Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here. When it comes to baseball’s prospect landscape, things can change in a hurry. MLB Pipeline’s updated Top 100 prospects list is evidence of that. With several MLB rookies graduating off the list and a number of players turning heads with their early-season performances in the Minors, our prospect experts couldn’t resist giving the rankings a refresh to account for what they’ve seen so far in 2025. This is what stood out most to us. (Be sure to check out Sam Dykstra’s in-depth breakdown of the reshuffle right here.) No. 1 solidified Technically, Roman Anthony has already been baseball’s No. 1 prospect for nearly two weeks, moving into the top spot when Dodgers rookie Roki Sasaki graduated off the list on May 2. But we’ll consider this his official coronation. Having slashed .302/.423/.476 with five homers in 35 games for Triple-A Worcester, Anthony’s place atop the rankings was reaffirmed in the refresh, setting the stage for his eventual arrival in Boston. |
The outfielder is part of a collection of highly touted young position players in the Red Sox’s system, along with second baseman Kristian Campbell and shortstop Marcelo Mayer. Campbell, who graduated off Pipeline’s list on Sunday, is already making an impact in Boston. Mayer, meanwhile, ranks eighth overall after the refresh, making the Red Sox the only team with two players among the top 15. The new top pitching prospect is … Around this time last season, the baseball world was abuzz about Pirates phenom Paul Skenes, who made his MLB debut on May 11, 2024. When Pittsburgh called him up, Skenes was Pipeline's top pitching prospect. One year later, another Bucs flamethrower finds himself in a similar position, with Bubba Chandler ascending to the No. 2 overall spot on Pipeline’s rankings. Take a look at the top of this e-mail: He even kind of looks like Skenes! After making a dramatic leap up the prospect ranks with an outstanding 2024 campaign, Chandler has been even more dominant this year. The 22-year-old doesn’t have much more to prove in the Minors, having recorded a 2.00 ERA with 95 K’s over 67 1/3 innings in 14 career starts at the Triple-A level. Biggest risers A multitude of prospects have made major moves since the start of the season, none larger than Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. The 19-year-old, who was recently promoted to Double-A after a strong showing at High-A, jumped 49 spots (from No. 93 to No. 44) in MLB Pipeline’s refresh. Brewers shortstop Jesús Made (+26), Dodgers outfielder Zyhir Hope (+21) and Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (+18) are also among those whose stocks have soared in 2025. Padres shortstop Leo De Vries’ leap (+11) wasn’t as sizable, but that’s only because he didn’t have as much room for improvement. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the 18-year-old, whose new ranking (No. 3) underscores the excitement about his future. – Thomas Harrigan |
• Cardinals @ Phillies (6:45 p.m. ET, FREE on MLB.TV, MLB Network): The Cardinals (winners of eight straight) and Phillies (11-3 since April 26) are two second-place clubs with their feet firmly on the gas pedal. One player to watch for here is Kyle Schwarber, who is two shy of 300 homers for his career after going deep twice last night, and he enters with a 46-game on-base streak. • Pirates @ Mets (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Paul Skenes visits Citi Field for the first time, with New York riding high off a series victory against the dangerous Cubs. It’ll be interesting to see if Skenes, who’s coming off two straight losses, rises to the challenge in an electric environment in Queens, where the Mets are 15-4 this season. • Yankees @ Mariners (9:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Aaron Judge leads the Majors in almost every meaningful offensive metric, but here’s a bonkers stat for you to chew on: While he has six games this season with zero hits, Judge has seven games this season with three or more hits. Meanwhile, though Seattle was swept by Toronto this weekend, it's still in first place in the AL West. |
• Brothers Jace and Josh Jung faced off for the first time in their pro careers this weekend, but they weren’t just competing in baseball. The siblings, both playing third base, started a game of tic-tac-toe (tic-tac-bro?) in the dirt, each of them making their moves when they came out to the field. • Mustache May has arrived in the Giants’ clubhouse. If you must ask what that is, beat reporter Maria Guardado has you covered, detailing how Mike Yastrzemski came up with the idea a few years ago as a way to raise awareness for mental health. Come for the good cause, stay for Yaz grading his teammates’ budding ‘staches on the 20-80 scouting scale.
• Because they traditionally play in the domed Tropicana Field, the Rays had never experienced a home rain delay … until Saturday. Playing at open-air George M. Steinbrenner Field this year, it was inevitable, and the club was ready with commemorative ponchos to hand out to fans. The game ended with one final shower, but not one related to precipitation: Travis Jankowski received a celebratory ice bath after recording his first career walk-off hit.
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As has been common for quite some time, the color pink was everywhere yesterday at Major and Minor League ballparks in honor of Mother’s Day. The reason for the custom is twofold: It’s a very visible way for players to honor the moms in their lives, but also a way for the sport to support organizations that spread awareness to help reduce the rates of breast cancer. Considering all that, players tend to go all out with specialized pink gear and cleats. We collected some of our favorites right here, and it’s definitely worth a scroll. But if you want a few of our picks … • Christian Yelich’s homer to put the Brewers on the board in their win on Sunday was with the traditional pink bat – with his mom’s name engraved on it, to boot. • Francisco Lindor likewise connected on a big homer with a pink bat in the Mets’ win, but we also took note of his slick New Balance cleats (see above) courtesy of customizer Mike Jordan, who has been lacing Lindor all season long. • For Maikel Garcia of the Royals, his eye black said it all. -- Bryan Horowitz |
Can you Beat the Streak? Try to top Joe DiMaggio's record hitting streak of 56 games by selecting a player each day to record a hit. If you get to 57, you can win $5.6 million. Plus, new for this year, a chance to win unique weekly prizes. Yes, it's a small sample size. But Kyle Tucker has been raking for the Cubs all year, and he's 3-for-4 with a homer against Marlins starter Cal Quantrill. |
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