Thursday, April 30

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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.

If you’re the first hitter to do something since Barry Bonds, you’re probably in a pretty good spot. 

Well, Nick Kurtz is drawing walks like Barry Bonds. 

To be more specific: The A’s slugger has walked in 18 consecutive games entering play today. That’s the longest walk streak since Bonds at the peak of his powers in 2002-03. 

And it’s not just that. Kurtz’s walk streak is the fourth-longest in MLB’s Modern Era — that’s since 1900. The list is a pretty cool one: Kurtz, Bonds, Ted Williams … and one surprise name at the very top. 

Most consecutive games with a walk, Modern Era 

1. Roy Cullenbine: 22 games (1947)
2. Barry Bonds: 20 games (2002-03)
3. Ted Williams: 19 games (1941)
4. Nick Kurtz: 18 games (2026) 

Let’s take a second to talk about the elephant in the room: Roy Cullenbine??? How is he No. 1 and not Bonds or the Splendid Splinter? 

Well, Cullenbine was actually something of a walk machine back in the ’40s. He was a two-time All-Star, he led the American League with 113 walks in 1945 (when he won a World Series with the Tigers), and he had a career-high 137 in 1947. That’s the year he had his streak, walking in every game for Detroit from July 2 to July 22. And now he has an MLB record to show for it.

But anyway, back to Kurtz.

The 23-year-old Rookie of the Year winner has already blown past the A’s franchise record, which was held by the great Rickey Henderson, who walked in 15 straight games during the 1993 season. 

And even Bonds never had a walk streak as long as Kurtz’s within a single season. In 2002, Bonds walked in the final 18 games of the season before continuing his streak at the start of 2003. And even in his record-setting 232-walk 2004 season, Bonds’ longest walk streak was 16 consecutive games. 

Kurtz, unsurprisingly, leads the Majors with 32 walks this season (entering play today), and as he’s gotten hot, the A’s have taken over first place in the AL West.

The A’s game today just started as of the sending of this newsletter, so tune in on MLB.TV to see if Kurtz can extend his streak to 19. 

 

ELLY OF ALL TRADES

We’re a month into the season, and Elly De La Cruz is doing it all. 

We already knew Elly had all the tools to be an all-around superstar. But it’s fun to watch him put it all together.

First of all, there’s the elite power-speed combo, which has him in rare company. De La Cruz has 10 home runs — tied with James Wood and Kyle Schwarber for the National League lead — and eight stolen bases through the Reds’ first 30 games. 

Only seven players in the Modern Era have had at least 10 homers and eight steals in the first 30 games of a season.   

10+ HR and 8+ SB in team’s first 30 games of a season

• Elly De La Cruz, 2026 Reds: 10 HR, 8 SB
• Vladimir Guerrero, 2002 Expos: 10 HR, 8 SB 
• Larry Walker, 1997 Rockies: 11 HR, 10 SB
• Barry Bonds, 1996 Giants: 13 HR, 10 SB
• Mo Vaughn, 1995 Red Sox: 12 HR, 8 SB
• Eric Davis, 1987 Reds: 13 HR, 15 SB
• Ken Williams, 1922 Browns: 11 HR, 11 SB 

The last two players to do it before De La Cruz are Hall of Famers, and then you have Bonds. It’s also pretty cool to see Elly on a list with the Reds’ previous power-speed icon, Davis — whose 37-homer, 50-steal season in ’87 was the first 30-50 season in MLB history.

(Also … yes, that’s really Mo Vaughn on that list. That was the year Vaughn won MVP, and he had a career high in stolen bases. Now, that career high was only 11 steals, but Vaughn stacked up most of them at the beginning of the season. Strange but true.)

Then you throw in De La Cruz’s defense on top of that bat and those wheels. Elly led the Majors in errors in both 2024 and 2025, but he’s cut down on those significantly in 2026, and he’s making plays like this: 

The Reds wouldn’t be in first place without De La Cruz. It’s no wonder his teammates are calling him “the best player in the world.” 

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Here are five big things happening around the Majors. 

• Olson’s first walk-off in ATL 

Would you believe Matt Olson had never hit a walk-off home run with the Braves until now? Well, it’s true. But the star slugger, who came to Atlanta in 2022, finally did it yesterday with a game-winning blast off Kenley Jansen to lift the MLB-best Braves past the Tigers (in a Tarik Skubal start, no less). It was the fourth walk-off homer of Olson’s career, but his first three all came with the A’s.   

• PCA hitting his stride 

Pete Crow-Armstrong homered in his second straight game for the Cubs yesterday after going homerless over his previous 18 games. Both of those blasts led Chicago to wins over the Padres. Crow-Armstrong has been playing his usual elite defense in center field all season, but with so many other hitters on the Cubs raking right now, PCA breaking out of his slump makes that lineup extremely dangerous.

• Druw Jones one-ups his dad 

The junior Jones just did something his Hall of Famer father Andruw never did: The D-backs prospect hit for the cycle yesterday at Double-A. That rare feat showcased the 22-year-old’s offensive potential … and it’s just a cool thing to hit for the cycle. Druw, who was drafted No. 2 overall in 2022, is currently ranked Arizona’s No. 16 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

• Jays getting it going 

The Blue Jays are starting to play like the reigning pennant winners they are. Toronto is 7-3 in its last 10 games and has won three straight series against the Angels, Guardians and Red Sox. Yesterday’s win over Boston was an encouraging game for a couple of key hitters in particular: George Springer, who returned from the injured list with a pinch-hit RBI single, and Kazuma Okamoto, who has three homers and 10 RBIs over his last 10 games and is looking good in the cleanup spot.

• Ildemaro’s streak reaches 26 

Ildemaro Vargas’ hitting streak is rising to historic heights. It’s now at 26 games overall going back to last September, and Vargas has hit safely in 23 straight games to start the 2026 season — including another hit today against the Brewers. Vargas’ streak is the longest season-opening hit streak in two decades, since Edgar Renteria’s 23-game streak for the Braves in 2006. He has the longest active hitting streak in the Majors — no one else has one longer than 14 games — and he’s leading the MLB batting race. 

THAT’S WHY YOU PUT THE TALL GUY OUT THERE

There’s already a must-see highlight from today’s slate of day games: James Wood using every inch of his 6-foot-6 frame to rob Juan Soto of a home run. 

The Nats star is known more for his own home run hitting, but this time Wood went way up and over the fence at Citi Field to take a homer away from the Mets slugger.

It’s been a huge season for home run robberies — just yesterday, Cardinals rookie left fielder Nathan Church took a walk-off home run away from the Pirates’ Nick Gonzales — and now you can add Wood’s to the ever-growing highlight reel.   

DAILY WALKOFF

Put your baseball brain to the test with Daily Walkoff, where you can find 30 brand-new trivia puzzles every day, one for each team. Play Daily Walkoff >> 

 

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