The San Diego Padres will have multiple rehabbing players eligible to return to the team soon. With Matt Waldron, Griffin Canning, Yuki Matsui and Jason Adam all being placed on the IL at the end of Spring Training (retro to March 22), their 15-day IL expires, Tuesday. Pitchers can have their IL window expanded to 30 days before any move has to be made. This gives Canning and Waldron more time to stretch out as starters and avoids any decision about the rotation until later this month.

Matt Waldron

Waldron has made two starts for El Paso with seven innings pitched. He has allowed five hits and no runs or walks and nine strikeouts. With increased fastball velocity, Waldron has relied heavily on his sinker and knuckleball (about 60%) while also utilizing his four-seam and sweeper for most of his offerings. He has mixed in the cutter sparingly so far. His last start reached 61 pitches in four innings pitched.

Griffin Canning

Canning made his first start on April 4 for the El Paso Chihuahuas against the Tacoma Rainiers, throwing 2.1 innings and 51 pitches. He allowed three hits and a run with two walks and four strikeouts. His fastball sat 94-96 mph, and he supplemented it with his 86-88 mph slider for about 60% of his offerings. He mixed in his change up and threw his knuckle curve a few times. The velocity on his fastball dropped to 92 mph in the third inning at which point he was removed. He will presumably have a lengthy rehab to build up, and it could look similar to a spring build up for a starter.

Yuki Matsui

Matsui pitched his first rehab inning on April 4 with El Paso, throwing 13 pitches with one hit and no runs, striking out two hitters. He could be ready after a couple more appearances.

Jason Adam

Adam threw his back-to-back games on April 4 and 5 with El Paso, he and Canning were both slated to travel to Tulsa, Okla. to pitch for San Antonio but inclement weather caused them to be re-routed to Tacoma, Wash. and the Chihuahuas. Over the two games, Adam threw 1.2 innings allowing one hit and no runs with two walks. He is expected to join the Padres for the home series versus the Rockies on Thursday. He could pitch on Wednesday, but the team is in Pittsburgh with unfavorable weather expected.

Sung-Mun Song

Song has played in eight games with El Paso with 36 plate appearances. He has nine hits and four walks with a double and seven RBI but has struck out 11 times. He has played 2B, 3B, SS and DH over those eight games but his almost 30% K-rate indicates he could use more time. Song still has a 20-day rehab window to work with, and he can also be optioned to the minor leagues to extend his window.

At the end of the pitchers’ 30-day window (April 21), the Padres will need to make some tough roster decisions but Waldron could be ready before then in case he is needed. With Buehler and Márquez having early issues with their starts, Waldron could be an option before April 21. Canning will need more time to be stretched out but still could be ready in May.

Expect Adam to be used carefully in his return and a member of the current bullpen will need to be sent to the minors to make room for him. Estrada has improved from his early command issues, so Bradgley Rodriquez is the most likely candidate. Adams’ return will allow the Padres to take Wandy Peralta out of any high leverage situations, where he has been dismal so far.

Coming off a 4-1 win over the Phillies on Sunday to prevent a home opener sweep, the Rockies also have more good news in the form of Ryan Feltner being able to take the mound today.

Feltner looked sharp against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 31. He’d thrown three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, one walk and one hit. Then he got hit with a 106.3 mph line drive comebacker to the right hip.

It was a brutal flashback of sorts from 2023 when a line drive fractured Feltner’s skull. Luckily, this one wasn’t as serious. 

While it certainly hurt and Feltner’s hip tightened up — meaning the 29-year-old couldn’t return for the fourth inning — he won’t miss any time as he’ll be on the mound today as the Rockies (3-6) begin a three-game series with the Astros (6-4).

The Astors are coming off a high-scoring, 2-1 series loss to the A’s where Houston outscored the A’s 25-23.

RHP Feltner (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will be going head-to-head against Houston RHP Cody Bolton (0-0, 3.00 ERA). Houston ace Hunter Brown (1-0, 0.84 ERA) was supposed to get the start, but Brown was placed on the 15-day IL with a shoulder strain on Sunday. Bolton has one appearance this season when he gave up a solo home run with three hits, one walk and five strikeouts on March 31 against Boston. In the 9-2 win over the Red Sox, Bolton got the save after closing out Brown’s quality start, when he gave up one run on one hit with two walks and eight strikeouts) before he got hurt.

The Astros have had the Rockies number over the last three seasons, going 11-3 against Colorado and outscoring the Rockies 75-43 since 2023. That includes a two-game Houston sweep in Mexico City in 2024 when the Astros outscored Colorado 20-4. Houston took the 2025 series 4-2.

First Pitch: 6:40 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM KOA Rockies Radio Network; KNRV 1150 AM (Spanish)

SBN Site:The Crawfish Boxes

Lineups:

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The Mets announced Monday afternoon that the start times for their first two games against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday and Wednesday will be moved up from 7:10 p.m. ET to 4:10 p.m. ET, due to projected cold and windy conditions.

Fans with existing tickets for those games will have them honored at the new start time, and will receive an additional voucher for a future Mets game at Citi Field. The Mets also made a limited number of complimentary tickets available for both games — a supply which sold out just under two and a half hours later.

The Mets will look to extend their three-game winning streak against Arizona, with Freddy Peralta matching up against Zac Gallen on Tuesday and David Peterson slated to take the mound on Wednesday against a yet-to-be-announced Arizona pitcher. The series finale is still scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on Thursday night, with Nolan McLean and lefty Eduardo Rodriguez listed as the probable starting pitchers.

Detroit Tigers (4-5) vs. Minnesota Twins (3-6)

Time/Place: 7:40 p.m., Target Field
SB Nation Site: Twinkie Town
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Casey Mize (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RHP Joe Ryan (0-1, 4.82 ERA)

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.