The Rundown: Kelly Leads West Coast Onslaught, Brown Wins First Start, Lynn Retires, Profar Gets 80-Game Suspension

“Gotta find a way, find a way when I’m there. Gotta find a way, a better way. I’d better wait.” – Territorial Pissings by Nirvana

I dislike this phrase a great deal, but I’m going to lead with it anyway: Have a day, Carson Kelly! The Cubs’ backup catcher huffed and puffed his way to third base to register an 8th-inning triple, giving him baseball’s first cycle of the 2025 season. The odds of this unlikely event were an astronomical 1 in 3,937,008. Kelly finished with five RBI, leading the Cubs to an 18-3 win over the Athletics in Sacramento.

That’s not an April Fool’s joke in case you’ve yet to catch up on yesterday’s baseball news. Also, not a joke: Kelly leads the team in batting average (.500), OBP (.615), and SLG (1.100). He also leads the National League in OPS (1.715) and OPS+ (360) among qualifying hitters.

The Cubs scored more runs Monday night than the Brewers have in four games this season, and Kelly was hardly the only hero. Michael Busch was 3-for-6 with a home run and four RBI, while Dansby Swanson continued his torrid start to the season. The shortstop was 2-for-4 with his second homer and three RBI. The Cubs pounded the Athletics’ staff for 21 hits, including at least one by every starter except Ian Happ. Thanks in part to Kelly, Cubs catchers now have seven extra base hits in seven games after tallying just 37 all last season.

Chicago also gets credit for the first major league win at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, and Ben Brown, who pitched solidly across five innings, is the stadium’s first winning MLB pitcher. Then again, it’s tough to lose when your offense stakes you to a 10-3 lead, even with Chicago’s recent track record. The Cubs also got four innings of shutout baseball from their beleaguered bullpen, courtesy of Julian Merryweather and Colin Rea, who notched a three-inning save in the rout.

Seiya Suzuki had an odd moment in Monday’s tilt, too. The outfielder needed access to the clubhouse and had to sprint across the outfield to get there. As a reminder, prolonged urine retention could have adverse health consequences, and that is your public service announcement for today. Perhaps the A’s will add a portable water cooler or two to the visiting dugout before their next homestand. The team will call Sutter Health Park its home for the next three seasons before relocating to Las Vegas.

Monday’s win improved Chicago’s record to 3-4 on the season, and the team will look to get to .500 for the first time with a win tonight. Justin Steele will battle Luis Severino in the late-night contest from West Sacramento in a game that should be a little closer. The oddity of the Cubs’ early-season schedule, which also included the two games in Tokyo, has led to too many irregular bed times for fans and players alike. So, I suppose we can’t blame Suzuki if his bio-break schedule is also a little off.

Cubs News & Notes

• Kelly’s cycle punctuated Chicago’s biggest offensive output of the season.
• Busch and Swanson hit back-to-back homers to lead the Cubs to a 4-0 1st-inning lead.
• Rae’s underappreciated three-inning effort allows manager Craig Counsell to reset his bullpen.
• Nico Hoerner grew up in the Bay Area and lamented the Athletics’ decision to leave Oakland.
• A’s batboy Stewart Thalblum used a bat to take down a drone that nearly carried him away.
• The A’s honored Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, who died in December, by having everyone in uniform wear No. 24.
• Lance Lynn, who was reportedly in negotiations to join the Cubs in mid-March, decided to formally announce his retirement instead.

Odds & Sods

Nobody loves the new bats more than Javier Báez. That’s an obvious joke, but Báez did decline an offer to use the torpedo bat.

These new custom bats are working miracles. pic.twitter.com/i3VvV8LWFL

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 1, 2025

Central Intelligence

• St. Louis (3-1): A 3-0 start wasn’t enough to attract Cardinals fans to Monday’s game against the Angels. Los Angeles nipped St. Louis 5-4 in front of the smallest crowd in Busch Stadium history.
• Cincinnati (2-2): On Monday, Brady Singer became the first pitcher to toss 7+ scoreless innings in his Reds debut since 1977, when Tom Seaver accomplished that feat.
• Pittsburgh (1-4): The Pirates acquired ex-Cub outfielder Alexander Canario in a trade with the Mets. New York accepted cash considerations from Pittsburgh in exchange for Canario.
• Milwaukee (0-4): The Brewers honored the late Bob Uecker with a touching tribute before Monday’s home opener against the Royals.

How About That!

Some baseball insiders believe MLB will eventually ban the buzzy torpedo bats. My solution would be to raise the pitching mounds instead. It might help prevent the insane rash of arm injuries, too.

The tarp problems at Rate Field are another in a long list of reasons why it’s time for Jerry Reinsdorf to sell the White Sox. The South Siders once boasted the game’s best groundskeeping crew when the team played at old Comiskey Park.

Veteran Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar received an 80-game suspension for violating the league’s PED policy.

The Red Sox and ace Garrett Crochet have reportedly agreed on an extension that will pay the hard-throwing lefty $170 million over six years. The new contract will coincide with the start of the 2026 season.

With 15 strikeouts in five games, Rafael Devers shattered the old record of 13 held by Pat Burrell (2001) and Byron Buxton (2017). Devers is also still hitless this season in 19 at-bats.

Sox of the top-20 selling jerseys belong to Dodgers players, led by Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.

Monday’s Three Stars

1. Kelly: He hit for the cycle after legging out an exhausting 8th-inning triple. Kelly finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored and five RBI.
2. Elly De La Cruz – The Cincinnati shortstop plated seven runners on a 4-for-5 evening that included two taters. It was the first time that De La Cruz used the torpedo bat.
3. Kyle Tucker: Chicago’s right fielder was 4-for-7 and hit a home run for the third straight game.

Extra Innings

Mark Grace was the last Cub to hit for the cycle. According to ESPN Research, Kelly is the 17th catcher with a cycle in MLB history. The last catcher to do so was J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies on June 12, 2023. Randy Hundley is the last Cub catcher to do it, back in 1966. Harry Danning of the Giants hit an inside-the-park home run to complete his cycle back in 1940.

Carson Kelly TRIPLES and has the first cycle of the 2025 season, the first for the Cubs since 1993! pic.twitter.com/mVzqUItITP

— MLB (@MLB) April 1, 2025

They Said It

• “I’ve been in this same position before where I needed a triple for the cycle. If anybody’s ever looked up my numbers, I have two triples, so the odds are not in my favor, right? I didn’t get it done the first time. This time, I’m like, oh, I’m just going to put a good at-bat together. Hit it, like, ‘Oh yeah, pretty good.’ Then I hit first and saw it ricochet, and I was like, ‘Oh boy, this is it right here, I got to go.’ That’s probably the fastest you’ll ever see me run.” – Kelly
• “I feel for fans in Oakland, baseball fans, sports fans in general. All three teams being gone in a very short span is a hard hit to an entire community. Three teams that created a lot of joy for a lot of people. Just straight up, community-wise, I think sports play a great role in a place, and to have all that stripped very quickly is a really challenging thing.” – Hoerner

Tuesday Walk-Up Song

The A’s took the easy and obvious path out of Oakland.