We all agree that the Orioles 3-6 start to the season is disappointing. But can we also talk about how it has been extremely weird?

When Dean Kremer was optioned to the minors to start the season, common sense said that he’d be the next starter up. Then Zach Eflin got hurt, and the Orioles called up Albert Suárez.

A few days later, Yaramil Hiraldo was sent to the IL. Surely it was time for Dean, right? Nope, Cade Povich was called up. He was slated to start today until Chris Bassitt couldn’t get past the second inning yesterday and he had to come in. Today, Dietrich Enns was added to the IL. Called up in his place and announced as tonight’s starting pitcher is Brandon Young.

WHERE is Dean? I know that at this point, he started for the Tides three days ago and thus wouldn’t be a great fit as the starting pitcher tonight. But things could have been done differently at several steps along the way. It’s a true mystery.

So anyway, Brandon Young. He last pitched on April 1st, so he will be on regular rest tonight. His Norfolk start was pretty good. He gave up just one run on four hits. He didn’t issue a walk. It would be really nice if he could have another strong start tonight, although his brief Major League experience does not bode well.

The Chicago White Sox are not expected to be a good baseball team this year, but they are coming off a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays. That is something I certainly appreciate. Hopefully, the Orioles have shaken off their disappointing series with the Pirates and are ready to start to start, you know, winning baseball games.

The temperature at game time is expected to be about 40 degrees with a real feel in the mid-20s.

Orioles lineup

1. Taylor Ward (R) LF
2. Gunnar Henderson (L) SS
3. Pete Alonso (R) 1B
4. Adley Rutschman (S) C
5. Tyler O’Neill (R) RF
6. Ryan Mountcastle (R) DH
7. Colton Cowser (L) CF
8. Coby Mayo (R) 3B
9. Jeremiah Jackson (R) 2B

SP: RHP Brandon Young

White Sox lineup

1. Chase Meidroth (R) 2B
2. Munetaka Murakami (L) 1B
3. Miguel Vargas (R) 3B
4. Colson Montgomery (L) SS
5. Austin Hays (R) LF **old friend alert**
6. Andrew Benintendi (L) DH
7. Edgar Quero (S) C
8. Tristan Peters (L) RF
9. Luisangel Acuña (R) CF

SP: RHP Grant Taylor

Let’s go O’s!

The Chicago Cubs placed starting pitcher Matthew Boyd on the 15-day injured list Monday due to a biceps strain.

Manager Craig Counsell told reporters that the injury is not significant and that the Cubs are hoping to get Boyd back for their series against the New York Mets that starts April 17.

“We think we can put this behind him and not have to worry about it, instead of worrying about [the biceps] start to start,” Counsell said, per the Chicago Sun-Times.

Boyd joins starter Cade Horton on the injured list. Horton left his second start of the season early on Friday due to forearm discomfort. The Cubs placed him on the injured list Sunday and announced that he was scheduled to undergo further testing on his injured arm. His outlook is less clear than Boyd’s.

Horton, 24, posted a 2.67 ERA and 1.085 WHIP with 97 strikeouts and 33 walks in 118 innings last season and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. Boyd, 35, posted a 3.21 ERA and 1.091 WHIP with 154 strikeouts in 179 2/3 innings and made his first All-Star team. Both are integral to Chicago’s rotation, which lacks depth behind them.

It’s not clear when Boyd injured his biceps, but he struggled through his first two starts, recording a 6.75 ERA and 1.179 WHIP. Boyd pitched for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in March, throwing 2 1/3 innings while allowing three earned runs, including two home runs.

The Cubs are certainly hoping he can get back on track after some time off to address the injury.

Ding-dong, the witch is dead. 

That might be the reaction among Chicago Bulls fans, as the organization announced the firing of Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley, the team’s two leading executives. 

To be fair, the reaction is appropriate, as the duo bordered on incompetent during their six-year tenure, refusing to choose a direction for the Bulls and failing to secure a single first-round selection while trading Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vučević, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Alex Caruso. 

However, while Bulls fans might celebrate the news, all is still not right in Chicago. 

Bulls ownership remains

The people in charge of hiring decision-makers, the Reinsdorf family, have proven woefully inept. 

They kept around Gar Forman and John Paxson at least seven years too long before making the change to Karnišovas and Eversley, and they should have removed this duo two or three years ago after they proved to be horribly overmatched in the tactics of trade negotiations. 

The Reinsdorfs — led by Michael, the son of Jerry, who oversaw the Michael Jordan era — have a reputation of focusing on the financial aspect more than the actual on-court product. 

With fans becoming increasingly apathetic and disinterested in the Bulls, the skeptical approach here is they saw the firing of Karnišovas and Eversley as an attempt to lure fans back in, to earn yet another quick buck by dangling the carrot of hope in front of the United Center crowd.

If that is the case, that won’t be good enough. 

The fan base is more critical than ever, and rightly so. It will take nothing short of complete devotion to get the brand of the Bulls back to where it once was, and that means ownership buy-in on a basketball level. 

So, what’s the play? 

The Bulls could go a myriad of ways, including targeting Masai Ujiri, who won a title with Toronto in 2019, or they could go hunting within established front offices for young executives who understand the value of data, scouting and finding additional wins through basketball analytics. 

My take? You go for both. 

The Bulls should employ the largest front office in the league and do so by securing big-name executives who are established and carry immediate respect among their peers. 

From there, they should seek out the best of the best who aren’t in leading roles around the league and offer them ridiculous pay increases to pry them away from their respective successful teams. 

After all, the Bulls have done absolutely nothing but optimize earnings for almost 30 years, historically refusing to pay the luxury tax, and that has ultimately been at the cost of the fan experience. 

Now is the time to pay it back. Now is the time to send a message to fans that one of the most recognizable sports brands in America will rise up from the ashes to recapture its former glory. 

At this point, the franchise owes it to them. 

Unfortunately, that’s never been how the Bulls have operated. If we go off their history, the Reinsdorfs will employ a few people with some name recognition and then turn right back around to doing what they’re used to doing: cashing in until the fans lose interest, then find new people and repeat the cycle. 

How thrilling. 

For the sake of the fans, it’d be nothing short of fantastic if the Bulls surprise us all by approaching this new situation proactively and with a newfound sense of dedication and excitement. 

Whomever they hire, surprisingly, is stepping into a tremendous situation. The team is absolutely primed for a full-on rebuild. The Bulls have all of their draft picks. Outside of Patrick Williams, there isn’t bad long-term money on the books, and they have a blue-chip prospect in Matas Buzelis, who could become an All-Star. 

That is by no means a bad situation, unless ownership makes it a bad one, which they shouldn’t. Not again. It would be nothing short of malpractice if the franchise continues down the middling road it’s been on since 1998.

Entering play Monday, the Boston Red Sox have the worst record in MLB at 2-7. They lost their first three series of the season, including losing two of three games to the Padres over the weekend, and they’re already five games back of the Yankees in the AL East.

On the latest episode of “Baseball Bar-B-Cast,” Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman discussed the Sox’s rough start to the 2026 season. Is it still early? Yes, but as the hosts pointed out, it’s not too early to be concerned.

“You know who’s not acting like it’s just early?” Mintz noted. “Roman Anthony, who is the most important player on this ball club.”

In speaking to media after his team’s loss on Sunday, Anthony said, in part, “It’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable to the fans. It’s unacceptable to the standard we set for ourselves.”

As Mintz said, “That does not sound like, ‘Oh, it’s just small sample size. It’s early. Things are going poorly.’ … [Anthony] has identified that something is slightly amiss with the energy of this team at this point in time.”

Added Shusterman: “And Anthony knows that he’s also struggled to start the season, so he’s kind of owning this as well. Wilyer Abreu really seems to be the only Red Sox that’s hitting consistently.”

The hosts gave props to Anthony, especially as a team leader at 21 years old, for saying something and being honest about how things have gone so far this season.

“Anthony coming out here and saying this already is the right thing to do,” Shusterman said. “This is exactly what Red Sox fans do want to hear. And I think credit to him for recognizing that.”

The hosts also acknowledged the “sell the team” chants that were heard this weekend at Fenway Park.

“I know that there has been dissatisfaction in Boston for a while, with John Henry and that ownership group,” Mintz said, “[but] I can’t remember having heard ‘sell the team’ chants at Fenway before.”

“Probably not in April, I could say that,” Shusterman added. “This is definitely feeling like a new flavor of that.”

The Red Sox next host the Brewers, who are tied for the best record in baseball, for three games, so things are not about to get any easier. After that, Boston goes on the road to face St. Louis and Minnesota.

We’re less than two weeks into the 2026 MLB regular season, and the New York Mets are already experiencing adversity. Star outfielder Juan Soto — whom the team signed to a 15-year, $765 million deal in 2024 — was placed on the injured list Monday due to a calf strain.

The team announced the news on social media, noting that calf strains usually result in a two-to-three week absence for a player.

Soto, 27, sustained the injury during Friday’s 10-3 win over the San Francisco Giants. After singling and running the bases in the first inning of that contest, Soto was replaced by outfielder Tyrone Taylor in the bottom of the first.

With his injury status up in the air, Soto did not play Saturday or Sunday. The Mets won both games without him.

Known for both his hitting prowess and durability, Soto hasn’t spent much time on the IL during his nine-year MLB career. The only two seasons in which he played in fewer than 150 games were his rookie year, when he was called up in May, and the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, when the MLB schedule was just 60 games.

That durability has allowed Soto to get off to a historic start to his career. Since being called up in 2018, Soto has a .282/.417/.531 slash line with 245 career home runs. He’s a six-time Silver Slugger, four-time All-Star and perennial MVP contender.

Soto’s strong numbers have also carried over to the postseason, where he has a career .281/.389/.538 slash line across 191 plate appearances. His playoff excellence helped the Washington Nationals win the World Series in 2019.

With Soto sidelined, it will be on the Mets to prove they have enough depth to stay afloat. The team is off to a solid start so far this season, entering Monday at 6-4. Taylor will likely see more playing time with Soto sidelined.

As another disappointing season wraps up, the Chicago Bulls are making some big front office changes. The Bulls announced Monday that they have dismissed executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley.

Chicago, with four games remaining in the 2025-26 season, is currently 29-49, recording its fourth straight losing season under the front office duo. Both Karnišovas and Eversley were hired in 2020.

In a statement, Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf noted Karnišovas and Eversley’s “deep commitment to the Chicago Bulls,” but said that fans’ “frustration” inspired the team to make the change.

“These decisions are never easy, especially when they involve people we respect both personally and professionally. We are grateful for their dedication and the work they’ve put in over the past six years. At the same time, we have not had the success our fans deserve, and it’s my responsibility to go in a new direction,” Reinsdorf said.

Since taking over their roles in 2020, Karnišovas and Eversley led the Bulls to a 46-36 record and a playoff appearance in 2021, breaking a four-year postseason drought. Chicago lost in the first round, falling to the Milwaukee Bucks (then the defending champions).

But in the four years since, the team has failed to advance to the playoffs or end the season above .500. The Bulls’ roster has been lackluster in that time, with the team trading central players like DeMar DeRozan in 2024 and Coby White in February without a lot of upside.

The final straw may have been Jaden Ivey, who was released by the team last week “due to conduct detrimental to the team” after posting an anti-LGBTQ rant where he criticized the NBA for celebrating Pride Month. Ivey was sent to the Bulls in a three-team trade in February that has since had some questioning why Chicago’s front office didn’t further vet the young guard.

The other player acquired by Chicago in that trade, Mike Conley, is also no longer with the team, after the Bulls bought out his contract shortly afterward. The Bulls had sent Kevin Huerter, center Dario Šarić and a future first-round pick swap to the Detroit Pistons as part of the deal.

Chicago, which was officially eliminated from playoff contention at the end of March, is on a seven-game losing streak.

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The University of North Carolina reportedly found its replacement for Hubert Davis, and it’s a surprising name. Former Denver Nuggets head coach and NBA championship winner Michael Malone will reportedly be hired to run the program following Davis’ firing, per ESPN.

Malone, 54, has experience as a college assistant, but has never been a head coach at a university.

His hiring mirrors that of UNC football head coach Bill Belichick, who the university hired despite the legendary NFL coach never holding a head-coaching job at the college level.

The majority of Malone’s head-coaching experience came in the NBA, where after many years as an assistant, he finally was elevated into the main role with the Sacramento Kings.

Malone spent one-and-a-half seasons with the team, going 39-67 before he was fired.

He landed on his feet quickly, joining the Nuggets. After two straight years of sub-.500 basketball, Malone turned things around in Denver and helped make the Nuggets perennial contenders in the West.

After a 46-36 performance during the 2017-18 NBA season that left the team just out of the playoffs, Malone led Denver to six straight playoff appearances. The team lost in the first round just once in those six trips, often making deep runs in the postseason.

Malone’s time with the Nuggets reached its apex during the 2022-23 NBA season, when he led the franchise to its first title. Powered by Nikola Jokić, the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games to win it all.

But that didn’t result in much job security for Malone. The Nuggets made the playoffs again the following season, though lost in the semifinals to the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the team heading for another postseason appearance during the 2024-25 NBA season, however, the Nuggets shocked the NBA world by firing Malone and general manager Calvin Booth with just three games left in the regular season.

Assistant David Adelman took over and led the Nuggets back to the semifinals, where they fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Adelman has the Nuggets in strong playoff position again this season.

Despite his excellent run with the Nuggets, Malone failed to get an NBA head-coaching job in the offseason. He instead opted to take the broadcasting route, appearing on ESPN during the 2024-25 NBA playoffs and then signing on to join the network for “NBA Countdown” after he wasn’t hired by a team during the offseason.

At UNC, Malone will technically have a new, but also familiar, experience. Following his playing career at Loyola, Malone first was a high-school basketball assistant before eventually moving to the college level to work as an assistant at Oakland, Providence and Manhattan before finally moving to the NBA to be an assistant with the New York Knicks. UNC will be his first opportunity to be a head coach of a college program.

And expectations will be high. Following a promising first season from Davis, UNC has experienced disappointment and premature exits over the past four seasons. The most recent one, a first-round loss to No. 11 seed VCU, resulted in Davis’ firing.

By all accounts, UNC ran a comprehensive search to bring in a new coach to elevate the program back to its championship standards. Tommy Lloyd opted to remain at Arizona after receiving a lucrative offer from UNC, according to Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wolken. Coaches like Alabama’s Nate Oats and Florida’s Todd Golden were also linked to the job but ultimately remained in place.

The school also reportedly reached out to Iowa’s Ben McCollum, per CBSSports.com, but McCollum declined to interview for the position.

Bulls head coach Billy Donovan was also believed to be a target, but reportedly wasn’t going to entertain discussions about the job until the end of Chicago’s season on April 12.

UNC made the decision to hire Malone on Monday with the opening of college basketball’s transfer portal looming. The portal opens Tuesday, and not having a coach in place would have put North Carolina at a disadvantage in building next season’s roster.

Things reportedly moved quickly between UNC and Malone over the past 18 hours, leading to his surprising hire Monday.

While the speed may have been due to Malone’s eagerness to take on a new head-coaching role after sitting out this NBA season, it probably helped that his daughter currently plays for UNC’s volleyball team.

With UNC, Malone will be tasked with turning around a program that was previously a perennial contender to win a national championship. Under long-time coach Roy Williams, the program managed that goal three times during his 18-year run at UNC.

Following Williams’ retirement, Davis — a long-time assistant under Williams — was hired to take over for his mentor. After taking the team all the way to the NCAA tournament final in his first season, Davis looked like a strong choice. But repeated failures, particularly in the 2022-23 season when UNC opened the year ranked No. 1 in the country and then failed to make the field of 64, have resulted in lowered expectations and a lowered ceiling for UNC.

Given the program’s previous heights, UNC needed to bring in a coach capable of getting the team back to championship-contender status. Malone managed to do that in the NBA. Now, he’ll see if his style can carry over to the college game.