(051808 Boston, MA)Boston Red Sox batter Dustin Pedroia (R) gets a high five from teammate Manny Ramirez after Pedroia scored on a solo home run in the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 18, 2008 at Fenway Park. Photo by Matthew Healey (Photo by Matthew Healey/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Craig Breslow brought in a lot of new talent this offseason, but he didn’t plug every hole on the Red Sox roster. So for our question of the day today, we’re bending space and time to ask you this: If you could take one player from Red Sox history and put him on the 2026 roster, who would you pick?
Considering that we spent the offseason wondering about the lineup’s lack of right-handed power and the hole at third base, someone like Kevin Youkilis immediately comes to mind. (Adrian Beltre would be even better, but it’s hard for me to think of him as a player from Red Sox history.) On the other side of the infield, having Dustin Pedroia to lock down second base while sliding Marcelo Mayer to third would certainly work.
But I’m going with this guy:
The Boston Red Sox should, as a matter of principle, always have one of the very best sluggers in the game anchoring the lineup. So let’s bring back the best Red Sox hitter of the last 50 years.
I’d make him the full-time DH, of course. And, as an added bonus, his presence would force Craig Breslow to finally make a trade to clear the outfield/DH logjam.
Andoni Iraola: “It’s a team that has played really well this season,” he said of today’s visitors. “Starting from the goalkeeper - he has been very, very good for them. He has a really long kick so it puts you under pressure really early. Every free-kick and every set-piece situation, they put a lot of pressure on you, they manage the situations very well.”
Regis Le Bris: “We are in a tough league – a young team with injuries, suspensions and different events,” said Sunderland’s head coach, upon being asked about his side’s run of three league defeats. “We expected that a bit earlier [in the season]. It is not the best period from a results perspective. We are learning a lot, and it is often in these tough phases that you are learning more.”
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 28: Ronald Acuña Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates hitting a home run during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Truist Park on September 28, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves’ bats were hot during Friday’s 15-8 win over the Boston Red Sox. It was an exciting third inning, as the Braves plated 11 runs and Ronald Acuña Jr. launched a grand slam. Mike Yastrzemski and Matt Olson also joined in on the fun and went yard.
BRADENTON, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 27: Shane Baz #34 of the Baltimore Orioles delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates during a Grapefruit League spring training game at LECOM Park on February 27, 2026 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning Birdland,
The final day of February has arrived. Our long wintery nightmare is nearly over. Today is expected to be a sunny one around Baltimore, with temperatures nearing 60 degrees! And while I don’t want to jinx anything, I may have taken a gander at the ever-inaccurate 10-day forecast and spotted an upcoming day with a high in the 70s. The great thaw has begun.
It’s not just the temperatures that are heating up this week. The baseball is too. What a segue!
Speaking of health, we are still waiting to hear more on Samuel Basallo. The latest there is that the side injury he suffered earlier in the week was not a major issue. Craig Albernaz said the catcher could have stayed in the game, but the team was being cautious. For now, he is not scheduled to get any testing done. He’s just resting it.
But these are the Orioles weren’t talking about. They aren’t known for their transparency on the injury front. We’ll believe it when we see Basallo back in the lineup, and not a moment before.
Maybe he will return to the field this weekend. We shall see! The O’s will play the Braves today at 1:05, and then the Red Sox at the same time on Sunday. Both games will be on MASN and local radio.
Links
Baz shows why O’s traded for him with electric 1st outing of spring | MLB.com If you had to pick one player as “the talk of Orioles camp” it’s probably Pete Alonso, but Shanze Baz might be a close second. All of the reviews of his stuff have been raving, and now he has an impressive Grapefruit League outing under his belt. The Orioles are putting a lot of eggs into the Baz basket, so they need him to pan out.
Orioles appear to catch a break with Basallo | Roch Kubatko The indications on this are good. Basallo is saying he feels good. He is still around the team and smiling. Hopefully there are no setbacks and we see him back on the field in the next few days.
Orioles’ Bradfield on playing for Team Panama in World Baseball Classic: ‘A fun opportunity’ | Baltimore Baseball For players that haven’t made it to the majors yet, the WBC seems like a great chance to play in a competition with elevated stakes and major league-adjacent talent. Bradfield is a player that will probably get to Baltimore sometime this summer, so anything he can do to prepare himself for those slightly brighter lights feels worthwhile.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
Mike Milchin turns 58 today. The lefty pitched in 13 games for the Orioles in 1996, accumulating a 5.73 ERA over 11 total innings.
Dallas Williams is 68 years old. He had a two-game stint with the Birds in 1981.
The late Dick Kokos (b. 1928, d. 1986) was born on this day. He was on the Orioles team that came over with the organization from St. Louis in 1954. He had spent four seasons with the Browns, but lasted just 11 games with the Orioles.
This day in O’s history
2023 – The Orioles and Pirates play an unofficial bottom of the ninth inning without umpires. The home team Pirates had already won the game, 7-4, and the umpires headed to the locker room. But both teams agreed to play another half inning in order to get more spring reps for their players. Orioles catcher Maverick Handley fills in for the missing officials, receiving the pitches and calling the balls and strikes. No additional runs are scored as Orioles pitcher Ofreidy Gomez allows just one hit before the game ends…unofficially.
No TV, no radio. Absolute BS. Baseball teams can afford to take the loss in order to promote the game. But they won’t. And it isn’t going to get better.
For the cost of an NRI longshot or, even better, some minuscule portion of CEO salary, these games could be made available to you and me. But it’s not going to happen, because infectious inimical capitalism is rife. Gordon Gekko might have been talking about sports culture.
Don’t let Rob fool you. He hates baseball. He likes money.
Swanson also singled home another run in the bottom of the sixth. Porter Hodge had another subpar outing. Jefferson Rojas and Pedro Ramirez had good days, and the Cubs took away an 8-6 victory.
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 07: A general view of fans at Oracle Park during the game between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Friday, April 7, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Loren Elliott/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve been checking in all month to get your opinions on various topics around the San Francisco Giants and baseball in general.
But now, it’s time to discuss the most important aspect of McCovey Chronicles, and that is YOU! The wonderful community!
Today’s prompt is less about baseball and more about the community: Who among your fellow community members deserves a shout out for making this community the awesome place that it is, and why?
I’ll be reading through the responses and I’d like to highlight a few next week in a follow up post. So make sure you give your shout outs in the comments below!
Who are your McCovey Chronicles community All Stars?
DETROIT, MI - JUNE 24: A tv broadcast camera is pictured before the MLB baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies Sox and the Detroit Tigers on June 24, 2024 at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Tigers released a full schedule for televised Grapefruit League broadcasts on Friday. However, we’re still waiting on the details for Tigers TV and how and when games will be broadcast on local cable providers. The club thought those details would be finalized this week, but apparently we’re not quite there yet. In the meantime, the televised broadcasts this spring will mainly be free games of the day on MLB.tv, so anyone with an account will be able to watch them without paying for a season package. Most of them will also be on MLB Network, with ESPN carrying a March 2 matchup at home against the Braves.
10 of the remainng 24 games are slated to be MLB.tv free games of the day, so they will be available to anyone with an account, even if it isn’t active, with no home blackouts involved. That amount of broadcasts is pretty standard for the Grapefruit League. Most games will be available via the Tigers Radio Network as always.
On top of negotiating out all the broadcast rights in partnership with MLB, there’s also the matter of producing their own broadcasts, so there are a lot of things that may be holding up the Tigers TV package, which will eventually be available on MLB.tv. The Tigers will produce their own home broadcasts March 1st, 7th, and 21st, featuring the teams broadcasters. That probably means Dan Dickerson running the show for the most part, but Jason Benetti should get in at least one trial run with the new setup when he isn’t busy with national obligations covering March Madness.
So for now, if you don’t already have MLB.tv you should be able to just establish an account without purchasing a package, and watch the free games in March. At some point, the Tigers TV package will be ready for order, and we should find out about cable providers carrying the games in partnership with the Tigers along the way as well. At that point, everyone can figure out what’s best for their home viewing during the season.
Feb 25, 2026; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman (15) makes the play for an out against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
In 2025, the Rockies started off the year with catchers Jacob Stallings and Hunter Goodman. The veteran Stallings was in his 10th MLB season, and Goodman was in just his third. However, ultimately, 2025 ended up bring not only Goodman’s first full year in MLB, but it was also his first full year catching.
Braxton Fulford eventually emerged, as well, after making his MLB debut on April 16, and finished the season in tandem with Goodman after Stallings was released in June.
Goodman obviously had a career year with an All-Star selection and Silver Slugger award and is looking to build on that, but Fulford is also planning to take the next step in his own career in 2026.
Everyone learned something in 2025 — including myself — but both Fulford and Goodman learned valuable lessons that will carry them into 2026.
“It’s the same game” Fulford said of his biggest lesson. “Just go out there, play hard, and trust your abilities because you’re there for a reason.”
Goodman echoed that, but also added this.
“Even when you have a good season, there’s a lot of rough patches where you go through things and you try and figure things out, so just trying to stay level-headed through all of it,” Goodman said.
“And I think as a team, we learned a lot. We had a lot of young guys play last year and get a chance to get their feet wet. And I’m still young, too, so [it was] good getting that first full season and catching them was really good. So I think we learned a lot and we’re going to go into this year trying to win some baseball games.”
They focused on different things in the offseason. For Goodman, is was about improving himself behind the plate.
“I had a lot of focus on the stuff behind the plate,” he said. “Some receiving stuff, cleaning up some of my throwing. My throwing was pretty poor. It was pretty poor throwing to bases last year, so [I’m] trying to figure some of that stuff out.“
For Fulford, it was more about working both behind the plate and in front of it.
“[I did] a little bit of swing work, just trying to make things more efficient there,” he said. “Catching work, same thing. Trying to clean up different areas that I thought had been better – receiving, throwing. I think a lot of areas felt good last year, so [I’m] just trying to build on those and then clean up different areas that I was inefficient.”
In addition to their own personal work, they — like the rest of the team — are getting used to the new changes the Rockies made to their coaching staff and front office. But they’re excited to see what’s next.
“I love it!” Fulford said.
“There’s a lot of good energy, new ways of thinking, and new ways of doing things.”
He added, “Pitchers have a lot of resources that they can use to improve their arsenals, to make adjustments where they saw deficiencies last year. Same thing with the catchers. We’re going about things differently so that we can get our pitchers in the zone, so that we can attack hitters early offensively. We have more resources there, as well, a whole different way of thinking in regards to the offensive part of the game, too.”
Fulford said, “Specially on the pitching side, we’re getting ahead and staying ahead. We’re not going to worry so much about pinpoint accuracy as we are throwing strikes with a lot of pitches and throwing our best stuff. [We’re] not just trying to throw the perfect location.”
Goodman echoed the “good energy” and said he’s excited to work with both the new and returning coaches.
“I like the hitting coaches,” he said. “Obviously, [Jordan] Pacheco is back from last year and then Brett [Pill]’s been awesome so far. And then just seeing how the pitching coaches are working with the pitchers and how they’re talking to me. I’m just excited going forward. I think the new staff is very open-minded to try new things in Denver, which I think will be good.”
Heading into 2026, both have similar goals.
For Goodman, it’s about “staying healthy and coming out of camp ready to play.”
For Fulford, it’s “want[ing] to put my skills on display, go out there and play hard because I know I’m more than capable of being an everyday catcher.”
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 9: Garrett Whitlock #22 of the Boston Red Sox reacts with Aroldis Chapman #44 of the Boston Red Sox during a Spring Training workout at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 9, 2026 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s pitching preview time, ladies and gentlemen. Over the next several days, I’ll be writing 10,000 words or so about everyone you might see pitching for the Red Sox to start the season.We’re done with the rotation options and are moving on to the bullpen. We’ll start at the back, with the high-leverage options.
Aroldis Chapman
Aroldis Chapman is coming off arguably the best season of his career, believe it or not. He posted a 1.17 ERA over 67 appearances. He was so good that it’s almost impossible for him to repeat that performance, and that’s okay. If he’s even 90% of the pitcher he was in 2025, he’s still one of the game’s best closers.
The key for Chapman is throwing strikes. Last season, he posted a career low 6.6% walk rate. I still have a hard time believing that he was able to start locating for the first time in his career because he actaully started aiming, but whatever the reason for his newfound control, it made him virtually unhittable. His fastballs, a four-seam and sinker, are what he’s known for. They averaged 98 and 99 mph, respectively,
He used a fastball and sinker most frequently; they averaged 98 and 99 mph, respectively, and had strike rates of 74% and 67%. The four-seam had a swinging strike rate of 15.6%, while the sinker had an insane 21.5% swinging strike rate. Those two pitches accounted for about 75% of his offerings, with more four-seams early and sinkers late. Ahead in counts, he turned to a slider that was untouchable, returning a 34% putaway rate and a whiff on about one in every three pitches. He also used a splitter that caused hitters to chase at a 42% rate and whiff on one in every four pitches. The stuff is overpowering, and Chapman was in the zone enough to harness it. It’ll be hard for him to post another 1.17 ERA, but he’ll handle the ninth inning as long as he’s healthy.
Garrett Whitlock
As dominant as Aroldis Chapman was in 2025, the mere fact that he’s Aroldis Chapman is inherently nerve-wracking. He could throw nothing but strikes for two months straight, I’d still be slightly afraid he’ll completely lose control and start handing out walks to everyone. With Garrett Whitlock, that isn’t the case.
Whitlock moved back to the bullpen full-time in 2025 and made 62 appearances with a 2.25 ERA. From August 19 through the end of the regular season, he didn’t allow an earned run. I will not be elaborating on what happened in the postseason.
He was equally effective against both sides of the plate, holding both lefties and righties to an OPS below .600. He both struck out and walked more righties, but the differences were negligible. Whitlock is a strike-throwing machine. Each of his three pitches hold a strike rate over 65%, led by his sinker at 70%. The sinker, due to its shape, functions more like a four-seam fastball. It has two-plane movement with high velocity and elite extension that allows it to miss bats at the top of the zone. Righties see his sinker about 50% of the time, while lefties see it about 40%. He utilizes a slider and a changeup as secondary pitches, 31% and 21%, respectively.
Against righties, Whitlock goes to his slider most often, and it was excellent. The two-strike chase rate was 35% while the putaway rate was 30%. He’s also one of the few pitchers on the Red Sox staff who utilizes a changeup against same-handed hitters. They predominantly came with two strikes, but he’d occasionally flip one in early to steal a strike. It was a solid offering and got righties to expand the zone, but was fouled off more than he’d like in two-strike counts. I’m probably nitpicking, but his pitch plot shows he might have been in the zone or too near the zone, costing him whiffs. As I write this, I realize I’m criticizing a pitcher with a 30% strikeout rate. Ignore me.
Alright, focus back up. We’ve still got his approach against lefties to talk about. Lefties swing and miss at his sinker often, though the contact is louder when they do connect. His changeup is his go-to secondary pitch, and it’s mostly great. It generated a chase rate near 50%, an 18% swinging strike rate, and a paltry 20% ideal contact rate. I say it was “mostly” great because of its performance with two strikes. In 54 two-strike counts, he only recorded three strikeouts. Despite good locations, lefties either fouled the ball off or took pitches just off the plate. His changeup is the only pitch he throws away from lefties, so throwing low two-strike fastballs might be able to freeze opponents and make them respect the changeup. Again, I’m nitpicking a 30% strikeout rate pitcher, but it is a place to improve. Regardless of the changeup’s ineffectiveness in putting hitters away, his fastball and slider each pulled their weight. Each pitch had a putaway rate of 25%, allowing him to keep that strikeout rate high.
Whitlock was one of the most reliable relievers in baseball and should continue to be in 2026.
Around the Division
David Bednar (NYY)
David Bednar was born in Pittsburgh and went to high school in Eastern Pennsylvania before moving across the state to play college ball at Lafayette College. He walked out to Renegade by Styx when closing games for the Pirates, and they still traded him to the Yankees. Kinda messed up if you ask me.
Bednar’s arsenal is similar to Craig Kimbrel’s. It’s high 90s fastballs up, and then he’ll pull the string with a 75 mph in the dirt and make you look like an idiot. He struggled for a stretch in 2025 and was briefly demoted to the minor leagues, but was completely dominant upon returning. I’d love to be a fan of his, but he was forced to put on pinstripes, so I’ll wait until 2027 when he becomes a free agent.
Jeff Hoffman (TOR)
Hoffman was up and down in 2025, most notably allowing a game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series. His fastball, slider, and splitter each miss bats at a high rate, but the fastball in particular was hit hard in 2025. Walks were an issue as well; Hoffman handed out free passes to 9.4% of hitters. He also surrendered 15 home runs, although his 37.5% home run per fly ball rate should regress to the mean in 2026. While he’s slotted in as the Blue Jays’ closer now, he might be on a short leash to begin the season.
Ryan Helsley (BAL)
Ryan Helsley comes over to the American League East after spending the second half of the season with the New York Mets, where he really struggled. He throws as hard as anyone, but opponents were able to handle his fastball last season. While his four-seam has always allowed some hard contact, 2025 was an outlier in terms of ideal contact rate. His slider is excellent, returning a 23% swinging strike rate. The Orioles paid him like a closer, so the ninth inning is likely his to lose to start the season. He’s a major bounce-back candidate after a rocky 2025 season.
Edwin Uceta/Griffin Jax (TBR)
Pete Fairbanks took off for Miami, so the Rays have an opening at the back of their bullpen. While they likely won’t have a designated closer, Edwin Uceta and Griffin Jax are two names likely to get late-game opportunities. Uceta throws a flat fastball from a near-sidearm release with a crazy delivery that gives hitters a really difficult time, and follows it up with a changeup with great fade. He gets a ton of strikeouts, but was prone to the home run ball in 2025. He also has a lingering shoulder injury that puts his status for opening day in question.
Jax came over from the Twins, and I have no idea why Minnesota let him go. His sweeper and changeup each have swinging strike rates over 20%, while his fastball has a solid shape and great velocity. He leaves the ball over the plate some, which was punished in 2025, but his strikeout numbers are off the charts. It seems that the Rays want to use him in the bullpen, but you could convince me that he could succeed in a rotation. He’ll also represent Team USA during the World Baseball Classic.
New York Islanders - 33-21-5 - 71 Points - 6-4-0 in the last 10 - Won 3 - 3rd in the Metro.
Columbus Blue Jackets - 29-21-7 - 65 Points - 8-2-0 in the last 10 - Lost 1 - 4th in the Metro.
Team Notes Per CBJ PR
Columbus had its season-high seven-game win streak snapped in the first game following the Olympic Break with a 4-2 loss at Boston on Thursday.
The Blue Jackets, who open a stretch of five-of-six games played at home on Saturday, have won four consecutive home games since Jan. 22 and earned points in eight-of-nine contests at Nationwide Arena in 2026 (7-1-1).
Since Dec. 22, the Blue Jackets have gone 15-6-1 (31 pts, .705 points pct.) and are among NHL leaders in team save percentage (.910/3rd-T), points (5th-T), goals-against per game (2.59, 5th), penalty kill pct. (83.3 pct./5th-T), points pct (6th-T) and goals-for per game (3.41/12th).
The club has scored the opening goal in 11 of the past 13 games and has scored the first goal in 35 contests (24-7-4), tied for third-most in the NHL in 2025-26.
Player Notes Per CBJ PR
Charlie Coyle ranks sixth-T in the NHL in scoring since Jan. 24 with 5-7-12 and four multi-point efforts in seven games.
Adam Fantilli posted his eighth multi-point effort of the season with 1-1-2 on Thursday and has totaled 2-6-8 in the past seven contests. He has set a single-season career high in assists with 14-24-38 in 57 games in 2025-26.
Boone Jenner (207-203-410, 784 GP), who is the club's all-time leader in games played and ranks third in goals and points, is one assist from tying David Vyborny (204) for third-most in CBJ history.
Mason Marchment collected his third multi-point outing as a Blue Jacket with two assists on Thursday. He has totaled 9-6-15 in 15 games since making his debut with the club on Dec. 20.
Zach Werenski helped Team USA capture a Gold Medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics (1-5-6, 6 GP). He collected an assist on Thursday to tie his career-high points streak at eight games (2-9-11) originally set from Nov. 15-Dec. 1, 2024 (5-11-16). He also has points in 21 of his past 23 games played since Dec. 11 (11-22-33, 10 multi-point efforts).
Blue Jackets Stats
Power Play - 19.6% - 19th in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 77.2% - 25th in the NHL
Goals For - 176 - 17th in the NHL
Goals Against - 180 - 17th in the NHL
IslandersStats
Power Play - 16.1% - 28th in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 81.5% - 9th in the NHL
Goals For - 169 - 22nd in the NHL
Goals Against - 160 - 4th in the NHL
Series History vs. TheIslanders
Columbus is 28-23-1-7 all-time, and 19-7-1-4 at home vs. New York.
The home team is 11-3-1 in the last 15, and 5-0-1 in the last 6.
The CBJ have killed off 9 of 10 NYI power plays.
The winning team has won by multiple goals in seven of the last nine meetings overall, including five-straight at Nationwide Arena.
Each team has recorded a 2-0 shutout victory over the past five contests played at Nationwide Arena.
The Jackets have killed off 9-of-10 Islanders power play attempts over the last five contests played in Ohio (90 pct.).
CBJ have recorded five shutouts in the all-time series (MR: Merzlikins, 26 saves in 2-0 W at CBJ on Oct. 30, 2024).
The teams have averaged a combined 58.5 shots on goal in the past six meetings of the series.
Who To Watch For TheIslanders
Bo Horvat leads the team with 24 goals
Mathew Barzal leads NYI with 35 assists and 52 points.
Ilya Sorokin is 21-13-2 with a SV% of .915.
David Rittich is 12-8-3 with a SV% of .900
CBJ Player Notes vs.Islanders
Zach Werenski has 15 points in 25 career games vs. the Islanders.
Boone Jenner has 16 points in 34 games.
Mason Marchment has 5 points in 10 games against New York.
Injured Reserve
Brendan Smith - Lower Body - Missed 19 Games IR - Out for the rest of the regular season.
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 156
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ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 28: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels is congratulated by Zach Neto #9 after hitting a solo home run, his 404th career home run, during the first inning against starting pitcher Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. #43 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on September 28, 2025 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Last week, Angels owner Arte Moreno made a bit of a scene by saying that the team’s fans aren’t “overly concerned with winning.” His claim, based on fan surveys, said that visitors to “the Big A” are more concerned about things like affordability at the ballpark. While there’s something to not wanting to spend an arm and a leg just to go to one baseball game, I feel like Angels fans would also like to win, but that’s just me.
That being said, in recent years the team has had Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani — and still employs one of them — but hasn’t really had much to show for it, as one famous tweet points out.
every time I see an Angels highlight it's like "Mike Trout hit three homes runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn't been done since 'Tungsten Arm' O'Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3"
— ℳatt (matttomic.bsky.social) (@matttomic) May 18, 2021
Their 11-year absence from the playoffs is the longest in baseball and they last finished over .500 a decade ago. Despite all that, there are still people attending Angels games. If Moreno means what he says on the affordability front, this year would be a good one to prove that he cares about that, since I don’t think the winning thing will be changing in 2026.
Los Angeles Angels
2025 record: 72-90 (5th, AL West) 2026 FanGraphs projection: 74-88 (5th, AL West)
As mentioned, the Angels still do have half of their once all-world combination in Mike Trout. While he did appear in 130 games in 2025 having missed a lot of time due to injury in previous seasons, he’s definitely not the Mike Trout you remember. He was still a pretty good hitter, posting a 120 wRC+, that’s a far cry from where he was in his prime, not even factoring in that his defensive ratings have taken a dive. He put up only 1.8 fWAR last year, when the previous season he appeared in over 100 games — 2022 — he put up 6.0. Projections still expect him to be a decent hitter, but he had a hard enough time trying to drag the Angels to the playoffs at his peak, never mind now.
The issue with the Angels’ lineup in general is that, Trout included, they just don’t have a ton of guys you can project to be middle order stalwarts. FanGraphs projects seven Angels regulars to put up a wRC+ over 100 in 2026, which sounds decent. It’s just that the highest of those projections is Trout at 117. That’s lower than what Ben Rice is projected to do for the Yankees, and Rice is not the projected best hitter for the Bombers.
That being said, the Angels do have some possible solid contributors. The likes of shortstop Zach Neto and first baseman Nolan Schanuel have the makings of solid contributors and are both younger than 26. There’s just not much going on in their lineup that makes you really take notice.
Their situation on the pitching front is somewhat similar: they have some guys that could put up solid numbers but no one who looks like a capital-A “Ace.” They did acquire Grayson Rodriguez from the Orioles and Alek Manoah, formerly of the Blue Jays. Both those guys have been top prospects in the not so distant past, so maybe they could mine some gold out of one of them.
Besides Rodriguez and Manoah, the Angels acquired a bunch of “oh hey, it’s that guy(s)” this offseason. Other additions for them in 2026 include Josh Lowe, Drew Pomeranz, Kirby Yates, and Jordan Romano.
One person you will not be seeing for the Angels this year is Anthony Rendon. If you look up the Angels’ roster, you’ll still find Rendon listed — probably with the injured list distinction — but he and the Angels came to an agreement to rework his contract, effectively ending his time with the team, and probably concluding his MLB career.
In order to actually be a good team, the Angels would need to have guessed correctly on a bunch of coinflips. It’s technically possible, just hard to do. That being said, they’ll still probably take two of three over the Yankees in Anaheim in some stupid fashion.
More Pinstripe Alley MLB team season previews can be found here.
The San Jose Sharks may have acquired forward Kiefer Sherwood from the Vancouver Canucks just last month, but the gritty forward is right back in the rumor mill.
If the Sharks end up shopping Sherwood, let's look at three teams that could make sense as landing spots for the 30-year-old winger.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are having a great year, as they are at the top of the Atlantic Division standings. With this, they will be buyers at the deadline, and one of their needs is another impactful winger in their middle six. Due to this, it would not be surprising at all if they made a serious push for Sherwood. He would not only give them a skilled forward with an edge but also would come at an affordable price for the Bolts.
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche were often connected to Sherwood before the Sharks acquired him from the Canucks. Due to this, it would make sense if the Avalanche pursued him again leading up to the deadline. Sherwood would give the Avalanche's forward group a nice boost and would provide them with another player who is built for the playoffs.
PEORIA, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 27: Luis Castillo #58 of the Seattle Mariners pitches during the first inning of the spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Peoria Stadium on February 27, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s another latercap, brought to you by my charming inability to plan ahead and impetuous decision-making, which has led to me sitting in the parking lot of this Peoria Lowe’s using their free wi-fi to push out a recap of a 3-1 Mariners loss to the Diamondbacks that will be as stale as old coffee tomorrow, but the completist in me insists. Plus, I worry we are already reaching the stage of spring training where the games are boring, and we haven’t even seen all the WBC guys leave yet; that will happen tomorrow or the next day, and the minor leaguers will flood into camp tomorrow, and then we’ll really see from boring.
There was a point today where I was driving through Utah for the eighth or eight hundredth hour and I found myself utterly sick of being overcome by appreciation for the natural world (I believe I said, out loud, in the direction of one particularly comely rock formation, “okay, enough with the striations already, I get it!”). Look, anyone who’s looked at B-roll of Arizona spring training can tell you, it’s beautiful. But you can only look at so many breath-stealing dramatic vistas and sandcastle rock formations carved by an ancient and unintelligible force and marvel at it so many times. That’s a little what it feels like, being sick of spring training games already.
I had good intentions with the cap, I promise. I started from Twin Falls today with the intent of reaching Flagstaff, a hefty chunk of driving but one that would leave me a manageable piece for the final push to Peoria the next morning. I planned to listen to the game, type out the recap post-dinner, sleep in Flagstaff and awake very very early the next morning (Show-up time for the media in Peoria is around 7:30 or 8, always an unpleasant shock to the national writers when they drop in). I assume the Mariners also had good intentions with the game, ones that went quickly awry as Luis Castillo surrendered a three-run home run in his spring debut, and they failed to get anything going against Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson, also making his spring debut. A boring, bad game, but that’s what spring training is for us, too, as fans, right? Get the calibration early for the particular irritation in Rizzs’s voice when he says “the Mariners LEAVE a man.”
Castillo had a good first inning, opening with a strikeout of Jordan Lawler on a four-seamer that lit up the gun at 96.3. He sat pretty consistently in that first inning at 95-96 mph, which is a significant shift from what we’ve seen with the slower-building Castillo in previous years. Unfortunately, that clean first didn’t transfer into the second inning; James McCann got a fastball in he turned on for a single, and then Ildemaro Vargas pounced on a first-pitch fastball that came in at 94.3 and too much on the plate for a hard-hit single. Castillo did rebound by undressing top DBacks prospect Ryan Waldschmidt on three pitches, steadily climbing the ladder with 95 mph heaters, and then looked to have A.J. Vukovich – who I would have sworn up and down was an Athletics prospect – on the ropes in a 1-2 count, but Vukovich battled for seven pitches and eventually was able to get under a sinker above the zone and send it over the fence for a three-run shot.
Meanwhile, Nelson didn’t allow a hit and struck out three in just two innings: he got Rob Refsnyder looking at a perfectly spotted 97 mph pitch at the bottom of the zone that catcher James McCann challenged and won, which, okay, and he also bowled over two of the young guys, striking out Brennan Davis on a cutter and picking apart Cole Young in a three-pitch sequence that ended with him whiffing at a 97 mph fastball right on the plate. Ouch.
Davis and Young would get their revenge later off reliever Taylor Rashi; Davis opened the inning with yet another hard-hit single, punishing a poorly located slider at 108.8 mph. I’m sad to miss all the guys who will be leaving for the WBC literally right as I’m coming in to camp, but I’m very intrigued by what Davis has been doing this spring and look forward to seeing more. He was followed by another post-hype prospect who’s been having a good camp, Will Wilson—on in place of Miles Mastrobuoni, who got the start at third—with another single to put runners at the corners with no outs. Young did put the ball in play, getting the Mariners’ lone run of the day on an RBI groundout, but having also gotten a slider that looked to be well in the zone you’d like to see more than a okay-ish-hit ground ball.
And that was pretty much it for the offense in this game, as the Mariners bullpen did their jobs and hung zeroes, racking up nine strikeouts among them (although two were Castillo’s, two belonged to Gabe Speier making his final appearance before the WBC, and two to Casey Lawrence in a two-inning outing; Vargas, Ferrer, and Zulueta had the other three). But the offense didn’t hold up their part of D-ing the Z, striking out a combined 10 times. One costly mistake from Castillo, and the Mariners found themselves on the short side of the contest, a boring, unsatisfying affair that will certainly be lost to the annals of spring training history.
My own costly decision was made on the heels of a soggy, tissue-paper-crusted pizza and too much time at the table with my atlas (yes I still use a paper atlas, yes I am a dinosaur, leave me alone I like to see a map all at once in a large format). Phoenix wasn’t that far. What if I just did the drive tonight? I could do that. What was another couple hours in the car after I’d already done twelve or so. It’d be fun! Spontaneous! And most importantly, done at night so I didn’t have to see another single stupid red rock with my fully-smacked gob. We are full up on natural wonders here! All good on Earth’s majesty, thank you.
Ah, perhaps you have already spotted the flaw in my plan of not arranging lodging before driving to Phoenix, where it is a) spring training and b) the weekend and c) apparently a gathering of all the world’s bartenders and every single hotel, motel, Holiday Inn within 300 miles is sold out?
Which brings me to the Shell travel plaza in Black Canyon City, which I landed on after being out of options, driving around aimlessly and bored. Maybe I am not the first person to do a five-step Korean skincare routine at 2 AM in the bathroom/parking lot of said travel plaza; not if you judge off the demeanor of the overnight clerk, an affable older woman whose nametag read Nancy and whose wrists jingled with silver bangle bracelets and who I would follow into war. As I walked back to my vehicle, a little woe-is-me-and-my-bad-planning about the prospect of curling up in the backseat for a nap, I heard a rustling in the bushes next to the car and assumed it was a straggler from the road wandering up towards me; city instincts took over, triggering a wariness and watchfulness.
Instead, a gray donkey appeared between the scrub oaks and gazed at me with big, brown unblinking eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen a donkey, a real one, not as part of a manger scene. In a petting zoo somewhere? “That is a donkey,” I said out loud and to no one.
I went inside to tell Nancy. “There is a donkey outside,” I announced, because it was important for it to be said again.
Nancy was not as surprised as I was by this information. “Oh yeah, there are packs of them around. There used to be a petting zoo on the other side of the mountain but a bad storm knocked it all over and they escaped and bred and now they kind of live all over here.” She pointed at the token bowl of fruit every gas station keeps by the front door like a totem to ward against the gastrointestinal crimes perpetuated throughout the rest of the store. “Sometimes I get to feed them,” she said, not a little smug.
What a privilege it is, to be bored, when there are donkeys everywhere for those with eyes to see them.
Ahead of the March 6 NHL trade deadline, one Eastern Conference team has been blowing up the Philadelphia Flyers' phones more than others.
As it turns out, Flyers forward Owen Tippett, who will have minor trade protection kick in on his contract this summer, has a group of admirers in the northeast.
On Friday, Daily Faceoff's Anthony Di Marco reported that the Boston Bruins are a team that has called about Tippett "several times this season."
"One name the Bruins have checked in on several times this season is winger Owen Tippett, who is under contract for six seasons beyond this one at an AAV of $6.2 million," Di Marco wrote.
"The Flyers aren’t looking to move the 27-year-old winger by any means but are open to discussions, though the price to get him out of Philadelphia would have to be significant. The Bruins feel like Tippett brings a different style of game and a versatility that they are lacking."
On the other side of the equation, Di Marco mentioned Bruins center prospects Matt Poitras and Dean Letourneau as players of interest to the Flyers, as well as left-shot defenseman Mason Lohrei.
Given the Flyers' logjam at the winger position, it would appear, on the surface, to be a no-brainer to move someone with Tippett's value to acquire players at other positions of need.
Letourneau, a 6-foot-7 center and 2024 first-round pick, was absolutely awful for Boston College last season, scoring just three assists in 26 games.
This year, however, has been a completely different story, and the 20-year-old has exploded for 19 goals, 15 assists, and 34 points in only 31 games.
It's been well-documented how the Flyers have loved to draft for size over the last two drafts, and Letourneau would certainly fit right in. Size aside, he's also a decent skater and has real puck skills to boot.
As for Poitras, the 22-year-old former second-round pick already has 69 games of NHL experience with the Bruins, scoring seven goals, 20 assists, and 27 points.
He's the least attractive option of the two centers, but Poitras does have the skill the Flyers need down the middle.
Lohrei, 25, was notably selected by the Bruins (58th) after the Flyers had selected Emil Andrae (54th) in the 2020 NHL Draft, and now the American blueliner could very well find himself tapped to replace his Swedish draft classmate.
Andrae's 5-foot-9 size does not appear to jive with what the Flyers are trying to do with their defense corps in the long-term, while Lohrei, who is 6-foot-5 and has 69 points in 171 games, can move the puck equally well while being capable of doing more physically.
As Di Marco noted, Lohrei carries a $3.2 million cap hit and could be jettisoned in an effort to create further cap space for the Bruins.
From the Flyers' perspective, Lohrei is an RFA again in the 2027 offseason, so there aren't going to be any significant financial or long-term commitments they're bound by if things don't work out in Philadelphia.
If the Flyers can swap Tippett for any combination of these players, especially given that Porter Martone will arrive soon and Tyson Foerster will eventually return from injury, the organization will be setting themselves up nicely to ice a much more well-rounded and competitive roster in the near future.
In the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman discussed the Montreal Canadiens and mentioned that they have been exploring options on defence. The insider said:
“You know the Canadiens, I do think they’ve looked at some of those Ds guys like Ristolainen or guys like that.”
Friedman failed to mention who else would fit into the “guys like that” category, but looking at Ristolainen, I struggle to see how the Philadelphia Flyers would be a viable option for the Canadiens. Of course, he’s a right-shot defenseman, and he’s big at 6-foot-4 and 208 pounds, but he doesn’t play big. In just 21 games this season with the Philadelphia Flyers, he has landed a total of 21 hits. That’s hardly the kind of contribution they’d need in the playoffs.
Furthermore, the last time he played a full 82-game season was back in 2015-16 with the Buffalo Sabres. He’s suffered multiple right triceps tendon ruptures, which have led to multiple surgeries over the years, and this season, he didn’t start playing until mid-December.
The Canadiens already have a couple of defensemen on their books who are very good on paper but have sustained more than their fair share of injuries on the ice: Kaiden Guhle and David Reinbacher. Do they need a 31-year-old who has another season to go with a $5.1M cap hit? Unless they have concerns about Reinbacher and think he needs more time in the AHL, it would be a puzzling move for the Canadiens’ brass.
I believe if the Canadiens move before the deadline, it will once again be a Kent Hughes surprise move, one that seems to come out of left field and that wasn’t in any of the rumours. The Habs have always been a tight-lip organization, and I’d be surprised if that changed anytime soon.
