Well that was pleasantly fun!
Diamondbacks news
(Arizona Sports) Big game Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks’ defense highlight win over Dodgers
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said during his pregame media availability that his club seems to bring the best out of the Diamondbacks, who are now 15-15 in their last 30 games against Los Angeles — including the postseason.
“If that’s the case and we’re rising to the occasion, to be the best, you gotta beat the best,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I like our chances when we take the field against anybody. It’s just nice when you play a good game like this, especially after you haven’t been playing good baseball.”
(The Athletic) Dodgers finally see fellow NL West contender — and witness the challenge firsthand
Until Thursday, the Diamondbacks had not faced a team within their division, period. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has called the National League West the “best division in baseball” — at least when excluding the Colorado Rockies, who have fewer wins on the season (six) than the Dodgers recently had in a week (seven). It took until the second week of May to see it on the field, with the National League’s last two pennant winners meeting at Chase Field. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks meeting is not a litmus test. But it is a series worth watching.
There was much to like about the Diamondbacks’ 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field on Thursday, May 8, including a slew of highlight-reel plays from their defense and a strong performance from right-hander Brandon Pfaadt.
But it was those two swings from Moreno and Marte, drives that produced homers, that not only made the biggest difference in the game, but might have a lasting impact for the club.
(Arizona Sports) Justin Martinez resumes throwing, D-backs discussing temporary 6-man rotation
It remains a bit mysterious what exactly happened to Martinez, as an MRI showed no damage to his shoulder. Lovullo had thrown around the term “dead arm” but it is possible the fear of something being wrong caused him to change how he threw.
After Martinez received a clean image and time to rest his arm, Lovullo is confident the 23-year-old will return to form.
MLB News
(Yahoo! Sports) Firing manager Derek Shelton will not save the Pirates
But to pin all the woe on Shelton is unfair.
He is merely the fall guy, the scapegoat, the sacrificial lamb of an organization poisoned by decades of institutional rot. The Pirates have won 80 games in a season just four times since 1992. Only the Kansas City Royals have compiled more losses in the 21st century. Nutting has not signed a free agent to a multi-year contract since December 2017, nearly two years before he hired Shelton and Cherington.
(Over The Monster) Who is to blame for the Rafael Devers mess?
Three months ago the Red Sox signed all-star third baseman Alex Bregman. Generally speaking, it’s a good thing to add all-star players to your roster. And on the field thus far in 2025, it has indeed been a very good thing. Bregman has been the best player on the Red Sox and one of the very best in all of baseball, currently placing fifth in bWAR in the American League.
Complicating matters, though, was the fact that the Red Sox already had an all-star third baseman: Rafael Devers, a guy to whom they committed a lot of dough over a lot of years. And even as Bregman was smiling under the Florida sun and introducing himself to both his new teammates and to New England snowbirds in the first week of Spring Training, it seemed obvious that the Sox hadn’t fully worked out a plan to address the roster crunch that they themselves created.
(MLB.com) Is the new pope a Cubs or White Sox fan? Everybody wants to know
One might think the more important questions would be how is the new Pope going to lead his 1.2 billion followers or manage the richest, smallest country in the world, but no. We have the answers to the real most important question.