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

Still one of MLB's best rosters, Phillies' World Series-or-bust season set to begin originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The end to incessant speculation and crystal-balling has nearly reached its end — Phillies Opening Day is about 24 hours away, 4:05 p.m. Thursday at Nationals Park.

It’s a now-or-never year for the Phillies, who have maintained the same core for four seasons and are unlikely to return the same cast of characters if it can’t make progress in 2025.

The offseason feels especially long when it follows a finish as disappointing as this group’s October 2024. One of the beautiful things about baseball is the opportunity to bounce back from a tough loss the next day, and the most difficult losses are unfortunately also the ones that send you home for six months.

But there was renewed optimism this spring in Clearwater. If you were to stack all 30 rosters against one another, the Phillies would be somewhere between second and fifth in any logical ranking and it’s hard to put them lower than third.

Having the roster to do it is one part. Staying healthy is another. Getting hot at the right time — as the Phillies did for stretches in October 2022 and 2023 and the Mets did last fall — is another.

We’ve seen the ceiling of this offense. We’ve seen the Phillies beat teams 10-0 in the playoffs, homer five times off of a starting pitcher. But the floor needs to be higher when hitters aren’t totally locked in, when the ball isn’t bouncing their way. Thus the annual emphasis of controlling the strike zone and utilizing the whole field.

On to some specifics:

The rotation

The Phillies’ rotation in D.C. will be Zack Wheeler on Thursday, Jesus Luzardo in Game 2 Saturday and Aaron Nola Sunday.

Cristopher Sanchez will start Monday’s home opener against the Rockies. Wheeler will start Wednesday, the fifth game of the season, on an extra day of rest. Taijuan Walker will start the next day to wrap up the Phils’ first home series.

And from there, the Phillies would likely go on turn until Ranger Suarez is ready, with Walker following Wheeler because of the early flip-flop.

The lineup

The Phillies face Nationals left-hander Mackenzie Gore on Opening Day. He has reverse platoon splits; lefties have hit .279 with an .816 OPS, righties have hit .253 with a .753 OPS.

As a result, there might be five lefties in the Phillies’ lineup against a left-handed starter: Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Max Kepler, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh.

The Phillies will play Kepler every day in left field. They’ve said they want to and will play Marsh more in center against lefties. But both will need to hold their own against same-handed pitching to show it’s not worth starting Edmundo Sosa or Johan Rojas over them more than occasionally.

As for the top of the order, the much-debated Schwarber vs. Trea Turner leadoff topic might conclude with the boring answer of “both.” Manager Rob Thomson has discussed potentially leading Turner off against a lefty, Schwarber against a righty.

The upside of moving Schwarber down a few spots is that two-thirds of his home runs as a Phillie have been solo shots, and the likelihood of him batting with men on base would be significantly higher a spot or two after Harper and Alec Bohm than a spot or two after the eight- and nine-hitters.

The downside of moving Schwarber down a few spots is that he led the NL in walks last season and had a .366 on-base percentage. Turner’s OBP as a Phillie has been .328. That needs to increase.

The injured list

Suarez will begin the year on the IL because of his back. The Phillies don’t think it’s a severe injury, but it’s another back issue for a pitcher who has dealt with several. He’ll need a few weeks to build back up once he’s throwing again, so Walker has a spot in the rotation for a little while.

Weston Wilson suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain the day before spring training games began and was expected to miss six weeks. This is about the four-week mark. Once Wilson is ready to ramp back up, the Phillies will let him find his timing at Triple A. He has a minor-league option remaining so he doesn’t need to be activated onto the big-league roster right when his rehab assignment is over if the Phils feel he does need more time. But his skill set is one they could sure use — right-handed bat with pop and speed who could realistically play six different positions.

Matt Strahm dealt with a left shoulder impingement early in camp and tore a fingernail packing his bags to leave Clearwater, but it sounds like he’ll be ready to go for Opening Day.

The division

The Braves will be better. Ronald Acuña Jr. is expected back from his ACL injury in May. Spencer Strider could be back in late April or May. Those two returns alone are equivalent to adding two $300 million players in free agency.

The 2024 Braves were ravaged by injuries and underperformance from players like Ozzie Albies, Sean Murphy and Matt Olson. Chris Sale and Marcell Ozuna vastly exceeded expectations. Overall, the Braves should be a 92-to-95-win team. Same for the Phillies.

The Mets are loaded, too, but have more questions on their pitching staff. There’s talent and upside, but their season-opening rotation projects as Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and David Peterson. While they’ll get Sean Manaea (oblique strain) and Frankie Montas (lat strain) back at some point, it still doesn’t look like a Top-10 rotation. The bullpen is just OK behind Edwin Diaz, whose fastball averaged 95 mph this spring compared to 97 previously. Maybe things break right in New York, maybe they’re shopping aggressively for pitching in June and July. The offense, specifically the top of their order, is going to do damage.

The NL East race should be tight all year, unlike 2024 when the Phillies led by at least five games every day after May 19.

The schedule

The first two series are on the lighter side against the Nationals and Rockies. Colorado has the inside track to being the National League’s worst team again this year.

That’s offset by the next two series, at home vs. the Dodgers and in Atlanta. Two fun early-season tests.

The Phillies see every team in the division in April, then face only the Braves in May around Memorial Day. They end the season with 20 NL East games in their final 35.

There are three West Coast trips — May 19-25 in Colorado and Sacramento, July 7-13 in San Francisco and San Diego leading into the All-Star break and September 15-21 in Arizona and Los Angeles.

The Phillies are, fortunately, middle of the pack in travel miles this year after going everywhere from Seattle to London in 2024.

The expectations

It’s World Series or bust, even with how much the Dodgers loaded up. Beating L.A. will be a monumental task for any team this season because the Dodgers don’t just have the superstars atop the lineup, they now also have a deep and high-ceiling rotation and three top-tier late-inning relievers in Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates.

But the Phillies are probably the most talented, deepest and well-balanced team after the Dodgers, in either league. Some clubs have better lineups, some have better overall pitching staffs, but the Dodgers and Phillies have the best combinations.

The Phils beat them five out of six games last year, which means nothing other than they know they have it in them. The timing of the two regular-season series — so early in April, then right before the regular season ends — should only add to the drama.

Melvin wants Giants to attack challenge of tough NL West in 2025 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — The memories probably will come flooding back when Buster Posey steps foot in Great American Ball Park on Thursday. It was home to one of the great comebacks in postseason history, sparked by Hunter Pence’s rousing speech in the visiting clubhouse. Posey’s grand slam in Game 5 of the National League Division Series in 2012 capped the comeback, which led to a second title in three years. 

That comeback was a reminder that anything can happen in a short series. If you catch fire for a week, or even just for 27 innings, you can exceed expectations. Get everything clicking for a few weeks at exactly the right time and you might find yourself in a parade.

The problem this season for the Giants, now run by Posey, won’t be imagining what they can do in a short series. It’ll be getting to one in the first place.

Entering the season, just about everyone will pick them to finish fourth in their own division. That’s not a path to the postseason, which means they’ll have to vault one of three contenders ahead of them. Nobody is going to catch the reigning champs, who added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, and will get Shohei Ohtani back on the mound in a couple of months. The Arizona Diamondbacks are a popular dark horse pick in the NL, and they now have Corbin Burnes alongside Zac Gallen. The San Diego Padres had a messy offseason, but the top of their rotation is strong and the lineup features Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill. 

The NL West might be the best division in baseball. And Bob Melvin wants his team to embrace that.

“You have to be inspired to play against teams like that,” he said on Wednesday’s “Giants Talk” podcast. “The Dodgers are probably as close to a super team as you have right now in baseball, but you know what, you get motivated to play against those guys, and then the rivalry comes into play, too. That even inspires you more to play good against those good teams, and if you beat them — which we expect to stand up against all these teams — especially with the younger guys, the confidence grows.

“Now all of a sudden you look forward to playing in those tight games, packed houses at our place, packed houses at Dodger Stadium. And you gain a lot of confidence from that. We’re not going to back down to anybody. We know our division is tough, but it’s kind of cool that we’re playing a lot of good teams in our division. We feel like we’re going to stack up well.”

Spring is a time to be that optimistic. It’s also a time to set the tone, and that’s what Posey attempted to do when he spoke to the full team at the start of camp. Four years ago, Posey returned from a year off and encouraged his teammates to make the division title their first goal. That surprised the coaching staff, but the Giants went out and won 107 games, one more than Los Angeles. This spring, Posey again reminded the players that the first priority is always to win your division.

“I don’t think the years after (2021) we had the same message. I don’t know why,” Logan Webb said. “I can’t explain why, but I think getting back to that, if you go back to that year, I think (the projections) probably were 80 wins. It’s kind of the same thing right now. There’s not a lot of people who think we can do it (but) winning is contagious. You win a couple and they start piling up and all of a sudden you win 107 games.

“I don’t necessarily think we should shoot for a number. It’s just go out there and play as hard as we can every single day. I think when you do that, good things happen, and you’re fighting and scrapping until the end to try to win the division. Once you do that, you give yourself a chance to try to win a World Series.”

This year’s projections again have the Giants in that 80-win range. FanGraphs currently has them going 81-81, with a 29 percent chance of making the playoffs and a 2.4 percent chance of winning the West. The Dodgers are overwhelming favorites, given an 86 percent chance of winning the division, by far the highest in baseball. They’re 2-0 already after starting the season in Japan, and nobody would be surprised if they go wire-to-wire en route to 110-plus wins.

FanGraphs has the Diamondbacks as a playoff team but the Padres just percentage points ahead of the Giants. PECOTA has the Giants well behind all three, with a win projection of just 77. Its calculations have all three teams ahead of the Giants projected to make the postseason.

“Our division is no joke,” Matt Chapman said. 

But, he added …

“There are four teams that could win any division, I think.”

Chapman is one of the biggest reasons why Webb, who has experienced the postseason just once in his career, is confident that winning ways are returning. He noted that when he looks back at 2021, he realizes how important it was for someone like Posey to lead the charge. In Chapman and Willy Adames, the Giants feel they have similar leaders. 

“I think getting back to that is really important,” Webb said.

The staff ace will take the ball Thursday, but it’ll be some time before the Giants get to test themselves against the three contenders in the West. They open with a trip to Cincinnati and Houston, and the first homestand brings the Seattle Mariners and another round with the Reds. 

The Giants don’t face an NL West team until late April, and that’s just a two-game trip to Petco Park. In May, they’ll see the Colorado Rockies and Diamondbacks, but it’s not until June 13 that they get a first look at this version of the Dodgers. The best team in baseball doesn’t come to Oracle Park until July.

If the Giants truly can surprise the industry and hang on, they’ll get a chance to prove themselves against the NL West’s best when it matters most. In September, they have a two-week stretch when they play only the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. 

There’s a long, long way to go until the Giants get there, and the start of their season isn’t easy by any means, even if they are avoiding their division. The second road trip includes series against the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, and they also will see the Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers early on.

The NL West discussions will be put on the back burner, at least for a few weeks. Melvin hopes his group gets off to a good start and gets used to winning, which will allow them to take more confidence into all those divisional battles. After that, you never know. He pointed out that he was part of a Padres team that knocked off the Dodgers in October, and a year later the Diamondbacks did the same thing.

“Last year was probably the first year in quite some time that — with the Yankees and Dodgers — two big spenders were actually in the World Series,” Melvin said. “It doesn’t guarantee anything, and with as many teams that can get into the playoffs now, a lot of it is who is playing well towards the end of the season.”

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World Series champion Dodgers to visit White House next month originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

In World Series tradition, the Los Angeles Dodgers have accepted their invitation to visit President Donald Trump and White House next month on April 7.

In a social media post Tuesday the team wrote it “look[s] forward to visiting the White House and celebrating our title.”

Select players and personnel will visit Capitol Hill the following day on April 8.

Franchise shortstop Mookie Betts told reporters Tuesday he was undecided if he would visit the White House with the team and needed to talk it over with his family first.

Betts did not visit the White House in 2019 with the Boston Red Sox following their World Series victory during Trump’s first term. He did join the Dodgers on their 2021 White House visit while Joe Biden was president.

The visit will coincide with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals.

The New York Rangers couldn’t salvage an opportunity to gain ground in the playoff picture as they lost 3-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. 

Through the first 20 minutes of play, the Kings dominated possession time and the Rangers only recorded two shots, but the score remained 0-0. 

J.T. Miller opened up the scoring in the second period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Blueshirts, they did not take advantage of that lead.

The Rangers committed three penalties in the second frame, resulting in two goals for Los Angeles. 

The Kings won the special teams battle and that’s what ultimately led to the Rangers’ downfall. 

Igor Shesterkin displayed yet another valiant effort, recording 30 saves on 32 shots, which is why his teammates feel like they let him down in a way. 

“He was spectacular, kept us in the game,” Vincent Trocheck said of Shesterkin. “It almost goes unappreciated since you almost expect every night out of him, but he’s obviously a world-class goalie and shows it night in and night out.”

The Rangers feel like they did enough to win the game. However, there’s a sense of frustration with the losses continuing to pile up, especially at this point of the year when every point is critical. 

“It gets tiring because I feel like over the last few weeks we’ve been playing some good hockey, but we are still losing,” Mika Zibanejad said. “Find a way to lose. It’s hard to look at the positives.”

The Rangers will be back in action on Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks. 

Mookie Betts’ trademark smile is back. As he walked off the field on his way back to the Dodgers clubhouse, he was in good spirits after his pregame warmup, exclaiming, “I feel great. Awesome. Normal.”

For Betts, Tuesday marked a return to normalcy, with the star shortstop back in the lineup against the Angels. Betts was slated to get “three at-bats, play four or five innings of defense,” according to manager Dave Roberts.

Coming back from his stomach ailment, Betts played into the sixth inning of the Dodgers' 4-1 victory over the Angels. He finished 0-for-3 with a couple of groundouts and a foul out to first base.

Betts emphasized that his main focus is simply “to play baseball.” He added, “I still don’t know how long, how many days it’s been — just to play baseball and try to get back into a rhythm."

It's been nearly two weeks since Betts last took the field, and while he acknowledges there's not much time to get back into game shape, he's undoubtedly confident he'll be ready for the home opener against the Detroit Tigers.

"Yeah, I played in the game," Betts said with a chuckle. "Once I step foot on the dirt, I'm ready to go."

Betts has been battling a stomach illness since the Dodgers’ trip to Tokyo, where he was sent home early. He reassured everyone that his only physical issue was his stomach and the weight he lost, remaining strong as ever.

The medication prescribed by the team doctors has been effective in the days since he started taking it, and he has also identified what foods to avoid — though he kept those details private, saying, "I'll keep that in house."

Since then, he has worked to regain weight — a process Roberts said has progressed in recent days, as Betts has been able to hold down food and manage his dehydration from the weight loss.

“All signs point toward we’ve turned a corner, and we feel good about where he’s at for tonight,” Roberts said before the game.

There was consideration of shutting Betts down, according to Roberts, but the team is taking a day-to-day approach. After discussions with Betts, the training and coaching staff agreed that "the right thing for him to do is to take good at-bats rather than not play."

His return to the lineup just days before the home opener is a positive sign that he’s on the mend. The team will evaluate his condition Wednesday to determine if he’ll play against the Detroit Tigers.

“I know Mookie’s expectation is to be in there on opening day,” Roberts said.

Dustin May's final spring training start

It has been nearly two years since Dustin May started at the big league level. A battle with injuries — and a near-death experience — has cost him a substantial portion of his career.

The typically fiery pitcher kept his composure in his final spring training outing, tossing five innings while giving up just one run on one hit and striking out six Angels batters, effectively using his breaking ball. He even took a line drive to the backside from a Tim Anderson line-up drive in the fourth and finished the inning.

“It was really, really good to get back on a big league field, feel the energy, feel the stands and just get back into an actual big league game,” May said, acknowledging the feelings on being on a major league mound.

“There was a lot of emotions going through the head… But definitely looking forward to my next one, Dodger Stadium, that one's gonna hit home a little bit more,” May said, looking toward the regular season.

Now the Dodgers' fifth starter, May is tentatively set to pitch in the team's second home series of the season against the Atlanta Braves — a moment he has been anticipating for what felt like an eternity.

“There’s gonna be a lot going through my mind because of all the time I’ve had to think about it,” May said. “I was waiting for 13 months, and then the esophagus thing happened, and that changed my perspective on a lot of things in life.”

Read more:After near-death experience, Dustin May thrilled to be pitching: 'Like a new beginning'

Being added to the rotation is monumental for May, reflecting the hard work he's put in. “The last three, four years that I haven't really been able to play are kind of paying off in this moment,” he said.

His journey back to the mound in a Dodgers uniform has been a testament to his resilience, and Roberts has seen firsthand the determination that brought him to this point.

“The main thing I’ve seen from Dustin is that he’s managing his emotions better,” Roberts said before the game, praising May’s mental approach.

From a mechanical standpoint, Roberts has noticed May’s growth from a pitcher who once let things “sort of spiral” when he lost command to one who can now regroup and get the outs he needs.

May will take the mound in the final spring training game against the Angels, with Roberts saying he will pitch about five innings.

“We got to the finish line as far as spring training, and he'll gear up for the Braves," Roberts said after the game. "He's put a lot of work into this, and I’m really proud. He said he's ready to go."

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers will visit the White House during their trip to Washington next month to face the Nationals, the team announced Tuesday, continuing a tradition for championship teams of the United States’ major sports leagues.

“It’s certainly a huge honor to get the invitation to the White House,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Allows us to celebrate our 2024 championship.”

The visit, scheduled for April 7, will mark the Dodgers’ second trip to the White House in the last five years. In 2021, the team’s 2020 World Series title was celebrated by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

This time, the Dodgers will be welcomed by President Trump — which, given past comments some team members have made, raised questions in the wake of Tuesday’s announcement about whether anyone might decline to take part in the event.

Roberts said he would participate, despite comments he made to The Times in 2019 indicating he might not go to the White House if Trump — who was notoriously critical of Roberts’ managing on Twitter during the 2018 World Series — was president.

“I respect the position,” Roberts said Tuesday, confirming his attendance for next month’s trip. “It’s the highest office in our country certainly, in the world. So I’m looking forward to it.”

Read more:Dodgers manager Dave Roberts would like a White House invitation to decline

Kiké Hernández also said he was planning to go, something he said in 2018 he was unsure he would have done had the Dodgers won the World Series the previous year. Hernández, who was not with the Dodgers for their 2021 White House visit after signing with the Boston Red Sox the previous offseason, noted this year might be his last chance to experience a White House trip.

Mookie Betts, on the other hand, said he was undecided if he would make this year’s White House visit, and that he needed to talk it over with his family first.

After winning his first World Series title with the Red Sox in 2018, Betts skipped their trip to the White House the following year during Trump’s first term, along with Boston manager Alex Cora and All-Star teammate pitcher David Price. Betts did take part in the Dodgers’ visit in 2021 with President Biden.

During Trump’s first term, several sports teams, including the Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia Eagles, did not make White House visits amid a threat of boycotts from their players.

Leading up to Tuesday’s announcement, however, Roberts said there “wasn't a formal conversation that we had as a ballclub” about whether the Dodgers would make a White House visit this year.

The team’s statement noted it was “keeping with long-standing baseball tradition” by visiting the White House. Baseball teams have made White House visits as far back as the 19th century, and championship winners in all sports began receiving regular invitations during Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s.

Roberts was asked Tuesday about a recent baseball-related controversy involving the Trump administration. Last week, the Department of Defense removed — before later republishing — an article from its website detailing Jackie Robinson’s history of military service in what appeared to be part of the administration’s stance against diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives.

Roberts said he was “happy that the page went back up” but didn’t offer any further opinions.

“I have my strong opinions on DEI and all that stuff,” he said, “but that's another scrum."

In addition to their White House visit on April 7, Dodgers team members also will visit Capitol Hill on April 8.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo drop a supersized 2025 season preview episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, as special guest Gary Cohen stops by the show!

The guys chat with SNY’s Mets play-by-play broadcaster about Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, the situation at second base, the state of the starting rotation, high expectations for the team, and what he’s looking forward to most in what will be the 20th year of Mets baseball on SNY!

Later, Connor and Joe take the temperature of the starting rotation, bullpen, lineup, and defense of the Mets heading into the regular season, drop their 2025 season predictions that always will be fun to review in the future, and answer Mailbag questions about prospects, Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuña, future live shows, and the health of Brandon Nimmo.

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Yankees played one last exhibition game ahead of the 2025 regular season, falling to the Miami Marlins, 4-2, at loanDepot park on Tuesday afternoon.

Here are the takeaways…

-The Yankees rolled out a lineup that will likely be very similar, if not identical, to what they’ll use on Opening Day against Milwaukee. Here’s a look:

Quick stop in Miami before heading north 👊#RepBXpic.twitter.com/fDYAnb8BU0

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 25, 2025

Aaron Boone has already announced that Austin Wells will hit leadoff to start the season, and if there is one potential change for Thursday, it could be Ben Rice or J.C. Escarra serving as the DH, with Aaron Judge in center.

-Cody Bellinger was hitting behind Judge in the order, as will likely be the case for most of the season, and Bellinger got the offense started with a solo home run to center field in the first inning.

Bellinger finished his spring with four home runs and a 1.214 OPS.

-Speaking of Judge, the slugger ended what was a spring to forget by going 0-for-2 with a strikeout. Judge hit .121 this spring with a .510 OPS.

-Will Warren’s final start before the regular season didn’t exactly go as planned. The young righty, who will start the fourth game of the season against Arizona, allowed four earned runs on five hits over 3.2 innings, striking out six and walking two while giving up a pair of home runs.

Warren, now a key member of the rotation following injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt, finished his spring with a 5.09 ERA

-Left-handed reliever Ryan Yarbrough, recently signed by the Yanks, pitched a clean inning in his team debut.

Who was the game MVP?

Bellinger, who had two more hits to finish his spring with a .423 batting average.

Highlights

Cody Crush 💪#RepBXpic.twitter.com/VNNhIk3cs5

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 25, 2025

What's next

That's a wrap for spring training.

The Yankees open their regular season at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday at 3:05 p.m.

Carlos Rodon will face Freddy Peralta.

Giants notes: Ex-Athletics standout Trivino set for MLB return originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — This offseason, as Lou Trivino went over his options with family members and his agents, the Giants always looked like a great fit. Trivino came up with the Athletics and spent parts of five seasons across the Bay, where he was in the same dugout as Bob Melvin, Matt Chapman, Ryan Christenson and Matt Williams. 

The Giants made a lot of sense as a spring training home, but Trivino didn’t quite realize what he was signing up for. 

The battle to make the pitching staff was a heated one, with Sean Hjelle, Tristan Beck and Kyle Harrison among those who ended up in Triple-A. The final spots in the bullpen came down to Trivino, Spencer Bivens, Randy Rodriguez and newcomer Joel Peguero, who throws an easy 101 mph and had just about a perfect spring. It appears Rodriguez will get a spot, with Peguero going to Triple-A. 

“To be perfectly honest, I didn’t realize how talented this bullpen was until I got here,” Trivino said Tuesday. “Then I got here and I was like, ‘Jeez, this is going to be a tough task.'”

It all worked out in Trivino’s favor, and on Tuesday he was added to the Giants’ 40-man roster and the big league bullpen. The 33-year-old will pitch in the big leagues for the first time since 2022. The next year, he suffered an elbow strain and ultimately had Tommy John surgery, which cost him the first four months of 2024, too. 

Trivino said he was not surprised to make the Opening Day roster. The goal was to get back to the big leagues, but it still was gratifying news given what he has been through the last two seasons. 

“When it does happen, it’s pretty special,” he said. 

Trivino returned to the mound last August as a New York Yankees minor leaguer but said he never felt right. It was a grind, but this spring he felt like his old self. As a rookie for Melvin in 2018, he posted a 2.92 ERA in 69 appearances. There were ups and downs after that, but he was AL Reliever of the Month in June of 2021 and the next year he had a 1.66 ERA after a midseason trade to the Yankees. 

Trivino sat at 97-98 mph in those early years in Oakland and topped out in triple-digits. He always has thrown five different pitches and at times has gone beyond that, but this spring he was at his best when narrowing his focus. He threw 95-mph sinkers, a hard cutter and a sweeper on Monday, pitching a scoreless inning in what ended up being his final appearance before officially going back on a roster.

Trivino always seemed like a strong bet in the race for bullpen spots, but Melvin said his past history didn’t sway the decision. The Athletics connections helped get him to San Francisco. The rest was done on the mound this spring. 

“Nothing was given to him,” Melvin said. “We had to send some guys down here recently that were part of this team last year. He had to earn it.”

The Other Side

To clear the 40-man roster spot for Trivino, the Giants DFA’d infielder David Villar, who played 109 games in the big leagues the last three seasons. Villar was once the frontrunner at third base, but he couldn’t hold that job and Chapman now has it locked down for years to come. Villar also plays first, but he was behind Wilmer Flores and Jerar Encarnacion all spring. 

At the start of camp, Melvin said he hoped Villar viewed it as a way to audition for other clubs if he didn’t crack the Opening Day roster. He is out of options, so the Giants couldn’t send him back to Triple-A. 

“I hope he gets a big league job and I hope a change of scenery is good for him,” Melvin said. “There’s still talent there, there’s a tremendous amount of power, he can play first and third.”

The Giants still are finalizing their bench, but they have prioritized players who can handle middle infield and outfield spots.

Trainer’s Room

Encarnacion was supposed to have surgery on his fractured finger on Monday, but a travel issue caused a delay. The Giants are hopeful he’ll get it repaired later this week in Los Angeles, and they’ll have a more accurate timetable for his return after the procedure. 

Jung Hoo Lee (back tightness) was in the lineup for a third straight game, clearing a path to start in Cincinnati on Thursday. Elsewhere on the back injury front, catcher Tom Murphy is seeking another opinion after having two epidural shots. He’s in a holding pattern and is a candidate to start the year on the 60-day IL. 

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The Mets unveiled their new blue alternate road jerseys early in the offseason, but that's not the only big change coming to their uniforms for the 2025 MLB season.

The road gray uniforms are also getting an update.

The jersey will have the same classic "NEW YORK" across the chest in blue with an orange outline, but the collar and sleeve trim will have royal blue/orange/royal blue stripes.

Meanwhile, the pants will be adding the same new royal blue/orange/royal blue stripes down the side.

Here's a look at the new jersey -- unveiled at Citi Field on Tuesday -- and a look at the what the full uniform will look like, via UniWatch:

An in-person look at the Mets’ 2025 primary road uniforms pic.twitter.com/uZwU98HCyF

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 25, 2025

The Mets will have updated road uniforms for the 2025 season, as confirmed by @UniWatch

The new look will feature blue and orange stripes on the sleeves and collar, plus the same stripes on the pants

Thoughts on the updates? 👀 pic.twitter.com/LKs0ao52x0

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 4, 2025

The blue piping that had been on the middle of the road jerseys has been removed, while the blue piping that was on the side of the pants has been replaced by the royal blue/orange/royal blue stripe.

The blue/orange/blue trim style of the new gray road jerseys and pants is similar to the trim the Mets had on their road and home uniforms from 1978 to 1981.

The Mets' black alternate home jersey/cap and pinstripe home uniform will be unchanged for the 2025 season.

With each MLB team allowed five uniforms, the Mets' current uniforms are:

Home pinstripe
Road gray
Black alternate (home)
Blue alternate (road)
City Connect (home)

The above means the Mets' home blue alternate jersey will not be in the rotation this season.

Jimmy Rollins has his choice for who should be batting leadoff for Phillies originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

A leadoff hitter has the potential to set an immediate tone when stepping into the box for the first time.

And Jimmy Rollins certainly knows a thing or two about what it means to have your name sit at the top of a batting order … considering nearly 70 percent of his games played as a Phillie placed him first in the lineup.

Rollins, the Phillies’ all-time hits leader, who also has the most leadoff home runs in franchise history (46), sat down with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark and shared who his choice would be if he had a say in constructing the 2025 lineup.

“I would like to see (Trea Turner) lead off, get him a chance to get on base,” Rollins said on the Takeoff podcast. “Run the bases, put pressure on for the big boys, when (Bryce Harper) gets up there and (Kyle Schwarber) hitting those bombs. That’s what I would like, but I don’t make those decisions, that’s above my pay grade.”

Since the Phillies signed Turner to an 11-year, $300 million contract in December 2022, the leadoff spot has been one of the most debated topics surrounding the offense.

Schwarber, who will be a free agent at the end of the 2025 season, has been a non-conventional approach at the top of the order. Where he lacks in speed, he’s makes up for it with immediate impact. In the leadoff spot in 2024, Schwarber led the league in walks and broke an MLB record with leadoff home runs in a single season (15).

But does having that power from the jump actually help or hinder the club?

“Schwarber is a good hitter, he’s patient at the plate,” Rollins said. “But when he’s on base in front of Trea, that kind of slows Trea down for obvious reasons. Why not turn those home runs into two- and three-run home runs?

“I know they say you lead off once a game but it does change the way a pitcher and the other team sets up how they face the lineup. When you have speed at the top and power throughout, it’s different than having power in the beginning — which they have power all throughout — but there’s an attack plan from the first batter.

“I still like setting up a guy that can hit a ball in the gap, you’re still going to get more hits than home runs. You hit the ball in the gap, Trea scores. Trea hits a ball in the gap, Schwarber’s not scoring. And that’s what I like.”

It’s still up in the air who will hold the leadoff spot when the Phillies head to Washington Thursday to open the season against the Nationals. There’s also the possibility of alternating the two, depending on the opposing pitcher.

Only a few more days until hypotheticals turn into something more tangible.

You can listen to the full Takeoff episode now or watch below:

Just days before Phillies Opening day, John Clark sits down with Jimmy Rollins to discuss who should lead off for the Phillies this season and if the Phils are the team to beat in the NL East. Plus, we look ahead to J-Roll being inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame this season.

00:00 – Jimmy Rollins
00:31 – Who’s leading off?
05:19 – Staying hot in the playoffs
08:14 – Who’s the team to beat?
09:50 – Phillies Wall of Fame
13:13 – Dick Allen going into the Hall of Fame