Baseball is a unique sport in more ways than one. For a team to be successful, it takes camaraderie and buy-in to successfully reach a common goal. It is also impossible for this to happen without individual success.
We often compare a pitcher and hitter to a ‘cat and mouse,’ or a chess match where one is trying to out-smart the other. We have some pitcher/hitter matchups to be on the lookout for today. Let’s take a look at the three most intriguing matchups on Sunday's MLB slate.
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Carson Spiers vs. Sal Frelick
Sal Frelick is off to a great start to 2025 for the Milwaukee Brewers. The 24-year-old outfielder is hitting .394 with three RBIs and plays elite defense. By the numbers, there is no reason he should slow down on Sunday.
The Brewers will play host to their division rivals, the Cincinnati Reds, on Sunday and Carson Spiers will be the opposition. Frelick is 4 for 7 (.571) against Spiers with a triple. With Frelick already being that pesky contact hitter all pitchers hate to face, numbers like this will usually play in his favor.
Sandy Alcantara vs. Marcell Ozuna
After Friday, everyone thought the Atlanta Braves offense had woken up after plating 10 runs in an impressive 10-0 victory over the Marlins. Atlanta followed that win by being shut out on Saturday and losing 4-0. The Braves can still take the series over Miami on Sunday and will look for designated hitter Marcell Ozuna to lead the charge.
Facing Sandy Alcantara is a tough task for anyone but Marcell Ozuna has put up some solid numbers against Alcantara. Ozuna is 9-for-22 (.409) against the Marlins' right-hander with seven singles and two doubles. Ozuna has also drown two walks in the 24 times they have faced one another. Look for Ozuna to find a way to produce runs on Sunday for a struggling Atlanta offense.
Kyle Hart vs. Kyle Tucker
The Chicago Cubs gave the San Diego Padres their first loss of the season earlier this weekend. Now going into Sunday, the Cubs are looking for a clean sweep. This game will feature a lefty on lefty matchup that will be worth paying attention.
Kyle Hart will take the ball for San Diego and try to salvage the series but will have to go through Cubs' newest addition, Kyle Tucker, to do so. These two have only faced each other twice but Tucker won both of those battles.
A Tucker double and home run were the outcomes of those duels. Even though it was just two at-bats, having two extra base hits against a pitcher shows that a hitter is seeing the ball well. Never assume all left-handed hitters will struggle against southpaw pitching. Tucker will likely remind us of that on Sunday.