Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Rays return to the Trop:
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg is set to host its first MLB game since 2024 today. The renovations for the Rays’ current home stadium are now complete, and the club is poised to celebrate with a game against the Cubs later today. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10pm local time, with staff ace Shane McClanahan set to make his second start of the year after returning to the big league mound for the first time since 2023 last week. McClanahan’s opponent will be veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon, who pitched around plenty of traffic on the basepaths to post 4 2/3 scoreless frames for the Cubs his last time out. As noted by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, gates will open at 2:10pm local time for today’s game and fans are asked to be in their seats by 3:30pm local time for pregame ceremonies.
2. Trout day-to-day:
Future Hall of Famer Mike Trout has begun the season healthy, which is good news on its own given how often he’s been injured in recent years. Better yet, he’s looking good at the plate with a .212/.435/.424 slash line and a strikeout rate of just 26.1% after punching out more than 30% of the time last year and posting a career-low wRC+ of 120. While Trout seems to be back to something resembling his old self, Angels fans got a big scare yesterday when he left the game after being hit by a pitch on his hand. Fortunately, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com (among others) relayed yesterday that x-rays on Trout’s hand came back negative, and that he’s day-to-day after the incident. Trout noted to reporters (including Bollinger) that his hand was swollen after the incident. While it’s fortunate he appears to have avoided a serious injury, he still might be sidelined for a couple of days or so if the swelling persists. If Trout does end up missing time, Bryce Teodosio could get some looks in center field.
3. Pitchers’ duel today in the AL West:
An early meeting between two division rivals will see two of the most impressive pitchers in baseball face off on the mound today. The Mariners are headed to Globe Life Field in Texas for a 7:05pm local time game against the Rangers, and Seattle will be sending star right-hander Logan Gilbert to the mound coming off a 2025 season where he was limited to just 25 starts but turned in a solid 3.44 ERA with a 3.35 FIP. He’ll be facing off against veteran righty Jacob deGrom, who enjoyed his first healthy season in years last season and managed a 2.97 ERA in 172 2/3 innings of work that year. So far, neither deGrom nor Gilbert has gotten the results they’ve wanted in 2026, though they’ve gotten strong peripheral results. Will one or both be able to turn those peripherals into production tonight?
‘The renovations… is now complete’? Glitzy new web design — still no editor…
I come here for baseball news, not to nitpick small writing mistakes. Get a life.
considering writers are paid to be good at writing it only follows that they should take enough pride not to make a mistake on EVERY ARTICLE. Nobody gives Steve or Mark crap because it’s rare. Nick is every article. Is it life or death? No. But should mediocrity be settled for “just because”? Probably for the best that we say no
It’s not your decision. Editor is not your role. Stop thinking you’re important.
yay more of foppert’s useless rambling
choof
“considering writers are paid to be good at writing it only follows that they should take enough pride not to make a mistake on EVERY ARTICLE. ”
Writing and editing aren’t the same thing.
I don’t think anyone here is a particularly great writer (or baseball analyst), but it’s not because of editing mistakes.
i don’t think they have an editor for small posts
I’m pretty sure fapper is somebody’s burner account. Probably Deedsy.
Ha ha. Desperation.
Blancos – If writers aren’t good at writing, then they shouldn’t be writers. You must be an effort trophy kid.
Prov- You boomers need new material; you make the same three corny jokes ad nauseum.
ah yes, the old “I’ll call them a name to show my intellectual prowess” routine…and calling us old to boot, nice!
As a college instructor, I am well aware many folks such as yourself don’t care about proper writing. You rely on grammarly, AI, etc. to communicate. But yeah, us old folks are the dummies.
Sideline-
You think I’m trying to flex my intellectual prowess on…MLBTR? 😂 I’m not the one up in arms about a grammatical mistake on a free site.
Not dumb, just ignorant and resistant to societal change.
No one is “up in arms” about anything. If you consider poor performance as nothing to get worked up about, that’s on you. I just don’t want to hear you complain about a replacement level player, when you think average, or less, is good enough. Ignoring poor performance is never going to help things improve.
Societal change now includes accepting mediocrity apparently.
When it comes to grammar and written communication, absolutely. The generation entering their prime grew up with communication tools we didn’t have. Has changed things a bit when it comes to what was important in the paper and pen days. You haven’t noticed ? The old folks exiting their prime need to recognise that and let it be. Societal change.
Blancos – “You boomers need new material; you make the same three corny jokes ad nauseum.”
3 things:
First – I’m not a “boomer” as you call them, which you and others seem to consider an insult to those who are for some reason.
Second – I retired from a career that involved authoring 100+ page court documents that were required to be correct so bad grammar sticks out to me.
Third – It’s obviously lost on you to have an expectation of someone in a career to do their job correctly. It shouldn’t matter that this is a baseball site because that suggests different expectations for different jobs. If that’s the case, where do you draw your line?
Third point is BS. The career expectation is not your call. It’s between the writer and their employer. That’s where the line is. It’s very simple. Stay out of their business. If you don’t like how they manage it, find another site.
prov
“It’s obviously lost on you to have an expectation of someone in a career to do their job correctly.”
That’s you
A writer is not an editor.
If they were, there would be no editors.
foppert: “The career expectation is not your call.”
Wrong. The consumer has the expectation just as he would for a doctor, lawyer, waiter, trash collector, etc.
prov
If a missed conjugation is that bothersome for you, you are free to leave
I agree the writing here isn’t great.
Neither is the analysis.
But the headlines keep me from having to use ex-Twitter, so I’m here
Find. Another. Site.
@Calce. You’ll have to excuse Sammy, he subscribes to PLAYBOY for the articles
Dolemite:
I don’t just look at it. I read the articles. I especially like it when they mention the girls’ interests, like ‘Betsy loves surfing.
The tulip lace bra has ruffled underwired cups, creating a curvier you, for evening’s bare neckline.
Except he doesn’t just make small writing mistakes. He makes blatant factual errors. And he’s the only writer on this site who is so consistently careless.
Ahh Lloyd. Consistently crying like a spoilt child over inconsequential grammar. Ha ha. Get a life, bro.
Next time you go out to eat, perhaps you’d be happy with hour long waits, cold food, and poor quality? Sounds about right for your type
Nah mate. I keep my mouth shut and just dont go there again. Like an adult. If it’s severe enough, I might have a quiet polite word on the way out. Out of respect. I used to own a cafe. You learn these things.
I’m sure he’d leave a full 15% tip for below average service.
nothing i did was rude or boisterous so not sure i get your point
No tips down here. Livable minimum wage. Simple.
I can’t help you then .
Proper English ALWAYS matters Einstein.
Same web design as before.
Renovations finished almost 18 months after Tropicana Field was severely damaged by Hurricane Milton. Rays’ first homestand back at their regular park has Cubs for 3, then Yankees for 3.
I’m gonna miss those Steinbrenner Field slugfests. Now it’s back to the UglyDome pitcher’s park.
Steinbrenner Field had a 102 park factor. It was just slightly hitter friendly, not an extreme hitters park.
At a 96 park factor, the Trop was an pitchers park before the roof was blown off.
SammyDogs,
I think you misheard the quote from Moneyball as:
“How can you not be pedantic about baseball?”
I’m a writer by trade and even I don’t get bent out of shape about stuff like that in this context.
This should be fun.
The “writer” is Deeds. Don’t expect good journalism and you won’t be disappointed. He regularly gets facts wrong, offers nonsensical opinions, and hits publish on his articles without even a modicum of editing. When I first started reading this website I was subscriber but Deeds’ articles were the deciding factor for me in dropping that after just a few months.
So Shane McClanahan pitched yesterday, and he’s pitching again today?
TJS gave him extra-durability
He pitched on 3/31. Time flies
Trout looks good. Maybe with 130 games of trout level play, the angels can repeat the 2002 season. New hero every other day. Adam Frazier yesterday. Josh Lowe today, Logan ohoppe tomorrow. Yoan on Wednesday. Sweep of the cowards (braves)
gold – Wait until Grissom gets called up, he will join the hero list!
Adell’s catch was the start of the video
Make that three Adell catches, as a Mariners fan they are now seered into memory and “Jo Adell Day” I will probably remember until I’m dead.
Yes Grissom can hit. Moore is walking a lot at slc.
Finally some depth. 🧡🧡🧡
Cowards?!…Shots fired lol
I look at Trout’s MVP numbers and then at the slash line above, and wonder how the comparison can be made. I don’t expect him to be MVP again, but wow! How deep does one have to reach up to say he appears to be his former self. Please wash your hands and make sure to get under the fingernails.
Gilbert vs the Rangers always turns out awful for Texas.
Since 2021, the Rangers have whiffed nearly 100 times against him.
This year they are fanning nearly 10 times a game after nine games.
Sure looks like past is prologue.
Let’s hope it continues today.
Most guys that batting .200 and slugging .400 would be said to be struggling. But apparently that’s the threshold set for Trout to be looking good at the plate.
Not particularly because most people would also look at his other stats like his 11 walks, 2 homeruns, and .435 OBP as well.
Struggling to the tune of a 153 OPS+.
Was scrolling the comments to see who would be the one to say, “How is .212 looking good at the plate?” You guys always come through.
Most pitcher will be happy to get him out 8/10 times, regardless of the other 2.
RE: stymee
Poor guy. Doesn’t understand basic baseball stats
A .200 batting average doesn’t mean the batter got out 8 out of 10 times.
Not really stymee’s fault though. Blame sports writers, MLB, etc sure for talking so much about the useless batting average stat
dd
”
Most guys that batting .200 and slugging .400 would be said to be struggling. But apparently that’s the threshold set for Trout to be looking good at the plate.”.
If you look at wOBA, which counts walks, singles, doubles, triplés, and home runs, instead of whatever you’re looking at, you’ll see that Trout has been 50% better than the league average hitter so far this year.
MLBTR Fans Fantasy League Week 2 Update:
Results:
Salzilla 7 Flanster 4
WadeBoggsWildRide 3 Gywnning 9
MeowMeow 4 lwalt27 7
Sean P 5 Stpofsd 6
StudWindfield 5 Ignorant SOB 7
Oppo Nacho 7 RunDMC 5
Trades:
Hoerner/Stott for Marsee/Gorman
McLain for Pepoit
Herrera for Flaherty
Semein/Leiter for Bichette
I’ll add in standings next week.
Hey now there’s no hurry to include the standings >.>
Lol
Do you not have your leagues emails? If its not my league, I couldn’t care less. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to read the weekly standings of every other reader’s league. (I no longer participate, so you’re safe from me). Lets not start this trend.
The difference between your league and this league is it’s a MLBTR Fans league so yeah there’s a reason to post. Just don’t read if you don’t care about a ONCE a week comment. Sheesh.
Sal, if you want to keep posting this, it might hold marginally more interest to others if you just put the End of Week Rankings. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. The individual scores vs opponents is pretty meaningless.
Standings next week. Too early and it doesn’t matter.
Mariners have a big few big series coming up. Against Texas and Houston.
Nick Deeds try not to make a mistake challenge
Level? Impossible
Somebody (I’d be shocked if it was Deeds) actually went back and cleaned up the multiple mistakes this time.
Somebody (I doubt it was Deeds) actually went back and cleaned up the mistakes in this particular article.
Lloyd – He’s a rookie, mistakes are natural. With age and experience he’ll get better. I’m not worried about it, it’s free content after all.
Bravo to you Fever !
Thought, understanding and perspective.
I think there should be a rule that if I pitcher hits a batter in the head no matter the intention, they should be booted (and potentially suspended) for 5 days.
One, it would discourage “up and in”, which is crazy, but from a watching perspective (just like ABS), we’d get a replay to see if it grazes the head (like a VAR on soccer hand balls) and that would make people angry which is good for the sport and good for watching.
Call it the bk rule.
bk – I don’t mind a brush back pitch or two, but I agree with you about throwing at the head. Woo threw at Trout’s head twice in the first inning the other night and hit him with the second one.
I think the corresponding change to that rule would be guys in huge helmets with full face masks, so they can safely lean-into one with their heads to knock the opposing ace out of the game. Think of something like Dark Helmet wore in Spaceballs.
If the equipment is over the plate its an extension of batter so that shouldnt matter. Now that were using ABS we can see pricely what is over the plate anyway. If you want to throw the pitcher a bone, make the rule that says intentionally trying to get hit is an automatic out and ejection.
Honestly, the ABS stuff is so fun, I just want more “challenges” as long as they last like 5 seconds to complete.
And if the equipment is not over the plate, the pitcher is ejected and suspended 5 games. Getting hit in the head in a playoff series would become the most valuable play in baseball.
Your initial recommendation is to remove the umpire’s ability to make a subjective judgement call on intent of the pitcher.. but you are fine with the umpire making subjective judgements on intent of the batter?
Playing baseball can kill you, and then again, driving to Walmart, could kill you to. Long season. Trout is going to get 130 games in, with great results. With soler, trout, Lowe, lots of pressure off the team to do to much. Kurt should be there for the next handful of years. He great
@gold masters. Kurt could bolt he’s on a one year deal. That’s why he took the job, because it’s boosts his stock more than it hurts it. Although with the lockout potentially he might’ve not have enough time could be a quick offseason.
Arte is defintley putting the team up this year now that Padres seem to have picked a bidder.
@bkbk. Have a feeling we will hear he’s now raising beer and hotdog prices to pursue a world series only to spend 5 million in free agency. Maybe the ac will be fixed by next year.
Note: new rule: if the pitcher throws a ball at your head, you are allowed to throw your bat back at him.
This message been approved by gm
And by Bert Campaneris
I see a few rules being suggested for others who throw at someone’s head. So I decided to add my own. And yes, I know it’ll never happen.
If a pitcher throws at someone’s head, that pitcher has to bat first the next inning. This way the opposing team can determine if it was on purpose or not. And render judgement accordingly.
I do miss some of baseballs old ways. Some.
Leave it to the baseball Gods. I see no problem with this.
Interesting suggestion from a fan of one of the few teams whose pitcher might regularly be coming to bat in the next inning.
If Ohtani throws at someone’s head with bad intentions? Then it is what it is when he comes up to bat. Does anyone think that’s the case when it happens? The rule would only benefit the Dodgers. He could soft toss an Eephus pitch towards someone up and in, and lead off every inning he pitches lol.
Just because the ball flies towards someone’s head doesn’t mean the pitcher had bad intentions when throwing it. In fact, most of those are due to pitchers throwing max effort vs being able to locate when trying to claim the inside offset of the plate. Players/teams have eyes and can tell if this is the case. And some of the arguments after those pitchers between players is if that particular pitcher had no control and wants to pitch high and inside, they’d better fix that or change something. Otherwise they are just putting players at risk. Baseball is a small world, so those words matter.
But for those relatively few times where there is intent, and it’s in the batters box by the batters head? 95+ at their back or backside is a reminder to behave.
Thiught this was a baseball news page ? Why is everyone worried about grammar. I am more concerned with them saying Trout looks good at the plate with a .212 ave.
rp
“I am more concerned with them saying Trout looks good at the plate with a .212 ave.”
I’m more concerned with purported baseball fans who think that a stat that ignores walks and treats a single and home run as equal means anything, let alone is the go to stat for offensive performance