(BS, 1) 1 2 2 2 1 1 Totals 9 7 2 2 3 12 Mayfield Throws Four Hitless Innings, But TinCaps Shut Out By Lansing Fort Wayne was shut out 3-0 by Lansing despite collecting seven hits and receiving a strong overall pitching performance. Starter Kash Mayfield did not allow a hit over four innings, striking out four batters. He walked three but stranded all baserunners to keep the game scoreless through his outing. Braian Salazar relieved Mayfield and threw two innings, allowing one run on one hit with four strikeouts. The run against Salazar scored in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, and Salazar took the loss. Jeferson Villabona allowed two runs in the eighth inning on consecutive doubles, finishing with two hits, one walk, and two strikeouts over two innings of work. Clay Edmondson closed the game with a scoreless ninth, striking out two while walking one. Fort Wayne's pitching staff combined to allow just three hits across nine innings while striking out 12, but the offense could not convert opportunities into runs. The TinCaps left 14 runners on base and grounded into three double plays. Alex McCoy and Jake Cunningham each had two-hit games to lead the lineup. Cunningham doubled in the third inning and stole a base. Kasen Wells, Rosman Verdugo, and Oswaldo Linares each added a single, and Verdugo drew a walk. Name Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB Kasen Wells CF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Rosman Verdugo 3B 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Carlos Rodriguez C 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Alex McCoy DH 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Kavares Tears RF 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 Jack Costello 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jake Cunningham LF 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 Oswaldo Linares 2B 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dylan Grego SS 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 30 0 7 1 0 0 0 2 10 1 Name IP H R ER BB K Kash Mayfield 4 0 0 0 3 4 Braian Salazar (L, 0-2) 2 1 1 1 0 4 Jeferson Villabona 2 2 2 2 1 2 Clay Edmondson 1 0 0 0 1 2 Totals 9 3 3 3 5 12 Westenburg Goes 4-For-4 But Storm Fall Short In 5-4 Loss Lake Elsinore rallied from a four-run deficit to tie the game but fell 5-4 to Rancho Cucamonga. Starter Kruz Schoolcraft struggled in the first inning, recording just one out while allowing four runs on two hits with two walks. Rordy Mejia took over and was dominant, throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings without allowing a hit while striking out five. Brandon Langley followed with two innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Langley took the loss after the go-ahead run scored on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth. Will Koger threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, and Ethan Long added one scoreless inning with one walk. The Storm answered Rancho Cucamonga's four-run first inning immediately. Truitt Madonna drove in Ryan Wideman with an RBI single in the bottom of the first to make it 4-1. In the second, Victor Duarte singled in Bradley Frye, and Conner Westenburg doubled in Duarte to cut it to 4-3. Bradley Frye tied the game 4-4 in the third with a sacrifice fly that scored Kale Fountain. Conner Westenburg led the offense by going 4-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases. Ryan Wideman singled, walked, and stole two bases. Frye went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base. Name Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB Ryan Wideman CF 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 Jose Verdugo 2B 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Truitt Madonna 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Kale Fountain DH 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Jorge Quintana SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Bradley Frye 3B 3 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 George Bilecki RF 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 Victor Duarte C 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Conner Westenburg LF 4 0 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 Totals 36 4 12 2 0 0 4 2 10 5 Name IP H R ER BB K Kruz Schoolcraft 1/3 2 4 3 2 0 Rordy Mejia 3 2/3 0 0 0 0 5 Brandon Langley (L, 0-1) 2 2 1 1 2 4 Will Koger 2 1 0 0 0 2 Ethan Long 1 1 0 0 1 0 Totals 9 6 5 4 5 11 Padres Top-20 Prospect Performance Kash Mayfield: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K Ethan Salas: 1-for-3, BB, K Kruz Schoolcraft: 1/3 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 0 K Bradgley Rodriguez: DNP Humberto Cruz: DNP Miguel Mendez: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K Ty Harvey: DNP Jorge Quintana: 0-for-4, 2 K Kale Fountain: 0-for-4, R, 3 K Ryan Wideman: 1-for-4, R, BB, 2 SB Jagger Haynes: DNP Lamar King Jr: DNP Romeo Sanabria: 1-for-4, RBI, K Truitt Madonna: 1-for-4, RBI, BB Michael Salina: DNP Garrett Hawkins: 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K (W) Kavares Tears: 0-for-3, BB, 3 K Deivid Coronil: DNP Francis Pena: DNP Bryan Balzer: DNP View the full article

Brendon Little was dominant during the first half of last season. Over 44 1/3 innings, he posted a 2.03 ERA, held batters to a .177 batting average, and had a 65:28 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The second half of the season was a different story. The lefty had a 4.88 ERA, a .230 average off him, and a 26:17 strikeout-to-walk ratio over only 24 innings. The struggles could have been due to his workload. At times, the only southpaw in the bullpen, he threw in 79 total games. It was the first time he had thrown in over 50 games in his short MLB career. Little's 2026 season has started even worse. Over his first 3 2/3 innings, he was abysmal, posting a 24.55 ERA (10 earned runs) and allowing a .500 batting average (10 hits) despite striking out six batters. He allowed three home runs, one more than he allowed in all of 2025. The slow start led to his demotion to Triple-A Buffalo on April 5. This move was likely a way to give Little a breather from the high-stress environment of MLB. Little relies heavily on his sinker and knuckle curve, throwing them a combined 80 percent of the time in each of his three MLB seasons. Lately, he's been leaving the sinker in the zone, resulting in him allowing batters to hit .800 off the 41 sinkers he has thrown in 2026. The pitch's 30.2 inches of drop and 12.6 inches of arm-side break weren't fooling hitters, and the reliever needs to figure out why. Little's knuckle curve has been his go-to strikeout pitch over his career. This season, it has resulted in a 50 percent whiff rate on 14 swings (36 pitches). The breaking ball has also recorded all six of the 29-year-old's strikeouts. The whiff percentage for his knuckle curve is on par with his career results, but hitters are swinging at the pitch less often, and they have a batting average of .250 against it. That batting average is higher than in the last two seasons, when hitters didn't exceed a .160 average. Little needs to figure out how to get back to limiting damage against his knuckle curve. His top two pitches are being put in play for hits too consistently to be successful in MLB. Though the start of his season has been disappointing, Little is a talented pitcher and has shown he can succeed in the big leagues. He's 29, but it's only his third MLB season, so this could be a confidence issue, as well. The struggles could also be a mechanical issue that needs a tweak. Regardless of the issue, this breather in Buffalo will allow Little to work on his game in a less stressful environment. Hopefully, when the lefty returns to the Blue Jays, we see the dominant first-half of 2025 version of Little. View the full article

Through the first week and a half of the season, the best pitcher in baseball has been San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller. Over 6 1/3 innings, he has allowed exactly zero runs, struck out 16, walked one, and allowed a single solitary single. He leads all relievers in FIP (-1.43), fWAR (0.5), and strikeout percentage (76.2%) — a negative FIP is truly demonic. You basically cannot pitch better than Miller has, and like so many elite relievers before him, the man armed with the league’s fastest average fastball velocity (101.2 MPH) is dominating with... his slider? Yes, Mason Miller, he who burst onto the scene in 2024 with the then-Oakland Athletics by throwing straight 100 MPH gas past MLB hitters, has bent his arsenal away from the pitch that made him famous and has never been better. Thus far, he has thrown his slider 52.5% of the time, followed by his fastball at 42.5%, and his nascent changeup, which deserves its own look, clocks in at 95.5 MPH and 5.0%. Compared to 2024, when he reared back for a fastball on 63.1% of his pitches, Miller now looks like a junker-baller, but it has unequivocally been a successful evolution. The question isn’t if Miller has made the right choice; it’s why he decided to even entertain (relatively) shelving such an elite fastball. And there’s a pitcher just north on the interstate who made the same fateful decision. Before Edwin Diaz became a national sensation for making trumpets cool again, he was your quintessential fireballing reliever. Between 2016 and 2021, Diaz used his upper-90s fastball at least 60% of the time to solidify himself as one of the game’s top closers. His high point came in 2018, when he threw his fastball 62.2% of the time, struck out 15.22 batters per nine innings, and racked up 3.5 fWAR, the seventh-highest reliever total of the 21st century. Diaz had a formula that not only worked but arguably made him the best. Then in 2022, Diaz suddenly flipped his fastball usage to 41.9% and his slider usage to 58.1% and posted another all-time season. He rode his slider to a 1.31 ERA, 17.13 K/9, and a fWAR of 3.0. In the following seasons, he has eased his slider usage a tad, but he still throws both pitches about half the time. Now, Diaz’s evolution would make sense if his fastball velocity fell off a cliff, but his fastball averaged 97.3 MPH in 2018 and 97.2 MPH in 2025. What caused Diaz to stray off the straight and narrow is the same force that looks to have pushed Miller: throwing strikes. Pitching is fundamentally about strikes, and you can get them one of two ways. You throw the ball in the strike zone, and the umpire calls it, or you get a batter to swing and miss. The best pitchers do both, as do the best pitches. If you rack up a bunch of called and swinging strikes, it’s pretty hard not to have success. Edwin Diaz and Mason Miller, in particular, might have elite fastball velocity, but that doesn’t mean it’s their best pitch. Miller’s fastball has never had outlier horizontal or vertical movement, which means it relies mainly on velocity to be effective, and Diaz, despite not losing velocity over the years, has lost vertical movement, which has hurt the pitch’s effectiveness. On top of that, neither has been particularly accurate with their fastballs. When you add it all up, their heaters were effectively wild, which stood in stark contrast to what their sliders became. A decent proxy for what pitch a pitcher should lead with is a little metric I call, “Zone Percentage + Outside Zone Swing and Miss Percentage.” While I need to find a catchier, shorter name, the metric’s simplicity is why it works. Pitchers want to throw strikes, and what better way to do that than to throw it in the strike zone? Also, when pitchers don’t throw it in the zone, they want someone to swing and miss because that’s still a strike. Looking at Diaz’s four-seamer and slider figures, it’s pretty obvious why he has ramped up his slider usage in recent seasons. *Data reflective of updated stats as of April 9, 2026 Diaz has never thrown his fastball in the zone that often, and fastballs just never garner nearly as many swings out of the zone. Meanwhile, his slider has always enticed an incredible amount of swings out of the zone, while being nearly unhittable. Unsurprisingly, his best season as a primary fastball pitcher was 2018, when he posted the best Zone% of his career with the pitch, but it’s hard to lead with a fastball, even a great one, that you can’t consistently throw for a strike. And the same trend follows Miller. It’s incredibly early, but what Miller is doing with his slider is basically a cheat code. Major league hitters are chasing it out of the zone over half the time and are coming up empty at a 87.5% rate. To make matters worse, for hitters, he’s throwing his slider in the zone at a 54.8% clip, where he’s allowing a 40% contact rate. These numbers should all regress to the realm of mortals eventually, but that shouldn’t quell any of its usage, especially because his fastball command has continued to back up with a career low 46.2% zone rate. For as excellent as Miller has been, there’s a chance he has another gear. In 2024, Miller’s fastball had a 70.3% contact rate in the zone but that figure rose to 75.3% in 2025, while also finding itself in the zone less often. Since it was generating fewer strikes, it makes sense he would lean less on his fastball in 2025, but there’s a chance he could rediscover his 2024 fastball mojo. In 2026, his four-seamer again has an in-zone contact rate of 70%, in line with his 2024 figure, and that’s despite hitters clearly sitting on the pitch. Batters have swung at 83.3% of the in-zone fastballs they’ve faced, which far exceeds his career average of 71.2%. At a certain point, hitters will have to stop sitting on his fastball if they want any hope of handling the slider. And when that happens, don’t be surprised if his fastball becomes a major weapon again. Miller might not be pitching off his four-seamer anymore, but hitters are certainly treating it like he is. The final evolution for Mason Miller is to find the harmonic 50/50 fastball-slider split. The former was such a standout pitch that hitters sold out to hit it, only to be destroyed by the latter. When Diaz did that in 2022, he had a season for the ages, but eventually batters began to lay off his slider, and his fastball usage rebounded. The truly terrifying thing is Miller’s stuff is even better than Diaz’s was, and if he ever figures out a change-up... well, let’s not scare the kids. View the full article

Andrew Morris is getting the call. Twins Daily’s #12 prospect is joining the team in Toronto for a three-game road trip. He’s expected to pitch out the bullpen with right-hander Cody Laweryson being placed on the injured list. Morris was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of Texas Tech (114th overall). After making short work of the lower minors in 2023, he spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A dealing with injuries and searching for consistency. After throwing 94 2/3 innings for St. Paul in 2025 (4.09 ERA, 4.14 FIP), he looked good in two outings (7 1/3 IP) in 2026 (1.23 ERA, 2.93 FIP). Morris has been a consistent strike thrower throughout the minor leagues, maintaining walk rates that oscillated between 4.5% and 8%. As for the pitch mix Morris will bring to the table, he’ll throw up to six pitches in a kitchen sink type approach. He throws all three fastball shapes, his four-seamer sitting 95 mph and topping out at 98 mph. Morris also mixes in a slider (84 mph), a slower curveball (75 mph), and a firm changeup (89 mph). While Morris’ production has been consistently effective throughout his minor league career, he began to generate less swing and miss in the upper levels of the minors, raising doubts about whether he can start in the majors (he's neither a pronator or a supinator, leading to a lack of outlier vertical or horizontal movement on his pitches). Getting an opportunity to contribute in the bullpen is the perfect introduction for Morris. The role should allow his stuff to play up and give him the best possible chance to succeed while adjusting to major league hitting. In addition, Ryan Kreidler is taking Royce Lewis's spot on the 26-man roster. Lewis is out with a knee sprain. View the full article

Transactions: RHP Easton McGee recalled to MLB Brewers from AAA Nashville 1B/OF Tyler Black placed on AAA Nashville’s 7-day injured list on April 8 (last played on Sunday April 5th) INF/OF Eduardo Garcia activated from AA Biloxi’s 7-day injured list OF Damon Keith placed on AA Biloxi’s 7-day injured list retroactive to April 9 OF Jordyn Adams placed on AA Biloxi’s 7-day injured list retroactive to April 9 Injury updates on Keith and Adams below. Friday Media Notes unavailable Final: Gwinnett (Braves) 6, Nashville 5 Box Score and Game Log Via the Sounds, game details, and we encourage readers to always review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: Costly Errors Spoil Sounds Near Comeback Against Stripers - Wilken Belts First Career Triple-A Homer in 6-5 Loss It seems fruitless to point out positives here when the error column flashes a "6". Sure, as the chock-full game summary noted, every Sound had at least one base hit. 28-year-old switch-hitting RF Greg Jones has flashed his 2019 first round (Rays, 22nd overall) pedigree - three singles here. Find Brock Wilken's blast here, punished a meatball, yet it's hard to remove your eyes from the .029 in the lower right at the time of impact. Watch as both Eddys Leonard (here) and Ramon Rodriguez (here) line balls into the left-center field gap. Leonard has started five games in left field and three at second base, including this one, where three times he was charged with a fielding error. Both Robert Gasser and Blake Holub committed pickoff errors, The Gwinnett media team isn't the most active, so remarkably, we don't have video of the wild walk-off sequence that concluded the night on Jeferson Quero's throwing error to third base. However, the Stripers did post a "booth cam" video of their PxP guy calling the action. Cooper Pratt sat a second consecutive night; odd given he had already been idle while finalizing his physical for the contract extension. Gasser was at 62 pitches when lifted in the 4th. He left this pitch in a bad spot, though kudos to said PxP man for his synth-pop reference with his "Welcome to Schunky-Town" call. Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Pensacola (Marlins) 5, Biloxi 4 Box Score and Game Log Catch up with the latest Biloxi pre-game audio interview archives - Manager Mike Guerrero's chat from Friday night is available along with all this week's collection Via the Shuckers, game details: Made Records Third Multi-Hit Performance, Shuckers Fall to Blue Wahoos - Shuckers come within 90 feet of tying the game in the ninth, Gillis shines in relief over 5.0 shutout innings Wow, Biloxi loaded the bases with one out in the 9th, but Jesús Made struck out swinging in a three-pitch at-bat and Blake Burke grounded out to first to end it. As Bishop Letson's two-contest 2026 game log shows, consistency isn't always a good thing, especially when a WHIP is at 3.75 for each very brief outing. Clearly something is amiss, and Pitching Coach Josh Spence has some work to do with the talented 21-year-old. The Shuckers camera feed was unavailable for this game in what is hopefully a one-off. Speaking of consistency, and we love you, Biloxi organization, but early-season video troubles are a seemingly yearly ritual. But c'mon, we're so spoiled in this day and age of prospect tracking compared to years ago. They'll figure it out. As you saw in the transaction section above, the Shuckers had to place two outfielders on the IL after each had to leave Wednesday's game early. For the ability to view archived minor league games, it seems you now need an MLB+ subscription as opposed to the old MiLB.TV subscription, and it's pricier, at least that's what I've encountered. Regardless, in the review of that game: Top of the 3rd (archive link for subscribers) - go to the 01:34:50 hour/minute mark - Emaarion Boyd doubles (1) on a sharp line drive to left fielder Jordyn Adams. Emaarion Boyd to 3rd. Emaarion Boyd advances to 3rd, on a fielding error by left fielder Jordyn Adams. This was really unique. Adams made a somewhat awkward dive to his right as the ball clipped him and bounded away, with Adams delayed in his recovery to chase the ball down and get it in. After several viewings, it appears the ball caught Adams on a short hop to his head/face, and the trainer spent a few minutes with him as Adams' facial expressions while standing on the field seemed to confirm that. We won't fully speculate as to whether his absence is concussion-protocol related, but it's a possibility. Keith reached on an infield single to third base leading off the 5th, 02:27:05 hour/minute mark. There was absolutely no doubt about this injury, as Keith grabbed at his right hamstring as he crossed first base. Clearly in pain, the red-hot Keith (1.343 OPS in five games) hobbled back into the dugout. With Jacon Hurtubise's recent promotion to Nashville preceding these injuries, Biloxi is reduced to Dasan Brown and Kay-Lin Nicasia as true outfielders, though Eduardo Garcia's activation from the IL will help, while Dylan O'Rae and Jheremy Vargas have plenty of experience on the grass. This helps explain Mike Boeve's left field debut this week. Kudos to 25-year-old RHP Tanner Gillis for a spectacular long relief outing behind Letson and LHP Anthony Flores, who struggled for the first time (four walks) in three outings. Gillis faced one over the minimum in his five innings, a lonely single. Pensacola won despite having only three hits, all singles. Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes (download link) Final: Wisconsin 9, Quad Cities (Royals) 0 Box Score and Game Log Rattlers Rebound for a Big Win My goodness, as you'll read at the tail end of that detailed game summary, we need to expand our injury section to include the umpiring crew. Goodness. Bryce Meccage gets the ground ball and help from his mates - In addition to the embedded "X" videos in the game summary, here are additional highlights: Andrew Fischer sacrifice fly Luis Pena sacrifice fly Blayberg Diaz RBI double (off a position player/catcher, but he'll take it) Marco Dinges didn't agree with his 6th inning called strike, allowing Diaz to replace him. Rattlers drew 13 walks and an HBP but also K'd 17 times, including a four-pack for Fischer, who negates a true sombrero with a walk and the afore-viewed sac fly. Meccage, Jack Seppings, and in particular Chandler Welch all received their mound due in the game summary after this combined shutout. Still waiting on Luis Pena's first XBH (it's early), but he's rolling after four games played (.550 OBP, 4-for-4 in SB attempts). Wilson Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Salem (Red Sox) 5, Wilson 4 Box Score and Game Log Salem Takes Series from Wilson - Warbirds Rally Comes up Short The boys managed only four hits (doubles by Jose Anderson and Juan Ortuno) but tried to make the most of nine bases on balls. Strikeouts continue to be a major issue, 13 here. What a slide by Anderson! Enderson Mercado surrenders a triple to the second batter of the game Then, Pedro Ibarguen immediately misplayed this one in center, didn't help Mercado's cause Luiyin Alastre could have been credited with a hit on this screamer, but drives in a run regardless Baserunning mistake by Salem, but enjoy the Wilson uniforms looking sharp RHP Enniel Cortez left this one in a bad spot to a LH bat Of the 14 active position players, only Brady Ebel, Jadyn Fielder, and Nick Monile are not products of the Dominican Academy. Not sure of the English language skills of the many Latin American players but look for the three U.S.-born players to be popular interview subjects of the local media for the home opener Tuesday. It's all evening action on Saturday as the farm system looks to build on its 16-16 overall mark. Catch you Sunday AM, Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

A prospect getting to Triple-A means they are just one step away from the major leagues. The call-up to the majors could happen for a variety of reasons, including the prospect playing their way into the major league club’s plans, an injury to a current major leaguer, or even a player needing to step away for a few days for personal reasons. Players at Triple-A are typically a combination of guys who have a good amount of experience, either at the major league level or some years in the minor leagues, and prospects who are still working their way up and looking for that first call. The Omaha Storm Chasers are no different and have a few intriguing names, including former first-round pick Gavin Cross, and fellow top 30 prospects via MLB Pipeline RHPs Shane Panzini (#21) and Ben Kudrna (#10). While many of the Royals' top prospects are in the lower minors, these players are intriguing enough, and they may even get a shot at Kaufmann Stadium as early as the 2026 season. The Storm Chasers roster is also full of players who have some experience in the major leagues as well, which are good guys to call on when a roster spot opens up in Kansas City. Here is a preview of the coaching staff, the roster, and what to expect from certain players this season and beyond. Storm Chasers Coaching Staff The coaching staff in the minor leagues is key to developing future major leaguers in any organization. The Storm Chasers have many familiar faces from past years. Pat Osborn will be in his second year as the manager of the Storm Chasers. This year will be his 15th in pro ball and seventh as a minor league manager. He was the bench coach for the Storm Chasers before his current appointment. Dane Johnson will be in his seventh season in Omaha and the sixth in the pitching coach role. He’s been in the Royals organization since 2020, and this year is his 27th season as a coach. He has experience as a major league bullpen coach and as a pitching coach at various levels of the minor leagues. David Lundquist will serve as the Assistant Pitching Coach, his third season with Omaha and 22nd in pro ball. He joined the Royals organization in 2024 and also has previous experience as a major league bullpen coach with the Philadelphia Phillies. Bijan Rademacher will be serving as the hitting coach in Omaha and will be in his fourth season in Omaha and sixth season coaching overall. He joined the Royals organization in 2023 after two years with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tripp Keister is listed as an Assistant Coach and will likely help with a variety of things across the coaching staff. He is in his second season with the Storm Chasers and his third year with the Royals organization. He’s entering his 15th season as a coach in minor league baseball and his previous experience is in the Washington Nationals organization, along with 12 seasons coaching in college and five years a pro scout. James Stone and Amanda Gallone will serve as Athletic Trainers and are in their eighth and second seasons with Omaha, respectively. Others listed on the coaching staff are Mike Brown, who is in his eighth year as the Clubhouse Manager, and his 20th season in Omaha, and Ben Nicholas, who will serve as the Assistant coordinator for Minor League Video. Brown is a mainstay with the Storm Chasers and has worked in various roles both at Werner Park and at Rosenblatt Stadium. Nicholas is in his third season with Omaha, and second in his current role. Storm Chasers Pitchers RHP Ryan Bergert, RHP Mason Black, RHP Ethan Bosacker, RHP Eric Cerantola, RHP Jose Cuas, LHP Tyson Guerrero, RHP Brandon Johnson, RHP Ben Kudrna, LHP Chazz Martinez, LHP John Means, RHP Eli Morgan, LHP Helcris Olivarez, RHP Shane Panzini, LHP Andrew Perez, LHP Ryan Ramsey, RHP Aaron Sanchez, RHP Anthony Simonelli, RHP Mitch Spence, RHP Beck Way A few of these names likely look familiar, either because they have major league experience or because they have appeared on top prospects lists over the past few years. Both Kudrna and Panzini are listed in the top prospects and may get a call very soon. Others will likely serve as organizational depth and have previous major league experience, so they are likely on a short list of guys to call up. Morgan, Guerrero, and Sanchez all have different levels of success at the major league level, and if the organization can get them back to what made them successful, they could be great options and be called up to the majors if they show they are useful out of the bullpen. Means is listed on the roster but will likely be out the entire season with a torn Achilles. He signed a two-year deal and will likely be available in 2027 for the Royals. Storm Chasers Catchers Jorge Alfaro, Elias Diaz, Elih Marrero, Luca Tresh Alfaro and Diaz will serve as depth options beyond major league catchers Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen. Diaz is a former All-Star Game MVP back in 2023, so the upside is there. Tresh is in his second year with Triple-A Omaha, after playing 72 games and hitting 10 home runs in 2025. Both Alfaro and Marrero are listed on the Development List, so they are not taking up active roster spots. Storm Chasers Infielders Brandon Drury, Connor Kaiser, Kevin Newman, Josh Rojas, Abraham Toro, Peyton Wilson A few of these names may also look familiar, as Drury, Newman, Toro, Kaiser, and Rojas all have some major league experience. Wilson will be in his second season in Triple-A. Most of this list are players on minor-league deals but could receive a call-up if they either play their way into a call-up, or an injury on the major league roster leads to needing another infielder. Storm Chasers Outfielders Gavin Cross, Nick Loftin, Kameron Misner, John Rave, Drew Waters Loftin, Waters, and Rave are likely familiar names as they have played some at the major league level with the Royals in recent years. Cross is a former first-round pick and is ranked 27th in the Royals system via MLB Pipeline. He will be playing his first season in Triple-A, after playing the past two seasons with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He hit for a .703 OPS this past season and showed some power, hitting 17 home runs over 114 games played. Misner was acquired in an off-season trade for a player to be named later from the Tampa Bay Rays. He played in 71 games at the major league level and hit .213/.273/.345 in 2025. While the Omaha roster may not be filled with high-end prospects, there are still plenty of names that should be fun to follow and it is filled with plenty of players who could be called up this year. Whether the players are serving as organizational depth, playing at Triple-A for the first time, the Storm Chasers should be intriguing to watch to see if any players push their way into playing time at the major league level or show why they should be seen as pieces for the future in the Royals organization. View the full article

While the Minnesota Twins didn’t make any blockbuster trades or hand out massive contracts this past offseason, the moves they did make are already paying off in a very real, measurable way early in 2026. The front office targeted specific needs and filled them with experienced, complementary pieces. A couple of weeks into the season, the numbers are already backing up that approach. The most impactful additions so far have been veteran free agents Josh Bell and Victor Caratini, both of whom have stepped in and immediately elevated the lineup. Starting with Bell, he’s been exactly what this offense was missing in the middle of the order. Entering Friday, he’s slashing .317/.431/.634 with an OPS over 1.000. He leads the team in hits, doubles, OPS and RBIs, while also tied for the team lead in homers. There have been some walks, and since splitters are generally tough to command consistently, that’s not super surprising. But the damage has been minimal. He’s allowing very few hits, keeping the ball on the ground, and stranding runners when needed. Like Rogers, his value comes from limiting quality contact rather than overpowering hitters, and so far, it’s working. Then there’s Tristan Gray, who’s carved out a role despite limited opportunities. Gray has just a fraction of the at-bats compared to everyday players, yet he ranks second on the team with eight RBIs, trailing only Bell. Six of those RBIs have come with the bases loaded, highlighting just how impactful he's been. In high-leverage situations, Gray has been one of the team’s most productive hitters. His ability to deliver in those moments has given the Twins the clutch hitting they’ve desperately needed. Defensively, he’s been steady on the left side of the infield, providing reliable play at both shortstop and third base. That versatility only adds to his value, especially considering the defensive performances of Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee up to this point. Individually, none of these moves dominated headlines over the winter. But collectively, the impact has been clear, and the numbers back it up. Bell has provided elite production in the middle of the order, while Caratini has brought consistency and contact. Rogers and Orze have helped stabilize the bullpen, and Gray has delivered in big moments despite limited playing time. It’s a good reminder that building a winning roster doesn’t always require massive moves. Sometimes, it’s about identifying the right pieces and putting them in positions to succeed. Through the first stretch of the season, the Twins have done exactly that. And it’s a big reason why they currently find themselves above .500. View the full article

The Royals' bullpen has gone through its share of struggles this year. According to Fangraphs, the Kansas City relievers rank 27th in ERA, 28th in WHIP and H/9, 23rd in HR/9, and 22nd in BB/9. On a positive note, the Royals' bullpen ranks 15th in K/9, which is much better than their 29th ranking a season ago. Thus, there's some talent in the Royals' bullpen; it's just finding the right combination and pieces that can carry this pitching staff in various leverage situations. With Carlos Estevez on the IL, the Royals have been relying on Lucas Erceg, Matt Strahm, and John Schreiber in high-leverage situations. However, one pitcher who has emerged is Eli Morgan, who came to Spring Training as a Royals non-roster invitee, eventually made the roster, and earned an MLB contract. In Cactus League play, Morgan posted a 0.87 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 1.94 FIP in 10.1 IP. That also included some excellent whiff and CSW metrics, as illustrated below. Morgan didn't make the Opening Day roster, as the Royals opted for Alex Lange and Bailey Falter, who were out of Minor League options. However, Falter is currently on the IL, and the Royals needed fresh bullpen arms after heavy workloads by Luinder Avila and Steven Cruz during the Guardians series. Thus, the Royals tapped Morgan and Mitch Spence to fill in, and the former has demonstrated that he's not only a solid fill-in reliever but could hold a major role in this Royals bullpen in 2026. Morgan Showing Stuff and Results in Kansas City So far, in two outings, Morgan has shown versatility as a multi-innings reliever for the Royals. The 29-year-old has accumulated five innings with Kansas City, so far, which included a three-inning outing against Milwaukee and a two-inning appearance against the White Sox (both at home). In that sample, Morgan has a 0.00 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and a 1.90 FIP. He is also sporting a 30% K% and 20% K-BB%, which shows his impeccable command. The former Guardians reliever has also done an excellent job not just generating strikes, of both the called-strike and whiff variety, but preventing hard contact as well. That is illustrated by his TJ Stats summary below. Morgan doesn't sport high-end velocity, as evidenced by his 91.4 MPH fastball velocity, which ranks in the 12th percentile. However, he is still generating a 33.3% whiff rate (79th percentile), and a 36.2% CSW% (93rd percentile). Those solid metrics could be attributed to the excellent stuff shown on his changeup and slider, which sport TJ Stuff+ marks of 103 and 101, respectively. Here's a deeper look at Morgan's TJ Stuff+ profile this year, via TJ Stats. Morgan's changeup has been his best pitch by far this season. Not only does it have the best TJ Stuff+ mark of his three-pitch mix, but it also sports a 60% zone, 50% chase, 28.6% whiff rate, and a .286 xwOBACON. The pitch has been a particularly effective offering against lefties, whom he has thrown the changeup 37.8% of the time against. When facing left-handed hitters, Morgan is generating a 64.3% zone rate, 40% chase rate, 42.9% whiff rate, and a .240 xwOBACON. Thus, the approach is working in terms of the results. Here's a look at a punchout that Morgan generated with the changeup against Milwaukee's Brice Turang in Morgan's first outing with the Royals last Saturday. b0d3bERfWGw0TUFRPT1fVkZRRVZsSURCMVFBQ2xvQUJBQUhBd0JmQUZrQUJ3UUFVMWNEQWdRRkJWSURCd0lD.mp4 Morgan's slider has also shown results so far in a limited sample. The breaking offering, which he throws 27.5% of the time, generates a 33.3% chase rate and a 71.4% whiff rate. Like the changeup, the slider has been particularly effective against lefties. It's generating 80% chase and whiff rates and a .120 xwOBA. The slider is a harder-breaking offering, with just 3.3 inches of horizontal break and 3.9 inches of iVB. That said, it can be effective against lefties sitting on the four-seamer, as illustrated with this strikeout of Blake Perkins below. b0d3bERfWGw0TUFRPT1fQVZKU1ZGMEdYZ3NBQ1ZZQVZBQUhDRlVDQUZsVFVBTUFVMTBBQmdBTkNBVlhBVllF.mp4 Morgan's four-seamer is an okay, not great offering. It sports a 96 TJ Stuff+ and only an 11.1% whiff rate. However, he does a good job of generating weak contact with it at least. He has produced a .157 xwOBACON with the four-seamer, and it has proved to be a nice pitch that works effectively with his much better changeup and slider offerings. Thus, the righty's repertoire not only has produced strong results through two games, but the stuff behind his three-pitch mix could help him sustain these results over the course of a full season. Are There Any Concerns With Morgan? Morgan had a great season in 2024 with the Cleveland Guardians, posting a 1.93 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 32 appearances and 42 innings. In Cleveland, the number of innings showed that Morgan was used as a reliever who could go multiple innings on frequent occasions. However, can he fill in high or medium-leverage situations? In terms of gmLI, which measures the leverage index of when a pitcher enters the game, Morgan had a 0.84 mark in his last season with the Guardians. That ranked 11th among Cleveland relievers that season, according to Fangraphs. Thus, he was more utilized in medium- to low-leverage situations, which is what manager Matt Quatraro has used him in so far this season. Hence, it may be tough for Morgan to move into a setup role with the Royals, or at least so quickly. Right now, his gmLI is 0.37, which ranks 9th among Royals relievers thus far, according to Fangraphs. Only Lange (0.14) and Falter (0.13) have seen lower-leverage situations (well, technically Tyler Tolbert too in his lone career pitching appearance). Therefore, Morgan has been a nice story for the Royals so far, and he definitely should have a spot as a long reliever in this Royals bullpen. I would be curious to see if Kansas City possibly parts ways with Falter once he is ready to come off the IL, as Morgan has served that role much better than Falter so far. That said, Falter may be out for a while, as his injury seems unique and stems back to a season ago. There's no question that Morgan has been strong in his Royals debut. However, Royals fans shouldn't be ready to advocate for higher leverage from Morgan just yet. He's succeeding in his role as a multi-inning mop-up man who can keep the higher-leverage arms from accumulating mileage on their arms. But is Morgan a setup man? Not just yet. And that's okay. Let Morgan succeed in his role, with the hope that he can maybe develop more responsibility as he gains more confidence in Kansas City. View the full article

Even after the Blue Jays broke their six‑game losing streak with Wednesday’s win over the Dodgers, the mood around the team hardly shifted. The scoreboard finally showed a win, but if you checked social media, you sensed an unease. Fans are impatient and anxious. Last season’s success created expectations that any team would be hard-pressed to meet. Add in a growing list of injuries, and those expectations seem sort of unfair. My favourite post this week captured that imbalance perfectly. Tao of Stieb deadpanned, “The Jays are now a half-game out of the final wild card spot, with 150 games to go.” The uncomfortable truth is that the early struggles do not point to a poorly built team. In several key areas, this roster is stronger than the one last year. The problem so far is not talent. It is timing, health and an absence of the very stability this group was built to rely upon. On paper, the 2026 Blue Jays rotation is objectively better than it was in 2025. The problem isn’t talent. It is availability. The starting staff right now is being held together by athletic tape, adrenaline, and a wildly overworked medical staff. Between a nasty flu bug ripping through the clubhouse and an injured list that looks more like a graveyard, the Jays are treading water. Pair that with an offense that simply isn’t producing, and you end up with the frustrating two‑week stretch Toronto just endured. The high point of the past two weeks has been Dylan Cease. He has been exactly what the front office paid for. Through 14.2 innings, Cease has allowed six runs while striking out 26 and walking nine. Even his more sluggish outing against the White Sox kept the Jays competitive. When you pair him with Kevin Gausman, who has been outstanding, you are not just looking at two good pitchers. You are looking at one of the best one‑two punches in the American League. Gausman has been dominant. He has thrown 17.1 innings, allowed just four runs, walked only two, and struck out 26. That is ace‑level production, the kind that lifts everyone else in the rotation just by being there. Not only was he deserving of the Opening Day start, but his output has probably lowered any pressure that Cease felt when he arrived. Chris Bassitt, meanwhile, has struggled early with Baltimore. In just 6.1 innings, he has given up 10 runs, issued six walks, and struck out only three, good for an ERA north of 14. Allowing him to walk in free agency was a calculated risk. So far, the numbers support that decision. The irony is that Toronto’s better‑on‑paper rotation desperately needs help. The good news is that reinforcements are beginning to arrive. Max Scherzer is scheduled to make his next start on Sunday against the Twins after leaving his previous outing with forearm tendinitis. Trey Yesavage is also nearing the end of his rehab stint and progressing rapidly. Over two recent starts, he touched 96 miles per hour and struck out 16. Add Yesavage back into the mix alongside Cease and Gausman, and suddenly the rotation starts to resemble what the front office envisioned back in February. The rest of the injury picture is less encouraging. Berríos and Shane Bieber continue slow ramp‑ups. Cody Ponce may not pitch again this season. And then there is the flu. Eric Lauer, who was supposed to be a depth arm, had to gut through two innings against Chicago while battling chills, fever, and dehydration. He gave the team every pitch he had simply because there was no one else left to take the ball. The losses so far haven’t been about ineffective starting pitchers. They've been about starters simply not being healthy enough to stay on the mound. That reality pushed the Jays to sign veteran left‑hander Patrick Corbin to a one‑year, $1 million deal. This is not the 2019 World Series version of Corbin. He is 36, and he has not posted an ERA under 4.00 in years. But in 2025 with Texas, Corbin still managed to throw 155.1 innings with a 4.40 ERA, and that is exactly what this team needs right now. Corbin is not here to win a Cy Young Award. He is here to be what Easton Lucas was last year. Lucas threw 24.1 innings for Toronto early in 2025, buying time for the rest of the staff to get healthy. That is Corbin’s role. Eat innings, provide a floor and stabilize the rotation until reinforcements arrive. Even if the pitching staff gets healthy, the most glaring issue remains the offense. The Blue Jays are averaging just 3.6 runs per game, ranking 22nd in Major League Baseball. Their run differential sits at -20, and that number has not come solely against elite opponents. It has also been built against teams like the White Sox and Rockies. You cannot consistently win in the American League East when you rank 21st in slugging percentage at .348 and 28th in isolated power at .117. The Jays are grounding into double plays at a frustrating rate and sit near the bottom of the league when hitting with runners in scoring position. Pitching has not cost this team games. A quiet offense has. For the optimists, the 2026 season has started almost identically to last year. A slow start, injuries, an inconsistent lineup, defensive hiccups and a healthy dose of bad luck. And yet, the blueprint of a championship‑calibre rotation already exists. Cease and Gausman anchor it, Yesavage is close and Scherzer provides stability. But until the offense begins to supply more than three runs a night, and until the clubhouse finally shakes this flu bug, the pitching staff will continue to absorb blame it does not deserve. The rotation is better and will undoubtedly improve. But talent only matters if you are healthy enough to use it and supported enough to win with it. Stats updated prior to games on April 10. View the full article

I have never seen anything like it. Miami Marlins prospect Jacob Berry, whose value on the field depends entirely on what he provides offensively, is always helpless at the plate early in the season. "Helpless" is a strong word, but you can check his track record—it's been warranted. Early in the 2023 season, Berry was the worst hitter in the Midwest League. Early in the 2024 season, he was the worst hitter in the Southern League. Early in the 2025 season, he was the worst hitter in the International League. Not only worst on his team, but yes, worst in his league (among players who avoided demotion to a lower minor league level). On this date last year, for example, his batting average was .097. To put this baffling trend in its proper context, I'll use wRC+. With ballpark and league factors taken into account, 100 represents average offensive production. During the past three seasons, here is how long it took for Berry to permanently surpass a 50 wRC+ (production at least half as good as league average): June 13 in 2023 June 23 in 2024 May 18 in 2025 This spring, when Berry squandered an extended opportunity in big league camp—he went 1-for-25 in Grapefruit League games—it felt like déjà vu. But to his credit, Berry is off to an uncharacteristically hot start to the 2026 regular season. The best all-around performer in the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp lineup thus far, the switch-hitter enters Saturday with a .333/.405/.472 slash line, one home run, a 137 wRC+ and nearly as many walks (five) as strikeouts (six). He also tops the Marlins MiLB leaderboard with six stolen bases. The Marlins have been very patient with Berry, playing him in an organization-high 369 minor league games since 2023, his first full professional season. Part of that is giving him every chance to make good on their $6 million investment in him, but his ability to hit hard line drives from both sides of the plate is legitimately enticing. Per Prospect Savant, he ranks in the 87th percentile among all Triple-A hitters in whiff rate this season (making contact on five out of every six swings). Berry's batted ball profile is downright sexy right now, with a higher percentage of liners (37.0%) than grounders (29.6%). Under the hood, his expected stats are fully aligned with his real-life production. This comes with a big caveat. Berry is repeating the Triple-A level, where he spent the final month of the 2024 season and all of 2025. It's common for minor leaguers to experience dramatic year-to-year improvement based on familiarity with their environment. After Berry floundered during the first quarter of last season, he hit well throughout the rest of the campaign. And yet, the Marlins never called up the 24-year-old, nor did they protect him in advance of the 2025 Rule 5 draft. He went unselected. Friday's shutout loss notwithstanding, the Marlins offense has been good in 2026 (ranking top 10 in MLB in most categories). Though they're vulnerable against left-handed pitching, Berry is significantly better against righties, so there isn't a clear fit for him on the roster quite yet. Needless to say, if his current rate stats sustain deep into the summer, he will eventually get a taste of the majors. View the full article

TRANSACTIONS Following their 10-4 loss in Toronto on Friday night, manager Derek Shelton announced that RHP Cody Laweryson (right forearm strain) and 3B Royce Lewis (knee sprain) will be going on the injured list. Corresponding moves will be announced on Saturday. QUESTION OF THE DAY Riley Quick made his professional debut. How long do you think he'll stick in Fort Myers? SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Toledo 3 Box Score The Saints got Emmanuel Rodriguez back in the lineup, and maybe not coincidentally, they got back in the win column. Connor Prielipp made the start. He gave up two runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked three and had five strikeouts. Trent Baker was summoned from the bullpen and tossed 2 1/3 innings with no runs. He gave up two hits and a walk. Matt Bowman came on and got four outs, two of them on strikeouts. Drew Smith worked a perfect eighth inning. Toledo took the 2-0 lead after three innings, but the Saints immediately responded in the top of the fourth frame. Rodriguez led off with a single and scored on a double by Oswaldo Arcia. He advanced to third on an Eric Wagaman fly out and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Sabato to tie the game. Walker Jenkins led off the fifth inning with a walk and then stole second. He advanced to third base on a single to left by Gabriel Gonzalez. Following an Alan Roden walk, Jenkins scored on a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez. Arcia walked. Wagaman drove in Gonzalez with a single to center. Roden tried to score too, but he was thrown out by Tigers uber-prospect Max Clark. Marco Raya came on to protect the 4-2 lead. He got the first two batters out, But then Clark tripled and scored on a throwing error by Arcia to make it 4-3. But one batter later, he got a fly out to end the game and record his second save of the season. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 0, Arkansas 5 Box Score Wichita’s bats have been a bit cold to start the season. That remained true in this game. Sam Armstrong made the start for the Surge. He gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out five batters. Unfortunately, the final line doesn't show how well he pitched the first time through the lineup. Spencer Bengard came on and got three outs, two via strikeouts. However, he allowed two of three inherited runners to score. Sam Ryan came on with two runners on base, but he left them stranded. He went 1 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. Alejandro Hidalgo came on and probably couldn’t have pitched any better. He faced six batters and struck all six of them out. That’s pretty good, right? Garrett Spain doubled in the eighth inning, the team’s second hit of the day. He had also previously walked. The only other Surge player to get a hit and walk was Ben Ross. Ross went 1-for-3 with a walk. The Surge created a lot of wind with the ol’ swing and miss. The team went 2-for-30 with two walks and an incredible (but not in a good way) 19 strikeouts! Kyle DeBarge led the way with four strikeouts. Kala’i Rosario and Billy Amick each struck out three times. Three players struck out twice. A quick look at the Surge lineup shows eight players with a batting average of .200 or lower so far this season. In some cases, there is nothing to worry about. For instance, with his 0-for-4 tonight, Kala’i Rosario is hitting .074 with a .212 OPS. He’ll be just fine. Ricardo Olivar is hitting .053 with a .165 OPS. Again, he’ll be fine. KERNELS CHRONICLE Game 1: Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 2 Box Score Dasan Hill made the start for the Kernels in the first of two games in Beloit. He gave up single runs in the second and third innings, mostly due to a lack of control. The lefty gave up two runs on one hit and four walks over three innings. He had four strikeouts. The bullpen came on and did just what they needed to do. Nick Trabacchi came in and walked one and struck one out in the fourth inning. Jason Doktorczyk gave up a hit and a walk over two scoreless innings. He struck out three batters. Paulshawn Pasqualotto pitched the seventh and collected two strikeouts and his second save of the season. The Kernels’ bats were quiet through the first four innings. Rayne Doncon led off with a walk. He was still on first base with two outs when Marek Houston singled him to second. A wild pitch pushed the runners to second and third, and that’s when the Sky Carp pitcher balked which allowed Doncon to score the first run. With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Brandon Winokur walked. Jacob McCombs was hit by a pitch. With Winokur bouncing off of second base, the pitcher turned and threw wildly toward second base and into center field which allowed both runners to advance a base. Danny De Andrade came up with the biggest hit of the game. He lined a single to left field which allowed both runners to score and give the Kernels the 3-2 lead. A lead that Doktorczyk and Pasqualotto protected well. The Kernels had just three hits in the game, and they walked four times. De Andrade had a walk to go with the two-run single. He also had two stolen bases. Winokur had a single and a walk and he stole a bag too. Game 2: Cedar Rapids 9, Beloit 6 Box Score You’re welcome, Kernels fans. I was writing this report. Last I looked, the Kernels were losing Game 2 6-5 going to the seventh inning. I typed that into the score above. Thankfully, the Cedar Rapids hitters put up four runs in the top of the seventh and made me change the final score! The seventh began with a walk by catcher Luis Hernandez. Miguel Briceno pinch ran for him. Marek Houston successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Briceno to second with one out. Khadim Diaw was hit by a pitch, and Brandon Winokur walked to load the bases. Jacob McCombs, the Twins seventh round pick a year ago out of UC-Irvine, followed with a bases-clearing triple. It turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead. Great lefty-on-lefty at-bat. After the game, McCombs told Twins Daily, “The triple was the biggest hit so far in my pro ball career.” With two outs, Caden Kendle singled to drive in McCombs and give the Kernels the three-run lead with three outs to go. Adrian Bohorquez made the Game 2 start. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits and four walks. And, yes, he had four strikeouts too. Eston Stull came in and struck out five batters (and walked one) over two scoreless, hitless innings. Nolan Santos gave up two runs on two hits and three walks over 1 2/3 innings. He did strike out three batters. Ivran Romero got the final out of the sixth inning with a strikeout, and then, after his teammates gave him a three-run lead, he struck out the three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh inning. Earlier in the game, RBI singles from Houston and Diaw gave the Kernels a 5-1 lead in the top of the second inning. They gave up that lead but didn't give up on the game or themselves. McCombs added, “Our team is resilient, and we have the will to win no matter how much adversity we face.” MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 0 Box Score Obviously, the big story from this game was the professional debut of Riley Quick. He was the Twins Competitive Balance pick from the 2025 draft. Aside from Twins camps, he had not thrown in a regular game since the end of his 2025 Alabama season. He couldn’t have been more impressive. He was limited, as you would expect. He tossed two scoreless innings. He threw 33 pitches. He got all six batters out that he faced, five of them on strikeouts. He mixed 95-98 mph fastballs with changeups in the upper ‘80s. His low-90s slider got swing and miss as did his cutter and sinker. And that’s when catcher Ian Daugherty really went to work. Fellow 2025 draft pick from Alabama Jonathan Stevens came in to start the third inning. Immediately he loaded the bases, but Daugherty went out to talk to him. The next batter lined into a double play, and that was followed by a strikeout. Stevens went 3 2/3 innings and gave up no runs on one hit. He walked five and had four strikeouts. Michael Hilker, the team’s 20th-round pick last year out of Arizona, got the next four outs, three of them on strikeouts. He gave up a hit and a walk. Brian Zeldin came in for the final two innings. He gave up three walks and a hit, but no runs. He signed with the Twins in February after pitching for Wes Johnson at Georgia the last couple of seasons. The Mussels worked themselves into some tough situations yet came up with big pitchers or big plays when they needed to maintain the shutout. That’s good because the Mussels scored just two runs. They took the 1-0 lead in the top of the second. With two outs, Harry Genth was hit by a pitch. He stole second. He scored on a line-drive single by Byron Chourio. That's where the score remained through seven innings. With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Dameury Pena knocked his fourth single of the game. He went to second on a throwing error. Quentin Young followed with his first double of the season which made it 2-0. Those two hitters combined to go 7-for-8. The rest of the lineup combined to go 2-for-26. One of those hits was a double by Jayson Bass. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Dameury Pena (Fort Myers): 4-for-4, R Quentin Young (Fort Myers): 3-for-4, 2B(1), Caden Kendle (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-4, 2B(4), R, RBI, K Pitcher of the Day Riley Quick (Fort Myers): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 33 pitches, 22 strikes (66.7%) Alejandro Hidalgo (Wichita): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 28 pitches, 20 strikes (71.4%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, R, SB(1) (batted second, played CF, all 9 innings) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, K (batted first, played SS) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, R, SF RBI, 2 K, CS(1) (batted fifth, DHd) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 0-for-2, BB, K, (batted second, Catcher) Game 2: Did Not Play. #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - 3 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 77 pitches, 45 strikes (58.4%) #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 64 pitches, 38 strikes (59.4%) #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, R, K (batted fourth, played RF) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Injured List #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 1-for-4, 2 K. Game 2: 1-for-2, BB, 2 R, RBI, SH, SB(1) #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 33 pitches, 22 strikes (66.7%) #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 1-for-2, BB, R, K, SB(3), Game 2: 0-for-1, 2 BB, R, K, #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 3-for-4, 2B(1), RBI, SB(1), K (batted third, played 3B) #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(2), 13 pitches, 8 strikes (61.5%) #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - Did Not Play. #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 4 K, (led off, played 2B) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch #19 - C Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 0-for-3, 3 K, OF Assist (batted third, played CF), Game 2: 2-for-3, HBP, 2 R, RBI, K. (batted second, DHd) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch UPCOMING PROBABLES Saturday: St. Paul @ Toledo (4:05 pm CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews (0-1, 12.27 ERA) Wichita @ Arkansas (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Mike Paredes (1-0, 4.91 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Eli Jones (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:00 CT) - RHP Joel Garcia (0-1, 2.25 ERA) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 7-7 St. Paul Saints: 5-7 Wichita Wind Surge: 2-5 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 5-2 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 5-2 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View the full article

The San Diego Padres became the final MLB team to alter their Opening Day roster, activating late-inning bullpen stalwart Jason Adam from the 15-day injured list Friday. To make room for Adam, right-hander Jeremiah Estrada went on the 15-day IL with tendinitis in his right elbow. Adam, a right-handed setup man, ruptured his left quadriceps tendon in a Sept. 1 game and required surgery. He progressed well during the offseason, with speculation that he could have been on the Opening Day roster. Instead, Adam started the season on the IL and got in a few more outings during a rehab assignment at Triple-A El Paso. At El Paso, Adam made four appearances and didn't allow a run, including two perfect innings Wednesday as a final tune-up. He allowed two hits and a walk while striking out one in his five rehab innings. He rejoins a Padres bullpen that has been decent in the first 13 games of the season, albeit with a few blips, ranking 10th in MLB with a 3.05 ERA. Friars relievers have worked the fourth-most innings thus far with 56. Last year, Adam had a 3.07 FIP (1.93 ERA) in 65 appearances over 65⅓ innings as a key member of a bullpen that had the best ERA in the majors at 3.06. Estrada has battled a loss in velocity in his seven outings this season, allowing four runs in his season debut and two more Thursday. Estrada's four-seam fastball has averaged 95 mph this season after being at 97.9 in 2025. He has a 5.14 ERA in 5⅓ innings, with five walks and eight strikeouts this season. View the full article

Box Score Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers, (1) Brooks Lee (1) Bottom 3 WPA: Simeon Woods Richardson (-0.37), Anthony Banda (-0.18), Josh Bell (-0.11) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Ah, the yearly foray into Canada. Everyone’s favorite trip. When the team travels to a strange and foreign land less than two hours away from Buffalo by car to play a squad also full of Americans and players of Latin descent. Apparently, their Heinz ketchup is made with Canadian tomatoes. That’s cool. Simeon Woods Richardson earned the start. His mound opponent, Patrick Corbin, was set to make his Blue Jays debut. The veteran—armed with a slew of off-speed tricks—labored lethargically in an unrelenting first. He surrendered singles to Austin Martin and Luke Keaschall before offering Ryan Jeffers a cookie: a cement-mixing cutter aimed directly down the middle of the plate. The catcher didn’t miss. His blast left the bat at 107.7 MPH and landed 419 feet away. Woods Richardson—in contrast—was effective. Not quite dominant, the righty nonetheless found outs as they came, limiting the Blue Jays to just a double and a walk in his first three innings of work. Brooks Lee homered to start the fourth. Minnesota’s win probability was nearly 90%. Martin slugged a double. Keaschall nearly blasted a home run out to dead center. Times were good. The team was in a rhythm tighter than Jeff Porcaro on Toto’s “Rosanna.” That groove dissipated immediately. Toronto slugged back-to-back doubles to start their half of the fourth, Davis Schneider struck yet another two-bagger (with help from a Matt Wallner misplay), and Andrés Giménez singled to bring the game within one. No matter. The backup catcher was hitting; certainly, he wouldn’t hit a go-ahead two-run homer, his first as a big-leaguer. Anthony Banda did little to stop the bleeding: Daulton Varsho cracked a solo shot off the reliever in the fifth, and even more doubles in the sixth pushed the Blue Jays’ run total to eight. Taylor Rogers came in; Toronto scored again. Justin Topa came in; Toronto scored again. All the while, Minnesota's once potent offense fell silent, as they only put a man in scoring position one time following their fourth and final run. Martin struck out looking to cap a loss that once appeared set to be a promising victory. Notes: Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Blue Jays return for a Saturday matinee, as Joe Ryan is scheduled to start opposite Eric Lauer. First pitch is at 2:07 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View the full article

The Boston Red Sox concluded their first home stand of the season going 3-3 against the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers. While the team did get some positive news in the form of the offense finally waking up, pitching issues appeared to arise as both he rotation and bullpen struggled to get outs as needed. Now, the team heads off for their second road trip of the season, beginning in St. Louis. Red Sox: Brewers (Drohan) vs Red Sox (Gray): 4/8/26, 1:35pm In an afternoon game that saw former Red Sox prospect Shane Drohan make his major-league debut, the Red Sox were carried by a second consecutive stellar outing by Sonny Gray. The right-hander tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings, giving the offense a chance to wake up against Drohan. The Red Sox eventually won 5-0, with Tyler Samaniego also making his major-league debut and getting three strikeouts. Red Sox: ABS Accuracy With teams still getting used to the new ABS system that has been put in place, members of the TalkSox forum discussed their views on it. Discussion ranged from wondering how accurate it can truly be, especially when it uses a two-dimensional strike zone instead of a three-dimensional strike zone. Fun fact: The 3D strike zone was tested but led to too many strikeouts, and the league instead went with the current two-dimensional version. Minors: Jake Bennett Emerging as Key Left-Handed Option for Red Sox Bullpen With the Red Sox possibly needing bullpen help, especially with Justin Slaten going on the injured list, this post details how offseason trade acquisition Jake Bennett has done in his first taste of Triple-A this season. Having tossed eight shutout innings across two starts, Bennett could quickly put his name into consideration to help out in Boston at some point during the season. View the full article

Freddy Peralta is more or less living up to his billing as the front-man of the New York Mets' remodeled rotation through three starts, but he wasn't the only pitcher they received in exchange for top prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams. Tobias Myers was also included in that deal, and he's no mere throw-in. The 27-year-old right-hander has looked dominant in the early going in 2026, pitching to a 1.13 ERA over his first four appearances that have covered eight innings total. That's a small sample to work with, but relievers are always walking that tightrope; what's most impressive about Myers' performance thus far aren't his raw stats, but the steadiness and command he's displayed on the mound. Beyond wildly impressive expected metrics -- his xERA sits at 0.88 and his xBA (expected batting average against) rests at .142 -- Myers is completely owning the strike zone this year. He's issued just one walk thus far... and it was an intentional free pass offered to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 1. Crazily enough, he's actually accomplished this by throwing fewer strikes and more pitches outside the zone. This is normally the point that you'd look to a guy's chase rate and expect to see an unsustainable explosion, but Myers is actually coaxing out-of-zone swings less often than he did in 2025. So, what's happening? It may sound oversimplified, but this appears to be a case of being effectively wild. The term "effectively wild" is often applied to pitchers who rack up tons of strikeouts and walks, but it's also an apt descriptor of Myers, who is making a living near the zone in 2026. There's a few pitches in there that are huge outliers that missed by considerable margins, but look at how effectively he's pitching around the edges of the box in those heat maps. With the introduction of ABS this season, batters are more inclined than ever to protect the true corners of the strike zone, hence why they're so susceptible to taking defensive hacks when a pitcher is punishing the invisible lines we see on every broadcast. Naturally, Myers' Stuff+ (103) and Location+ (105) are both sitting at career-high levels and above league average (which is 100). As Brewers insider Jack Stern explored over on our sister site Brewer Fanatic, Myers became particularly good at building his plan of attack around his four-seamer and splitter last year, which has carried over nicely into his time with the Mets. Both his splitter and slider are responsible for a .000 wOBA this year, which means that opposing hitters have produced literally zero offensive value against either pitch. You don't need any other numbers to know how good that is. Pessimists will point out the .056 batting average on balls in play he's allowed as a sign of extremely good fortune, especially because batters have averaged more than 90 miles per hour on their exit velocities on balls in play against Myers. And while that is a fair concern for a fly-ball pitcher, it's worth pointing out that he also hasn't given up a single barreled ball all year. It's a balancing act, but one that he's become adept at performing. Eventually, he'll walk a batter unintentionally, and there may even come an outing when a particular umpire doesn't reward him for nibbling around the edges. But Myers is mastering the art of getting better while throwing fewer strikes, which is practically impossible unless your name is Mason Miller. That's pretty good company to be keeping as far as relievers go. View the full article

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Easton McGee was the casualty when the Milwaukee Brewers made a last-minute trade for fellow right-handed reliever Jake Woodford with the Tampa Bay Rays. Woodford took the last bullpen spot on the Crew's Opening Day roster, with McGee sent to Triple-A Nashville. Now, McGee gets to join Woodford in the Brewers' bullpen. The Brewers called up McGee from Nashville to fill the spot vacated by left-handed starter Shane Drohan, who was optioned Thursday to Triple-A after making his MLB debut Wednesday. McGee made nine appearances for the Crew in 2025, with a 3.27 FIP (5.52 ERA), striking out 13 and walking five in 14⅔ innings. In four appearances for Nashville this year, McGee has a 9.53 ERA with three walks and five strikeouts in 5⅔ innings. View the full article

Currently, the San Diego Padres’ top pitching prospect is Kruz Schoolcraft, who was taken as the team’s first pick in the 2025 draft. It is theoretically possible that Schoolcraft will join others in playing for the Padres the year after he was drafted, although recent trends have limited the quantity of those players in the past 40 years. The 40-year timeframe is not arbitrary. Some players who reached the Padres the year after being drafted were taken in the January draft and had a full year in the minors before being on the Friars’ roster in their second professional season, but the January draft has not occurred since 1986. A reduction in the number of allowed September call-ups may also work against Schoolcraft making a September roster, and even the 1976 precedent of not calling up outfielder Gene Richards so that the Padres wouldn’t have to utilize an option year creates the possibility that the franchise will save an option year rather than call up Schoolcraft this year. Three draft picks who played for the Padres either that year or the following year are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Dave Winfield was the first of those followed by Ozzie Smith and Tony Gwynn. Only four players since Gwynn have played for the Padres by the end of the season after they were drafted. The National League granted San Diego and Montreal expansion franchises in May 1968. The teams participated in the June 1968 draft but did not have choices during the first three rounds. The only 1968 Padres draft pick who subsequently played for San Diego, Dave Robinson, made his major league debut in September 1970. The Padres’ final pick in the June 1968 draft, third baseman Earl Altshuler, opted to play at UCLA instead of signing with the Padres. He was not drafted out of college even though he set the UCLA single-season hits record, and Altshuler did not play professional baseball. However, in 1999 he became the Padres’ batting practice pitcher, creating a three-decade gap between when he was drafted and when he joined the Padres. Randy Elliott, the Padres’ only 1969 draft pick to play for San Diego, joined the team in 1972. San Diego had the first overall pick of the June 1970 draft and chose catcher Mike Ivie. He joined the Padres in September 1971 but did not subsequently return to the major league team until 1974. In 1971 the Padres selected third baseman Dave Hilton in the regular phase of the January draft, outfielder Johnny Grubb in the supplemental phase of the January draft, and pitcher Jay Franklin in the first round of the June draft. During the June draft, the team also picked pitcher Dave Friesleben in the fifth round, catcher Joe Goddard in the eighth round, and pitcher Mike Caldwell in the 12th round. Franklin and Caldwell were both September 1971 call-ups. Franklin pitched three games for the Padres that season and never returned to the majors. Caldwell never played in the minors again, staying with the Padres through the 1973 season before being traded to the Giants for two players including Willie McCovey and remaining in the majors until 1984. Catcher injuries in 1972 caused the Padres to call up Goddard at the end of July, and he returned to the major league club during the September roster expansion. He had a .200 batting average in 12 games. He did not return to the majors, concluded his Padres organization minor league career in 1976, and became a successful high school coach in West Virginia. Friesleben was one of the 1972 September callups, but in the era of starters expected to pitch complete games and relief pitchers hurling multiple innings he did not appear in any games with the big league club that year. After a 40-20 record in his first three minor league seasons and a 2-1 record with Hawaii in 1974 Friesleben made his major league debut in April 1974 and stayed with the Padres through the end of 1975. He had 16 Pacific Coast League starts in 1976 and 1977 while spending the rest of the time with San Diego, and he began 1978 with the Padres before being traded that June. Hilton and Grubb both made their debuts in September 1972. Hilton would play in a total of 161 games with the Padres. Grubb, who batted .308 in Class A in 1971 and .296 in Class AA in 1972, would remain with the Padres until a trade after the 1976 season. His career .286 Padres batting average at the time of the trade was the highest in Padres history at the time. Grubb closed out his major league career with the 1987 Detroit Tigers and appeared in 1,424 major league games including 513 with San Diego. The Padres have had three players named Dave Roberts. The second of those, an infielder who played collegiate baseball at Oregon, was the first overall pick of the June 1972 draft. Roberts went directly to the Padres, batted .244 in 100 Padres games, split multiple subsequent seasons between the Padres and Hawaii, and batted .240 in 509 Padres games through 1978 before playing for three other teams from 1979 to 1982. Pitcher Rich Troedson was the Padres’ first pick in the January 1972 supplemental draft. He had an 8-5 record in Class A that year but began 1973 on the major league roster. Troedson pitched 65 games for the Padres in 1973 and 1974 including 19 starts. He had an 8-10 record with a 4.74 earned run average. In the fifth round of the June 1972 draft the Padres selected pitcher Randy Jones. He was 4-5 in his minor league outings during 1972 although with a 2.71 ERA. After an 8-1 start with a 2.01 ERA in the Class AA portion of his 1973 season Jones was brought up to the Padres that June. He remained with the Padres until being traded after the 1980 season. In 1975 Jones won 20 games and led the National League with a 2.24 ERA. He won the Cy Young Award in 1976 when his 22 wins (not including his victory in the All-Star Game), 25 complete games, and 315 1/3 innings pitched all led the National League. When he was traded his 92 career victories were the Padres’ best total in history. Winfield was taken in the first round of the June 1973 draft and joined the Padres after signing. He remained with the Padres until becoming a free agent after the 1980 season. He hit 154 home runs in his 1,117 games with San Diego, batted .284 with two seasons above .300, led the National League with 118 runs batted in during 1979 (while also leading the league with 24 intentional walks), won two Gold Glove awards, and was selected to the All-Star Game four times. Winfield concluded his 2,973-game major league career in 1995. In the 13th round of the June 1973 draft the Padres selected pitcher Joe McIntosh. He was 8-6 with a 2.44 ERA in Class A that year. McIntosh began 1974 on the Padres’ roster but spent most of the season at Hawaii. He was with San Diego for all of 1975 and was traded after that season so that the Padres could acquire Doug Rader. McIntosh was 8-15 with a 3.69 ERA in his 33 starts and 14 relief appearances with the Padres. The Padres had the first overall pick in the 1974 draft and selected University of Rhode Island shortstop Bill Almon. He played in 39 Class AA and Class AAA games that year before joining the Padres as a September callup. He was also a 1975 and 1976 September callup before becoming the Padres’ regular shortstop in 1977. Smith’s ascension to the majors moved Almon to other infield positions for 1978 and 1979 before a trade sent Almon to the Montreal Expos. Almon played in the majors through 1988, and his 1,236 career games included 429 with the Padres. Richards was the first overall choice in the January 1975 draft. He spent that year with the Padres’ Class A team in Reno and led the California League with a .381 batting average, 148 runs scored, 191 hits, 85 stolen bases, a .499 on-base percentage (his 116 walks ranked second), and a .551 slugging average (he ranked third with 29 doubles, shared second with ten triples, and homered 12 times). In 1976 Richards led the Pacific Coast League with 173 hits while also batting .331 for Hawaii and scoring 102 times. Although the Padres decided not to waste an option on him by calling him up in late 1976, he was the 1977 Opening Day starter in left field. Richards would would spend seven seasons with the Padres and batted .291 in 939 games with 994 hits including 63 triples, 484 runs scored, and 242 stolen bases. The September 1976 call-ups included pitcher Bob Owchinko, who was taken in the first round of the June 1976 draft. He was 6-2 in 13 Class AA starts with Amarillo before starting two games for the Padres. Owchinko began 1977 in the Pacific Coast League before a 5-1 record and a 1.43 ERA with Hawaii led to another call-up to San Diego, where he remained until being traded to Cleveland for Jerry Mumphrey in February 1980. Owchinko pitched 526 innings for the Padres and had a 25-39 record with a 4.00 ERA in 83 starts and 27 relief outings. In the first round of the January 1976 draft the Padres selected pitcher Bob Shirley. He was 14-10 in 29 minor league starts that year. Shirley made the Padres’ 1977 Opening Day roster and was 12-18 with a 3.70 ERA that year. His wins, ERA, 35 starts, 214 innings pitched, and 146 strikeouts all led the team while Owchinko was second with nine wins, a 4.45 ERA, and 170 innings and Owchinko led the team with three complete games while posting the Padres’ only two shutouts that year. Before being sent to the St. Louis Cardinals in an 11-player December 1980 trade Shirley pitched in 197 Padres games, starting 92 of them, and had a 39-57 record with a 3.58 ERA in 722 innings pitched. In the June 1977 draft the Padres chose outfielder Brian Greer in the first round, infielder Barry Evans in the second round, and Smith in the fourth round. Although Greer batted only .188 in 50 games with Class A Walla Walla that year, he joined the Padres that September. In his only 1977 major league appearance he struck out as a pinch-hitter September 13. Greer returned to the Padres for four September 1979 games, going hitless in three September 4 plate appearances while playing defense only in the other three contests. Evans batted .358 with Walla Walla in 1977, which ranked third among Northwest League leaders, while leading the circuit with 97 hits. He spent most of 1978 with Amarillo and batted .305 in Class AA. Evans joined the Padres that September and batted .267 in 24 games. Before being sold to the New York Yankees in February 1982 Evans played in 207 games for the Padres, batted .251, and played all four infield positions. Smith batted .303 for Walla Walla in 1977 while leading the Northwest League with 69 runs and with 30 stolen bases. His 87 league hits trailed only Evans. The performance earned Smith a non-roster invitation to spring training for 1978, and that performance made him the Padres’ Opening Day shortstop that year as well as for his other three seasons with the Padres. Although Smith only batted .258 in 1978 he stole 40 bases and led the National League with 28 sacrifice hits. He was second in the league with 548 assists but would lead the league in assists his other three years with the Padres. In 1980 he set a major league record with 621 assists while also leading the league with 288 putouts and 113 double plays. Before being traded to the Cardinals in December 1981 Smith won two Gold Glove awards and stole 147 bases in his 583 games with the Padres. He spent another 15 seasons with St. Louis. In the sixth round of the June 1978 draft the Padres picked infielder Tim Flannery. He batted .350 in 84 games with Reno that year. In 1979 Flannery batted .345 for Amarillo while sharing the Texas League lead with 181 hits. That led to a September callup with the Padres. He batted .154 in 22 games, leading to a 1980 start with Hawaii prior to a mid-season callup. He split 1981 between Hawaii and San Diego but returned to the minors again only for a 1988 rehabilitation assignment. When Flannery retired after the 1989 season his 11 seasons with the Padres were a team record. During 972 regular-season Padres games Flannery batted .255 with 631 hits. He may be best known for another at-bat which didn’t produce a hit. Flannery pinch-hit in the seventh inning of the fifth game of the 1984 National League playoffs and hit the ground ball Leon Durham was unable to handle. The play was ruled an error and Flannery was not credited with a run batted in, but the tying run scored and Flannery subsequently became the go-ahead run in the 6-3 victory which sent the Padres to their first World Series. In the June 1981 draft the Padres selected outfielder Kevin McReynolds in the first round, pitcher Bill Long in the second round, and Gwynn in the third round. A seven-player trade in December 1984 sent Long to the Chicago White Sox, and he made his debut the following year. McReynolds did not play professionally in 1981, batted .368 with Reno and Amarillo in 1982, and started 1983 with Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League before a June promotion to the Padres. Gwynn batted .375 with Walla Walla and Amarillo in 1981 and started 1982 with Las Vegas. He first played for the Padres on July 19, 1982, broke Flannery’s team record for seasons played in 1993, and retired after the 2001 season with 3,141 hits, a .338 batting average, eight National League batting championships, and several other distinctions in his 20-year Padres career. Ivie, Roberts, and Almon were first overall picks, and team improvement kept the Padres from having that dubious distinction until 1988 when the team selected pitcher Andy Benes to start the draft. Benes pitched in the Olympic Games and elsewhere for Team USA rather than in the minors following the 1988 college season. Wichita was the Padres’ Texas League affiliate in 1989, and Benes was 8-4 with a 2.16 ERA there before joining the Las Vegas rotation. After five Pacific Coast League starts he joined the Padres in August 1989 and had a 6-3 record with a 3.51 ERA in ten Padres starts that year. He had double-digit wins the next four seasons. The 1995 trade deadline ended his Padres career although not his 14-year major league career. He was 69-75 with a 3.57 ERA in 186 Padres starts and a relief appearance, and his 1,036 strikeouts stood as the team record until broken by Jake Peavy. San Diego had the third pick of the 1994 draft and chose pitcher Dustin Hermanson. His 23 relief appearances with Wichita and Las Vegas in 1994 resulted in 11 saves, 36 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings pitched, and a 1.91 ERA. Hermanson started 1995 with Las Vegas but was called up to the Padres two weeks after the major league season began. He pitched in 26 Padres games and 31 Las Vegas games that year. He also split 1996 between the Padres and Las Vegas. In November 1996 he was traded to the Florida Marlins for infielder Quilvio Veras, and Hermanson pitched in the majors through 2006. He was 4-1 in his 34 games with the Padres. Roberts, Winfield, and outfielder Xavier Nady are the only players who were drafted by the Padres and went directly to the majors. Nady was taken in the second round of the 2000 draft. After reaching a contract agreement with the Padres that September he was added to the major league roster. In his only 2000 professional game September 30 he had a pinch-hit single and later scored. Nady spent all of 2001 and 2002 in the minors before returning to the Padres during the 2003 season. He was also with the Padres during 2004 and in 2005 before being traded to the New York Mets for Mike Cameron. Eventually Nady returned to the Padres as a free agent in 2014 and closed out his major league career with 22 Padres games that year. His 961 major league games included 291 with San Diego. Khalil Greene is the most recent Padre to have played for San Diego by the end of the year after he was drafted. The shortstop was the 13th overall pick in the 2002 draft. Greene batted .309 with two Class A teams in 2002. He played in 135 minor league games in 2003 before the major league rosters expanded. Greene played in 20 games with the Padres in 2003. In 2004 he batted .273 with 15 home runs and placed second in the Rookie of the Year balloting. Greene was traded to the Cardinals in December 2008 after playing 659 regular-season games with the Padres. He batted .248 with 84 home runs and 328 runs batted in while wearing a San Diego uniform during the regular season. No Padres player drafted since 2023 reached the majors prior to the conclusion of the 2025 season. The 2024 season included Padres games for 2022 draft picks Graham Pauley and Adam Mazur. View the full article

At one point in the 2024-25 offseason, it seemed like the Texas Rangers had more starting pitching than they could possibly know what to do with. There were even rumors that Jon Gray, a 10-year veteran with more than 200 starts to his name, could move to the bullpen. Yet, just 10 days before the start of the regular season, the Rangers’ depth had dwindled. In need of innings, they signed Patrick Corbin to a one-year, $1.1 million deal (with incentives) and sent him to the minors to ramp up. By early April, he was part of their big league rotation. Sound familiar? Once again, Corbin has signed a late one-year deal with incentives to join a rotation that wasn’t supposed to need him, until it did. He made one ramp-up start for Single-A Dunedin, striking out nine in five innings. Tonight, he will make his Blue Jays debut, slotting in for Toronto in place of the injured Cody Ponce. The Jays are still hoping they won’t need him for long – Trey Yesavage, José Berríos, and Shane Bieber are all working their way back – but if last year continues to be any indication, well… Corbin was one of just over 50 pitchers to start 30 games in 2025. That’s less than two per team. He wasn’t even on the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, but, by season’s end, no one had started more games for Texas. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays needed 12 different starters to get through the regular season (depending on who you define as an opener). Point being, starters get hurt. A lot. So, the ones who don’t are going to get to pitch as much as they can. It’s been a long time since Corbin was the frontline arm who helped lead the Washington Nationals to a World Series title in 2019. Nonetheless, he has remained one of baseball’s most hard-wearing starters. At a time when pitcher injuries are unremitting, and change is the only constant of a major league staff, Corbin offers a skill set that every team needs: the capacity to make 30-plus starts and pitch 150-plus MLB-calibre innings, year in and year out. He hasn’t suffered an injury since he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014. Indeed, over the last 10 years (dating back to the start of the 2016 season), Patrick Corbin has started more games than any other pitcher in the majors. He’s six starts ahead of Kevin Gausman in second place. Corbin also ranks third among active pitchers in career starts and fourth in innings. He trails Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Jose Quintana in the former, and Verlander, Scherzer, Quintana, and Chris Sale in the latter. As you might have guessed, Gausman also ranks quite highly on those lists. So, with Verlander and Quintana on the injured list right now, the current Blue Jays rotation features three of the top four active active pitchers in both starts and innings pitched. For the most part, I’m only sharing that as a fun fact. But it’s a fun fact that draws attention to Corbin’s identity in the game today. Whatever else you think of him, the man can pitch – in the most literal sense of the word. Unfortunately for Corbin, his skill set is one that every team needs, but no team wants to need it. Since 2020, he owns a 5.41 ERA and a 4.80 FIP. Not once, not twice, but three times he has ranked last among qualified NL pitchers in ERA. That’s not to say he brings no value. After all, ranking last among qualified pitchers isn’t really ranking last. A qualified season – that’s 162 innings – is an accomplishment in and of itself. What’s more, Corbin has remained above replacement level in every year of his career, according to FanGraphs. And on top of that, there is absolutely unmeasurable value in consistency and bulk. Yet, the problem for a player like Corbin, at least at the outset of the season, is that contending teams want to give their innings to better pitchers. Rebuilding teams want to give their innings to younger arms. Most teams will end up giving 150-plus innings to a combination of pitchers worse than Corbin, but that’s never plan A. Of course, the 2026 Blue Jays are well past plan A. Thankfully, by the time they knew they needed him, Corbin was still available. He may not have as high a ceiling as any of the first eight pitchers on Toronto’s starting pitching depth chart, but there are worse things than having one of the most available pitchers in baseball available for your team every five days. The Rangers discovered that in 2025. Hopefully, the Blue Jays will have the same experience. View the full article

Personally, I don't have much hope for contention this year. One survey seems to indicate I'm not alone among my fellow Twins freaks. Some interesting takes here: Everybody has an opinion on last year's trade deadline. Good? Bad? To be determined? At least one asset acquired last summer is making a name for himself, at least in a tiny sample size to date. Taj Bradley ...what say ye? In my estimation, founding owner Nick Nelson is this site's best writer. Here's his review of last week's games, along with some pithy observations from our members. Nick usually stops by and responds to questions and/or comments, too, making the conversation even better. View the full article

Major League Baseball released its annual snapshot of Opening Day demographics this week, and while the numbers still point to a long road ahead, there are signs of meaningful progress. After dipping to a historic low in 2024, the percentage of African American players across the league has now risen in consecutive seasons, something the sport has not seen in roughly two decades. This year, African American players make up 6.5% of Opening Day rosters and injured lists, a noticeable increase from 5.7% the year prior and slightly above the 6.0% mark from two seasons ago. It is not a dramatic jump, but it is a step in the right direction for a league that has been searching for ways to rebuild its connection with Black communities. Development Programs Beginning to Show Results League officials have pointed to their investment in youth initiatives as a key factor behind the recent uptick. Programs such as MLB’s youth academies, the Dream Series, and the Breakthrough Series are starting to produce big-league talent. Of the 62 African American players on Opening Day rosters, 20 have participated in one of those pipelines. There is also a growing presence of high-end talent within that group. Nine of those players were former first-round picks, suggesting that the league is not only increasing participation but also developing impact players. The age distribution offers additional optimism. More than half of the current group is 27 or younger, while only a small handful are on the back side of their careers. That youth movement could help sustain growth if development systems continue to feed the pipeline. Twins Among League Leaders While the league-wide numbers are trending upward, the distribution across teams remains uneven. Six organizations began the season without a single African American player, highlighting how inconsistent representation still is from roster to roster. That is where the Minnesota Twins stand out. Minnesota enters the season with six African American players, tying them for the highest total in baseball alongside the Cincinnati Reds. For a smaller-market club, that level of representation is significant, especially when considering that the Twins alone account for a sizable portion of the league’s overall total. The group is not just filling out the roster either. It includes key contributors on both sides of the ball, including starting pitchers Taj Bradley and Simeon Woods Richardson, along with Byron Buxton and Josh Bell on the offensive side. Having that presence in prominent roles matters, both in terms of visibility and impact. At a time when more than a third of the league has one or zero African American players, the Twins are providing a blueprint for what a more inclusive roster can look like. Areas Where the Game Still Lags Despite the positive momentum, representation remains limited in some areas. Certain positions continue to lack diversity, particularly behind the plate and on the mound. There are only a small number of African American pitchers across the league, a striking reality given the size of pitching staffs. Catcher is another position where representation has been historically low, making each breakthrough at that spot even more meaningful. Additionally, more than a third of MLB teams have one or fewer African American players, including several high-profile organizations. That imbalance underscores the importance of continued investment in grassroots development and access to the sport. A Path Forward The broader picture shows a sport attempting to reverse a decades-long decline. International participation continues to grow, and MLB remains a global game, but rebuilding domestic diversity is clearly a priority. For the Twins, this moment reflects both organizational success and an opportunity. Their roster composition places them among the league leaders in representation, aligning with MLB’s broader efforts to create more inclusive pathways to the majors. Progress is happening, even if it is gradual. And for a franchise like Minnesota, being at the forefront of that movement is something worth recognizing as the game continues to evolve. View the full article