Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Eric Lauer doesn’t like pitching behind an opener. Blue Jays manager John Schneider doesn’t appear to be losing sleep over it.

A minor drama hit the Blue Jays clubhouse Friday when Lauer, a veteran southpaw who has mostly started in his MLB career, openly complained about being asked to serve as the bulk guy behind an opener.

His words, via Mitch Bannon of The Athletic:

“It’s definitely different. To be really blunt, I hate it. I can’t stand it. You work with what you got. Part of it, too, we’re trying to mix some things up. We’re trying to find ways to win. It’s a gameplan we had, and I think we went out there and tried to execute it the best we could. That’s really all you can do.

“You can make it work the best you can. It’s just, hopefully it’s not something that we will continue doing. But you know, that’s above my pay grade.”

One day later, Schneider confirmed he agreed with Lauer on one thing, that the matter is above his pay grade. He also didn’t seem to appreciate Lauer airing his grievances with the media rather than behind closed doors:

“I respect everyone’s opinion. I know the end of his quote was ‘it’s above my pay grade,’ and it definitely is above his pay grade as to how we use him. We’re trying to win; you know what I mean? My job is to put him in spots to try to have success. That’s what I try to do. He’s aware of that. He gets that. I think that anyone who’s been bounced around a little bit, he wants to start. I get it. He’s on board with us, just trying to win and go out and execute until we take the ball from the big fella and do it again the next time.

“It’s just reminding guys, if you don’t like your role, come talk to me. Come talk to Pete. That goes for everybody. It’s you don’t like when I take you out as a starter. All right, come talk to me. Don’t tell you guys [reporters]. Come tell me. So that was it, basically it was quick. I think the message was, like, you pitch, I decide.”

Lauer made three starts before Friday, in which he allowed 11 earned runs while striking out 12 and walking nine in 12 2/3 innings of work. With the opener, he allowed three earned runs in five innings in a 6-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

There are levels to this as well, as The Athletic notes Lauer feels pitching out of the bullpen last year cost him his arbitration case, in which the Jays successfully argued for a $4.4 million salary instead of his $5.75 million number.

Lauer is also due to hit free agency next offseason.

Openers have become commonplace in MLB in recent years, though some pitchers clearly still have issues with the idea. The Blue Jays are doing it as a matter of desperation, as they entered the season with an overstocked rotation but are now dealing with a significant number of injuries.

Starters Trey Yesavage, José Berríos, Shane Bieber and Cody Ponce are all currently on the injured list, with Ponce likely out for the season with an ACL injury after signing a $30 million deal over the winter. Those inuries are how Lauer made the rotation out of spring training.

Toronto has also signed Patrick Corbin to fill a gap in the rotation, and using an opener in front of Lauer may well be them trying to mitigate issues with a starter they can’t afford to replace right now.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Eric Lauer doesn’t like pitching behind an opener. Blue Jays manager John Schneider doesn’t appear to be losing sleep over it.

A minor drama hit the Blue Jays clubhouse Friday when Lauer, a veteran southpaw who has mostly started in his MLB career, openly complained about being asked to serve as the bulk guy behind an opener.

His words, via Mitch Bannon of The Athletic:

“It’s definitely different. To be really blunt, I hate it. I can’t stand it. You work with what you got. Part of it, too, we’re trying to mix some things up. We’re trying to find ways to win. It’s a gameplan we had, and I think we went out there and tried to execute it the best we could. That’s really all you can do.

“You can make it work the best you can. It’s just, hopefully it’s not something that we will continue doing. But you know, that’s above my pay grade.”

One day later, Schneider confirmed he agreed with Lauer on one thing, that the matter is above his pay grade. He also didn’t seem to appreciate Lauer airing his grievances with the media rather than behind closed doors:

“I respect everyone’s opinion. I know the end of his quote was ‘it’s above my pay grade,’ and it definitely is above his pay grade as to how we use him. We’re trying to win; you know what I mean? My job is to put him in spots to try to have success. That’s what I try to do. He’s aware of that. He gets that. I think that anyone who’s been bounced around a little bit, he wants to start. I get it. He’s on board with us, just trying to win and go out and execute until we take the ball from the big fella and do it again the next time.

“It’s just reminding guys, if you don’t like your role, come talk to me. Come talk to Pete. That goes for everybody. It’s you don’t like when I take you out as a starter. All right, come talk to me. Don’t tell you guys [reporters]. Come tell me. So that was it, basically it was quick. I think the message was, like, you pitch, I decide.”

Lauer made three starts before Friday, in which he allowed 11 earned runs while striking out 12 and walking nine in 12 2/3 innings of work. With the opener, he allowed three earned runs in five innings in a 6-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

There are levels to this as well, as The Athletic notes Lauer feels pitching out of the bullpen last year cost him his arbitration case, in which the Jays successfully argued for a $4.4 million salary instead of his $5.75 million number.

Lauer is also due to hit free agency next offseason.

Openers have become commonplace in MLB in recent years, though some pitchers clearly still have issues with the idea. The Blue Jays are doing it as a matter of desperation, as they entered the season with an overstocked rotation but are now dealing with a significant number of injuries.

Starters Trey Yesavage, José Berríos, Shane Bieber and Cody Ponce are all currently on the injured list, with Ponce likely out for the season with an ACL injury after signing a $30 million deal over the winter. Those inuries are how Lauer made the rotation out of spring training.

Toronto has also signed Patrick Corbin to fill a gap in the rotation, and using an opener in front of Lauer may well be them trying to mitigate issues with a starter they can’t afford to replace right now.

One of the unfortunate side effects that we experience in this current era of prestige TV is that it’s all too easy to forget about a great show after it ends. I’m not talking about the Mad Men and Sopranos types of prestige TV shows, the ones that stick around long enough that they firmly embed themselves in the zeitgeist. I’m talking about the smaller, auteur driven shows that flash across our TV screens for just a short season or two before burning out in a way that would make Neil Young proud. I’m talking about shows like Fleabag,I May Destroy You, and Station Eleven. For a few months they dominate the culture, lapping everything else with their originality and voice. We talk about them at bars and in Slack channels, we read recaps and listen to podcasts with their creators. And then they go away. And a few years later we struggle to remember them at all.

Donald Glover’s Atlanta was one of those shows. I adored it, and I will probably rewatch it someday. But despite how wonderful I found it as it aired, it’s not something I think about with any regularity. I can now barely remember certain plot points or even the names of prominent characters. But, for some reason, one particular and not very eventful scene has stuck in my head. It comes at the end of an early season two episode, when Donald Glover’s Earn has planned a night out at the club only for everything to go wrong. He hasn’t had any fun, he’s barely had anything to drink, and he’s failed to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend as he hoped. And then, just as the night is coming to an end, the universe gives him a chance at redemption: Michal Vick is racing any and all challengers in the parking lot.

… and then the chance at redemption passes him by. Of course it does. It’s Michael Vick.

Tarik Skubal against the 2026 Red Sox is the MLB equivalent of Michael Vick racing drunk strangers in a parking lot. You think you have some momentum coming off a walk-off win? You think putting Andruw Monasterio in the two-hole will shake things up? You think Brayan Bello can put up some zeros a few days after his best start of the year to give the lineup a chance to win the game?

It’s Tarik Skubal.

There are some big league lineups that will give Skubal trouble this year. But the lineup of the 2026 Red Sox — with its glaring dearth of power, balance, and veteran nous — is not one of them. The Sox lost this game as soon as the Tigers’ bus pulled onto Jersey Street. It’s Tarik Skubal.

One Lonely Stud

Jovani Moran: 3 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 H, 3 K

I was going to go with the bullpen as a collective for this. But that would’ve been unfair to Moran, who single-handedly kept his team in the game. Moran hasn’t impressed much in his career so far, but that career has also been marked by injury and bad luck. He could turn himself into an unheralded weapon at the back of the Sox’ roster this year.

Three Duds

Trevor Story: 0-4, 3 K

I’m tempted to warn people that this could be the year that Trevir Story falls of a cliff. But let’s face it: Story’s relationship to cliffs has been Homer Simpson-esque ever since he showed up in Boston.

Brayan Bello: 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR

Bello wasn’t terrible today. But he also wasn’t good. And he’s going to need to figure out how to be good soon, because right now he’s the weak link in the Sox’ rotation and Payton Tolle is punching the route from Worcester to Boston into Google Maps.

Barometric pressure or cold fronts or whatever

I’m tired of watching cold, raw baseball games and I’m calling on OTM weather guru Matt Gross to fix this.

With Freddy Peralta on the mound, the Mets felt pretty good that their long losing streak could come to an end on Saturday afternoon.

And it was looking good at first. Peralta was matching Cubs starter Jameson Taillon pitch for pitch and held Chicago to just one run over the first five innings. However, the game changed in the sixth.

Peralta got the first two batters out before Ian Happ came to the plate. The outfielder had taken Perala deep earlier in the game, so the right-hander was sure to be a bit more careful, but Happ walked on seven pitches. Seiya Suzuki was next, and Peralta got ahead in the count 2-2. However, Suzuki didn’t bite on back-to-back sliders low and out of the zone and he walked. 

That spelled the end of Peralta’s start.

“I thought I was still competing there,” Peralta said of the sixth inning. “Was a very good at-bat from both of them. But I think that I pitched good against Suzuki too. He took a very good at-bat.”

Manager Carlos Mendoza brought in Brooks Raley and Cubs skipper Craig Counsell called Carson Kelly to pinch-hit in the spot. Kelly would ambush Raley’s first-pitch cutter and deposit a three-run shot into the Wrigley Field crowd. That home run would prove to be the difference in the 4-2 win for the Cubs.

“Tried to move the ball around. Two-out walk to Happ. The Suzuki one, was the one that hurt him,” Mendoza said of Peralta’s outing. “Ended up costing the game there. He was pretty good, only two walks, and unfortunately, it was the two towards the end there. Overall, I thought he was pretty good, but, again, two outs, two walks ended up costing us.” 

“They had a big swing, made a good move putting Kelly in there,” Marcus Semien said. “I played with that guy, he can do that. And he did it to us today.”

The home run made Peralta the pitcher on record on the losing end. He allowed three runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out three batters across his 5.2 innings pitched. It’s the third time in his first five starts this season that Peralta has allowed at least three runs.

Peralta was acquired this offseason to be the ace of the staff, and the stopper of streaks like this. Unfortunately for Peralta and the Mets, his two walks led to their downfall and their 10th straight loss, the franchise’s longest losing streak in over 20 years.

The right-hander was asked if he felt extra pressure on Saturday to try and stop the streak, and Peralta disagreed with the notion.

“No, no pressure. I have a commitment to myself and everyone else. Just trying to give my best as always,” Peralta said. “I thought I was competing until the last pitch. Sometimes you can’t control some of the stuff that happens in a game.”

Mounting pressure or not, the Mets are looking to put together a complete game to finally break the losing streak. The feeling in the locker room, including from Peralta, after Saturday’s loss was to flush it and try again tomorrow. 

“We just have to keep preparing. I don’t know how difficult it is [to keep a positive mindset], but we’re professionals,” Peralta said. “We have to stay together and win some games.”

With speculation on whether Giannis Antetokounmpo’s time as a Milwaukee Buck is coming to an end, the Miami Heat have emerged as a potential landing spot for the two-time NBA MVP. And, as it turns out, Antetokounmpo isn’t against the destination.

On an episode of the podcast “Gogi’s Garage,” hosted by retired NBA player Goran Dragić, Antetokounmpo didn’t do much to confirm he planned to leave the Bucks. However, he did note an affinity for Miami, calling it “a beautiful city.”

Antetokounmpo, who has spent his entire 13-year career with Milwaukee, told Dragić that this year was the first “real” experience he had with trade rumors. The forward said that stories on his potential departure were “everywhere” and that he was constantly stopped by fans asking him not to leave.

“I kept saying, I was like, ‘Guys, I’m here, I’m not going nowhere,’” Antetokounmpo said, saying that the rumors would continue anyway. “They wasn’t listening to what I was saying.”

Antetokounmpo said he has stayed committed to the Bucks, even through this past season. Milwaukee ended with a 32-50 record, missing the playoffs for the first time in nine years, with head coach Doc Rivers stepping down after the season ended.

“We are loyal people. When people believe in us and people help us, and make us stand on our feet, it’s very hard for you to turn your back,” Antetokounmpo said. “But at the same time you’re competitive, you want to win. Everybody wants to win. So you’ve gotta make a better decision for yourself.”

Dragić then suggested Antetokounmpo should head somewhere warm, citing the 31-year-old’s age.

“You need warm climate, man,” Dragić said.

“Hey, Miami’s not a bad place, man. It’s [a] beautiful, beautiful city, beautiful city,” Antetokounmpo said in response.

Dragić, for what it’s worth, spent seven seasons of his 15-year career with the Heat.

Antetokounmpo is under contract with the Bucks through 2028 after signing an extension in 2023. But Milwaukee has been hurtling toward a breaking point with its star, with Antetokounmpo reportedly asking for a trade multiple times during the disastrous 2025-26 campaign.

Antetokounmpo isn’t doing much to tamp down current speculation either: When asked this week if he had played his last game as a Buck, Antetokounmpo said he wasn’t sure.

“That’s a very good question,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after the Bucks’ last game on Sunday. “I don’t know. It’s not up to me anymore. It’s not up to me. We’ll see.”

With speculation on whether Giannis Antetokounmpo’s time as a Milwaukee Buck is coming to an end, the Miami Heat have emerged as a potential landing spot for the two-time NBA MVP. And, as it turns out, Antetokounmpo isn’t against the destination.

On an episode of the podcast “Gogi’s Garage,” hosted by retired NBA player Goran Dragić, Antetokounmpo didn’t do much to confirm he planned to leave the Bucks. However, he did note an affinity for Miami, calling it “a beautiful city.”

Antetokounmpo, who has spent his entire 13-year career with Milwaukee, told Dragić that this year was the first “real” experience he had with trade rumors. The forward said that stories on his potential departure were “everywhere” and that he was constantly stopped by fans asking him not to leave.

“I kept saying, I was like, ‘Guys, I’m here, I’m not going nowhere,’” Antetokounmpo said, saying that the rumors would continue anyway. “They wasn’t listening to what I was saying.”

Antetokounmpo said he has stayed committed to the Bucks, even through this past season. Milwaukee ended with a 32-50 record, missing the playoffs for the first time in nine years, with head coach Doc Rivers stepping down after the season ended.

“We are loyal people. When people believe in us and people help us, and make us stand on our feet, it’s very hard for you to turn your back,” Antetokounmpo said. “But at the same time you’re competitive, you want to win. Everybody wants to win. So you’ve gotta make a better decision for yourself.”

Dragić then suggested Antetokounmpo should head somewhere warm, citing the 31-year-old’s age.

“You need warm climate, man,” Dragić said.

“Hey, Miami’s not a bad place, man. It’s [a] beautiful, beautiful city, beautiful city,” Antetokounmpo said in response.

Dragić, for what it’s worth, spent seven seasons of his 15-year career with the Heat.

Antetokounmpo is under contract with the Bucks through 2028 after signing an extension in 2023. But Milwaukee has been hurtling toward a breaking point with its star, with Antetokounmpo reportedly asking for a trade multiple times during the disastrous 2025-26 campaign.

Antetokounmpo isn’t doing much to tamp down current speculation either: When asked this week if he had played his last game as a Buck, Antetokounmpo said he wasn’t sure.

“That’s a very good question,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after the Bucks’ last game on Sunday. “I don’t know. It’s not up to me anymore. It’s not up to me. We’ll see.”

Game two of four between the Dodgers and Rockies in Denver.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Rockies
• Ballpark: Coors Field, Denver
• Time: 5:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)