Today the Texas Rangers travel over to Peoria, AZ where they will take on the reigning AL West champion Seattle Mariners who are fresh off being just a handful of outs away from the World Series before heartbreak last October.
Texas will send LHP Jacob Latz to the mound opposite RHP Logan Gilbert for Seattle.
The Mariners have video, otherwise you can listen via 105.3 The Fan or follow along on Gameday. First pitch from Peoria Stadium is scheduled for 2:10 pm CT.
Go Rangers!
Back to Salt River Fields for the D-backs, who are now without most of their expected starting infield. Carlos Santana, Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo are now off to join their country for the World Baseball Classic, so won’t be back for a while. It’ll therefore be up to Nolan Arenado to marshal the infield in their absence, and that’s what we see in the line-up today. Luken Baker, Tommy Troy and Jose Fernandez take over for the trio named above, with Arenado and Alek Thomas perhaps the only players who’ll be in our Opening Day line-up. Which is now this month, folks. Welcome to March!
Michael Soroka, who now looks to be back in the rotation to start the year, following Merrill Kelly’s issues, gets his second start of spring. So I’d expect him to try and get through three innings this afternoon. He allowed a run on two hits and a walk over two innings his first time out, with three strikeouts. We should get to see some familiar names out of the bullpen after Soroka, with the following potentially on the list: LHP Kohl Drake, RHP Kevin Ginkel, RHP Ryan Thompson, RHP Drey Jameson, RHP Shawn Dubin, RHP Alfred Morillo and LHP Spencer Giesting.
Again, no TV for this one, but as was the case yesterday, you can tune in on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM or online, with Chris Garagiola & Brandon Webb bringing you the game.
Finally, the first big bunch of roster moves for Arizona this morning.
Mookie Betts is in the lineup for his first Cactus League game in 2026, one of a handful of Dodgers regulars being slow-played this spring. Freddie Freeman is also in the lineup, in his planned cleanup spot.
Sign up for a user account and get:
The Athletics have had a rough start to spring training, going 1-6 in their first seven preseason games. However, a new month means a fresh start and a sign that the start of the regular season is inching closer. With the calendar shifting to March, it is time for the A’s to start playing better in preparation for Opening Day at the end of this month against the defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays.
Right-hander J.T. Ginn will be making the start for the A’s this afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds. Ginn pitched well against the San Francisco Giants a few days ago in his spring debut, racking up three strikeouts over two perfect innings. The focus will be on Ginn today to see if he can follow up that performance with another strong outing, one that will likely last longer as the A’s evaluate whether the best place for him is in the starting rotation or the bullpen. Ginn should be on the A’s roster to begin the season in some capacity as he is proficient at inducing groundouts, something A’s pitchers need to induce more often in year two of the team’s temporary residence at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park.
The A’s lineup this afternoon shakes out like this:
For the second day in a row, Nick Kurtz is batting behind Jacob Wilson atop the lineup, an alignment that should carry over into the regular season. If Kurtz homers with Wilson—or another leadoff hitter—on base, that’s two runs on the scoreboard. In general, it’s a sound strategy to place a power threat behind a high-contact hitter who consistently gets on base.
Both of the team’s catchers are in this afternoon’s lineup as is third baseman Max Muncy, who is off to a hot start this spring with four hits in ten at bats. Muncy can put some ground between him and the other third base competitors with another strong performance today. Lastly, today’s outfield starters are all prospects. Henry Bolte and Junior Perez are getting extended looks early this spring, yet both have struggled so far.
The Reds have Andrew Abbot, one of the best left-handed pitchers in the National League, lined up for his second spring start this afternoon. Here is how Cincinnati lines up behind him:
The Reds have several regulars in their starting lineup, so it should be another good test for Ginn and the pitchers lined up to follow him out of the A’s bullpen. JJ Bleday has gotten off to a strong start this spring, but can he keep it going against his former team?
What better way to start a new month than with an A’s win. Let’s go A’s!
Do you think players trying to make the team or holdovers trying to keep their jobs care as much that the opponent is the Cubs as fans do? They probably have other things on their minds, but thumping That Other Team in Town back in the first Cactus League game was sure fun for us.
The parade of pitchers for the Sox today will begin with lefty Anthony Kay, a presumed member of the starting rotation once games count. Kay gave up a run against the Mariners in his first spring start, with two walks in two innings causing the damage.
The Cubs counter with rotation member Shota Imanaga, who had two scoreless innings but gave up three hits in his first outing. Imanaga will face a lineup recovered from the split squad games Friday:
The Cubs lineup against Kay et al. also includes a number of presumed regular season starters, but not all:
First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. Central, with temps expected to again get warmer than 90°. The Cubs Marquee network is covering the game, but the network of the team whose chairman hates fans almost as much as he hates players only has the game on radio. So if you don’t get Marquee, pull the rocker up to the Truetone, pretend it’s 1935, and dial up ESPN 1000.
It wasn't a simple road for Jack Leiter to get through his first MLB season. The son of 19-year MLB veteran Al Leiter, Jack was a dominant starter at Vanderbilt and was drafted second overall in the 2021 MLB Draft. It seemed like the younger Leiter was uniquely positioned to handle the mental and physical grind of professional baseball, but not many people expected that theory to be tested so quickly.
In his first professional season, Leiter posted a 5.54 ERA in 92.2 innings at Double-A. He missed plenty of bats, but he also gave up tons of hard contact. He came back in 2023 and spent the vast majority of the season at Double-A again, posting a 5.07 ERA but improving his strikeout rate from 25.6% to 31.3%. In 2024, the Rangers pushed him to Triple-A, and he responded with a 3.51 ERA and 33.3% strikeout rate in 77 innings before getting his first crack at big league innings. That debut did not go swimmingly, with Leiter posting an 8.83 ERA in 35.2 innings and seeing his strikeout rate drop to 17.9%.
Still, Leiter entered the 2025 season undeterred. He added a sinker to his arsenal and modified his changeup to try to help him against left-handed hitters. He garnered some buzz in spring training and then came out of the gates hot, pitching to a 3.48 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in his first 10 starts. The strikeouts still weren't near the level he had shown in the minors, but the progress was clear. After a tough six-start stretch in June and early June, Leiter rebounded over his final 13 starts, posting a 3.28 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and nearly 27% strikeout rate.
It seemed that the 25-year-old had finally begun to figure it out, thanks to the evolution of his mental approach to the game.
"I think a lot of it's just how I've developed mentally, in my mindset and my mental preparation and my process," Leiter said after a spring training start this year. "I think the more process-oriented you get in this game, the better, especially this time of year, because you can drive yourself crazy with results... I think the more game reps you can get, which last year I was fortunate enough to have 29 starts in the big leagues, I think that just helps you evolve mentally in itself, but also with your routines, your preparation, your analysis of games."
So, how has Leiter's mental approach changed since his big league debut in 2024?
"It just becomes different, more refined. A game like today [allowing two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings], maybe three years ago, it would have just been kind of pure frustration off of results. But now it's about diving into each pitch and how I was executing. I like to break it down by each pitch type. Say my execution was down to, let's call it 60% from 68% last week, but maybe the cutter was kind of swaying that because it was only 3-for-9. Now it's like, okay, we have a direct point of emphasis for increasing my overall execution, because at the end of the day, execution is the name of the game, and the higher percentage that I can execute pitches, the more I'd be willing to bet on good results."
That shift in focus away from results has been crucial for Leiter, especially at this time of year.
"It's all about process. Understanding what time of year it is, and understanding what I'm trying to work on...Even the pitches where I wasn't so happy about the results, I think the shapes, the stuff, and the way that I was throwing it is definitely encouraging...At the end of the day, some pitches that get hit could have been a groundout to short. Obviously, they could always be better, but, again, you could drive yourself crazy, so I think the way to go is always a kind of positive mindset, continue to build off the positives, and learn from the negatives."
What does that look like for Leiter, specifically? Well, a big focus has been on attacking with the four-seam fastball. In his last spring training start, Leiter was encouraged that the pitch "was in the zone a lot." That's going to be important for him coming off a season in which his four-seam fastball had just a 52% zone rate, which was below league-average. That was a big reason why he added the sinker because he's able to command that pitch in the zone more often; however, being able to fill up the strike zone with both fastball variations could go a long way towards alleviating some of the command concerns that sprouted up after he posted a 10.4% walk rate.
The other focus for Leiter this spring has been on the introduction of a new cutter. The sinker last year was a good weapon for right-handed hitters to complement his four-seam fastball, but it performed poorly against lefties. His sinker allowed a 53% Ideal Contact Rate and a nearly 13% HR/FB rate to lefties, both of which were significantly worse than the league average. His four-seam fastball performed well to lefties, missing bats and not allowing much hard contact, but, again, it's not a pitch that Leiter has commanded in the strike zone regularly. The cutter to lefties could fill the same role that the sinker to righties did last year as an early-count strike pitch.
In his first spring outing, Leiter threw just two cutters, but both of them resulted in outs, so Leiter turned to it more often in his second spring start.
"It's a new pitch, and I'm working on it. I think what we saw with only throwing two [cutters] and getting two outs on them last week was to kind of see when we can and can't throw it in a game," Leiter explained after his start on February 28th. "Game results are the best feedback for that. Early on, I threw some really good ones, like in that [Kyle] Tucker at-bat in the first inning. I think at that point it might have just become like, 'Okay, that pitch is on today,” and then in the second inning, it wasn't quite the same. I think I was kind of just getting underneath it and just missing. Obviously, that's a pitch that we need to be in the zone at a high percentage, because it's meant to be thrown forward for contact. It's not a chase pitch.”
Understanding the bigger picture and what he's building towards is crucial for Leiter to take the next step in his development. However, there are some other things he'd like to see in addition to the cutter. He talked about the curveball feeling good out of his hand early in camp, and that would also be crucial for him. Even if Leiter uses the cutter to get ahead in counts against lefties, he didn't have a single pitch that had a better-than-league-average swinging strike rate (SwStr%) against lefties in 2025.
His slider, which he used 15% of the time to lefties, posted a 13.1% SwStr%, which was 43rd percentile, and was below-average as a two-strike pitch. His curveball, which he used 13% of the time to lefites had a 9.5% SwStr% but did perform well with two strikes, which suggests it could be a decent option when he mixes it in sparingly or, perhaps, is a pitch that he can find more comfort in this season and improve upon.
What we do know is that Leiter has the right mentality to figure that out.
It’s deja vu, for the second straight Sunday, your Kansas City Royals are playing the Brewers. Last week, the Royals were triumphant in a 7-3 victory. It was lefty Bailey Falter that towed the slab to start the contest, however today it’s a different lefty for the Royals, Kris Bubic.
It’s good to see Isaac Collins back out there for the Royals, there has been some concern with him and potential injury problems. The other eight guys that make up the lineup, seven of them could very well be on the Opening Day roster. John Rave is the only real questionable one, the other six are pretty much locks, I’d say. Sorry to starting shortstop today, and Shawnee Mission, Kansas native, Connor Kaiser, but he will probably not break camp with the big league club. The overall point being, it’s a rather MLB starting lineup today for the Royals against Chad Patrick.
Hopefully Bubic looks the part today, as he finished last year on the shelf. The game can be listened to on 96.5 The Fan. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. CT.
Sanju Samson’s sparkling unbeaten 97 kept alive India’s dream of retaining the T20 World Cup at home as they knocked out the West Indies with a five-wicket win in Kolkata on Sunday to set up a semi-final against England.
Happy Sunday! Major League Baseball games that count will be played this month. Logan Gilbert is on the bump today, and Ryan Sloan will make his spring debut. It’s a good day.
The players have officially departed for their World Baseball Classic teams, leaving us with a lineup that won’t be the Opening Day one, but is an interesting lineup nonetheless. The left fielder is Colin Davis, who you’ll know by the end of the game for his big personality and shock of white-blonde hair. Rob Refsnyder gets a start against the lefty Jacob Latz. Cole Young, starting at second, draws a tough left-on-left assignment.
Scheduled to pitch behind Gilbert are Ryan Sloan, Gabe Mosser, Troy Taylor, Alex Hoppe, and Nick Davila. The most exciting name here is of course top pitching prospect Ryan Sloan, making his spring debut. Sloan will be capped at around 35 pitches, while Gilbert will have around 50.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are bringing a decidedly away-game lineup to Peoria.
J.P. Crawford took live at-bats yesterday and all went well; he also played catch. He’ll have another day like that today and then will start to work into games at DH following the off-day on Monday. Matt Brash also threw a live bullpen.
The Mariners made the first cuts to their spring training roster, re-assigning catchers Josh Caron, Connor Charping, and Luke Stevenson to minor-league camp.
Game time: 12:10 PT
TV: Mariners.TV
Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports or the Seattle Sports app; Gameday audio
Sign up for a user account and get:
Andrew Abbott yielded a dinger and a pair of earned runs in 2.0 IP in his initial outing of Cactus League play for the Cincinnati Reds this spring. On Sunday afternoon, he’ll toe the rubber against the Philadelphia Oakland Las Vegas Sacramento Athletics of Mesa at their home park as the Reds continue their mini road trip across the Land of the Endless Strip Mall in central Arizona.
It’s hard not to say the Reds are rolling out their B-squad for this game, since that’s effectively what it is. However, as the history of B-squads of the Cincinnati Reds goes, this year’s sure feels like it’s a significant improvement. For example, they’ve got Nate Lowe at cleanup, a top of the order featuring Will Benson, Noelvi Marte, and JJ Bleday, and even Tyler Stephenson and Christian Encarnacion-Strand rounding out the order.
Down in the bullpen for the day, each of Emilio Pagan, Connor Phillips, Brock Burke, Luis Mey, Tony Santillan, and Zach Maxwell are available on the travel roster, so it’s certainly not a bullpen B-squad on the day.
First pitch is set for 3:05 PM ET, and while there is once again no televised coverage, you can listen to the game via 700 WLW.
Here’s the full travel roster for the game:
San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants, March 1, 2026, 12:05 p.m. PST
Watch: MLB.com
Location: Scottsdale Stadium – Scottsdale, AZ
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!
Yesterday was a tough one.
The Rockies issued 15 walks in a 16-3 loss to the Royals, giving Kansas City far too many free opportunities. Command wavered as pitchers worked through early spring adjustments and fatigue. Offensively, Jordan Beck and Charlie Condon supplied the only sparks with solo home runs, but the lineup struggled to string together consistent, quality at-bats.
Today offers a chance to tighten the details as Colorado faces the Cleveland Guardians.
Chase Dollander makes his second start after an encouraging debut: two scoreless innings, two strikeouts, and a steady tempo throughout. His command stood out — 20 strikes on 32 pitches. The focus today is straightforward: get strike one. After yesterday’s walk-heavy performance, watching Dollander work ahead and finish hitters efficiently would represent meaningful progress.
Cleveland counters with Gavin Williams, coming off an excellent 2025 season (3.06 ERA, 173 strikeouts in 167.2 innings). He may not carry the traditional “ace” label, but he’s a key piece of a strong Guardians rotation. Making his second start of the spring, Williams features a 96-97 mph fastball and sharp breaking pitches — a curve and sweeper — that serve as his primary swing-and-miss weapons. While he has the ability to miss bats, walks can occasionally creep in. It’s a solid test for a Rockies lineup that ran into some swing-and-miss issues yesterday.
The roster battles are heating up, and today’s lineup has some fun names to watch. TJ Rumfield gets the nod at first, Adael Amador is at second, and Zac Veen is in right. Edouard Julien is also back in there after dealing with some lower back tightness.
Here’s how to tune in and follow along:
First Pitch: 1:05 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.tv
Radio: KOA 850 AM / 94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
The Dodgers hit the road on Monday afternoon to face the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. This is the first of two meetings between these two National League West foes this spring and this week, with another battle coming Saturday at Camelback Ranch.
On Monday, non-roster invitee Ryder Ryan is slated to pitch for the Dodgers, the first of the Ryan brothers in camp to start a game this spring. Ryder has pitched three previous games, one inning apiece, and this will continue his schedule of pitching once every three days. River Ryan will be stretched out as a starter this spring, and last pitched last Wednesday, throwing one inning.
Other Dodgers slated to pitch Monday are Edgardo Henriquez, Paul Gervase, plus non-roster invitees Carson Hobbs and Jordan Weems.
Right-hander Jimmy Herget starts on the mound for Colorado.
MESA, Arizona — Sunday notes…
Here are today’s particulars.
Cubs lineup:
White Sox lineup:
Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs. Other Cubs pitchers scheduled today: Hunter Harvey, Grant Kipp, Luke Little, Corbin Martin, Hoby Milner and Caleb Thielbar.
Former Cub Anthony Kay will start for the White Sox.
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network, and there will be a radio broadcast via the White Sox flagship, ESPN 1000.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site Southside Sox. If you do go there to interact with Sox fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
As we have done in the past, we’ll have a first pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time. For today, that will be 2 p.m. CT and 3:30 p.m. CT.
These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked ”Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher photos and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Opening Day is 25 days away. For now, spring training games continue. The Orioles bring a 4-4-1 spring record into Sunday’s contest against the Red Sox. This one will air on TV and radio in the Baltimore area, or wherever you are in the world as long as you can access MASN or WBAL/98 Rock from there.
The Orioles starting pitcher for this game is Chris Bassitt, making his first appearance in an organized spring game. He is, I believe, the last of the expected rotation pitchers and competitors to get into a game.
This is an extremely “road game in spring training” lineup. If you were projecting out the Opening Day starting lineup a month ago, probably only three of these guys were in it: Basallo, Beavers, and Cowser. And depending on how manager Craig Albernaz chooses to handle his outfield veterans, maybe only one or two of them will actually play on Opening Day.
Alexander wasn’t even in the organization a month ago. If he had been, I would have said he only plays if there are enough injuries ahead of him. As we know, there have been enough injuries ahead of him. Kjerstad is not likely to make the roster unless there are injuries also. Or unless he really, really convinces the front office that he’s in a better place than last year.
At least the lineup has a couple of cool prospects in Bradfield and Estrada. It’s nice that the game will be televised and we can actually see a little bit of these guys in action. Or you can, anyway, I’ve got errands to run and probably won’t get to watch much. Oh well. Post some comments about how Estrada looks.