Crawfish Boil: Yordan’s Unstoppable, the Abreu Problem, Injury Updates & More

— Crush City Territory (@CrushCityShow) April 23, 2026 **Speaking of injuries, here is the latest on some prominent Astros on the IL, including Hunter Brown, Bennett Sousa, Jeremy Pena, Tatsuya Imai and Cody Bolton:** Hunter Brown starting to play catch again and some other Astros injury notes:

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) April 22, 2026 **Maybe some reinforcements coming soon for the Astros (or one of their CFs is on the mend):** A Woodpeckers legend is back as a big leaguer.

Astros outfielder Zach Cole is set to begin a rehab assignment in Fayetteville tonight. pic.twitter.com/7tZ6yvbuem

— Fayetteville Woodpeckers (@WoodpeckersNC) April 23, 2026 **SP Peter Lambert gave the Astros the kind of starting pitching performance the team badly needed in his 2nd start with the team:** Peter Lambert's six-inning performance against Cleveland is what the team was hoping for when he was signed. It couldn't come at a better time.

— Chronicle Astros (@ChronAstros) April 23, 2026 **These are good numbers for those of you who would ask:** Peter Lambert: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K. 96 pitches, 61 strikes. It’s Houston’s fourth quality start of the season in 26 games. He induced 16 whiffs on 45 swings and the Guardians averaged a 78.3 mph exit velocity on 13 balls in play.

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) April 22, 2026 **Astros rotation vs the Yankees this weekend:** Astros probables vs. the Yankees: Fri: Lance McCullers Jr. Sat: Mike Burrows Sun: Spencer Arrighetti

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) April 22, 2026 **It may be the end of the line for veteran SP Taijuan Walker:** Walker, 1-4 with a 9.13 ERA, was in the final year of a 4-year, $72 million contract

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 23, 2026 **A rookie player from Japan is the current leader for AL Rookie of the Year. Just not the one in Houston:** ‘It’s unbelievable what he’s doing’: Munetaka Murakami continues historic run with homer in 5th straight game

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 23, 2026 Murakami's numbers through the 24th game of his MLB career: .247 10 homers 19 RBI .398 on-base percentage .617 slugging percentage 1.015 OPS

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 23, 2026 Munetaka Murakami's blast soared 451 feet. The distance of his last five homers: 2,156 feet. He now has 10 homers of the season, the quickest to reach 10 homers in White Sox history, per @SlangsOnSports

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 23, 2026 **Shohei Ohtani might be mortal. Might.** Shohei Ohtani’s 53-game on-base streak comes to an end in the Dodgers’ 3-0 defeat to the Giants.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 23, 2026 **There is something special about little-known players who hang around forever and one day have a great hot streak that is the best of their lives:** Vargas homers again, this time a 2-run shot. It's his first multi-homer game since 2019.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 23, 2026 **Human Sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass Hysteria! – No, but the Mets may have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express before the game:** The gruesome streak is over. The New York Mets finally have won a baseball game. They win 3-2 over the Minnesota Twins. It's their first victory since April 7. They are now 8-16, but have a winning streak.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 23, 2026 **But in typical Mets fashion, anything good must come with something horrific:** Good news: Luke Weaver locks it down for the Mets to snap the 12-game losing streak.

Bad news: Francisco Lindor goes down with a calf injury in Juan Soto's first game back. @JonHeymanpic.twitter.com/Hj9HumiBI5

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) April 23, 2026 **Angels SP Jose Soriano continues to lead the chase to the AL Cy Young in the early going:** Angels starter Jose Soriano with another 5 shutout innings today. He is the first MLB pitcher since 1900 to allow no more than one run in the first six starts of a season. 0.24 ERA 1 earned run 37.2 innings

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 22, 2026 **The Padres have signed SP Lucas Giolito:** He will start pitching at Class A after missing all of spring training with the Padres planning to add him to the big league roster within the next three weeks

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 22, 2026 The Padres are paying starter Lucas Giolito just a base salary of $3 million, that will be pro-rated, with incentives for another $5 million. @JonHeyman on it.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 22, 2026 **In an absolute stunner, a grumpy old man blames someone else for his problems (which apparently include getting a new stadium in a new city and getting \richer\):** In new book, Lew Wolff says ‘despicable’ San Francisco Giants to blame for Athletics relocation

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) April 22, 2026 **In case you wanted to know…** What road trips to players love/hate? How common are clubhouse fights? How much free gear do players get?

Answering your questions about the lives of MLB players.

— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) April 22, 2026 **Team badly underperforming has star player suffer injury. Wow, it’s not even the Astros.** News: The Phillies are putting J.T. Realmuto on the injured list. Garrett Stubbs will return and split time at catcher with Rafael Marchán.

Another blow to a team that desperately needs something to go right. Story:

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 22, 2026 **Take a peek inside some World Series strategy from last season:** Dave Roberts always wondered if part of the Blue Jays' calculus for intentionally walking Shohei Ohtani during the 18-inning Game 3 was to tire him out before his Game 4 start. So he asked John Schneider — and the answer is an illuminating look into World Series strategy. pic.twitter.com/RkihChJdN5

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 22, 2026 **Well, Milwaukee may not score many runs today or tomorrow:** Brewers are facing Tarik Skubal today in Detroit and Paul Skenes tomorrow at home, just the second time in MLB history that a team has faced reigning Cy Young Award winners in consecutive games.

— Sophia Minnaert (@SophiaMinnaert) April 23, 2026 **Despite their injuries, maybe these guys are really good:** In MLB history, only one team has had the following numbers over the first 25 games of a season:

+50 or better run differential 30+ home runs 200+ pitching strikeouts 0 blown saves

That one team is the 2026 @Braves. pic.twitter.com/H9v7O0NB5B

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 23, 2026 **Nightmare scenario for Jackson Holliday:** Jackson Holliday's hamate injury timeline:

Feb. 6 — Fractures hamate bone in right hand on a swing during live BP Feb. 11 — Team announces injury, says he'll miss opening day Feb. 12 — Undergoes surgery to remove hook of hamate bone, the typical procedure for that type of…

— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) April 22, 2026 **The numbers that don’t lie (and maybe some that exaggerate):** Cold offensive starts? A reliever that could win a Cy Young?! 8 stats that tell the early story of the 2026 season

It's hard to know which numbers to trust this time of year. Here are the ones that we do — and don't — believe in.

— Buster Olney (@Buster\_ESPN) April 22, 2026