SP: Jack Wenninger
SP: Jose Urbina
First pitch: 7:10pm EDT
TV: SNY
What more can you say about a team that has won back-to-back World Series and are the overwhelming favorites to make it a three-peat? The Dodgers have positioned themselves to become the first team since the turn-of-the-millennium Yankees to win three titles in a row, which would make them just the third team in over half a century to accomplish the feat. They have become the true evil empire of baseball, scoffing at the playoff crapshoot mentality, the envy of 29 other fan bases who wish the teams they supported were as fully invested in winning every single season.
2025 record: 93-69 (1st, NL West)
2026 FanGraphs projection: 99-63 (1st, NL West)
Employing possibly the greatest all-around player in MLB history is always a decent place to start. Shohei Ohtani is going for his fourth-straight MVP and fifth in the last six seasons, and in fairness it’s difficult to pick out a legitimate challenger for his crown in the NL. No player in the sport is projected to be more valuable in 2026 — when combining his hitting and pitching projections, Ohtani’s projected fWAR of 8.4 clocks in at over a full win more than Aaron Judge.
As all-powerful as he is, the Dodgers have created an enviable supporting cast around their unicorn talent. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts no longer at their peak? No worries, they’ll just sign the undisputed No. 1 free agent hitter for $60 million per year! And that’s not to say Freeman and Betts won’t be productive in 2026. Over the last two seasons, Freeman has settled in as roughly a four-win first baseman and can be expected to do the same this year, while Betts’ situation is slightly more murky. He is coming off a career-worst performance in a full season, ending the year marginally better than league average with the bat. All the same, 3.4 fWAR is still a borderline All-Star, it just fell short of the incredibly high standard he set in his first five seasons in LA — averaging a 146 wRC+ and roughly 6.0 fWAR/650 PA.
FanGraph Depth Charts projects a healthy rebound from Betts, he and Freeman expected to post a wRC+ somewhere in the 130s while combining to be worth between eight and nine wins. That’s still a roughly five-to-six win shortage relative to their peaks, but would you look at that, the Dodgers brought in Kyle Tucker to neatly make up that deficit. So what exactly does $60 million a year buy you these days? In King Tuck’s case, 33 home runs, a 142 wRC+, and 4.9 fWAR if Depth Charts is to be believed — all top-12 marks among hitters’ projections. Between Ohtani, Betts, and Tucker, the Dodgers should have three of the 12 most valuable players in MLB in 2026.
That doesn’t even take into account the rest of the supporting cast. Catcher Will Smith and center fielder Andy Pages are projected to be among the top-eight at their positions, ticketed to be worth more than three wins apiece. In fact, Hyeseong Kim is their only starter projected to produce less than 19 home runs, a 112 wRC+, and 2.1 fWAR.
If there’s anything that’s going to trip them up, it’s on the pitching side. Yoshinobu Yamamoto established himself as a top-ten starting pitcher in the league last year and that should remain the case in 2026. However, behind their ace lies a ton of injury and downside risk. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are walking human Band-Aids, though the Dodgers’ plan for the pair appears to be to not care about the regular season as long as they are ready for the playoffs. Who knows how many innings the Dodgers will let Ohtani pitch? And while Emmet Sheehan had something of a breakout 2025 and Roki Sasaki found some stability after moving to the bullpen, I have heavy doubts over the pair’s ability to hold up in the rotation for an entire season.
The bullpen also features pretty wide error bars after the Dodgers had to rely on several relative unknowns in 2025 to make up for the unexpected regression of their high leverage arms. I suppose this underlies the reasoning behind LA signing Edwin Díaz away from the Mets on a three-year deal, finally cementing their closer role after several failed tries. I’m certainly not as optimistic as the projections that Tanner Scott can rebound from being replacement level in 2025, but I also wouldn’t be surprised to see them unearth some new hidden gems as they did last campaign.
A quick look at a pair of projection systems reveals just how much the Dodgers have separated themselves from the rest of the league. FanGraphs projects the Dodgers to win the division with a 99-63 record — they don’t project any other team in baseball to reach even 90 wins. They’ve been assigned a 99-percent playoff odds — the Mets are the next highest at 80.7-percent — and a whopping 26.8-percent chance to win the World Series, their closest chasers being the Mariners at 8.6-percent. Over at PECOTA things are even more stark. With a win-loss projection of 105-57, the Dodgers are projected to win 14 more games than the next-best team in the Mariners. Their 100-percent playoff odds are more than six points higher than the Mariners, while their 20.2-percent odds to win the World Series is almost five points higher than second-best Seattle.
It’s not that the Dodgers have improved that much on paper so much as two of their divisional challengers getting worse. The Diamondbacks were one of the surprise top sellers at last year’s trade deadline, dealing away three of the team’s top contributors in Eugenio Suárez, Josh Naylor, and Shelby Miller, downgrading to Nolan Arenado, Carlos Santana, and Paul Sewald to fill those roles. Meanwhile over in San Diego, focus is fixed on the looming team sale rather than the on-field product, which is how you get a starting rotation that could fail to feature a starter who throws 100 innings in 2026. We haven’t even played a game and yet the World Series is already the Dodgers’ to lose, and at this point I’m not sure I can spot a team that can steal their crown away from them.
Astros RP Bennett Sousa, who had a career season last year before being shut down with a pronator strain, injured his oblique during PFPs yesterday and will begin the season on IL:
Sousa has just ascended to being the top setup reliever last season when he was injured, he went down about 1 week after the Astros lost closer Josh Hader for the season.
This year, the Astros have a lot more pitching depth, and are better equipped to handle the loss of a leverage reliever than they were a year ago.
Houston will begin this season the same way they ended last season in regards to those two relievers, with both Hader and now Sousa beginning the season on IL.
The Astros are lining up their rotation for the regular season, as starters Hunter Brown and Tatsuya Imai have their final tune-ups coming:
UT Zach Dezenzo is dealing with an elbow injury after returning from the WBC:
SP J.P. France wants to show the team he can still be the effective pitcher he was during his rookie season, before a difficult shoulder capsule injury stole nearly 2 years of his career from him:
Houston’s organizational philosophy change towards being more selective at the plate was on display in the Spring Breakout game:
Astros bench coach Omar Lopez returned to the Astros a WBC Champion:
Baseball is booming and so are the ticket prices. In 2026, ticket prices depend on where you sit and which team you’re watching.
Here in California, the divide isn’t subtle. It’s as large as the Grand Canyon.
The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t just lead Major League Baseball in ticket prices this year, they honestly belong in another economic category altogether.
The average minimum ticket price at Dodger Stadium sits at $76.57, nearly double the MLB average of $34.82.
It’s also miles ahead of their California neighbors, including the nearby Angels who have the lowest ticket prices in the league.
The Dodgers ticket prices are not based on bobbleheads, premium nights, or opponents. The back-to-back World Series champions have created sustained demand.
A nightly tax to watch the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and now Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz. This isn’t just an ordinary baseball roster, it’s a traveling All-Star team, and the cost of admission reflects it.
And when the Dodgers travel, the exorbitant ticket prices come with them. Opposing ballparks swell with anticipation–and price hikes.
On average across the league, when the Dodgers come to town, the cheapest ticket in the ballpark jumps to $62.51. The only other team in that stratosphere is the rival Yankees.
If you travel a few hundred miles south, then the story changes–but not entirely.
The San Diego Padres, averaging $40.04 per game, sit comfortably in the league’s upper middle class, buoyed by a roster that still carries star power and October ambition.
Up north, the San Francisco Giants command $47.85, a blend of history, ballpark beauty, and brand equity that keeps Oracle Park buzzing, especially when the Yankees or Dodgers roll through town and send prices soaring into triple digits.
And then there are the Angels.
At $16.02 per game—the lowest in all of baseball—the Los Angeles Angels aren’t just affordable in today’s market, they are a reflection of their 11 straight years of futility.
Owner Arte Moreno recently suggested fans care more about affordability than winning, a quote that lands with the soft thud of another last-place finish.
Because in Anaheim, the barrier to entry is low, but so, too, are expectations. When the Dodgers visit, even that changes—the average ticket spikes dramatically, a reminder that demand isn’t dead, it’s just waiting for something worth chasing.
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post SportsFacebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
That’s the tension running through baseball’s 2026 season. Most of the data above comes from a new report by Doc’s Sports, who analyzed 2,426 games across the league.
The median ticket price sits at $29.00. A number that suggests accessibility. But the average creeps higher, dragged upward by a select few franchises that have turned their brand into currency.
The Dodgers are the clearest example of that transformation. They’ve monetized excellence, leveraged stardom, and built a product fans are willing to pay a premium to experience. The Angels, by contrast, have discounted hope.
Somewhere between Chavez Ravine and The Big A, between $76.57 and $16.02, lies the true state of baseball’s economy—where winning doesn’t just lift banners. It raises prices significantly.
TAMPA - Here are some observations and notes from the Yankees' spring training action on Thursday...
Fried, the Yankees' most crucial starter entering the season, struggled in his final start before taking the mound for the regular season opener against the Giants next week. The lefty allowed three runs on five hits and walked four, but seemed earnestly grateful for the chance to stumble before the games count.
“Definitely not sharp, but also the perfect amount of being able to make that adjustment,” said Fried, who said he valued the chance to work on some different sequencing and pitch with runners on base against a Baltimore Orioles lineup that looked similar to what it will be during the regular season.
“I would rather, in this situation, have a little bit more traffic on the bases, taking the chances,” Fried said. “Something maybe I would not do during the regular season to push those boundaries and get feedback in a not completely results-based game.”
Aaron Boone announced after the game that the Yankees reassigned the young right-hander to minor league camp. A month ago, that announcement would have felt like mere formality: At 22 years old, with 16 Double-A appearances to his name, Lagrange did not begin this spring as a candidate to break camp with a team that views itself as a World Series contender.
But after four impressive Grapefruit League outings in which he combined his 100-plus mph fastball with more consistent strike-throwing and in-zone command of his change-up and slider, Lagrange pitched his way into the Yankees' plans for 2026.
“He made it a difficult decision, which coming into this wouldn’t have even thought there was a decision,” Boone said. “He definitely caught everyone’s attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is impacting us early, middle, later part of the season. I don’t know. But I can just tell you we’re all very excited about his continued development and what he could mean to our team at some point.”
All spring, the Yankees handled Lagrange like a starter. He has a varied enough arsenal to stick as a starter in the majors, as long as he commands his secondary pitches like he did this spring. At the moment, the Yankees have major league starting pitching depth with reinforcements on the way. But Lagrange has pushed his way into their plans once already, and there are only so many 102 mph fastballs to be found.
With Opening Day inching closer and closer, the Yankees are gradually dealing with some roster question marks, the latest of moves involving Angel Chivilli and Carlos Lagrange. The former was optioned to Triple-A while the latter was sent to minor-league camp.
Specializing in finding hidden gems with which to build their bullpen in recent seasons, the Yankees acquired Angel Chivilli from the Rockies via trade this offseason. The young right-hander who is coming off an atrocious 2025 campaign got knocked around enough in spring training to begin the year in the minors. On a positive note, he did strike out 10 batters in 6.2 innings of work, so something to keep an eye on. Chivilli was always going to be a bit of a relief project, so he’ll have time to polish his craft at Triple-A rather than potentially costing games in the process.
Despite impressing in spring, Lagrange, who’s never pitched above Double-A, was always likely to require more seasoning in the minors. The 22-year-old allowed just one run across 9.2 innings in three appearances, one of them a start. Lagrange’s last appearance was an incredibly exciting one, holding the Red Sox scoreless through four innings, sitting 99+ mph on his heater, and generating 11 whiffs on 29 swings. His presence and impact on the major-league team seem to be only a matter of time.
Excitement is building for the San Francisco Giants, as Opening Day creeps ever closer … we’re just six days away, now. But unfortunately, the news on Thursday is anything but exciting: a few hours before the Giants play one of their final Cactus League games and their Spring Breakout contest, the Giants announced that right-handed pitcher Hayden Birdsong will undergo Tommy John surgery.
That seemed likely ever since the Giants revealed that Birdsong was sidelined with a UCL injury. Birdsong and the staff were openly weighing surgery against a lengthy rehab treatment, and opted for a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister. From there, the decision for surgery was made, and Meister will perform Tommy John on the team’s young starter next week.
It’s a huge blow for Birdsong, who was hoping to rebound from his brutal second half of 2025, and has as much talent as any pitcher in the Giants organization. And it’s quite a hit for a Giants team that is desperately hoping some of their young starting pitchers will step up and be able to fill in when the rotation needs it, while also bolstering the bullpen. They still have Trevor McDonald, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, and Carson Seymour, but after designating Mason Black for assignment, trading Kai-Wei Teng, and now losing Birdsong to injury, that depth has taken quite a hit.
On the bright side, Tommy John surgery is not the death sentence it once was for pitchers. These days, nearly every hard-throwing pitcher has to have TJ at least once in their career, and the vast majority return to pitch at their previous levels. If Birdsong needs reason to feel optimistic, he need just talk to the two pitchers at the top of the team’s rotation, Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. They’ve both been through it, and emerged with excellence on the other side.
But it will take a while. The surgery means that Birdsong won’t pitch at all this season, and is likely to miss the first few months of the 2027 season, as well. Given that his spot on the active roster is no sure thing, and that it could take him a while of rehab appearances to shake off the rust, it wouldn’t be surprising if Birdsong doesn’t pitch in the Majors again until 2028.
The Houston Astros (10-11-3) host the New York Mets (11-9-2) in Grapefruit League play.
RHP Peter Lambert (1-0) will make his second start and fifth appearance of the Spring tonight as he takes on Mets RHP Kodai Senga.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: RHP Peter Lambert gets his second start and fifth overall appearance of the Spring tonight. He has been solid this Spring, allowing just one run in 9.0 innings of work for a 1.00 ERA.
Lambert, who was signed as a minor league free agent in the offseason, spent the 2025 season playing in Japan for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of the NPB. In 23 appearances (22 GS) for the Swallows, he posted a 3.98 ERA (55ER/124.1IP).
Prior to his season in Japan, Lambert had been in the Rockies organization since being selected in the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft. While with the Rockies, he spent parts of four different seasons in the Major Leagues with stints in 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024. On June 6, 2019, Lambert had a record-setting ML debut, tallying nine K’s to set a franchise record for strikeouts in a debut.
TONIGHT’S POTENTIAL RELIEVERS: LHP Bryan King, LHP Steven Okert, RHP Bryan Abreu, RHP Wilmy Sanchez, RHP Jose Guedez, RHP Trey McLoughlin.
BREAKOUT WALKOFF: The Astros earned a 7-6, come-from-behind, walk-off win over the Marlins in today’s Breakout Game at CACTI Park.
TRIUMPHANT RETURN: Astros bench coach Omar Lopez rejoined the club this afternoon, fresh off of managing Team Venezuela to its first WBC championship.
Game Date/Time: Thursday, March 19, 5:05 p.m. CST
Location: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, FL
TV: none
Streaming: none
Radio: none
Very unique lineup for Astros tonight, with Paredes at 1B, Yordan in LF, Correa at SS, Whitcomb at 3B.
Astros SP Peter Lambert will face what Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said was “pretty close” to his Opening Day lineup:
Location: Ed Smith Stadium, Sarasota, FL
How to Listen: KDKA-FM 93.7
The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the field against the Baltimore Orioles looking to grab a win in Spring Training.
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
BD community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!
Francisco Lindor – SS
Juan Soto – LF
Bo Bichette – 3B
Jorge Polanco – 1B
Luis Robert – CF
Brett Baty – RF
Marcus Semien – 2B
Mark Vientos – DH
Francisco Alvarez – C
SP: Kodai Senga – RHP
Jose Altuve – 2B
Isaac Paredes – 1B
Yordan Alvarez – LF
Carlos Correa – SS
Cam Smith – RF
Zach Cole – CF
Christian Walker – DH
Yainer Diaz – C
Shay Whitcomb – 3B
SP: Peter Lambert – RHP
First pitch: 6:05 PM EDT
TV: Not this time
Radio: Sorry, no
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza hit on a few topics speaking ahead of the Grapefruit League matchup with the Houston Astros on Thursday night.
The Mets are still going into Opening Day with the plan for Bichette to be the everyday third baseman, but he will get some time at shortstop this weekend.
Mendoza said the plan is for Bichette to play Friday afternoon's game at short, which could hint at some roster decisions the club has to make.
“Just kinda get him a game there, that’s his position,” Mendoza said. “But as we get closer to decision-making, right? I think it was important for Bo to get some reps there in case we do go that route, where he could potentially be our back-up shortstop.”
Earlier on Thursday, the club announced Ronny Mauricio was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, meaning the Mets will likely not carry an extra shortstop on the roster with Francisco Lindor set to start the season on time after coming back from hand surgery earlier this spring.
Mendoza credited Bichette for his willingness, after Lindor’s injury, to make himself available to whatever role may be asked of him.
“Not knowing the expectations and the timetable [of Lindor’s return], he was very open to say, ‘Hey, I know third base is going to be the priority, but I can always go back and play short, I can play second, whatever the team needs,” the skipper said. “It goes to show you that he’s willing to do whatever we’re asking him to do.
“That’s why we’re giving him a game [at shortstop] tomorrow.”
And speaking of Opening Day, Friday's lineup of Lindor, Juan Soto, Bichette, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr., Brett Baty, Marcus Semien, Mark Vientos, and FranciscoAlvarez might be as close to the one the manager sends out next Thursday against Pittsburgh.
Mendoza said “there’s a good chance” a lot of those same players get the nod, adding, “It’s pretty close.”
Back from his start in the WBC Final, the young right-hander is set to throw on Monday at Mets camp, which would line him up to pitch the second game of the regular season on Saturday.
Mendoza called it a “great experience” for the 24-year-old to get some high-intensity innings in the WBC.
“I thought he was really good that day,” the manager said of McLean’s 4.2-inning outing against Venezuela. “I’m glad that we saw the 98, 99 [mph] early in camp, because if not, I was gonna be jumping off the couch when I was watching it.
“But just how he handled the whole environment. An unbelievable experience for him that is going to continue to set him up for success. Coming back now, a full year here, hopefully gonna keep him healthy… I was proud of him, as well.”
Senga, who is making the start in Friday night’s game, will hang back in Port St. Lucie after the Mets break camp to get an additional bit of work in before re-joining the Mets on Opening Day and making his regular-season debut, Mendoza said.
The skipper added that they are still "in the beginning of having those discussions" about setting up the rotation beyond Freddy Peralta starting on Opening Day, but they "have an idea."
The St. Louis Cardinals Spring Breakout Game will feature JJ Wetherholt, Rainiel Rodriguez and Liam Doyle on the mound as they take on the Washington Nationals starting at 3:30pm. The game should be available through MLB.tv.
A lot of the attention in the sporting world — including occasionally that of your humble author — was elsewhere on Thursday afternoon, with the start of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. However, even with the World Baseball Classic having come to a close, there’s still plenty of spring training action left to go before the regular season gets going.
For the Yankees on Thursday, we got double the action. The Yankees were in split-squad mode today, as they took on a pair of AL East foes. Half of the team hosted the Orioles, while the other half made the trip to take on the Blue Jays. For much of the day, it seemed like both games were headed for Yankees’ losses, but a late rally in the home game gave them a split for the day.
Despite a couple RBI — including a homer — from Giancarlo Stanton, it appeared as though the Yankees were going down in this one. However, a ninth inning rally allowed the Yankees to tie the game and then win it, ensuring that they would split Thursday’s games.
Running out the stronger of the two lineups, the home Yankees’ team struck early against the Orioles. With Trent Grisham on third after leading off with a single, and then moving over thanks to a Jazz Chisholm Jr. walk and a balk, Giancarlo Stanton got one in the air and deep enough for Grisham to tag up and score.
Baltimore struck back to overtake the Yankees over the next couple innings. In the second, a two-run homer from Colby Mayo gave the O’s the lead, and a Adley Rutschman single tacked on another run the following inning.
The Yankees eventually got one of those runs back in the sixth, courtesy of Stanton. He continued his impressive spring with a trademark “how the hell did that get out?” blast to get the Yankees back within a run.
Max Fried got the start for the Yankees in this one, and wasn’t his sharpest self. He ended up going five innings, but allowed three runs on five hits and four walks. Holding Baltimore to three runs despite the rest of those numbers is solid, at least.
The teams later traded runs in the eighth, which left the Yankees still down a run going into the ninth. There, prospect Garrett Martin hit a game-tying home run. After that, Roderick Arias drew a walk, with Coby Morales then singling him to third. That brought Ali Sánchez to the plate, and he flied out deep enough to center for Arias to score, giving the Yankees a walk-off win after doing not much for most of the game.
The other half of the Yankees hit the road to take on a strong Blue Jays’ lineup. Said strong lineup had absolutely no issue with the Yankees, pounding them both offensively and pitching-wise in an 11-0 win.
In Dunedin, the Blue Jays quickly got on the board. In the second at-bat in the bottom of the first, Daulton Varsho homered off Ryan Weathers to give Toronto the early lead. Then in the third, some Jays’ regulars added on. With George Springer and Varsho already on after hits, Vladmir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger each added RBI single to put them further in front.
Then in the fourth, the Blue Jays fully put things away. Springer took Weathers deep for a grand slam, knocking the pitcher out of the game. It was another less than stellar day for Weathers. In 3+ innings, he allowed seven runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out five, but his ERA for the spring now sits at over 11.
However even after Weathers, the Yankees’ bullpen didn’t exactly perform either. While he did finish off the fourth inning, Kervin Castro started the fifth and failed to record an out before Cade Winquest replaced him. Winquest then allowed a couple more hits, including a Andrés Giménez homer, and added in a wild pitch for good measure. Toronto put up another four spot, going up by double digits in the process.
Meanwhile, other than Amed Rosario, no guaranteed regular position players made the trip to Dunedin. Rosario himself had two hits, but the rest of the lineup combined for just one more, as the Blue Jays truly crushed the Yankees in this one.
One of my favorite events of Spring Training is the Spring Breakout game. It is a great chance for fans to see some of their team’s top prospects. The Spring Breakout game is here and the Nationals have an impressive lineup. Both the Nats and the Cardinals have much improved farm systems.
The Nats lineup is headlined by first overall pick Eli Willits, who is leading off and playing shortstop. Willits is such a polished player for being just 18 years old, and we will get to see him today. Gavin Fien, the headliner of the MacKenzie Gore trade will be hitting behind him. We will also get a look at Seaver King. One prospect who has impressed this spring is Ronny Cruz, and he will be playing third base. Hard-throwing righty Davian Garcia will be on the mound, but we should see plenty of pitchers.
JJ Wetherholt is a strong candidate to open the season in the MLB, but he will be in the Cardinals Spring Breakout lineup. Teenaged catcher Rainiel Rodriguez is another player to watch on the Cardinals side. Joshua Baez is also a top 100 guy after a breakout year in 2025. Liam Doyle, who was the fifth overall pick last year will be on the mound for the Cardinals.
Game Info:
Stadium: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium
Time: 4:30 PM EST
TV: MLB Video
Radio: N/A
As I said up top, I really do love this event. It is a great way to showcase young talent. This is also an opportunity for prospects to make a statement heading into their seasons. That gets me fired up. Follow along down below and let’s go Nats prospects!
While the Tigers’ rotation is currently set, and they appear to have starting depth both among their relief corps and at the Triple-A, they don’t have much in the way of actual starting pitching prospects to help them this year. The most advanced of the bunch are left-handers Jake Miller and our 11th ranked prospect, lefty Andrew Sears. Miller is working his way back from offseason hip surgery. Sears is another somewhat underrated college draft pick who has refined his game and is now set to tackle Triple-A with a chance to make an impact sometime this season.
The 23-year-old is another example of the Tigers extensive scouting in the northeast, an area some teams neglect as it isn’t generally a major hotbed for pro talent. They spent their sixth round pick in 2023 on Sears, drafting him out of Connecticut and signing him for $167,500, just slightly over the minimum bonus. That was money well spent as Sears has really broken out over the past two seasons.
On draft day, Sears was a low-90’s crafty lefty type with solid secondary pitches and good control. Over the past two years, he’s built velocity and he’s also really sharpened his slider and changeups into weapons.
Sears started out with a solid campaign for the Lakeland Flying Tigers in his 2024 full season debut. At those levels, the number of lefties who are refined enough to locate their fastball and show solid secondaries isn’t that great, and advanced southpaws tend to do well. The bigger tests come when they start facing more experienced hitters in High-A and at the Double-A level, and that was what Sears had to tackle in 2025. He handled that test pretty well while showing improved stuff with all three of his main offerings.
With the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps in 2025, Sears gave a deep pitching staff with numerous older minor leaguers some real presence. He works quickly and with a lot of intensity, rarely stepping off the mound for even a moment. He gets the ball back, stares in while sometimes muttering what we’ll term “encouragement” to himself for a beat, rocks and fires. As soon as the catcher throws it back he’s on the rubber again, staring in and waiting on hitters to dig back into the batter’s box. He’s an intense competitor and the psycho vibes and quick pace are pretty fun to watch.
Sears works from a low three-quarters slot with a fastball mix that touches 96-97 mph but is more typically 93-94. He gets plenty of life on the fourseamer and from a low release point he has a good angle to the top of the zone to get whiffs and weak contact in the air. He’ll use plenty of sinkers too, with the horizontal break augmented by good, late sink, but he’s not necessarily a ground ball pitcher and tends to get a pretty even mix of contact, though most of the contact in the air is really weak and he pops guys up pretty routinely. He’s pretty adept at working both sides of the plate and likes to jam right-handers inside, though he’ll sometimes tail fastballs back over the middle of the plate or hang his secondaries where they can launch them.
Sears struck out 27.2 percent of hitters with the Whitecaps, with a decent walk rate of 8.4 percent. His home run rate was fine at 0.87 HR/9, but a little higher than you’d like at that level. Still, he posted a 2.95 ERA with a 3.70 FIP in his first look at the High-A level, and since he was a little on the young side on draft day, it was only his age 22 season. Altogether it was a pretty nice success, though a short look at the Double-A level saw him hit a little more, as you’d expect. Overall, he threw 111 innings between the two levels, a nice progression in workload, with a combined 3.49/3.61 FIP.
His best weapon is a sweeping slider in the mid-80’s with good two plane movement. Sears is already pretty consistent with it, with the best ones showing plus and drawing a lot of whiffs. He has some feel for adding depth or sweep depending on the count and the hitter, and is adept at stealing strikes at the bottom of the zone with it too. His other pitch that flashes above average is a good circle changeup with nice velocity separation and a lot of late depth. He’ll still lose command of it at times and when he does it turns into a meatball without much depth, but there was less and less of that over the course of his 2025 campaign. When Sears is strafing the edges with sinkers and then playing the changeup off it effectively he is pretty tough to deal with. He can also mix in a curveball and a cutter at times, though he streamlined his pitch mix mainly to fastball, slider, changeup last year.
At this point, Sears has the stuff to be a major league starter. There just isn’t a ton of margin for error in his command. The fastball combo is pretty average, though a little better when he’s at the top of his velocity band. However, when he’s commanding his mix well he is very tough to deal with. He sets up on the third base side, and generates some deception with his crossfire delivery and low arm slot. It’s a classic, funky lefty delivery, but it does make it tricky to repeat and Sears’ velocity tends to rise and fall with how locked in his delivery is from start to start. When he makes mistakes out over the plate with the fastball, the raw stuff is usually enough to avoid them getting barrelled up, but that won’t be the case in the upper minors. When Sears is throwing first pitch strikes, locating reasonably well, and staying out of hitters’ hot zones, they’re in a bad place against him.
The lack of a dominant fastball or precision command is probably going to keep Sears from tracking like a future mid-rotation arm. Instead, he still profiles best as a spot starter/swingman type. However, he could be really valuable in that role. He handles right-handers well, and if his fastball command is a little sharper in the years ahead, a future full-time role as a depth starter isn’t out of the question. He holds runners well and shows what used to be called moxie in tough situations, continuing to attack the strike zone with a lot of aggression. In short, he has all the traits of a versatile lefty swingman, but with enough gas to throw it by good lower level hitters as well.
The Double-A jump isn’t quite the major separator it was a few years ago, but for left-handed pitchers it’s still a major hurdle in particular. Lower level hitters just haven’t seen many good lefties and there tend to be more easy outs in lineups for a good southpaw until the better A-ball hitters funnel up to Double-A. We haven’t seen him in major league camp, but there’s no report of a major injury either, so we’ll assume he’s dealing with something minor for now. Sears will start the season in Erie when he’s ready, and if his command ticks up a little more he should reach Triple-A with a chance to help the Tigers out later on in the summer. His real ETA is 2027, but if the Tigers decide they need his versatility in the bullpen he could certainly move more rapidly.