The Black Baseball Mixtape

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.

Finish Your Breakfast: 3.31.2026. There are no more undefeated teams in Major League Baseball. The Dodgers, Blue Jays, Yankees, Brewers, and Marlins all took Ls last night. The White Sox, Giants, Diamonbacks, and Rockies picked up their first wins. The Reds' Chase Burns looked dominant in a win over the Pirates. The Phillies' Taijuan Walker struggled against the Nats. Wood, Abrams, and Lile all had RBIs for the Nats. There was a Hill Boys reunion in ATL. Aluvie hit two out, and Correa looks like Brooks Robinson. All of that and more: FYB.

On this episode of the Black Baseball Mixtape, the crew talks about the opening week of MLB action.

• The ABS Challenges System
• The MLB Top Rookies
• The Dodgers, Blue Jays, Yankees, Brewers, and Marlins' success
• The Giants and A's struggles
• The Nats took two from the Cubs in Wrigley.
• Dominic Smith's MLB debut Grand Slam
• The Seattle Steelheads Return

Cheats, Flobo, April, and Malik are excited to discuss it all and much more with you.

The Black Baseball Mixtape is in partnership with the Players Alliance, Minority Prospects, and Numbers Game Scorebooks.

We'd love to hear from you! Contact the show at: [email protected].

Sundays in Seattle are for Steelheads! Before the season began, it was announced that the Seattle Mariners would wear Seattle Steelheads uniforms on every home Sunday. The Steelheads were a Negro League baseball team in the brief West Coast Negro Baseball Association in 1946. They are part of Pacific Northwest Black history, though the league folded after two months.

Building on this announcement, seeing the uniforms in action produced unexpected emotion and tremendous pride. The Mariners’ media team did an excellent job telling the story of the Steelheads and included members from the community in their inaugural presentation. The uniforms look amazing, and this proactive action by the Mariners, who do not have a storied history in Negro League folklore, should afford the opportunity for teams like the Royals (Kansas City Monarchs), Cubs and White Sox (Chicago American Giants), Nationals (Homestead/Washington Grays), Phillies (Hilldale), Pirates (Grays & Crawford’s), Orioles (Elite Giants and Black Sox), and many more MLB teams to honor their past in an exciting way. And, let’s be honest, new uniforms bring in new revenue for the club too. It’s a great business move.

Turning to game action, the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Brewers are still undefeated. That may not come as a surprise to most; those teams all were in the playoffs last year, with stacked rosters. But, there is another team that is undefeated that is a surprise: Shout out to the Marlins. The Miami Marlins are 3-0 after sweeping the Rockies. Yes, I know the Rockies are trash, but live it up, MIA.

Looking more closely at the 2-1 teams, the Nationals were impressive, taking two wins in Chicago against the Cubs. The Rangers took two wins in Philly, and Andrew McCutchen hit extremely well. The Reds taking two off the Red Sox was unexpected. Most pundits have labeled the Red Sox the team to watch. I know it’s early, but the MLB season is off to a hot start.

To wrap things up, thank you for sharing part of your morning with BBM. A new podcast will be recorded live tonight at 9 PM EST. You can watch on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, or you can wait for the audio on Tuesday morning. See you tomorrow.

I know this is only the first week of the season, but I need to catch my breath. MLB teams are giving out walk-offs, like old school Oprah: You get a walk-off, you get a walk-off, and you get a walk-off too.

The most emotional walk-off victory belonged to the Braves and Dominic Smith. Smith is the first player in MLB history to hit a grand slam walk-off homer in his team debut. Smith, 31, lost his mother to cancer less than two weeks ago. He did not take time away from camp because he was battling for a roster spot. Smith said after the game that he felt his mother’s presence with him last night. It was a beautiful moment for Smith, who is in the midst of a very difficult time.

The Reds’ Dane Myers got his first hit with his new club on Saturday, and, yes, it was a walk-off. The story of the Reds-Red Sox game will not be Myers; it will be umpire CB Bucknor. The veteran umpire (Bucknor, 63) was overruled by the ABS challenge system six times. I don’t know what the consequences will be for Bucknor, but this is not good.

In Chicago, the Cubs beat the Nats, but James Wood hit his first home run, and Nasim Nunez made one of the best web gems of the season already. Nunez was filling in for CJ Abrams, who has stepped away from the team due to bereavement. It is reported that he has suffered a death in his family.

Taj Bradley (Twins) K’d 9 in 4.1 innings pitched. He didn’t get a decision, but the Twins beat the O’s 4-1.

Aaron Judge has hit his second home run in as many days. Captain America is back after his Opening Day 0-5, 4K performance. The Yankees are 3-0, which means the Giants are 0-3. They did score their first run on Saturday, so there is that.

In closing, Twins #2 prospect Kaeleen Culpeper and Orioles #9 prospect Enrique Bradfield are in the recap on Substack. Substack will be where you find a wider version of highlights.

See you tomorrow. Finish Your Breakfast.

Judge, Stanton, Baldwin, Harris, and Betts all hit homers on Friday. And, I don’t know Mike Trout personally, but you tell me: Is he invited to the family gathering? That dude is locked in. He has hit two home runs in two days, he’s back in center field, and even stole a base.

A heartfelt “Peace God” to Jason Heyward. The 16-year pro has officially called it quits. Heyward leaves the game with 5 Gold Gloves, a World Series Championship, and an All-Star appearance.

Let me know your reaction to Friday’s baseball action in the comments.

We Are Back! Opening Day is here, and so is the best Black baseball highlights and news recap in the game. From now until the final pitch of the World Series, Cheats and the BBM crew will be providing recaps and breaking news every day. Before we get too far, please consider a paid subscription to this platform. It’s the best way to support the Mixtape and keep the community growing.

As of this morning, twelve MLB regular-season games have been played, and we’ve learned a few things. The Dodgers are on pace to go 162-0 (again). The quest for a three-peat is on. And Dodgers’ skipper Dave Roberts says the 2026 team is his best roster. It’s hard to think Mookie Betts is on a revenge tour, but the 2025 Gold Glove finalist is hoping to bounce back from a down year. He is fully recovered from a stomach virus that really hampered the start of his 2025 season. He went 1-4 last night in a game shown on NBC, called by the legend Bob Costas.

The Nats surprised the Cubs, beating them 10-4. The story of the game will center on CJ Abrams. The 2024 All-Star crushed a bases-loaded sure double, but got thrown out as he thought the ball was a sure home run, and it was not. He got thrown out at second, and that is really a microcosm of Abrams right now. Let’s hope ‘26 brings more on-field maturity, because I think he is going to have a breakthrough year.

Victor Scott II stole two bases in the Cards come-from-behind victory against the Rays. Mike Trout hit his fifth Opening Day homer to lead the Angels over the Astros. Tarik Skubal struck out six Padres in six innings for the Tigers 8-2 win.

The Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Brewers, Red Sox, Guardians, and even the O’s also picked up impressive Opening Day wins.

And Tommy Pham signed a minor league contract with the Mets.

See you tomorrow. FINISH YOUR BREAKFAST