On the heels of a longtime veteran’s retirement this morning, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Streaks in St. Louis, Minnesota on the line in doubleheaders:
Around half of doubleheaders result in splits, and that means both the Twins and Cardinals will be looking to defy the odds this afternoon after yesterday’s postponements in Baltimore and Philadelphia forced the two scorching hot clubs to carry their eight- and nine-game win streaks respectively into today. Now each club will need to sweep their doubleheader in order for those streaks to remain alive today. St. Louis’s win streak is already the longest of the 2025 season for any club, though if the Cards were to lose Game 1 and the Twins were to sweep the Orioles today, that title would change hands.
Fans in Baltimore with tickets to today’s game will be treated to a single-admission doubleheader beginning 12:05pm local time, with the second game scheduled to begin approximately 30 minutes after the first one ends per MLB.com. Meanwhile, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com notes that the Phillies are going with a split doubleheader for today’s games, and that tickets for last night’s postponed game will be valid for the evening game scheduled to start at 6:15pm local time.
2. Potential pitchers duels in Philly:
Aside from the intrigue surrounding the Cardinals’ current streak, both games in today’s doubleheader between the Phillies and the Cardinals feature potentially exciting pitching matchups. This afternoon’s game will feature right-hander Erick Fedde (3.86 ERA) coming off a dominant complete game shutout against his former team in Washington, where he struck out 8 Nationals and walked none while scattering six hits. The Phillies will counter with southpaw Jesus Luzardo (2.11 ERA), who has been among the best pitchers in baseball in the early going after an injury-marred season in Miami last year.
This evening’s matchup is equally exciting and will showcase two veteran workhorses: Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola. Gray, 35, had a 3.50 ERA through eight starts this year and is not far removed from a dominant 2023 season with the Twins where he finished second in AL Cy Young award voting after throwing 184 innings, one of just 25 starters to throw at least 180 frames that year. He’ll face off against the 31-year-old Nola, who has thrown at least 180 innings in each of the past six 162-game seasons. Nola is having a down year for the Phillies with just a 4.89 ERA through eight starts, though he’s begun to turn things around of late with a 2.50 ERA in his last three outings.
3. Acuna on the way:
Atlanta has been without its best player since Ronald Acuna Jr. suffered a torn ACL last season, but the 27-year-old is on his way to a return. After appearing in his first rehab game of the year last night, which saw him go 1-for-3 with a home run while playing right field for the club’s complex league team, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of ElExtrabase relays that Acuna is set to depart the organization’s complex in Florida and head back to Georgia today before joining the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett to continue his rehab. The move from complex ball to Triple-A is a notable one that leaves just one step between Acuna and the majors, though the superstar remains at least a week or two away from a return to action in the big leagues.
Can’t wait to see Acuna take the field. Lineup is totally different with him perched atop it.
chief – I’m there for the May 30th series, would be cool if he returns then.
Sure would. You know he’s chomping at the bit.
Just imagine ATL with a healthy Acuña and a juiced Profar
Profar is still on the naughty list, and Acuña didn’t need any juice to be a superstar.
Imagine if Acuna trained with Tatis sr.
Fernando sr would have Ronald’s exit velo and bat speed up like Profar. Then teach Ron the RB football slider and he’d be the Venezuelan Ohtani.
“though if the Cards were to lose Game 1 and the Twins were to sweep the Orioles today, that title would change hands.”
And if the Cardinals win both games while the Cubs lose theirs both teams would be tied for first place by the end of the night.
Probably about 5 times better chance that the Cards are 3 back at the end of the evening.
Is that what odds makers are saying or just silly Cubs fans?
Actually—Cubs win and Phillies sweep is 3-1 online. Cards sweep and Marlins win is 15-1. So, that’s what the oddsmakers are saying.
That guy’s as lost as last year’s Easter eggs.
Go ahead and place your bet then champ. I am sure it will work out…..
Cards – What does he mean by “Rely Face Doubleheaders”?
It would make sense without the “rely”, not sure what it was supposed to be?
Not sure where it says that. Perhaps it was edited already.
Cards – It’s still there, in bold print right after #1
I was just trying to figure out what he was trying to write.
Oh ok I see it. Yeah no clue what that means at all. Probably a typo.
Depends on which Acuna shows up. The 2022 and 2024 Acuna with OPS numbers of .764 and .714, or the 2023 Acuna with a 1.012 OPS? The second Acuna would be an enormous boost for Atlanta. The first Acuna, not so much.
Casey – What if the middle infielder for the Mets with the .670 OPS Acuna shows up?
The Braves would love to have him.
Nice trade! Broken old Scherzer for a speed and defense guy who is much needed on the Mets.
The 764 OPS guy would be a pretty big boost. The Braves outfield is not good at the moment.
Yeah, the Braves haven’t gotten much from the outfield except for White. So any little bit helps. But predicting Acuna is super tough. He’s been ridiculously inconsistent over the past three years.
White needs to stay in the lineup until he goes on an extended poor stretch. The speed alone is an asset. Verdugo has, despite what the Braves keep saying, been quite mediocre. Sure he’s had the 2 big games with largely weak contact.
Just get him up there and we’ll take our chances.
Verdugo has been good leading off, his numbers say otherwise but the Braves have been winning games since putting him at the top.
Only because of good pitching.
Spot on. This Verdugo story the Braves are pushing is weak. He rarely hits the ball hard. His approach is very good for a certain type of player but it seems like he should stop trying to merely put the ball in play and actually try to drive the ball more (he’s a big guy). He is slow. His weak contact for the sake of putting the ball in play accomplishes very little
I wonder what Acuna and Kelenic will talk about in the Gwinnett dugout together?
As long as Luke Williams has a roster spot on the Braves MLB team we are in trouble. I am amazed they have fought back to .500 playing. Bright spots are Baldwin schwellenbach and shawver at this point.