On the heels of this morning’s big Pirates news, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Drohan to make MLB debut:
The Brewers promoted left-hander Shane Drohan to the majors earlier this week, and now he’s poised to make his MLB debut against his former club. Acquired from the Red Sox in the Caleb Durbin trade, Drohan was a fifth-rounder drafted by the Red Sox back in 2020 who posted a 2.27 ERA in 47 2/3 innings of work at Triple-A last year. Drohan made just one start with the Brewers at Triple-A this year before being promoted, but now he’ll face off against veteran righty Sonny Gray (4.28 ERA in 2025) at Fenway Park later today. The game is scheduled for 1:35pm local time in Boston this afternoon.
2. Braves, Angels brawl:
The Braves and Angels got into a brawl yesterday, with right-hander Reynaldo Lopez and slugger Jorge Soler at the center of it. As noted by Rhett Bollinger and Courtney Hollman of MLB.com, Soler hit a home run in his first plate appearance and was plunked in his second. In his third appearance, an up-and-in pitch came close to him, leading to him charging the mound and throwing punches at Lopez, who retaliated by punching back. Both benches cleared as Lopez and Soler fought, and the pair were eventually ejected from the game. Suspensions and fines haven’t yet been handed down from MLB after the brawl, but it seems likely that disciplinary action could come as soon as today. Meanwhile, the clubs will have the opportunity to work out any lingering tensions during this afternoon’s game, where Grant Holmes will face off against Reid Detmers at 1:07pm local time in Anaheim.
3. Pitchers’ Duel today:
A rematch of the 2025 World Series is currently ongoing, and tonight’s game in that rematch features a particularly exciting pitching matchup. Shohei Ohtani will be taking the mound for the World Champion Dodgers in his second start of the season. He threw six scoreless innings in his first outing of the year, racking up six strikeouts while allowing just one hit. His opponent will be newly-signed Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease, whose first two starts in Toronto have seen him post a 2.79 ERA with 18 strikeouts in just 9 2/3 innings of work. The game is scheduled for 3:07pm local time in Toronto and comes as the Jays look to avoid a sweep at the hands of Los Angeles, who won the first two games by a combined score of 18-3.
Lopez was trying to play whack-a-mole on Solers helmet with the ball still in his hand haha.
Very funny. Going into the game, Soler had a career 1.898 OPS against Lopez. In the first inning, Soler hit a two run homer, taking his Lopez OPS over 2.000 and giving him five HRs in 23 career Lopez ABs. The third inning HBP, Soler’s next AB, with two outs and first base open, was no accident and Lopez should have been ejected immediately.
Pitchers don’t seem to retaliate against teams who hit their batters. Otherwise the Red Sox would have taken action after Contreras got plunked for the 22nd time (!) by the Brewers on Monday. Crochet did hit former Boston player Hamilton on Tuesday, but that was with the bases loaded in a three run game and it surely wasn’t a purpose pitch.
Nobody wants to see pitchers hitting, but all these HBPs are an unfortunate downside of the DH rule (not likely Lopez is so aggressive if he has to get in the batter’s box the next inning). Now that we have DH in both leagues, to protect players MLB has got to take more stringent measures against intentional HBPs.
You think the DH causes more HBP? Interesting take. Especially since the AL is not new to the DH.
I’ve long thought that. Dudes throw up and in or bean guys knowing they won’t get it in return.
Always thought Pedro Martinez was a prime example of pitching up and in knowing he’d never face consequences.
fred – It doesn’t cause more HBP, but it prevents teams from retaliating directly against the pitcher.
HBP must be a new stat. It was never needed before the DH.
Pedro threw up and in when he pitched with Montreal. He once lost a 9th inning perfect game hitting Reggie Sanders, who humorously charged the mound (like, he was not joking, but it was a perfect game!)
sea – He lost it in the 8th inning, but still great memory!
Halo – Yeah Pedro wasn’t exactly Nolan Ryan, he was a lot smaller and a lot less willing to fight.
Tell that to Don Zimmer lol
sea – That wasn’t a fight, that was Pedro pretending to be a bullfighter ….. and Zimmer was the bull!
Lou – Good post, but it’s impossible to prove intent with pitchers hitting batters.
Lopez and the Braves should have been warned and the Angels should have beaned one of their guys. It was an obvious Lopez revenge pitch.
BS. Lopez didn’t even hit him, and had 2 strikes. Lopez was 1 strike from qualifying for the win.
@abi. He hit him in the wrist 2nd at bat after the hr. The 3rd at bat he threw at his head. Either way soler was just staring at him, and Lopez put his hands up. Lopez doesn’t play fantasy baseball he probably doesn’t care.
He definitely cared about getting Soler out, or else he would’ve thrown at him earlier in the AB. Given he waited for 2 strikes, and he always throws 2-3 MPH harder when he has 2 strikes, it’s more likely he simply missed.
Maybe he was trying to buzz him, but he’s not aiming for a HBP with 2 strikes. Got nothing to do with fantasy. Pitchers like getting the win, and they like getting outs and hate wasting 2 strike counts.
A good new rule would be the batter gets to challenge the pitcher to a fight and the pitcher can either:
1. Choose to fight and they get like 30 seconds to just fight
Or
2. No fight but the batter gets placed on 2B, maybe 3B
Make it happen Manfred.
There’s already a rule. The batter gets first base.
Detmers is gonna drill Acuna in the ribs today Bob Nightingale said so
Bob Nightingale gonna plunk Ken Rosenthal in the noggin cause he roll that way. Passan gonna run and hide
Divin – Can Bob reach down that far?
What he should do is give him a wedgie and watch Kenny flail away ineffectually while hoisted by his own pitard
Not much of a brawl
Soler hitting mostly air
Reynaldo waving his hands like he tryna get away from a mosquito
the only hit that landed was the Walt Weiss text book tackle in the open field on Soler!…Saw the Falcons home page has offered Weiss a contract already lol. “Come put on the pads Walt” 😂
Lopez was way less tough when Soler got close, lol.
I mean Soler listed at 6’4 240, I dont blame him.
@salem. He did knock soler’s helmet off he was using a ball to hit him probably because he didn’t want to break his hand.
Soler didn’t “charge the mound following the plunking”
Soler hit a home run in the first, then was hot by a pitch in his 2nd at bat in the 3rd.
Then in the 5th with Soler up again, Lopez throw one WAY high and a little in that went to the backstop. Then there was a play at 2nd as the baserunner went to 2nd on the wild pitch. As Lopez went back to the mound for the next pitch Soler then walked toward the mound.
Yeah, I came to to mention that. Thanks for doing it and hopefully they correct the story.
This is correct. Just to clarify, it did not appear that Soler was hit intentionally during his 2nd at bat by Lopez. Just a pitch that went too far inside. But I could see how Soler objectively thought it was aimed at him.
@dkachur. Lopez did wave him to the mound after the staredown, so it appears to be intentional. If soler was saying anything the catcher would’ve stopped him.
@braves25. Soler was staring him down, and Lopez put his hands, and said something.
Forget any bench-clearing brawl for a moment. Venezuela are correctly the world champion of baseball by winning the recent World Baseball Classic. The Los Angeles Dodgers have never been “World Champion” of anything other than Murica, F@&k Yeah!
Way too early in the day to be drinking.
Dodgers v Venezuela after the season ends. Who you got?
Honestly, I wouldn’t bet against LAD, even though I wish they’d lose every game.
(point being, you can’t criticize the LAD in this context because they have never played in this context)
If MLB really wanted to grow the game they would concentrate less on base size and umpire challenges, and make fighting legal.
Soler owns Lopez at the plate. Soler took exception to the ball being thrown over his (and everyone else’s) head. It was a stare down until Lopez mouthed off. Not much of a brawl, but Weiss’ tackle was hilarious
The home plate umpire basically let it happen then back pedaled faster than a cornerback when it started.
Lopez can’t get Soler out so he beans him then throws up and in. Classless and deserving of getting piuched in the face. Wish that happened.
he had Soler with 2 strikes. 2 outs. 1 strike from qualifying for the win. If you think it’s clear cut that he was trying to hit Soler, you should re-consider.
He threw near his head to their near his head. Doubt he wanted to hit him in the head. But you don’t throw there, especially after meaning a guy.
He clearly did not attempt to throw a strike there.
I don’t think that’s clear. Lopez jacks up his 4 seamers 2-3 MPH when he has 2 strikes. It’s been his 2 strike strategy since 2024. Sometimes he airmails one. Agree with you that buzzing him there is possible, glad you agree trying to hit him with 2 strikes is a bit of a stretch.
Not saying I know one way or another – saying none of us do except Lopez.
One small problem – the pitch that “buzzed” him was the first pitch of the at-bat. (You keep saying there were already 2 strikes, and that’s incorrect)
And with a 2-run lead, Soler was exactly the guy that could have tied the game up with one swing.
And Lopez knew that. Even if he was “trying to pitch inside” and missed, that’s an intentional act.
Yes.
The Angels lead the majors in HBP.
Trout just got hit twice this past weekend by the Mariners.
I’m thinking the Angels hitters are getting a little tired of this, and things finally started to boil over.
Great, ATL now has to look for more SP reinforcements when Lopez inevitably misses 1 and most likey 2 GS due to suspension since he made contact with Soler’s head with baseball in-hand. MLB doesn’t like when you use equipment (i.e. batting helmets, bats, batting gloves???, cups, etc.) in fights.
I would love to see a slap fight with some Franklin neon batting gloves. Maybe combine that with the mound and play king of the hill. Manfred, get on it.
@rundmc. I thought using the ball and glove was funny until I realized it made sense he was protecting his hand. The glove was the blocker and the ball was his brass knuckles
Why isn’t anyone talking about the Drohan? LOL!
Looking forward to seeing what he’s got. It’s a lousy way to make your MLB debut though, against the team that knows you the best.
The dodgers beat up on cease regularly while he was a padre. I don’t see much of a “pitchers duel”, incoming.
As injury prone as both teams are, neither can afford too many brawls. Imagine the half of both rosters that stay healthy winding up on the DL, because they were involved in a brawl.
Strike outs help the fantasy leaguers, but averaging less than 5 innings per start is not living up to a $30MM per year salary. Signing Cease to TOR money when he’s more of an opener was never going to work out. If they had a healthy rotation, maybe he would be of better use in the bullpen. Never going to get their moneys worth either way.
We might lose 8 in a row.
The reporting on this is sub par.
Lopez did not hit Soler just before the brawl. He hit him in his previous AB. Soler took exception to the high and inside pitch in the 5th. But Lopez had 2 strikes and 2 outs. He was 1 strike from qualifying for the W. The 2 runs from Soler’s HR in the first weren’t even earned.
Pitchers rarely try to hit a batter when they already have 2 strikes. We all know this!
Let players handle this themselves. So what if there is a brawl? Other than possibly getting a key guy injured, it’s a way to have players police themselves. This take is kind of tongue-in-cheek. Kind of.
@rtc: it works in hockey