Happy Friday, everyone. It’s hard to believe it, but we are actually approaching the one-fifth point of the season. It’s no longer easy to just blame issues on a small sample size, and we’re starting to have a good idea of who the real contenders this season might be. The NL seems to be faring much better than the AL overall, but even in the NL we still have teams like the Mets and Phillies showing historically bad season starts.
We look at that in today’s news alongside other fun tidbits. Shohei
Ohtani showed that he wasn’t perfect, Nick Kurtz is taking a ton of walks, and the Phillies can’t even take in a hockey game without getting savagely booed by frustrated fans.
All that and more, so let’s just jump right into it.
- Meet Derek Klena, whose love of both acting and baseball found the perfect outlet with the Savannah Bananas. Story by Rick Maese.
- A familiar face for Cubs fans will be heading to the AL as Kyle Hendricks joins the Detroit Tigers front office as a special assistant. Story by Cody Stavenhagen. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Think things can’t get worse in Boston? Garrett Crochet’s injury would beg to differ. Story by Ben Clemens.
- Martin Gallegos looks at Nick Kurtz’s insane walk streak and who he’s poised to pass next.
- Kyle Koster looks at the wildly different results between the AL and NL right now.
- A look at the Mets’ woeful April, making them one NL team that’s really weighing down the curve. Story by Jorge Castillo.
- The Phillies went to a hockey game and didn’t get the reception they were likely hoping for.
- Travis Sawchik has a proposal for how to make a better ballpark for White Sox fans.
- Maury Brown does a deep dive look at potential destinations for expansion and how soon we might expect to hear about them. (Spoiler: it won’t be right away)
- Jake Rill looks at a two grand slam day for the O’s.
- How Ildemaro Vargas quietly become the hottest hitter in baseball? Story by Kyle Koster.
- Nick Selbe looks at the best and worst of players debuting on new teams this season.
- Chad Jennings tries to determine which manager might be on the chopping block next. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Considering that looks like a jumbo-sized bag of Nerds Gummy Clusters, I think the trade was worth it.
- The Athletic staff look behind the scenes at the sweeping managerial changes in Boston. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Jay Jaffe looks at the unexpected comeback of the Atlanta Braves after a dreadful 2025.
- Will Aldrich shares how Paul Skenes showed his gratitude to his former high school mentor.
- Shohei Ohtani made a mistake! Story by Stephen Douglas.
- Even after being fired, Alex Cora still takes the high road in an email about the team. (ESPN)
- Came across this fun litle bit of baseball trivia and it made me chuckle, so sharing it here!
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.
