Finish Your Breakfast (4.8.2026): There was a lot that happened in the MLB last night, but I’m starting with a midweek upset in the NCAA. Congrats to HBCU Bethune-Cookman for knocking off #24 LSU. The Wildcats are in first place in the SWAC with a 23-10 record. This win marks their first against a ranked opponent since 2017. The LSU Tigers are the defending National Champions, but have struggled early in the powerful SEC. They are 6-6 in conference and 22-12 overall. Switching to MLB: James Wood and Jordan Walker hit homers last night. The Yankees beat the A’s dramatically. The Blue Jays have lost six games in a row. Oh yeah, and there was a brawl in LA.

After 18 months, baseball returned to Tropicana Field in Tampa. Cedric Mullins and Junior Caminero hit home runs. Chandler Simpson flashed some leather in the Rays' 6-4 win. The Braves' Drake Baldwin has been on FIRE. His home run in the first inning ties the MLB league lead. Is Baldwin this year's Cal Raleigh? Jo Adell hit his first homer of the season, and Jose Soriano pitched a gem (8 IP, 10Ks) in the Angels' 6-2 win. A wild one in DC, James Wood and CJ Abrams hit homers for the Nats. Jordan Walker hit a homer for the Cards. The Nats win the slugfest 9-6. Not mentioned in the highlights, the Dodgers embarrassed the Blue Jays in the first game of the '25 World Series rematch. Shohei hit his third homer in as many days, and the Dodgers used Miguel Rojas to pitch the 9th (SMH). The Jays have lost five in a row.

On this episode of the Black Baseball Mixtape podcast, Cheats, Flobo, April, and Malik talk about teams that have overachieved and underachieved in the early weeks of the baseball season. Flobo deep dives into the emerging White Sox. April asks us which closer has the best sequence from the bullpen to the mound, and Malik highlights the Black-American players in the game putting in crazy work (Jo Adell, CJ Abrams, Drake Baldwin, Taj Bradley, and more).

The Black Baseball Mixtape is in partnership with the Players Alliance, Number Games Scorebooks, and Minority Prospects. Please visit the website of all of our wonderful partners.

Finish Your Breakfast (4.6.2026): A full slate of games in MLB on Easter Sunday. Every team played, and the Cubs and Guardians played two (S/O to Ernie Banks). James Wood (Nats) hit his second homer of the season, but the Nats could not avoid the sweep by the Dodgers. Mookie Betts was placed on the IL with a strained oblique. The Braves’ Drake Baldwin had a day: 3-5, 4 RBIs, 1 HR, but the Braves lost to the Diamondbacks 6-5, and split the four-game series. Marcus Semien and Devin Williams helped lead the Mets over the Giants 5-2. Jo Adell did what he does best (not home run robberies): he knocked in a run to tie the game against the Mariners. Angels won 8-7. All of those highlights, and more, on your daily dose of Black baseball news and highlights.

Finish Your (Easter) Brunch (4.5.2026): Yes, I took the morning off and attended Sunday service with the family, but I’m still here with your daily dose of Black baseball highlights. The story of Saturday had to be Jo Adell’s hat trick of home run robberies. The last one on JP Crawford was unreal. Adell is known more his power, but he is proving he can flash the leather in right field. Congratulations are in order for CJ Abrams. His twelve RBIs in the Nats’ first seven games is a modern-day franchise record. Kudos to Justin Crawford for the first stolen base of his MLB career. Jordan Walker (STL) and Cam Smith (HOU) both hit homers on Saturday. Jack Flaherty (DET) and Kumar Rocker (TEX) both had solid outings on the bump. All of that and more on Easter Sunday. Finish Your Easter Brunch.

Finish Your Breakfast 4.4.2026 (Nats Home Opener): I was on hand to cover the Nats home opener. The weather was great, the energy was high, and the back-to-back World Champion Dodgers were in town. I chopped it up with several of my favorite players and got a few great Mixtape polaroids. Much more content and coverage coming soon. To recap the day in Black baseball, several players showed out: Lawrence Butler was player of the game for the Athletics (3-5, 4, RBIs, HR), Josh Bell had two RBIs in the Twins' win. Aaron Judge led the Bombers over the Marlins. There were homers from Xavier Edwards and Marcus Semien. And Jordan Walker made one of the best throws of his career.

Short night in MLB, there were only three games played. Taj Bradley got his first win of the season. Josh Bell hit his second home run, and Byron Buxton got his first RBI of the year in a win over the Royals. The Braves embarrassed the Diamondbacks. Dom Smith hit his second home run of the season. Drake Baldwin is the first Braves' player to score in seven straight games since Hank Aaron. The last game of the evening was in the Bay, the Giants beat the Mets 7-2. I will be in DC covering the Nationals' home opener. If you see me around Nats Park, please say hello.

Cheats and Lewis Brinson discuss the first week of the MLB season.

The Black Baseball Mixtape is brought to you in partnership with the Players Alliance, Minority Prospects, and Numbers Game scorebooks.

Phillies rookie Justin Crawford got his first RBI (run batted in) of the season. It was a big one. His walk-off single in the 10th capped a Phillies comeback. They were down 5-1 going into the bottom of the 7th. Crawford, 22, has a .412 batting average, a .444 on-base percentage, and a .471 slugging percentage so far. He’s looking more comfortable in center field. The Phillies are now 3-3 on the season.

Meanwhile, in St. Louis, Masyn Winn’s single in the bottom of the 11th gave the Cardinals a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Mets. After the game, it was reported that Winn was in a car accident, but he appears to have avoided major injury. His condition will be monitored in the coming days and weeks.

Over in Baltimore, the O’s Sam Basallo made history yesterday. His bottom of the 9th ABS challenge is the first to result in a game-ending decision. Basallo went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. The O’s beat the Rangers 8-3. Elsewhere, the Braves’ Drake Baldwin has been raking. Last year’s NL Rookie of the Year went 2-for-5 with four RBIs last night. Baldwin would have had even more, but A’s center fielder Denzel Clarke robbed him at the fence. The Braves are now 4-2 on the season, the A’s 1-5.

Turning to Miami, Sandy Alcantara threw a 93-pitch complete game shutout against the White Sox. Despite the strong performance, only 6,505 paid to attend. Alcantara, 30, acknowledged the sparse crowd, saying the fans don’t come—but the team loves them anyway. The Marlins are now 5-1.

Josh Bell hit his first home run of the season for the Twins, while Jo Adell notched his second RBI of the year for the Angels. Despite their efforts, both the Twins and Angels fell. Meanwhile, the Yankees secured another win, bringing both the Yankees and Brewers to 5-1 records.

Finish Your Breakfast: 4.1.2026 (April Fools') - Andrew McCutchen was not in the Rangers’ lineup last night, but his hot start is worth noting. McCutchen is batting 455/455/909 to start the season. And to think, some teams thought he was washed (Pirates). No matter how his book ends, I am happy Cutch is having this chapter.

In a 3-2 loss to the Phillies, seven of the Nationals’ eight total hits came from American-born Black players (Lile, Nuñez, Wood, and Abrams). That stat has me wondering: What team has had the most hits by American-born Black players in the past few years? That’s worth looking up. Cam Smith, Drake Baldwin, Victor Scott II, and Stanton all made the highlights. Not highlighted: Justin Crawford got a hit and scored a run. Rate my hat, it is a good one. See you tomorrow.