Dončić remains sidelined with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. He missed the final six games of the regular season with the injury and the entirety of the Lakers’ first-round playoff win over Houston Rockets.
His availability moving forward against the Thunder remains unclear beyond Game 1. But being ruled out a day ahead of time is generally not a good sign of a quick return.
Luka Dončić in street clothes is becoming a familiar sight on the Lakers’ bench.
MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images via Getty Images
Luka reportedly on ‘slow’ path to recovery
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Sunday that Dončić remains on “a slow path” to recovery and hasn’t returned to full-contact workouts. He’s still considered week-to-week, per the report.
For Game 1 and perhaps beyond, the Lakers will play without their All-NBA guard, who led the league in scoring with 33.5 points per game alongside averages of 8.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals.
The Lakers won in Round 1 despite Dončić’s absence and Austin Reaves missing the first three games of the series. The Rockets were also playing shorthanded with Kevin Durant sidelined for five of the series’ six games.
With Dončić sidelined, Rui Hachimura and Marcus Smart started all six games of the series. LeBron James carried the offensive load against the Rockets and continued to lead the Lakers in scoring even upon Reaves’ return.
Against a reigning champion Thunder team that led the league in defensive rating for a second straight season and swept the Lakers in the regular season, playing without Dončić will put them at a heightened disadvantage.
“Pablo Torre Finds Out” won the Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting on Monday for its investigation into alleged circumvention of the NBA’s salary cap by the Los Angeles Clippers.
The podcast won the award for four episodes in September that probed the financial relationship between Clippers All-Star Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration, a now-defunct third-party company that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer had invested in.
Per the Pulitzer Prize, PTFO won “for a pioneering and entertaining form of live podcast journalism that investigated how the Los Angeles Clippers seemingly evaded the NBA’s salary cap rules by funneling money to a star player through an environmental startup.”
The prize is awarded “for a distinguished example of audio journalism that serves the public interest, characterized by revelatory reporting and illuminating storytelling.”
PTFO beat out the New York Times’ “The Protocol” investigation into youth gender medicine and the Wall Street Journal’s “Camp Swamp Road,” which investigated a fatal shooting in the context of stand-your-ground laws. Both were fellow finalists alongside PTFO.
PTFO: Clippers circumvented salary cap with third-party Kawhi Leonard deal
Per the findings of the PTFO investigation, Aspiration signed Leonard to a $28 million no-show marketing deal, with the implication that that money was funneled to Leonard from Ballmer in violation of the NBA’s salary cap.
In an April letter to a judge overseeing Sanberg’s sentencing, Ballmer wrote that he lost his entire $60 million investment in Aspiration.
Ballmer acknowledged introducing Aspiration to Leonard in a September interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, but denied any knowledge of the $28 million endorsement deal.
The Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Detroit Pistons will take on the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the 2026 NBA playoffs. The two teams haven’t faced each other in the postseason since 2016 … when LeBron James’ Cavs swept a Pistons team that counted a young Tobias Harris as its secondary creator.
Game 1: Tue., May 5 at Detroit (7 p.m., Peacock) Game 2: Thu., May 7 at Detroit (7 p.m., Prime) Game 3: Sat., May 9 at Cleveland (3 p.m., NBC) Game 4: Mon., May 11 at Cleveland (8 p.m., NBC) *Game 5: Wed., May 13 at Detroit (TBD) *Game 6: Fri., May 15 at Cleveland (TBD) *Game 7: Sun., May 17 at Detroit (TBD)
*if necessary
Series betting odds
Detroit Pistons (-120) Cleveland Cavaliers (+100)
What we know about the Pistons
The Pistons won 60 games on the strength of the Eastern Conference’s top-rated defense (allowing 108.9 points per 100 possessions) and on the strength of Cade Cunningham, a fringe MVP candidate who can manufacture offense all by himself.
There were concerns about them from the outset of the playoffs, though, even as the No. 1 seed. They lacked secondary creation, depending upon Tobias Harris for much of it, and their 30.9 3-point attempts per game ranked behind every team but the Sacramento Kings, mostly because they counted on non-shooting contributors Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson for rim protection and point-of-attack defense.
Both issues reared their heads in a first-round series with the Orlando Magic, who took a 3-1 series lead on the backs of their defense, forcing the Pistons into the mud. They asked Cunningham to beat them, and he obliged, averaging an efficient 36-5-7 over the course of their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit against the eighth seeds.
Can James Harden and the Cavs get past Cade Cunningham and the Pistons? (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Jason Miller via Getty Images
In the absence of offensive contributions from Duren, a likely All-NBA selection whose scoring average fell from 19.5 points per game in the regular season to 10.6 against Orlando, Harris stepped forward, averaging 21.6 points in the first round.
The Pistons will need both Duren and Harris working in concert around Cunningham to contend with a Cleveland offense that is more potent than Orlando’s. The defense will travel. So, too, should Cunningham’s brilliance and Duncan Robinson’s shooting.
The question is whether the rest of the Pistons, including Isaiah Stewart, Daniss Jenkins, Javonte Green and Caris LeVert, none of whom has much experience, if any, in games as high-leverage as the Eastern Conference semifinals, can meet this moment. This is not your usual No. 1 seed. It is inexperienced and vulnerable.
What we know about the Cavaliers
The Cavaliers are not the 64-win edition from last season, when they lost in this same second round of the playoffs. That group boasted the NBA’s best offense and a top-10 defense. This version was rated sixth on offense and just 15th on defense.
The Cavs were so disjointed, in fact, that the front office conducted a major shakeup ahead of the trade deadline. First, they flipped De’Andre Hunter for both Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder, a brilliant depth-bolstering move. Then, they traded Darius Garland for James Harden, a riskier move that swapped youth for veteran durability.
Harden’s backcourt partnership with Donovan Mitchell, alongside fellow recent All-Stars Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the frontcourt, bore immediate fruit, though a honeymoon stage with Harden was to be expected. They looked, for a spell, like a favorite in the East once again, performing well on both sides of the ball — the kind of production you would expect from a star-laden group with depth at its back.
Then, they turned back into a pumpkin. The tandem of Mobley and Allen felt a little too redundant. The lack of defense from Mitchell, Harden and everyone at the point of attack, save for Dean Wade, felt like a problem. There just wasn’t the togetherness they had for the majority of last season. And that carried into their first-round series.
The Raptors might have caught the Cavaliers had Toronto been healthy for the entirety of its seven-game set, and that would have been bad for Cleveland, where even bigger changes await on the other side of another second-round playoff exit.
Head-to-head
The Pistons and Cavaliers tied their regular-season series, 2-2.
Harden missed the first three meetings against Detroit, and Mitchell missed the last two, so Cleveland’s backcourt did not play a minute together against the Pistons all season. Mitchell performed well against Detroit’s defense, totaling 65 points in two games, and Harden did not, scoring 18 points on 5-for-17 shooting in his lone chance.
Thompson can limit one of them severely, an interesting chess match to watch. Will he defend Mitchell, or, as was the case more often over the regular season, Harden?
Notable, too: Mobley and Allen finished -2 combined over 54 minutes against Detroit. The Cavs were better off with one of them off the floor against Orlando, too, so it will be fascinating to see how much of that double-big combo they can get away with.
Meanwhile, Detroit’s starting lineup — Cunningham, Thompson, Robinson, Harris and Duren — was outscored by five points over 51 minutes against Cleveland this season.
Something’s gotta give.
Matchup to watch
Cade Cunningham vs. Cleveland’s wings
Cunningham was exceptional against the Magic, especially considering he was only weeks removed from a collapsed lung. He averaged 40.4 minutes a game in the first round and carried the heaviest of burdens, leading the league in usage rate and field-goal and free-throw attempts per game through the opening round of the playoffs.
He will have to do the same against Cleveland, as he is often Detroit’s sole source of shot creation, and the Cavaliers have few options to stop him not named Wade.
Jaylon Tyson, a second-year wing who averaged only 15.7 minutes per game off the bench against the Magic, drew the bulk of the assignment against Cunningham in the regular season, and did so admirably, but will Cleveland trust him in this big spot?
The Cavaliers’ offense looked more operational with the shooting of Sam Merrill or Max Strus on the wing, but either one gives Cunningham another pressure point to poke in addition to Mitchell and Harden. And the last thing the Cavs want is Cunningham getting comfortable against a Cleveland team that so often looks so uncomfortable.
Key question
Can Evan Mobley get comfortable against the Pistons’ defense?
We see Mitchell, Harden, Mobley and Allen — four recent All-Stars — together in one lineup, with all of the options available to them on the wing, and we think the Cavs should field a top-flight offense, if only because we saw one from them last season.
They have Mitchell and Harden, two of the greatest self-creators the game has ever seen, plus a pair of elite rim-running roll men. They should be carving up opposing defenses on either side of the court, picking between whichever combination can’t be stopped, but the offense falls apart when the defense doesn’t respect Mobley.
Of course, Mobley made the Magic pay, shooting 39.1% on 3.3 attempts per game from long distance, and converting them in big moments. But if his shot is not falling, Detroit will not worry about either Mobley or Allen as shooters, and the space with which Mitchell and Harden can create gets crowded really quick by Detroit’s length.
Cleveland is already dependent on Merrill and Strus as flamethrowers, but each of them gives Cunningham another point to attack. If Mobley can stretch the floor, if Mitchell and Harden can operate in space, if Allen is cleaning up around the rim, and if their wing du jour can be additive, then the Cavs have more collective firepower.
If, however, Mobley can’t get comfortable, neither will Mitchell nor Harden, and we have seen what can happen when both of them get uncomfortable. They take it on themselves, trying to do too much. That’s when Detroit will drag them into the mud.
Prediction: Pistons in six
Defense has been the difference-maker in these playoffs — for the Thunder and Spurs, who own the Western Conference’s two best outfits; for the Timberwolves, who upset the Nuggets; for the Knicks and Sixers, who clamp down on the wings; even for the Lakers against a Rockets offense that couldn’t get out of its own way.
Why shouldn’t that be the case for the Pistons, too, who can ratchet their defense and physicality up to levels we have not seen from the Cavaliers this year, despite the presence of Mobley, the NBA’s 2025 Defensive Player of the Year, on that end?
Meanwhile, Cunningham has a chance to be the best player in the series, if only because Cleveland has nobody who can compete with his size, skill and speed.
Apple Notes is an excellent note-taking app that often goes under the radar because many of its best features are hidden. The app does a great job at capturing your ideas and syncing them across Apple devices, but when you start digging deeper, you’ll quickly realize that it has powerful features under the hood. As someone who’s used the app for over a decade, I’ve discovered quite a few of the best Apple Notes hacks on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Here are 10 I think everyone should know.
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Lock your notes with Face ID or Touch ID
Credit: Pranay Parab
In Apple Notes, you can set a password to protect sensitive notes. You can do this on an iPhone or iPad by holding down any note and selecting Lock Note. On a Mac, you’ll find the option when right-clicking a note. When you do, you’ll see a prompt to use the device’s passcode to lock the note. You can choose this, or use a custom password. You don’t have to use this password or passcode every time you unlock the note, however. Instead, you can enable biometric authentication to open locked notes. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Notes > Password, and enable Use Face ID (or Touch ID, if you have an iPhone or iPad with a fingerprint sensor). On a Mac, click the Notes button in the menu bar, select Settings, and enable Use Touch ID. It’s worth noting, though, that shared notes can’t be locked.
Use Notes’ hidden scanner to add documents to your device
Your iPhone’s Notes app has a built-in document scanner, but it’s buried under a nondescript menu that makes it hard to find. You can find it by opening a note and pressing the paperclip icon above the keyboard. Select Scan Documents, and point your iPhone’s camera at the pages you wish to scan. It’ll automatically pick up the borders of the document, complete the scan, and open the viewfinder for you to scan the next page. Once you’re done scanning, press the yellow checkmark in the top-right corner, and the file will be attached to your note. Alternatively, you can long-press the Notes app icon to find the option.
Enable offline notes to bypass iCloud syncing
Apple Notes is designed to sync notes across devices, but you can keep certain notes offline by enabling the “On My iPhone/iPad/Mac” account on your device. When you do this, notes stored in that folder won’t be synced with other devices using the same iCloud account. However, these notes aren’t completely offline either. If you have iCloud Backup enabled on those devices, Apple will save a copy of your “On my iPhone/iPad/Mac” notes to the cloud. To enable this folder on your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Notes, and enable On My iPhone/iPad Account. On your Mac, click the Notes button in the menu bar, select Settings, and enable On My Mac Account.
Once you’re done writing, hit the checkmark button in the top-right corner, then long-press your handwritten text to reveal more options. Select Straighten to make the handwriting more level. You can also tap the three-dots icon in the top-right corner of the note, select Lines & Grids, and pick one option to make it easier to write in a straight line. I prefer using an unruled note, but you can pick a different option that’s better for you. Other handwriting options include Refine (makes the handwriting more legible), Convert a text object to handwriting, and Paste typed text in your handwriting. The last two features require you to have your handwriting saved in a note, with at least 10 unique lowercase characters, which allows Apple to convert text into your handwriting.
Some of these features are also available on iPhone. You can open any note in the app, select the pen icon in the toolbar above the keyboard, pick one of the tools, and start writing. It’s not as intuitive as using an iPad with an Apple Pencil or another stylus, but it’s decent enough for a quick scribble.
Use advanced search filters to find the note you’re looking for
Credit: Pranay Parab
When you need to find a specific note, use Apple Notes’ advanced search filters to narrow down the results. On Apple Notes for Mac, click the search bar, then hit the Esc key to reveal a list of available filters. On the iPhone version of the app, tapping the search bar near the bottom of the screen reveals all these filters. This lets you filter search results by shared notes, locked notes, notes with checklists, tags, drawings, scanned documents, and attachments.
Use the hidden math tool to calculate formulas and equations
Apple Notes can do basic math, too. Type a simple arithmetic operation like 625/5, then drop the “=” sign to see the result. By default, Apple Notes suggests the result in the note, and you can press the space bar to accept it. However, you can change this setting so the app automatically inserts the result instead. To do this, click the three dots in the top-right corner of any note and select Math Results > Insert Results. To turn off math results entirely, select the Off option in the same menu.
Notes supports basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), creating graphs, and calculating the tip amount at restaurants, and it also lets you assign variables to calculate things. For example, you can write something like “Ticket = $80, Food = $45,” and then type, “Ticket + Food.” Notes will tell you that the total is $125. For more examples, check out Apple’s support page for this feature.
Export your notes for backup or transfer
If you wish to take an offline backup of your notes, you won’t find a bulk export option in the app. Instead, you’ll need to rely on third-party tools to get the job done. One such option is Exporter, which can back up all your notes for free. This method is best suited for offline backups, but if you’re looking to switch to another app, you’re better off using the bulk import tools those apps offer.
Use ProNotes to turn Notes into a word processor
ProNotes is one of my favorite extensions for Apple Notes on the Mac. The app brings Markdown support to Apple Notes, a popover context menu when you select text, and slash commands for commonly used actions. All of these features make it faster to execute common actions such as adding a heading, bullets and numbering, or inserting tables. The app is a free download, and you only need to pay if you want to use its optional AI features.
Use Smart Folders for automatic notes sorting
Credit: Pranay Parab
Creating folders to sort each note manually can get tedious. That’s where Smart Folders come in. This feature lets you automatically add notes that contain a certain characteristic, like a specific hashtag, checklist, attachment, or creation date, among others. For example, you can create a smart folder that automatically includes all notes created in 2026, which will continue to update on its own as you create new notes. To get started, open the app on your iPhone or iPad, and navigate to the Folders menu. Click the “Create new folder” button up top, name the folder, and select Make Into Smart Folder. You can now select the criteria you like, and tap the checkmark in the top-right corner to finish the process. On your Mac, press Command-Shift-N in Apple Notes to create a new folder, and select Make Into Smart Folder for the same result.
You can also right-click any folder in Apple Notes for Mac, and select Convert to Smart Folder to retroactively turn any folder smart. On your iPhone and iPad, tap the Edit button in the top-right corner of the list of folders, tap the three dots next to any folder, and select Convert to Smart Folder.
Link multiple notes together to connect similar ideas
Apple Notes supports contextual linking, which lets you link one note to another. Say you’re studying a subject and taking notes in the app. You can use this feature to link back to similar topics you’ve studied before, which makes it easier to go back to those topics and memorize what you need to. To do this on your iPhone or iPad, open any note, and swipe left on the toolbar above the keyboard. This will reveal the hyperlink icon, which is next to the formatting options and the pencil icon. Tap the hyperlink button, and type the title of the note you wish to link to. As you type, the app will suggest different notes that match that title. You can select the note from the list, confirm your choice, and a link to the old note will appear in the note you’re working on. In Apple Notes for Mac, you can right-click inside any note, and select Add Link to locate the same feature.
“I am incredibly honored to join the Chicago Bulls organization,” Graham said in a statement. “This is one of the most storied franchises in the history of professional basketball, and I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to deliver results for this city and these fans. My entire career has been built on the belief that sustained success starts with finding the right players and developing an all-around impactful culture. I want to thank Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf and the entire Bulls organization for presenting me with this opportunity. I am ready to get to work.”
Graham spent 15 years with the New Orleans Pelicans front office, where he first started as an intern before working his way up to general manager. He then joined the Atlanta Hawks last season as the team’s senior vice president.
Graham will take over in Chicago for Artūras Karnišovas, who was fired near the end of the regular season along with general manager Marc Eversley. Karnišovas was hired ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, but the team managed just one winning record and a single playoff appearance under his watch.
Head coach Billy Donovan parted with the team last month after six seasons, too. The Bulls went just 31-51 this season and missed the playoffs. They’ve not won a playoff series since 2015, either, which was the final year of the Tom Thibodeau era.
Karnišovas and Eversley were responsible for several trades or roster moves that didn’t really pan out, including trading DeMar DeRozan in 2024 and Coby White in February while not getting much in return. They released Jaden Ivey near the end of the season, too, after he went on several anti-LGBTQ rants on social media. Ivey was acquired by the Bulls in a three-team trade in February.
With Graham now in place, he and the Bulls will turn their attention to finding a new general manager and head coach. Once he gets that settled, he has plenty of room to work with. The Bulls have both their own lottery pick and an additional first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. They have about $60 million in cap space available, too. Graham hasn’t held this role before, but the Bulls clearly believe he’s the man capable of leading the franchise back to prominence after more than a decade of struggling in the Eastern Conference.
The New York Knicks face the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals this week, here’s how to watch Game 1. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images
The New York Knicks will host the Philadelphia 76ers tonight at Madison Square Garden for their first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The game begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. ET, and you can watch on NBC or stream it on Peacock. Here’s a look at the predictions and odds for this series and the rest of the second round.
Here’s what you need to know to watch tonight’s Game 1 between the Knicks and the 76ers, and check out the schedule for the rest of the conference semifinals below.
Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal won’t take the mound as expected Monday. Skubal was scratched from his start and will go on the injured list due to loose bodies in his throwing elbow. Skubal will need surgery to repair the issue and is expected to miss time, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters.
Skubal, 29, was set to square off against Boston Red Sox young lefty Payton Tolle during Monday’s contest. With Skubal sidelined, lefty Tyler Holton will start for the Tigers on Monday.
Tarik Skubal to undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow, manager A.J. Hinch announced. No timetable for return yet.
The Tigers said Monday there was no timetable for Skubal’s return.
The news comes a few days after Skubal experienced an injury scare during a strong seven-inning performance against the Atlanta Braves on April 29. Following a pitch, Skubal shook out his throwing arm and called a meeting on the mound. He could be seen rubbing his left elbow.
Skubal was examined by team officials, but said he was good to remain in the game. The incident occurred during the seventh inning. Skubal struck out the side following the incident and was then removed from the game with his pitch count at 91.
“I don’t really know. Cramp is probably the wrong word,” Skubal said. “We’ve heard the word zinger, I guess, but it wasn’t really like a nervy thing. I don’t know.”
Skubal was able to get in his usual side sessions ahead of Monday’s game, calling it “a good week of work.” It appeared Skubal was still going to start as early as Monday morning, but the situation apparently changed in the hours before the game.
Skubal is in the midst of yet another dominant season. Through seven starts, he has a 2.70 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings. He’s won the American League Cy Young award in each of the past two seasons and is expected to contend for the award again this season.
Skubal, considered one of the best pitchers in the game, is in the final year of his rookie deal with the Tigers, and is expected to be a free agent at the end of the season.
Every Monday, I do a deep audit with my top-250 players moving forward, and we write up some of the biggest movers and shakers. Let’s unpack some of the market movement as we get ready for another week of fantasy baseball.
Upgrades
Casey Schmitt, UT, Giants (19% rostered on Yahoo): Before the year, I was merely hoping Schmitt could sneak his way into depth relevance for fantasy baseball, but I’m willing to raise the bar now. He’s hitting over .300 for the Giants, with some pop (four homers) and the occasional steal (two). San Francisco has also elevated Schmitt in the lineup, slotting him third or fourth over the past week. You’d like to see more walks, but Schmitt’s surface stats are data-approved — an expected average of .285 and slugging of .530. And even though he swings at almost anything, Schmitt has a mild strikeout rate (19.5%).
Liam Hicks, C/1B, Marlins (77%): While it was initially a shocker to see Agustín Ramírez optioned to Triple-A, the move makes sense. Ramírez has been struggling at the plate and is a lost cause defensively. Luckily for the Marlins, Hicks has stepped into the breach, off to a .309/.366/.557 start with seven homers; he’s also a credible defensive catcher. Hicks currently ranks fourth among catchers in banked 5×5 value.
Sean Burke, SP, White Sox (19%): Although Burke cuts an impressive figure at 6-foot-6, the righty doesn’t break the radar gun — his average fastball is in the 94.1 mph range. But Burke beats opponents by pounding the strike zone (5.1% walk rate) and keeping the ball in the park. His 2.72 ERA might be an eyelash fortunate, but FIP suggests a still-playable 3.20 number. The White Sox have proven more competitive than expected, just two games below .500.
Max Meyer, SP, Marlins (32%): It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of the Miami rotation — Sandy Alcantara has a Cy Young Award and Eury Pérez is seen as a future star. But Meyer might be the ace of this year’s staff, holding a 2.68 ERA and 1.027 WHIP through seven starts. The timing could be right for Meyer to break through — he’s in his age-27 season — and Miami’s ballpark is a plus, as it significantly hurts power.
Logan Henderson, SP, Brewers (22%): Roger Sterling had a million memorable quips on “Mad Men,” including this gem: “The only thing worse than not getting what you want, is someone else getting it.” That’s how I feel about Henderson, whom I drafted proactively in March then had to cut when he didn’t make the opening day roster. Injuries have pushed Henderson back to Milwaukee, and he looked sharp in his weekend tuneup (6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 8 K), on the heels of 17.2 dominant innings at Triple-A (1.02 ERA). I’m not getting the benefits of Henderson — my opponents are annoying — but maybe you can jump in, as he’s rostered in about a quarter of Yahoo leagues.
Downgrades
Tarik Skubal, SP, Tigers (99%): Right as we went to press, the awful news broke — Skubal has loose bodies in his left elbow and is headed for surgery. This type of injury is often a 2-3 month affair, though when it comes to pitchers and elbows, we can’t make firm assumptions.
It’s no fun to do it, but I buried Skubal in the rankings (SP39), understanding that he’ll miss a chunk of the season and we can’t be certain he’ll be a star if and when he returns. None of that is a satisfying answer, but pitching is a delicate act and major injuries can strike at any time. You can never have enough pitching depth, and you can never refresh the bottom of your roster enough.
There are no obvious answers with Skubal’s value moving forward. We’re all guessing.
Luis Castillo, SP, Mariners (83%): I earmarked Castillo as a boring-value vet before the year, figuring the Seattle park would hide some of his mistakes entering an age-33 season. I’m starting to regret that angle. Castillo is off to a 6.29/1.660 start, with ground balls down and line drives up. His fastball still checks in at 95.1 mph, but that’s a couple of ticks down from his peak in Cincinnati. He’s had a little bad luck, but nothing significant — his xERA is slightly below six. He’s not an automatic start against the White Sox next weekend.
Matt McLain, 2B, Reds (50%): For the first month of the year, the Reds were very patient with McLain — slotting him second basically every game, with just two days off. But perhaps the other cleat dropped on the weekend — McLain was benched Thursday, then demoted to the ninth slot Sunday. That’s all justified for a hitter off to a .195/.308/.293 start. McLain is one of those batters who doesn’t chase but still strikes out more than average, which means he’s getting beat on pitches in the strike zone. The Reds have a plethora of infielders — and Noelvi Marte is crushing in the minors — so the leash with McLain isn’t infinite.
Ryan Walker, RP, Giants (61%): Walker’s had at least a slight lead in the San Francisco save chase, but that might be expiring. He blew two save chances last week, hounded by a bloated walk rate. Meanwhile, the Giants have several other relievers with good-to-great ratios: Keaton Winn, Erik Miller, Caleb Kilian, Matt Gage, JT Brubaker. I picked up some Miller shares over the weekend, but any speculative play against Walker is recommended right now. The Giants are eight games under .500; they can’t wait forever.
Anthony Volpe’s debut, on Opening Day 2023, was supposed to be the start of something.
Expectations for the Big Apple born, New Jersey raised, childhood Yankee fan were outrageously high. For good reason. Volpe, still 21 years old, had just captured the Yankees’ starting shortstop job with a sensational spring training. Talent evaluators gushed about his maturity, defensive acumen and baseball IQ.
Drafted as a glove-first infielder with strong bat-to-ball skills, Volpe had reinvented himself by reengineering his swing for home run power. Recently departed Yankee legend Brett Gardner had even given Volpe permission to wear his No. 11 jersey. It was a bright, limitless future for the hometown kid living out his dream.
On Tuesday, Volpe will, for the first time since his big league debut, return to the minor leagues in earnest. After undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, Volpe had been playing in Double-A and Triple-A on a rehab assignment. But with that 20-day rehab clock expiring, the American League leading Yankees optioned the 25-year-old to Triple-A on Sunday night. José Caballero, whom the club acquired from Tampa Bay at last year’s trade deadline, will continue on as the starting shortstop.
Anthony Volpe will be spending more time than expected in the minor leagues. (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
It’s a stunning move, one that Yankees brass had, time and time again, appeared hesitant to make. Volpe, despite lackluster offensive showings throughout his first three major league seasons, received unwavering support from manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman. Even team owner Hal Steinbrenner publicly backed the scuffling shortstop at one point. And as recently as mid-April, Cashman implied that Volpe would likely regain his starting spot upon completing his rehab assignment.
But that’s not how things played out.
Part of it has to do with Caballero, who has shined defensively this season for a Yankees team laying waste to the American League. His surface-level offensive numbers are perfectly viable, even though his underlying metrics tell a different story. Clearly though, the frisky Panamanian has played well enough and given the Yankees enough of an edge for Volpe to end up back in Triple-A.
Volpe was an uninspiring 11-for-44 with one long ball and two steals during a 13-game rehab stint split between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton. His defense in that short sample was unspectacular. The Yankees flipped Volpe between the two levels to avoid him from going on the road — all 13 games were home games for Somerset and Scranton. That will change Tuesday with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting a six-game set against the Worcester Red Sox.
It will be real, honest minor league ball.
For the 2026 Yankees, Volpe’s demotion is yet another decision that could be classified as uncharacteristically aggressive.
During their recent run of success, the Cashman-led Yankees have generally opted for patience over panic. They’ve shown a willingness to wait out stretches of poor performance, often to the ire of the club’s particularly demanding fan base. Volpe, who holds the third-lowest OPS in MLB since 2023 among players with at least 1,500 plate appearances, became an emblem of that wait-and-see approach.
Sticking with Caballero is a sign that things might be changing.
With just over a month of the season gone by, the Yankees’ transaction log is littered with moves that display a sense of urgency. On April 29 they designated struggling veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk for assignment when they easily could have optioned utility man Max Schuemann. Two days before that New York optioned starting pitcher Luis Gil back to Triple-A after the 2024 Rookie of the Year was non-competitive in three of his four MLB starts. Rookie Elmer Rodríguez took Gil’s spot in the rotation.
Veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon, acquired at last year’s trade deadline and currently the team’s seventh-highest paid player, was benched during an early season slump in favor of utility man Amed Rosario. The on-fire Ben Rice is finally getting everyday at-bats at first base, instead of being platooned with Paul Goldschmidt.
All these decisions send the same message: The Yankees are going to act aggressively, without fear of hurt feelings, in order to get their best lineup on the field every day.
Right now, that lineup does not include Volpe, who will need to play his way back up to The Show. Caballero’s lackluster peripherals mean that an extended slump will arrive sooner or later. Volpe remains the more talented player, one with significantly more upside. It’s more likely he regains his starting spot before the postseason than not.
But the job is no longer his birthright, as it has seemed for the past three seasons.
