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. Today's edition is brought to you by David Adler.

The Yankees are bringing back the blueprint of their late-'90s dynasty. 

You remember the Core Four, obviously -- Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada, the homegrown heroes who led the Bronx Bombers to World Series after World Series.

Well, the 2026 Yanks have a Key Three. And they just might be New York's best group of homegrown stars since the franchise icons of the 1990s and early 2000s.  

The current trio: Aaron Judge, Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler. All three players were drafted and developed by New York, and all three are among the best players in the league this season. 

So when's the last time the Yankees had a homegrown trio as good as Judge, Rice and Schlittler? Thomas Harrigan breaks it down here.

See, even though Judge has provided the Yankees a Jeter-esque centerpiece for the last decade, New York has had to lean heavily on free-agent signings like Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Max Fried and trade acquisitions like Juan Soto, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton to support Judge. 

Until now, thanks to Schlittler and Rice breaking out. For the first time in a long time, the Yankees have a roster anchored by a collection of elite homegrown players.

But for Judge, Schlittler and Rice to really join the Core Four in Yankees lore, they'll need to deliver title No. 28.

The biggest series this weekend include a classic rivalry, a playoff rematch and one of the hottest teams right now. 

Cubs at Cardinals

Tonight's series opener: 7:15 p.m. ET, MLB.TV 

The Cubs-Cardinals rivalry goes back 140 years, and their first meeting of 2026 comes at a crucial time for both clubs. The two NL Central rivals are separated by just half a game in the National League Wild Card race, with the Cubs (31-26) holding the edge over the Cards (29-25) for the third and final spot. 

Phillies at Dodgers 

Tonight's series opener: 10:15 p.m. ET, Apple TV

We have a rematch of the 2025 NLDS, when the Dodgers knocked out the Phillies. The Phils didn't have Zack Wheeler in that series, though, but they do now. Their resurgent ace is back with a vengeance (4-0, 1.67 ERA), and Wheeler gets the ball for tonight's opener at Dodger Stadium. For the Dodgers, postseason hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto lies in wait in Sunday's series finale -- but the Phillies are the team that handed him his only loss of the 2025 playoffs. It's just too bad that Cristopher Sánchez and Shohei Ohtani, who lead one of the most loaded Cy Young fields of all time, aren't lined up to pitch in this series.

D-backs at Mariners 

Tonight's series opener: 10:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV 

The D-backs are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now -- they're on a five-game winning streak and have won 10 of their last 11 games entering tonight's opener in Seattle. That surge has Arizona tied with the Padres for the top NL Wild Card spot at 31-24. The Mariners, meanwhile, just took over first place in the AL West by sweeping the A's (even though they're still a game under .500 at 28-29).

Today is Paul Skenes' birthday, and even at the ripe young age of 24, he might already be one of the best pitchers we've ever seen. 

There's no shortage of incredible Skenes stats we can point to on his 24th birthday today. Like how he was already just the third pitcher ever to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award in his first two big league seasons, joining Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden. 

Here's another one. After a 10-strikeout performance last night, Skenes lowered his career ERA to 2.12 on his birthday eve. That's the fourth-lowest career ERA for a pitcher before turning 24 since earned runs became official in 1913, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. And everyone else in the top five pitched over a century ago, during the Deadball Era. 

Lowest career ERA before turning 24 

Since 1913, min. 300 innings pitched

• 1. Dutch Leonard: 1.99 (1913-15)
• 2. (tie) Bill Doak: 2.09 (1913-14)
• 2. (tie) Babe Ruth: 2.09 (1914-18)
• 4. Paul Skenes: 2.12 (2024-26)
• 5. Bill L. James: 2.27 (1913-15)

Skenes, presented with that stat last night, had a festive birthday reaction: "That’s cool. There’s a lot of baseball left."

See every baseball birthday here >>

Yordan Alvarez, with his American League-leading 20 home runs, is on a 56-homer pace in 2026. That would smash the Astros' single-season home run record of 47, set by Jeff Bagwell in 2000.

He's cementing himself as one of the best hitters in Houston history. So Astros reporter Brian McTaggart went and asked the Astros legends who came before Alvarez for their thoughts on the superstar slugger. 

Here's what the three Killer B's -- Bagwell, Lance Berkman and Craig Biggio -- have to say about Alvarez's performance this season.

Bagwell: "This is no surprise to me. Yordan is one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen. Everybody looks at the home runs and all that, but it’s the total package of what he does offensively. He understands himself, understands what pitchers are doing to him, and I think that’s a lost art at times -- is having an idea of going into a game knowing the gameplan against him and being able to adjust per at-bat, per pitch, and with such a good swing."

Berkman: "He’s one of the best pure hitters in the game. I honestly haven’t watched him a lot, but just what I’ve seen of him he’s got that rare combination of the ability to hit for power and to hit for average. It seems like in today’s game guys are hitting .230 with 30 home runs, but I’m always impressed with the guys that can [hit] for average and home runs."

Biggio: "The thing that really is remarkable about him is he’s 6-4, but he has a short swing for a big guy. Whenever you have a short swing, you’re always going to be successful. You put that in his frame and a guy that puts a ball in play, obviously a lot of damage can happen. He’s putting it all together this year, which is exciting to see, because he’s a tremendous slugger and a great kid, too."

Karlyn Pickens and NiJaree Canady were the top two picks in the 2026 Athletes Unlimited Softball League Draft. Now the two star pitchers could go head-to-head in the Women's College World Series. 

Pickens' Tennessee squad is facing off against Canady's Texas Tech squad tomorrow in the Double Elimination Round of the WCWS. You can watch the game at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. 

The second season of the AUSL starts in two weeks -- Opening Day is June 9. But for now, the future stars of the pro softball league are taking center stage at the Women's College World Series. 

Pickens, who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Carolina Blaze, is 15-7 with a 1.60 ERA and 180 strikeouts this season for the Lady Volunteers. She also has the record for the fastest pitch thrown in collegiate softball, a 79.4 mph pitch against Nebraska in Game 2 of the 2025 NCAA Knoxville Super Regional. 

Canady went second overall to the Texas Bolts. She's 26-6 with a 1.74 ERA and 229 strikeouts for the Red Raiders this season. Canady was the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate player of the Year and the 2025 D1Softball National Pitcher of the Year.

Bob Uecker will soon be towering over downtown Milwaukee. 

The Wintrust Financial Center at 731 N. Jackson St. is being transformed into The Uecker Building thanks to a larger-than-life mural of the late, legendary voice of the Brewers. It's a really cool story. 

Local muralist Mauricio Ramirez was commissioned to create the 80-foot by 105-foot masterpiece honoring the Milwaukee icon, and the Uecker mural is rapidly taking shape. 

Brewers reporter Adam McCalvy talked to Ramirez and got all the incredible details of the mural -- like how Ramirez had to apply 150 gallons of paint to the building facade before he painted a single facial feature of Uecker's. 

Just this week, Ramirez finally got to work using spray paint to begin work on the Uecker image itself.

"If you want to talk about levels of difficulty, it’s level 10," Ramirez said. "You’re dealing with heights, you’re dealing with the weather, you’re dealing with exterior surfaces, you’re dealing with industrial coatings. And not only that, you’re dealing with the artistic style of how to paint it, and make sure that the paint is going on right and looking how it’s supposed to look.

"When people paint portraits, sometimes it goes south and sometimes people get it right. My goal is to make this the best possible portrait in the country and in the world."

Read all about the Uecker mural here >>

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