4/15-4/16 MLB Newsletter

Yankees (12-6): Legendary radio announcer John Sterling announced his retirement Monday after 36 years with the Yankees. They’ll have a ceremony to celebrate his time with the team before Saturday's game. Tuesday was a tough night for Carlos Rodon on the mound. The Yanks dropped their third straight game as Carlos Rodón only managed to get through the fourth inning on 101 pitches.

Orioles (11-6): Through 17 games, the Orioles have five players with four or more home runs, including Ryan O’Hearn, who smacked a homer for his third consecutive game. After winning the last two games at home against Minnesota with little sweat, the O’s will look to complete the sweep today. 💪

Rays (10-8): After losing on Monday, a two-out, two-run triple by José Caballero tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, resulting in an unbelievable comeback to win it in the first 13-inning game of the year.

Blue Jays (10-8): On Tuesday night, they defeated the Yankees 5-4 to secure their fourth straight win and third straight series win of the year. Check out this full-extension diving catch by Davis Schneider, which just misses my top three plays at the bottom.

Red Sox (9-9): After being shutout on Monday, the Sox had a tough 10-7 loss on Tuesday. This loss featured a blown save by Kenley Jansen and injuries to Garrett Whitlock and Rafael Devers.

Guardians (12-5): Cleveland scored 3 runs in the top of the 11th to beat the Red Sox 10-7. They won their third straight in late innings, leading to the best record in baseball, including a 9-2 away record for the first time since 1948.

Royals (11-6): Seth Lugo tossed seven scoreless innings on Monday, and a Vinnie Pasquantino home run helped seal the win. Tuesday’s game was rained out, but it will be made up as part of a doubleheader today.

Tigers (10-7): On Monday, Detroit was held to a shutout but got three scoreless innings from the lowest bullpen ERA in MLB on Tuesday to hold off the Rangers after coming back to win in the bottom of the eighth. 👨‍🚒

Twins (6-10): Minnesota has had a tough time keeping the Orioles’ offense in check and keeping up with them. After losing the last two games to the O’s by a combined 18-7, Minnesota will look to avoid the sweep today with their ace, Pablo López, on the mound.

White Sox (2-14): On Monday, this team entered its second five-game losing streak of the season as the Royals shut them out. Tommy Pham signed a Minor League deal with the club and is expected to get the fast track to the big leagues.

Rangers (9-9): Texas fell to Detroit 4-2 despite a quality start from Jon Gray, who has 19 strikeouts in his last 14.2 IP. Thursday will be an exciting day for the Rangers as pitching prospect Jack Leiter is slated to make his MLB debut against the Tigers.

Angels (8-9): The Angels had what looked like a no-doubt win, being up 3-1 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and somehow ended up losing 7-6 in extras despite scoring in the 10th, 11th, and 13th inning.

Mariners (8-10): The Mariners scored a season-high 9 runs in Tuesday's 9-3 win over the Reds. Julio Rodriguez has been making up for his slow start at the plate with some fantastic plays in the outfield as the Mariners get their first series win of the season. 👀

Athletics (7-11): Kyle McCann had a big day, hitting an RBI single in the second, followed by his first career MLB home run. Unfortunately, that was their only offense for the night. They could not figure out Lance Lynn and the Cardinals, falling 3-2.

Astros (6-13): The Astros were held scoreless by the Braves until they managed two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough. They fell to the Braves 6-2 and have been outscored on the series 12-3.

Braves (11-5): Reynaldo López went six scoreless innings while sitting seven down on strikes. I wrote about this two weeks ago here, but if he’s available in your Fantasy league, he’s a good addition to all of the pitching injuries. Ozzie Albies will head to the IL after fracturing a toe Monday night.

Phillies (10-8): Ranger Suarez pitched a shutout against the Rockies on Tuesday, just the second complete game by a pitcher this year. I love seeing a pitching workhorse go like that in a day and age where pitchers can barely get through five innings. The Phils will look to complete the sweep tonight. 🧹

Mets (9-8): Winning their third straight game and fourth straight series, the Mets look very different from the lowly 0-5 start they had to open the season. Luis Severino, who has let up a combined four hits through his last 10 IP while sitting 11 down on strikes in the process, will take the hill as they go for the sweep against the Pirates.

Nationals (7-10): Jesse Winker has been impressing in Washington with his sixth multi-hit game out of just sixteen games this season. He’s currently slashing .373/.500/.608. The Nats will take on the Dodgers in a series rubber match this afternoon.

Marlins (4-14): On Monday, Max Meyer, who contributed two of Miami’s four wins this season, was demoted to Triple-A. Despite this, the starting pitchers showed up as Edward Cabrera was recalled on Monday and immediately struck out 10 batters. Ryan Weathers followed that up with another 10-strikeout performance in Tuesday’s win.

Brewers (10-6): Christian Yelich was placed on the IL with a lower back strain after a hot start. With back-to-back three-run games and the starting pitchers allowing a combined nine earned runs through 7.2 IP, the Brew Crew will need help from both sides as they attempt to stave off the sweep to San Diego.

Pirates (11-7): Jared Jones continues to show us he’s the real deal, striking out at least seven batters in each of his first four starts. He was pulled after the fifth inning on only 59 pitches thrown and only one hit allowed, and the Bucs lost. Manager Derek Shelton said pulling Jones after the fifth was predetermined. ⛽

Cubs (10-7): Michael Busch homered in his fifth consecutive game on Monday, tying the franchise record. After a 7th-inning Ian Happ grand slam, the Cubs lost in an extra-innings thriller on Tuesday. They’ll look to take the series rubber match this afternoon.

Reds (9-8): Frankie Montas pitched only two innings on Monday, allowing five earned runs on 66 pitches. After going 2-10 with runners in scoring position through this series, the bats will need to help Andrew Abbott, who takes the mound today against Seattle, as they look to avoid a series sweep.

Cardinals (9-9): Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog passed away on Tuesday, and St. Louis honored him with a win. The Cardinals have not scored more than 3 runs in any of their last 10 games and will need to fix that soon as they look to stay in the division hunt.

Dodgers (12-8): Mookie Betts had his second 5-5 game as a Dodger, the last one being in late August 2023. The rest of MLB has four 5-5 games in that span, while Mookie Betts now has two. He currently leads the league in hits, walks, and batting average. 🤯

Padres (11-9): Backed by a four-run first inning, Dylan Cease struck out seven through six innings of work Tuesday night, earning his second win of the season. Michael King will take the ball today in hopes of winning the series against Milwaukee.

Diamondbacks (9-9): After giving up a top-of-the-ninth run on a wild pitch on Monday to send the game to extras and eventually go on to lose, the Dbacks find themselves in another thriller Tuesday night as they came back from a three-run deficit in the seventh to win in extra.

Giants (7-11): After a comeback win on Monday night, the bullpen allowed four earned runs on Tuesday, giving Miami the victory. They’ll play the series rubber match today.

Rockies (4-14): They’re off to the worst start in franchise history after getting a complete game shutout posted on them on Tuesday night. The pitching staff has the highest ERA across MLB and will need to figure that out quickly to avoid this from continuing to spiral.