Author: rincon

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from the weekend in Major League Baseball:

The Braves swept the Phillies

In 2025, it was the Braves that were a mess. It’s a new season, though, and Atlanta is thriving early while the other two favorites of the NL East falter. The Mets have now lost 11 in a row, while the Phillies were just swept by the Braves to drop to 8-13. Atlanta, meanwhile, is 15-7, four games up in the East over the Marlins: the Braves are the only team in the division with a winning record.

The series opened with a statement from Atlanta, as they shutout Philadelphia, 9-0, after scoring seven runs across the first three innings. Saturday’s contest was much different in some ways — the Braves were held to just three runs — but the Phillies’ bats were once again silenced by Atlanta’s pitching. This time, it was ace lefty Chris Sale doing the heavy lifting: he allowed a solo homer in the bottom of the second to Phillies’ rookie Felix Reyes in his big-league debut, but that was it. Sale went seven innings allowing just the one run and five hits total, striking out seven against a single walk. The 37-year-old starter has a 2.79 ERA to open the season, which is only high in the sense that his career mark with Atlanta is 2.49 over 55 games and 332.1 innings.

In Sunday’s series finale, the Phillies scored two in the first and were still ahead entering the fifth, but that was as far as that hope would last. The Braves had a three-run fifth to go up 4-2, and that was the final score, as well. Center fielder Michael Harris II led off with a single, then right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. followed with his own knock. Reliever Tim Mayza would replace starting pitcher and rookie Andrew Painter at this point, and he would fail to keep those inherited runners from scoring. Catcher Drake Baldwin walked to load the bases, bringing up first baseman Matt Olson with no outs. He would ground out, but push a run across to tie things 2-2, then third baseman Austin Riley (single) and second baseman Ozzie Albies (double) got Atlanta the rest of the way there.

The Phillies would threaten in the ninth, when Raisel Iglesias came on in relief of Robert Suarez. Second baseman Bryson Stott led off for Philly with a double, and then Justin Crawford walked after a pop out got Atlanta the first out it needed. Iglesias settled down with two on, and struck out shortstop Trea Turner before getting DH Kyle Schwarber to line out to Acuna in right, ending the game.

The Braves have been great to this point — their +57 run differential is the best in the majors, nine ahead of the Dodgers. The Phillies… have not. They are 8-13, so in one way, duh, but also this isn’t a case of poor luck. Philadelphia has been outscored by 38 runs, even more than the Mets — even more than everyone, actually, as the Phillies have the worst run differential in the league now, a fact not helped by the Braves limiting them to three runs over four games.

Cubs walk off Mets in extras

Speaking of the Mets: New York nearly ended its double-digit losing streak on Sunday, as the Mets were up 1-0 on the Cubs entering the ninth inning. That’s when Devin Williams came on in relief of Luke Weaver to close things out, though, and it’s when Chicago struck. Left fielder Ian Happ led off the inning with a single to left, and while Williams got right fielder Seiya Suzuki to strike out swinging on three pitches (with help on the second strike from an ABS challenge), pinch-hitter Michael Conforto then hit a double to push pinch-runner Scott Kingery across the plate.

The best the Mets could muster even with MJ Melendez starting the 10th on second was to move him to third base before making their third out of the frame, but the Cubs didn’t waste the freebie. Craig Kimbrel, in for Williams, got shortstop Dansby Swanson to pop out, but Pete Crow-Armstrong was the runner on second to start the inning, and he made it to third on a wild pitch when given the opportunity and then scored on a sac fly by second baseman Nico Hoerner.

That secured the sweep for the Cubs, who entered the weekend at .500 and are now three games over and 1.5 back in the NL Central. The Mets, meanwhile, have been outscored by 25 runs on the season, which is not great in a vacuum — it’s the fifth-worst run differential in MLB this year — but is even worse when you realize that New York was +18 when they last won on Apr. 7. New York has been outscored by 43 runs in just 11 games since. That is a much bigger problem than the absence of Juan Soto can explain.

[New York Mess: Mets’ 11-Game Losing Streak By The Numbers]

The Mets are back at it on Tuesday, with a series against the Twins. Minnesota has lost four in a row, so either way, a losing streak is going to end.

Twins falter in ninth against Reds

Speaking of Minnesota. The Twins were up 3-1 on the Reds entering the ninth inning at home on Sunday, which apparently was right where Cincinnati wanted to be. First baseman Spencer Steer led off the inning with a single against Andrew Morris, in his second inning of work, then catcher Tyler Stephenson followed with a single. Center fielder Dane Meyers, who entered earlier as a pinch-runner, walked to load the bases with one out for left fielder TJ Friedl. He made the Twins pay for the opportunity.

Friedl cleared the bases, putting Cincinnati up 4-3. Morris was replaced by Garrett Acton, who got the last two batters out to stand Friedl in scoring position, and then Minnesota managed to score a run in their half of the ninth off of Emilio Pagan, courtesy doubles by right fielder James Outman and left fielder Austin Martin (who had also entered as a pinch-runner earlier). The game was tied once more, but the Reds weren’t done scoring in bunches.

In the top of the 10th, Eugenio Suarez reached on an error by third baseman Tristan Gray, allowing Elly De La Cruz — who had started the inning on second — to score the go-ahead run. After an intentional walk to Will Benson, who had pinch-run for Stephenson in the prior inning, right fielder Rece Hinds doubled to send both Suarez and Benson home; 7-4, Reds. The Twins were a walk away from being set down 1-2-3 in the ninth, so all that was needed was that first run on an error, but Cincinnati made its statement for the series sweep, anyway.

Blue Jays blow it open immediately

The Blue Jays haven’t had the best of starts defending their American League pennant in 2026, but on Sunday, at least, Toronto looked like the dominant team from last season. The Jays plated eight runs in the first against the Diamondbacks: first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled in a pair to open the floodgates, then DH Eloy Jimenez drove in Guerrero with a single. Third baseman Kazuma Okamoto made it 5-0 with a double, then right fielder Nathan Lukes — the leadoff man, up for the second time in the inning — hit a bases-loaded two-bagger to make it 8-0 Toronto.

Arizona would slow the Jays down from there, but the damage was done: the Diamondbacks scored four runs, but Toronto got another pair, leading to a 10-4 win for the Jays. While this was a serious showing by Toronto, it should be noted that this W helped them avoid being swept: Arizona won the first two games of the matchup, 6-3 and 6-2, and still took the series from the Jays despite Sunday’s beatdown.

Rockies, Dodgers had the inverse weekend

While Toronto won the finale on Sunday to avoid a sweep, things went different for their World Series opponents from last October. The Dodgers defeated the Rockies 7-1 on Friday to open up their four-game series, but then dropped the next two to Colorado. 

On Saturday, the Dodgers hit a pair of homers off starter Ryan Feltner, but just three runs, which was also all they would get for the day. A trio of relievers kept Los Angeles off the board after Feltner exited in the sixth, and Colorado would score a pair in the bottom of the inning to go up 4-3, which was the eventual final score.

Sunday was more of the same, in the sense that the Dodgers were up early — Los Angeles was ahead 3-0 after their turn to bat in the fourth — but then the Rockies began to counter. A run on a single by first baseman TJ Rumfield in the fourth, then a homer by third baseman Kyle Karros in the fifth followed by a single from infielder Edouard Julien to tie things up 3-3.

The Dodgers would answer in the top of the sixth with an RBI single off the bat of second baseman Alex Freeland, but Colorado went up for good in the seventh when left fielder Mickey Moniak hit his sixth homer of the year, off of reliever Blake Treinen. It was a shot, too, 428 feet to right-center.

The Rockies would pile on, eventually going up 9-4 through eight. The Dodgers rallied in the ninth while down to their final three outs: catcher Will Smith singled in a run to score Shohei Ohtani, then pinch-hitter Daulton Rushing grounded out but pushed a run across in the process to make it 9-6. That would be where the rally ended, however, as the next batter — first baseman Ryan Ward — lined out with two runners in scoring position. 

Right fielder Troy Johnson made the diving catch here, but he was also responsible for what proved to be the game-winning hit on Saturday, a two-run double in the sixth. Pretty great weekend for him, given that.

The Dodgers and Rockies will face off in the series finale on Monday — Colorado has a chance for an extremely rare achievement, a series victory against Los Angeles, while the Dodgers can minimize the damage with a dub.

Ohtani has reached base in 51-straight games

It should not be lost that, even as the Dodgers lost, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani kept doing his thing. Back in the lineup after resting during his turn in the rotation, Ohtani kept on reaching base, extending the longest streak that the majors has seen since 2018 when Shin-Soo Choo made it on in 52-consecutive contests.

Ohtani made it 51-straight games on Sunday, collecting a pair of hits, with the first of those coming early on in the game. 

He can match Choo on Monday against Colorado, who is tied with Kevin Millar, but it will take reaching 53 in a row for Ohtani’s streak to be top-25 all-time. That might not sound that impressive on the surface, but these numbers start to pile up with a ton of ties. Getting to 54 would tie him for 22nd, then another for 19th. Ohtani needs 63 to tie the modern high mark set by Orlando Cabrera in 2006, and after that it’s all Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio instances. Ohtani has a ways to go for that yet, however.

Ramirez goes yard twice

Home run-related lightning round. Cleveland Guardians’ third baseman Jose Ramirez managed two homers on Sunday against the Orioles. Both against starter Trevor Rogers, too.

While the Guardians got just 4.2 innings out of their own starter, Joey Cantillo, Ramirez’s two solo shots helped Cleveland end up winning, anyway, 8-4.

Yes, the bullpen did a lot of heavy lifting there, too, shutting Baltimore down the rest of the way. But this isn’t a “great bullpen performances lightning round” is it?

Murakami is on fire

Munetaka Murakami has eight homers in 2026. Twice now he’s managed to homer in three-straight games for the White Sox. That’s a weird distribution, but hey, it’s working for the NPB import in his first year in MLB.

Dillon Dingler’s big dinger

Things did not go well for the Red Sox this weekend against the Tigers. This Dillon Dingler dong did not help matters.

Dingler had already doubled in a run in the first inning, too — the Tigers ended up winning 6-2, and Dingler is now batting .302/.380/.603 on the season with five long balls.

Alvarez the first to double-digit homers

Yordan Alvarez has spent his 2026 season reminding everyone of what the Astros were missing last summer, when multiple injuries limited both his production and how often he played. Healthy again for this year, the designated hitter and left fielder has been mashing: here he is claiming MLB’s home run lead with his ninth of the year.

Except, Alvarez went deep again over the weekend to push that to 10, making him the first to double-digits in the league. Alvarez is batting .333/.471/.790 with 10 dingers, leading the AL in RBIs with 21 and is first in wins above replacement in MLB, as well. Despite this, the Astros are in last, but this kind of performance from their star slugger has to give some hope for when Houston is healthier overall.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Per usual, the Los Angeles Dodgers are cracking skulls and taking names, but they’re doing so at an even higher level this season. In defeating the Colorado Rockies on Friday night, Los Angeles marked its first 15-4 start since 1977.

Here’s the Dodgers’ electric start to the 2026 MLB season by the numbers, entering Apr. 18’s slate of games:

0: Relievers Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia have each given up zero runs in eight appearances apiece.

0.50: Through his first three starts, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani has recorded an 0.50 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 18 strikeouts and held opponents to a .113 batting average (18 innings pitched).

1: The Dodgers’ offense leads MLB with 35 home runs, 320 total bases, a .287 batting average, a .364 on-base percentage, a .499 slugging percentage and an .863 OPS.

1.04: After leading MLB with 10 blown saves — and posting a 4.74 ERA — in 2025, left-handed reliever Tanner Scott sports a 1.04 ERA and 0.58 WHIP through his first 10 appearances this season.

1.05: The Dodgers’ combined 1.05 WHIP and 6.2 hits surrendered per nine innings leads the sport.

4: Of backup catcher Dalton Rushing’s nine hits, four of them are home runs; he owns a .529/.556/1.353 slash line.

5: The Dodgers have won five of their first six series.

6: Max Muncy leads the team with six home runs, which have all been solo shots.

8: In what was his second MLB start since June 6, 2025, Justin Wrobleski, who has been a primary reliever for the Dodgers, pitched eight scoreless innings and gave up just two baserunners (two hits) against the New York Mets on Apr. 13.

9: Los Angeles has held its opponents to two or fewer runs in nine games.

21: Outfielder Andy Pages has totaled a team-high 21 RBIs, while blasting five home runs, stealing three bases and sporting a .412/.453/.691 slash line.

52: The Dodgers have a +52 run differential, which is second in MLB.

78.9: At 15-4, Los Angeles owns the best record in the sport (78.9% winning percentage).

143: The Dodgers’ 143 OPS+ leads the majors.

188: Opponents are hitting just .188 against the Dodgers’ starting rotation, which also sports a mere 0.99 WHIP. Both statistics are first in MLB.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

There has been nothing Amazin’ about the New York Mets‘ start to the 2026 MLB season.

Not only are the Mets in last place in the National League East, they’ve lost nine consecutive games, falling to 7-13 (35.0% winning percentage) and now tied for the worst record in the sport.

Here’s New York’s nine-game losing streak by the numbers (Apr. 8-17):

0: The Mets have been shut out in three of the nine games during this losing streak.

1: Over the last seven days, they’ve hit one home run.

2: New York has lost two games with its opponents scoring no more than two runs.

5A: The first five losses in the skid came at home.

5B: Those initial five losses came against two teams that missed the playoffs last season: Arizona Diamondbacks and Athletics.

6A: The Mets haven’t led at any point in six of the nine losses.

6B: Luke Weaver, whom the Mets signed to a two-year, $22 million deal in the offseason, has given up six runs over his last two appearances (1 ⅔ innings).

6.2: Opponents have scored a combined 56 runs against the Mets over this span (6.2 runs per game).

7: The Mets have scored a combined seven runs and drawn just six walks over their last five games, with both totals the worst mark in MLB over the last seven days.

13: Right-hander Kodai Senga has been unable to escape the fourth inning in each of his last two starts, surrendering a combined 13 earned runs, 19 baserunners (14 hits and five walks) and four home runs across 5 ⅔ innings.

16: New York has scored just 16 runs during this losing streak.

20: Brett Baty is 0 for his last 20.

22: The Mets’ nine-game losing streak is their worst run in 22 years, with New York losing 11 consecutive games in 2004; they finished 71-91 and were managed by Art Howe in 2004.

045: First baseman Mark Vientos is batting just .045 since New York’s last win (1 for 22). 

167: Luis Robert is hitting .167.

810: Left-hander David Peterson owns a combined 8.10 ERA over his last two starts and, stretching beyond the Mets’ nine-game losing streak, has given up at least four runs in each of his last three starts.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Munetaka Murakami hit his first career grand slam, Davis Martin gave up three hits over seven innings, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Athletics 9-2 on Friday night.

Murakami went 3 for 5 with singles in the third and fourth innings before his 431-foot grand slam in the seventh, the third of the season for the White Sox, who now lead the majors. It was Murakami’s sixth homer of the season.

The White Sox had 15 hits. A’s starting pitcher Aaron Civale (2-1) gave up a career-high 11 through 4 2/3 innings. He threw 103 pitches and gave up five earned runs with four strikeouts and a walk.

Colson Montgomery doubled in a run in the first to get the White Sox rolling early and followed it up with an RBI single in the third. Edgar Quero hit an RBI groundout in the third and Luisangel Acuna and Andrew Benintendi both hit RBI doubles in the fifth.

Martin (3-1) had four strikeouts and gave up three hits, two walks and only one earned run.

Nick Kurtz hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth for the Athletics, sending Shea Langeliers home, and Andy Ibanez drove in Max Muncy in the bottom of the eighth.

Up next

The White Sox and Athletics continue their three-game series on Saturday, with Erick Fedde (0-3, 3.38 ERA) taking the mound for Chicago opposite Luis Severino (0-2, 5.59).

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Jose Soriano pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning of his fifth consecutive win, Yoan Moncada and Josh Lowe homered, and the Los Angeles Angels snapped the San Diego Padres‘ eight-game winning streak with an 8-0 victory Friday night.

Adam Frazier had an RBI triple and Jo Adell had a two-run double for the Angels, who opened a six-game home stand by blowing out a Southern California rival.

Soriano (5-0) continued his spectacular start to the season despite four walks, recording eight strikeouts and lowering his ERA to 0.28 with just one run allowed in his 32 2/3 innings this season. The Angels’ ace increased his major league-leading strikeout total to 39, and he joined the Milwaukee Brewers‘ Aaron Ashby as MLB‘s only pitchers with five wins.

Three Los Angeles relievers wrapped up a combined three-hitter in San Diego’s first shutout loss of the season.

Before the first pitch, Angel Stadium aired a tribute video and observed a moment of silence for Garret Anderson, the longtime Angels outfielder and franchise hits leader whose death at 53 was announced by the team earlier Friday. The Angels are wearing a patch bearing Anderson’s initials on their uniform shoulders.

Matt Waldron (0-1) yielded six runs on eight hits in his season debut for the Padres, who followed a perfect 7-0 home stand with only their second loss in two weeks. San Diego had won 11 of 12 since its 2-5 start to the season.

Waldron started 26 games for the Padres in 2024, but just one last year — and then the occasional knuckleballer got a late start in the current season after undergoing a procedure on a hemorrhoid in February.

After Moncada’s homer began a three-run rally in the second, Soriano escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third by getting Jackson Merrill to ground out.

Nolan Schanuel chased Waldron with an RBI single in the fourth before Adell and Lowe delivered two-RBI hits off David Morgan.

Soriano left after Manny Machado singled and Xander Bogaerts walked, but Chase Silseth got Gavin Sheets to fly out to the warning track in right.

Up next

Germán Márquez (2-1, 5.54 ERA) takes the Big A mound for the Padres on Saturday to face the Halos’ struggling Yusei Kikuchi (0-2, 7.50).

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

The family of late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler is nearing a sale of the team, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Padres aren’t commenting publicly on the process.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the imminent deal with private equity billionaire Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones. The team is expected to be sold for $3.9 billion in a record deal for a Major League Baseball team, easily topping the approximately $2.4 billion paid by Steven Cohen for the New York Mets in 2020.

The 53-year-old Feliciano is the co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm based in Santa Monica, California. The firm was part of an investment group that purchased Premier League club Chelsea in 2022, with Los Angeles Dodgers minority owner Todd Boehly becoming the Blues’ chairman.

Seidler’s family began to explore a sale of the Padres last November, two years after the death of the popular Peter Seidler. His brother, John Seidler, has served as the Padres’ chairman since then.

Peter Seidler was part of a group that bought the Padres in 2012, and he became the team’s primary owner in 2020. He enthralled San Diego’s baseball fans with his free-spending eagerness to win the Padres’ first World Series, and general manager A.J. Preller built a series of exciting teams that have reached the MLB playoffs in four of the last six seasons — a first in team history.

The Padres’ potential sale price reflects their value as San Diego’s only franchise in North America’s four traditional major sports leagues, leading to a passionate fan base in their attractive home at downtown Petco Park. The team has set attendance records in each of the past three seasons, capped last season by drawing a whopping 3,437,201 fans — the second-most in the majors to the Dodgers, who play in their much larger stadium in Chavez Ravine.

Feliciano was born and raised in Puerto Rico before attending Princeton and Stanford. He co-founded Clearlake Capital two decades ago.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Two years ago, Luis Arraez was traded away from a floundering Marlins team embarking on another rebuild under new leadership. The veteran infielder seemed to understand the business and the reality of the Marlins’ plight, and he harbored no obvious resentment toward his former employers as the team changed direction. 

In fact, weeks after getting dealt from Miami to San Diego, he was still raving about his old manager. 

“I respect that man a lot,” Arraez said. “He’s a special man.”

That man, Skip Schumaker, oversaw an unexpected 15-win year-over-year improvement in Miami in 2023. The Marlins’ 84 wins allowed them to reach the postseason for the first time in a full season in 20 years — they also made it to the playoffs in the shortened 2020 season — and earned Schumaker the honor of National League Manager of the Year in his first season as a big-league skipper. He got the most out of a Marlins team that had a minus-57 run differential, finding ways to win close games and instilling belief. 

The euphoria, however, was fleeting. 

The Marlins got swept in the wild-card series. Weeks later, Kim Ng, the general manager who gave Schumaker his opportunity, parted ways with the team after ownership reportedly sought to hire someone above her. The Arraez move began a firesale early in the 2024 season amid a 9-24 start, as new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix attempted to restock what was, at the time, one of the weakest farm systems in the sport. 

Schumaker tried to steer the ship through choppy waters. Jake Burger, a Marlins corner infielder and DH in 2023 and 2024, still remembers the energy his manager brought every day amid the turmoil and sudden change in direction. 

“I think we broke the major league record for transactions that year,” Burger recalled to me last week during the Rangers’ West Coast road trip. “It’s part of the game, part of the business. But for him, it was about showing up and doing the little things right on a daily basis.”

Positive vibes, however, can only do so much when the talent is inadequate. The novice group finished with 62 wins. Schumaker departed at season’s end, immediately becoming one of the hottest commodities on the coaching circuit. The problem? There weren’t many seats open.

Instead of trying to jump back into another rebuild somewhere else, Schumaker spent the 2025 season as a senior adviser to Texas Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young. Schumaker used some of that time out of the manager’s chair to seek feedback around the league from coaches and players about what they felt he did right and what he did wrong in Miami. One such opportunity presented itself at an annual winter ski trip he takes with a handful of MLB managers. 

“You’re asking because feedback is growth,” Schumaker told me. “I just wanted to know what I was missing, what I did wrong, so you can grow from it.” 

Now, he can put the advice to practice. 

When the Rangers and manager Bruce Bochy parted ways after three seasons and a World Series championship together, Schumaker emerged as the heir apparent. 

“You don’t know if you’re ever going to get this chance again to manage,” Schumaker said. “To be here in this type of organization, with my son going to college at TCU next year, all of this is surreal.”

‘Players want to know where they stand’ 

Arraez was far from alone in his effusive praise of Schumaker, particularly when it came to his ability to communicate. 

“He’s very clear about what he expects from each guy and what role they’re going to be in,” said Burger, who has the unique perspective of having played for Schumaker both in Miami and now in Texas. “As baseball players, we understand the game, we understand there’s a 26-man roster and a 40-man roster and all that, but him being able to communicate that and portray ‘we still need you no matter what role you’re in’ I think is the most influential thing that stands out.”

The way multiple Rangers players described it to me, Schumaker leads like a player would, which makes sense considering he was an 11-year big-league veteran who played until 2015. In his current role, the 46-year-old manager seeks to fill in the gaps that occasionally were missing during his playing career. 

“I’m just convinced that players want to know where they stand,” Schumaker said. “That’s it. When I was a player, I was a bench player, I was an everyday player, I was back to a bench player, and there were times when I didn’t know where I stood. I’d have to come in and check the lineup and kind of wonder what they’re thinking.”

It could be awkward and intimidating for a player to walk into a manager’s office to ask those questions. Schumaker doesn’t want that uncertainty lingering, so he’s proactive. 

“I’m going to tell them why I think they should be hitting in the lineup where they are, what leverage situation, the reasons why,” Schumaker said, “and players prove me right or prove me wrong. That’s just what it is. You’re always allowed to pivot. It’s OK to be wrong. I’ve got no ego in this thing, and I’ve been wrong plenty of times.”

Immediately after Brandon Nimmo was traded from the Mets to the Rangers in November, Schumaker laid out to the veteran outfielder what was expected of him and asked to know more about his routine. 

“He told me right away, ‘If you’re not opposed to it, we’re looking at you at right field and leading off,’” Nimmo said. “He’s open-minded with all that stuff and just wants to make sure he has a plan, he’s prepared, and that he’s able to keep you in the right positions to keep you prepared.”

Schumaker’s hands-on techniques differ from the usual big-league manager. 

Before a game, you might see him throwing batting practice, then dropping by to chat with a fielder taking live reads off the bat, then walking to the outfield to meet with a reliever shagging balls, all within the same hour. 

“It is different,” Nimmo acknowledged, “but I think it’s good. He was a player. He understands it. And he still has that competitive drive in him to be the best he can be, so you see that when you’re around him.”

Added Rangers reliever Tyler Alexander: “If you need to talk to him, you can find him. He’s with us after games, hanging out with us in the clubhouse when he gets a chance. You see him in the weight room. He’s just available.” 

Is that a good thing? 

“Well, if he’s a good guy, it’s a good thing,” Alexander said with a grin. “And he is. He’s fun to talk to. You can have a conversation with him.”

Bibles And Bourbon 

Back home in Orange County, Schumaker holds a bible study group every Thursday night called Bibles and Bourbon. 

One night, one of the group members suggested that every person share their story. Schumaker had known most of the people in the group for more than a decade, but he obliged. 

“We each wrote down our story and shared it,” Schumaker recalled last week, “and it was super impactful.”

Immediately, he knew he wanted to take that idea to his team. 

“If I don’t know exactly who you were, who your heroes were, how you grew up,” Schumaker said, “how do I know what’s going to motivate you?” 

The work of discovering his players’ motivations is an ongoing, everyday process.

“If we don’t get them better every day or give them a little something, then we’re not doing our job,” Schumaker said. “If our staff is scared to talk to our players, then I hired the wrong guys. And I feel like we hired the right guys.”

Understanding how a player was raised can help. 

One time, on an off day in the middle of a Marlins season, Schumaker and his bench coach, Luis Urueta, flew down to Miami’s complex in the Dominican Republic just to get a better idea of how the players grew up. 

“We just spent a day and a half there, and flew home,” Schumaker said. “It wasn’t to get a report on it. It was literally to find out what these guys go through and where they live. Some guys have tough upbringings, and to get to the major leagues, it’s really impressive. That’s part of their story.”

Schumaker is intent on collaborative communication and wants the information and the messaging from the front office down to the players to be consistent. He wants to put players in the best position possible. 

Most importantly, though, he wants his players to know he cares. That he has their back. 

“This thing,” Schumaker said, “is all about relationships.”

“He cares about you, your family, what your needs and wants are on a daily basis, what makes you tick on a daily basis,” Burger said. “That’s the easiest way to explain it: He wants to get to know the person before the baseball player, that way he can get the most out of you as a baseball player.”

The Team Meeting 

One of Schumaker’s best traits, according to Nimmo, is his ability to keep things in perspective. 

“He does a really good job of wanting you to be prepared and do everything you can in order to be successful,” Nimmo said, “but not base your identity off that.”

One example came back in spring, when Schumaker called a team meeting to introduce his players to Cade Spinello, a 20-year-old brain tumor survivor he met through his involvement with the Jessie Rees Foundation. 

The foundation is inspired by Jessica Joy Rees and her motto to “Never Ever Give Up.” In the midst of her own fight with terminal cancer, the 12-year-old Rees wanted to help other kids receiving long-term, in-patient treatment at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, so she created and distributed JoyJars, stuffed with toys and games, to provide encouragement. 

Spinello, who was Rees’ “chemo buddy,” has talked to Schumaker’s teams every year for the last decade. The message this spring resonated with Nimmo.

“Whatever you do, and whatever you’re given, it’s such a blessing,” Nimmo said. “Do it to the best of your ability, but also realize this life is precious, and the time you get is precious, and enjoy it.”

The Rangers have followed their surprising 2023 World Series run by missing the playoffs each of the last two years, unable to get the most out of the talent in place. They hired Schumaker on a four-year deal, believing he was the best option to foster an environment of positivity, growth and development. 

If it works, it wouldn’t be the first time Schumaker has extracted the most out of a group. 

“If you like coming to work every day,” Schumaker said, “you’re going to have success.” 

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In “Touching Base,” we check on the top players and topics making headlines around baseball and what comes next.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.
 

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