Author: rincon

NEW YORK – The Mets’ best hitter isn’t at his locker at Citi Field. He’s not in the batting cages. He’s not on the field, in his usual blue sweatshirt with his hoodie pulled up, in the still-freezing April temperatures in Queens. 

Juan Soto is nowhere to be found because his directive is, simply, to rest.

Soto strained his right calf while running the bases during the Mets’ series against the Giants at Oracle Park last weekend. He went on the injured list on April 4. The team expects the outfielder to miss anywhere from 2–3 weeks, at best. 

No one around the Mets is happy about this, but they also understand that life, the schedule, and the games must go on. New York has to find a way to win without their superstar slugger, who was off to a terrific .355/.412/.516 start at the plate before he hit the shelf.

“He’s irreplaceable,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor told me at his locker on Wednesday. “He’s a top-three player in the league. He’s that good. As a team, we’ve always said that it’s about sticking together at a time like this. Gather around him and be all together in this, and support him and play for each other. I hope this is a very short, very short IL for him.”

So far, at least, the Mets have managed to stay afloat without Soto. Entering Thursday, they’re 4-1 since he landed on the IL. The schedule has been kind to them in this stretch, with the Mets winning the series against the Giants while going for another series win against the Diamondbacks on Thursday. They host a three-game set against the Athletics on Friday to wrap up the soft part of their April itinerary.

But things will get challenging on Monday, when the Dodgers welcome the Mets in Los Angeles for their first matchup since June 2025, when they split the series at Chavez Ravine. The Mets will continue asking for their younger stars to step in Soto’s absence. 

“As a group we know we have a lot of depth in here,” Mets second baseman Marcus Semien told me in the Citi Field clubhouse on Wednesday. “It’s an opportunity for guys to play a little bit more. The main thing is we all have his back. And we’ll just let him know, we’ll all hold it down until he comes back. It’s a little hiccup for him. But at the end of the day, we’ve been playing some good baseball.” 

It’s been uncanny to see part-time players and bench bats take charge without Soto. 

On Tuesday, infielder Ronny Mauricio was promoted from the minor leagues to the majors to replace Soto on the 26-man roster. Hours later, his first big-league hit of the year was a three-run walk-off home run in extra innings against Arizona. Earlier in that same game, outfielder Jared Young delivered a key sacrifice fly to tie the game in the eighth inning. Infielder Mark Vientos was a huge factor in the series finale against the Giants on Sunday, which was Soto’s first missed game, going 3-for-5 with an RBI two runs scored. 

It’s unclear if those role players performing has helped Soto ease any pressure of wanting to return to the lineup as fast as possible. As previously mentioned, the outfielder has vanished from the usual pregame preparation and day-to-day activities. But the Mets broadcasting the weeks-long timeline for Soto’s return on the very same day he went on the IL is an indication that the team is not messing around with his recovery.

As much as Soto may be itching to hit again, the silver lining is the timing of his injury on the baseball calendar. Right now, the Mets can afford to play it safe.

“You definitely want to be patient with injuries like that,” Semien said. “You’ve seen guys have nagging things and they try to come back too quick, and it ends up being a bigger deal. That’s going to be hard, because he’s a guy who’s played in 160-plus games in most seasons.”

J.D. Martinez Gets Comfortable Upstairs

J.D. Martinez received a text when news dropped last week that the retired slugger joined the Mets as a special assistant to baseball operations. The message was from his former 2024 Mets teammate, Jose Iglesias, with a screenshot of the news and three letters: “OMG.”

Those three letters are the name of a popular song by Iglesias, who moonlights as a singer-songwriter named Candelita. The 2024 Mets rallied behind the song and went all the way to the National League Championship Series that season, with Martinez and Iglesias revered at the time as the team’s two vital clubhouse leaders. After his lone season with the Mets, Martinez sat out the 2025 season before rejoining the organization as a member of the front office this month. On Wednesday, Martinez started settling into his new role upstairs.

“It’s interesting,” Martinez said of the front-office side of baseball, speaking in the Mets dugout on Wednesday. “Yesterday, they took me up there and it’s like an army up there. It’s kind of wild. I was like, ‘Wait. These are all the people that give us information and help us out?!’ And they were like, ‘Yeah. This is behind-the-scenes.’ I’ve never seen anything like this.

“I was a little intimidated by it, because they’re a lot smarter than us. But then I come down here and everything feels normal again. So it’s something that I definitely want to continue to learn from. I think it would be good for me to be in those meetings.”

Martinez has stayed in contact with the Mets, including president of baseball operations David Stearns, since that 2024 season. He envisions his role to involve mainly mentorship and strategy, while relaying to the front office what the players’ perspective can be throughout the season, acting as a liaison between the two sides. Martinez in ‘24 was known to go out of his way to help players out. Now, he’ll have the time in the world to do just that.

“This could be fun,” Martinez said of his thought process when deciding to join the organization. “I like what they’re doing here. I like the team they built here. I had a great experience here with the front office, with ownership, with the clubhouse, everything. It was just a really fun place to come. So I said, why not? Let’s do it.”

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

The first two weeks of the MLB season have already given fans plenty to talk about. Some teams are showing they could be dominant, while others are surprising everyone with unexpected performances. 

Pitchers who struggled in past seasons are suddenly looking like Cy Young contenders and rotations that seemed shaky are starting to click. The big question now is which of these early trends will stick and which are just noise? 

FOX Sports MLB analyst Dontrelle Willis weighs in on the storylines already shaping the season.

The Yankees have a historically great rotation: Overreaction

Willis’ take: “It’s an overreaction, but they will be good. I love what I’ve seen from Max Fried being in a Yankees uniform. He’s been outstanding… 19 wins last year, 2-0 this year. Will Warren has a two ERA pitching today, and Cam Schittler is one of the best young arms in all of baseball. He’s truly fun to watch ever since he rolled over the Red Sox in that postseason start last year. You see the confidence bleed in. Also, they get [Carlos] Rodon and Gerrit Cole back into the fold. Watch out. Nobody is going to want to see that Yankee rotation.”

The Yankees are off to a strong 8–3 start, driven largely by how locked in the rotation has been to start the year. As a group, it holds a 2.47 ERA—tied for second-best in baseball as of Thursday. Fried and Schittler have led the way, combining for 36.2 innings while allowing just six total runs.

Sandy Alcántara is back to Cy Young form: Not an overreaction

Willis’ take: “Breaking all my records one start at a time. He is fun to watch. The 30-year-old is finally healthy. The efficiency and command is there, not only with that sinker but the secondary pitches as well. The only thing that’s going to be unfortunate is that the Fighting Fish are not in the race. He’s going to be a big trade piece once again.”

Alcántara has struggled to stay on the field in recent seasons due to multiple injuries, but he’s opened this year looking fully rejuvenated. Through 24.1 innings, he owns a 0.74 ERA. He’s also recorded 18 strikeouts, reestablishing himself as one of the most dominant arms in the league. 

Even with the Marlins not viewed as a serious contender this season, he remains firmly in the mix for a Cy Young-caliber season.

Alcántara is also closing in on a franchise milestone in complete games, sitting at 13 — just two behind Willis, who holds the record at 15. Willis even joked on the broadcast that Alcantara could surpass that mark within a few weeks and at this pace, it’s hard to argue otherwise.

The Angels are a playoff team: Overreaction

Willis’ take: “It’s early, but I do love how Mike Trout is playing every single day. Zach Neto is going to take that next step. We talked about (Jorge) Soler in the power department, but a little shaky in that rotation. [José]  Soriano has been outstanding, but [Yusei] Kikuchi and company have struggled. They need to play better, but also the AL’s kinda shaky, so maybe they could stumble in there.”

Not only have the Angels been one of the early surprises this season, but their rotation is off to a strong start and Trout looks as healthy as he has in recent memory. They may have been overlooked entering the year, but Soriano is quickly becoming impossible to ignore as a legitimate threat at the top of the rotation.

Soriano is 3–0 with a 0.45 ERA and 21 strikeouts through 20 innings this season. If the Angels are going to contend in a competitive AL West, they’ll need a true ace — and Soriano is making a strong case to be exactly that.

 

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

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 last night in Major League Baseball:

ABS ends a rally

The Twins and Tigers faced off on Wednesday, with free-agent acquisition Framber Valdez on the mound for Detroit and Bailey Ober for Minnesota. It did not go well for the Tigers almost immediately: Valdez allowed six runs in the first, a stretch that began with a wild pitch to score center fielder Byron Buxton and was capped off by third baseman Royce Lewis driving in a pair on a single to center.

The Twins would add a couple of runs by the end of the sixth inning, bringing their lead to 8-2, but in the seventh, Detroit started to truly come back. Designated hitter Gleyber Torres hit a double to score shortstop Javier Baez and rookie third baseman Kevin McGonigle, then left fielder Riley Green singled in Torres.

Reliever Cole Sands would come in for Anthony Banda after this rally, but the righty would give up a single to catcher Dillon Dingler and then throw a wild pitch, allowing Greene to score — 8-6, Twins, with Dingler on second and two outs in the inning.

That’s where the rally would end, however. Center fielder Parker Meadows had a far too passive at-bat to close it out. He took the first two pitches for balls — including a fairly close second pitch under the zone — then watched a 92.5 mph fastball on the inside corner for a strike. Meadows would foul off an 86 mph cutter in the middle of the zone on the next pitch, and then for the fifth, despite having two strikes, watched a curveball hit the bottom of the zone.

The Tigers would get another chance in the eighth, though. The inning began with second baseman Zach McKinstry called out on strikes after catcher Ryan Jeffers challenged and won, but then Baez doubled and Spencer Torkelson was hit by a Cody Laweryson pitch. McGonigle popped out for the second, leaving Torres as Detroit’s last hope in this potential rally. Instead, in a 1-2 count, he didn’t protect the plate in the way that needs to happen in a world where ABS challenges exist.

The 93-mph four-seamer caught just enough of the zone for the initial call to be overturned, resulting in a strikeout to end the eighth. Detroit would attempt another rally in the ninth, and while ABS didn’t stop it, the Tigers faltered the old-fashioned way by grounding out with two runners on, then lining out to harmlessly end the game.

This game is a reminder that hitters need to be even more aware of the count than usual in 2026, and they already had to be real aware before ABS. Borderline pitches are not necessarily up to the ump’s discretion anymore: both McKinstry and Torres ended up striking out on fastballs that were in that outer part of the zone that is still very much a strike if it catches even a little bit of the interior. Those are pitches that, a year ago, would probably have been balls — borderline, but excusable. They are strikes now, though, and hitters are going to have to adjust as the season progresses.

Blue Jays avoid the sweep

It’s been a rough week for the Blue Jays, as Toronto had a World Series rematch with the Dodgers while scuffling out of the gate a bit to begin 2026. The result of that, before Wednesday, was a 14-2 beatdown and a 4-1 loss on Tuesday. The Blue Jays were able to avoid the sweep at the hands of Los Angeles, though, thanks to a late rally in the third and final game of the series.

Shohei Ohtani exited as the starter and Jack Dreyer entered in relief in the bottom of the seventh. That’s when Toronto got to work. Pinch-hitter Davis Schneider started things off with a walk, then catcher Tyler Heineman singled him over to second. DH George Springer would double Schneider home, then center fielder Daulton Varsho tied things up with a ball right up the middle.

Blake Treinen would come on in relief and, despite a steal of second by Varsho and walk to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., got out of the inning without the Blue Jays scoring again. Ben Casparius would not be so lucky in the eighth in relief of Treinen. Schneider walked to give Toronto its first baserunner of the inning with one out, then shortstop Andres Gimenez singled him over to third, and that’s when things went off the rails for the Dodgers.

Instead of just letting Gimenez have second, Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith tried to catch him stealing even with Schneider on third — when the throw wasn’t properly corralled, it gave Schneider a chance to score, and he did. The rest of the inning would go off without a hitch for Los Angeles, but the damage was already done, and Jeff Hoffman was able to close things out for Toronto in the ninth.

Ohtani vs. Okamoto

The Dodgers didn’t win the game, no, but they did take the series, and also came out ahead in the first matchup between two-way star Shohei Ohtani and Blue Jays’ offseason acquisition and third baseman, Kazuma Okamoto, who Toronto signed out of Nippon Professional Baseball this winter.

Hey, if the Blue Jays turn things around soon enough, maybe there will be more matchups between these two Japanese talents later on this season.

Things are rough for Philly

Phillies fans have been known to overreact a little, it’s true. But let them have it this time, since Philadelphia hasn’t scored a run in 20 innings and just lost a series to the Giants to drop to 6-6 on the season. It’s not the end of the world — or even the end of early April — but yeah. Twenty innings without scoring. Woof.

The Giants did not have trouble plating runs. First baseman Rafael Devers — he’s back to playing there now that his hamstring is feeling better — went yard in the bottom of the sixth, crushing a three-run shot 411 feet to center off of Aaron Nola to give San Francisco the only runs it would need.

The Giants would score more, though. First on a sacrifice bunt by designated hitter Luis Arraez in the eighth, then when Devers singled him in later in the inning, making it 5-0. Nola actually pitched well overall, as he gave up three over six innings while walking one, but with Philadelphia’s bats missing, even that seemed insurmountable before the Giants added on against the Philly pen.

The good news is that the Phillies won’t stay scoreless forever. The bad news is that Phillies’ fans have to wait until at least Friday to know if that’s true or not, since Thursday is an off day.

Walker is locked in

Jordan Walker has been on one in the early going. The Cardinals’ right fielder blasted his fourth home run in five games on Wednesday, taking Nationals’ hurler Brad Lord deep on a slider that didn’t slide so much as stay up in the zone. Walker hit it 108 mph back in the other direction, 405 feet to center, putting the Cardinals up 3-1.

Walker is currently leading the majors in dingers with five, which is wild since just last year he hit six all season in 111 games. That was an abysmal year unlike what he managed as a rookie in 2023, however, when he batted .276/.342/.445 with 16 homers and a 113 OPS+, so maybe he’s finally locked in again at 24 years old following an interminable intermission the past two seasons. He was always supposed to develop into a hitter with real pop, and it might finally be happening.

Four-hit day for Ward, O’s sweep

What a day for Orioles’ left fielder Taylor Ward. He went 4-for-5 against the White Sox, bringing his average for the season up to .383, and he also drove in two runs and scored another in a 5-3 victory for Baltimore over Chicago. The last of those came in the ninth, when Ward had his second double of the day to provide some insurance for the O’s in their quest to pick up the sweep on the road.

It ended up being insurance Baltimore didn’t need, but either way, they have to be pleased with how Ward has done in his first season in orange. Ward is batting .383/.464/.574 with an American League-leading 18 hits and MLB-best nine doubles in his first 12 games since coming over from the Angels in the Grayson Rodriguez trade. Rodriguez hasn’t taken the mound yet for Los Angeles, and it’s also April 9, but he might have some catching up to do, is all.

Carroll gets three XBH

Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll helped Arizona even the series with the Mets 1-1, heading into Thursday’s finale, thanks to picking up three extra-base hits in five trips to the plate. The right fielder got going early with a double in the first inning, and eventually came around to score Arizona’s first run of the day, as well. He then hit another double on a liner to center in the second, driving in two runs to put the Diamondbacks up 4-0 against a struggling David Peterson.

While Carroll was done driving in runs, he wasn’t finished with the extra-base knocks. In the seventh, he moved into a tie for fifth among active players with the 46th triple of his career, tying Amed Rosario. Arizona wasn’t able to drive him in, but it also didn’t matter in the long run: the Diamondbacks didn’t need the help, as they ended up winning 7-2 even without that additional run.

The Rockies are .500 for the first time in awhile

The Rockies want you to forget 2025, but right now they are also reminding you of just how poorly that season went. Luckily, that’s because this one is going so much better. Their winning streak is now up to four games, and after sweeping the Astros, they have a .500 record. Once again, a big inning did Houston in and made the day for Colorado: the Rockies were up 1-0 after the first inning, but then had a five-run second, capped off by shortstop Ezequiel Tovar’s RBI double.

Sure, the Rockies were .500 a year ago… literally days into the season, when they were 1-1 on March 29. But a non-losing record for the Rockies even this late into the early season, just 12 games in? You have to go back to 2022 for that. Which also happens to be the last time the Rockies didn’t lose at least 101 games. There is going to be a lot of remembering the Rockies’ terrible recent past throughout 2026, but maybe — maybe — it will be as a positive point of comparison instead of as part of the same endless sludge that the franchise has been stuck in throughout the decade.

Martinez goes 4-for-5, hits a grand slam

There was another big four-hit game on Wednesday, this one from Guardians’ left fielder Angel Martinez. Not only did he go 4-for-5, but he also hit a four-bagger, clearing the bases with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the eighth.

Granted, Cleveland was already up on the Royals and in position to win at this point, but with the way big innings turn things over in a hurry in MLB these days, you can never have enough runs. Martinez’s grand slam made sure the Guardians had a dominant lead instead of a tenuous one, and it pushed Cleveland to 8-5 on the season. As has been mentioned before in this space and will be brought up again, the American League Central is likely going to be a tight race this year — these early divisional wins are going to matter a lot down the road.

Mason Miller returns home, strikes it out

Padres’ closer Mason Miller is a Pittsburgh native, and he returned to his hometown for the first time as a professional on Wednesday to take on the Pirates. Of course, these moments can only be so friendly: Miller is there to do his job, and his job is getting Bucs’ batters out. Which he did with ease, sitting them down 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out.

Using Miller in an 8-2 game might seem like overkill, but he had not pitched since April 5 against the Red Sox, so the Padres were just trying to get their closer some work rather than letting him rust in the pen. 

San Diego now heads back home to host the surging Rockies, so maybe Miller will get a little more work in on Thursday as these two teams duke it out to see which can get over .500 on the season first.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

The City Connect uniforms are back in MLB for this season.

MLB unveiled City Connect uniforms for eight teams Thursday morning. Prior to the start of the regular season, the teams partnered closely with Nike and Fanatics, MLB’s uniform manufacturer, for the next batch of City Connect jerseys. The eight teams: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers.

The goal for these uniforms is to reflect “the energy and pride of each Club’s community, offering bold and expressive interpretations that celebrate both team history and what’s ahead for the game.”

The descriptions of each uniform below are courtesy of MLB.

“A brighter powder blue anchors the design as a modernized callback to the Club’s beloved 1980s uniforms. Red piping, an updated ‘Atlanta’ script and ‘ATL’ block letter sleeve patch marry vintage style with today’s team colors.”

Rooted in the soul of Baltimore, the design pays tribute to Camden Yards through motifs including the brass home run plaques, wrought-iron scoreboard clock and a Camden ‘B’ inspired by the 1890s Baltimore Baseball Club. An Oriole bird sits perched proudly atop the ‘BMORE’ wordmark.

“Embracing the color that defines the franchise, pinstripes make a modern comeback in a tone-on-tone style and a nod to the popular vest-style jersey last worn more than two decades ago. A sleeve graphic features the iconic Tyler Davidson Fountain, which begins flowing each year around Opening Day.”

“A bold fuchsia-to-blue gradient draws inspiration from Kansas City’s official City of Fountains logo, channeling the spirit of the city’s people and iconic waterways. The updated ‘R’ logo pays homage to the Club’s original 1969 mark, while a heart logo reflects Kansas City’s place as the nation’s heartland.”

“A water-toned base and cream accent evoke Wisconsin’s endless lakes, sandy shores and sandstone bluffs, while a gradient wordmark captures the state’s beautiful summer sunsets. A ‘Wisco’ wordmark on the chest, state motto on the collar, bobber jock tag detail and redesigned Barrelman sleeve patch round out a uniform that celebrates the team’s history and Wisconsin’s rich heritage.”

“Built around Pittsburgh’s unmistakable black and gold identity, the uniform features a rugged, pirate-style wordmark whose font draws inspiration from the city’s ‘Sister Bridges.’ Red accents and Jolly Roger elements add boldness without breaking the city’s iconic color palette.”

“Celebrating the Padres’ bi-national region and culture through honoring its traditions and families with a focus on Día de los Muertos, the design features a sunset-ombre ‘San Diego’ chest wordmark, La Catrina sleeve patch, marigold-patterned trim, bone colored hat and pants, and papel picado jock tag.”

“Cochineal red anchors a design steeped in Texas and Mexican heritage, highlighted by the ‘Tejas’ chest wordmark, a charro-embossed belt and mariachi-inspired fill patterns.”

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Edwin Díaz hasn’t been a starter since he was in Double-A a decade ago, so the three-time All-Star closer doesn’t know exactly how exhausting it must be for a starting pitcher to have to navigate the Dodgers’ daunting lineup multiple times on a single night. 

He can commiserate with opposing starters, though, as they attempt to deal with a Dodgers’ offense that is starting to look like the inexorable machine their fans envisioned and their foes feared. 

“You don’t have any place to breathe,” Diaz told me last week. “Good luck to the opposing team.”

The way the Dodgers’ offense is now firing, crossing fingers and hoping for the best might be an opponent’s only hope. 

After a slow start to the year for the Dodgers’ top sluggers, they’ve found their form away from home. The Dodgers were averaging more than nine runs per game in a 5-0 start to their road trip before dropping Wednesday’s series finale to Toronto in which two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani gave up just one run in six innings.

When the Dodgers’ offense is clicking the way it can at full strength, it can wear an opponent down with patience and strike with power. Even if a pitcher emerges unscathed against Ohtani and four-time All-Star Kyle Tucker atop the star-studded lineup, eight-time All-Star Mookie Betts, nine-time All-Star Freddie Freeman, three-time All-Star Will Smith, two-time All-Stars Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández and reigning National League Player of the Week Andy Pages are then waiting to pounce. 

“It certainly has to be taxing when you’re facing our guys, and when you feel like you have to be perfect,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Just to continue to keep executing and executing, it’s tough mentally, physically.”

It looked that way Friday for Miles Mikolas, who became the first pitcher in Nationals history to surrender 11 earned runs in a game. Betts went deep in that 13-6 win before hurting his oblique the following day, but the injury hasn’t stopped the Dodgers’ unrelenting attack. 

After pulverizing Mikolas, the Dodgers proceeded to pummel Nationals starter Jake Irvin for six runs in four innings on Saturday before tagging Washington’s bullpen for seven runs in the final four innings Sunday to finish off a sweep. 

They then traveled north of the border for a highly-anticipated World Series rematch that figured to present more of a challenge. The first two games were a one-sided onslaught in favor of the back-to-back champs, who outscored the Blue Jays by 15 runs. In Wednesday’s game, it was a throwing error by Dodgers catcher Will Smith that allowed Davis Schneider to score the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.

The last time Miguel Rojas was in Toronto, the veteran infielder’s ninth-inning heroics at the plate made him a Game 7 World Series hero. Five months later, his next game against the Blue Jays ended with him on the mound in the ninth inning Monday night finishing off a 14-2 drubbing that included five Dodgers home runs. 

“We’re feeding off each other,” Freddie Freeman told reporters after Monday’s rout in Toronto. “Everyone’s just doing their part.”

A week into the season, it didn’t look that way. Ohtani, Betts, Tucker and Smith were all hitting .200 or worse to start the season. Freeman wasn’t much better at .208, and Hernandez had yet to record an extra-base hit. The slow starts were clearly the result of a small sample. 

And, perhaps the scariest part for the rest of the league: when the Dodgers weren’t hitting to their capabilities, they were still winning, a testament to the complete juggernaut they’ve built. 

Even with Blake Snell sidelined to start the year, Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow give the Dodgers as fearsome a top starting pitching trio as any in baseball. Diaz has helped transform the Dodgers’ shoddy 2025 bullpen into a strength, and 25-year-old outfielder Andy Pages has demonstrated after a forgettable October that he’s capable of lifting the Dodgers’ offense through rough spells when he’s going right. The Dodgers began the year 4-2 despite hitting below league average as a group at the time. 

The most obvious tell that Ohtani was searching for his form, beyond his 3-for-15 start, was his presence on the field at Dodger Stadium before the series finale against the Guardians. Ohtani rarely takes batting practice on the field, but he made an exception on April 1. 

It seems to have worked. 

Now, Pages is still rolling — he leads MLB in hits (19) and batting average (.452) — while the rest of the lineup is pulling its weight. 

Ohtani has reached base multiple times in every game on the Dodgers’ road trip and has three homers in his last six games. Freeman’s on a seven-game hitting streak with three home runs and three doubles over that stretch. Tucker has yet to consistently showcase his power, but his average is up to .268. Hernández has seven hits, including three extra-base hits, over his last four games. 

On Tuesday, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland, who will get extra playing time in the middle infield while Betts is down, provided the team’s extra-base hits in the fifth straight win. 

Suddenly, a Dodgers offense that ranked 14th in OPS six games into the season now ranks first. They’re up three games up in the division, they look indomitable, and they should only get better as more reinforcements arrive (Betts, Snell, Tommy Edman, Kike Hernandez, Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart, Brusdar Graterol among them) over the coming weeks and months. 

The Two-way Ohtani Plan 

When Ohtani took the mound Wednesday afternoon in Toronto, it was on seven days of rest (as a pitcher) and had the longest active regular-season scoreless inning streak in MLB before the Blue Jays’ third-inning run.

This season, Ohtani plans on going wire-to-wire as a starting pitcher for the first time since undergoing his second career elbow procedure in September 2023, but the Dodgers are going to still be mindful about his rest between starts, considering his two-way duties. 

That will make it tough for Ohtani to win his first Cy Young Award this year — a goal many of his coaches and teammates believe he is striving for — but he could still find a way. If he continues to blank every opponent, it may be easier to overlook his lack of volume. 

“I think if anyone can manage the designated hitter role and be as productive as he’s been and still chase that elusive Cy Young for a Japanese pitcher,” Roberts said, “I think he can do it.” 

The two-way sensation didn’t pitch during the World Baseball Classic, but he returned to spring training still ready to handle a full workload from the jump. He threw 4.1 scoreless innings against the Giants in Glendale, Arizona, in his first official spring start on March 18, struck out 11 batters in his final spring tune-up against his former team on March 24, then fired six scoreless innings of one-hit ball against the Guardians in his first start of the regular season. 

“Last year I felt good,” Ohtani said after his 2026 debut, “but this year I do feel a lot more loose and easy pitching overall.”   

Ohtani featured more of his curveball than usual in his start against Cleveland, and Roberts said he believes Ohtani’s feel for his breaking ball this year is much better. Multiple members of the Dodgers’ staff have expressed a belief that Ohtani will only continue to get more comfortable using his full arsenal — and tweaking it depending on opponent — the more he settles into his full two-way duties again. 

He entered his start Wednesday with both the longest active scoreless innings streak as a pitcher (22.2) and the longest active on-base streak as a hitter (42 games). He failed to hit in Tuesday’s game, but reached on base via walk to keep his on-base streak to 43 games. For now, the Dodgers plan to keep him in the leadoff spot on days that he starts, though that could be subject to change at some point, depending on how he performs. 

So far, so good. 

“I think he’s already proven that he’s the best player, you can argue, that’s ever played the game — best baseball player in totality,” Roberts said. “I do think that he sees himself as a baseball player, yes, but when he’s pitching he sees himself solely as a pitcher, and he wants to be the best pitcher.”

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.
 

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Texas Rangers left-hander Jacob Latz has a no-hit start this season, setting a franchise record over nine innings in his first five appearances.

Opposing hitters were 0 for 28, one batter more than 27 outs needed for a full game, against the pitcher who turned 30 on Wednesday.

The 66-season franchise’s previous record for consecutive hitless batters to start a season had been Yu Darvish retiring the first 26 batters in his first start in 2013 at Houston. Marwin Gonzalez ended Darvish’s bid for a perfect game with a two-out single up the middle with two outs in the ninth inning.

Latz retired all six batters he faced over two innings in the Rangers’ 3-2 win over Seattle on Tuesday night.

“We knew he was going to be on the team, we just didn’t know what role it was going to be,” new Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said Wednesday. “We still think he can be a starter. I mean there’s no doubt at it, but the way our roster was looking like and being constructed, we were going to use him in very valuable situations.”

Latz has started 10 of his 88 big league games, including his debut in 2021. His latest start was four no-hit innings in the second game this season, when two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom was a late scratch because of neck stiffness. Latz has since made four relief appearances.

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Retiring 28-straight batters is surprising at any time for nearly any pitcher, but for Latz right now, especially. The Rangers’ rotation was already full – in addition to deGrom, the Rangers feature Nathan Eovaldi, acquired MacKenzie Gore from the Nationals this offseason, and have both Kumar Rocker and Jeff Leiter at the back-end – but Latz didn’t help his case much during spring training, as he produced an 8.04 ERA over six appearances and five starts while allowing three home runs and 10 walks in 15.2 innings.

However, the southpaw pitched well both as a starter and reliever in 2025: in eight starts, he produced a 2.72 ERA while opponents hit .206/.285/.338 in 39.2 innings, against 2.93 and a .236/.320/.368 line in relief. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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