Ward of Change - April 9th, 2026

Dan Nachtigal

Apr 8, 2026

Taylor Ward, OF, BAL

Ward went 4 for 5 with three doubles and two RBI in Chicago on Wednesday. He has recorded a two-bagger in four straight games and in seven of the last eight. The 32-year-old has made an immediate impact at the top of the Os' lineup, which appears to have changed up his approach at the plate. In 2025, Ward basically became homer-or-bust for the Angels. He owned a career-high 48.3% FB% and 26.4% K% to go along with a 17.1% LD%, which was well below his career 21.0% rate. So far this season, he owns a career-high 34.4% LD%, with a tame 19.6% K% and career-high 14.3% BB%.

Jordan Walker, OF, STL

Walker goes deep again. It was his fifth of the season, which is tied for the league lead, and is one shy of his tally from last season. He finished the day 1 for 4 with a walk and two strikeouts. The 23-year-old is riding a five-game hitting streak in which he has four dingers and nine RBI. Walker is finally starting to get statistical production out of his impressive hard-hitting metrics. Entering Wednesday's contest, his 97.5% Avg Exit Velo ranked in the 100th percentile, while his .712 xSLG, 71.4% Hard-Hit%, and 78.4% Bat Speed ranked in the 99th. It's still early, but the folks who pay attention to such underlying metrics to attempt to predict future potential are absolutely stoked right now.

Mackenzie Gore, SP, TEX

Gore tossed 5.0 innings of one-hit ball en route to his second win of the season on Wednesday afternoon. He walked two and fanned nine in the contest. The 27-year-old has been heating up the baseball savant page in the early going this season. As a result, he owns a hefty 13.78 K/9 and 2.01 xFIP. Coming into this start, Gore had a 26.9% Hard-Hit percentage that ranked in the 83rd percentile and an 85.7 Avg Exit Velo that ranked in the 79th. He did give up four Hard-Hit balls on Wednesday, but he also allowed only six balls in play in the game.

Mitch Keller, SP, PIT

Keller twirled 6.0 innings of shutout ball against the Padres but was rewarded with a no-decision for his efforts. He gave up three hits, one walk, and fanned four. The 30-year-old has opened up the 2026 campaign with three 6.0-inning Quality Starts. With a 5.50 K/9 and 2.50 BB/9, Keller hasn't been dazzling in the K/BB department, but coming into Wednesday's start, he owned an impressive 2.8% Barrel%. The lack of strikeouts has his xFIP and FIP at 4.18 and 2.76, respectively...but the 1.00 ERA and .94 WHIP look pretty good.

Joey Cantillo, SP, CLE

Cantillo gave up two runs (1ER) and fanned nine en route to his first win of the season. He gave up three hits and walked two across 5.2 innings. He racked up seven Whiffs on his changeup for a 64% Whiff%. The 26-year-old continues to prove that his stuff can be filthy (12.27 K/9), but the control still needs to be honed in (4.30 BB/9). Prior to Wednesday's start, Cantillo hadn't been hit hard this season (26.1% Hard-Hit% and 86.6% Avg Exit Velo), but he hasn't shown the ability to get batters to chase (25.0% Chase%, 24th percentile), which contributes to the elevated walk rate.

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Player Commentary

Apr 8, 2026

Dan Nachtigal

Growing up I loved Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs. The 1998 Home Run duel between Sosa and Mark McGwire was a highlight of my childhood and was ultimately where my infatuation with baseball and statistics began. That infatuation then grew exponentially a few years later when my father took me to my first Major League game between the Cubs and Rockies at Coors Field. We sat a few rows up behind home plate where I witnessed Slammin' Sammy hit three, 3-run Home Runs, in three consecutive innings. I was elated, it was as if the game was scripted for me. I've personally witnessed a lot of great sports games since then, from Brett Favre at Lambeau to LeBron James in the finals, but nothing compares to the show that my favorite player put on for me at my first baseball game.