The City of Fountains

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MLB NEWS WIRE
Mets, Blue Jays get a bit healthier; Cards extend Marmol

By MLB.com staff
04/09/2025

04/06 -- Mets' Lindor to begin rehab assignment: As one of the three big names to get hamate bone fractures early in the spring (Holliday, Carroll the others), it looks like that Francisco Lindor is going to be first off the injured list and on to the minors to get some swings in before making his season debut for the Mets.

Ronny Mauricio has filled in decently at shortstop for the Mets through the first handful of days of the season, posting a .725 OPS (93 OPS+) through forty plate appearances. Bo Bichette has also played some shortstop; and he hasn't been bad there at all in a limited sample of innings with a +1 Defensive Runs Saved mark, and he's been worth +2 DRS between his shortstop innings and eighty-four innings at third base.

Lindor suffered the injury before spring games started, missing the entire spring. Manager Carlos Mendoza noted that Lindor has been taking batting practice reps, but only for the past few days and is expected to embark on a 'significant' rehab assignment. How many games he'd play in the minors was not disclosed by the Mets' skipper, but it sounds like he still has some time before he's back in Queens.

"He didn't get much of a spring, if at all, so he needs more work than normal to get his feet under him," Mendoza said on his local radio spot on the morning after their 6-2 win over San Francisco. "We're excited to get him back, but don't want to rush, it's pretty early on in the season."

04/06 -- Blue Jays activate Hoffman: Blue Jays manager John Schneider will be getting his closer back this week, as veteran righty Jeff Hoffman is slated to return to action with the Dodgers in Toronto beginning tonight. Schneider mentioned that he'd be unlikely to pitch in tonight's game, but that he'd be ready to go beginning on Tuesday.

Filling in as the closer, Braydon Fisher was 1-for-2 in save opportunities, with his latest outing resulting in a blown save as he was tagged for three earned runs as the Blue Jays went on to win by a 5-4 count in ten innings. Yimi Garcia picked up the save in the 10th, pitching a scoreless inning.

"He's been throwing off a mound the last few days, as we were evaluating either bringing him back immediately or sending him on a rehab assignment," Schneider said. "We got through a couple of bullpen sessions without any lingering discomfort, so we went with door number-one."

Toronto optioned righty Adrian Alcantara to Triple-A Buffalo, and also sent veteran starter Shane Bieber to Triple-A to begin a rehab assignment. Bieber has missed the last few weeks with what was termed as a 'tired arm', but there's been some speculation that it was a forearm strain, which can be a precursor to an elbow ligament injury.

Bieber has already missed a huge chunk of time the last few seasons after elbow surgery, and could ill afford to miss more time.

04/07 -- Cardinals extend Marmol: St. Louis has extended manager Oliver Marmol's contract as he'll now manage through the 2028 season at least. His new deal also includes a 2029 club option with an undisclosed buyout. Marmol has the Cards off to a good (and surprising) start to the 2026 season, with wins in eight of their first ten games as they stand atop the division.

Marmol, 39, has been St. Louis' manager since 2022, began the 2026 season with a 325-323 record with one postseason appearance, when the Cardinals won the NL Central in his first season at the helm. After going 78-84 in 2025, the Cardinals were thought to be entering a rebuilding year following an offseason that saw veterans Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Brendan Donovan traded for prospects.

Marmol is in his 20th season in the Cardinals organization. He started as a player in their Minor League system in 2007, going as far as High-A Palm Beach. Marmol then managed in the Minor Leagues for five years from 2012-16, leading his teams to the postseason in four of those five years before joining the big league staff as a first-base coach in 2017 under Mike Matheny. In 2019, he was named the bench coach under Mike Shildt.

“We have Oli, who came through the organization. He understands what the Cardinals are about,” said principal owner and chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. “He helped [develop] good players coming through the system and became a Major League manager. He has run with it. He has done a great job. I watch all the games...and I’m a pretty good second guesser, but with Oli, I don’t have to do that. He is really solid when he runs a game and has the support of the players. He has all the attributes you look for in a manager.”

04/08 -- Reds place Friedl on IL, sign Cutch: Cincinnati will be without starting center fielder TJ Friedl for several weeks, as it was announced he'll head to the injured list with a strained oblique. To replace him on the active roster, they signed veteran outfielder/DH Andrew McCutchen to a pro-rated one-year deal worth about $2.75 million.

With the signing, McCutchen will begin his 18th season in the majors, having gotten his start all the way back in 2009 with the Pirates. Despite being just a DH or bench bat at this point, he still offers a veteran presence for a team that still has hopes of returning to the postseason this year.

"Cutch, he's been doing his thing for a long time," Reds skipper Terry Francona said. "We've actually been looking at bringing him in for the last week for a workout, but with the injury to TJ, we went ahead and decided to make it official."

As noted earlier, Friedl is expected to be out several weeks, with JJ Bleday expected to step in and handle center field while he's out. Francona noted that McCutchen will see 'quite a bit' of time against lefties.

The Reds have also seen franchise regulars such as Spencer Steer and Elly de la Cruz struggle out of the gate, and perhaps hoping that there's still some gas left in the tank, might provide a spark to get their offense going. Cincinnati's offense has scored the second-fewest runs in the league, and rank in the bottom-third in most team offensive categories, including the most strikeouts, fourth-fewest walks, and just two stolen bases on the season.

McCutchen, never a big slugger even in his heyday, should give the Reds better bat-to-ball skills even heading towards the 40-year-old mark in October. His 9.4% walk rate, while below his career mark of 12%, is still right around the league average of 9.6%. He also fanned in just 21% of his plate appearances last season, down year-over-year from 2024."

[CBLCardinals]

Originally Posted by 3Bplay

Thanks! I used your All-Star Break template to get this going, thanks again for your hard work on that.

Awesome!!

[3Bplay]

Team Roster/Records | Statistics | Standings

SERIES RECAP: WHITE SOX
Royals off to best start since 2021; remain 2 1/2 games in front in division

By 3BPlay
04/13/2026

04/09 -- Cameron outstanding as Royals win ChiSox opener: Noah Cameron's earned runs allowed streak reached eleven frames without allowing an earned run, and the Royals scored in five of their eight half-innings as they rolled to an 8-1 win over Chicago to open a four-game home series.

Isaac Collins snapped out of a 2-for-16 skid with four hits, including a double, three runs scored, and his first stolen base as a Royal. Maikel Garcia also went 3-for-4 with a double, and Jac Caglianone extended his modest hitting streak to a half-dozen games with a single in the second.

But the star of the show was Cameron, who struck out six while scattering three hits and two walks in a tidy ninety-six pitches. He allowed two unearned runs last time out, but ran his earned run streak to eleven with his six scoreless frames.

"He's really picked up where he left off from last season," said manager Matt Quatraro. "He's just so much fun to watch when he's out there, puts a lot of emotion and fire into his pitching. His preparation is also second-to-none, which is something that has been prevalent throughout his pro career."

The other three affiliates all begin play tomorrow, with Double-A Northwest Arkansas set to begin a three-game home series with Springfield. High-A Quad Cities, who has the Royals' top prospect in catcher Blake Mitchell, begins a three-game home series of their own with Cedar Rapids. Same goes for Single-A Columbia, as they kick off their 2026 campaign at home against Fredericksburg.

One of the most anticipated debuts for the Royals in the minor leagues belongs to the Fireflies, as 18-year-old righty Kendry Chourio is expected to start the home opener.

CHW at KC | 04/09/2026 | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Chicago (5-8)      0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  6  0
Kansas City (9-3)  2  1  0  2  0  1  0  2  X  8  15 0

W: Noah Cameron (2-0) L: Shane Smith (2-1) S: None
CHW HR: None
KC HR: Kyle Isbel (1)

MLB Scoreboard: April 9th, 2026
ATH 4, NYY 6 | CHW 1, KC 8 | CIN 5, MIA 9 | DET 15, MIN 5
ARI 1, NYM 2 | COL 9, SD 6 |

04/09 -- Big eighth inning pushes the Royals past Chicago: Down 4-1 in the eighth and looking at snapping their four-game winning streak, the Royals rebounded with four in the bottom of the eighth, and closer Carlos Estevez shut the door as the Royals won 5-4 to win their fifth straight game.

Since starting 0-2, they've won ten of their last eleven games and are the first AL team to reach double-digit wins with Miami being the first to reach double-digits league-wide on Friday.

Seth Lugo had just one bad inning, allowing all four of his earned runs in the second inning. Despite tossing nearly thirty pitches in the second alone, he managed to nearly get through six frames, leaving with two outs in the sixth. He struck out six with just two walks, but surrendered nine hits.

"I don't think the final line for him does him any favors," said manager Matt Quatraro of his starting pitcher. "Besides the double in the fifth inning, there really wasn't anything that was hit much harder than the league average, and there were a few soft liners that dropped in, so I don't subscribe to it being a bad outing for him. Could it have been better? Sure, but there are very few times where you can point to any given start and say there isn't anything you could have done better."

Kansas City cut the deficit to three with a solo homerun from Jac Caglianone in the bottom of the second. The bats stayed largely silent until the eighth, when the Royals loaded the bases against Davis Martin with no one out. A single from Isaac Collins and a double from Bobby Witt Jr were followed by back-to-back walks from Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez to trim the lead to two.

Carter Jensen's one-out single made a 4-3 game before Jonathan India's two-run single put the Royals in front for good. Carlos Estevez quickly warmed up beginning late in that half-inning before coming on for his fourth save.

04/10 -- Chourio impresses in first Single-A start: Coming into the season, only writers who follow the minor leagues really closely and a handful of die-hard minor league-watching Royals fans knew who Kendry Chourio was. However, more starts like the one on Friday will put more national eyeballs onto him as he rolled over the Fredricksburg Nationals' lineup en route to a 4-3 win.

Throwing a tidy ninety-six pitches, he posted 6 2/3 innings of one-run baseball, striking out eight with four hits scattered and a walk.

"He is just mature beyond his years," Fireflies manager David Noworyta beamed after the game to reporters. "I think really at this point, it's just fine-tuning the already-solid stuff he has. The command and control he has over his pitches is top-shelf right now."

Scouts who are in-the-know think he has a chance to reach the majors sooner rather than later, even with just one season of pro ball under his belt as a 17-year-old in 2025. He's drawn comparisons to Jose Fernandez in terms of makeup and overall stuff, although some prognosticate he could end up with better command and control than the late Marlins' ace.

One AL scout thought the Royals could have another Zack Greinke-type of pitcher on their hands.

"He throws harder than (Zack) Greinke at the same age, although I think Zack was further along with the actual stuff," the unnamed scout said. "The Jose Fernandez and Greinke comparisons are quite real, and in the hands of a pretty competent pitching development program like Kansas City currently has, he's going to zoom through the minors with his work ethic and talent. There's a ton of helium under him now."

JJ Picollo has even mentioned in the past that Chourio has a chance to be a 'lighting-quick' riser, especially if he can string together performances like the one on Friday.

"Selfishly, I'd love to have him here all season to help us win games," Noworyta said later on in the press conference. "But sooner or later, with these types of performances, he's not going to be here very long, so I'm prepared for that."

CHW at KC | 04/10/2026 | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Chicago (5-9)      0  4  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  4  10 0
Kansas City (10-3) 0  1  0  0  0  0  0  4  X  5  7  0

W: John Schreiber (1-0) L: Davis Martin (1-1) S: Carlos Estevez (4)
CHW HR: None
KC HR: Jac Caglianone (2)

MLB Scoreboard: April 10th, 2026
MIN 4, TOR 8 | CHW 4, KC  5 | SF  4, BAL 0 | MIA 4, DET 12
ARI 5, PHI 4 | COL 9, SD  6 | NYY 7, TB  3 | HOU 5, SEA 6 (10)
LAA 3, CIN 5 | WSH 7, MIL 6 | BOS 0, STL 7 | ATH 6, NYM 18
TEX 3, LAD 1 | PIT 5, CHI 6 (10)

04/11 -- Champlain released: The Royals released Triple-A hurler Chandler Champlain on Friday, two days after making his first start with the Storm Chasers this season.

On Wednesday, Champlain allowed four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, but walked six with just three strikeouts as the Royals won over the Iowa Cubs by a 10-8 score.

Omaha began the season with a six-man rotation that included Champlain. Per manager Patrick Osborn, they will retain that setup with righty Luinder Avila moving back into the rotation from the closer's role.

Avila has been very good out of that role so far, but the Royals still believe that he could be a starter at some point as a big leaguer. Eric Cerantola, who impressed in the spring, will slide into the closer's spot for now.

Acquired along with TJ Sikkema and Beck Way, both pitchers, from the Yankees for Andrew Benintendi back in July of 2022, Champlain had not gained much traction as a potential piece of the team's future since being acquired.

In forty-seven Triple-A starts, all with the Royals' organization, he's pitched to a 6.51 ERA in 231 innings, walking 106 hitters while striking out just 173. He did have some success in Double-A as a Royal farmhand with a 3.72 ERA over 109 innings (twenty-one starts), but those innings were all in 2023 and 2024.

04/11 -- Loss snaps five-game win streak: The bats fell silent on Saturday, snapping a streak of scoring at least three runs at seven games in a 5-2 loss. The loss also stopped a five-game winning streak, their second such streak in the first two weeks of the season.

Chicago never trailed in the game, taking a 1-0 lead after their half-inning in the third. After the Royals tied the score in the bottom of the third, Kyle Teel's three-run homer in the fourth put them up by three, and the Royals never seriously threatened the lead throughout the remainder of the game.

After a pair of starts to begin the season to rival anyone else's around the league, Michael Wacha's third trip to the mound this season was rockier than the first two, allowing five earned runs in four innings, although three runs came on just one swing.

Bailey Falter relieved Wacha beginning in the fifth inning, and gave a whale of a performance out of the bullpen with four shutout innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out six.

The 28-year-old lefty has been a revelation out of the bullpen with 10 2/3 innings of work in four appearances, striking out thirteen with just two walks, one earned run, and five hits allowed.

"He's been great for us, it's too bad we couldn't pick him up with a rally or two to get back in the game, but he did all you can ask for out of the pen in a tough situation," said manager Matt Quatraro.

CHW at KC | 04/11/2026 | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Chicago (6-9)      0  0  1  3  1  0  0  0  0  5  13 0
Kansas City (10-4) 0  0  1  0  0  0  1  4  X  2  8  0

W: Grant Taylor (1-0) L: Michael Wacha (2-1) S: Seranthony Dominguez (4)
CHW HR: Kyle Teel (1)
KC HR: None

MLB Scoreboard: April 11th, 2026
CLE 3, ATL 2 | CHW 5, KC  2 | SF  3, BAL 0 | MIA 4, DET 10
ARI 1, PHI 3 | COL 9, SD  6 | NYY 0, TB  1 | HOU 9, SEA 7
LAA 7, CIN 3 | WSH 2, MIL 3 | BOS 3, STL 6 | ATH 6, NYM 11
TEX 3, LAD 2 | PIT 7, CHI 2 | MIN 5, TOR 3 (10)

04/12 -- Ragans rolls as Royals recover from defeat: Thanks to a homerun in the first inning, the Royals jumped all over the White Sox to take an early 2-0 lead, and then hung on to post a 4-2 win to clinch the series victory and remain comfortably in the lead in the AL Central.

Cole Ragans picked up his second win of the season, allowing two earned runs over six-plus innings of work. He had allowed just one through six, and stayed on for the seventh as he was at just eighty-nine pitches heading into that inning.

However, a leadoff single from Munetaka Murakami chased Ragans from the game, with John Schreiber coming in and working through the inning. Murakami would eventually score on a sac fly from Miguel Vargas, which charged the additional run to Ragans, but Schreiber managed to keep the Royals in front after coaxing a double play from catcher Drew Romo.

Vargas was also responsible for the White Sox' other run in the fourth, which was a solo homerun against Ragans.

The Royals' young bats also had good days in addition to Pasquantino, as Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen both collected a pair of hits. Caglianone was 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of runs scored, while Jensen started behind the plate and picked up two hits and an RBI.

Maikel Garcia also banged out a pair of hits to keep his average over the .400 mark, as he sits second behind Baltimore's Adley Rutschman for the AL lead through the first few weeks of the season.

CHW at KC | 04/12/2026 | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Chicago (6-10)     0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0  0  2  6  1
Kansas City (11-4) 2  0  1  0  1  0  0  0  X  4  11 0

W: Cole Ragans (2-1) L: Jordan Hicks (0-3) S: Carlos Estevez (5)
CHW HR: Miguel Vargas (4)
KC HR: Vinnie Pasquantino (2)

MLB Scoreboard: April 12th, 2026
ATH 5, NYM 3 | CHW 2, KC  4 | SF  8, BAL 5 | TEX 2,  LAD 18
ARI 2, PHI 6 | COL 9, SD  8 | NYY 6, TB  8 | PIT 8,  CHC 5 (10)
LAA 8, CIN 4 | WSH 0, MIL 3 | BOS 8, STL 6 | CLE 12, ATL 7
MIA 2, DET 5 | HOU 4, SEA 5 | MIN 2, TOR 10

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MLB NEWS WIRE
Cards' starter to miss significant time; Marlins' Perez return is delayed

By MLB.com staff
04/13/2025

04/09 -- Cards' rotation suffers huge blow: One of St. Louis' most promising starters is slated to miss potentially the remainder of the season. Righty Kyle Leahy, who served as the Cards' part-time closer a season ago, was placed on the 60-day injured list and will undergo a procedure on his torn left meniscus later this week that will keep him out of action at least through August per reports from Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Leahy said he felt a 'pop' in his left, or plant, leg during the third inning of St. Louis' 4-3 win over Detroit on April 4th. He said it happened on a double play groundball from Spencer Torkelson, but managed to get through the rest of the inning, only allowing a sharp single to Kerry Carpenter before getting Colt Keith on a lazy pop-up to end the inning.

He walked with a noticeable limp to the dugout, and after a brief conversation with pitching coach Dusty Blake and manager Oliver Marmol, was pulled from the game as a precaution.

"He had completed what we thought was a very successful spring," Marmol lamented as he was asked about the injury. "Sure, he walked off under his own power, but generally these things get worse before they get better, so I think that he's going to be out for some time given these kinds of injuries."

Right-hander Richard Fitts, who was acquired from the Red Sox in the Sonny Gray deal, was re-called from Triple-A and will likely pitch out of the rotation for the remainder of the season in Leahy's stead. He's slated to take to the mound tonight against the Tigers. Matthew Liberatore, who just embarked on a rehab assignment to the minors, is also reportedly 'close to return' according to personnel chief Chaim Bloom.

04/09 -- Marlins' Perez has his return delayed: Marlins right-hander Eury Perez will have to wait a bit longer to make his 2026 debut, as he suffered a slight setback in his recovery from a tricep strain that happened during the WBC last month. He hasn't pitched in a game, regular season or otherwise, since that game on the 11th of March.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal first reported that Perez suffered a 'slight setback' in his recovery, as he felt a 'bit more pain' in a 40-pitch simulated bullpen session. He was immediately shut down, and he's not expected to resume throwing now for at least another seven-to-ten days.

Miami, owners of the best record in the National League, aren't likely in too big of a rush to get Perez back with the starting pitching looking quite good out of the gate. Sandy Alcantara, who is scheduled to pitch on Saturday, is 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in his first two starts of the 2026 campaign, covering thirteen innings. Fellow righties Max Meyer and Janson Junk have impressed, along with veteran signee Chris Paddack.

Only lefty Braxton Garrett has struggled out of the gate, pitching to a 9.58 ERA over 10 1/3 innings, including four earned runs in four innings in last night's start, a game Miami ended up winning by a 9-5 score.

Perez was 5-7 with a 2.92 ERA and a hundred strikeouts in just over eighty-nine innings over eighteen appearances, all starts, in 2025.

04/10 -- Singer listed day-to-day; could miss next start: For now, Reds righty Brady Singer will not go on the injured list, but is likely to miss his next start per manager Terry Francona. With an off-day coming up on Monday, the Reds have an opportunity to skip Singer's turn in the rotation without having to make an injured list move.

"We don't anticipate it being a major move," said Francona after the loss to the Reds on Friday. "He came back to the dugout expressing discomfort on his left side, so we decided to remove him out of an abundance of caution."

Singer has struggled through his first three starts, allowing eleven earned runs through 8 1/3 innings. His first start back on March 29th was solid, allowing just two earned runs over five innings. However, he's allowed nine earned runs over his last two starts, covering just 3 1/3 innings, including seven through just two innings on April 4th.

With ninety-two starts over the last three seasons from 2023 through 2025, Singer has been one of the more durable starters in baseball over that time period. His 506 1/3 innings are also a top-25 mark in baseball over the last three seasons league-wide.

04/11 -- Acuna Jr pulled from game: Braves fans are holding their breath as star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr was pulled in the first inning of today's game after legging out a double in a 3-2 loss against Cleveland. Acuna led off the bottom of the first by stroking a hard groundball down the left field line; and about halfway to second base, began to limp considerably as he pulled into second.

After about a five-minute pow-wow with team trainers and manager Walt Weiss, Acuna was removed from the game as a precaution. Weiss indicated that he would be listed day-to-day, but that an injured list stint wasn't out of the question.

"We're going to do an MRI and make sure there isn't anything more sinister going on here," Weiss said after the game. "Right now, it doesn't look serious as he was able to walk off under his own power, but that doesn't mean there isn't something going on here that might require more than just a few days' rest."

Eli White replaced him on the basepaths, with Donovan Smith eventually taking over in right from the second inning on. Smith was 0-for-3 with a couple of strikeouts in the loss.

04/12 -- Henderson to return for Baltimore: Losers of five straight games, the Orioles will get Gunnar Henderson back from his rehab assignment in time to begin their three-game series with the Diamondbacks at home on Monday. He'll play his second game tonight for Norfolk before heading back to Baltimore.

The Orioles rank in the bottom-third league-wide in most offensive categories, including OPS+, wRC+, and extra-base hits. They've managed to get by with their pitching, ranking sixth league-wide in ERA (3.61), and seven quality starts, which is tied for the third-most in baseball. They've also given up the second-fewest homeruns (13) despite playing more games in Camden Yards than on the road so far.

Additionally, Baltimore is expected to get Jackson Holliday back 'within the next few weeks', per manager Craig Albernaz. Holliday has missed almost the entirety of baseball activities up until the last week, as he has resumed taking infield and batting practice in recent days.

He's been out since the very beginning of the spring with a broken hamate bone in his right hand, suffered on the second day of spring, and will likely need a pretty significant ramp-up to get back to speed.

[3Bplay]

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2026 ROYALS MAILBAG: VOL. 1, ED. 1
K.C. Mayor proposes new funding plan; talking Jensen, Cags and Salvy's HOF chances

The Royals are off to an excellent start, going 11-4 in their first fifteen games to post the best record in the American League. However, the schedule toughens up a bit as they embark on their first real road trip of the season with three at Detroit beginning tomorrow, followed by three in the Bronx for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Late last week, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas put forth a stadium funding plan for Washington Square Park that appears to be headed for City Council approval (and therefore, would not need to be put in front of the voters), but a few of the rural Jackson County councilmembers are wanting more public scrutiny of the plan, which could end up requiring that the plan be put on the ballot for a vote at some point this year.

Also, we'll dig a bit deeper into the hot starts for both Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen and whether or not it's all sustainable, and discuss Salvador Perez's chances for the Hall of Fame now that he's passed the 300-homerun threshold.

Does this stadium funding deal that the Mayor proposed have any staying power?

It's likely going to pass, but it's not over the finish line yet. The city's parks and recreation department still has to review the deal and approve it, but it sounds like that's coming any day now. The biggest news coming out of it was that they expect the stadium to be ready in time for the 2030 season, even though the current lease doesn't expire until after that season ends.

If they can get the facility up and running by then, that's great, but it does build in some cushion to account for setbacks and any potential problems down the line.

The hook appears to be the way that it will be funded -- no new taxes, and 100% of the repayment of the bonds being established are paid solely by the patrons within the development, and not by any surrounding communities. It also includes a solid portion of the bonds going to greenspaces, lower-income housing, and office spaces; along with restaurants, bars, and other establishments within the stadium's area.

A few members of the city council are pushing to put the measure to a public vote, but from what I've seen, it should have enough support to pass. It's far and away a better proposal than the slap-dash Crossroads District location from November 2024. That said, there may be enough rural pushback due to the downtown location (and potential lack of parking) to make it much closer than it should be.

With both Jensen and Cags off to a good start, are the Royals vindicated for not pursuing a 'big bat' in the offseason?

It's really early on, but the returns so far have been promising. Jensen has reached base safely in each game he's played in this season; and while the homerun power hasn't been there in a big way for Caglianone, his bat-to-ball metrics have been solid after the first couple of series as he's been pushing an average of 105 MPH in exit velo's. I mean, .302/.373/.509 will absolutely play, although the on-base figure is a bit inflated by a couple of intentional walks and a hit-by-pitch, which is driving his lower wOBA (.345).

Still, we need to see a bit more before we can make a more nuanced determination. They're striking out a bit too much for my liking (25% K-rate combined between the two). As a result, their numbers are heavily BABIP-influenced and could indicate a pretty rough regression to the mean as more PA's accumulate. But in the meantime, Royals fans can and should enjoy having a couple of potential breakout stars in the lineup every day, as they're going to go through their ups and downs like every other player.

With Jensen off to such a good start, does this increase the likelihood that they trade Blake Mitchell at the deadline for some kind of roster need?

It would depend on what teams are willing to offer. Royals fans, especially the online variety, have been pushing hard for the team to trade Mitchell; and the calls have only grown louder with Jensen's hot start, but it's just not a good idea at this point honestly. First, the Royals shouldn't be in the business of trading top prospects, especially not for a rental player, and also for a franchise with a bottom-third ranked farm system and a still-productive-but-aging catcher north of thirty-five.

Secondly, and this is the big one, they can co-exist and thrive on the same MLB roster in the future as there's no rule that says you can't carry two young catchers at the same time. Honestly, a couple of years down the road, it wouldn't surprise me one bit that the Royals end up with three guys on the roster that can all go behind the plate (Jensen, Mitchell, Luca Tresh) and be at least league-average or better.

There's also no guarantee that Jensen is going to remain behind the plate. I get that the MJ Melendez experiment blew up in their faces, but if Jensen could say, move to third base with his plus-arm and athleticism to allow Maikel Garcia to move to what is probably a more natural position for him at second, I think they should (and perhaps would) do that. First, you don't need to go out and spend huge money for a bat, and you've fixed a long-suffering problem in the organization without using said additional funds. Jensen could also easily handle first base if they move on from Vinnie down the road, or even a corner outfield spot.

Of course, this is all provided that 1) Mitchell is healthy and progresses into the player most everyone think he could be, and 2) Salvy has moved out from behind the plate on a near-everyday basis. Some ifs there, but not unreasonable ones.

Now, if Jac is struggling in early July, and say, Miami comes along and offers Kyle Stowers for Mitchell? Then that's an offer I would certainly entertain, but when the Royals and Marlins discussed Stowers over the offseason, they wanted Mitchell plus two other prospects. That's a non-starter, even with all of the team control that Stowers still has.

With Perez now over the 300-homerun mark, is that the last piece that's needed for him to get to the HOF?

There's still some doubt in the baseball writing community that Perez is worthy. Frankly, I don't think he's quite there yet, but the case for him getting in is getting stronger seemingly by the year. MLB.com did a write-up earlier in the season after hitting his 300th, and did a brief comparison between him and Lance Parrish, who is the only catcher to hit over 300 bombs and not make the HOF. The others (Bench, Piazza, Pudge, Berra, Fisk, Carter) are all in. Not only did he not get in, he was yeeted off the ballot after just nine votes in 2001.

There's a lot of comparison between the two because they're very similar players (low-strikeout, low-walk, Gold Glove-level defense, big-time power, WS ring). However, as the MLB.com article noted, Parrish really fell off a cliff after his age-30 season. Perez has only gotten better offensively since his age-30 season, and I think that year off due to elbow surgery in 2019 really kind of re-set his career as it allowed him to rest and re-charge as he was playing north of 175+ games per calendar year on balance when you threw in his Venezuelan winter league and the 2014/2015 playoff runs. It was just too much, and frankly, Dayton Moore and Ned Yost failed to put a stop to that much earlier.

Another thing working in Perez's favor is that he's been with the Royals his entire career, and has become one of the league's most respected players amongst other teams, fans, and baseball writers alike. That's not to say Parrish wasn't liked, it's that Sal's personality and his appreciation for the game is quite genuine and fans of all teams notice that. The BBWA, rightly or wrongly, also seem to factor in likability when it comes to voting.

Parrish, after his Tigers days, bounced around quite a bit as he played in MLB games for six other teams after 1986, his final year in Detroit; and none of them for more than three seasons. He had brief MiLB stints with the Dodgers, Royals, and even back in Detroit, but those were all on minor league deals; and eventually retired after not making the Pirates' roster in 1996 as a 40-year-old minor league signee.

If Perez plays through 2026, passes George as the Royals' all-time homerun king (I think barring injury does it sometime after the All-Star break); and can help get the Royals into a World Series (or two) over the next two seasons, then he's a stone-cold lock. Bonus points if he can continue to get the majority of innings behind the plate, but that remains to be seen.

What should the Royals do with Bailey Falter? Could they go with a six-man rotation?

The Royals discussed using a six-man rotation early in the spring, but ultimately decided to keep Falter on as a reliever instead, and it has worked out quite well so far with just one earned run over 10 2/3 innings with a wildly-unsustainable 35.1% strikeout rate.

Reportedly, they shopped Falter towards the end of the spring, but didn't get much interest, so it will be interesting to see if the Royals continue to shop him as teams will inevitably deal with injuries and other pitching struggles as the season wears on.

With teams like the Reds and Cardinals now down key starters, perhaps something could come together over the coming weeks, but right now he's more valuable to the Royals with his success to date. This is especially true with veterans Kris Bubic and Cole Ragans coming off solid, but injury-plagued 2025 seasons.

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MLB MAILBAG
Early surprises and disappointments; Vitello already on the hot seat?

By MLB.com staff
04/13/2025

We're not more than a couple of weeks into the season, and it's been a bit of a mess to begin the season. Teams like the Rangers, Padres, Tigers, and Guardians are stumbling out of the gates, with others like the A's, Royals, Marlins, and Cardinals off to fast starts. But will they last?

Also, the Giants made headlines last week for a locker room dispute that made it to the light of day, but since that story came out, they have won five of six games and have righted the ship. Is Tony Vitello the right guy that can get San Francisco back to the postseason? Or is the college-straight-to-pro managerial road not the way to go?

Will Tony Vitello work in San Francisco?

The best managers generally are good at two things -- one, they tend to let players police themselves; and two, they know when to step in and mediate if things get out of hand. It's not unheard of for a former college coach to reach the highest levels in pro baseball, just see Pat Murphy and the job he's done with the Brewers. But what Murphy had that Vitello didn't is experience coaching professional players, whether that be in the minors or as an assistant for a major league team before becoming a manager.

In college, recruiting is the biggest part of the job, but that's not as big of a factor at this level. It stands to reason that he'd have a pretty large learning curve with handling veterans that are in their 30's with years of experience, MVP's, Cy Youngs, what have you. It's one thing if he was brought on with a young roster that he could grow into the role with, but dropping him in with little to no experience to handle a pretty veteran roster was a bold move on Buster Posey's part.

Will it work? Vitello is a pretty sharp baseball mind, but the game is filled with those guys. The biggest part of managing is exactly that, managing people, much like you would in an office setting. Maybe that's a bit too simplified, but it is a relevant corollary.

Which of the current first-place teams has the most staying power?

Let's put the Dodgers aside for the moment; they're a known quantity and we know what we're getting with them.

Being in what is likely the weakest division in baseball, Kansas City should at least make the postseason as a wildcard. Detroit is still the most talented team in that division, but the Royals defend much, much better and aren't a station-to-station team like the Tigers are. The Athletics might have the best offense in the league, but they've played in nothing but hitter-friendly parks so far and their pitching shouldn't be trusted over the long-term. At least not yet (more on that later).

St. Louis is a nice surprise. Kyle Leahy is a tough loss for their rotation, as they had pinned quite a bit of hope on him at least being a solid number-two or three in that group, but is likely going to miss the next several months or more after knee surgery. Outside of Jordan Walker, their outfield is really bad, like worst-in-the-league bad; and aside from Ryne Stanek, there's a ton of inexperience in the bullpen. In addition, the NL Central is arguably one of the two most competitive divisions in baseball, with the Cubs and Brewers as perennial contenders, with both the Reds and Pirates not your typical bottom-dwellers.

Finally, don't sleep on Miami. With Atlanta banged up for the time being, I like the Marlins to stay competitive in the NL East and wildcard races. Owen Caissie has shown he's big-league ready, and their lineup doesn't have a ton of real holes outside of possibly center field. Their middle relief is a concern, but if their solid starting pitching can give them six innings on average a game, they'll be a tough out for anyone as their bullpen's back end is very good with the addition of Pete Fairbanks over the offseason to close games.

Thoughts on the season so far? Surprises? Disappointments?

There have been some real surprises so far around the league. It's early, but the biggest (good) surprise so far has to be St. Louis. They're in sole possession of first place in the NL Central at 11-4; and while they have some real questions in their outfield mix that still need to be addressed, they're finally getting real contributions from Walker; and others like Nolan Gorman, Masyn Winn, Ivan Herrera, and even rookie JJ Wetherholt have all been solid at the plate so far. Their pitching has been so-so and is probably going to be the reason they end up fading (and now they're down the aforementioned Leahy), but for the time being they look like a young, fun, athletic team, but ultimately won't have the roster depth to compete.

On the bad side of surprises, it has to be Cleveland. Outside of Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan, they can't hit. Former first-rounder Kyle Manzardo has been....fine? I guess? For the past few seasons, they've failed to put much around J-Ram, but it looks like the lack of aggressiveness in that regard has finally caught up to them. If the offense continues to scuffle into May and they drift further into the basement of an already-weak division, I would expect the Guards to start looking at potentially shopping Kwan and even perhaps Manzardo and Rhys Hoskins, their only major acquisition of the offseason.

Can this A's team be for real?

We considered putting this Athletics bunch as the biggest surprise, but given the kind of young talent they have throughout the lineup, it's not a huge shock their doing as well as they are. They don't really have a weak spot, unless you want to consider perhaps swapping Lawrence Butler out of the leadoff position. They rank in the top three league-wide in OPS, WAR, wOBA, hits, extra-base hits, and homeruns. They also run the bases well as they've already accumulated two extra runs (2.2 BSR+), so it's not just make baseball go boom.

However, their pitching is another matter. Their starters have thrown the fewest innings in the league (73); and not surprisingly, their bullpen has by far the most (80). It's not a sustainable way to win games, even with a lineup as good as theirs. Their best starter so far has been Jon Gray, and he's barely over five innings per start (15 2/3 in three starts), with a 4.02 ERA. And it's a fairly expensive rotation to boot with Luis Severino at just over $25 million this season AND a player option for $22 million next year, so it's likely they'll be on the hook for that unless they can get some kind of value for him at the deadline, or he decides to bet on himself this offseason and declines it.

Severino wasn't a bad pitcher last year, as playing at Sutter Health Park was detrimental to his surface numbers (4.91 ERA, 19 HRA), but did manage to post better FIP and SIERA marks of 4.22 and 4.09, respectively, plus a respectable 2.1 bWAR. The A's did try unsuccessfully to move him over the offseason; however, they may get more in return if he can turn things around and the A's fall out of the race.

In addition, they have Jeffrey Springs at a $10.5 million number, with Aaron Civale and his north-of-10.00 ERA coming in at $6 million this season. For most franchises, that's not a huge amount of money, but for the Athletics that's roughly 40% of their payroll. Severino alone accounts for nearly a quarter of their total 2026 payout, so if they can't find ways to get deeper into games, the season could go south in a hurry.

[3Bplay]

Team Roster/Records | Statistics | Standings

SERIES RECAP: DETROIT TIGERS
Royals swept; fall to half-game out of first

By 3BPlay
04/17/2026

04/13 -- Massey bides his time in Omaha, but ready for more: Battling injuries and inconsistency over the past few seasons, Omaha second baseman Michael Massey has been the catalyst for Omaha's 6-4 start, slashing .324/.361/.794 through a small sample of thirty-six plate appearances so far. He was optioned to Omaha to begin the 2026 season as the Royals want him to continue to get consistent starts and at-bats with veteran Josh Rojas getting the nod as the team's lefty utility player off the bench.

"We had a good conversation right before the season started about where my standing in the organization is, and we all agreed that it would be best to get some work in Omaha to work on some things," he said, referring to manager Matt Quatraro and the front office, namely GM JJ Picollo. "Also, just focus on getting my mind and body right and focus what I need to do to get back to Kansas City and help us win games."

It makes sense for the Royals to want to continue to get Massey consistent work, as when healthy is one of the Royals' better power threats. He appeared to be turning a corner in 2024 when he posted a 109 OPS+ in 356 plate appearances with the Royals that season, but that year was the beginning of his injury troubles.

It didn't get any better in 2025, as he battled knee and ankle injuries that limited him to just 372 plate appearances between Triple-A and the Royals last season. He was very good in Omaha (.323/.388/.608), but scuffled to a poor line with the Royals (.446 OPS) in 224 plate appearances with the parent club.

"He's still dealing with some minor things when it comes to day-to-day soreness," said Omaha manager Patrick Osborn. "But he's been working through it and staying productive with a great attitude. He's been a really good resource for some of the younger players on the team."

MLB Scoreboard: April 13th, 2026
ARI 2, BAL 3 | HOU 2, SEA 1 | MIA 7, ATL 5 | LAA 3, NYY 11
CLE 4, STL 1 | TEX 7, ATH 0 | CHC 3, PHI 2 | NYM 1, LAD 11
WSH 1, PIT 7 | BOS 7, MIN 4 (11)

04/14 -- K.C. drops first game of Detroit series in walk-off fashion: Riley Greene's two-out single against Lucas Erceg in the ninth pushed Detroit over the Royals by a 5-4 score to open their three-game set in the Motor City. Jace Jung, who pinch-hit for Javier Baez to lead off the inning, drew a walk against Erceg and would later be the runner to come around and score on Greene's hit.

With a two-run homerun in the first, Bobby Witt Jr kicked off the scoring just two batters into the game. Zach McKinstry tied the game with a two-run shot of his own in the third against Kris Bubic, who labored through five innings, allowing three runs in the process. Additionally, he allowed just three hits with seven strikeouts, but it was hard-earned as he threw ninety-nine pitches over his short outing.

The Royals received a scare when Vinnie Pasquantino struck out on a pitch in the dirt that bounced and hit him in the right shin. He was replaced by Nick Loftin in right field, while Jac Caglianone moved to first base. Pasquantino is day-to-day with a shin bruise, but is not expected to need an injured list stint.

"We don't think it's too serious, but there was enough pain there that limited his mobility," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We decided that it would be best to get Jac some work at first base and for Vinnie to fight another day, as it's a long season."

Each team seemed to have an answer for the other, as the Royals re-took the lead in the fourth on a Salvador Perez solo homerun before the Tigers tied it up again in the bottom of the fourth. Kansas City actually didn't trail for the first time until the sixth, when Javier Baez hit a sac fly to score Matt Vierling. Vierling hit a one-out triple against reliever Stephen Kolek.

Maikel Garcia came up with a clutch two-out RBI on a single in the seventh inning, scoring Isaac Collins on a close play at the plate that tied the game at four, but that's the last time the Royals would touch the scoreboard.

"It's like a heavyweight fight out there," manager Matt Quatraro said regarding the back-and-forth contest. "These are two pretty good teams out there, I think, and while it's pretty early in the season, this is a pretty pivotal series, so we certainly want to try and keep some distance between us and them."

KC at DET | 04/14/2026 | Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Kansas City (11-5) 2  0  0  1  0  0  1  0  0  4  6  0
Detroit (10-7)     0  0  2  1  0  1  0  0  1  5  9  3

W: Kenley Jansen (2-1) L: Lucas Erceg (0-2) S: None
KC HR: Bobby Witt Jr (2), Salvador Perez (4)
DET HR: Zach McKinstry (4)

MLB Scoreboard: April 14th, 2026
KC 4, DET 5 | LAA 2, NYY 7 | TEX 6, ATH 2 | NYM 9, LAD 1 | BOS 4,  MIN 5 (11)
SF 1, CIN 4 | ARI 6, BAL 7 | MIA 0, ATL 3 | TOR 7, MIL 5 | WSH 10, PIT 3
TB 7, CHW 5 | COL 5, HOU 3 | CHC 5, PHI 4 | CLE 3, STL 4 | SEA 2,  SD  3

04/15 -- Royals walked off again, this time in extras: The Royals followed up last night's tough loss with another tough defeat, this time in ten innings with Zach McKinstry's two-out single past the diving Vinnie Pasquantino bringing home the winning run in their 2-1 loss. The defeat cuts their division lead to just a half-game heading into tomorrow's series finale, before the Royals jet off to the Bronx for three with the Yankees.

Carlos Estevez picked up the final out of the ninth, and stayed on for the 10th. He was able to get it to two outs with a pair of flyouts sandwiched around a Jace Jung single right before McKinstry's heroics.

Noah Cameron had his earned-run streak stopped at 15 1/3 innings with a one-out homerun in the sixth. He stayed on to finish the inning, allowing just the one run over six innings to pick up another quality start. He left the game with a 1-0 deficit, but Carter Jensen's RBI single in the top of the seventh to tie the game took him out of the decision.

He battled his command at times, throwing just fifty strikes out of eighty-two pitches. He was also beset by a 45-minute rain delay in the third, but manager Matt Quatraro opted to keep him on instead of putting in someone like Bailey Falter, who has been outstanding so far this season.

"I think if it would have pushed closer to an hour or more, we would have gone in a different direction," said manager Matt Quatraro. "Given that it was still a tie game at the time and that he was pitching well, we decided to keep him in there."

Scoring chances weren't difficult to come by, but the lineup had a tough time converting anything besides Jensen's single in the seventh. Bobby Witt Jr reached via single in the first, but was thrown out trying to steal on a strike-out, throw-out play with Pasquantino at the plate.

In the fourth with Witt again at first, Pasquantino lined out to the first baseman Colt Keith, who whipped around and placed the tag on Witt. However, he was called safe on the play, leading to a challenge from the Tigers' dugout that was ultimately overturned, resulting in a double play and getting Tiger pitcher Jack Flaherty out of the inning unscathed.

"It was quite a tough day at the office for us," Pasquantino chuckled a bit as he was asked about his day. "I think I had what, four, men on base that I couldn't drive in? That has to get better. Noah pitched his a** off for us, and we couldn't get him any support."

Their best chance may have been the seventh, when they didn't cash in on any other offense besides the lone RBI from Jensen. Pinch-hitting for Josh Rojas, Jonathan India singled to left with two outs to put Jensen at second before Kyle Isbel's sharp lineout to left.

KC at DET | 04/15/2026 | Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  R  H  E
Kansas City (11-6) 0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0   1  7  1
Detroit (11-7)     0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  1   2  6  0

W: Will Vest (1-0) L: Carlos Estevez (0-1) S: None
KC HR: None
DET HR: Javier Baez (3)

MLB Scoreboard: April 15th, 2026
TAM 3, CHW 0 | LAA 6, NYY 2 | CLE 1, STL 3  | TOR 5, MIL 6 | KAN 1, DET 2 (10)
SFO 9, CIN 4 | ARI 3, BAL 1 | BOS 6, MIN 10 | SEA 4, SDG 1 | WSH 7, PIT 10
TEX 3, ATH 6 | MIA 3, ATL 5 | CHC 3, PHI 4  | COL 3, HOU 6 | NYM 15, LAD 7

04/16 -- Big second inning dooms K.C., Royals swept out of Detroit: Bobby Witt Jr got the scoring started for the Royals in the first inning with a solo bomb, but Detroit took a commanding lead after the second inning, scoring seven runs against Seth Lugo in the second inning on their way to a 10-6 defeat. Lugo actually made it into the third inning, working around a throwing error by catcher Carter Jensen to get two outs before Bailey Falter replaced him.

Falter finished out the inning and worked through the seventh; allowing just a couple of hits, no walks, and no runs with a pair of strikeouts. Falter threw fifty-seven pitches in 4 1/3 innings, which is just one more than Lugo threw in 2 2/3 innings (fifty-six). Lugo shut down any notion that he's working through any discomfort, and said that he's just 'going through a rough patch' right now.

"There were some key mistakes that led to some additional runs that shouldn't have happened," manager Matt Quatraro said, noting a pair of errors, with one each in the second and third innings. "Seth's velocity is still there, he just didn't hit some spots and had a few defensive miscues that cost us."

Second baseman Jonathan India mis-played an in-between hop to lead off the second inning, with Colt Keith reaching on his error. That error would come back to bite the Royals, as Keith returned to the dish later in the frame with two outs and stroked a two-run triple that put the Tigers up 7-1. After the error, Lugo gave up three straight hits, followed by a hit batter and two walks. The only out recorded in that stretch was an out at home on a throw by Kyle Isbel on an RBI single by Jace Jung.

In the third inning, Carter Jensen spiked a pickoff throw past first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, allowing Javier Baez to advance to second after he led off with a single. Baez would later score on Parker Meadows' double against Falter before the inning ended.

On the plus side, the offense scored the most runs in a game since April 9th, when they scored eight in an 8-1 home win over the White Sox. Witt seems to be finding the homerun swing lately, with a pair of homeruns in the series, along with a double in the loss. Carter Jensen also hit his team-best sixth homerun to pull the Royals to within three, 8-5, at that point; but that's as close as they would get.

Jensen also doubled and singled in the contest, falling a triple short of the cycle. Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia also got in on the action, with three and two hits respectively.

KC at DET | 04/16/2026 | Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Kansas City (11-7) 1  0  0  0  2  0  0  2  1  6  12 2
Detroit (12-7)     0  7  1  0  0  0  0  2  X  10 13 1

W: Justin Verlander (3-1) L: Seth Lugo (0-1) S: Will Vest (3)
KC HR: Bobby Witt Jr (3), Carter Jensen (6)
DET HR: None

MLB Scoreboard: April 16th, 2026
COL 0, HOU 4 | KAN 6, DET 10 | TAM 2, CHW 3 (13)
TEX 4, ATH 0 | BAL 3, CLE 10 | WSH 9, PIT 10 (10) 
TOR 3, MIL 5 | LAA 1, NYY 11 | SEA 2, SDG 8
SFO 4, CIN 3 |

[3Bplay]

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MLB NEWS WIRE
Royals new top dog in power rankings; injury bug begins to bite

By MLB.com staff
04/17/2026

04/13 -- New team atop newest power rankings: After winning six of their last seven games, the Royals have claimed the top spot in the newest MLB.com power rankings. At 11-4, they also own the best record in the American League, with their cross-state rival St. Louis also owning an 11-4 mark as the best record in the NL.

Kansas City was actually the biggest riser in the list, going from eighth last week to the top spot this week. Baltimore was by far the biggest drop of the week, going from third last week all the way to 20th after dropping their last five games and getting outscored 23-9 in those losses.

The A's, who owned the top spot last week, dropped to third in this week's ranking. The Cardinals were leap-frogged by the Royals to remain in second. The Cubs and the Mets rounded out the new top five, with the Mariners and Marlins just outside. Miami actually fell out of the top five to seventh, but still remain in a tie for the top of the NL East with the Mets.

04/15 -- Guardians' Schneemann placed on IL: An already-thin Guardians lineup just got a little thinner with the addition of Daniel Schneemann to the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain. The injury happened when Schneemann, playing right field on the 14th, was making a long throw from the right field corner back into the infield.

He stayed in through the rest of the inning, but was replaced in the fourth by Nolan Jones in right field with Gabriel Arias coming off the bench to play first base in place of Jones.

The lefty-swinging Schneemann is off to a decent start at the plate with a .269 average and .361 on-base percentage through sixty-three plate appearances. However, only one of his fourteen hits went for extra bases, with a double in Monday's 4-1 win over the Cardinals.

Manager Stephen Vogt noted that the injury will keep the 29-year-old outfielder on the injured list for four-to-six weeks 'most likely', with top prospect Chase DeLauter being re-called to take his place on the active roster. Cleveland also designated outfielder Stuart Fairchild for assignment, with switch-hitting outfielder Angel Martinez, who hit ten homeruns a season ago with the Guardians, replacing him on both the 40-man and active rosters.

04/15 -- Rockies' Doyle to make season debut tonight: Coming off the injured list due to a hamstring strain suffered late in the spring, Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle is set to make his season debut tonight against the Houston Astros.

It's been a rough last year for Doyle, as he's had to overcome personal tragedy and multiple injuries, including his most recent foray onto the injured list to begin the season. But he's looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, this time for a Rockies outfit that is 10-7 and in the early mix in the NL West.

"It's been a very trying year on and off the field," he said in a recent interview with Mike Rice, who is the sports director of the radio station that carries the Rockies' broadcasts, 850 AM in Denver. "Just getting back to where I am now after the kind of season that occurred last year has been hard. But I'm still out here, putting in the work and I think pretty soon, I should be able to get back to the big club."

He was the subject of trade rumors both at last year's deadline and over this past offseason, with teams like Washington, Kansas City, and Cleveland all reportedly interested in acquiring him. But new GM Josh Byrnes and personnel head Paul DePodesta -- yes, the Paul DePodesta of Cleveland Browns fame -- shut down any talk of trading Doyle, and after extension talks stalled due to his poor 2025 campaign, apparently the two sides could be coming together again to discuss a long-term pact.

"We remain committed to keeping Brenton a part of this organization for the long-term future of this team," Byrnes recently said in an interview with Rice back in the spring. "His story and things he's gone through in the past year, it would be hard for many to keep 100% focus, so we're very mindful of that."

04/16 -- Yankees' Stanton placed on injured list: Off to one of his better April starts in recent years, the Yankees will be down Giancarlo Stanton for at least the next nine days as he was placed on the injured list, retroactive to yesterday, the 15th.

Stanton suffered a bruised knee sliding into second base on a double play attempt, as he was able to get up under his own power, but was in clear pain as the team training staff came out to check on him. Amed Rosario replaced him in the fifth inning in a pinch-hit appearance and remained as the DH the rest of the contest.

"It's not a terribly serious injury, but there's a chance that he may miss more than just a few games," manager Aaron Boone said after last night's game. "It would be a precautionary thing, and unlikely that he would need a trip to the minors to get back to game speed."

Instead of opting to bring up either Jasson Dominguez or top prospect Spencer Jones, the Yankees instead re-called infielder Oswaldo Cabrera to take his spot on the roster, rather than interrupt consistent playing time in Triple-A for either of the former two.

[3Bplay]

Team Roster/Records | Statistics | Standings

SERIES RECAP: NEW YORK YANKEES
Losing skid reaches six; fall to 3-8 on the road in '26

By 3BPlay
04/20/2026

04/17 -- Chourio K's a dozen as Single-A Columbia wins nailbiter: Tyriq Kemp's third inning solo homerun accounted for the only run they scored, but that was all Single-A Columbia needed as Kendry Chourio fanned a dozen Salem hitters in 7 1/3 innings in their 1-0 win over the RidgeYaks on Friday night.

The 18-year-old right hander has struck out twenty hitters against just two walks through his first two starts, but manager David Noworyta mentioned that there hasn't been any indication that he'll get a call-up -- yet.

"I'm in pretty constant contact with the Royals regarding Kendry," he said. "We chat generally five to ten minutes per day about how he does during his starts, and how he does between starts, but there hasn't been any indication they're ready to move him up at this point."

Chourio already came into the season with some real hype, as Baseball America put him on a short list of prospects who could see a quick rise in the rankings prior to the season. The last two starts aren't going to do much to abate that hype, but it's a pretty small sample size regardless.

"What's most impressive about him is that he prepares like a big-leaguer," said Noworyta of his top pitcher. "I mean, we have Taylor (pitching coach Bloye) who is fantastic with these guys, and others like David (Shields) and Blake (Wolters), who have also all been impressive so far."

In addition to Chourio, Shields was another Royals prospect listed by BA as a potential riser along with catcher Blake Mitchell in High-A, and he'll get the ball on Saturday for the Fireflies in his second start of the season. In his first appearance, the lefty struck out four in six innings, allowing just one run in a 3-2 win over Fredericksburg on April 11th.

04/17 -- Royals squander lead in dropping fourth straight: Things looked good early on in the Bronx, with Bobby Witt Jr's fourth homerun of the season, a three-run shot, putting the Royals up 4-0 at that point with Michael Wacha putting up another strong performance.

Wacha surrendered a two-run homerun to Ben Rice in the sixth, and managed to finish out the inning with a 4-2 lead. However, the Yankees struck for two more in the seventh on Amed Rosario's two-run homerun against Matt Strahm to tie the game, before they took the lead with three runs in the eighth against Lucas Erceg, which also included a two-run homerun from Paul Goldschmidt as the Royals fell 7-4.

Coming off their road sweep at Cleveland, the Royals were 3-2 on the road; but are now 3-6 away from the K as they've been outscored 24-15 so far on this trip.

"The key is against these guys when you play here, is to not let them elevate anything," Royals skipper Matt Quatraro lamented. "Some balls hit here can catch a good wind and carry out of here, so it's best to just try to keep things low and have them put the ball on the ground."

Another issue is that the Royals didn't build off of Witt's homerun in the fourth. The Royals went just 2-for-18 the rest of the way, failing to advance a runner past first base.

"It was a quick, quiet night for us after Bobby's homerun," Quatraro went on to say. "We just couldn't hang on down the stretch."

KC at NYY | 04/17/2026 | Yankee Stadium -- New York, NY

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Kansas City (11-8) 0  1  0  3  0  0  0  0  0  4  7  1
New York (11-9)    0  0  0  0  0  0  2  2  3  7  10 1

W: Brent Headrick (2-0) L: Lucas Erceg (0-3) S: David Bednar (4)
KC HR: Bobby Witt Jr (4)
NYY HR: Ben Rice (3), Amed Rosario (1), Paul Goldschmidt (2)

MLB Scoreboard: April 17th, 2026
KAN 4, NYY 7 | ATL 4, PHI 5 | BAL 3, CLE 10 | NYM 3, CHC 14
STL 1, HOU 5 | SFO 4, WSH 0 | DET 1, BOS 13 | TOR 12, ARI 9 (12)
TEX 8, SEA 6 | MIL 3, MIA 4 | CIN 3, MIN 11 | LAD 0, COL 7
SDG 1, LAA 4 | TAM 9, PIT 2 | CHW 6, ATH 14

04/18 -- Royals spoil strong outing from Ragans in fifth straight defeat: Cole Ragans was outstanding against the Yankees, holding them to just two earned runs over 7 2/3 innings for his fourth straight quality start. However, Luis Gil turned in an even better performance, tossing 6 1/3 shutout frames as the Yankees held the Royals off the scoreboard in a 2-0 defeat, handing the Royals their fifth straight loss.

Back-to-back RBI singles by Jazz Chisholm Jr and Amed Rosario in the third inning represented the entire offensive output for the game by either side. Former Royal Dairon Blanco was 1-for-3 with a run scored, starting in right field after Aaron Judge was listed day-to-day with a back strain after yesterday's game.

It's not as if the Royals didn't have their opportunities to put runs on the board. In the very first inning, Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second with no one out. But Vinnie Pasquantino, Salvador Perez, and Jac Caglianone couldn't even move the runners up at all as Pasquantino lined out to center, Perez flew out to center, and Cags grounded out to second.

Garcia was hit by a pitch to lead off the third, with Pasquantino moving him over to second with a one-out single. But again, Perez and Caglianone couldn't come through as they grounded out and fanned against Gil. In the fourth, Jonathan India doubled with Kyle Isbel then reaching after being hit by another pitch, but Garcia then flew out to left to end the inning.

"The first inning really was a good time to get the jump on (Luis) Gil," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We had two of the fastest guys in the league, and just one shot to the gap or over the fence would have brought them home, just couldn't cash in."

Beyond the fourth inning, the Royals didn't advance another runner into scoring position, with just two runners reaching base safely from the fifth inning on. In their last eight games since winning 8-1 against the White Sox last Thursday (April 9th), they've averaged just 2.9 runs per game, going 2-6 over that stretch. Salvador Perez has gone just 3-for-22 in that time, although two of his hits have gone for extra bases.

Caglianone has also had a poor road trip so far, going just 1-for-18 with one walk and seven strikeouts. It was also revealed after the game that India would be listed day-to-day with what was termed as a left shoulder strain, and would undergo an MRI on Sunday to determine the extent of any damage. He stayed in the game after sliding into second head-first on his fourth-inning double, but Quatraro said that they would monitor him closely over the next 24-48 hours.

"He's going to undergo an MRI here tomorrow; (Nick) Loftin's probably going to start at second tomorrow with another lefty going, so we'll see what happens with that and go from there," Quatraro went on to say. "Like I said, he's day-to-day, pretty sore right now, but we'll see how it goes."

KC at NYY | 04/18/2026 | Yankee Stadium -- New York, NY

TEAM               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Kansas City (11-9) 0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  7  0
New York (12-9)    0  0  2  0  0  0  0  0  0  2  4  0

W: Luis Gil (4-0) L: Cole Ragans (2-2) S: David Bednar (5)
HR: None

MLB Scoreboard: April 18th, 2026
KAN 0, NYY 2 | TAM 9, PIT 7 | TOR 6, ARI 10 | NYM 4, CHC 3
DET 0, BOS 3 | ATL 1, PHI 4 | MIL 14, MIA 9 | LAD 3, COL 2
STL 4, HOU 0 | CHW 9, ATH 7 | BAL 2, CLE 10 | CIN 5, MIN 6 (11)
TEX 6, SEA 8 | SDG 0, LAA 1

04/19 -- Royals walked off for third time in the last week: For the third time on this road trip, the Royals were sent home in walk-off fashion, this time on an RBI single from Ben Rice as the Yankees completed the sweep of the visiting Royals by a 2-1 count.

The loss is the sixth straight, and their eighth in their last ten games. They've averaged just 2.7 runs in that stretch, topping more than four runs only twice in any one game. They're also 2-4 in games decided by two runs or less in that span.

"Definitely, it's no secret that things haven't gone our way offensively," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We've endured some tough losses, some really close games, but the locker room is still upbeat; we know this is a long season and teams go through dry spells and then turn things around quite often."

Acquired from the Marlins over the offseason, New York's Ryan Weathers has lived up to the hype that was placed on him as he tossed an eight-inning gem. He didn't factor into the decision, but scattered four hits and a run as he held the Royals off-balance for much of the night, aside from a Salvador Perez solo bomb in the seventh that essentially prevented him from getting the win.

Perez was the only Royal to get more than one hit, as he added a single in the second inning, but didn't advance any further than that. In fact, they could only get two runners into scoring position the entire game, with a fifth-inning double by Nick Loftin and another double in the ninth by Vinnie Pasquantino.

On the plus side, the offense scored the most runs in a game since April 9th, when they scored eight in an 8-1 home win over the White Sox. Witt seems to be finding the homerun swing lately, with a pair of homeruns in the series, along with a double in the loss. Carter Jensen also hit his team-best sixth homerun to pull the Royals to within three, 8-5, at that point; but that's as close as they would get.

Jensen also doubled and singled in the contest, falling a triple short of the cycle. Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia also got in on the action, with three and two hits respectively.

KC at NYY | 04/19/2026 | Yankee Stadium, New York, NY

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  R  H  E
Kansas City (11-10) 0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0   1  5  0
New York (13-9)     0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  1   2  6  0

W: Fernando Cruz (1-0) L: Matt Strahm (0-1) S: None
KC HR: Salvador Perez (5)
NYY HR: Jazz Chisholm Jr (3)

MLB Scoreboard: April 19th, 2026
SDG 2, LAA 6 | CHW 3, ATH 5 | TOR 9, ARI 4 | TOR 10, SEA 8
DET 6, BOS 1 | MIL 2, MIA 6 | NYM 3, CHC 2 | ATL 10, PHI 4
BAL 2, CLE 4 | SFO 1, WSH 0 | LAD 3, COL 2 | CIN 2, MIN 12
STL 8, HOU 7 | TAM 1, PIT 8 | KAN 1, NYY 2 (10)

[3Bplay]

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MLB NEWS WIRE
Judge joins Stanton on Yankees' IL; Betts also out four-to-six weeks

By MLB.com staff
04/20/2026

04/17 -- Dodgers' Betts to the injured list; will be out up to a month: After being listed day-to-day over the last few games, the Dodgers have placed shortstop Mookie Betts on the 10-day injured list with a sprained thumb that is reportedly going to keep him out of action for at least the next couple of weeks, according to manager Dave Roberts.

Despite being day-to-day, Betts had not played since the injury, which happened in the ninth inning in Sunday's game against the Rangers when Betts landed awkwardly on his right hand when trying to turn a double play. Tommy Edman, who was in the minors on a rehab assignment, was activated to take his place after just a couple of games with Oklahoma City.

Miguel Rojas will take over at shortstop for the time being, with Edman sliding between second and center field, where the Dodgers have had trouble getting production out of. Despite eleven RBI and posting one of the highest DRS for second basemen (+2 DRS) so far, Hye-seong Kim has been so bad at the plate that he's on pace for a negative-1 WAR.

Center field has also been a black hole, with Michael Siani and Andy Pages splitting time there. Pages at least has a very solid walk rate of just over 14%, but has posted a paltry 79 OPS+ through forty-two plate appearances so far. Siani made the roster out of the spring with his strong defensive versatility and speed, but despite posting a +3 DRS mark, is barely on pace to be a 1 WAR player with an OPS+ of 20. Yep, you're not seeing things.

04/17 -- Snell completes first and second legs of rehab in Triple-A: With three innings and just twenty-nine pitches on Tuesday, with three more innings on thirty-six pitches last night, the Dodgers appear to be getting closer to getting lefty Blake Snell back. Right-handed reliever Brusdar Graterol is also on a rehab stint with Triple-A, but has yet to appear in a game since joining the team on his assignment a few days ago.

Snell is scheduled to work again tomorrow night, but in a relief capacity after making his last two appearances in a starting role on a pitch count. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expects Snell to be back by the end of April, with Graterol likely back within the next seven to ten days.

"Brusdar, we think his timeframe is a bit shorter with him only needing to go an inning at a time," said Roberts. "We're going to try to get Blake ramped up to where he can hit the ground running when he returns."

Overall, the Dodgers have a top-ten bullpen in terms of ERA (3.82), but a few key contributors have not been quite as sharp as that number would indicate, with closer Edwin Diaz chief among them with a 5.40 ERA through his first five innings. Lefty Alex Vesia, a World Series hero from a year ago has a 6.82 ERA, with still others like River Ryan sporting nine walks in ten innings despite a 3.27 ERA.

04/18 -- A's place Butler on IL: Retroactive to 4/16, A's outfielder Lawrence Butler was placed on the 10-day injured list with an intercostal strain. He last played on Tuesday, leaving the game with what was termed as a 'side injury' at the time in the second inning of action.

Jordan Diaz, who has played some outfield in the past, was re-called to take his place. Diaz is off to a good start in Triple-A, hitting .271/.338/.576 with four homeruns and four doubles each through his first sixty-five plate appearances with the Triple-A Aviators.

Diaz hasn't been in the majors since 2023, when he hit ten homeruns in 297 plate appearances, but posted just a 78 OPS+ with nine doubles with below-average defensive metrics across the board. However, Butler was not off to a great start, hitting just .164 with an atrocious 28 OPS+ so far as one of the few A's regulars that is struggling offensively to begin the 2026 campaign.

Manager Mark Kotsay mentioned that slugger Brent Rooker, who has played just a couple of games at first base and none in the outfield to date, will likely slot in left field for 'a handful of games' while Butler is out, mainly against lefties, with Diaz getting DH at-bats and some defensive work in the outfield, especially in the less-spacious Sutter Health Park.

04/19 -- Yankees now down two sluggers: Just a handful of days after New York announced that Giancarlo Stanton (knee) would be out for a couple of weeks, they have now placed Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain. Jasson Dominguez was re-called from Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre to replace him on the roster, and is expected to get regular at-bats in Judge's absence, including against the Royals in today's afternoon matchup.

Judge is expected to miss the entire road trip coming up, as they'll be heading to Boston, Houston, and Texas for three games each before returning home on Friday, May 1st, when they host Baltimore for three games. There's a possibility that Stanton could re-join the team for the Rangers' series in Arlington, but that depends on if they decide to rehab him in Scranton for a few games before meeting back up with the Yankees.

It's a lot of firepower to be missing over the next handful of games, as they've combined for nine homeruns and ten doubles so far this season. They also received some good news in recent days that shortstop Anthony Volpe is expected to be back by mid-May, which includes a short trip to the minors.

Cody Bellinger is expected to slide over to right field to take Judge's place for now, with Dominguez getting starting reps in left for the time being. Dairon Blanco, who was acquired by the Yankees from Kansas City before the spring for minor league outfielder Jace Avina, could also get some spot starts in either left or right, matchup dependent.

04/20 -- Pirates' Santana to 15-day IL; Jones, Mlodzinski activated: Pittsburgh made some changes to their pitching staff this morning with right-handers Jared Jones and Carmen Mlodzinski activated from their rehab assignments, and closer Dennis Santana hitting the injured list after it was discovered that he has loose bodies in his right (pitching) elbow. He's scheduled to undergo surgery on Monday, and is expected to be out at least the next six-to-eight weeks.

Manager Don Kelly also noted that lefty Mason Montgomery would be moved to bullpen duty beginning this week, and that Jones would make his first appearance for the Pirates since late 2024 as he is slated to start Tuesday's series opener on the road at Texas. Southpaw reliever Evan Sisk was also optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis as part of the roster moves to make room for both Jones and Mlodzinski.

Mlodzinski, primarily a reliever in his brief MLB career, will also pitch out of the rotation; underscoring the starting pitching issues that the Pirates have had. Lefty Gregory Soto would take over as the closer initially, but that Montgomery and righty Braxton Ashcraft may get opportunities, as well.

After trading away both Mike Burrows and Johan Oviedo to bolster the offense in the offseason, the Pirates were hoping to lean on Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, and rookie phenom Bubba Chandler to get them through until Jones could return, but even the aforementioned three have been struggling to varying degrees. Skenes in particular has been poor, giving up eleven earned runs over his last 12 1/3 innings, pushing his ERA to 5.79.

Montgomery was primarily a reliever with Tampa Bay last year, but made the rotation out of the spring after an impressive showing. However, he has not been good out of the rotation. In four starts, he accumulated just 18 1/3 innings with a 6.87 ERA. After an excellent first start in which he allowed just one run in five innings in a 3-2 win over Cincinnati, he's allowed thirteen earned runs over his last 13 1/3 innings.

Mlodzinski has seventeen career MLB starts out of his 113 total appearances, and his dozen starts from 2025 was a career high. Urquidy, signed for $5 million over the offseason after having not been on a major league mound since 2023, pitched well yesterday with seven innings of one-run ball as Pittsburgh took an 8-1 decision over Tampa Bay. Despite having FIP and SIERA marks well below his ghastly ERA of 6.75, they are still not too great at 4.88 (FIP) and 3.90 (SIERA).

[3Bplay]

Team Roster/Records | Statistics | Standings

SERIES RECAP: BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Royals rebound from tough road trip with sweep of O's

By 3BPlay
04/23/2026

04/20 -- Royals to promote catchers Mitchell; Ramirez: The Royals' number-two prospect, catcher Blake Mitchell, is off to Double-A after a hot nine-game start in High-A Quad Cities. Mitchell posted a 1.214 OPS in forty-four plate appearances over the first nine games of this season, earning him a return trip back to Double-A.

He spent a brief amount of time there last season before landing on the injured list. It was a small sample size, but he struck out a dozen times in forty-five plate appearances with the Naturals, although he still showed promise in pitch selection and plate discipline with five walks. However, his knee injury he was dealing with at the time sapped much of his power, hitting just one homerun with seven singles among his eight hits.

Despite being known for his defensive ability over his offense at this point, he has surprisingly struggled with runners on base as would-be base-stealers were a perfect 6-for-6 against him, with three throwing errors. Notably, on the three errors, a more accurate throw would have likely resulted in outs.

Quad Cities manager Jesus Azuaje said this in an interview with the local newspaper, noting that Mitchell's pop time is 'amongst the best he's ever seen', but that accuracy is something that can always be honed and worked on.

"He's been working with Luke (hitting coach Lowery) nearly every day on footwork and timing," he said earlier in the season. "Luke used to catch when he played professionally, so it's good for Blake and the others to get some good work in with someone who's been there before."

With Mitchell moving up, the Royals have also promoted another top catching prospect, Ramon Ramirez, up to High-A to take his spot on the roster, where he'll likely just be on a short-term stint with backup catcher Canyon Brown playing through a minor quad strain, but reportedly is close to 100%.

Ramirez, who played a short stint in Single-A last season with some success (.838 OPS), and is coming off a quad injury that has kept him out of action so far in 2026.

Brown has been serving as the DH with Mitchell doing the primary catching, but per Azuaje, Brown isn't quite ready to resume catching duties. Angel Acosta, a left-handed hitter, is also a catcher on the River Bandits' roster, but has only appeared in one game in a pinch-hitting capacity.

04/20 -- India to have season-ending surgery; placed on injured list: Matt Quatraro and the Royals received some very unwelcome news on Sunday night when it was revealed that infielder Jonathan India's injury was actually a partially torn labrum that, after surgery, will keep him out for the remainder of the regular season; and perhaps any postseason contests should the Royals (or any other potential team he may play for) get that far.

It's pretty likely that India has played his last game for the Royals as he's a free agent at the end of the season, and his tenure with the team has largely been a disappointment. While his .266 average is an improvement on last season, his 65 OPS+ is untenable in a lineup that has struggled to score runs over the last week-and-a-half.

With India going on the IL; Michael Massey was re-called from Omaha to take his spot on the roster. Massey has been one of the hottest hitters on a roster full of them in Triple-A, posting a 1.160 OPS with three doubles, a triple, and a half-dozen homeruns in just fifty-five plate appearances with the Storm Chasers.

Interestingly, though, the Royals only placed him on the 15-day, meaning that they could still see a scenario where he might return prior to the end of the regular season. It could also mean that the Royals don't currently see anyone in the minors that would be worth a 40-man spot at this point.

The addition of Massey brings the 13-man position player cohort into balance, with six right and left-handed hitters each. Isaac Collins remains the lone switch-hitter, although he has struggled in his debut season with the Royals since coming over via trade.

It's an opportunity for him to re-take the second base job, as he was essentially pushed out by the man he's now replacing before the 2025 season. Kansas City is also in the midst of a serious offensive drought, averaging just 2.7 runs in their last ten games. They've gone just 2-8 in that stretch, including six straight defeats on the road.

04/20 -- Royals stave off late rally, down Baltimore: There's no place like home! The Royals held off a rally from the Orioles in the ninth, as Pete Alonso led off the inning with a homerun followed by a double from the AL's hitting leader in Adley Rutschman, but Carlos Estevez bore down and picked up the final three outs in quick succession, including a pair of strikeouts, to notch his sixth save in a 5-4 win.

The victory also snapped their six-game skid, and helped them keep pace with the Tigers, who knocked off the Red Sox in their tussle with Boston.

Already up 4-3 in the eighth, Kansas City picked up a key insurance run on a two-out RBI double from Nick Loftin, who entered the game as an injury replacement in the sixth. Kyle Isbel had to be walked off the field due to a back injury after sliding into third on a triple, and was replaced by Lane Thomas.

Maikel Garcia would then drive in Thomas on a sac fly, but after sliding into home plate to avoid the tag from Rutschman, would end up favoring his left wrist and he ended up leaving the game as well. Enter Loftin, who had played several games in center during the spring, but never in a regular season game.

Manager Matt Quatraro provided some updates on Isbel and Thomas, with both of them being listed day-to-day with back and wrist injuries, respectively.

"We took them both out as a precaution," he said of the two veteran outfielders. "It's pretty bizarre that we've had three guys all deal with sliding injuries in the last few days, I don't think that's ever happened in my twenty-plus years of coaching in this game. Just a strange turn of events, but we'll press on."

Quatraro also went on to praise Loftin for being put into a tough situation, playing his first career regular-season innings in center.

"He was the player of the game for us," he said. "Nick really dove head-first this spring into working on his outfield defense with Rusty (special advisor Kuntz), and he's really become a valuable piece to come off the bench in situations like this."

Of course, it goes without saying that Noah Cameron once again put up a great outing. He became the first Royals pitcher this season to complete a full eight innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits, walking one with five strikeouts on 102 pitches. He did give up a couple of solo homeruns to Taylor Ward, but the Orioles did little other damage aside from that.

"We felt good with Noah going eight, as he had favorable matchups despite turning over the lineup a fourth time," he said. "They had Bradford and Gunnar (Henderson) coming up, so we felt good going with Noah over Matt (Strahm) to give Strahmy some additional rest."

BAL at KC | 04/20/2026 | Kauffman Stadium -- Kansas City, MO

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Baltimore (9-14)    1  1  0  1  0  0  0  0  1  4  8  0
Kansas City (12-10) 1  0  0  1  1  1  0  1  X  5  13 0

W: Noah Cameron (3-0) L: Chris Bassitt (1-2) S: Carlos Estevez (6)
BAL HR: Taylor Ward 2 (2), Pete Alonso (6)
KC HR: None

MLB Scoreboard: April 20th, 2026
BAL 4, KAN 5 | STL 4, MIA 5 | CIN 7, TAM 6 (10) 
DET 6, BOS 5 | ATL 6, WSH 1 | HOU 4, CLE 1 (10) 
TOR 4, LAA 2 | ATH 8, SEA 9 | LAD 12, COL 2 
PHI 5, CHC 6

04/21 -- Isbel to miss five-to-six weeks; Thomas still day-to-day: The Royals received some good news on the injury front from yesterday's game, as Lane Thomas (wrist) is day-to-day, but they'll have to go without Kyle Isbel through at least the end of May.

Isbel was diagnosed with a medium-grade lat strain that will keep him out of baseball activities for at least the next handful of weeks, per Matt Quatraro after the game last night. Clarifying his statments from last night regarding that, he noted this morning in the Zoom press conference that Isbel should be able to resume 'light activities' in about three weeks' time, to give the injury some time to rest.

Kameron Misner, who was acquired by the Royals from the Rays over the offseason in a cash trade, was re-called from Omaha to take his place on the roster; and should be in Kansas City in time for tonight's game where he's slated to bat ninth in the lineup tonight against Kyle Bradish.

"This was one of the tougher re-call decisions we've had to make in quite a while," Quatraro noted on the call. "Gavin (Cross), Kameron, and John (Rave) have all been playing well, but we went with Kam due to the ability to play all three outfield spots that he has."

While he wasn't the one that got the call, Cross finally looks like the kind of player the Royals envisioned when they took him ninth overall in 2022. After a slow start, he's up to .333/.424/.745 with six homeruns, including three in the last week, although he's been solely a DH to this point due to the other outfielders on the roster being better defenders. With Misner now in the majors for the time being, he's going to get plenty of work in the outfield, mainly in the corners.

"He's really close," Quatraro said of Cross. "Back in the spring, I remember having a conversation with JJ (GM Picollo) about Gavin, and we just couldn't stop talking about how different he looks now that the injury issues appear to be behind him."

04/21 -- Collins, Misner homer as Royals roll over Baltimore: It was a bit of a homecoming for Kameron Misner, as the Royals' new centerfielder was a 2016 draftee by the Royals in Round 33 back in 2016, but opted to go about three hours northwest to Columbia to play at Mizzou instead.

It likely hasn't been quite the career that he envisioned to this point after being taken in the first round in 2019 by Tampa, but his Royals' tenure got off to a fantastic start as he walked, homered, scored twice, and also picked up a pair of outfield assists as the Royals steamrolled the Orioles 11-1 to claim the series victory.

"He can absolutely go get it anywhere out there," said manager Matt Quatraro. "Kyle (Isbel) is pound-for-pound the best outfield defender in the organization, but Kam is a very close second. I don't think we're dropping off too much with him out there."

Aside from that, it was not a well-played game by either side. Although the Royals gave up just the one run, it's starting to look like a worrying trend regarding Seth Lugo. The veteran right-hander allowed just one run on three hits in five innings, but walked five with just two strikeouts. He did get a couple of balls overturned thanks to Salvador Perez and the ABS system, but those two instances still turned out to be free passes in the end.

Quatraro pulled Lugo after just five innings in favor of Stephen Kolek, who nearly finished out the game, throwing fifty-five pitches to get through the next 3 2/3 before Nick Mears got the final out. In five starts, Lugo has just one quality start, and has allowed four or more earned runs in three of his five outings.

"I didn't have my best stuff today, that's for sure," he said after the game. "That said, going into tonight, I felt pretty good about where I was after the last few days of bullpen sessions. Sometimes the pitches just don't go the way you want them to."

Kolek was optioned to Omaha after the game in favor of Daniel Lynch IV, giving the Royals another left-handed option to go with Matt Strahm and Bailey Falter. Quatraro noted that the organization wants to stretch Kolek out to starting, but despite talking about a potential six-man rotation, they want to use his final option year to stretch him out in the minors. Omaha starting pitching has also struggled

On the Orioles' side of the ledger, starter Kyle Bradish was saddled with some shoddy defense with seven of the eight runs against him were unearned. Despite that, he still didn't pitch all that well with six hits and three walks. Tyler Wells didn't fare much better, allowing three runs (only one earned), with a couple of homeruns allowed and two strikeouts.

BAL at KC | 04/21/2026 | Kauffman Stadium -- Kansas City, MO

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Baltimore (9-15)    0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  5  2
Kansas City (13-10) 0  0  4  6  1  0  0  0  X  11 10 1

W: Seth Lugo (1-1) L: Kyle Bradish (1-4) S: None
BAL HR: None
KC HR: Isaac Collins (1), Kameron Misner (1)

MLB Scoreboard: April 21st, 2026
HOU 3, CLE 7 | ATH 4, SEA 2 | NYY 3, BOS 7 | PIT 6, TEX 7 (10)
CIN 2, TAM 1 | TOR 7, LAA 1 | STL 3, MIA 8 | MIN 4, NYM 3 (10)
MIL 6, DET 8 | ATL 8, WSH 3 | PHI 3, CHC 4 | BAL 1, KAN 11
SDG 7, COL 6 | CHW 3, ARI 7 | LAD 1, SFO 0

04/22 -- Royals jump on Baltimore early; cruise to series sweep: Kansas City scored five times in the first two innings, adding six runs in the sixth inning as they rolled to an 11-4 win over the Orioles to complete the home sweep and remain withing striking distance of the AL Central lead, just behind the Tigers.

"Something we've tried to focus on is getting more aggressive early in the counts, or at least earlier in the counts," said manager Matt Quatraro. "We do as a team want to work pitchers, but not completely ignore early counts if we get a pitch we can drive, even on 0-0."

All nine starters reached base safely, with Nick Loftin the only starter to not get a hit, as he was hit by a pitch. They pounded out a season-high sixteen hits; including four doubles, but none of them went over the fence. Carter Jensen, who hit leadoff for the first time at any level of baseball on Wednesday, went 3-for-5 with a double. Maikel Garcia, hitting fourth, also collected a trio of hits.

Michael Wacha picked up his third victory with 6 1/3 solid innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits, walking a pair and striking out a half-dozen. Bailey Falter also had his scoreless innings streak snapped at thirteen, allowing three earned runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief, all of them in his second inning of work.

The win pushes the Royals' home record to 11-2, which is the best home mark in baseball to this point. They also have a pretty wild home and away scoring split, with 7.1 runs per game at home, compared to just 3.3 runs per game on the road.

They'll head into tomorrow's off day with some momentum before they host the Angels for three games beginning on Friday. They're also off on Thursday, and will be coming in on the opposite end of the Royals, having suffered a sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays at home.

BAL at KC | 04/22/2026 | Kauffman Stadium -- Kansas City, MO

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Baltimore (9-16)    0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  4  5  2
Kansas City (14-10) 3  2  0  0  0  6  0  0  X  11 16 0

W: Michael Wacha (3-1) L: Dean Kremer (0-3) S: None
BAL HR: Pete Alonso (7)
KC HR: None

MLB Scoreboard: April 22nd, 2026
HOU 4, CLE 3 | CIN 2, TAM 6 | MIL 4, DET 5 | BAL 4, KAN 11
ATH 1, SEA 8 | PIT 2, TEX 3 | TOR 5, LAA 3 | SDG 3, COL 14
NYY 1, BOS 5 | MIN 4, NYM 6 | CHW 2, ARI 5 | STL 6, MIA 10
ATL 1, WSH 5 | LAD 4, SFO 5 | PHI 10, CHC 9 (10)

04/23 -- Top prospect promoted to High-A: After just a handful of starts in Single-A in 2025 and three so far this season for Columbia, the Royals have promoted one of their top pitching prospects in righty Kendry Chourio to High-A Quad Cities. The promotion comes on the heels of one of the most dominating three-start runs in recent memory, with Chourio picking up a trio of victories.

The 18-year-old Chourio, in 21 1/3 innings so far this season over three starts, allowed one earned run on five hits and two walks while striking out thirty-three. Yep, you read all of that correctly. That comes out to a 0.42 ERA and a 0.33 WHIP. He struck out a dozen in his second start before putting up a baker's dozen punchouts with no walks last night.

While they would have likely wanted to get him a full season's worth of starts in Single-A, the front office has now apparently seen enough to promote Chourio to High-A, where he'll slot into the rotation and is expected to make his first start with the River Bandits on Tuesday, April 28th.

Chourio, who doesn't turn 19 until October 1st, will be on average about five years younger than the average player in High-A. He made six starts last season in Single-A, throwing 22 2/3 innings with Columbia, striking out two dozen with just four walks.

"His fastball just jumps out of his hand, and he just commands it better than any other prospect at his age," ESPN baseball writer Kiley McDaniel said on a recent podcast with Kansas City-based host Soren Petro. "While it's not an overwhelming fastball in terms of velocity at this point, he can just make it where he wants it to go at will. That's a big deal at any age, but especially now. It's a 55, 60-grade pitch right now with the chance to go higher as he gains bulk and velocity. The secondary stuff is also further along than most prospect pitchers his age."

McDaniel also suggested that he would be in line for a rankings bump, but that would depend on how he does at his new stop.

"If he comes out and blows the doors off, sure," he said. "The Midwest League has been a bit of a hitter's league for a few years running now, so if he can come out and put up solid numbers there, then there's absolutely a chance he could see a significant bump in the rankings."

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MLB NEWS WIRE
Royals lose two starters; Basallo to miss more time

By MLB.com staff
04/23/2026

04/20 -- Royals to shelve India for the remainder of the season: After cutting his signature long hair and shedding ten pounds over the offseason, Jonathan India is once again headed for a disappointing season as he's been placed on the injured list after undergoing labrum surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder.

Despite hitting at a higher clip than a season ago (.266 vs .241), he had hit just two doubles and no homeruns in sixty-eight plate appearances. He also managed to scratch out a positive WAR figure (1.1) last season with thirty-three doubles, fifty-one walks, and a low strikeout rate (16.5%) in 576 plate appearances.

"It's tough to see it," said manager Matt Quatraro. "He came into this season with a really great outlook, and got himself into really good shape, and to see it potentially end like that is really disappointing."

Despite India being scheduled to have surgery this upcoming weekend, he was placed on the 10-day injured list, leaving the door open for a late-season return if his recovery and rehab go better than expected. It also gives the Royals some roster flexibility to move him to the 60-day if space is needed down the road, but doesn't commit them to that at the present time.

Michael Massey was re-called from Omaha to take his place on the roster. Massey was the team's regular second baseman prior to the Royals acquiring India prior to last season, but injuries and inconsistency ultimately led the Royals to make a change. He'll now get another solid opportunity to cement himself as the second baseman going forward, especially after a very strong start in Triple-A this season.

04/20 -- Giants, Yankees make big strides in power rankings: While there is a new number-one in the weekly MLB.com Power Rankings (psst -- it's the Cardinals!), the Yankees and Giants both had strong weeks to move into the top five. New York powered to a 6-1 week, including a sweep of the Royals at home that concluded yesterday.

After a tough start, the Giants have really turned it on over the last two weeks. Even though they went just 4-2 with series wins over the bottom-dwelling Reds and Nationals last week alone, it's part of a larger uptrend that moved San Francisco into the top five in the number-five slot. They've gone 9-3 over the last two weeks since it was revealed that there was some dissension in the clubhouse, but reportedly has been resolved.

On the downside, the aforementioned Royals underwent a huge slide after their winless road trip to Detroit and the Bronx, falling all the way to 20th. They do play better at home as evidenced by having the best home record in baseball to date, and they'll get a slumping Baltimore for three and then the Angels for three after an off day on Thursday, so there's an opportunity to get things turned around.

There was also some positive movement in the bottom-third for teams like the Guardians and Rays, who have shrugged off slow starts to post 5-2 and 4-2 marks in the last week, respectively.

04/21 -- Orioles' Basallo has setback in recovery: The Orioles will have to wait a bit longer to get Samuel Basallo back, as the young catcher expressed increased discomfort in his left knee after a recent workout. An MRI on his injured knee did not reveal any additional damage, but per manager Craig Albernaz, he will likely miss "at least another few weeks".

With Adley Rutschman in the midst of a resurgent season, there really isn't any hurry to rush him back with the capable Maverick Handley serving as Rutschman's backup; and they have a couple of options in the minors in case additional injuries strike. Baltimore is also expected to activate Jackson Holliday from his rehab assignment any day now, which will add another bat back to the lineup.

"We're definitely going to take our time with Sam and hopefully, we can get him back on the field sooner rather than later," Orioles baseball operations chief Mike Elias noted in a recent interview. "Honestly, there's just not a lot of at-bats for him right now at the major league level, so whatever rehab time that he has once he's ready to get back on the field, we'll likely give him all the allotted time that he can get so that he can get some consistent work."

Baltimore is now 9-14 after a 5-4 defeat to the Royals last night, dropping them to 9-14, their sixth straight loss.

04/21 -- Royals suffer second injury setback in as many days: Kansas City is now down a pair of regulars, with outfielder Kyle Isbel now headed to the 10-day injured list. Isbel had to be walked off the field due to a back injury after sliding into third on a triple in the sixth inning of the Royals' 5-4 victory, and was replaced by Lane Thomas.

Thomas would also leave the game with a wrist injury soon after that, but his injury was deemed less serious, and is listed as day-to-day.

Isbel was diagnosed with a medium-grade lat strain that will keep him out of baseball activities for at least the next handful of weeks, per Matt Quatraro after the game last night. Clarifying his statements from last night regarding that, he noted this morning in the Zoom press conference that Isbel should be able to resume 'light activities' in about three weeks' time, to give the injury some time to rest.

Kameron Misner, who was acquired by the Royals from the Rays over the offseason in a cash trade, was re-called from Omaha to take his place on the roster; and should be in Kansas City in time for tonight's game where he's slated to bat ninth in the lineup tonight against Kyle Bradish.

"This was one of the tougher re-call decisions we've had to make in quite a while," Quatraro noted on the call. "Gavin (Cross), Kameron, and John (Rave) have all been playing well, but we went with Kam due to the ability to play all three outfield spots that he has."

04/22 -- Red Sox place Duran on injured list: The injury bug has hit the Red Sox, but at least it was at one of their deeper positions on the roster as it was announced that outfielder/DH Jarren Duran would be heading to the injured list with a back injury. Nate Eaton was re-called from Triple-A to take his spot on the roster.

The injury will allow Masataka Yoshida to get regular at-bats again with Eaton, Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu rotating in the outfield. The former Japanese star has been a bit of an afterthought on the roster, but hasn't really produced in his limited at-bats by posting a .584 OPS.

Manager Alex Cora noted that Yoshida has taken his reduced role well, but that he'll need to step up and try and mitigate the loss of Duran's considerable production. At the time of the injury, Duran had posted a 1.063 OPS and 177 OPS+, both among the top ten in all of baseball.

"It's a tough task, no doubt," Cora lamented. "But Masa's a pro's pro, and he'll be ready when called upon. He's done well for us in the past, and we have confidence that he'll come through with Jarren out for the foreseeable future."

[3Bplay]

Team Roster/Records | Statistics | Standings

SERIES RECAP: BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Royals rebound from tough road trip with sweep of O's

By 3BPlay
04/27/2026

04/24 -- Big innings doom Royals, home win streak snapped: Despite striking out nine hitters, Cole Ragans ran into a couple of tough innings in his start against the Angels. After a dominant first inning in which he threw just ten pitches with a pair of strikeouts, a balk and a hit batter helped lead to three runs in the second; while a five-run fifth inning chased him from the game in an 8-2 loss. He was charged with four of the five runs in the fifth inning, with reliever John Schreiber allowing a two-run homerun with a man on second base that belonged to Ragans.

Meanwhile, the only runs that the Royals could come up with both came on plays resulting in outs, and they were from the same hitter and baserunner. Bobby Witt Jr scored Kameron Misner on a groundball to second in the third inning to cut the Angels' lead to two, and it happened again in the seventh when Witt grounded out to short to score Misner from third.

Maikel Garcia doubled twice and went 3-for-5, but the Royals' lineup otherwise came up empty at the plate as they struck out a season-high fourteen times. Kansas City entered play on Friday as the second-hardest team to strike out in the majors. The Angels had to throw five different pitchers, with Lucas Giolito managing to get through just 3 1/3 before leaving with what was later termed by manager Kurt Suzuki as 'forearm pain'.

Giolito allowed just one earned run in that time on three hits, striking out four with no walks. He was replaced by Victor Mederos, who fanned four in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Drew Pomeranz, Jose Leclerc, and Robert Stephenson each fanned a pair in their inning of work each.

"Every once in a while you have days like this," said manager Matt Quatraro. "I would have preferred that we went down with a little more aggression, as I think half of those strikeouts were looking, but it's also hard to win games allowing eight runs, as well."

LAA at KAN | 04/24/2026 | Kauffman Stadium -- Kansas City, MO

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Los Angeles (13-14) 0  3  0  0  5  0  0  0  0  8  7  1
Kansas City (14-11) 0  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  2  8  0

W: Victor Mederos (3-0) L: Cole Ragans (2-3) S: None
LAA HR: Jo Adell (5)
KAN HR: None

MLB Scoreboard: April 24th, 2026
LAA 8, KAN 2 | NYY 3, HOU 7 | SEA 2, STL 1 (10)
CLE 5, TOR 7 | ATH 1, TEX 5 | DET 10, CIN 5 (10)
MIN 4, TAM 9 | PHI 1, ATL 4 | COL 6, NYM 7 (10)
BOS 8, BAL 3 | PIT 1, MIL 2 | WSH 5, CHW 10
CHC 2, LAD 6 | MIA 5, SFO 9

04/25 -- Witt, Loftin homer as Royals roll: It's been discussed in fan boards and on radio shows that Bobby Witt Jr doesn't seem to be hitting for the same kind of power he normally does. However, he quieted those questions (for now) in a big way on Saturday as the Royals rolled to a 5-1 win to even their series with the Halos.

Witt hit a solo shot in the first against Yusei Kikuchi, and went yard again in the sixth, once again off Kikuchi to give him a half-dozen for the season.

He also doubled against Brent Suter in the seventh inning, giving him three hits in the game and marked his tenth two-bagger. It's the third time he's collected at least three hits in a game this season, and he's done it twice in the last week.

Nick Loftin also got into the homerun party, hitting a solo shot in the seventh against Suter for his first round-tripper of the 2026 campaign.

"Bobby's homer really set the tone for us early on, and Kris (Bubic) went out there and kept their lineup off-balance pretty much the entire night," said manager Matt Quatraro. "It's hard to imagine it going any better than it did."

Bubic stayed unbeaten on the season, moving to 3-0 behind 6 2/3 shutout innings while allowing just one hit and two walks. He fanned seven in a tidy eighty-three pitches, but a 43-minute rain delay with two outs in the seventh truncated his outing.

"We had every intention of getting him through the seventh and possibly the eighth," Quatraro said. "It's unfortunate that the rain hit, but the delay was just too long to let him head back out there, so with the lead we decided to turn it over to the bullpen."

LAA at KAN | 04/25/2026 | Kauffman Stadium -- Kansas City, MO

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Los Angeles (13-15) 0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  5  0
Kansas City (15-11) 1  0  1  0  0  2  1  0  X  5  12 0

W: Kris Bubic (3-0) L: Yusei Kikuchi (1-4) S: None
LAA HR: None
KAN HR: Bobby Witt Jr 2 (6), Nick Loftin (1)

MLB Scoreboard: April 25th, 2026
CLE 5, TOR 2 | SEA 4, STL 5 | DET 3, CIN 8 | MIN 3, TAM 4 (11)
LAA 1, KAN 5 | WSH 4, CHW 5 | SDG 9, ARI 6 | PHI 4, ATL 5 (10)
NYY 7, HOU 6 | ATH 4, TEX 5 | MIA 3, SFO 1 | PIT 7, MIL 2
BOS 1, BAL 3 | COL 5, NYM 3 | CHC 5, LAD 4

04/26 -- Bergert to undergo surgery tomorrow: Omaha right-hander Ryan Bergert is headed to the injured list and will be out for the remainder of the season as he will have Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL.

He had pitched through a sore elbow in the last few innings the night before in his complete game victory over Toledo, but threw just ninety-eight pitches and didn't think anything of it as the pain was manageable -- until he woke up with increased soreness the following day.

An MRI revealed some small tears in the ligament, enough for the team to make the tough decision to shut him down for the season. He was placed on the 60-day injured list, as he's on the Royals' 40-man roster and will get paid at the major league rate. He's scheduled to have the procedure tomorrow at Dr. James Andrews' clinic in Alabama, and is expected to have a recovery period of 11-14 months.

With him going on the 60-day IL; that opens up a 40-man roster spot. A corresponding move has not been made, but are typically made within one to two days after a spot opens up.

It's a hit to the Royals' depth, as Bergert is likely one of the first, if not the first, call-up in case of an injury to a starter at the major league level. So far, there haven't been any long-term issues with the Royals' rotation, but they'll be down one option now in case injuries strike.

Thursday night's start was easily his best of the season to date, going the distance while allowing just two earned runs with two walks and a dozen strikeouts in a 6-2 home win over the Toledo Mud Hens. Despite the performance, his ERA is still an uncomfortably high 5.53 through 22 2/3 innings.

04/26 -- Homestand capped with victory over Halos: Los Angeles scored first as former Royal Jorge Soler hit a solo homerun in the second inning against Noah Cameron, but the Royals got a jumpstart in the third when Vinnie Pasquantino hit a three-run homerun to give Kansas City a lead they wouldn't give up as they posted an 8-3 triumph.

Following up last night's outstanding outing by Kris Bubic, Cameron pitched seven full innings while allowing six hits and the lone earned run with one walk and six strikeouts, moving to 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA.

Playing in place of Kyle Isbel, who is on the injured list, Kameron Misner has been a shot in the arm offensively as well as defensively, collecting two more hits and a couple of RBI. Misner is 6-for-15 (.400) since being re-called, with a pair of doubles and a homerun.

Speaking of doubles, Jac Caglianone hit another one on Sunday after a pair of doubles in Saturday's win. After some early season struggles, Cags has a respectable .255/.314/.404 line, although you'd like to see an OPS+ that's well north of 100 (it's currently at 91).

"They keep telling me, just focus on hitting the ball hard," he said after the win. "They're not giving me a lot of stuff up in the zone, but trying to do the best I can with what they give me."

With the early start time, the Royals immediately hopped on a plane for Atlanta, where they'll play the final game of their series from all the way back in March that was rained out. Then after that, they'll head to Sacramento to play the Athletics at Sutter Health Park for three games to close out the month of April.

LAA at KAN | 04/26/2026 | Kauffman Stadium -- Kansas City, MO

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Los Angeles (13-16) 0  1  0  0  0  0  0  2  0  3  9  0
Kansas City (16-11) 0  0  3  0  0  5  0  0  X  8  7  1

W: Noah Cameron (4-0) L: Grayson Rodriguez (1-4) S: Lucas Erceg (2)
LAA HR: Jorge Soler (1)
KAN HR: Vinnie Pasquantino (3)

MLB Scoreboard: April 26th, 2026
MIN 2, TAM 5 | NYY 3, HOU 2 | MIA 0, SFO 4 | ATH 10, TEX 1
BOS 6, BAL 8 | COL 6, NYM 1 | WSH 7, CHW 9 | DET 2, CIN 13
LAA 3, KAN 8 | PHI 2, ATL 6 | PIT 5, MIL 6 | SDG 4, ARI 5
CLE 7, TOR 0 | SEA 3, STL 2 | CHC 6, LAD 9

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MLB NEWS WIRE
Ohtani scare; Alonso out for a month with multiple broken fingers

By MLB.com staff
04/27/2026

04/23 -- Mets' Polanco placed on IL: Just when his bat was heating up finally, the Mets lost infielder Jorge Polanco (forearm) to the injured list, where he'll likely be out for a couple of weeks.

Since going 0-for-4 on April 9th to drop to .160 on the season, he's steadily been getting better, going 12-for-41 (.293) since then with a couple of doubles and homeruns each, with just five strikeouts and a couple of walks.

The Mets re-called Brett Baty from the minors, where he's expected to play second base with Mark Vientos coming off the bench to get consistent starts at first base.

Polanco's signing pushed Baty to the minors, where he was off to a good start with Triple-A Syracuse, popping an .855 OPS in sixty-six plate appearances.

In 2025, he was a league-average player, posting a 104 OPS+ in 449 plate appearances with the Mets, but not quite living up to the lofty prospect status despite 2025 being his best MLB season to date.

While it's not expected to be a lengthy IL stint for Polanco, Baty has a chance to at least claim a small role with the Mets for the rest of the season once Polanco returns. With Marcus Semien also still on the injured list, he and former Washington National infielder Andres Chaparro should split reps at second base.

04/24 -- Ohtani removed from start early: The Dodgers suffered a scare on Friday night, with Shohei Ohtani exiting his scheduled start, with what was initially termed as a shoulder strain after just eleven pitches and two outs in the first inning against the Cubs.

Fortunately, the MRI returned no structural problems, but is listed day-to-day with 'mild' shoulder tendinitis, and is likely to skip his next start according to manager Dave Roberts.

"He'll continue to be in the lineup and hit every day, but we'll monitor him when it comes to his next start," he said after their 6-2 win over Chicago. "We have an off day coming up, so that will allow us an opportunity to skip the start if needed."

Five relievers picked up the slack for Ohtani, with Blake Treinen picking up the victory with two-thirds of an inning in the sixth, working around a walk.

04/26 -- Alonso to injured list with finger injury: Baltimore's depth took another hit, this time it was a significant one as first baseman/DH Pete Alonso will head to the injured list with two broken fingers on his right hand. He's expected to miss up to a month.

Sliding head-first into second base on a double, Alonso was hit by a throw from Boston right fielder Wilyer Abreu on his right hand. Clearly in pain, he had to be pulled from the game, and was announced afterward that he had broken the pinky and middle finger in his right hand.

Coinciding with the news that Samuel Basallo would miss another several weeks while recovering from his knee injury, the Orioles are reportedly shifting third baseman Coby Mayo to first base, while moving Jordan Westburg back to his more natural third base spot with Jackson Holliday fully healthy and back on the roster.

Mayo should also figure to get some DH at-bats along with Taylor Ward, although it's more likely that Mayo, with his current struggles, could end up taking a reduced role at this point, or head back to Triple-A as he has an option year left.

[3Bplay]

Team Roster/Records | Statistics | Standings

SERIES RECAP: BRAVES/ATHLETICS
Royals drubbed in Braves' makeup contest; take two-of-three from A's

By 3BPlay
05/01/2026

04/27 -- Braves rack up the runs in Royals rout: The Royals hopped on a plane mere hours after the win yesterday, and headed to Atlanta for a 1:05 Eastern time first pitch in Atlanta to make up the final game of their three-game series that was rained out back in March. After Monday night's result, they might as well have just braved the rain and played the game at the time.

Royals' pitching allowed season highs in hits (22), runs (16), and doubles (5) as Atlanta routed the Royals 16-2 to complete the road sweep at the hands of the Braves, dating back to last month. It's time to officially worry about Seth Lugo, as he left early with a back injury; and was not sharp at all in his 3 1/3 innings of work, allowing five runs (three earned), and three walks and strikeouts each.

In fact, none of the Royals' six pitchers walked away unscathed, with only Bailey Falter allowing fewer than two earned runs in his outing. Falter got the Royals through to the sixth inning in relief of Lugo, but they needed four other relievers to get through the last three frames.

Atlanta led 4-0 by the time Kansas City found the scoreboard with a Bobby Witt Jr RBI single. They wouldn't dent the scoreboard again until much later, as Nick Loftin hit a pinch-hit solo homerun against Dylan Dodd in the ninth inning with the game already well in hand for the Braves.

"This was one of those games that you just burn the tape on," said manager Matt Quatraro. "You burn it and just move on to the next day. It's a tough one since we're hopping on our second plane in as many days, and it's a West Coast swing, but Mother Nature didn't cooperate earlier in the year, so here we are."

KAN at ATL | 04/27/2026 | Truist Park | Atlanta, GA

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Kansas City (16-12) 0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  1  2  6  2
Atlanta (19-10)     1  3  0  1  1  0  4  6  X  16 22 0

W: Reynaldo Lopez (1-1) L: Seth Lugo (1-2) S: None
KAN HR: Nick Loftin (2)
ATL HR: Brett Wisely (1)

MLB Scoreboard: April 27th, 2026
BOS 3, TOR 8 | LAA 2, CHW 5 | KAN 2, ATL 16
NYY 6, TEX 0 | MIA 2, LAD 8 | SEA 2, MIN 3 (10)
TAM 0, CLE 7 | STL 2, PIT 0 | CHC 4, SDG 3

04/28 -- Road woes continue in extra-inning defeat: The Royals have the look of a playoff contender, but apparently not away from Kauffman Stadium as they fell to 3-10 on the road so far this season after a 5-4 loss in eleven innings to the Athletics.

They've now lost eight straight on the road dating back to the beginning of the Tigers' series in Detroit on April 14th. They still have two more with the A's, followed by three at Seattle to kick off the May portion of the schedule.

Isaac Collins' RBI single in the second inning put the Royals on the board first, and that lead held up through the first five innings until Nick Kurtz's 12th homerun of the season tied the game up in the bottom of the sixth.

With just one run allowed over five innings, Michael Wacha didn't pick up the quality start, but still managed to keep the Royals in the game despite throwing over one-hundred pitches. In fact, neither starter managed to pitch into the sixth inning with the Athletics' Jacob Lopez being removed by Mark Kotsay after two outs in the fifth.

Kansas City re-took the lead on Lane Thomas' RBI double against Hogan Harris in the seventh, but that was short-lived after Shea Langeliers' homerun in the eighth against Matt Strahm tied it back up.

In extras, the teams traded blows until former Royal Brent Rooker walked it off with a bases-loaded single in the 11th, breaking the 4-4 tie. The Royals entered the bottom of the inning with a 4-3 lead and closer Carlos Estevez on the mound.

"Carlos threw just twelve pitches in the tenth, so we knew we were going to count on him to get through the eleventh whether or not we had the lead," manager Matt Quatraro said after the game about the decision to leave him in. "When we took the lead in the top of the 11th, that solidified it for us, but it just didn't work out."

KAN at ATH | 04/28/2026 | Sutter Health Park | Sacramento, CA

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 R  H  E
Kansas City (16-13) 0  1  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  1  1  4  11 1
Athletics (16-13)   0  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0  1  2  5  13 1

W: Dillon Tate (3-1) L: Carlos Estevez (0-2) S: None
KAN HR: None
ATH HR: Nick Kurtz (12), Shea Langeliers (5)

MLB Scoreboard: April 28th, 2026
HOU 4, BAL 8 | LAA 0, CHW 6 | ARI 2, MIL 3 | KAN 4, ATH 5 (11)
BOS 1, TOR 3 | SFO 2, PHI 7 | CHC 1, SDG 3 | NYY 6, TEX 7 (10)
TAM 1, CLE 2 | DET 5, ATL 7 | STL 3, PIT 1 | COL 5, CIN 13
SEA 7, MIN 4 | WSH 1, NYM 0 | MIA 7, LAD 12

04/29 -- Royals make flurry of roster moves: The Royals will carry three catchers on the roster for the time being, adding 35-year-old veteran backup Elias Diaz in a roster move from Omaha.

Infielder Josh Rojas, who has options remaining, accepted an optional assignment to Triple-A Omaha despite having the choice to reject it. Rojas is mere days away from reaching MLB free agency eligibility as he needs only eleven more days to hit six years of service time.

The 31-year-old Rojas has been a nice addition defensively, but has posted just a .400 OPS with no walks and nine strikeouts in thirty-five plate appearances. Diaz, a former All-Star with the Rockies, has been in Triple-A for the entirety of the 2026 season to date, and has a solid .968 OPS (134 OPS+) down there.

The move frees the Royals up to keep both Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen's bats in the lineup on a daily basis, with Perez and Jensen having to take days off for various reasons. Diaz will also allow the Royals to potentially use Perez at first base in close late-game situations for Vinnie Pasquantino, who is one of the worst first basemen on a DRS-basis in the league.

However, the biggest news was Seth Lugo going on the 15-day injured list with a back strain. Lugo just hasn't looked right all season, posting a 6.11 ERA in twenty-eight innings over six starts. His peripheral numbers of 5.23 for FIP and 5.11 for SIERA also don't paint much of a rosier picture, so perhaps a trip to the injured list could be a good reset for him.

Stephen Kolek, who was just sent to Triple-A to stretch out as a starter, was re-called to take his spot in the rotation. Kolek showed out well at the end of 2025 with three excellent starts, and made the bullpen out of Spring Training. However, the Royals still strongly believe he can be a starter down the road; and will now have an opportunity to gain some additional work in the rotation with the Royals.

04/29 -- Royals snap long road skid behind gem from Ragans: With seven shutout frames from Cole Ragans, the Royals snapped an eight-game losing skid on the road with a 7-0 win over the A's to even up their three-game series with them at Sutter Health Park.

Ragans evened up his record at 3-3 behind seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and a walk with five strikeouts. It was his fifth quality start of the season in seven starts, and the second time he had reached at least the seventh inning.

Nick Mears and Lucas Erceg combined to finish off the shutout, with Mears going 1 2/3 innings and Erceg cleaning up after Mears ran into some late trouble in the ninth.

The lineup did their part as they banged out eighteen hits and walked four times. They also left a whopping sixteen runners on base, so the score honestly didn't tell the entire tale about how thorough this victory really was.

"We had a plan to go up there and really attack early in the count," said manager Matt Quatraro. "That strategy really paid off as we really put the pressure on them early and didn't let up. I wish we could have taken advantage of a few more situations, but it's hard to be disappointed with the result."

With three more hits on Wednesday, Isaac Collins appears to be breaking out of a long slump. He went 3-for-5 with a homerun just a day after going 2-for-3 with a couple of walks. Jac Caglianone's bat is also starting to heat back up, hitting a homerun on Wednesday with a couple of RBI. He also singled in the contest.

KAN at ATH | 04/29/2026 | Sutter Health Park | Sacramento, CA

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Kansas City (17-13) 2  0  3  0  0  0  1  1  0  7  18 0
Athletics (16-14)   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  5  1

W: Cole Ragans (3-3) L: Aaron Civale (1-4) S: None
KAN HR: Isaac Collins (2), Jac Caglianone (3)
ATH HR: None

MLB Scoreboard: April 29th, 2026
KAN 7, ATH 0 | LAA 0, CHW 3 | SFO 2, PHI 9 | WSH 5, NYM 4 (11)
HOU 2, BAL 3 | SEA 3, MIN 7 | DET 2, ATL 8 | STL 7, PIT 4
BOS 9, TOR 3 | NYY 4, TEX 5 | ARI 1, MIL 8 | MIA 2, LAD 9
TAM 3, CLE 8 | COL 2, CIN 3 | CHC 1, SDG 6

04/30 -- Twice as nice! Royals win by a touchdown again: It was nearly a carbon copy of Wednesday's performance from Cole Ragans, as Kris Bubic capped off an undefeated month of April with his fourth win, tossing seven shutout innings as the Royals won by a 7-0 score for the second straight night over the A's.

The win pushed the Royals back into first place by one-and-a-half games over the Tigers, who were swept by Atlanta and have lost five in a row.

Bubic now has tossed 15 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to the Royals' 2-1 loss in the Bronx to the Yankees on April 19th; and has allowed just one earned run in his last 19 2/3 innings worked, which goes back to their defeat at Detroit in the series opener there.

Once again, the Royals jumped out to an early lead and coasted to the victory. Kameron Misner popped his second homerun of the season, a three-run shot in the second inning to kick things off. Serving as the DH in this one, Salvador Perez's bat is white-hot right now, as he backed up his four-hit game on Wednesday with another four-hit game on Thursday, this time hitting a pair of homeruns to give him seven for the season.

Perez homered in the third, and again in the seventh. He also sandwiched a couple of singles in between the homeruns, and at one point had collected hits in six straight at-bats combined with yesterday's game. Carter Jensen also snapped an 0-for-11 streak with two hits, including a seventh-inning double.

The Royals' long-time captain now leads the team with seven dingers; moving him ahead of Bobby Witt Jr for the team lead, and giving him 304 for his career. He also needs three more at Kauffman Stadium to move him into first place all-time in Royals history for the most homeruns at the K; ahead of you guessed it, George Brett, who hit 135 homeruns at home. To tie Brett's all-time franchise mark, he still needs thirteen more, which is within reach this season at the current pace.

With an inning each, John Schreiber and Daniel Lynch IV each tossed scoreless innings. Lynch made his first appearance with the Royals this season, working around a one-out hit to record a scoreless frame.

KAN at ATH | 04/30/2026 | Sutter Health Park | Sacramento, CA

TEAM                1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  R  H  E
Kansas City (18-13) 0  3  1  0  0  0  2  0  1  7  16 0
Athletics (16-15)   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  3  0

W: Kris Bubic (4-0) L: Jon Gray (2-2) S: None
KAN HR: Salvador Perez 2 (7), Kameron Misner (2)
ATL HR: None

MLB Scoreboard: April 30th, 2026
KAN 7, ATH 0 | TOR 6, MIN 8 | COL 5, CIN 6
HOU 1, BAL 8 | DET 3, ATL 4 | STL 1, PIT 7
SFO 1, PHI 7 | WSH 7, NYM 1 | ARI 8, MIL 3

[3Bplay]

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MLB NEWS WIRE
Phillies make first in-season managerial change of 2026

By MLB.com staff
05/01/2026

04/27 -- New teams highlight top of Power Rankings: After sitting on the lower edge of the top ten a week ago, the Braves, Dodgers, and Marlins are the new top three teams in MLB.com's updated Power Rankings. Last week's number-one, St. Louis, fell all the way to eighth after a 1-5 week. The Mets fell from second to fourth, while Kansas City jumped all the way back up into the top five from 20th after taking five of six at home.

Some teams in the lower half of the rankings also made some big moves, with Arizona picking up six spots from 29th to 23rd. Cleveland is another team that has seen a steady rise, going from dead last two weeks ago to 19th today. Conversely, teams like the Phillies are dropping like a stone, losing more than a dozen spots the last two weeks.

04/27 -- Chicago's Montgomery to miss several weeks: He was seeing his bat heat up over the last handful of games, going 12-for-40 (.300) with three homeruns since April 16th. However, Colson Montgomery is going to miss the next two-to-three weeks with a shoulder injury.

The injury happened in the second inning of their 9-7 win over the Nationals, as Montgomery was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double. His headfirst slide was a bit awkward, landing on his left shoulder, and was forced out of the game as a precaution.

An MRI did not reveal any structural damage, but was diagnosed with a medium-grade strain and per manager Will Venable, is likely to miss the next "couple of weeks".

04/27 -- Mets' Verdugo out for the season: Looking to make a comeback after rough seasons in 2024 and 2025, veteran outfielder DAlex Verdugo was off to a hot start with the Mets, posting an OPS of 1.031 in thirty-three plate appearances in a part-time role.

Unfortunately, he received some devastating news after the game on Sunday as the knee injury that chased him from the game in the Mets' 6-1 loss to the Rockies turned out to be an ACL tear that will shelve him for the remainder of the 2026 season. On his seventh inning single, his knee buckled as he left the batter's box, limping his way down to first before being lifted for Andres Chaparro.

It was not a complete tear of the right ACL, but it was serious enough to warrant season-ending surgery. He's expected to be out for the next five-to-six months, and should be fully healthy for the beginning of Spring Training 2027, provided that there is not a labor dispute that postpones the season.

04/28 -- Dodgers' Stewart to begin rehab stint: Acquired from the Twins prior to the deadline last season, right-hander Brock Stewart is scheduled to make his first rehab appearance tonight as the Oklahoma City Dodgers face off against Sacramento.

Stewart was one of the most valuable bullpen arms down the stretch for the Dodgers, posting a 1.35 ERA in twenty innings, covering twenty-two appearances. He walked just seven hitters while fanning twenty-seven and didn't allow a single homerun.

James Outman, who was sent by the Dodgers to the Twins in the deal; and looked like a promising young outfielder after a 114 OPS+ in 2023, had injury-plagued 2024 and 2025 seasons, and is currently working his way back from a back injury suffered in the spring.

04/29 -- Ohtani makes scheduled start despite shoulder strain: Shoulder strain? What shoulder strain?

Despite having his status for his next scheduled start up in the air earlier in the week, not only did he make his start tonight, he pitched well with just two runs over five innings of work, and hit a pair of homeruns as the Dodgers routed the Marlins 9-2.

Hitting fourth in the lineup for the first time in 2026, he hit a first-inning grand slam against Miami starter Janson Junk; and would later hit a three-run homerun in the seventh after being replaced on the mound and becoming the DH for the remainder of the game.

Ohtani joined a very exclusive club with his performance in becoming the fourth player in league history to start and pitch at least five innings, as well as hit two or more homeruns in the same game. Rick Wise (1971), Noah Syndergaard (2016), and Zack Greinke (2019) were the other three.

04/30 -- Phillies fire Thomson; elevate Mattingly to interim: After a slow start to the 2026 season, the Phillies became the first team to fire their manager in season as Rob Thomson, who holds the Phillies' best winning percentage as a manager in team history (.583), is out after a 15-15 start that sees them in fourth place with the end of April approaching.

Don Mattingly was elevated to the manager's role on an interim basis, with Dusty Wathan moving back into the dugout to serve as the bench coach with Mattingly moving up. Anthony Contreras, who was the manager for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, was assigned to the major league staff as the team's third base coach, replacing Wathan.

After serving as the hitting coach for the Australian national team in the WBC, 38-year-old Chris Adamson was tabbed to be Contreras' bench coach in Triple-A. He'll now get his first taste in the big chair, as he'll take over as the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate skipper.