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Today’s Headlines
Mets On Top
Don’t look now, but the Mets have the best record in baseball, sitting pretty at 18-7 after they completed a sweep of the Phillies yesterday afternoon.
On Monday, the Phillies nearly forced extras, plating four runs in the ninth inning before the Mets managed to shut the door and walk away with a 5-4 victory, then on Tuesday it was a rather open-and-shut 5-1 Mets win. Wednesday was a bit more dramatic, as the Phillies scored two in the fourth to tie the game up, and then scored in the top of the 10th, trying to salvage a win in the three-game set. New York wasn’t having any of that nonsense, though:
đ»ââïž pic.twitter.com/fK0QUvS0vL
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 23, 2025
That’s a double off Pete’s bat at 97.7 mph that traveled 354 feet off of what looked like a very awkward swing. That Pete Alonso fellow seems strong. The 10th inning win was gone, but after an intentional walk to Brandon Nimmo, Jordan Romano struck out Mark Vientos, and he was an out away from giving the Phightin’s another chance to get on top. Enter Starling Marte…
FROM SANTO DOMINGOOOO đ€© pic.twitter.com/cxZ0PQMxWl
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 23, 2025
Alonso runs like he’s a human bobblehead, but hey, it gets the job done. As you can hear in the clip, that’s seven straight wins for the Mets as they currently have a five-game lead over Philadelphia (who in turn are a game and a half up on… Miami?!)
It’s seven straight wins, but on a longer timeline, New York is having a historic start to the season in Queens.
Home cookin' đ pic.twitter.com/cSwIXf4Zxv
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 23, 2025
Learning How To Be Polite And Kurtz-y
As we’d been hearing for a few days now, it was debut time for the A’s No. 1 prospect Nick Kurtz, who batted seventh in the lineup and played first base on Wednesday night. If you’re unfamiliar, Kurtz was the fourth overall pick in the 2024 draft, and last year he hit .368/.520/.763 across seven Single-A and five Double-A ball games. Which is a small sample, but he also hit .321/.385/.655 in 20 games in Triple-A earlier this year, and the A’s figured he was ready for the big show. He wasted no time making an impact in his first at-bat, shooting a grounder past Marcus Semien to drive in a run:
"Nick Kurtz, welcome to Major League Baseball!"
The @Athletics top prospect gets his first hit and RBI in his first MLB at-bat. pic.twitter.com/zidF3WlBnD
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
Nick Kurtz's dad was waving home the runner on his son's first RBI! đ pic.twitter.com/7s7rTo4861
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
It was Kurtz’ only hit for the night, but he did show a discerning eye at the plate despite not reaching base again. He also had one of those routine-turned-almost-incredible plays on a pop-up in the second inning:
Sacramento would end up beating Texas by a score of 5-2, featuring a three-strikeout save from Mason Miller that ended with an absolutely disgusting 102 mph heater:
The Reaper says Goodnight
Mason Miller strikes out the side to close out the win. pic.twitter.com/yzbsenosfy
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
The game also featured Jacob Wilson wearing a seriously extra amount of eyeblack:
Sunny California and all that, I suppose. Oh, Wilson also took his first MLB walk yesterday!
OK, I laughed at Jacob Wilsonâs first walk of the season. Kudos to Lawrence Butler for similarly finding the joy here.
— Sam Dykstra (@samdykstramilb.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T03:29:30.826Z
Sugano Shouldering the Load Early as O’s get Diagnosis for Grayson
It has not been the 2025 season that Baltimore hoped for so far, as they are currently sitting in fifth place in the AL East at 9-4, but one of their offseason signings has held up his end of the deal: Tomoyuki Sugano has been the every-fifth-day rock that the O’s probably didn’t know they were getting, as he’s paced the staff in terms of his innings per start:
Line for #Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2 HRs. 94 pitches, 56 strikes.Sugano allowed 3 runs in 1st and nothing more, lowering ERA to 3.54.Sugano is only O's starter to go more than 6 innings — and he's done it twice with 2 straight starts of 7.
— Jake Rill (@jakerill.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T00:53:35.967Z
He’s doing all of that with a 9.2% K rate. That’s not a typo, it’s under 10%. His 3.54 ERA also stands out given the O’s have a league-worst 6.22 ERA for their starters, and a bottom-10 4.55 ERA from their bullpen. And they also just found out that their ace on paper coming into the season, Grayson Rodriguez, will be on the shelf for at least another month:
Grayson Rodriguez has a mild lat strain. #Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is optimistic Rodriguez will resume throwing in a few weeks.
— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) April 23, 2025
I will always take the over when it comes to recovery timelines, and while as a Yankees fan I am fine with the O’s pitching continuing to scuffle, as a baseball fan I am very happy to see a dude like Sugano with such a weird profile make it work over a month of the season. I don’t think somebody with a sub-10% K-rate can ever melt Nick’s heart (he’s got a 2.89 K/9!) enough to make The List, but I’ll be danged if it isn’t enough to win me over. Maybe a Vargas Rule at least?
Best Moments From Yesterday
JAMES WOOD PULLED A FLY BALL
THIS IS NOT A DRILL, FOLKS!
James Wood came into Wednesday with the following slash line: .253/.350/.552 with seven HRs. His ISO was .299, and he hadn’t pulled a single fly ball.
That changed in a hurry:
sabrina carpenter have you heard of james wood pic.twitter.com/0aKD1VdN98
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 23, 2025
Yeah, that was as much of a shot as you think:
James Wood's first-inning home run was the hardest hit home run by a National at Nationals Park in the Statcast era (2015-present).116.3 mph.
— Spencer Nusbaum (@spencernusbaum.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T03:20:06.373Z
I don’t have much to add here that the video doesn’t cover, except that I’ll point out that James Wood is the same height as Aaron Judge. That’s fun.
…And Yet, Even More Impressive
However, that absolutely tank is not actually the most impressive thing I saw on the Nats broadcast yesterday. That honor goes to vendor number 126:
I was also informed by PL Friend Mary Ankenbruck that she does this at every game!
Also, Speaking of Judge
This Aaron Judge guy is pretty good at baseball if you haven’t heard:
Aaron Judge's batting average is now higher than today's date (.424 vs. 4/23). This is about as late into a season as you'll ever see that from an everyday player.
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) April 23, 2025
Judge went 2-for-4 with a walk in Wednesday’s 5-1 Yankee victory over the Guardians, dropping his batting average down to a positively ancient .415 for the season. Personally, I think he has it in him to be hitting .601 on June 1. Is this mathematically possible? I can only assume no. Does that matter to me? Also no.
Oboy Oneil
I feel like I get to highlight an Oneil Cruz homer every week, and I’m definitely not complaining about it because his dingers are pretty hilarious. Case in point:
116.6 mph off the bat, 463 feet. Oneil Cruz just hit the second-longest home run of his career
— Alex Stumpf (@alexjstumpf.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T02:42:40.685Z
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ball land that far up the berm in Anaheim.
Luke Stealsall
The Twins called up second baseman Luke Keaschall last week, and he’s hit the ground running, posting a .353/.500/.529 line in five games to go with five stolen bases. Which is a historic debut!
Luke Keaschall has recorded 5 stolen bases through the first 5 MLB games he has appeared in.
That is tied for the most stolen bases since at least 1901 đ± pic.twitter.com/hdJ5chmqu7
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
Luke’s pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, though:
Luke Keaschall, after being told about this record by some nerd: âCool. Learn something new every day.âbsky.app/profile/aaro…
— Aaron Gleeman (@aarongleeman.bsky.social) 2025-04-24T03:39:41.611Z
A Humble Request
Somebody please get me this hat.
Thank you in advance.
Injuries and Other Moves
⟠The Dodgers have shut Blake Snell down for the time being and may send him for more imaging after he “didn’t feel great” following playing catch on Tuesday.
⟠Texas will be without Corey Seager due to a right hamstring strain. Reports are that it should be a minimum stay, but you never know with these things. The Rangers are calling up Nick Ahmed to fill in at shortstop in the meantime.
⟠Rockies rookie Zac Veen has been optioned back down to AAA as Brenton Doyle was reinstated from the bereavement list.
⟠Edwin DĂaz left Wednesday’s game due to left hip cramping; he’s DTD.
⟠Cleveland’s closer Emmanuel Clase apparently has “shoulder discomfort,” a revelation from manager Steven Vogt, who said he was healthy on Tuesday.
⟠The Phillies pulled Cristopher SĂĄnchez from his start on Tuesday after two innings due to “forearm soreness”, but as of Wednesday, he’s feeling good and there are no plans even for an MRI at this point. I’m still nervous. Probably more so now!
Articles You Should Read
The Steals Will Continue Until Success Rates Decline – Ben Clemens, FanGraphs
Manfred Just Doesnât Understand – Marc Normandin, Baseball Prospectus (sub req’d)
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
