Happy Friday, everyone. We’re getting ever closer to the Cubs’ home opener, which is looking like it might be a typically chilly affair. In the meantime, things are heating up in Pittsburgh, and not just because of the popularity of The Pitt. The Pirates are calling up one of the hottest prospects in baseball, Konnor Griffin, perhaps after seeing how well Kevin McGonigle was doing with the Tigers. It’ll be exciting to see more young talent coming to the MLB stage.
We also saw a pretty scary injury
with umpire CB Bucknor, and some crazy plays all around baseball in the first week of play. We’ve got plenty of little news bites to ease you into the weekend so let’s not waste time and get right to it.
- Emma Baccellieri sings the praises to the newly restored Tropicana Field.
- The Mariners managed a rare feat, not hitting a single single in their first two games. Ryan Blake takes a look.
- A truly wild way for the ABS to end a game. Story by Jake Rill.
- Brent Maguire looks at 12 pitchers who dazzled in their 2026 debuts.
- Nick Selbe wraps up the best and worst ABS challenges of the first week of the season.
- Stephanie Apstein looks at three up-and-coming stars who could be next for massive contract extensions.
- Jeff Passan shares that the Pirates have called up top prospect Konnor Griffin.
- First grand slam of the season!
- Ben Clemens takes a very early look at the new ABS challenge system.
- Rookie Colt Emerson and the Mariners have agreed to a $95 million contract extension. Story by Dan Szymborski.
- Christina De Nicola shared how the Marlins got a unique look at the Artemis rocket launch.
- Kyle Koster doesn’t think it’s too early for the Red Sox to start panicking.
- Kyle Koster looks at a problem only Shohei Ohtani could have during a start.
- Anthony Gharib shares some of the top new ballpark food of 2026.
- Sam Blum shares how former umpires are empathizing with the current crew over the new ABS challenges. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Baseball is the best.
- Michael Rosen looks at what hitters see, and when they actually see it.
- A takeaway for every team after the first week of play. (MLB)
- Paul Skenes had a terrible game for his first outing of the season, but he was determined to prove it was a fluke in his most recent start. Story by Mike Petraglia.
- Where are teams stacking up in the Power Rankings with one will of play into the year? (ESPN)
- Ryan Phillips looks deeper into what happened in the clip below with CB Bucknor.
- Ken Rosenthal digs into why some teams seem so willing to throw money at unproven rookie talent. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Rough day for CB Bucknor.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.
