Brandon Kamerman

The Padres are going to have nightmares about Dansby Swanson. Swanson had a series to remember against San Diego, capped off with a career performance in Wednesday's finale. The slick-fielding shortstop hit three home runs, scored four times and drove in eight of the Cubs' 23 runs.

If you look past the .202/.303/.385 slash, Dansby Swanson hasn't been a complete loss. He is still capable of his second-straight 20/20 season with 11 home runs and 10 stolen bases, and 12.5% walk rate implies that his EYE isn't in the gutter as one would expect from his ugly surface stats.

Michael Harris II's sensational season continued on Tuesday. One game after a rare 0-for-3 performance on Sunday, the dynamic outfielder filled up the stat sheet, tagging Red Sox pitchers for four hits in four at-bats, including a home run, double and three RBI's.

Bryce Harper, 1B (PHI) Harper is heating up. After going 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs on Tuesday, the Phillies superstar has raised his slash line to .286/.377/.571. He has six hits and three home runs in his past...

Okay, this is getting ridiculous, Mason Miller! The star closer made his sixth appearance of the season on Thursday. He delivered his fourth-straight perfect inning. In 6.1 innings, he has allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out 16 batters. He has at least two strikeouts in every appearance and at least three K's in all but two. He threw four fastballs on Thursday: all four were over 101 miles-per-hour and one was clocked at 103.4. Meanwhile, his slider generates an 80% swinging-strike rate. This feels very unfair.

Quickly putting his 2025 struggles in the rearview mirror, Sandy Alcantara delivered the league's first complete game shutout with a dominant performance in just his second start of the season. The Marlins ace needed only 93 pitches to set down the White Sox offense, allowing only three hits and no walks while striking out seven. This follows an impressive season debut in which he held the Rockies to only one unearned run in seven innings last week. The Rockies and White Sox could battle for two of the game's worst offenses so it's important to temper the excitement, but Alcantara is looking more and more like the 2022 Cy Young Award winner rather than the post-Tommy John Surgery sample of last year.

The bad news is Corbin Carroll went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his first game of spring training. The good news is he played a game and actually smacked a game-high 113.6 mile-per-hour grounder in his first at-bat that didn't make it out of the infield. Carroll had hamate surgery less than a month ago, but the fact he is back with still a bit of time before the start of the regular season is very promising.

Yordan Alvarez may need to work off some rust. Making his first appearance of spring training, the veteran slugger was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. The fact he's out there is really what matters, however, after a mostly lost season in 2025.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B (CIN) Encarnacion-Strand is recovering from a hamstring injury suffered in January. The former top prospect has struggled mightily over the past two years, dealing with injuries and underperformance. After exhibiting extraordinary power during his minor league career,...

Elly De La Cruz is finally off the schneid. The dynamic shortstop hammered a 6th-inning fastball 366 feet for his first home run since July 31. It was his 20th long ball of the season. He also walked twice and was caught stealing once. He is now hitting .262 with 20 homers and 35 stolen bases. It's a far cry from the 25 homers and 67 steals accumulated in 2024.

Soto had only one hit on Tuesday, but he stole his 30th base of the season, perhaps one of the most unpredictable outcomes of 2025. He is ninth in all of baseball in stolen bases, a remarkable feat for a player who entered the 2025 season averaging less than 10 stolen bases per year. Meanwhile, four more home runs would set a career high in that category, which pretty negates any possible discussion of a disappointing season. Yes, his batting average is lower than expected at .261, but Soto may finish the season as the only 30/30 player in MLB.

Bryan Woo and the Mariners were absolutely dominant at Yankee Stadium. Until they weren't. Woo no-hit the Yankees through seven innings and entered the 8th inning with a 5-0 lead. He quickly gave up two singles to lead off the inning and then his first run on a sacrifice fly. He was charged another run when the bullpen gave up two more runs in the inning. The Mariners would eventually blow the lead in the 9th and lose the game in the 10th, erasing what was truly a magnificent performance by the 25-year-old breakout starter.

Keller delivered one of his best performances of the season, holding the Cardinals scoreless on five hits and a walk in seven innings. He tied for his second-highest strikeout total of the season with seven.

Nearly a year after the Reds selected him with the second pick in the MLB Draft, Burns made his major league debut, showing off his insane fastball/slider combination. He couldn't start out much better than striking out the first five batters he faced, including getting Aaron Judge to whiff at a 91-mph slider off the outside corner.

Paul Goldschmidt continues to thrive in his first season in New York. He added two hits and a walk on Wednesday, including his 13th double, while scoring the only run of the game.

Soto smacked a pair of home runs on Wednesday and also added a 110 mile-per-hour lineout to straightaway center. It's another example of Soto tearing the cover off the ball in his first year with the Mets, even if the surface stats don't support that.

Reese Olson was absolutely dominant on Wednesday. The young right-hander threw 7.1 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out seven. Olson's slider/changeup were spectacular, generating 17 swinging strikes on those two pitches alone. He finished the game with a phenomenal 41% CSW rate. Through five starts Olson has been a completely different pitcher at home than on the road. He has allowed two runs in 18.1 innings at Comerica Park while giving up eight runs in nine innings away from Detroit. It's way too small of a sample size to allow that to play into lineup decisions, and it's worth noting his home/road splits were negligible last year. The bigger factor is that when he has his changeup going, he can be one of the best pitchers in the game.

The phenom is growing up. James Wood stuffed the stat sheet with three hits in four at-bats, including two home runs and five RBI's. He walked once and scored twice. He raised his OPS 237 points on Tuesday.

King was dominant on Tuesday, striking out 11 batters in five innings while allowing only two hits and one walk. King finished with a 40% CSW rate, including nine whiffs on his four-seam fastball.

Ohtani's path to back-to-back 50/50 seasons began on Wednesday in Japan when the Dodgers' superstar blasted his first home run of the regular season, a towering fly off a 99-mph fastball that was initially ruled fan interference but later overruled via replay review.

Let's preface this by taking a deep breath and reminding ourselves not to overreact about spring training. Okay? Did you breathe? Now PANIC!!!! Okay, it's at least a little worrisome that Grayson Rodriguez was pulled from Wednesday's start with reduced velocity.

Victor Robles was hitless in three at-bats on Wednesday, but he remains the likely candidate to lead off for the Mariners this season. The 27 year old was spectacular in half a season with the Mariners after getting cut by the Nationals last June. He managed to cut his strikeouts down and capitalized on a .388 BABIP.

Every time Shohei Ohtani practices pitching, it's worth writing about. He has thrown multiple bullpen sessions this month and is reportedly hitting the low-to-mid 90's. He's a ways off of his pre-surgery arsenal, but the signs are trending in line with projections for a return to the mound in early May.

Your 2024 American League Cy Young winner was in his element on Tuesday. Skubal shut the Rays out for seven innings, allowing only two hits and striking out seven en route to his 18th win.

Kumar Rocker, SP (TEX) Rocker was impressive in his major league debut, striking out seven batters in four innings. He allowed one run on three hits and two walks. The only damage came on a Justin Turner solo home run...

Spencer Arrighetti, SP (HOU) Things looked bleak a couple months ago for Arrighetti, but the tide has turned for the rookie. After blanking the Orioles for six innings in Camden Yards last week, Arrighetti was even better on Wednesday, holding...

Chris Sale, SP (ATL) Sale made a strong case for the Cy Young Award on Monday with seven scoreless innings and 12 strikeouts. He only allowed three hits and no walks but had to settle for a no-decision as the...

Framber Valdez, SP (HOU) Valdez was one out away from a no-hitter but a two-run Corey Seager home run ousted him from the game, leaving Josh Hader to clean up the final out and secure a 4-2 Astros win. Valdez...

Jose Ramirez, 3B (CLE) Ramirez reached base in all six plate appearances on Tuesday and stole a pair of bases in Cleveland's extra-inning win at Detroit. The superstar third baseman hit the hardest ball of the game, a 109-mph double...

Nathan Eovaldi, SP (TEX) The Padres entered Tuesday's game with a league-leading 123 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. Well, Eovaldi spit all over that metric with a dominant performance. The veteran righty held San Diego scoreless on one hit and no...

Gerrit Cole, SP (NYY) Cole struggled mightily in a loss to the Mets on Tuesday, allowing six runs in four innings. He gave up seven hits, including four home runs, and four walks, but here's the worst part: he didn't...

Corbin Carroll, OF (ARI) Carroll stuffed the stat sheet on Tuesday, reaching base four times including a triple, two walks and his 13th stolen base of the season. Carroll looked just fine after leaving Sunday's game with side discomfort. Both...

Tarik Skubal, SP (DET) Skubal rebounded from his worst start of the season, which wasn't actually that bad, to deliver a dominant performance on Wednesday against Pittsburgh. The electric left-hander threw a season-high seven shutout innings, holding the Pirates to...

Chris Sale, SP (ATL) Sale was absolutely brilliant against his former team on Wednesday. It was his first scoreless appearance as an Atlanta Brave and the first double-digit strikeout game of the season. He allowed six hits and one walk...

Ryan Mountcastle, 1B (BAL) Mountcastle continued his strong start to the season, hitting his fifth home run and driving in a pair as the Orioles jumped all over Carlos Rodon en route to a 7-2 win at Camden Yards. Mountcastle...

Tyler Glasnow, SP (LAD) Glasnow was absolutely dominant on Tuesday, shutting the Twins down for seven innings, allowing only three hits and no walks while striking out 14. He is now 3-0 on the season with a 2.25 ERA and...