- Listen to Sportsound
- Dundee 0-0 Dundee United
- FT: St Mirren 0-1 Rangers - Rommens opens Rangers account as Rangers move to within three of Hearts
- Get involved below
Scottish Premiership: Rangers win at St Mirren; Dundee host United in derby
Enmanuel de Jesus, Gleyber Torres feature as Venezuela ousts Japan
The World Baseball Classic continues to be the most fun you can have with March baseball. Move over March Madness. On Saturday night, an absolute classic unfolded as Team Venezuela took on Team Japan in a back and forth slugfest that saw the Venezuelans advance to the semifinals with a wild 8-5 victory. Detroit Tigers’ Gleyber Torres, and in particular lefty Enmanuel de Jesus, played big roles in the victory. It was a bit of a Tigers’ fest all around as even Miguel Cabrera had a long cameo in a key moment.
The Tigers contingent will continue to be center stage as Keider Montero is now slated to start in the semifinals against Team Italy on Monday. The winner will advance to the finals against the winner of tonight’s 8:00 p.m ET matchup between Team USA and Team Dominican Republic.
Last night’s game started off with a bang and it didn’t slow down until Team Venezuela’s bullpen slammed the door on Samurai Japan from the middle inning onward. Facing World Series hero and Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the game with a solo shot to right center field on a 1-0 heater right down the pipe.
In the bottom of the first, Shohei Ohtani struck right back with a leadoff solo shot on a Ranger Suarez curveball down and in to make it 1-1. It was not a good night for Ranger Suarez. It’s way too early for this kind of statement, but after spending a fair amount of time trying to decide whether the Tigers would be better off signing Suarez or Framber Valdez, but expecting neither, so far I think we’re in a good place. The bottom of the first ended with Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki getting banged up a bit trying to steal second with two outs. Salvador Perez cut him down and the Venezuelans got right back to work.
Ezequiel Tovar, who had a big night all around, opened the second inning with a drive off the wall in center field, and our own Gleyber Torres followed suit. Yamamoto hung a 2-2 splitter up on the inner edge of the plate, and Torres smoked it to left, missing a home run by inches and cruising into second with an RBI double that made it 2-1 Venezuela.
Torres was stranded on base, and Ranger Suarez settled down for a quick 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second. Yoshinobu did likewise in the top of the third, giving up a leadoff double to Maikel Garcia of the Royals, but settling things down by stranding him. Suarez then imploded a bit in the bottom of the third, giving up an RBI double to Teruakui Sato, and then a three-run shot to Shota Morashita that threatened to blow the game open.
Suarez was knocked out of the game a batter later, but Venezuela got out of the inning without further damage. Still it was 5-2 Japan with Yamamoto on the mound. Things looked a little bleak.
In the bottom of the fourth, Enmanuel de Jesus took over, and this is where the game’s momentum began to shift. The left-handed has been a minor revelation this spring, and he was outstanding in this one and truly one of the standout heroes for Venezuela.
As he has all spring, De Jesus had his deep pitch mix under control and showed off a lot of deception. Team Japan was guessing wildly as De Jesus painted the edges with fourseamers and sinkers, and then bent cutters and changeups in and out of the zone with good command while pitching in the most pressure packed environment he’s faced as a professional.
He got the first out of the fourth, but gave up a single and a walk before bouncing back to strike out Ohtani and Sato both swinging at ghosts as his cutter sailed down and away from the two left-handed hitters.
In the top of the fifth, Miguel Cabrera briefly got involved. After Jackson Chourio drew a leadoff walk, Acuña was called on out a really tough checked swing call by home plate umpire Dan Iasogna. Acuña was livid, and it was the Tigers’ great and future Hall of Famer Cabrera, Venezuela’s hitting coach, was seen hollering at Acuña to let him do the yelling and to calm down before he got tossed out of the game. Iasogna did a nice job there by taking it without immediately tossing the Braves’ star in such a key game.
Fortunately for Venezuela, they had other powerful options. A two-run homer from Maikel Garcia cashed in Chourio anyway, cutting Japan’s lead to 5-4, and de Jesus held it in the bottom of the inning, striking out Morashita and getting a routine grounder and a pop-up to send this to the sixth inning.
Wilyer Abreu seized control for Venezuela with Yamamoto gone, cracking a three-run shot after singles from Tovar and Gleyber Torres to make it 7-5. De Jesus got the dangerous Munetaka Murakami, who we’ll see a lot of with the White Sox, on a flyout to start the bottom of the sixth before giving way to José Butto.
De Jesus finished with 2.1 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 3 K for the night. Pretty darn good against a dangerous lineup.
Team Venezuela’s bullpen followed de Jesus’ example and shut the door on Japan the rest of the way. Angel Zerpa, Andrés Machado, and Daniel Palencia shut the door with a solid inning of work each. Tovar continued his huge game with an eighth inning double, and then scored on a ill-fated pickoff attempt that was thrown away by Atsuki Taneichi. That was the ballgame.
These guys were pretty hype.
Now, Keider Montero will take Venezuela’s hopes into his hands in the biggest start of his career. Of course, Montero is familiar with some pressure. He does have 8 1/3 scoreless innings over the last two postseasons with the Tigers, so he’s been in these situations before. However, doing the pre-game media as the starting pitcher in an elimination game for your country is a different animal. Hopefully Keider handles the pressure and does well in all respects. This could be a huge confidence builder for him, or a tough moment that stings a while.
It will be very interesting to see how he does, just as his role with the Tigers this season remains an interesting question. Going from starting a semifinal game for your home country, to getting sent out to Toledo to start the year, is going to be some medicine for a letdown if that’s how it goes. No doubt his chances will come anyway if he’s pitching well.
The Detroit Tigers have had really longstanding ties to Venezuela. Apart from Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Magglio Ordonez, one of the Tigers top prospects, Josue Briceño is Venezuelan, as well as Torres, Montero, and now de Jesus. So it’s great to see Team Venezuela’s underdog run.
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)
- Sun 7-10pm: Chris Dobbertean
- Mon-Wed 10am-1pm: Mike Rutherford
- Mon-Wed 5-8pm: Chris Dobbertean
- Thursday 9am-12pm: Chris Dobbertean and Mike Rutherford
Mets 2026 Season Preview: What will season 2 of the Clay Holmes starter experiment look like?
In his first year as a full-time starter, Clay Holmes was sturdy, if unspectacular. After eight years of solely relieving (after his first season where he both started and relieved), Holmes made 31 starts in 2025 (plus two relief appearances) good for a 3.53 ERA. That line looks good in insolation, but watching Holmes pitch over the course of the year didn’t always feel like you were watching someone with a sub-4.00 ERA.
While the overall results may have been there, batter to batter, inning to inning, Holmes appeared to be pressing, often looking fatigued and frustrated. A lot of this can be placed at the feet of the transition from relief pitching to starting pitching. Midway through the season, Holmes had already blown past his innings total for any big league season, so some of the fatigue was earned.
But with a season under his belt, it’s becoming clear who Holmes the starter is. When he’s on, he’s inducing a lot of ground balls. His pitch mix hasn’t changed too much from his bullpen days, but he’s lost a little velocity (about three miles per hour on his sinker, approximately two miles per hour off of breaking/off-speed stuff) due to the extra pitches he’s throwing. Amazingly, his walk rate didn’t change too much, though he was never a reliever who didn’t put men on base.
So while the stuff is unlikely to change in his second year as a starter, there’s hope that the endurance may. Now fully stretched out for more than a calendar year, Holmes can hopefully put together a season that sees him go deeper into games. With a partially rebuilt bullpen and an actual swingman (hello, Tobias Myers!), the Mets have attempted to address some of the issues of the 2025 pitching staff, but ultimately, starting pitcher length is going to tell a lot of the story.
There was a stretch during the summer of over two months between Mets’ starters going six innings. After June 7, Holmes only pitched into the seventh inning once. Even the reliable bullpen arms were getting dinged up because of overuse. While newly acquired starter Freddy Peralta didn’t average much better than Holmes did (both averaging just over five innings per start), the big difference is that he only had one start (aside from a last start before the playoffs purposely shortened outing) where he didn’t go five innings. His ERA was also almost a full run better than Holmes’s.
With Peralta and Nolan McLean at the top of the rotation, (hopefully) healthy Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea, and a (hopefully) resurgent David Peterson, the Mets have lots of options for how their starting staff is going to look. But based on a combination of effectiveness and health, Holmes looks to slot into the third or fourth starter role. And with Christian Scott and Jonah Tong not far behind, Holmes’s ability to transition into the bullpen and his modest contract ($13 million this year with a $12 million player option for 2027), if his effectiveness dips also makes him an asset in the way that Manaea or Senga simply aren’t.
Mariners Moose Tracks, 3/15/26: Randy Arozarena, Zach Neto, and Hiromi Itoh
Good morning, foLLks, and happy Sunday!
The M’s lost by a score of 6-2 to the Angels yesterday as Cactus League play drags on, but we did get a fun sequence of Cole Young knocking in Colt Emerson for Seattle’s first run. It’s definitely not tough to imagine that happening in big league games that count soon!
What’s a theme song from a TV show or cartoon that has a tendency to get stuck in your head? My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the new season of Ted – itself having an earworm of an opening theme – but thanks to a scene in one of the later episodes, I have not been able to shake the theme of Adventures of the Gummi Bears the past few days despite that show being well before my time. Sound off in the comments!
In Mariners news:
- Randy Arozarena is back in Mariners camp following an eventful week at the World Baseball Classic, and issued a statement through the team addressing the situation between him and Cal Raleigh.
- Maura McGurk at our sister Red Sox site Over the Monster profiled the M’s as one of Boston’s playoff rivals.
In World Baseball Classic news:
- Italy continued its magical Classic run. Fresh off an upset victory over the US in pool play, they jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and held on after Puerto Rico hung a four-spot in the eighth inning to win 8-6.
- Venezuela toppled the defending champion Japan 8-5 in a wild back-and-forth affair, with Wilyer Abreu’s three-run blast in the sixth inning the deciding blow.
Around the league:
- Ideally, you get through spring training without anyone getting hurt. That may not be the case for the Angels, as shortstop Zach Neto left yesterday’s contest after injuring his hand on a head-first slide. While he will undergo further testing, it’s not the first time he’s injured himself sliding head-first.
- Breaths are being held in the South Side, as well, with White Sox righty Mike Vasil voluntarily exiting his outing against the Dodgers after reporting elbow soreness. He will also undergo further tests.
- Jorge Castillo reports that righty Hiromi Itoh and third baseman/outfielder Teruaki Sato – both part of Team Japan – could enter the posting system this winter and make the jump from NPB to MLB.
- Longtime Rockies owner Dick Monfort, 71, says that the odds of his team winning the World Series in his lifetime are “excellent!”. Whatever you say, Dick!
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)
- Sun 4-7pm: Chris Dobbertean
- Mon-Wed 7-10am: Mike Rutherford
- Mon-Wed 2-5pm: Chris Dobbertean
- Thursday 6-9am: Chris Dobbertean and Mike Rutherford
WBC Wrap-Up: Italy indomitable, Venezuela victorious over Japan
After yesterday’s quarterfinals, which featured a blowout and something much closer but not exactly thrilling, the WBC delivered drama in spades on Saturday.
Italy 8, Puerto Rico 6. In something that happened three times on Saturday, Willi Castro connected for a leadoff homer off Sam Aldegheri on the fourth pitch of the game. That lead didn’t last long, however, as Seth Lugo struggled on the mound from the get-go. He walked two of the first three Italian batters, and then a couple of soft singles through the infield turned things around into a 2-1 game. A harder single by Jac Caglianone made it 3-1, and Italy then collected another walk and a sac fly against new hurler Jovani Moran.
Aldegheri walked the bases loaded in the second and was replaced by Alek Jacob, who promptly plunked Puerto Rico captain Martin Maldonado to make it a two-run game, but then got out of it with a strikeout and a groundout. Moran and Eduardo Rivera escaped trouble of their own in the bottom of the inning, with Rivera striking out Caglianone with the bases loaded. Rivera left after consecutive two-out walks in the fourth, and then Italy reeled off an unholy rally against Luis Quinones, with a walk, a ground-rule-double-because-a-fan-reached-over-the-railing-to-catch-it, and then a more traditional ground rule double blooped far down the right-field line. Italy led 8-2 after all those walks and doubles.
Then things got quiet, with Puerto Rico squandering a good chance to get into it against Dan Altavilla in the seventh by wasting a two out, none on situation. Instead, they got into it the next frame against Matt Festa, with single-walk-walk to start the frame. That chased Festa and brought in Joe La Sorsa, but an RBI groundout, a hit batter, and a wild pitch made it 8-4, and then Christian Vazquez hit it hard through the infield to pull it back within two runs. So, Team Italy brought in presumptive closer Greg Weissert, who restored order, striking out Castro and later getting Nolan Arenado to softly ground out. After Edwin Diaz had an uncharacteristically wonky ninth (hit by pitch and walk) but nonetheless kept it to within two, it was Puerto Rico’s last chance, with Weissert still pitching.
Carlos Cortes made things more interesting with a leadoff single. Weissert then got a strikeout and Heliot Ramos hit a routine flyout, meaning it all rested on the shoulders of Eddie Rosario. After falling behind 2-0, Weissert missed with a fastball that ended up right down the middle… but Rosario didn’t really do anything with it, flying out to left to end the game. A bit more oomph and maybe Puerto Rico survives, but no dice. Italy moves on to the semis.
Venezuela 8, Japan 5. This is probably the kind of game the WBC organizers were envisioning when they dreamed up this tournament. What a barnburner.
Ronald Acuña Jr. started things off in electrifying fashion by raking an opposite-field leadoff homer against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But, a few pitches into the bottom of the first, Shohei Ohtani returned the favor off Ranger Suarez. Later in the inning, Seiya Suzuki was thrown out trying to steal second and had to leave the game due to injury.
Ezequiel Tovar, who apparently owns Yamamoto for some reason, led off the second with a double, and then Venezuela pulled ahead when Gleyber Torres barely missed a homer and ended up doubling Tovar home. The inning ended on a didn’t-mean-to-swing from Acuña that dribbled out to the second baseman. Suarez struck out two in the bottom of the second, and Venezuela squandered a leadoff double in the third. Suarez then wobbled in the bottom of the third, with a leadoff walk and an intentional walk to Ohtani, which then all came to roost when Teruaki Soto doubled down the right-field line to tie the game, and Suzuki’s replacement, Shota Morishita, yanked a three-run go-ahead homer into the left-field corner. It probably isn’t really any consolation for Suarez that the pitches both Soto and Morishita hit were basically perfect pitcher’s pitches that they nonetheless creamed.
The teams traded zeroes in the fourth, but Venezuela jumped on Chihiro Sumida after he replaced Yamamoto to start the fifth, with Jackson Chourio drawing a leadoff walk and Maikel Garcia depositing a baseball deep into the left field stands to make it a one-run game. Meanwhile, Enmanuel de Jesus was restoring order for Venezuela on the mound.
The big blow for Venezuela came against Hiromi Itoh in the sixth. Tovar dunked one for a leadoff single, and Torres rolled one through the infield. Up came Wilyer Abreu, Itoh tried to sneak a 91 mph fastball by him at the top of zone, and nope. Kablamo. Abreu didn’t miss it and instead crushed a second-deck shot over 400 feet for a three-run go-ahead dinger. (Later in this inning, Acuña got absolutely screwed on a not-even-that borderline strike three call.)
At this point, the game was basically over, as de Jesus, Jose Butto, Andres Machado, and Daniel Palencia, along with the Venezuelan gloves, stymied Japan the rest of the way. Those five games combined for an 8/1 K/BB ratio in six innings, and after Venezuela took the lead on Abreu’s homer, Japan’s only baserunners came on a couple of two-out singles in the eighth against Machado — but Shugo Maki grounded out. On the flip side, Venezuela added an eighth run when Tovar doubled, stole third, and scored on a poor throw down. Daniel Palencia made short work of Japan in the end, blowing away Sosuke Genda for the first out, clipping an edge against Kensuke Kondoh for the second, and then getting Ohtani to pop out on a down-the-middle fastball to end the game, eliminate Japan, and send Venezuela to an Olive Garden date on Monday night.
Acuña went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts and the leadoff homer. In one of his strikeouts, he just got beat on a high fastball after getting five pitches in a row below the zone. Then, there was that horrible 0-2 call, and he was carved up by Yusei Kikuchi in the ninth without seeing a fastball. Ah well, I’m sure he doesn’t mind given the exciting game and victory for his team — plus, you can see him hopping over the railing and jumping around repeatedly as his teammates walloped the ball. Fun stuff.
The U.S.-D.R. heavyweight match is on tap for Sunday night.
WBC Wrap: Upsets galore as Italy and Venezuela advance
I think the best line I’ve seen from Italian sports fans is their disbelief that Italy has a better national baseball team than a calcio (soccer) team.
Italy scored four runs in the first inning to upset Puerto Rico and advance to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic for the first time.
Things didn’t look good for Italy early as the first batter of the game for Puerto Rico, former Cub Willi Castro, hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning. [VIDEO]
But Angels pitcher Sam Aldegheri retired the next three batters in order. Meanwhile, Italy jumped all over Puerto Rico starter Seth Lugo for four runs in the bottom of the first inning.
After two walks, Vinnie Pasquantino tied the game 1-1 with this RBI single. [VIDEO]
Next up, Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone singled to put Italy up 2-1. Then Jac Caglianone singled home another run to make it 3-1. [VIDEO].
Jovani Morán then replaced Lugo, but he walked the first batter he faced. Then J.J. D’Orazio hit a sacrifice fly and it was 4-1 Italy.
Puerto Rico got a run back in the top of the second when Aldegheri walked two batters and hit a batter to load the bases. At that point, Italy manager Francisco Cervelli pulled Aldegheri for Alek Jacob, but Jakob hit the first batter he faced to make it 4-2 Italy.
But Jacob then struck out Castro and got a ground out by Darell Hernaiz to end the threat.
Italy expanded the lead to 8-2 with a four-run fourth inning. First, Brewers 2025 first-round pick Andrew Fischer doubled home two off Luis Quiñones. [VIDEO]
As you can see, there was clear fan interference on that play, so the umpires correctly called it a double.
J.J. D’Orazio, who plays in the Diamondbacks system, drove in two more with back-to-back doubles. [VIDEO]
After that, it was up to the Italian bullpen to hold the six-run lead. They almost blew it. Guardians minor leaguer Dylan DeLucia was strong for Italy, pitching four shutout innings against heavily-favored Puerto Rico. Twins reliever Dan Altavilla pitched around an error in the seventh. But Matt Festa came on to pitch the top of the eight and and he failed to retire a batter, loading the bases on a single, a walk and another single. Festa gave way to Pirates reliever Joe La Sorsa. La Sorsa gave up a run on an groundout to first, which was a trade Italy would make any day in that situation. But with the score now 8-3, La Sorsa’s control abandoned him. He hit a batter and then uncorked a wild pitch that scored a run and made it 8-4 Italy.
Christian Vázquez then made it 8-6 with a two-run single. [VIDEO]
Cervelli went to his closer Greg Weissert at this point in the eighth inning. Weissert struck out Castro for the second out, gave up a single to Darell Hernaiz and then got Nolan Arenado to ground out to end the inning with no further damage.
Weissert stayed in the game to pitch the top of the ninth and immediately gave up a single to Athletic Carlos Cortes to lead off the inning. But Weissert retired the next three batters to end the game and send Italy to the semifinals for the first time.
Three-time WBC champion Japan will not make it to the semifinals because Venezuela upset Japan 8-5.
Venezuela got off to an early lead when the first hitter of the game, Ronald Acuña Jr., homered off of Japan starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. [VIDEO]
Japan got that run back promptly in the bottom of the first when Shohei Ohtani homered off of Venezuela starter Ranger Suárez. [VIDEO]
Venezuela broke out to a 2-1 lead in the top of the second when Ezequiel Tovar doubled off Yamamoto to lead off the inning and then Gleyber Torres doubled him home. [VIDEO]
Japan got to Suárez in the third inning. First, Teruaki Sato tied the game 2-2 with this double. [VIDEO]
The next batter, Shota Morishita, hit a three-run home run to make it 5-2 Japan. [VIDEO]
Morishita was in the game as a replacement for Seiya Suzuki, who injured his knee trying (and failing) to steal second base.
Let’s all hope Suzuki isn’t seriously hurt. This doesn’t sound too bad.
Yamamoto allowed two runs on four hits over four innings. He struck out five. [VIDEO]
Japan’s bullpen wasn’t of the same quality. In the fifth inning, Venezuela cut the Japan lead to 5-4 with this Maikel Garcia home run off of Chihiro Sumida [VIDEO]
In the sixth, Venezuela took the lead for good with this upper-deck. three-run home run by Wilyer Abreu, [VIDEO] which made it 7-5 Venezuela.
Venezuela made it 8-5 when Ezequiel Tovar scored on this throwing error by Atsuki Taneichi. [VIDEO]
Japan got a threat going in the bottom of the eighth inning with two two-out singles, but former Nationals pitcher Andrés Machado got a ground out to end the last threat. [VIDEO]
Cubs closer Daniel Palencia came on in the ninth to seal up the win for Venezuela and he did just that, striking out Sosuke Genda and Kensuke Kondoh before getting Ohtani to pop out and send Venezuela to the semifinals. [VIDEO]
As noted in that video, it is the first time Venezuela has made the semifinals of the WBC since 2009. It’s the first time ever that Japan has been eliminated before the semifinals.
Italy will play Venezuela in the semifinals at 7 p.m. CT on Monday. On Sunday at 7 p.m. CT, Team USA takes on the Dominican Republic. Both games are on FS1. A game thread for tonight’s game will post here at 6 p.m. CT.
2026 MLB Team Preview Series: Cincinnati Reds
When looking back at the 2025 postseason, one would be forgiven for forgetting that the Cincinnati Reds were involved. Even despite the inherent dangers of a short-term series, the Reds weren’t able to give a proper contest to the Dodgers, falling in two straight games during Terry Francona’s first year in charge. It might have been their first playoff appearance in five years, but they haven’t even won a playoff game since 2012, nor a playoff series since 1995 — when the NL Central champion Brewers were still playing in the American League.
All the skepticism surrounding the Reds felt justified given that they were every bit of their 83-79 record. It was a type of campaign that leads a team to a playoff appearance only in very specific circumstances — the New York Mets’ late-season collapse, in this particular case. It wasn’t as though they caught them in a race, it was more that they kept walking at an adequate pace while the Mets took a wayward step into a ditch.
2025 record: 83-79 (3rd, NL Central)
2026 FanGraphs projection: 77-85 (4th, NL Central)
Any projection about the 2026 Reds starts with the unfortunate acknowledgment of ace Hunter Greene’s injury status heading into the year. The former No. 2 overall pick became the latest in a series of hard-throwing starters to be sidelined for a significant period. He’s now on the 60-day IL, out until at least July due to arthroscopic surgery on his elbow. Greene had already missed significant time last season, barely cracking the 100 innings mark in what was otherwise a magnificent campaign. Once again, the Reds will have to make do without him for a significant portion of their season.
Typically, good Reds team score runs, doing their best to benefit from playing half their games at Great American Ballpark, hitters’ favorite venue this side of Coors Field. Well, for the 2025 Reds—and this ties into some of the added concerns from Greene’s absence, it was all about the pitching.
Despite Greene’s time missed, Cincinnati managed a team ERA+ of 119, largely thanks to a career year from Andrew Abbott. The left-hander defied all odds to post a 2.39 ERA at home without the benefit of overwhelming stuff, boasting a strikeout rate below league average, all of which led to his first All-Star nod and a top-10 Cy Young finish. The de facto ace of this staff without a healthy Greene, Abbott may take a step back if we’re to read into his peripherals. It’s hard to see how he sustains a sub-3.00 ERA, pitching half his games in Cincinnati. On the positive side of things, Chase Burns (like Greene, a former No. 2 overall pick) showed outstanding stuff in his short period in the bigs and is probably one of the top young players to watch across baseball in 2026. He is currently dealing with a “range of motion issue” that they’re hoping isn’t too serious.
All in all, between Abbott, Burns, and Nick Lodolo, the Reds have an intriguing foundation even without Greene available, but it can’t quite be expected to carry the load of what could be a fringe contender if all things break right. Moving over to the bullpen, Emilio Pagán will be expected to live up to his resurgent 2025 campaign, set up primarily by Tony Santillan; the two combined to be one of the better late-inning duos in the National League last season. Trusting the pair, Cincinnati didn’t make any high-profile acquisitions to bolster its bullpen. Pierce Johnson and Caleb Ferguson are depth acquisitions to supplement Pagán, who was brought back on a two-year deal worth $20 million, showcasing a bit of the skepticism the market had about Pagán retaining that 2025 form.
Offensively, despite whiffing on their pursuit of Kyle Schwarber, Cincy has a few intriguing sluggers to keep an eye on ahead of 2026. After lighting up in the minors, Sal Stewart, a first-round pick in 2022, got a small opportunity in the bigs and answered the call with five homers in just 18 games. The youngster will get a free run to try and lock down a first base role that hasn’t been totally spoken for since the better days of Joey Votto. Spencer Steer is a fine player, but his flexibility is best utilized playing in other positions rather than as the primary first baseman. Carrying on the theme of sluggers, 49-homer bat Eugenio Suárez returns home, in a manner of speaking, on a one-year, $15-million contract that speaks for itself on why the Reds were more than happy to accommodate him as their primary DH. The man with 101 career bombs and a .504 SLG in Great American Ballpark should see his power play better there than it did in Seattle in the second half of 2025.
We went an entire paragraph on the club’s offense without discussing the inhuman Elly De La Cruz, a player whose God-given talent matches up with anybody in the game. His highlight reel will be phenomenal, his Statcast page equally so, but the challenge is to take not just one but several steps forward. The .777 OPS De La Cruz put up last year is not fitting for a player of his skill set; if this is to become a very good offense, it needs De La Cruz producing as a perennial MVP, which he very well could do. The best-case for the Reds is that the quad injury that Elly played through really affected his final 2025 numbers, and now recovered, he can get back to peak form.
De La Cruz, however, isn’t the only exciting Reds youngster who needs to do more in 2026. Matt McLain followed up an outstanding rookie campaign with an injury-riddled sophomore season. If he can regain that form we saw in 2024, the Reds could have one of the deadliest middle-infield partnerships in baseball, but that’s a big if.
As you’d expect, the Reds have the talent to compete for a Wild Card, but there are a lot of ifs and maybes and not very many certainties surrounding this team. They’ll be fun to watch, and the NL Central isn’t the gauntlet some other divisions are, but one is justified in being skeptical about this team’s chances to make a lot of noise in 2026.
More Pinstripe Alley MLB team season previews can be found here.
Sunday morning Rangers things
Good morning, folks…
Evan Grant has Three Observations from the Rangers’ 22-2 win over San Diego on Saturday.
The Rangers are confident in a Joc Pederson rebound despite his struggles this spring.
The Rangers are close to having everyone in their projected starting lineup available.
That includes Josh Smith, who appears to have won the second base job with a scorching spring.
The fifth starter spot is still up for grabs between Jacob Latz and Kumar Rocker.
The DMN’s Rangers prospect countdown continues with Seong-Jun Kim at #10.
David Laurila has his Sunday Notes column up at Fangraphs.
Good Morning San Diego: Nick Pivetta returns, Padres split with Guardians, Rangers
Nick Pivetta returned to the mound for the San Diego Padres after he missed time with what was described as arm fatigue. Pivetta completed three innings and threw 56 pitches, allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts to lead the Padres to an 8-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Ariz. on Saturday. Miguel Andujar and Freddy Fermin both homered in the game with Andujar hitting a grand slam for his third home run of the spring. Fermin continued his hot spring finishing with two hits in the game including his home run. Xander Bogaerts made his first start since returning from the World Baseball Classic and he added two hits as well.
Marco Gonzales led a group of Padres into the contest with the Texas Rangers in Surprise, Ariz. as Saturday was a split squad day with a home game and road game taking place with start times differing by five minutes. Things did not go so well for Gonzales and the Padres who faced the Rangers and the day ended with San Diego losing to Texas, 22-2. The Padres allowed five runs through the first two innings and an abysmal 13 runs in the third inning, alone. Gonzales completed two innings and allowed 11 runs, 10 of which were earned on eight hits with six walks and one strikeout. As bad as that was, reliever Logan Gillaspie had a different struggle. He could not keep the ball in the yard, allowing five home runs. He finished 2.2 innings and allowed nine runs on 11 hits with three walks and one strikeout. The lone bright spot for San Diego in the game was a two-run home run by Jase Bowen in the top of the third inning.
Padres News:
- The Padres Reacts Survey on Gaslamp Ballasked readers which of the candidates they thought would win the final spot in the starting rotation. The overwhelming majority of respondents said they believe Walker Buehler will win the job.
- Jackson Merrill had a difficult sophomore season, but it had more to do with health than regression. Merrill fought through multiple ailments and missed significant time for various injuries sustained throughout the year. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball believes a healthy Merrill could have a big season and help the Padres return to the playoffs in 2026.
- AJ Cassavell of Padres.com says that with his performance against the Guardians on Saturday, Pivetta is back on track, and his arm fatigue issues appear to be behind him.
- With news about the possibility of Joe Musgrove missing time to start the season the Padres may have to fill more than one hole in the rotation. But even with a healthy Musgrove, San Diego may have to get creative to fill the No. 5 starter position.
Baseball News:
- Randy Arozarena returned to the Seattle Mariners after he and Team Mexico were eliminated from the WBC. Arozarena and teammate Cal Raleigh, who plays for the US, had a now infamous interaction at home plate where Raliegh refused to shake Arozarena’s hand. Now back with the MLB club, Arozarena is ready to move on.
- Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chris Devenski, who was struck in the head by a line drive on Friday, is back home and resting.
- Logan Webb was announced as the Opening Day starter,
WBC News:
- Venezuela knocked off the defending WBC champion Japan and advances to the semi-final to take on Italy who beat Puerto Rico to earn their spot in the semi-final game.
- Paul Skenes will make his return to the WBC to help the US try to get past a dominant Dominican Republic lineup in their semi-final matchup tonight. Whichever team wins will advance to the final to face Italy or Venezuela.
Red Sox national broadcasts: when do you need more than NESN?
It feels like every year you need more and more subscriptions to watch the Red Sox. Rob Manfred supposedly wants to fix this in the future with nationalized broadcasting but for now, let’s see what’s on the docket for all those games in 2026.
You might remember last fall when the Red Sox and Tigers played on Apple TV and part of the broadcast was done on an iPhone. Well, that phone is now in the Hall of Fame.
The milestone broadcast at Boston’s Fenway Park — where the Red Sox clinched a postseason berth with a thrilling walk-off win over the Detroit Tigers — has since been recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which added one of the authenticated iPhone devices to its permanent collection in Cooperstown, New York. Read more on the Hall of Fame website.
By coincidence (or on purpose) the Tigers will be in town on April 17th for the Red Sox first, and currently only, Apple TV game of the year. The schedule Apple released is just for the first half of the season so there may be more to come after the All-Star Game. At least the Apple games look really, really good.
NBC/Peacock will be airing games on Sundays and the Red Sox are featured four times this season. NBC, to their credit (maybe?) has tried to make these big, exciting, matches. While that is definitely a win for the national audience, we miss out of Don and Jerry Dave and Lou.
Here are your 2026 Red Sox games that will be on NBC:
June 14 — 7 p.m. — Texas Rangers at Boston Red Sox — NBC/Peacock
Apologies if I don’t remember the large Rangers/Red Sox rivalry, NBC. In 2007 Boston traded for Eric Gagne from the Rangers? Ian Kinsler played for both teams?
June 28 — 7 p.m. — N.Y. Yankees at Boston Red Sox — NBC/Peacock
Now we’re talking…a series against the Yankees! And a second look at Fenway Park. If they’re going to be on the national stage might as well let other fans see our ballpark and wonder why they can’t have a Green Monster.
August 2 — 7 p.m. — Boston Red Sox at L.A. Dodgers — NBC/Peacock
Nothing on the schedule in July but there are two broadcasts scheduled for August. The first of which is August 2nd against then Dodgers. Mookie. Ohtani. Freeman. Decoy. All the big names. This has a little interest in the timing because it’s the day before the trade deadline. Monday August 3rd will be an off day for the Red Sox but the teams that do play will start ay 6:40 PM ET or later – after the deadline.
What do you think? Do you like when the deadline occurs during a game and every move is a possible trade? Or is it better to schedule games, as much as possible, with around 20 hours of space between day games on Sunday and night games on Monday?
August 23 — 3 p.m. — San Francisco Giants at Boston Red Sox — NBC/Peacock
Boston closes out the NBC slate with the Rafael Devers Reunion. The new-look Giants are trying to compete in 2026 and by August 23rd we’ll have a pretty good idea of the fortunes of both Boston and San Francisco. Did the Dodgers collapse? Are Roman and Marcelo fueling a youth revolution?
The real sacrifice comes, as usual, from FOX and their game of the week. Here’s what we get from FOX:
April 11 — 7 p.m. — Boston Red Sox at St. Louis Cardinals — FOX
It starts off with the Bloom vs Breslow Battle! Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray head back to St. Louis. Maybe Richard Fitts makes a start?
June 6 – 3 p.m. – Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees – FOX
Yankees, because Red Sox, Yankees, and FOX are just a thing that happens in MLB. Lots of good times. Lots of Joe Buck in the past.
July 11 – 4 p.m. – Boston Red Sox at New York Mets – FS1
Step right up and meet Grimace.
August 22 – 7 p.m. – San Francisco Giants at Boston Red Sox – FOX
A full national weekend of Devers clips. You’ll be tired by the end. Guaranteed.
September 26 – 7 p.m. – Chicago Cubs at Boston Red Sox – FOX
The Cubbies will be in town and everyone in the country might watch as Boston and Chicago battle out (hopefully) for postseason positioning in their respective divisions. If things go right, both teams will be setup up for October.
Then it’s on to, hopefully, more national games in October.
Rotowire.com ranks PNC Park last in homers hit over the last six years
The MLB season is around the corner, which means we are close to seeing one of the most electric things in all sports, homeruns.
Rotowire.com ranked the MLB ballparks by total home runs hit from the 2020-2025 season. They gathered home run data using Statcast data via Pybaseball, ensuring a comprehensive dataset covering every regular-season home run. To determine which stadiums are the most home run-friendly, they ranked all 30 MLB ballparks by total home runs hit, including both home and visiting teams. For teams that relocated or used temporary venues in 2025, totals have been combined across all stadiums used. They also did not count postseason Homers, it was just the regular season.
The stadium with the most home runs hit is Dodger Stadium with 1,241. The Dodgers bashed 244 homers in 2025 alone, with 142 of those being at home. Their slugging helped Los Angeles earn its second consecutive World Series title, taking down the Toronto Blue Jays. The Dodgers are 2026 World Series betting favorites at MLB betting apps to make it three in a row.
Great American Ballpark, the home of the Cincinnati Reds was second on the list with 1,221 dingers hit. While Yankee Stadium finished out the top three at 1, 216 homers.
The big surprise though was who ranked dead last on the list. PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, finished 30th. Only 794 home runs were hit in over the last six seasons, counting the Pirates and the away teams stats.
This means the offense has really been struggling over the years for Pittsburgh but it also means the pitching has been doing its job not allowing the ball to leave the park.
PNC Park is not considered to lean heavily toward either hitters or pitchers, so Pittsburgh’s offensive struggles last season – their 117 homers were by far the fewest in the Majors – is more of a roster issue, not the ballpark.
The Bucs had by far the fewest HRs hit last season with 117, The St.Louis Cardinals had the second fewest with 148. The offensive struggles that Pittsburgh has had over the last couple of seasons is a big reason why PNC Park ranks dead last.
Pittsburgh made some good moves in the offseason to break that cycle. The Pirates traded for Brandon Lowe, signed Ryan O’Hearn and picked up Marcell Ozuna in the offseason. Those are all guys with serious power who can hit 30-plus homeruns.
It felt like over the years the power has not been there for the Pirates, but with those acquisitions, we could see more balls hit into the Allegheny river for the 2026 season.
Check out the full list from Rotowire here.
Snake Bytes 3/15
Gabriel Moreno’s MRI reveals right elbow inflammation, to be shut down for couple of days
https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/gabriel-moreno-4/3614536/
Lawlar’s transition to CF going well; assessing D-backs postseason chanceshttps://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/reddit-ask-me-anything-with-d-backs-reporter-steve-gilbert
Diamondbacks Storm Back in Massive Comeback Win Over Giantshttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/diamondbacks-storm-back-massive-comeback-win-giants
Diamondbacks Give Relieving Gabriel Moreno Injury Updatehttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/diamondbacks-relieving-gabriel-moreno-injury-update
The ‘New’ Pitch That Could Engineer a Zac Gallen Bounce-Backhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/pitch-engineer-zac-gallen-bounce-back-sinker
Will Michael Harris’ Spring Training plate discipline roll over into the season?
For a team with talent like the Braves have, Spring Training should be about only two things. One, staying healthy and two, letting the prospects shine for the entire organization. The numbers that the starters put up should be thrown away. Also, the 14-5 record should be ignored as well. But some of the starters are doing things that are hard to ignore. Mauricio Dubon is enjoying his time with Chipper Jones and the Spring numbers are good. Austin Riley might be stealing some bases this year thanks to some work with Antoan Richardson. But the big news out of Spring is that Michael Harris looks amazing.
Michael Harris’ 2026 Spring Training plate discipline numbers are completely different from last season. Last year’s 128/16 K/BB ratio has been replaced with a 3/4 K/BB ratio. O-Swing (swinging outside the strike zone) is down from 42.9 to 25.5 percent. Overall swing rate is down from 56.5 to 41.7 percent. He’s not trading power though. His wOBA is higher now than at any point in his career.
Yeah, it’s Spring Training. And plate discipline changes don’t really suggest anything until at least 50 plate appearances. But will Michael Harris’ Spring Training plate discipline roll over into the season? Maybe so. Plate discipline tends to be a lifestyle, good and bad. He could continue but he could easily slide the other way. He appears committed to it for now, though.
“[Plate discipline] is one of the main things I want to work on right now,” Harris said. “It’s one of the bigger things that will help elevate my game and help this team a lot. So, my focus now is making sure I’m swinging at pitches I can handle.”
The projections love Michael Harris for a reason. He has a great profile and amazing defense. It would be amazing for him not to repeat the summer of 4-3. It would be nice if 2025 was completely different altogether.
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)
- Sun 7-10pm: Chris Dobbertean
- Mon-Wed 10am-1pm: Mike Rutherford
- Mon-Wed 5-8pm: Chris Dobbertean
- Thursday 9am-12pm: Chris Dobbertean and Mike Rutherford
Yankees Birthday of the Day: Mike Pagliarulo
The annals of baseball history abound with stories of vaunted prospects who never fulfilled their potential. Whether due to injury, work ethic, or simply misplaced projections, these figures serve as cautionary tales to temper our expectations whenever the next “sure thing” breaks onto the scene.
A story far less often told is of the player who had to hear over 150 other players names’ called before hearing his own, and yet who somehow manages to get a shot in the big leagues — and, against all odds, carves out a successful career for himself. This is the story of Mike Pagliarulo.
Michael Timothy Pagliarulo
Born: March 15, 1960 (Medford, MA)
Yankees Tenure: 1984-89
The man they called “Pags” grew up just outside Boston as a fan of his hometown Red Sox. Snatched up by the Yankees in the sixth round of the 1981 MLB Draft out of the University of Miami, he was considered a solid defender at third who was unlikely develop into a true prospect due to a lack of ability at the plate. His early returns in the minors were encouraging, if not spectacular. Still, he rose steadily through the ranks, making it to Triple-A in 1984.
Despite slashing a meager .212/.293/.404 in 169 plate appearances through early July, the Yankees called the 24-year-old up to try to fill the hole left when they traded captain Graig Nettles to the Padres before the season. Given his pedigree, he could have been expected to serve as a brief stopgap between that five-time All-Star and the next Yankees mainstay at the hot corner. Pagliarulo fared reasonably well under the circumstances, posting a .735 OPS along with 25 extra-base hits in 219 plate appearances. With little internal competition, this performance was enough to give him the inside track on a starting job heading into the 1985 season.
It was at this key inflection point that Pagliarulo decided to roll up his sleeves. Working with hitting coach Lou Piniella, he retooled his swing and developed the power stroke that would elevate his game. “Mike has worked very hard, and I mean very, very hard,” Piniella said at the time. “The big thing has been the time and effort he has devoted to improving. When he came up last year, his swing was basically wrong. Now he’s improved tremendously.”
Initially, the lefty’s success came only against right-handers — manager Billy Martin went so far as to order him to bat from the right side of the plate against a tough lefty in 1985. But, as the years went on, he developed from a platoon player to a true starter, appearing in 149 games in 1986 and 150 in ‘87. His 60 homers across those two seasons ranked third among all third basemen in the game, behind only inner-circle Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt and two-time Twins All-Star Gary Gaetti.
Throughout this period, the player who had worked his way up the ladder rung by rung became known for his hard-nosed approach to the game. “He comes out for extra hitting and he’s done with that and he wants extra hitting on top of the extra hitting,” said coach Roy White. “He says, ‘This feels good; I want to keep working on it,’ and he goes down to the cage. After a while, I try to stop him. There’s such a thing as overdoing it.”
Pagliarulo seemed to disagree.
“Some day, when I can’t play anymore, I can say I played as hard as I could play. I have no excuses. I’ve done the best I can do. I’ve worked as hard as I could work. In the past, I wasn’t polished. I figured the more I worked, the better I’d get. I figure now the guy who works the hardest is the guy who’s going to be the best. I want to work harder than anybody and I want to be better than everybody. That’s carried me so far, and it’s going to carry me the rest of my career. I can’t see being satisfied with what you’re doing because I figure once you’re satisfied, that’s it. You’re not going to get any better than that.”
Despite his hard work, by 1988 Pagliarulo’s bat began to trail off. The following season, the Yankees once again shipped their starting third baseman out to San Diego, this time for right-handed pitchers Walt Terrell and Freddie Toliver, neither of whom panned out in pinstripes. Pagliarulo’s time out west was a failure as well. In addition to posting just a .668 OPS in parts of two seasons, he drew the ire of teammates and fans for attacking Mr. Padre himself, Tony Gwynn, as a selfish player. “Donnie (Mattingly) would’ve kicked that guy’s ass the first day,” he told the Daily News in an interview of appallingly poor judgment, which won him no friends in San Diego.
Pags had a resurgence after leaving the Padres, carving out a starting role with the Twins on their 1991 championship team. The veteran showed out in what would be the only playoff action of his career, hitting .308 in 11 games with a pair of homers, one of which was the decisive blow in Game 3 of the ALCS in Toronto, off Mike Timlin.
Pagliarulo stuck around with Minnesota for parts of two more seasons before a brief stint with the Orioles. For the 1994 season, the 34-year-old joined the NPB, helping lead the Seibu Lions to the Japan Series, where they would be defeated by a Yomiuri Giants squad featuring a 20-year-old Hideki Matsui. He returned to the States the following year, appearing in 86 games with the Rangers before hanging up his cleats for good.
Pagliarulo has coached intermittently in the years since his retirement, most notably under his old pal Mattingly as the Marlins’ hitting coach from 2016-18.
For the sixth-rounder with a suspect bat, it’s been a remarkable baseball life. Happy birthday, Pags!
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
Comparing the Cardinals: Which outfielder(s) have the most to gain or lose in 2026?
Week 1: Starting Pitching
Week 2: Catchers
Week 3: Corner Infield
Week 4: Middle Infield
We are less than two weeks until Opening Day and despite most outlets choosing the St. Louis Cardinals to finish last in the NL Central, I am still feeling giddy for the first pitch of the season, likely to be delivered by Matthew Liberatore. Even with that short time to go until games actually matter in the standings, the Cardinals are still sorting through what was the biggest roster competition of the spring: who starts in left field?
The St. Louis Cardinals need to find an answer at all three outfield spots
The Cardinals have been trying to find some stability in their outfield after running through an established set of veterans for a handful of years at a time, but have not yet found that consistent building block. This can be evidenced by the fact that the last Cardinal outfielder to win a Silver Slugger came in 2010 when Matt Holliday did it, and before then it was Ryan Ludwick in 2008 and Jim Edmonds in 2005.
Not only does that show the offense has been lacking for years, it also shows that the Cardinals’ Devil Magic in the grass might have been gone for longer than we figured. Even though the outfield has been a cycle of names, it had been productive, finishing in the top 10 by fWAR for total production from 2010-2020. Then, I moved that timeline from 2021 through last season and it was a total bummer. The Cardinals outfielders since 2021 have ranked 19th-best in all of baseball, and when moving the timeline to 2023 for their first year of their missed postseason streak, they drop all the way down to being the fifth-worst producing outfielders in the MLB.
By games played, the players with the most appearances in the outfield during that time are all a part of the current roster. Lars Nootbaar’s 381 games played in those three seasons leads the group, with Jordan Walker (260), Alec Burleson (203), and Victor Scott II (184) grabbing the most playing time before getting to the departed Brendan Donovan. Now, Burly will be playing the vast majority of his games at first base, leaving Noot, Vic, and Walker to roam the grass. Let’s look at what that means for the 2026 Cardinals and last week, we had Redbird Farmhands on to discuss what he has seen or not seen from the outfield group.
Lars Nootbaar
I am going to call Noot the elephant in the room, but honestly, each of these three guys have some issues that need fixing that could all be considered the obvious items needing attention. Since 2023, when he has been healthy Nootbaar has been a productive player. Over that three year span, the outfielder has accumulated 5.6 fWAR, which ranks 31st in baseball during that time. When looking at the 30 players above him, Noot’s 37 homers in three seasons only slots above Steven Kwan, Christian Yelich, and Sal Frelick. Kwan is four fWAR better than Noot, Yelich has an MVP and a track record of success before being slowed by injury, and Frelick has 43 steals and above-average defense to help make up for the lack of power.
As we wait yet again for Nootbaar to prove that his Statcast measurements are more than just intriguing potential, someone else is going to have to step up and fill his spot while he is on the injured list for an undetermined amount of time. This is the real competition in camp.
We heard throughout the offseason that the Cardinals were interested in adding a righty power bat, but the only move close to that was a non-roster invite to former prospect Nelson Velazquez. After an impressive opposite field homer and another flyout to right that just missed going over, Velazquez is the newest talk of camp and fans believe he is an easy choice for the Opening Day roster. While I am impressed by what he has shown and the potential he had as a prospect, my only hangup is the 40-man roster spot. Not that I think anyone in spots 38-40 is untouchable, but those might be the guys that Chaim Bloom and Co. want to see what they have before a DFA or trade from the 40-man roster for an unknown in Velazquez.
Of course, there’s a reason some of those guys are even in that 40-man limbo and at the end of Spring Training, most teams are looking to subtract from their roster rather than add. In that case, the Cardinals may be able to sneak out-of-options guys through the waiver process and hold onto Velazquez for as long as he stays hot. More on the rest of the outfield later, but I had to give Velazquez a blurb of his own.
Victor Scott II
Before diving further into the question mark that is left field, the clearest outfield lock for Opening Day stands in center field in the form of Victor Scott II. Those with me for awhile know that I am not super high on VSII’s offensive potential, but I understand how small the sample size has been while remembering that Scott skipped Triple-A before making his MLB debut, a promotion usually saved for polished prospects with guaranteed playign time.
Before I harp too much on his offense, it is clear that VSII’s value rests in his legs and his glove. He made good on those tools last year, ranking among the league leaders in sprint speed and fielding value while stealing 34 bases and being named a Gold Glove finalist in centerfield. He set his personal goal for the season to be 70 stolen bases, and for a Cardinals team that stole 89 total last season while losing much of their power, this team is going to have to run.
For Scott’s part, though, he needs to find ways to get on base. Of the 17 center fielders in baseball who received at least 400 plate appearances, the St. Louis center fielder ranked 13th in fWAR and his .587 OPS was dead last by over 60 percentage points. That 72 wRC+ was only better than Brenton Doyle from Colorado and now leaves Scott with something to prove this year, despite only entering his age-25 season. So far this spring, the results have been mixed for the outfielder who spent time this offseason getting his swing studied and reworked.
In 23 at-bats, VSII has trimmed his strikeout rate while drawing more walks, but the end line results still leave something to be desired. Of course, Scott is going through massive swing changes, so the early .174 batting average and four total hits can easily be attributed to that. One thing that I am not as understanding of, though, is the fact that Scott leads the Cactus League in sacrifice bunts… in Spring Training. Scott is also working on bunting more, which is likely what he is going to have to do to get on base more often than when he swings away, but if the swing really underwent some reconstruction, I would rather have him working on that during games instead of bunts. Without being able to actually watch all of his bunt attempts on TV, his sacrifices may have been attempted drag bunts, but again, I feel there may be a better time to work on that in live game situations like in live bullpens or the backfields.
ZiPS projects an overall improvement on Scott’s final hitting line in 2026, but it is still a far cry from the .303 batting average and .794 OPS he put up in the minors in 2023 when he also stole 94 bases. The model estimates a 79 wRC+, .621 OPS, and 36 stolen bases for the speedy outfielder this season. A noticeable improvement, but nothing that would make me willing to go to the extension table or call him an untouchable piece, especially in a lineup that lacks pop. For what it is worth, manager Oli Marmol has shouted out VSII’s offensive approach and his progress with the bat, so when the lights turn on, we’ll see how that translates.
Jordan Walker
I will leave this one relatively short. While I said Scott needs to prove something, the same can be said for Walker but with exponentially greater future impact. The former top prospect is currently stuck in a failure to launch phase after experiencing success in the minor leagues. I used fWAR and OPS to compare VSII to his peers, and I unfortunately did the same for Walker. To spare you the eyesore of seeing it on FanGraphs, he ranked 17th out of 17 qualified right fielders in both measures.
We have heard it all before, launch angle, sliders, defense… There is really no arguing that Walker has not managed to take the step we all hoped as he expected him to fortify right field for the next decade. Now, he is fighting for his position on the major league roster and, at just 23-years-old, he only has one minor league option season remaining. Not so much here, because the baseball IQ is much greater than elsewhere, but the amount of people I see saying that Walker needs to be in Memphis seems a little wonky. If there was a second option remaining, AND someone waiting in the ranks (no, Josh Baez is not ready), then I would be more open to that idea.
For this year, Walker, for lack of better terms, deserves to be on the major league roster, but his leash is likely shorter than any other player who is expected to have a starting job. He is yet to hit 1,000 major league at-bats, number Nolan Gorman has far surpassed yet I believe the third baseman gets more leeway than Walker. ZiPS projects another negative fWAR season, but it again expects an improvement from what he did in 2025. Walker is projected to hit .232 with 14 homers and 58 RBI, good for an 88 wRC+. As mediocre as those numbers sound, all of those would be his highest output since his rookie season, with 58 runs driven in representing a career-high. If that season were to happen, Walker could possibly play his way into another “final chance” season in 2027. That would probably get an eye roll or seven from Cardinal Nation, but there is always the question of hold on too long or let go too soon?
The Starting Left Fielder
Who takes over for Noot? I teased the idea of Velazquez already, but even with 12 days until Opening Day, it might be too early to hand him a roster spot. Since a 40-man move would be required, be it DFA or 60-day IL usage, the Cardinals likely want to be sure Velazquez’s performance is validated, not just from his numbers, but also from the eye test and advanced metrics. Marmol continues to give the outfielder every opportunity to win the job, as he sits near the top of the team this spring with 10 games played, and his three homers lead the squad. The ball might be in Velazquez’ court for the starting job while Noot is out.
While his inclusion on the roster would necessitate some finagling elsewhere, FanGraphs currently has lefty Nathan Church penciled in as the starting option in left field. The 25-year-old lefty is already on the big league roster and received a teeny cup of espresso last season with the Cardinals. Church has performed well in Spring Training so far, hitting a double and homer in his 20 at-bats while also taking four walks. The lefty hit .329 last season in 86 games between AA and AAA, and set a career high with 13 homers and added 16 stolen bases. Church is a solid fielder with a great arm who could become a Nootbaar replacement straight up. Around the clubhouse, Church has been praised for his work ethic and his Brendan Donovan-esque demeanor. If Velazquez falters for the last week, Church could be ticketed to the Opening Day lineup when the team heads north.
Behind those two sit Thomas Saggese and Jose Fermin, both of whom looked to have a shot at winning an Opening Day job, with one in a utility role and the other expanding their bag of tricks to an outfield spot. Now, though, it may be one of those guys settling in on the bench and the other in Memphis after the Cardinals brought in Ramon Urias, along with the potential of adding Church and Velazquez to the squad. I was personally hoping Saggese would get a shot at consistent playing time, even if that did not mean a starting spot. With the Cardinals lineup lacking pop, Saggese at least showed some ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark with his minor league track record. Fermin is a faster, more athletic defender who probably fits a utility role better, but he has been limited with the bat in his 10 professional seasons. The inclusion of Urias makes one of these two expendable, since they are both young players that the organization has kept around. Fermin might have a slight advantage because he is out of options, but if Velazquez were to stay hot, the Cardinals may opt to risk Fermin hitting the waiver wire to open up a spot for the righty power bat.
Regardless of the direction they go, the Cardinals’ outfield may go a long way in telling us how long this rebuild might last. If none of the three above can maintain consistent production, the team will have to rely on Josh Baez to add a spark to the current team while Chaim Bloom may have to adjust any drafting plans and change his focus to the grass.
SELF PROMO OF THE WEEK
- 10 days until Opening Day, which means your time to enter Redbird Rundown’s May 4 Coca Cola ticket giveaway is nearing the end! Go to Patreon.com/RedbirdRundown, sign up for just $1, and you’re entered!
- While Redbird Rundown covered the position battles with Farmhands, I sat down with Nate Schwartz of Pitcher List and Thomas Gauvain from Redbird Rants to talk about the rotation. Matthew Liberatore and Richard Fitts have been impressive, but what is their future?
- Random Cardinal of the Week stayed super random this week as Jim featured Jason Simontacchi! He was one of the first players I remember responding to me as a kid in the bleachers of Busch Stadium during BP and how can you look past the high socks?!
- Tonight at 6pm, our fearless VEB Podcast host Jake Wood joined the Redbird Rundown as we took a bunch of over/unders that were set for the Cardinals roster and we broke down our thoughts on each one. I had an inch of standing water in my basement and now have 15 industrial fans down there, so I recorded outside in 25º weather for you all! Make sure you hit the comments and let us know where you agree or disagree! Please follow on Spotify and YouTube to help us continue to grow!
Thanks as always!