As we gear up for a relentless stretch of three matches in just ten days against Atlético de Madrid, Diego Simeone sat down with the press to preview the first chapter of this saga.

FC Barcelona play against Atlético tomorrow in La Liga, and then twice more as part of the UEFA Champions League in the few days after that.

Simeone opened by addressing his squad’s fitness, noting that his key players are returning to form at the exact moment the schedule intensifies.

“Everyone is progressing in the best way. Jan Oblak is with the group. Rodri Mendoza will be back Monday. Pablo Barrios has been working well. Marc Pubill, the same. They are all going to help us,” he noted.

Regarding the tactical shift seen at Barcelona lately, Simeone was quick to credit the impact of our current system.

“Football always goes through the players first; beyond the ideas of the managers, those who resolve these matches are the footballers with their experience and quality,” he said.

He specifically highlighted Barcelona’s aggressive approach, stating, “since the arrival of their coach, they are doing very well, with their high defensive line and wanting to win duels.”

When asked about the mental state of his team and their title hopes, the Atleti boss remained characteristically focused on the long game. “We started the preseason excited to reach this place. If God wills it and helps us, we will be able to compete until the end, and that is the path we are on.”

The most telling part of the press conference was Simeone’s analysis of what makes this current Barça side so dangerous. When asked to name what Barcelona’s most dangerous player was, he didn’t opt for Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, or even Fermín López.

Rather, he said it was the collective pressure that the team applies.

“All of their footballers [are the danger], because they are extraordinary. They have the capacity to play in the opponent’s half, to take away your time so that you can’t think. They repeat it every match, which is very difficult; they play with a high defense and take risks. We will have to take the match to where we can hurt them.”

And, no – I will not be including James McCann’s interesting appearance on the mound yesterday, in the chart above. Over the Statcast era, there have been a total of 19 pitches thrown by Diamondbacks which came in at a velocity below forty miles per hour. Fourteen of them were thrown by McCann last night: the others belonged to Josh Rojas (2), Jose Herrera (2) and Tucker Barnhart (1). McCann bottomed out at just 35.8 mph, the slowest pitch recorded in Arizona franchise history. Mind you, that was still lickety-split compared to the 33.6 mph lollipop delivered by Dylan Moore of the Phillies to CJ Abrams on Monday. The all-time low? 21.7 mph by… Garrett Crochet? Of course, there’s a caveat…

After that unfortunate pounding, it’ll be interesting to see how the D-backs bounce back, especially given the equally unfortunate loss of Jordan Lawlar. Just after he had hit his first home-run as well, and had got his numbers for the season up to 6-for-18 with a .956 OPS. Small sample size, but there’s no arguing that Lawlar looked an awful lot better this year than he had previously. Despite a gaffe last night, his performance in the outfield had generally been solid, especially considering the near-total lack of professional experience Jordan had at the position. Hope he heals quickly and fully, and returns to take up where he left off.

Tonight, we’ll get to see if Eduardo Rodriguez’s first start was a genuine turn for the better, or if it needs to filed in the “one swallow doesn’t make a summer” category. It wasn’t the deepest of outings, going only five innings. He wasn’t particularly inefficient, using 79 pitches to get to that point. I think it was more a case of it being so early in the season. I’d imagine the training wheels are off tonight, with regard to pitch count, and we could probably do with a quality start from E-Rod, give the bullpen a bit of a breather.

With 51 new faces on the Ohio State football team, black stripe alerts will be coming a plenty. And the latest player to be officially welcomed to the brotherhood is Alabama transfer Qua Russaw.

Russaw left Tuscaloosa for Columbus with fellow Crimson Tide defensive lineman James Smith earlier this year. While fans seemed to be most excited about the latter, Russaw was a highly sought-after recruit in his own right as well. He was a top-100 recruit coming out of Carver High School in Montgomery, Alabama, and was rated as the No. 9 edge rusher in the class according to 247sports.

The former four-star prospect saw his production slip from 2024 to 2025 thanks to a broken foot last September. Russaw went from 36 tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble, and a sack two years ago to just 13 tackles and a single sack this past season. He would make a full recovery to help Alabama make the College Football Playoff, where the Tide was ousted in the Rose Bowl by eventual champion Indiana.

By the looks of things, the redshirt junior is making a name for himself early on in spring practice and will push for playing time in the fall.

🚨 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁 🚨

A QBs nightmare is the newest addition to the Rushmen, Welcome @QuaRussaw 🌰 pic.twitter.com/3uFXzaSVIp

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 2, 2026

Russaw becomes the fourth transfer to lose his black stripe this spring, joining receiver Kyle Parker (LSU), safety Earl Little Jr. (Florida State), and linebacker Christian Alliegro (Wisconsin).

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion.

This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State edge rusher from Alabama sheds black stripe

By the time the Yankees finished blasting the Miami Marlins 8-2 in their home opener Friday afternoon, two things felt true about the group many accused of running things back at the expense of pushing them forward.

First, the 2026 Yankees are good enough to win the World Series. Second, it is way too soon to say so.

Because even if their season falls apart for one reason or another, few teams can win the way the Yankees did Friday — let alone the way they have been winning all week, against strong opponents and struggling ones alike.

Consider this: On Friday, sophomore righty Will Warren forced his Yankees to suffer through the worst start they’ve endured all season. The torture included all of two runs on four hits in 5.2 innings that required just 77 pitches. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. Their starters’ ERA bloated to an unwieldy 0.92 in seven games – four earned runs, 41 strikeouts.

“They’re just dictating the at-bat, I feel like. They’re getting ahead. They’re working all their pitches on the corners,” Yankee captain Aaron Judge said. “Those guys, if you get in good counts against hitters, it’s a tough at-bat. So them getting ahead 0-1, 0-2, just putting the pressure on guys at-bat after at-bat, it’s tough for an offense to kind of get rolling when that happens.”

According to researcher Sarah Langs, only two teams have allowed as few runs (eight) in the first seven games of their season as these Yankees: The 2002 San Francisco Giants and the 1993 Atlanta Braves. One of those teams played in the World Series. And the other was building what would become one of the best starting rotations of the modern era.

But while the sample might be small, the relevant context is immense: The rotation making that history does not include its most proven ace, Gerrit Cole, or his fellow top-of-the-rotation anchor Carlos Rodon, both of whom are working their way back from injuries. When they do, Warren — the man who started more games as a rookie in 2025 than any Yankee pitcher had in decades – will slide into the fifth spot in their rotation.

Now, of course, no pitcher looks the same after a major injury, at least not at first. And Warren or fellow youngster Cam Schlittler could regress – their track records aren’t long enough to call either of them sure things.

Still, the thing that makes the Yankees hopeful that running things back will actually push them deeper into October is the potential for the opposite effect: With expanded pitch arsenals and jumps in velocity, respectively, both Schlittler and Warren look capable of taking steps forward in 2026.

The same could be true for first baseman Ben Rice – though again, no decisions should be made after one productive season and one solid opening week.

Rice, who struck out in his first three at-bats Friday, was so flustered by the experience that he homered in the seventh before doubling in the eighth. He is hitting .409 with a 1.364 OPS.

“I think Benny can really hit,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said when asked if Rice could be one of the best hitters in baseball this year. “I think he’s a middle-of-the-order hitter. I think he will be for a long time.”

If Rice can duplicate or improve on the 26 homers he hit last season, the Yankees will once again be the kind of power-heavy lineup it has been for several years. But between homers from Rice and Judge on Friday, they displayed another weapon they have not always had in that time: Team speed and aggressive baserunning.

Almost every Yankee who had a chance to run did so Friday, but the speedsters in the back half of the lineup never stopped. Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked, stole second, then stole third before scoring in the second inning. Jose Cabellero stole second both times he reached first. After Chisholm Jr. doubled and tagged on a routine fly ball to right field in the third inning, Caballero tried to squeeze him home with a two-out bunt. Cabellero and Chisholm Jr. combined to steal 80 bases in 2025. They have seven between them in seven games this year.

But even Yankees less known for speed pushed the limits against a Marlins battery not known for controlling the running game. Judge stole a base. Austin Wells (successful) and Trent Grisham (unsuccessful, but only because his momentum carried him off third base) attempted to tag on balls hit in front of them. Yankees runners were in motion, and they scored an extra run or two because of it.

“I think we became that in the second half of last season, where night in and night out we were rolling a good amount of speed and some athletes out there to where that slowly became a little more of our identity,” Boone said. “Obviously, having a lot of the same group now, we have a handful of guys who can really push it in the run game.”

Now, of course, in small samples like this one, winning can camouflage mediocrity. A very similar Yankees bunch was not exactly a baserunning model in 2025 (According to Baseball Savant, only two teams generated fewer runs by taking the extra base than the Yankees did in 2025, though they did create more runs via stolen base than all but four.)

“Guys laying down bunts, guys moving runners over, guys taking the extra base when they can,” Judge said. “It’s just little things like that that if we do that over 162 and into the postseason, good things are going to happen.”

Maybe this is just one of those halcyon weeks when everything is going right. Then again, few teams have the talent to make things go this right, across three cities, in less-than-ideal weather conditions, with two of their best starting pitchers injured and…

Nevermind. Best to be reasonable. It is, after all, way too soon to tell.

Sacramento Kings rookie Maxime Raynaud was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for the month of March, the league announced.

Raynaud was selected by the Kings in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft with the 42nd overall pick, out of Stanford.

In 15 games played and started in March, the former Cardinal star has averaged 17.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33 minutes per game. He shot 59% on field goals and 78.4% at the free throw line.

Raynaud recorded six 20-point performances, including two 30-point games, and led all rookies with six double-doubles.

Raynaud scored a career-high 32 points versus the San Antonio Spurs on March 17. He followed the performance with another 30-point game, against the Philadelphia 76ers on March 19.

He became the fourth rookie in Kings history to record back-to-back 30-point games. Tyreke, Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas and De’Aaron Fox didn’t do that. Raynaud is the first since Walt Williams in 1993.

He also joined Cooper Flagg as one of two rookies to record consecutive 30-point games this season.

In March, Raynaud totaled 268 points and 128 rebounds, becoming one of three rookies in NBA history to total at least 250 points and 125 rebounds on 59% or better from the field. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Otis Thorpe are the others.

More NBA: Stephen Curry likely to make long-awaited injury return for Warriors Sunday

Raynaud is ranked No. 4 on USA TODAY Sports’ NBA Rookie Rankings. Overall, he’s averaged 11.9 points and 7.3 rebounds on 56% field goal shooting, 30% from 3 and 78% on free throws.

Raynaud currently ranks first among rookies in double-doubles (17), second in total rebounds (507), third in field goal percentage (56.5%) and seventh in total points (822).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kings’ Maxime Raynaud named Western Conference Rookie of the Month

Byron Buxton had to leave the game in the seventh inning when he was hit by a pitch and suffered an right arm contusion. X-rays were negative, but obviously we’ll know more later tonight or over the weekend.

In the game itself, Bailey Ober didn’t take well to the cold, but the bullpen (!) held in there until the Twins were able to get past Rays flamethrower Joe Boyle. And a guy YOU DID NOT EXPECT provided the big hit for the home team. Inning-by-inning notes:

Pregame: This is just absolutely perfect:

At about 2:00, Target Field lost power (as did much of downtown Minneapolis). Since that meant the wi-fi was down, the little hand-held ticket scanners that Target Field employees use to “ping” people into the ballpark weren’t working. So fans had to wait for a bit. Eventually the team just decided to let people in who showed a ticket, and not to worry about the scanners.

Since that will affect the reported attendance a bit (maybe)? and teams have to share a certain proportion of the gate with the visiting team (I think?), I expect the Pohlads cut the power off on purpose.

Either that or Hans Gruber is making off with millions in bearer bonds right now.

(Tom Pohlad on the radio, being asked about if he’s ready for a bunch of Pohlad jokes: “I’ve got a thick skin. Bring it on.” OK.)

1: Bailey Ober, inspired by the 20 walks Saints pitchers gave up on Tuesday, decides to walk leadoff Yandy Díaz and then changes his mind, instead grooving a nice high hittable one to Junior Caminero. Double. Ober hangs a one-out slider that Jake Fraley pops up, then returns to groovin’ against Nick Fortes. The Rays score two and that means this game is likely over unless the Twins put more than the expected amount of effort into it.

After a leadoff walk to our own Kody Kat Klemens, Byron Buxton decides to take Strike 3 right down the middle, so yep, the expected amount of effort. Nobody else cares, either, soDevil Rays 2-0

2: Well, Bailey can handle the bottom of the Rays’ lineup alright. Unfortunately so far Joe Boyle can handle the entirety of the Twins’. He is not related to Danny Boyle, the British film director who made 28 Days Later, but these Twins bats are definitely zombified right now.

3: Tristan Gray, from Missouri City, TX, gets a one-out walk. He’s playing short today because Brooks Lee is “under the weather.” Back in the day “under the weather” in the NBA meant “Jordan and Barkley were at the casino until 6 AM” but I doubt that’s the case for Lee. A wild pitch advances Gray to second. Kody Klobberin’ Klemens has a check-swing foul tip into the glove for strike three, which is about as disappointing a way to strike out as I can think of. Buxton pops one up and this team is NOT an offensive powerhouse, methinks.

4: Instead of leaving a slider up to Fraley this time, Ober politely puts it right in the middle and Fraley doubles to right. Ober gets the next two guys, since if the Rays score any more runs the Twins are doomed, but sure enough here comes a 89-MPH fastball right in the happy place and Ben Williamson cranks another Tampa double. Pitch #78 walks Chandler Simpson (Maggie’s firstborn). Ober Ks the next guy, but nobody’s real excited about watching five innings of the Twins’ bullpen in sub-40° weather, are they?

Luke Keaschall decides to swing out of his shoes at three straight inside pitches and, amazingly, this works; he gets the skinny part of the bat on a slider and pokes it through the infield at 70.5 MPH. That’s good enough to score on a 69.2 MPH double by ex-Pirate Josh Bell. Then Jeffers 70 MPH bloops one into short right. Talk about small ball! Bell advances to third on the Jeffers duck fart. Trevor Larnach walks. Bases loaded, one out.

Royce Lewis hits what SHOULD be a double play, but SS Carson Williams utterly boots it and nobody’s out (it’s the Rays’ MLB-leading 10th error of the year; Bell scores.

Missouri City’s finest, Mr. Gray, sac flies Jeffers in. Wow, the Twins have made offense! Kooky Kody Klemens Ks to end the inning, but this baby has been securely tied 3-3

5: 28-year-old Eric Orze (pronounced “orr-zee”), who we got from the Rays for something called a Jacob Kisting, makes his home debut with a walk, followed by a flyout, popup, groundout. 25 pitches, though, so Shelton’ll have do dig deeper into his Magical Arm Barn, which does not inspire confidence.

Boyle gets the Twins easily. He’s not related to American actor Peter Boyle, but aside from all those 70-MPH bloopers last inning, he’s definitely kept the Twins from puttin’ on the hitz.

6: My bad! Orze is still in here. That reminds me of MLB’s stupidest new rule; how pitchers who start any inning have to pitch to at least three batters. The third one here gets on base, but Orze retires the fourth. It’s still a stupid rule.

Less stupid but still not one of my favorite rules; the ban of the shift. On a routine Jeffers groundout, the Twins say that Rays 2B Ben Williamson was too far to his right when the pitch was thrown. After like a hundred hours of looking at the video, the umps decide, yep, Williamson was in the wrong spot. So Jeffers is now ruled safe. Trevor Larnach then bounces one off the limstone in right (the Twins’ first well-hit ball of the day), and that puts guys at 2nd and 3rd with one out. In comes reliever Hunter Bigge. Royce Lewis walks.

And then, Tristan Gray and Kinky Kody Klemens both K, and that’s a little annoying. It’d be a lot annoying if I thought the Twins would win more than 75 games this year, but I don’t, so it’s only mini-annoying.

7: Justin “On” Topa in to pitch. Díaz gets another of those “little part of bat” hits with one out (it’s going around today). Topa gets the next guy, but on a Junior Caminero groundout, the umps rule that 1B Clemens took his foot off the bag and bobbled the ball. He did take his foot off; he didn’t bobble. Once again, MLB takes forever on a review play and STILL gets it fuggin’ wrong anyways; Caminero is ruled safe. Then Kody Funderburk comes in and gets the next guy anyways. I think the umps just want the fans to sit in the cold longer in revenge for all the critiquing of umps we’ve done over the years. Well, they’re big meanies and they deserve it.

CRAP.

Rays reliever Kevin Kelly hits Buxton on the right arm, it sounds bad, and Buxton leaves the game. It wasn’t at all intentional, the pitch just moved oddly.

CRAP.

Sigh. James Outman takes the base for him and steals second. Keaschall reaches when Caminero boots a backhand (his sixth error and the Rays’ twelfth!). Matt Wallner strikes out (for the fourth time!), but Josh Bell has the Twins’ second decently-hit ball of the night and knocks Keaschall in.

Then Jeffers reaches on ANOTHER Caminero error (which I didn’t think was an error), and Kelly walks Larnach to send home Keaschall. And Kelly walks Royce Lewis!

So of course Tristan Gray, who struck out with two guys in scoring position and one out last inning, says “I’m so sorry TwinkieTown! Let me do better!” OK. Grand slam? We forgive you!

Well, call me a genius for predicting all of this; the Twins would score a lot and their bullpen would be better than the other team’s. That’s why I’m known as Nostrajamus. Twins 10-3

8: Anthony “Panda” Banda, a former Ray, decides to come in, plunk Nick Fortes, WP Fortes to second, and give up the RBI to Cedric Mullins. Then WP Mullins to 2nd. Good grief man. He does manage to avoid anything worse, though. Cold state 10-4

9: ANOTHER Cody, Cody Lawyerson, nicely ends the game in the cold rain for us so that the nice people can go home, and even the mean ones too. TWIMS WIM! (Yes, around here we spell it wrong on purpose. No, I don’t know why.

Studs of the game: Bell & Larnach’s soild hits when nobody else was getting more than duck farts, Keaschall’s hustle… and DEFINITELY 30-year-old backup infielder Tristan Gray for going 1-for-5 with 5 RBI. Why not, man?

NO DUDS, TWINS WIN!

COTG goto norff for “the LOOGY lives on in spirit,” Kirilofffan19 for “I don’t think anyone here ever doubted the capabilities of Josh Bell or Trevor Larnach!” and TawnyFroggy for a g’day in Australia. We miss you Froggy, be well!

Tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 6:10 (weather permitting), and features the Twins’ Mick “Is He Very?” Abel against the Rays’ Steven Matz. Catch ya next time!

Today was not the party the Rockies or their fans were hoping for. 

For a moment, it felt like it might be possible. A perfect afternoon, a packed house, and Hunter Goodman receiving his Silver Slugger before first-pitch set an optimistic tone. 

Then the first inning happened. 

Michael Lorenzen never settled in. Trea Turner led off with a double, walks piled up, and Bryce Harper made it hurt with a two-run single. Bryson Stott followed with a double, and Brandon Marsh — Charlie Blackmon-esque beard and all — turned on an 0-2 fastball and launched it into the right field seats. 

Seven runs crossed before the inning finally ended, aided by a ball lost in the sun in right that only made things feel sloppier. 

#Rockies 7 runs allowed in 1st inning are their most ever in a home opener.

— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) April 3, 2026

The boos came early. 

Lorenzen’s final line told the story: three innings, 12 hits, nine runs — all earned — with two walks and two home runs allowed. He takes the loss and falls to 0-1 with a 14.73 ERA through two starts. The first inning was the clear nightmare, a rude introduction to the home crowd in his first start at Coors Field as a Rockie. 

It didn’t get better. Harper added a homer in the second, and Kyle Schwarber later crushed one into the second deck — a 460-foot blast, the longest in the majors so far this season. 

The damage was spread throughout the lineup. Turner (3-for-4) set the tone, Schwarber supplied the power, Harper reached three times, and Alec Bohm and Stott kept innings moving. It was complete, relentless offense. 

Lorenzen looked stiff, out of rhythm, and unable to command his fastball. It was a rough, disappointing start—but not the whole story. 

Meanwhile, Nola looked like vintage Nola. 

Aaron Nola improves to 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA through two starts, going 6.1 innings and allowing one earned run on five hits with a walk and nine strikeouts. He now has 16 strikeouts on the season. Nola worked ahead, changed speeds, and kept Rockies hitters defensive all afternoon. With a lead, he never had to do more than control the game —and he did that with ease. Still, the Rockies had chances.

In the second, Willi Castro ripped a 104.2 mph double down the line, TJ Rumfield battled his way on, and Jake McCarthy drove one to the track — but it died in center. 

In the fourth, Mickey Moniak and Ezequiel Tovar singled, Rumfield hustled out an infield hit, and a run finally scored on a Castro grounder. Not pretty, but something. 

Too often, though, it wasn’t enough. 

Brenton Doyle struck out looking twice in big spots. The strikeouts piled up. Runners were left on. Momentum never stuck. 

Through the game, the line told the story: 15 strikeouts against just one walk, no hitter with more than one hit. That’s now 32 strikeouts over the last two games — eye-watering stuff. Add it up, and your head starts to spin. 

Doyle and Goodman each struck out three times. 

Even late, nothing came easy. Kyle Backhus, a funky Phillies lefty, kept hitters uncomfortable.

Even a brief spark — a Doyle single in the seventh — went nowhere. Strikeout. Lazy fly. Inning over. 

And that was the story the rest of the way, with Zach Pop striking out Doyle to end it in the ninth.

If there was a bright spot, it was Valente Bellozo. 

Recently added to the roster, he didn’t look the part of a prototypical power arm — but he pitched like one. Efficient, composed, and exactly what the Rockies needed. 

Six innings. One hit. One run. One walk. Seven strikeouts. 

The only blemish: the Schwarber homer — yes, that one — the 460-foot missile into the second deck, still the longest in the majors this season. (Schwarber is ridiculous. He would look pretty good in purple, not going to lie…) 

Bellozo stabilized the game, saved the bullpen, and was easily the Rockies’ MVP of the afternoon. 

Behind him, Kyle Karros looked like a big leaguer in the field. Clean plays, steady presence — nothing flashy, just reliable defense. 

There’s also a broader way to look at this one. 

Take away the disastrous first inning, and it’s a 3-1 game. The Rockies still likely come up short, but it’s at least competitive. And that’s what lingers more than anything — this wasn’t just about Lorenzen having a rough day. 

It was about the offense. 

Right now, it doesn’t look like a lineup. It looks disconnected. The at-bats feel isolated, the approach inconsistent, and there’s no sense of momentum building from one hitter to the next. Too many strikeouts. Too many empty stretches. 

At times, it feels like a collection of 7, 8, and 9-hole hitters trying to get through the order. 

It’s one game — but it felt like one we’ve seen before. 

And yet… this is part of it. 

There was always going to be adversity with this team. New faces, new ideas, a new direction. Days like this were going to happen. 

You just hoped it wouldn’t show up like this. 

Not on today. Not when the party was just getting started. 

---

Up Next 

The Rockies return to Coors tomorrow at 6:10 p.m., with Jesús Luzardo set to go for the Phillies. Colorado’s starter? Still TBD. 

And that’s part of the story. 

Is it a bullpen game? Is it time for Chase Dollander? However it shakes out, today’s outing from Bellozo looms larger — six innings that may end up giving the Rockies just enough flexibility to get through tomorrow. 

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Home game! First of the year everyone. The A’s are back in West Sacramento for their first series of the year in front of the home crowd.

The starting pitcher for the home team is going to be Jeffrey Springs. Set to make his second start of the season he’ll be looking for more of the same from his last time out when he pitched into the sixth inning and allowed only a pair of runs. Against the Astros he’s got a good track record so we’ll be hoping for a good performance from the veteran lefty tonight to start the series on a good note.

Here’s how the Athletics line up for their first home game of the year:

Back in Sac! pic.twitter.com/EmcAA0dwxD

— Athletics (@Athletics) April 3, 2026

We got the regular lineup this evening with first baseman Nick Kurtz back atop the batting order leading off. We all remember his performance against these guys last year so hopefully meeting these guys again will wake up his bat.

We’ll also get to see offseason acquisition Jeff McNeil back in there lining up at second base for his fourth start of the year. A couple Athletics have gotten off to slow starts this year including McNeil. The squad needs some production from the second base spot.

That lineup will be up against Houston right-hander Cristian Javier. Javier didn’t look quite right in his first start of the year last week so the A’s need to take advantage of a pitcher still finding himself after years of injuries.

And the Astros’ lineup:

HOU Astros Lineup 04/03
1. Jeremy Pena SS
2. Yordan Alvarez DH
3. Jose Altuve 2B
4. Carlos Correa 3B
5. Christian Walker 1B
6. Cam Smith RF
7. Jake Meyers CF
8. Yainer Diaz C
9. Brice Matthews LF
#Relentless

— FantasyPros (@FantasyProsMLB) April 3, 2026

Are we ready for the second win of the year? Let’s do this! Let’s go A’s!