Worldwide Sports News

Phillies News:

• The Dominican Republic Team will be without Johan Rojas for the WBC, undetermined what it means for his Phillies season yet
• Media is a-buzz with Andrew Painter Mania after two scoreless innings on Sunday
• We hear from Painter himself on his command and focus for this season ($$)
• ICYMI: Ethan took his second look at what the Phillies Opening Day roster might look like
• Speaking of starting pitchers, the calls intensify to lock up Jesus Luzardo before the season begins
• MLB.com’s preseason Top 30 Phillies prospects for 2026

MLB News:

• WBC power rankings from MLB.com. Japan seems to be gaining momentum.
• MLB news breaker, Jeff Passan, won’t be going anywhere
• Yes, state taxes have a big factor still on free agency and contracts. Ask Merrill Kelly.
• If you enjoy videogame baseball, MLB The Show is adding a ton of new legends in this year’s version
• MLB.com’s preseason Top 30 prospects for NL East and AL East

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

The Orioles, after their first day off, are back in action this afternoon for an exhibition game against Team Netherlands, tuning up for the World Baseball Classic. The Netherlands roster includes notable current and former big leaguers Xander Bogaerts, Ozzie Albies, Jurickson Profar, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Didi Gregorius, along with former O’s catcher Chadwick Tromp and former Orioles minor leaguer (and brother of Jonathan) Sharlon Schoop. Sadly, this game, which sounds like the most interesting of the Orioles’ entire spring, won’t be televised anywhere.

In other news, MLB.com became the latest major prospect publication to unveil its ranking of the top 30 Orioles prospects. Like all the other lists published so far, Samuel Basallo is at the top, and like almost all of the others, Dylan Beavers and Nate George are right behind him. Among other prospects, Enrique Bradfield Jr. has slipped in the Orioles’ ranking, dropping from fourth place on MLB’s list last season to 10th this year, but his speed remains tantalizing enough to earn the maximum 80 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale. This just in: he’s fast.

What strikes me about this top-30 list is just how much pitching is on it. While there are only three pitchers ranked in the top 10 (Luis De León at #4, Trey Gibson #5, and Esteban Mejia #8), it’s extremely pitcher heavy after that, with hurlers ranking at every spot from #11 to #17. That’s an interesting change from the recent past. In previous seasons, even when the Orioles regularly had one of the best farm systems in baseball, position players far outweighed pitchers in their rankings. In MLB’s list two years ago, the O’s didn’t have any pitchers ranked among their top eight. In both 2023 and 2024, they had only three pitchers among their top 15 prospects.

It’s no secret that the Orioles haven’t been great at developing pitching in the Mike Elias era, but things could be starting to change. Last year’s trade-deadline selloff infused the organization with young pitching talent, including Boston Bateman (#11), Juaron Watts-Brown (#16), and Tyson Neighbors (#17). A pair of 2025-drafted pitchers also show up on this list in Joseph Dzierwa (#14) and JT Quinn (#21).

The Orioles, of course, still have to nurture and develop these young arms into capable big league-ready pitchers, which is no easy feat. Just witness the rocky arrivals of their previous two top pitching prospects, Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott. Not all of these pitching prospects are going to amount to something. But the Orioles have got more pitching depth than they’ve had in years, so the odds are that some of these guys will break through even if others falter.

Dare we say it? The Orioles might finally be ready to grow the arms.

Links

Orioles reliever Rico Garcia’s Puerto Rican pride leads him to World Baseball Classic – The Baltimore Banner

I’ll be rooting for Rico in the WBC. And I’ll be rooting especially for him not to get hurt.

Why wouldn’t Orioles be interested in Danny Coulombe? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com

The fact that Danny Coulombe is still unsigned less than a month before Opening Day is a surprise to me. I’m not the only one, apparently.

It’s been a mixed bag in spring so far for Coby Mayo, but lately trending up – Steve Melewski

I’m still of the opinion that the Coby Mayo at third base experiment will be a disaster, but there’s no turning back now. I don’t think another third baseman is going to materialize out of thin air, so good luck to Coby.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Six former Orioles were born on this day, and if you’ve heard of more than two of them, you’re a true Orioles sicko. They include 2019 one-gamer José Rondón (32), 2020 three-gamer Dilson Herrera (also 32), 1998 nine-gamer Bobby Muñoz (58), and the late righty Francisco de la Rosa (b. 1966, d. 2011), who pitched two games in 1991. Two birthday boys with more extensive Orioles experience are former closer Jorge Julio (47) and the late righty Jesse Jefferson (b. 1949, d. 2011).

March 3 has historically been a slow day for Orioles news. The only transaction the O’s have ever made on this date was in 2018, when they signed infielder Danny Valencia to a minor league deal. The veteran had played for the Orioles five years earlier and posted an .888 OPS in part-time duty, but his return engagement to Baltimore didn’t turn out as well. Valencia OPSed .723 in 78 games for the historically terrible 2018 Orioles before they released him in mid-August.

If you’re ready to analyze performance and results, so am I. The first 10 games of Spring Training are a really bad barometer for that, and moreso an exercise in futility. So, until we can really dig into the fun stuff, I figured it would be a good time to share some thoughts on how I see the NL Central shaking out over the regular season. With Manager Oliver Marmol signed to a brand new 2-year contract extension, it would be a good time to point out that the Cardinals have won 11 more games than their expected Win-Loss total over the last 2 seasons. I expect that this trend will continue in the 2026 season. Will it be enough to keep them respectable, relevant, and interesting? We’ll see!

5th – St. Louis Cardinals

Let me be clear, I don’t think this is a 100-loss team, but they might lose 90. If they wound up 72-90, would anyone really be shocked at that outcome? Neither would I; that’s not to say this season can’t still be filled with a lot of interesting storylines and more interesting development from young players to provide a clearer picture for 2027 and beyond. If this were not to be the case, as I outlined in my article last week, several big question marks would have to be answered in the affirmative for them to really propel themselves beyond the cellar of the 2026 NL Central.

I’m intrigued by the rotation and the number of MLB-ready arms there are that can step in and throw meaningful innings for this team. I’m eager to see what type of steps forward Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson, Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, and Victor Scott take. I think JJ Wetherholt is going to solidify the 2nd base position and will hold it down in St. Louis for the next decade plus. I think that any of O’Brien, Romero, or Svanson can lock down games for the Cardinals at the back end of games based on matchups. There is a 90th percentile outcome where they contend for a Wild Card spot, seeing as how it’s never been easier for a team to make the postseason thanks to the expanded format.

The reduction of proven production from this roster in Brendan Donovan, Willson Contreras, Sony Gray, Nolan Arenado, and others lowers the floor of this team to a place where Cardinals fans 30 years old and younger just simply aren’t accustomed to and that leaves open the greater possibility that the floor could fall out from under them and go sideways while not knowing how to get it back on the rails.

4th – Cincinnati Reds

Manager Terry Francona’s squad did just enough to sneak past the drowning New York Mets last season to get into the playoffs and earn the honor of preparing the Dodgers for the actual contenders in the National League. Led by one of the most exciting players in baseball, Elly De La Cruz, the Reds front office did very little in the way of adding to their team in a way that moves the needle. A full season of top prospects, Sal Stewart and Chase Burns, will likely raise their floor a bit, and the additions of Eugenio Suarez, JJ Bleday, and Dane Meyers to the offense are all that Nick Krall and Co. really accomplished. They also brought back closer Emilio Pagan and added relievers Pierce Johnson and Caleb Ferguson to a somewhat underrated group, including Tony Santillian and Graham Ashcraft. Unclear if they will all be able to repeat the strides they made last season.

Between Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer, and Chase Burns thats one of the better starting rotations in the NL. Health is the biggest question mark I have with that group, and I will bet against them all making it through 2026 unscathed. They have a little depth behind those 5 in Chase Petty and Rhett Lowder. Ultimately, I just think the Reds don’t have enough offensively and in the bullpen to get them to the playoffs in what I think will be a very competitive NL Central.

3rd – Milwaukee Brewers

Speaking of teams that were run over by the World Champion Dodgers, the Milwaukee Brewers land in 3rd place for me. Back-to-back NL Manager of the Year Pat Murphy leads a scrappy Brewers team that plays the game the right way and always seems to outperform expectations. Which would seemingly make this spot in the division an absurd prediction and one bound to be proven wrong.

However, the loss of Freddy Peralta is one that will not only impact their performance on the field but also the culture they had cultivated in Milwaukee. Brandon Woodruff is back after accepting the QO, and rookie All-Star flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski had some up and down moments in the 2nd half of the season as MLB teams were able to adjust after seeing a little bit more of him. Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson, and Brandon Sproat round out the back half of the rotation and should provide some level of consistency in the rotation.

Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe at the back end of games bring big-time gas on the mound, and the rest of the ragtag group of no-name relievers that Milwaukee always features will somehow find a way to be better than expected. If that duo can remain healthy at the back end of games, I expect Milwaukee will have one of the better bullpens statistically speaking.

An offense led by All-Star Christian Yelich, up-and-coming outfielder Jackson Chourio, Catcher William Contreras, platinum glove-winning 2nd baseman Brice Turang, and breakout primed first basemen Andrew Vaughn, Milwaukee will be a multi-faceted attack offensively capable of scoring runs and winning in a variety of ways. Even after the departures of Caleb Durbin and Issac Collins, the offense still figures to be one that will give the opposition fits all summer long.

2nd – Pittsburgh Pirates

No longer interm Manager Don Kelly leads a group that had one of the most productive and interesting offseasons in recent memory. With the additions of All-Star 2B Brandon Lowe, All-Star 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn, and former All-Star DH Marcell Ozuna, OF Jhostnyxon Garcia, and OF Jake Mangum, the Pirates were able to address their biggest deficiency, and that was scoring runs. You include the possibility of Phenom top prospect Konnor Griffin in that group, and you don’t have to squint to see their offense being substantially improved.

Adding to the group of Bryan Reynolds, Oneill Cruz, and Spencer Horwitz from 2025, the Pirates will also feature a bench with defensive capabilities to help the pitching staff lock down games late between Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo, and the aforementioned Jake Mangum and Jhostnyxon Garcia.

A pitching staff anchored by generational talent and reigning Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes, the rest of the league will also have to contend with Mitch Keller, Bubba Chandler, the return of Jared Jones, and Braxton Ashcraft. Top prospects Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington will be waiting in the wings if and when anyone from the rotation blows a tire and needs a spell on the IL.

The bullpen will be a formidable group led by breakout reliever Dennis Santana and veteran lefty flame thrower Gregory Soto. The Pirates also acquired lefty fireballer Mason Montgomery (whom I wrote the Cardinals should have acquired at the beginning of the offseason). I think this bullpen is one of the more underrated heading into the 2026 season, and I won’t be surprised if they wind up being a big part of why they have success in 2026.

1st – Chicago Cubs

I hate it. It’s gross. I want to pour gasoline on myself and light a match. The Chicago Cubs made a very smart decision by bringing in Alex Bregman. He has the experience, the leadership, the slow heartbeat in big moments, the proven track record; he’s everything Chicago needed last postseason. Craig Counsell enters his 3rd season at the helm of the Chicago Cubs, and nationally they’re considered the near consensus favorite to win the division.

Will MLB teams continue to exploit PCA’s offensive shortcomings? Can Carson Kelly repeat his breakout season? Those will be interesting questions to follow. The Cubs are exceptional on both sides of the ball with the best up the middle defense in baseball between Swanson, Hoerner, and the aforementioned PCA. They’ve got strong corner presences in Alex Bregman, Michael Busch, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki. They added Michael Conforto on a minor league deal this spring, and he is someone who had the largest disparity between wOBA and xwOBA last season. Moises Ballesteros is a gifted young offensive catcher who profiles more as a DH long-term, who should add to the gross amount of offensive depth they boast.

The rotation I’m a little more skeptical of. Their position group should be propped up by a really strong defense behind it. All-Star Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, newly acquired Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon, and Rookie sensation Cade Horton are a capable group who will be helped by the midseason return of Justin Steele. The rotation depth behind those 6 includes Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, Jaxon Wiggins, Javier Assad, and Colin Rea.

The Bullpen includes Phil Maton coming off a stellar 2025, underrated reliever Hunter Harvey, lefty Caleb Thielbar, submarine lefty Hoby Milner, and fire baller Daniel Palencia shutting the door at the end of games. A stacked group of relievers that all offer unique looks and pitch shapes that should surely give opposing teams fits to get into any type of rhythm late in games.

The rotation is my biggest question mark, but they have so much depth behind them, and the presence of the defense should prop up most lackluster performances that that group may have. It’s hard to find any true deficiencies on paper. The Cubs should stack up against any NL contender once postseason play rolls around, and it will be miserable and envious to watch it from afar all season long.

Our focus this season will understandably be to overanalyze every Cardinals decision, but I wanted to zoom the lens out to the NL Central and how I am forecasting the 2026 season. I think the 2026 will be highly contested, and I think that it will offer more twists and turns than most fans are expecting. I’m extremely anxious to see it play out, even if that means the Cardinals wind up being fodder in a majority of the contests. Still, we’re a little over 3 weeks away from getting this started again, and I’m ready to watch it all unfold with you all for another season! Let me know what you’re thinking and what order you see the division finishing in. Might be fun to look back on at season’s end to see how close (or not) some of us were.

-thanks for reading

On Tuesday, Jacob Misiorowski is set to make his spring debut. With the departure of Freddy Peralta, he is arguably the highlight of the Brewers’ rotation now. Brandon Woodruff is still the longest-tenured Brewer, but Misiorowski is being pushed as one of the new faces of the franchise. As he enters his second season, here are a few questions for him in the upcoming year.

Can he build off his strong first season?

Misiorowski had one of the most hyped debuts that a Brewers pitcher has had in recent years. His career began with 11 no-hit innings, and he carried a perfect game into the seventh inning of his season start. That helped earn him an All-Star selection after just five major league starts. While Misiorowski came back down to earth as the season went on (which may have been affected by a left tibia contusion that put him on the IL), his season ended strong, with a postseason run that put him right back in the spotlight.

That means the bar is set very high for him as season two begins. It also makes it harder to set reasonable goals for him. Early projections are overall positive. ZiPS has him projected for 26 appearances covering 116 2/3 innings, with a 3.86 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 10.93 K/9, and 3.93 BB/9. The number of innings would be a step back for him, and the strikeouts would dip slightly, but he would also see some improvement in the walk rate. This would align with his minor league development, where he has seen small drops in his strikeout rate accompanied by a reduced walk rate.

This is also where we would have to temper our expectations as fans. It may not be reasonable to expect another All-Star year for Misiorowski. He might not even end up as the best pitcher in the Brewers’ rotation. Would a season with small improvements to his stats be considered a success? It might be, since it would at least show continued growth from year to year. It just wouldn’t be as flashy as his debut in the league was last year. At the same time, it would be exciting to see him remain just as electric and establish himself as a premier pitcher in the league.

How will his jump in innings be handled?

Teams won’t set specific innings limits for pitchers, but this is an important question for Misiorowski as he continues to develop in the majors. He already saw a significant increase in his innings between 2024 and 2025. After pitching 97 1/3 innings in 2024, that workload increased to 141 1/3 innings between the regular season and postseason. That is a 45% increase. Most teams use 20% to 25% as a general rule of thumb for inning increases, but that is not a hard rule. It comes down to the individual pitcher and how they respond to the workload.

Misiorowski struggled after a short IL stint at the start of August, posting a 6.41 ERA and 4.00 FIP in his first six starts after his return. However, he rebounded in his final two starts and was included on the postseason roster. That’s where he really shone, allowing just two earned runs in three postseason starts, covering 12 innings.

It’s highly unlikely that the Brewers will increase his innings by 45% again in 2026. That would make him a 200-inning pitcher in his second season. In fact, most of the early projections only bump his innings up by a small amount. I mentioned ZiPS above, which has him pitching 116 2/3 innings in 2026. That would be a drop from the 129 1/3 innings he pitched between the majors and minors in 2025. Most of the other projections on FanGraphs put him between 134 and 139 innings, making 30 to 32 appearances.

It’s also interesting that many of these projections only have Misiorowski making 24-25 starts. A little of that could be from the Brewers using openers, which they likely will continue to do. It also could be a projection that Misiorowski spends part of the season in the bullpen, potentially as innings management. However, there’s nothing that says he can’t get a full season of starts. Quinn Priester, with 29 appearances last season (realistically, all starts despite using openers), pitched 157 1/3 innings. That’s likely near the top of what we would see Misiorowski pitch this season. Even if he pitched that much, it would still leave some space for postseason appearances, and some start manipulation during the season could give him a start off here and there.

The main question for Misiorowski is if that increased workload will affect him at all. While he has had an offseason to rest, it was still a major increase in innings. Is he fully rested and recovered from last season? Can he pitch a similar number of innings for another year?

How have other Brewers fared in their second seasons?

This question is not an easy one to answer, as other Brewers have taken different paths to establish themselves. Though the development staff has changed from year to year, the Brewers have put together a strong track record over the last several years, so it can still provide a reference point. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest names for the Brewers in the last several years:

• Brandon Woodruff: He got his first taste in the majors in August 2017. He made an impressive debut against the Rays on August 4, then made seven more starts to finish out the season. In 2018, he served in a bullpen role for most of the season, but also made a few starts as he bounced between the majors and Triple-A Colorado Springs. His regular season was strong enough for him to earn a postseason roster spot, where he made four appearances, two* of those starts (counting the decoy NLCS Game 5).
  • 2017: 43 IP, 8 games (all starts), 4.81 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 6.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9
  • 2018: 42 1/3 IP, 19 games (4 starts), 3.61 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 10.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9
• Freddy Peralta: He made his debut in 2018, helping fill the Brewers’ rotation as he bounced between the major and minor leagues. In the majors, he started 14 games before finishing the season in the bullpen. He also made a postseason appearance, pitching three scoreless innings. He spent most of 2019 in the bullpen after some early struggles in the rotation. While his ERA and FIP increased, his strikeout and walk rates both saw improvements.
  • 2018: 78.1 IP, 16 games (14 starts), 4.25 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 11.0 K/9, 4.6 BB/9
  • 2019: 85 IP, 39 games (8 starts), 5.29 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 12.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9
• Corbin Burnes: While the above two pitchers saw growth between seasons one and two, Burnes was the opposite. His career began out of the bullpen, and he started strong. After a 2.61 ERA out of the bullpen, he earned a spot on the postseason roster as well, where he allowed just two runs in six postseason appearances over nine innings. However, season two was a disaster. He started the season in the rotation but was quickly removed after recording a 10.70 ERA in four starts. A return to the bullpen helped, but not enough, and he went back to the minors at the end of July. Thankfully, the Brewers did not give up on him, and he began to show more improvement in his third season.
  • 2018: 38 IP, 30 games (no starts), 2.61 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 8.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9
  • 2019: 49 IP, 32 games (4 starts), 8.82 ERA, 6.09 FIP, 12.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9
• Aaron Ashby: Ashby made his debut in June 2021, making a spot start before returning in August. He initially pitched as a starter, but shifted to the bullpen to finish out the season. He made the opening day roster in 2022 and initially shifted between the bullpen and rotation. He eventually settled into the rotation and finished out the year there. Though the results didn’t look the best, the Brewers had enough confidence in him that they signed him to a five-year, $20.5-million extension after his second season. Unfortunately, he lost all of 2023 and some of 2024 due to a shoulder injury.
  • 2021: 31 2/3 IP, 13 games (4 starts), 4.55 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 11.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9
  • 2022: 107 1/3 IP, 27 games (19 starts), 4.44 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 10.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9

How will Misiorowski perform in year two? Looking at the Brewers’ track record, he’s likely due for some more growth. Tuesday will be the start of his second season. Let’s see another good story for the Brewers.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a surprising 9-2 in this year’s Spring Training Grapefruit League following yesterday’s 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. They are currently on a five-game win streak and have the best record in all of Spring Training. And while it’s ceratinly way early, and the real games haven’t even started yet, the Bucs looks like they’ve made a dent in one of their longstanding problems — scoring runs.

The Pirates have 65 runs scored over their 11 games, or almost 6 per contest, which is good enough for third-best in the Grapefruit League. Their +31 run differential is good enough for the second best in the Grapefruit and in all of Spring Training.

The lack of power in last season’s Bucs lineup was stark, but at the moment in Spring Training, they have 13 team dingers, which is tied for ninth across the Majors, including 3 homers from top prospect Konnor Griffin, 2 from Yordany De Los Santos, and single dingers from Oneil Cruz, Ryan O’Hearn, Endy Rodriguez, and Jhostynxon Garcia, as well as a few from a couple guys unlikely to be playing in the Majors this year.

In addition, the Bucs are hitting .274 across all Spring Training games, a number I’m pretty sure we’re all happy with after a 2025 in which they hit a dreadful .231, which was third-worst in the Majors. Nick Gonzales, along with Cruz and Garcia, are all hitting .538 across 5 and 6 games respectively this Spring to help lead the Bucs in the average department.

When you combine some above-average hitting with one of the league’s best pitching staffs, this is the result. The Bucs are second in all of Spring Training in ERA, third in team WHIP, fifth in strikeouts and second in opposing team batting average. I don’t think any of us are surprised there. But we’ve all been wondering how good the Bucs could be with even some decent hitting, and we’re getting a glimpse of that this Spring.

Yes, it’s super early, and the real games haven’t even started yet, but if the Buccos can translate their Spring Training hitting into similar success in the regular season, they have every chance to be back in the MLB headlines for all of the right reasons.