Yesterday the Guardians Spring Breakout roster was finalized. Quincy has a quick rundown of the roster here. Cleveland will be playing the Angels today at 2PM ET and the game can be watched on MLB.com and MLB.tv.
As Spring Training winds down, MLB did a pulse check on where each AL Central team is sitting at this point in Spring Training. Guardians beat writer Tim Stebbins weighed in on Cleveland’s position.
Our Covering the Corner staff is ramping up to Opening Day. We will be previewing each of the AL Central teams. Yesterday it kicked off with the Chicago White Sox.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 13: Zach Eflin #24 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches during practice at Ed Smith Stadium on February 13, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Baltimore Orioles/Getty Images) | Getty Images
One of the reasons that the Orioles targeted Zach Eflin at the 2024 trade deadline—beyond his solid track record as a dependable big league arm—was that he came with an additional season of control. He wasn’t due to hit free agency for more than a year, meaning he could help the Orioles through 2025, a crucial season in their perceived competitive window. Unfortunately, that didn’t really pan out.
Eflin was given the Opening Day nod for the O’s in 2025. The team was still waiting on Grayson Rodriguez’s shoulder to respond to his rehab, and they knew Kyle Bradish wouldn’t be back until late in the campaign due to Tommy John surgery. So, by default, the honor fell to Eflin. That would prove to be the high point in a nightmare season.
On that day, Eflin went six innings and allowed two runs en route to a win over the eventual AL Champion Toronto Blue Jays. While the 13 other starts he made on the season weren’t all stinkers, the veteran struggled to find consistency. His fastball velocity was down a tick, and he was having a hard time missing bats. All the while he was battling injuries.
Eflin’s first IL stint came on April 9. A right lat strain put him on the shelf for a month. He returned on May 11 and made nine straight starts, but the results were poor. In that time he tossed 44 innings, struck out 34, walked 10, and gave up 14 home runs. Over that nine-start stretch he had a 7.16 ERA/6.48 FIP. On June 30 he went back on the IL with lower back discomfort. The Orioles reactivated him a month later, he made two starts, and was then done for the year.
Ultimately, the decision was made that Eflin would need surgery on his back. The pitcher indicated that it had been a nagging concern for him dating back years, and it was time to get it fixed. In mid-August, Eflin underwent a lumbar microdiscectomy surgery. He expected to be ready for spring training.
Where he would end up pitching was a mystery though. The Orioles were back in the market for arms, but expected to be seeking upgrades. Eflin, it seemed, was hoping for a one-year “prove-it” deal to show the league he was worthy of the multi-year commitment he was chasing. In the end, both sides came back together in late December on a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027.
The speculation right now indicates the the Orioles may go into the season with a six-man rotation. That would include Eflin, who is looking to build himself back up after throwing just 71.1 big league innings in 2025. Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers are two other prominent arms in the rotation that didn’t pitch full seasons last summer either. Using six starters provides some protection for all of them.
However, the Orioles have been particularly cautious with Eflin this spring. As of this writing, he’s made just one appearance in a Grapefruit League game, tossing two innings on March 5. Maybe he has built himself up more on the back fields or in bullpens, but usually teams want their starters doing more in-game work by this point in camp. For comparison, Bradish and Chris Bassitt both have more than 10 innings under their belt this spring.
That opens the door for an IL stint for Eflin to begin the year. It doesn’t mean he’s hurt, but rather that he’s behind. The team could take advantage of the off days built into the early part of the schedule, put him on the IL for two weeks and not really miss a beat.
Whether he begins the year on the IL or not, the projection systems are not expecting the soon-t0-be-32-year-old to have a full workload:
Those numbers don’t stray too far from his career 4.28 ERA or 7.7 K/9. The salary and single year of commitment the Orioles made seem to indicate that they would be fine with that sort of output. They aren’t turning to Eflin as an ace. He needs to be stable and dependable, right alongside Bassitt and Dean Kremer, in the back half of the Orioles rotation. They would probably like to see him throw closer to 140-150 innings though.
What do you think of these projections? Do you think Eflin will largely remain healthy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Oct 16, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Aaron Ashby (26) is removed by manager Pat Murphy in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game three of the NLCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
If there’s one thing we know about the Brewers and starting pitchers, it will be that they use a lot of them. Listen to any broadcast about the team and you will likely hear, at least once, a mention of how many starting pitchers the team has used over the past couple of seasons. (This is a true but somewhat misleading statement, as those counts tend to include “openers,” but the point stands.)
Already in mid-March, we’ve seen why the Brewers leaned into acquiring a lot of starting pitcher depth. They traded for highly regarded, about-major-league ready young pitchers in both of the Freddy Peralta and Caleb Durbin trades to go along with the several that were already in the organization.
The loss of Peralta will undoubtedly matter. Peralta was (and still is!) a very good pitcher, an excellent clubhouse presence, and one of the team’s longest-tenured players. But the Brewers have done just about as well as a team with their limited financial means can in terms of replacing him with multiple options that should be able to contribute this season and for many seasons beyond. Let’s take a look.
The veteran
One thing that this pitching staff will not have in abundance is experience. By my count, there are 12 pitchers who are somewhat in contention for getting starts at the beginning of the season, though that includes three players I expect to be in the bullpen (but who the powers-that-be have murmured about as starters) and one who is currently injured. Of those 12 pitchers, there is one who is 33 years old. There are zero others who are within five years of that one player’s age.
The veteran, of course, is Brandon Woodruff. Woodruff, who turned 33 in February, is five years and three months older than the second-oldest player in this group, Aaron Ashby. Woodruff has started 127 career games; that’s 88 more than any other player on the roster. He’s thrown 745 career innings; the other 11 players in this group have that beat, if you combine them all, but if you narrow the field down to the seven pitchers most likely to grab spots in the rotation, they come up short, with just 717 innings between them.
Woodruff, at this point, isn’t really a known quantity. His health issues are well documented — he hasn’t thrown even 70 innings in a season since 2022. He finished last season hurt. He is obviously not getting any younger.
But last season Woodruff, even with somewhat diminished stuff over what he had at his best in the early 2020s, showed how valuable he can be. Despite lower velocity he managed the best K:BB ratio of his career at 5.93. He had career-best rates in walks per nine and strikeouts per nine. The underlying metrics suggest that those are probably unsustainable, and the losses on his stuff may have contributed to his career-worst rate in home runs per nine innings.
But he will certainly be able to provide leadership and he’s not going to make it easy for hitters. I wouldn’t put it past Woodruff turning into an impeccable control pitcher at this point in his career, either; he’s always had a good walk rate, and he’s a smart enough pitcher to realize that if he can’t throw in the mid-to-upper 90s anymore, he’s going to need to lean into different strengths.
The results could be mixed, and who would take the over if you asked over/under 75 innings this season? But Woodruff can still serve an important function to this team and this pitching staff.
The new guys
There are a whole bunch of players in this category, a few who are new to the organization and a few who came up through the organization. The thing that they all have in common is a lack of time in the big leagues; Quinn Priester leads this group with 257 major league innings, and not one other player has reached 200.
Priester is, of course, injured. And while I’m optimistic, there are those who viewed his late-season (possibly injury-influenced) swoon as a major warning sign, especially when coupled with the fact that Priester outperformed his FIP by 0.69 runs. But Priester is an excellent example of the Brewers’ front office finding players whose particular talents — in this case, ground balls — are tailored to the team behind them.
The new-to-the-org guys include Brandon Sproat (acquired in the Peralta trade) and Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan, acquired for Durbin. Sproat and Harrison are relatively recent top 100 prospects. Drohan is a late bloomer who was extremely good in Triple-A last year, but who hasn’t thrown an inning in the majors yet. Harrison hasn’t clicked in the big leagues, yet, but he doesn’t turn 25 until August. All three have intriguing arsenals that you’d expect the Brewers will be able to maximize.
The internal prospects include Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Robert Gasser, and Logan Henderson. Gasser, who has made seven career starts dating back to May 2024, is the only one who pitched in the big leagues before last season. Patrick, who spent a good chunk of last season in the rotation, is the only one who has thrown more than 100 innings as a big leaguer.
Misiorowski, of course, could quickly become one of the league’s best pitchers if he’s able to consistently find his spots. Whether or not he can do that remains a question, but if he figures out his control, you’ve got a guy who throws 104 mph with massive extension and multiple devastating off-speed pitches (some of which still reach the plate faster than many other pitchers’ fastballs). Misiorowski walked 4.2 batters per nine innings last year, a number that would’ve tied for second in the league among qualified pitchers, and that mark was better than any of his three seasons in the minors (not including 2022, when he walked seven batters in 1 2/3 innings in his two-game professional debut).
Henderson, like Sproat, has only made a handful of appearances in the majors, but Henderson made such an impression in his five starts early in the 2025 season that it’s difficult not to be excited about him. In those five starts, Henderson allowed only five runs in 25 1/3 innings (a 1.78 ERA) and struck out 33 batters (11.7 per nine). While he won’t keep that pace, and there are questions about his velocity and a third viable pitch (in his five starts last year Henderson threw a fastball or a changeup 89% of the time), there’s a lot of intriguing talent.
Patrick had a great 2025. He made his major league debut in a relief outing on March 29 and was a staple of the rotation (and Rookie of the Year candidate) through the first week of July, when he was demoted not really because he was bad but because the Brewers were finally healthy again and he was the odd man out. Patrick worked on some new stuff in the minors and came back in late August, and down the stretch he served a valuable role as a reliever capable of going multiple innings. He served in that role in the postseason, where he allowed just two runs on three hits and a walk in nine innings while striking out 11. He, along with Misiorowski, was one of the most reliable players in the Brewers’ 11-game postseason run.
Gasser is the one in this group whose future might look murkiest. A fringe top 100 prospect prior to the 2024 season, he — like Henderson last year — made five good starts for the Brewers that season. But an elbow injury required Tommy John surgery, and Gasser didn’t get back to the big leagues until late last season, when he got in 5 2/3 innings in two shaky starts. He got beat up a little bit in the postseason, too, and he hasn’t looked very good in spring training. Gasser is still only 26 and you can’t give up on a guy after less than 35 career innings, but of all the guys in this preview, he’s the one who’s probably trending most downward.
But given the way the Brewers handle their starters, he’s likely to get a shot at some point this year, so we’ll hope he can get back to the promising form he showed before his arm injury.
The relievers who they keep telling us could start
Three players fit into this category, and they’re all left-handed: Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, and Ángel Zerpa. I’m going on the record now to say that I’m skeptical any of them will be any sort of traditional “starter” in the big leagues this year; they just have too many options, and while the bullpen is likely to be pretty heavy on lefties, I don’t necessarily think that’s a problem.
Ashby has proven capable of being one of the league’s top relievers, and the fact that he’ll be “stretched out” as a potential starter (he’s thrown 4 2/3 innings in two spring appearances) could just mean that he’s being prepped as an old-school “fireman,” an ace reliever capable of throwing two or three innings at a time. Ashby did this with regularity last season, when he threw 66 2/3 innings across 43 appearances, and he was excellent in doing so: a 2.16 ERA, 10.3 strikeouts per nine, and — qualitatively — stuff that, when he was on, looked impossible to hit.
I personally don’t believe it makes a ton of sense to move Ashby into a starting role when he’s proven this effective as a reliever. Yes, the Brewers tied some long-term money into Ashby that would make him somewhat expensive as a reliever, but if he’s one of the best relievers in the league he’s still a bargain at the $5.7 million he’ll make this year (and $7.7 million next year, with club options at $9 million and $13 million the next two). If the Brewers had more pressing needs in the starting rotation, I’d say sure, but as long as they’ve got options there, I believe Ashby is more valuable out of the pen.
Hall is similar to Ashby in terms of the starter/reliever dynamic, but he’s also got a lot to prove. Hall, like Garrett Mitchell, has intriguing talent but hasn’t been able to stay on the field, and in Hall’s case there have been some concerning trends in his pitch velocity. Hall has managed just 81 2/3 innings since coming to Milwaukee as one of the two major pieces in the Corbin Burnes trade, and while he’s shown flashes, the results have been largely inconsequential.
What we need to see from Hall is a healthy season so that the Brewers can get an actual assessment of where he fits. He’s still pre-arbitration, so it’s not like they’re taking any financial risk here; he likely starts the season in the bullpen, too, but he has started in the past and could conceivably do that again if there is need.
Zerpa, to my eyes, is just a reliever (a role he filled for the World Baseball Classic winners, Venezuela, over the last two weeks). Of his 148 big-league appearances, 140 are out of the bullpen, and while he did mostly start in the minor leagues, so did a lot of pitchers who end up as relievers. I see no indication that Zerpa (who hasn’t been pitching more than an inning at a time all spring) is being considered for any role other than as a typical reliever, despite what Matt Arnold and Pat Murphy would have us believe.
Anyone else?
Beyond those nine players — Woodruff, Misiorowski, Priester, Patrick, Harrison, Sproat, Henderson, Gasser, and Drohan, in roughly that order, I would think — who is in the upper levels of the minors who could play a role this season if necessary?
The top two names here are Carlos Rodriguez, who has made seven appearances with the Brewers over the last two seasons, and Coleman Crow, who hasn’t debuted yet, because they are the two “starters” who are on the 40-man roster. Rodriguez is still young, but he’s got a 6.95 ERA across 22 major league innings and he’s sort of getting edged out of the prospect conversation.
Crow, who the Brewers got from the Mets in the December 2023 trade that sent Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor to Queens, had an excellent 2025 season at Double-A Biloxi, where he posted a 2.51 ERA in 10 starts and had a 6.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He finished the season at Triple-A Nashville, where he’ll start this year, and if enough players get injured, he could find his way to Milwaukee at some point this season.
Beyond those two, there’s not a whole lot else I’ve got my eye on for 2026, though the Brewers tend to surprise us in this regard.
Who makes the rotation?
Probably all of them? But I’ll take a stab at the Opening Day rotation.
We know that Quinn Priester will start the season on the IL with a hopeful return sometime in April or May. Brandon Woodruff is ramping up but probably won’t quite be ready, either. Based on Murphy’s comments, it seems that Misiorowski and Patrick will definitely start the season in the rotation. I’m going to say Harrison gets there, too.
I think the Brewers start Sproat in the minors, unless they want to use him for a start or two and then send him down when Woodruff is ready. I just think the service-time incentive is there for the Brewers to hold him in the minors for about six weeks this year.
I don’t have a good grasp on where the Brewers go with the last two spots to open the season, but just to make a guess, I’m going to say Gasser, as a lefty, gets one of them. For what it’s worth, Adam McCalvy thinks Aaron Ashby gets a spot in the rotation; I don’t really feel good about that as a long-term fix, but it might work in the short term. If we go along with that and say that Ashby starts the season in the rotation, I think it would be in a “piggyback” situation, where you might see Ashby and, for instance, Hall on the same day for three-ish innings each.
The Brewers certainly have enough pitchers to cover the innings they need to cover, but the combination in which they do so will remain mysterious for a while.
As it turns out, Rich Robertson had more Topps baseball cards for the White Sox, one, than he had official games pitched with the South Siders. | Topps
1962 A player who would represent GM Ken Harrelson’s cleverest trade and be a mainstay for some poor late-1980s White Sox teams, Iván Calderón, was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Signed by Seattle at age 17 and in the majors by 22, Calderón’s push for Rookie of the Year (STATS) was derailed by a broken hand. Benched (?) by the Mariners, Hawk swooped in and stole away Iván the Terrible for the low, low price of catcher Scott Bradley in the middle of the next season, 1986.
Calderón responded to the show of confidence by having what would stand as his finest season in the majors in 1987, when he put up 4.2 WAR along with 28 homers and 83 RBIs for the White Sox. He never again approached those numbers in Chicago, but over four-plus seasons (and not counting a career swan song of nine games in 1993), Calderón had 9.0 WAR and 70 homers, hitting .273.
After a bounce-back 1990 (2.6 WAR as a “veteran” on the upstart White Sox), Calderón was swapped to Montreal in a brilliant trade for Tim Raines.
In 2003, Calderón was murdered in a bar in Puerto Rico, in a crime that still has not been solved.
1970 Future White Sox broadcaster and raconteur Ken Harrelson broke his leg sliding into second base during a spring training game with Cleveland. The break was so bad he was unable to return until September and effectively ended his career.
It also gave us one of the most iconic photos of The Hawk, as crutches did not sully his sartorial splendor:
1972 The White Sox sold pitcher Rich Robertson back to the Giants. Chicago had picked up the southpaw on February 7, but during an off-day on the Spring Training schedule the White Sox cut their first six players from camp. Robertson, who’d given up five runs over six innings including two homers, was the only veteran in the bunch. He’d return to the Giants but did nothing to hang onto his MLB career, as San Fran cut him after just eight days.
Robertson caught on with Atlanta, starting 20 game in Triple-A over the summer, his last in pro ball.
1979 White Sox shortstop prospect Harry Chappas appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline, “The Littlest Rookie.”
Chappas was all of 5´3´´, and his career was as short as his height. In three years, Chappas appeared in 72 games with 184 at-bats, one home run, two stolen bases and 15 walks. Despite a horrendous career slash of .245/.307/.283, Chappas was never a negative-WAR player and finished his career (all played with the White Sox) with 0.6 WAR.
Part of the reason for his struggles, from those who knew him, was because of his reluctance to take advice from coaches and teammates.
Chappas’ one career homer came in 1979 off of Milwaukee’s Bill Travers, who was otherwise enjoying a solid (2.4 WAR) season.
1981 Maverick White Sox GM Frank “Trader” Lane died in Dallas, at 86.
Lane, who took over the White Sox in 1948 at a time when the franchise was threadbare in both coffers and talent, built the Go-Go White Sox of the 1950s. It was under his oversight the South Siders started a record streak of winning seasons (1951-67). The GM brought in such talent as Nellie Fox, Minnie Miñoso, Chicago Carrasquel, Billy Pierce and Sherm Lollar, more often than not in transactions that were utter steals for the White Sox. Lane was also a metrics innovator.
His GM career extended beyond the White Sox, to more than 400 trades in his career. But he is best known for his White Sox tenure, during which he forged 241 total deals.
2010 Oney Guillén, White Sox minor league employee, commentary contributor to franchise radio flagship WSCR-AM, and son of manager Ozzie Guillén, was forced to leave the team after continued negative tweets levied against his own club. Oney had been a 36th round pick by the White Sox in 2007.
As for telling Oney he had to quit the team, Ozzie said, “I think that’s the hardest thing I ever did in my life.”
Oct 7, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) hits an RBI single in the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game three of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Many fans in the Yankeeverse aren’t too pleased with Austin Wells after his 2025 campaign. Count this site among them, as Jeremy gave him a C+ in our 2025 Roster Report Cards series.
It’s not hard to see why. After being touted as a bat-first catcher for much of his prospect days, Wells showed considerable offensive promise in his first full season in 2024. Although he endured a truly hellacious September/October slump, to the tune of a 23 wRC+ over 83 plate appearances, Wells still managed to post a 107 wRC+ overall. It wasn’t hard to dream on Wells being able to avoid another late-season swoon and being even better in 2025.
But, as we know all too well, that’s not what happened. In 2025, Wells’ wRC+ sunk to 94. His walk rate shrunk, his strikeouts ballooned, and if it wasn’t for Anthony Volpe and his batting average of .212, Wells’ .219 mark would have been the lowest among all Yankees regulars.
It’s only natural to wonder what went wrong for Wells last year. But digging into the data, what I found wasn’t a broken player, but a batter with a good understanding of who he is, and a great idea of what he wanted to do at the plate. Under the hood, Wells did the important things well in 2025. If he can keep doing those things in 2026, he should enjoy better results.
First, let’s establish Wells’ profile. Wells’ strength lies in his ability to hit for power. He consistently ran ISOs of around and above .200 in the minor leagues, and last year saw him stroke 21 homers in 448 plate appearances, good for a .217 ISO. Per Baseball Savant, his bat speed, average exit velocity, and barrel rate were all comfortably above average last year. The WBC just provided us with a prime example of Wells’ power:
On the other hand, making contact isn’t Wells’ forte. Yes, he managed to post a better-than-league-average K rate of 21 percent in 2024. However, Wells consistently ran K rates higher than that in the minors. Additionally, even though his K rate increased by five percentage points from 2024 to 2025, key contact ability indicators like his swinging strike rate and zone contact rate remained virtually unchanged. All this leads me to believe that Wells’ “true” K rate is somewhere closer to his 2025 mark than 2024. Let’s just say that Wells isn’t going to contend for the batting title anytime soon, or ever for that matter.
So, we’ve established that Wells doesn’t make a ton of contact, but he hits the ball reasonably hard. How, then, can he go back to being an above average hitter?
The key lies in maximizing the value of Wells’ contact by optimizing its distribution. Or, in plain English, pulling the ball in the air. And I’ve got great news: Wells already did that reasonably well in 2025. He just needs to lean into it more. It’s been said many times before, but it’s true so it bears repeating: pulling the ball in the air is good. I’m not saying this just because Wells is a left-handed hitter who calls Yankee Stadium home; this is true for all MLB hitters. Between 2022-2024, pulled air balls (defined as any contact that isn’t a ground ball) resulted in a .547 batting average and a 1.227 slugging percentage across the league. Mind you, this includes pop-ups, which drags down the overall results.
Now, I’m not suggesting that pulling balls in the air is a one-size-fits-all approach. Such an approach comes with risk; swings designed to do that will have holes in them which more level swings won’t. If you don’t have much in the way of raw power to begin with, you might be better off leveraging your contact skills to hunt for singles, like Luis Arraez or Steven Kwan. Conversely, if you have tons of raw power, maybe you shouldn’t fret too much about pulling the ball and just focus on making contact, letting your natural power supply the oomph. Looking at you, Aaron Judge and James Woods.
But Austin Wells fits in neither of those camps. He doesn’t possess the elite contact skills of Arraez or Kwan. He has above average raw power, but nowhere near Judge or Woods levels. In order to be a good hitter, Wells needs to make a conscious effort to make the most of what contact he does make, and that means pulling the ball in the air.
The good news is that Wells seems to be aware of this, and he’s trending in the right direction. Behold this graph:
But I think there’s potential for even more. Though his 2025 pulled airball rate of 22.8 percent was the highest of his career to date, that mark only placed him 85th among 348 players with at least 200 plate appearances last year. That mark can, and should, be higher. For context, the 2025 pulled airball king was Isaac Paredes, who had a 128 wRC+ last year despite a 14th-percentile average exit velocity, with a whopping 38.5 percent clip. Guess who barely came in second with a 38.4 percent mark — none other than Cal Raleigh, who had a pretty good season last year. I’d say that’s a good player to try to emulate.
Wells is already near-elite at avoiding ground balls. 67 percent of his contact was airborne last year, 29th-best in baseball. Given that he hits so many air balls, even a slight increase in his pulled airball rate would pay huge dividends.
Now, I realize this is easier said than done. How exactly should he go about trying to pull the ball in the air more? Should he adjust his timing to catch more balls out in front? Or does the secret lie in making better swing decisions? I don’t know, which is why I’m a blogger and not a hitting coach. What I do know is this: Wells needs to pull the ball in the air to have success at the plate. He already does so at an above-average rate, but by doing it even more, he could be even better. Let’s not forget that the 2025 version of Wells was already a three-win player thanks to his elite framing. If he realizes his offensive potential, we have a perennial All-Star on our hands.
After rising to the challenge against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens will play another do-or-die game on Thursday night, this time on the road against the Detroit Red Wings. As things stand, the Wings have the second and last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with 82 points.
The Bruins have the same number of points and games played, but hold the first tiebreaker with 27 regulation wins to Detroit’s 26. The hosts put an end to a three-game losing streak when they beat the Calgary Flames 5-2 on Monday. Todd McLellan’s men are 4-2-2 in their last 10 games, while the Canadiens are now 5-3-2.
Neither coach has yet confirmed who will start in net, and the Canadiens will not hold a morning skate. Martin St-Louis will speak to the media at 11:45, when we should find out. Jakub Dobes was great in the last game, and it will be interesting to see if that earned him another tour of duty. The Czech netminder has only played one game against the Wings so far, which he won. He has a 1.00 GAA and a .968 save percentage. Meanwhile, Jacob Fowler has also played one game against Detroit, but he lost it and has a 3.18 GAA with a .870 SV%. As for Samuel Montembeault, who still seems to be on the sidelines, he has a 4-1-2 record, a 2.67 GAA, and a .914 SV%.
At the other end of the ice, John Gibson and Cam Talbot both have winning records against the visitors. The former has seen the lion’s share of the work this season and was in the net on Monday for the Wings’ win over the Flames. He’s 8-3-1 against the Habs with a 2.40 GAA and a .922 SV%. As for the latter, he’s 9-4-1 with a 1.60 GAA and a .939 SV%. Needless to say, whoever is in net, it won’t be an easy game for the Canadiens.
After the win over Boston and with Kirby Dach sidelined, it would be surprising to see Martin St-Louis make any changes. Brendan Gallagher is the Canadiens’ top point producer against the Wings with 34 points in 39 games, including two points in as many games this season. Captain Nick Suzuki comes in second place with 18 points in just 21 games, while Phillip Danault also has 18 points in 27 games. Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky are currently running four-game point streaks, while Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson are both on three-game point streaks.
James Van Riemsdyk leads the Wings in points against the Habs with 35 points in 50 games, followed by Patrick Kane, who has 25 points in just 29 games, and captain Dylan Larkin, who also has 25 points, but in 36 games. Unfortunately for the Wings, however, Larking is currently sidelined and won’t be ready to return for at least another week. It’s worth mentioning that Alex DeBrincat has 22 points in just 21 games, and the diminutive winger is currently on a four-game point streak.
Each team has won one of the two duels they’ve played so far this year, and they’ve split the last 10 games evenly, winning five each. The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on FDSNDET, TSN2, and RDS. TJ Luxmore and Kelly Sutherland are set to officiate, while Tyson Baker and CJ Murray will be the linemen.
Feb 20, 2026; Sarasota, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Trevor Rogers (28) throws a pitch in the first inning against the New York Yankees during spring training at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Hello, friends.
We are now just one week away from Orioles Opening Day. It’s true! Real baseball that counts will be back at Oriole Park at Camden Yards next Thursday afternoon. Hopefully that will be fun. Until then, there are another six exhibition games to get through, including a split-squad day today. Road Orioles play the Yankees at 1:05, while home Orioles play the Pirates at 6:05. The night game will be televised locally on MASN. The day game has only a Yankees broadcast for TV. Neither game has a radio broadcast.
In yesterday’s spring training action, the Orioles played the Blue Jays. They were victorious by a 3-2 score, with each of Ryan Mountcastle and Adley Rutschman recording multi-hit games and Jeremiah Jackson hitting his first homer of spring training. The starting pitcher, Albert Suárez, gave up a run in four innings while striking out five batters in what could be his last big audition to make the roster before camp is over. The O’s improved their Grapefruit League record to 9-11-3 with this win. Four games in Florida remain.
This deep into spring training, it’s around the point where I’d like to start seeing good results from players who are going to be on the roster and getting regular playing time. Some guys are doing pretty well and not giving much reason to worry about them. Others are more in the “Well, it’s a good thing that doesn’t count” category.
These guys who I think are likely to be in the Opening Day lineup are OPSing over .800:
Adley Rutschman (.880 OPS)
Samuel Basallo (.946)
Coby Mayo (1.131)
Taylor Ward (.960)
Additionally, Gunnar Henderson was a hot hitter in the World Baseball Classic when Team USA’s idiot manager put him in the lineup. He had not been doing well early on before leaving for Team USA. I am choosing to be more excited about the recent results. Tyler O’Neill, who only had 11 PA before joining Team Canada, has also had a split spring with interesting things going on.
Riding the struggle bus for spring with an OPS below .700:
Colton Cowser (.564)
Blaze Alexander (.653)
Heston Kjerstad (.669)
Leody Taveras (.595)
Kjerstad probably starts in the minors, especially since his bat has cooled. Taveras isn’t here for his bat. Those other guys, though… it’s time to get it going. Cowser is the expected regular center fielder and Alexander is likely to play a lot this season between Jackson Holliday’s and Jordan Westburg’s injury situations. Maybe they’ll start to make us feel a little better about them in the next few days.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Two more roster cuts gets Orioles camp down to 47 (Baltimore Baseball) Reliever Jose Espada and pitching prospect Luis De León were reassigned to minor league camp yesterday. Neither was ever likely to make the Opening Day roster, so no surprises there. De León is a guy I’ll be following curiously this season.
Bryan Ramos keeps building sleeper case to make Orioles Opening Day roster (Orioles.com) If I had thought it worth including Ramos above, he definitely would have made it on the “who’s hot” list. There is a case for him, if the Orioles aren’t worried about the last infielder on the bench being able to play shortstop.
Orioles begin construction on flag court bar that will open midseason (The Baltimore Banner) There were multiple announcements involving corporate sponsorships yesterday. As those corporations have not paid me to promote them (but if they want to, my rates are reasonable) I will not be doing so at this time. This one is about a beer company sucking up flag court real estate. This one is indistinguishable from some stupid idea John Angelos could have had. Maybe he even did have it. I hope it doesn’t turn out like an eyesore.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Nothing of particular note has been recorded for this date in Orioles history. That probably won’t change today unless there’s bad news.
There is one lone former Oriole with a birthday today. Happy 52nd birthday to Rocky Coppinger, an Orioles pitcher from 1996-99. He had a 5.68 ERA in 45 games with the team. Young Mark was excited about him once.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: explorer David Livingstone (1813), O.K. Corral gunfighter Wyatt Earp (1848), Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891), author Philip Roth (1933), and rapper Yung Gravy (1996).
On this day in history…
In 1284, the Principality of Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England after the Statute of Rhuddlan was enacted by the king of the time, Henry I, who had conquered Wales following a rebellion over the previous two years.
In 1831, the first recorded bank heist in American history took place as burglars took $245,000 in 1831 dollars from City Bank on Wall Street in New York City. City Bank still operates today as Citibank.
In 1918, Congress established time zones in the United States and granted approval for daylight savings time.
A random Orioles trivia question
I received a book of random Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ll ask a question each time it’s my turn in this space until I run out of questions or forget. The book gives multiple choice answers, but that would just make it too easy for us, so you don’t get them. Here’s today’s question:
Who was the only player to ever record his 500th home run in Memorial Stadium?
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 19. Have a safe Thursday.
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Mar 17, 2026; Miami, FL, United States;United States first baseman Bryce Harper (24) reacts after hitting a home run against Venezuela in the eighth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Championship game at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
We’ve officially hit the part of spring training where spring training has gone on too long. How do I know that you ask? Well Garrett Stubbs hit leadoff and played third base yesterday. Get me to Opening Day. On to the links
The Athletic is asking for your help with the Hope-o-meter, their annual surgery of fan optimism for each team. ($)
Build Your Winning Bracket!
SB Nation’s CBB expert Mike Rutherford and resident bracketologist Chris Dobbertean will answer all your questions this week and help guide you to bracket glory! Drop in SB Nation’s March Madness Feed all week long and we’ll have both on hand! (All times ET)
MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 31: A general view of the field prior to the game between the Kansas City Royals and the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Monday, March 31, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Aaron Gash/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
We are just one week away from Opening Day of the 2026 season! The Milwaukee Brewers are wrapping up Cactus League play and have a lot of cut-down decisions still to make. Entering today, the Brewers still have 38 players in major league camp. They’ll have to get that number down to 26 by next Thursday.
How that initial 26 will look is still up for debate. Even so, the Brewers have reiterated many times over the years that the Opening Day roster is just for one day, and they can and often have made changes heading into the second game of the season.
Still, tough decisions are going to have to be made for the Brewers to make it down to 26. Here’s how things currently project for that first game against the White Sox next week.
Catchers (2): William Contreras, Gary Sánchez
There’s not much controversy here. William Contreras will be the starter once again for the Brewers and will play the vast majority of games with no desire to take a rest day. While there was some belief earlier in the offseason that the Brewers could roll with Jeferson Quero as backup catcher, once Gary Sánchez was signed, that put those beliefs to bed. Sánchez provides a veteran backup that also can easily be pushed aside once Quero is ready.
Infield (6): Andrew Vaughn, Jake Bauers, Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, David Hamilton, Luis Rengifo
Right before spring training, the Brewers made a surprising trade, sending out their entire third base depth chart to the Red Sox. The deal returned David Hamilton to the organization, and a few days later, the Crew signed Luis Rengifo to help cover third base. Prospects like Jett Williams, Brock Wilken, and Cooper Pratt aren’t quite ready yet for the MLB roster.
Tyler Black has made a push this spring, but the role he fits best is occupied by Jake Bauers, who has also had a strong spring.
Outfield (5): Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Blake Perkins, Sal Frelick, Christian Yelich
Little in the way of surprises here as well. Chourio, Frelick, and Yelich are all guaranteed locks. Mitchell and Perkins have remained healthy this spring, which makes them very strong favorites to handle center field duties once again.
The tough decision is Brandon Lockridge, who has overhauled his swing in the offseason and has had a tremendous spring training. He’s certainly pushing for a roster spot, but the problem is that there are only so many to go around. It’ll come down to Mitchell most likely, and whether or not he’s ready to go after shoulder surgery last year. He needs to get the at-bats and physically be able to handle the kind of workload they need. If he can do that, he’ll get the spot. If not, Lockridge will take it.
Starting rotation (5): Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Kyle Harrison, Robert Gasser
It seems to be tracking as if Brandon Woodruff will not need an IL stint to start the season. Whether or not Woodruff will start on Opening Day remains to be seen, but if his spring training start later today goes well, he certainly could get that call. Still, he’s in this rotation.
Murphy has already confirmed Misiorowski and Patrick are in this group as well. As for the final two spots, that’s been the battle all camp. It looks as if Kyle Harrison has the inside track for a spot after coming over in that Durbin trade. However, Harrison did just leave his outing on Wednesday with a blister, so that does throw a wrench into things. Still, as of now, I’m projecting Harrison to make the team and the rotation.
The final spot I have going to Robert Gasser. I think it’s between him and Brandon Sproat, but I give the edge to Gasser because he’s been in the organization a bit longer, and the Brewers aren’t looking to have him work on tweaks as they have been with Sproat. They might want to give some more time to Sproat to work on those changes. Plus, Gasser is scheduled to start Saturday’s game for the Brewers, while Sproat only has a few game outings this spring. This is the time of year the Brewers line up the guys they want, and with Gasser in there, I give the edge to him.
Bullpen (8): Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, Ángel Zerpa, Grant Anderson, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Easton McGee
The bullpen picture looks a little different than we might have been expecting not long ago. Rob Zastryzny, who is out of minor league options, has a rhomboid strain and will be on the IL until mid-April, so that takes him out of this bullpen. His potential replacement, Craig Yoho, is dealing with a calf injury as well, so he is also out of the running.
Megill, Uribe, Koenig, Zerpa, Anderson, and Ashby are all locks for this roster. DL Hall likely can be considered one as well. That leaves just one spot remaining, and with the injuries that happened, McGee is sitting in a pretty good position to get that spot.
It’s just McGee and Sammy Peralta left in big league camp as true relievers for that last spot. Peralta is a lefty and McGee is a righty, so choosing McGee would give the Brewers four righties and a more balanced bullpen. There’s a chance that Sproat or Shane Drohan could end up taking that final bullpen spot as a long reliever type, but with Ashby and Hall already in this bullpen, there’s really no need for a third long reliever.
Injured List (4): Quinn Priester, Rob Zatryzny, Craig Yoho, Akil Baddoo
Quinn Priester is working through a wrist issue that has plagued him all spring. The aforementioned Zastryzny and Yoho came down with new injuries late in camp here, which are unfortunate. Akil Baddoo, who was still on the outside looking in for this outfield picture, has a quad strain that will keep him out for a couple of weeks, so he will also find himself on the IL to start the year.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the forward's draft night will play out.
The Grizzlies could add to their rebuilding core after trading away Jaren Jackson Jr. by selecting Yaxel Lendeborg, who is perhaps the most NBA-ready player in this draft class. The Big Ten Player of the Year offers a bit of everything on both sides of the ball and has silenced skeptics who were unsure how his game would scale after transferring from mid-major UAB to high-major Michigan. The Grizzlies have drafted players with similar trajectories like Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr. is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the forward's draft night will play out.
Morez Johnson Jr. 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 25 overall, New York Knicks
Morez Johnson Jr. is one of the best, most underrated two-way players in the NCAA. He is a crucial part of the Michigan identity this season and has thrived since transferring to the Wolverines from Illinois. Johnson's shooting form at the free throw line looks good, and he scores well near the rim, especially when cutting to the basket. The former FIBA U-19 Team USA standout and All-Big Ten big man is a trustworthy defensive playmaker, too, and should find minutes at the next level.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Houston's Kingston Flemings is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the guard's draft night will play out.
Kingston Flemings 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 5 overall, Utah Jazz
The Jazz currently have the worst defensive rating in the league but could potentially improve that by selecting Houston freshman Kingston Flemings. The All-Big 12 guard has several games when he has recorded at least three steals, notching eight against Arizona State earlier this season. He scored 42 points against No. 11 Texas Tech on Jan. 24 and had a strong performance against Baylor, recording 21 points with seven assists and two steals on March 4. With highs as high as his thus far, it will not take long for him to hear his name called on draft night.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, BYU's A.J. Dybantsa is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the forward's draft night will play out.
The race for the No. 1 pick is a tight one, but if the Pacers get the pick, the most likely candidate is AJ Dybantsa. Even though he has flirted with the idea of returning to college, he is the perfect missing piece (around Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac) for this roster. The Big 12 Rookie of the Year leads the nation in unassisted points scored (680) by a wide margin this season, per CBB Analytics. The emerging star became the youngest player in NCAA history with a 30-point triple-double against Eastern Washington on Dec. 22. Highlighted by his 43-point performance against in-state rival Utah on Jan. 24 and 40 points against Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament on March 10, he has averaged 28.4 points per game over his last 16 appearances.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Illinois' Keaton Wagler is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the guard's draft night will play out.
Keaton Wagler 2026 NBA Draft prediction: Pick No. 7 overall, Atlanta Hawks
After trading away Trae Young, the Hawks could find their point guard of the future in Illinois standout Keaton Wagler using a first-round pick they received from the Pelicans. The 19-year-old guard scored 46 points while shooting 9-of-11 on 3-pointers against No. 12 Purdue on Jan. 24. He projects as one of the best 3-point shooters in this class, shooting 41.0 percent from beyond the arc as a freshman this year. The Big Ten Rookie of the Year is a cerebral basketball player who is also averaging 4.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game this season.
March Madness is underway and today's college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer's NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY's latest mock draft, Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner is expected to go in the first round.
Here's how USA TODAY currently projects the guard's draft night will play out.
It is unusual to find a 6-foot sophomore projected in the first round of a mock draft, but if there were ever a player who has earned that kind of praise it's Tyler Tanner. Despite his size, the All-SEC guard has found meaningful ways to contribute on both sides of the floor. He can score efficiently, dunk, block shots, steal the ball, and he is more than serviceable as a floor general capable of earning rotation minutes for a team like the Timberwolves. His performance on March 3 against Ole Miss included 34 points (3-of-6 on 3-pointers), five rebounds, seven assists and five steals. It was his second performance with at least 30 points in a 30-day stretch.
