Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

Ryan Weathers showed off some good stuff, but the Yankees' left-hander got touched up by a strong Blue Jays lineup as Toronto grabbed an 11-0 win on Thursday afternoon in Dunedin, Fla.

New York, with the rest of the squad staying in Tampa and beating the Baltimore Orioles, was without just about every one of its expected regular players and was facing what appeared to be the Jays' Opening Day lineup. The disparity bore out in the hit totals: 14-3 in favor of the Canadian side.

Here are the takeaways...

- Weathers fell behind George Springer 3-0 before battling back and getting him swinging on a good sweeper. But he was stung when Daulton Varsho clocked a 2-2 up-and-away 97 mph fastball for a homer just over the wall in left. The left-hander ended the inning in painful fashion, taking a hard-hit Addison Barger comebacker (112.4 mph) off his hand. After getting the out at first, he walked off the mound shaking his digits.

Weathers managed to shake it off as he got Alejandro Kirk swinging on a biting breaking pitch down-and-in, Jesús Sánchez looking on a hard heater on the outside corner, and Kazuma Okamoto fishing on a changeup in the dirt. 

The lefty added another strikeout on the breaking pitch in on Ernie Clement before his run of seven straight retired ended with back-to-back two-out infield hits as Springer chopped one (49.1 mph) off the bag at third and Varsho muscled one off his hands (38.7 mph) toward second. Valdimir Guerrero Jr. plated a run, ripping a high-and-away changeup through the right side (104.5 mph) and Barger, after swinging through two sweepers, got a 2-2 sweeper that stayed in the zone, and knocked an RBI single up the middle (107.6 mph) for a fourth-straight hit.

Brad Ausmus (the acting manager on the day) brought in Tony Rossi to get Kirk swinging to end the inning and save Weathers’ arm as he had thrown 29 pitches in the frame (20 after getting the first two outs).

Weathers returned for the bottom of the fourth and allowed yet another infield hit before Okamoto pulled a single through the left side of the infield. After Clement popped out to center, the lefty walked Andrés Giménez to load the bases. And on the seventh pitch to Springer, Weather’s sweeper hung on the outside corner for a grand slam the other way to right. 

Bad luck on some soft contact led to hard-hit balls costing him. Weather’s final line: 3.0 innings, seven runs, eight hits, one walk, five strikeouts on 74 pitches (44 strikes). He struggled in his last outing, allowing four runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings against the Atlanta Braves.

- Cody Ponce, back in America with a new kick-change after three seasons in Japan and one in Korea, made quick work of the Yankee lineup early, needing just 36 pitches (24 strikes) to get the first nine batters in order with four strikeouts. Amed Rosario got the Yanks’ first hit on an infield single deep in the hole to short to start the top of the fourth, but that was it as Ponce allowed just the one base runner in his 5.2 innings while adding five strikeouts on an efficient 65 pitches (44 strikes).

Rosario took a first pitch from Jays reliever Yariel Rodriguez for a base hit up the middle to give him a two-hit afternoon in his three times up. 

- Kervin Castro, on the Yanks' 40-man roster, got around a walk and a single to get the final two outs in the fourth. The right-hander, who has some big league experience, allowed a single and a double off the wall in center to start the fifth, ending his afternoon.

- Cade Winquest came in with two in scoring position and threw a wild pitch to score one run. He recovered to get Clement swinging, but a 1-1 curveball at the bottom of the zone went for a two-run shot to right-center by Giménez to make it 10-0. Springer then jumped on a fastball up-and-away to smash a double to center (111.5 mph) and a center-cut fastball to Varsho resulted in an RBI single, before Winquest got out of it with a 4-6-3 double play.

The righty is a Rule 5 pick for the Yanks, their first since 2011, and everyone will be hoping for better results in the regular season. 

- Randal Grichuk was on his way to first base when home plate umpire Darius Ghani (a rookie ump in MLB this year) called strike three on a 3-2 pitch in the first. The 34-year-old, who is hoping to be the Yanks' fourth outfielder, should have challenged as the splitter was off the plate. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, swinging through a Rodriguez splitter in his final at-bat to start the seventh.

- Paul DeJong was robbed of potentially extra bases on a 101.6 mph shot down the third base line, but Okamoto made a fantastic diving stop and strong throw to record the out to start the fifth. He went 0-for-2 with a walk.

- J.C. Escarra went 0-for-3 with a flyout, groundout, and pop out.

- Seth Brown went 0-for-2 flyout and groundout.

- Yanquiel Fernández notched the game's fifth infield hit with two outs in the seventh, finishing the day 1-for-3 with a strikeout.

- Max Schuemann hit one hard to right, but Barger made a running grab on the warning track before bouncing into the wall. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. 

- Kenedy Corona went 0-for-3 with a strikeout swinging on a Ponce fastball.

- Enmanuel Tejeda went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts swinging. 

Up next

The Yankees take on the Orioles on Friday with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch in Tampa. Luis Gil is the scheduled starter for New York.

PHOENIX –– The final days of spring training mean final roster cuts are here for the Dodgers.

And on Wednesday, in two of their more difficult decisions before Opening Day next week, the club announced that a couple young camp standouts had failed to make the team.

Last year, River Ryan and Kyle Hurt missed the entirety of the season, recovering from Tommy John surgeries that derailed each of their debut MLB campaigns in 2024.

This spring, however, both impressed in their return to action –– easily looking the part of productive big-league arms.

Ryan, 27, bulked up during his year-and-a-half rehab, adding 30 pounds to his frame and a couple ticks of velocity to his fastball. In Cactus League play, it resulted in a sterling stat line, with the right-hander posting a 1.86 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 9 ⅔ innings.

Hurt, 27, also opened eyes with his performance in camp, transitioning to a multi-inning relief role in which he struck out 12 batters over just 7 ⅓ innings of three-run ball.

At various points in recent weeks, manager Dave Roberts raved about the progress of both pitchers –– who were two of the organization’s top prospects before getting hurt two years ago.

Yet, on Wednesday, the Dodgers optioned them both to the minor leagues to begin the season.

In a spring with little roster intrigue, the cuts qualified as two of the biggest surprises.

The reasons for the moves, however, were rooted in similar thinking. Because both pitchers were out all of last year, the Dodgers want to be cautious with their workloads in 2026, preferring to ease them into this new season and save the limited number of innings they’ll be able to pitch for later in the campaign.

Eventually, they are expected to contribute at the MLB level. But for now, they’ll have to bide their time in the minors a little longer. 

“We realize how talented he is,” Roberts said Wednesday of Hurt, whose demotion was announced first. “But to get him to get a foundation this year –– to be able to go back-to-back, pitch two innings in a night then see how he is on the third day to go out and pitch and see how he responds –– those are things that, [we need to] just kind of get some wear on his tires, as an analogy. That’s what he needs to do. 

“When you get with us [in the majors], we’ve got to push guys because we’ve got to win baseball games,” Roberts added. “That’s the next part of his development. And he completely understood.”

Same thing goes for Ryan, whose roster move wasn’t announced until later in the day.

“It’s hard, because as a competitor, he wants to go wire-to-wire,” Roberts said of him earlier this spring. “He’s put in the work. He looks great. But you look at the history of guys that have had those types of injuries, to think he’s gonna take down 30 starts [in his return this year] is unrealistic … So for us, speaking for the organization, it’s letting him continue to build up and see where that takes us.”

The knock-on effects of the news, of course, are the players who will earn Opening Day spots in each pitcher’s place.

In the bullpen, Hurt’s cut likely clears the way for Edgardo Henriquez to make the team, despite a spring performance that included an 8.53 ERA and as many walks and hit batters (six total) as strikeouts in his seven Cactus League appearances.

In the starting rotation, Ryan’s demotion effectively cements Roki Sasaki’s spot on the Opening Day roster, even after a camp that raised renewed questions about his ability to be an MLB-caliber starter.

The Japanese phenom scuffled in eight MLB starts as a rookie last year before going down with a shoulder injury, then returning to the mound late in the season to become the Dodgers’ surprise playoff closer.

His shift back to starting duties this year has not begun well, with Sasaki suffering a 13.50 ERA in three Cactus League outings that were marred by a lack of fastball command and pitch efficiency.

“He’s going to be one of our starters,” Roberts confirmed of Sasaki on Wednesday. “I think I’ve been very consistent in the sense of, we don’t solely evaluate spring training in its entirety alone. So with that, he’s obviously got things to prove — consistency of getting guys out, consistency of strike throwing. But he’s going to get that opportunity to start the season, and we’ll see where we go from there.”

When asked if Sasaki is one of the Dodgers’ 13 best pitchers now, Roberts demurred.

“He is going to start the season in the rotation,” he answered –– not exactly a ringing endorsement of Sasaki’s form ahead of the season.

Alas, this is the approach the Dodgers have telegraphed all spring, taking the long view with two of their more promising young arms even if it means giving Opening Day opportunities to two bigger question marks.

Eventually, Ryan and Hurt should return to the majors. If all goes well, they could be key parts of the pitching staff come the stretch run of the season.

But for now, they’ll have to wait. In the end, workload calculations outweighed preseason performance.

As if there was any doubt, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner will start the first game of the year.

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced on Thursday that Paul Skenes will get the ball in New York to start Opening Day against the Mets.

“Duh,” the Pirates tweeted.

Duh. pic.twitter.com/aKIelvOpzj

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 19, 2026

Skenes tallied 1.97 ERA and struck out 216 batters in 187.2 innings, the most strikeouts but a Pirates starting pitcher in franchise history.

Skenes only allowed 31 earned runs and totaled a 0.95 WHIP en route to his first Cy Young.

The 2023 No. 1 overall pick and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year will make his second-career Opening Day start.

Skenes, 23, posted a 7.7 WAR last year and started his second-consecutive All-Star Game for the NL. 

He continues to accumulate accolades rarely seen in over 100 years. Skenes started two games for the United States in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, allowing one run over 8.1 innings.

Facing potentially the greatest lineup he’ll ever face against the Dominican Republic in the semifinals, Skenes allowed only one run in 4.1 frames. Outside of a Junior Caminero solo home run, Skenes silenced the Dominican Republic offense.

In 55 starts, Skenes owns a 21-13 record, 1.96 ERA, 386 strikeouts, 2.40 FIP, and a 0.948 WHIP.

Skenes starts game one of 162 at Citi Field on Thursday, March 26 at 1:15 p.m.

As the Mets continue to trim their roster ahead of Opening Day, they made four moves on Thursday.

Infielder Ronny Mauricio and right-handed pitcher Joey Gerber were optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Left-handed pitcher Brandon Waddell and right-handed pitcher Mike Baumann were reassigned to minor league camp.

Mauricio never really had a path to a spot on the Opening Day roster due to a full infield and the possibility that New York will not carry a backup shortstop.

The Mets' roster is at 42 with Opening Day one week away.

The Astros aren’t dead yet. 

It felt like the AL West would run through Houston forever. The Astros won seven consecutive division titles in non-COVID seasons, collecting three pennants and two World Series’ trophies between 2017 and 2024. Few teams had ever been more successful, and few teams had ever been more relevant. They were a mix of intoxicating tropes: the classic Worst To First, the contemporary Pioneers In Economics, and the forever elegant I’m Not Aware Of The Allegations. From doubted to destined to despised. 

To denied, in 2025. The Mariners yoinked the throne from behind over three nights in Houston. Their buttocks now shape the seat, paranoid thoughts of usurpation already taking hold. Who should dare challenge their new title? 

Well, perhaps still the Astros. They enter 2026 in the death throes of dynasty, but still contained within their hulking frame. They are projected 12th in the majors by FanGraphs Depth Charts, well behind the Mariners, but still above average, and very much in striking distance.

Position	Astros Projected WAR	Mariners Projected WAR	Edge
Catcher	3.0	6.1	Mariners
First Base	2.0	2.9	Mariners
Second Base	2.8	2.7	Astros
Shortstop	4.0	2.8	Astros
Third Base	4.1	3.0	Astros
Left Field	2.1	2.2	Mariners
Center Field	2.8	6.0	Mariners
Right Field	1.4	1.9	Mariners
Designated Hitter	3.8	1.5	Astros
Starting Pitching	11.1	14.3	Mariners
Relief Pitching	3.7	3.5	Mariners
Total	40.8	46.9	Mariners

The lineup is familiar. Jose Altuve is in the compiler stage of his Hall of Fame career, continuing to post solid but diminishing seasons, hoping to amass just enough value that future voters might look the other way. The same could be said for Carlos Correa, who was returned to sender (in a fair amount of bubble wrap) at the last trade deadline. Yordan Alvarez is back in action — his injury saga perhaps the difference in the AL West in 2025 — though he’s relinquished his status as the best left-handed hitter in baseball. Jake Meyers continues to roam the space where Tal’s Hill once lay, and Isaac Paredes continues to pepper the Crawford Boxes. Jeremy Peña should join them shortly. Really, it’s not that bad. No, seriously, the stain isn’t noticeable at all, don’t even worry about it. 

The pitching is less familiar. This is not the vaunted staff of Astros’ past, nor even the tepid encore of 2025. Hunter Brown and Bryan Abreu are great, but everyone else is hurt or unknown or lost to free agency. It’s tough to see the upside; it’s very easy to see the downside. The thing about pitching, of course, is everybody’s down side is the same. 

Premonitions have followed the Astros their entire competitive cycle. They’ve had projection lulls before and found new life. But where 2025 was the first year they weren’t obvious favorites, 2026 is the first year they’re projected below .500. It’s not clear where they plan to find more wins.And so they teeter, and so the totter, on the precipice of oblivion. Nobody knows what comes next. -RB

2026 FanGraphs Depth Charts projections: 80.5-81.5, 3rd in AL West, 35.0% playoff odds

2026 PECOTA projections: 85.0-77.0, 2nd in AL West, 53.3% playoff odds

If it all goes right

The Astros were a joke in 2012. But they weren’t laughing; they were planning. When their rise began in earnest in the summer of 2015, many of us still found it hard to take them too seriously. But by 2017, nobody could deny that they were a force to be reckoned with. For years after that, they were impossible, aggravating, and ever-present. They seemed wrapped in teflon, with scandal after scandal outraging so many of us but resulting in essentially no consequences.

Then, there was a moment. For one moment, it felt like it might finally be over. It was still a close race, but the Mariners came storming in and took the division crown, leaving the Astros out of the playoffs. Yet they finished 87-75, led the division deep into the summer, and weird circumstances intervened in ways that felt more like luck than justice. Certainly the 2025 Mariners division win was thrilling, but they were an imperfect vehicle for hope. We got the result we wanted, but not the reckoning. The Astros lost, but retained their core talent and hardly conceded.

Their comeback shouldn’t have felt as gobsmacking as it did. They were always lurking, and clearly a threat. But even though it was an obvious possibility, it was a little too horrible a thought to engage with. We wanted a little too badly to just move on.

But wanting it isn’t enough when the enemy has amassed too much power. Their 23-win April was immediate, horrifying, and inevitably powered by the guys who never had to face the music: Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa each had the best month of their careers, totaling a nauseating 16 home runs and 68 hits between them. The whole season was over before you could even catch your breath. The rest of the summer was a tour of vengeance, with Yordan Álvarez and Jeremy Peña taking the lead. Yes, the 2025 Astros had lost, but injuries to their core played too big a role to ignore in retrospect. Peña’s fractured rib wasn’t a reckoning, just a setback. It didn’t stop him from coming right back and putting up a full season at the 135 wRC+ he had in his partial season. No one was safe. Julio, robbed of four hits in the same game; Muñoz, taken deep three times to turn wins into blown saves; Woo, taking a 105-mph comebacker off his hand.

We’d seen it all before of course, and there was some emotional armor from that experience. But where worse came to worst was that it all looks so permanent. Hunter Brown, the heir to Verlander, opened Game 1 with six perfect innings before settling into a two-hit complete game, utterly dismantling the Dodgers—the best resistance the rest of MLB could put up. The extension he signed the day after he hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy will keep him in Houston for an additional six years. For a moment, it seemed like it might be over, but it hasn’t even started. 

We’ll carry on. The Mariners will too, continuing to put up their best. Because what other choice is there? But it’s the Astros’ world again, as it’s been for a decade, and after this, it feels like it will be forever. —ZAM

If it all goes wrong

When did the Roman Empire end? Was it Marcus Aurelius’s death, which ended the run of the Five Good Emperors? Was it the Crisis of the Third Century, when Rome went through 26 emperors in 50 years? How about the death of Theodosius I, when the Eastern and Western Empires permanently split? Or perhaps when Aetius was murdered, leading to the Vandals sacking Rome within a year? By the time the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by a Germanic chieftain, there was nothing left of Rome to fall. It was a climactic event, but things had been over for a while. It clarified what in retrospect should have been obvious.

With the Houston Astros falling to fourth place in 2026, the question is the same: when did it end?

The franchise once famous for taking nameless minor leaguers and turning them into stars just couldn’t pull it off anymore. Gone were the days of replacing Carlos Correa with Jeremy Peña. Instead, the franchise was replacing Kyle Tucker with Cam Smith. Smith’s rookie year was easy to write off, especially given how young he was. But his 41 wRC+ in the second half was the signal, not the noise, and by the 2026 All-Star break, he was back in AAA, where he carried a strikeout rate north of 30%. 

The franchise once boasted the most fearsome rotation in all of baseball, with a front three of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Zack Greinke. But 11 guys made more than five starts for them in 2025 and it only got worse this year. A mid-June labrum tear for Hunter Brown shattered the rotation into a mishmash of spot starts and bullpen days. NPB transplant Tatsuya Imai was the only player to make at least 20 starts, and while Joe Espada was grateful for the innings he ate, Imai’s ERA approached 5. Lance McCullers Jr. finally pitched again, but only for four innings before heading right back to the IL. It was a team that really could have used Framber Valdez, but they let him get scooped up by Detroit on a deal they could have afforded if they hadn’t spent so much on Christian Walker.

The last members of the dynasty—Peña and Yordan Álvarez—were the bright spots. Álvarez stayed on the field for a career-high 150 games, and Peña put together a second consecutive 5-WAR campaign. But the old hands showed their age, with Altuve batting under .250 for the first time in a full season and Correa having an on-again-off-again relationship with the IL and offering streaky performances when available.

It was so clear that these Astros were going nowhere that they did something they haven’t done in more than a decade: sell at the deadline. Mariners fans had a thrilling weekend when it looked like Seattle might be the team to get their best chip, Bryan Abreu—a moment to savor the true transition of power. But it’s hard to blame the Mariners for not wanting to give up the reported ask of Michael Arroyo for a rental. Ultimately, since Abreu hit free agency at the end of the year, Houston only got one backend top-100 prospect for all their trouble. So Mariners fans can take comfort in not having helped restore Houston’s farm system.

For four offseasons in a row, the AL West mantra has been: the Astros are both very good and also worse than they’ve been since 2014. Eventually, that worse and worse and worse boiled over. Headed into 2027, the new line is: the Astros are not very good. It’s been headed this way for a while, but only now is it finally clear. It’s finally time for the autopsy. —ZAM

For a team with as many established veteran players as the Phillies have, there were only a handful of roster battles taking place in Clearwater this spring.

Some of those battles are coming into sharper focus now.

The Phillies announced utility infielder/outfielder Dylan Moore triggered the player opt-out in his contract Thursday morning, which gives the team 48 hours to either add him to the 40-man roster, or release him, making him a free agent on Saturday.

There seems little doubt another team would snap him up if the Phils chose not to add him, and the move by Moore was expected. Moore is 7-for-31 this spring (.226 AVG), with just one extra base hit. But he’s shown good plate discipline and can play all over the field. The Phils currently have 39 players on the 40-man roster, so there would be room to add Moore if need be.

However, spring stalwart Bryan de la Cruz is battling Moore for that final bench spot and has had a fantastic spring. He leads the Phils with 12 hits in 37 ABs (.324) with a homer and a double, and is coming off a Dominican Winter League in which he took home MVP honors. But he is limited to a corner outfield spot, whereas Moore can play anywhere.

The smart money is for the Phillies to add Moore to the 40-man roster. Like Moore, de la Cruz also has an opt-out clause, but not until later this summer, presumably July. By sending de la Cruz to AAA to get regular at-bats, they can punt that decision and add Moore, keeping both players in the fold.

In terms of the bullpen, we know a few more names who won’t make the team out of Clearwater.

Prior to today’s game, the Phillies optioned RHP Seth Johnson to Lehigh Valley (AAA). Additionally, the following players were reassigned to minor league camp: LHP Tucker Davidson, C Paul McIntosh, C René Pinto and RHP Bryse Wilson.

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 19, 2026

Right-handed reliever Seth Johnson is the most notable name here. He was on the outside looking in at a bullpen spot, with left-hander Kyle Backhus all but assuring himself of a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. Should Orion Kerkering be on the 26-man roster when the team breaks camp, there would be room for one more reliever. Johnson, who didn’t give up many runs this spring (1.86 ERA), walked seven in 9.2 innings. He’ll continue to get more seasoning as he makes the transition from starter to reliever for the Iron Pigs.

Zach Pop and Chase Shugart are already on the 40-man roster and would appear to have the best chances of landing one of the final bullpen spots, and both could make the team if Kerkering is not ready for Opening Day.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

Spring training is a chaotic endeavor, particularly when betting. There are fewer markets available, and picking a moneyline winner can be stressful, especially when a team throws out a less-than-stellar bullpen to throw the whole wager in the bin.

I'm looking at a variety of moneyline MLB picks for my spring training predictions today, highlighting a favorite, a slight underdog, and a bit of a long shot on Thursday, March 19.

Spring Training predictions for March 19

Pick #1: Red Sox moneyline

With the exception of Roman Anthony not being in the lineup, the Boston Red Sox batting order looks close to what the Opening Day edition will be. 

Like Anthony, Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton won't be in the starting nine in the wake of the World Baseball Classic. They mostly cancel each other out, leaving Boston as the better offense from top to bottom.

Twins starter Mick Abel has been sharp this spring (1.35 ERA, 0.75 WHIP), and may seem the better choice over Brayan Bello (9.72 ERA, 1.68 WHIP), but the Red Sox righty has been a bit unlucky, as evidenced by an unsustainable .440 BABIP and his 3.55 FIP. He also allowed just one run and one hit in five innings at the WBC.

I want a better number than +120 on Minnesota if I'm taking the underdog here.

Pick #2: Astros moneyline

If Juan Soto isn't back in the New York Mets lineup tonight, then I'll feel even better about this.

Kodai Senga is an electric starter, but his struggles to stay on the field have limited him over the last calendar year. He's also thrown just 5 2/3 innings this spring, so New York is slow-playing the right-hander. He may not be in this game very long.

I'll take the plus money on the Houston Astros. This line may even tighten up if Soto doesn't play, so it's worth a sprinkle now.

Pick #3: Rockies moneyline

The Colorado Rockies are the long shots of the day. It makes sense. San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb is excellent. However, he also traditionally pitches to contact, and is prone to giving up runs in bunches when his defense can't make the plays behind him.

This also isn't at Coors Field, so I'm less concerned about Tomoyuki Sagano getting lit up by San Francisco's suspect lineup.

I like the value on +150 more than anything else here, but I'm also encouraged by several of Colorado's young hitters. 

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Who is he and where did he come from?

He’s Tommy Kahnle and, like most relievers in their mid-to-late 30s, he comes from all over the league. As one of the rare baseball players to grow up in upstate New York, Kahnle settled for Division II baseball in college before being selected by the Yankees in the 2010 amateur draft. But he made his big league debut with the Rockies, who swiped him from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft, and has since spent 11 years in the majors, dividing his time between Colorado, the South Side of Chicago, the Bronx, Chavez Ravine, the Bronx again, and Detroit. The Sox signed him to a minor league deal yesterday

Is he any good?

Kahnle was a big part of those Yankee super-bullpens of recent vintage, which is probably where you know him from. In fact, for the entire stretch between 2016 and 2024, Kahnle’s 3.11 ERA ranked 28th amongst relievers who threw at least 250 innings. He was a flat-out solid and dependable late-inning option for years, heavily relying on one of the game’s best changeups, which darts down and in on the arm-side. Earlier in his career he complemented that change with a fastball that approached 100 MPH, but that’s now down to the mid-90s.

Kahnle has battled injuries recently. From 2020 through 2023, he made just 14 appearances, missing significant time to both Tommy John surgery and subsequent forearm issues, and he then missed the first two months of the 2024 season with shoulder inflammation.

2025 was an up-and-down season for Kahnle in Detroit. He was outstanding for the first three months of the year, posting a 1.77 ERA in 35.1 innings pitched. But then he gave up five earned runs without recording a single out in his first appearance in July and looked cooked for the rest of the season, yielding 32 hits and 22 walks over 27.1 innings en route to an ugly 7.90 ERA. He made 32 appearances from July through the end of the season and gave up at least 1 run in 12 of them.

Tl;dr, just give me his 2025 stats.

63 IP, 51 H, 31 BB, 8 HR, 4.43 ERA

Show me a cool highlight.

Remember when I wrote that Kahnle relied heavily on his changeup? Well he once threw 61 of them in a row in 2024 playoffs while allowing just 2 earned runs over 8.2 innings.

Here’s a video of the first 56 of those:

What’s he doing in his picture up there?

Celebrating the fact that he now gets to join a bullpen with Garrett Whitlock, who, like him, is another quality reliever the Yankees lost in the Rule 5 draft. Lol, losers!

What’s his role on the 2026 Red Sox?

He’s signed to a minor league deal, but I fully expect him to be in the big league bullpen as soon as they deem him ready. He’ll start in a middle-innings role and whether he stays there will depend on whether he can figure out what went wrong in the second half of 2025.

Discuss the Cleveland Guardians’ Spring Breakout game below! Here is the starting lineup for the Guardians’ prospects:

Kahlil Watson CF

Cooper Ingle C

Ralphy Velazquez 1B

Milan Tolentino 3B

Angel Genao SS

Alfonsin Rosario RF

Jaison Chourio LF

Wuilfedo Antunez DH

Dauri Fernandez 2B

Yorman Gomez SP

Okay, so we’ve got to talk about Didier Fuentes. I think everybody here knows by now that spring training results should usually be taken with a grain of salt. The level of competition can vary from “everyday big league starter” to “ Guy who is really hoping to make it to Double-A this season” and then you also don’t know if the other player is working on something specific instead of going full tilt, themselves, so it’s not like there’s anything concrete that can be gleaned from spring training game results.

With that being said, holy smokes — Didier Fuentes has been on a tear. The Atlanta Braves are clearly very high on the guy as in their desperation during last season’s pitching injury debacle, he got the call-up to the bigs during his Age-20 start and made four starts during that span. Granted, they were four starts that ranged from “okay” to “disastrous” which showed that he clearly wasn’t ready for the big leagues at that point in time.

So now, his excellent performance during spring training (as noticed by Matt Powers in an article from earlier today) begs the question: Is he ready now? On its face, the answer to that question is still “No” but we’re officially in the territory of that answer being “Probably not” rather than “Absolutely not!” A lot of that has to do with the fact that Fuentes has reportedly taken leaps and bounds in development since the 2025 season ended. MLB.com Braves beat writer Mark Bowman talked with Braves pitching coach Jeremy Hefner last week about Fuentes and he did mention that while Fuentes is still a work in progress, things are starting to come together:

“He has three above-average pitches,” Braves pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. “The changeup is still coming in terms of location, but the shape is really good. He’s taken to this harder slider, and the fastball is real, obviously.”

The fastball is most certainly real — last season during his brief stint in the bigs, Fuentes averaged 96-mph with his four-seamer. That’s still above average for righties but not particularly eye-popping or anything like that. However, he’s been sitting at 97 here in spring training and as that linked article above mentioned, he reached 99 on the gun while striking out Yankees OF Cody Bellinger. Part of that may have been that Fuentes was amped up to be facing one of his favorite childhood teams in the Yankees and one of his favorite childhood players in Cody Bellinger but then you fast forward to Wednesday’s action and Fuentes was still sitting in the 97-mph range against Philadelphia’s organizational depth.

Still, even if the guys that Fuentes was facing at CoolToday Park weren’t exactly the formidable nine that you’ll expect to face on a typical night at Citizens Bank Park, it’s still impressive to look at his stuff on display. Plus, he did get to face guys like Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Randal Grichuk and Ryan McMahon during his start against the Yankees so he did show that he could get it doe against guys who have done it before in the bigs. That’s what makes it a bit impressive that Fuentes’ line so far in spring training has been 9 IP, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 hit-by-pitch, 17 strikeouts. Yes, you read that correctly: Fuentes has essentially pitched a complete no-hitter so far during spring training and has been dominant while doing so. Sheesh!

Like I mentioned earlier, a strong performance like this doesn’t guarantee that Fuentes will be breaking camp as part of the Opening Day rotation for the Braves. I’d imagine that the organization still wants him to get some seasoning in the minors before eventually calling him up for some more big league action. While I’m still very skeptical that he’ll make the Opening Day roster, I’m pretty certain that we’ll be seeing Fuentes again at some point down the road if needed in a spot start situation. I also have more faith now than last season that Fuentes would be able to pitch his way into sticking around.

So as far as right now is concerned, the minors better get ready to deal with this guy since he looks like he’s going to mow down hitters at that level here in 2026. Whether that’ll translate into big league success this year remains to be seen. Still, if you’re excited about seeing Didier Fuentes pitch soon, you’ve got very good reason to feel that way since he’s absolutely giving us fans a glimpse of what the future may hold for him as a starter for this Braves ballclub.

You’ve already seen Jefferson Rojas and Pedro Ramirez play for the Cubs this Spring Training. Both have hit well and Ramirez, in particular, has flashed some glove at third base, shortstop and second base.

In 14 MLB spring games this year, Ramirez is batting .357/.429/.607 (10-for-28) with a double, two home runs, 11 RBI and five stolen bases. Rojas, in 18 MLB spring games, is batting .227/.277/.523 (10-for-44) with four doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI.

Ramirez was added to the 40-man roster last November, and even though he’s not quite 22 (turns 22 on April 1), it’s not impossible that we might see him at Wrigley Field this year.

The two will lead a roster of top Cubs prospects against top Padres prospects in a game this Saturday at Sloan Park. Game time is 8:05 p.m. CT and the game will be televised via Marquee Sports Network. There will be a game thread here Saturday both for this game and the MLB Cubs vs. Mariners game at Peoria, scheduled for 8:10 p.m. CT.

Other top Cubs prospects on the Spring Breakout roster:

• Catcher Owen Ayers, who had a good showing in the Arizona Fall League
• Jonathon Long, who has returned from an early spring injury and is playing well again
• Brett Bateman, a speedy outfielder who is 8-for-18 with three steals in MLB spring games
• James Triantos, the team’s No. 10 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline

Here’s the complete Cubs Spring Breakout roster. The article has some more information about the game, the players, and how they were selected for this game.

There will be other Spring Breakout games in both Florida and Arizona beginning today. Here’s the entire Spring Breakout schedule, along with more information.

Earlier this month, Jurickson Profar shocked the baseball world with his incredibly foolish decision to take Performance-Enhancing Drugs the year after he had been suspended for 80 games in the past. Upon failing another test, Major League Baseball suspended Profar for the entirety of the 2026 regular season and Postseason.

However, the MLBPA did their due dilligence and launched an appeal and grievance on Profar’s behalf. While this was always a longshot, the hope was that the suspension could be reduced so that Profar could at least make some money from playing in games this season since PED suspensions are unpaid. Unfortunately for Profar, the appeal didn’t work. Jeff Passan of ESPN is reporting that the situation has been “resolved” and the result is that the suspension has been upheld and that Profar is officially done for 2026.

Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar will miss the entire 2026 season after his appeal of a positive PED test was resolved. He will serve a 162-game suspension for testing positive a second time and will be ineligible for postseason play.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 19, 2026

I can’t imagine that anybody is surprised by this turn of events. As I mentioned earlier when the suspension was initially announced, these types of appeals don’t usually go anywhere in terms of any substantial overturns. This was simply MLBPA doing what they could to support a union member — whether that union member made an incredibly dumb mistake or not. It was always very unlikely that Profar would get this overturned since MLB usually does a solid job of proving intent whenever this turns into an investigation.

The main thing that’ll come of this latest development is that the Braves now know that they’ll have $18 million to play with. Whether they use that now on another free agent who’s still available or wait until the trade deadline to use for any potential deals remains to be seen. For now, we now know officially that Profar won’t be on the field for a single pitch of this upcoming season and I’d imagine that it’s an open question as to whether or not Profar will put on a Braves uniform ever again. We’ll see what happens but we won’t be seeing Profar during the 2026 season, for sure.