The Key for the week of April 27, 2026
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy? The Reds are in first place in the NL Central, in a division in which every team is above the .500 mark. After this midweek home stand against the Rockies, it gets real as the Reds hit the road to face division foes Pittsburgh (2 ½ games back) and Chicago (1 ½ games back). That Central swing will tell a lot about how the Reds will hold up in the pennant race, with Chase Burns dominating and Sal Stewart looking like a ROY candidate. And don’t look now, but barring last minute setbacks, Nick Lodolo is due to rejoin the club, as soon as this week.
Down the stretch they come
It’s called the most exciting two minutes in sports, but probably not a lot of excitement for early Kentucky Derby favorite Renegade, who opened as a 4-1 favorite despite drawing the inside rail post for Saturday’s run. The Todd Pletcher horse has some big odds to overcome—no horse has finished first in the Derby on the rail since Ferdinand back in 1986. Commandment and Further Ado, are the early second and third choices at 6-1 in the 20-horse field.
Watch this space…
Because this story could grow legs—and get nasty for the UC Bearcats. Former Bearcat quarterback Brendan Sorsby has left his new team, Texas Tech, for addiction treatment for gambling while two sources reportedly have told USA Today that the UC athletic program knew of Sorsby’s gambling before the start of the 2025 season. If that’s true, the University of Cincinnati could face NCAA investigations. Sorsby and the Bearcats started last season 7-1 before losing four in a row to close out the regular season.
Ben congratulates…
Chad Tracy, son of former big league manager and Hamilton native Jim Tracy, for his new gig as Boston’s manager. Jim managed for 11 seasons in the bigs with the Dodgers, Rockies and Pirates. Chad had been Boston’s Triple A manager at Worcester since 2002 before his callup after the unexpected firing of Alex Cora. And a shoutout to Luke Kennard from Franklin who has found new life with the L.A. Lakers. After being traded to Hollywood from Atlanta in February, Kennard has given the Lakers minutes and points, especially in the post-season--through the first four games with Houston, Kennard was averaging a whopping 39.5 minutes per contest with 17.8 points.