Category: Sports News

The Tigers’ roster for their Spring Breakout game on March 20, featuring top prospects in a battle of farm systems, was released on Thursday. There aren’t too many big surprises, but two names in particular caught our eye immediately. 2025 first round pick, shortstop Jordan Yost, will make his public debut for the Tigers in the game, as will top international free agent prospect, Cris Rodriguez, who has yet to play in the United States after spending last summer playing in the Dominican Summer League and making a pretty impressive showing. Beyond those two, Competitive Round A selection Michael Oliveto will make his pro debut along with Yost. This will be the first televised look at all three relatively new additions to the farm system.

The Breakout series has become the launching point for prospects over the past few years. We got our first look at shortstop prospect, 3rd ranked overall in the system, Bryce Rainer, in this game last spring. It was an incredibly impressive showing from Rainer, foreshadowing his fine pro debut prior to the shoulder injury in May.

Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, Josue Briceño, Thayron Liranzo, and most of the Tigers top prospects who are healthy are expected to participate. That won’t include Hao-Yu Lee, as the infielder was returned to Lakeland by Team Taiwan after suffering an oblique strain preparing for the World Baseball Classic.

Briceño’s status is less clear, but after going on the injury report earlier this week with right wrist inflammation, there are fears that he might require surgery. As with Troy Melton’s elbow inflammation, it takes time to relieve the inflammation in order to get good imaging of the problem. It could be anything from a mild tendon or ligament sprain, to the dreaded hamate fracture. We’ll just hope for the best there.

Bryce Rainer is also not listed. He had surgery for a separated shoulder in May of 2025 after a ill-fated dive back to first base. His status is currently unknown, although he’s been working in minor league camp this spring.

The Tigers matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates is set for March 20 at 7:35 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on MLB Network. That game should feature baseball’s top prospect, Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin. These have been really fun the first few years since the introduction of the Spring Breakout series in 2024. Older high end prospects only play in major league camp where we see them in spring training, but for much of the farm system, the Spring Breakout game is our first look at them headed into the new season.

Tigers Spring Breakout roster release. pic.twitter.com/sT2Qf2Jey9

— Emily Waldon (@EmilyCWaldon) March 5, 2026

The hottest prospects that the Atlanta Braves have to offer are set to face off against the New York Yankees and their collection of farm system talent on March 21 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. We knew the date and the time (6:35 p.m. ET, to be exact) but we didn’t know the rosters until recently.

Now, we have a close idea of who the Braves will be sending to Tampa to take on the Yankees and it’s a veritable who’s who of top Braves prospects and recent draft picks.

91 Top 100 prospects
97 first-round picks
23 countries and territories represented

Here are the preliminary rosters for 2026 Spring Breakout: https://t.co/JVck4o4bgypic.twitter.com/piivfne1Mm

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 5, 2026

Most of Atlanta’s Top 30 prospects (according to MLB Pipeline) will be on the initial 40-man roster. That means that we’ll be seeing Cam Caminiti, JR Ritchie, Didier Fuentes, John Gil, Alex Lodise and Tate Southisene in action, among plenty of other top prospects for the Braves. For some reason, MLB has gone with the approach of having each team declare an initial 40-man roster of prospects before initially cutting it down to 27 players by March 16. I can’t tell you why they’re doing this (maybe it’s a bit of preparation for when Spring Breakout moves to a tournament format for 2027 and 2028) but it’ll certainly be interesting to see who makes the cut between now and then.

I’d say that it’s a safe bet that the names I mentioned above will likely make it as well. The only question is whether or not the ones on the edge of MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 rankings will make it or not. Still, I’d imagine that we have a very good idea of who’s going to be playing on March 21 in Tampa. Who do you think will make the cut? Let us know what you think!

Major League Baseball on Thursday announced preliminary rosters for spring breakout games, the annual showcase of minor league prospects playing games in big league spring training stadiums.

Included on the Dodgers’ spring breakout roster for their game on March 21 against White Sox prospects at Camelback Ranch are top prospects Josue De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, Zyhir Hope, Mike Sirota, and Emil Morales.

River Ryan is in the mix for an early-season spot in the Dodgers’ major league rotation, but also is still technically a prospect and technically included here, along with more traditional prospects Jackson Ferris, Christian Zazueta, and Adam Serwinowski.

Shortstop Alex Freeland and reliever Kyle Hurt are also vying for a major league roster spot but as prospects are also included in this pool for potentially appearing in the spring breakout game. Same for Ryan Ward, who is on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster but hasn’t yet made his major league debut.

Spring breakout rosters will be trimmed to 27 players on March 16.

The Dodgers’ top four draft picks from 2025 — pitchers Zach Root and Cam Leiter, and outfielders Charles Davalan and Landyn Vidourek — are on the spring breakout preliminary roster, as are the Dodgers’ first draft picks from 2021 (pitcher Maddux Bruns), 2023 (outfielder Kendall George) and 2024 (shortstop Kellon Lindsey).

Dodgers preliminary spring breakout roster

• Left-handed pitchers (6): Maddux Bruns, Jackson Ferris, Cody Morse, Sterling Patick, Zach Root, Adam Serwinowski
• Right-handed pitchers (10): Kyle Hurt*, River Ryan*, Patrick Copen, Cam Day, Carson Hobbs, Cam Leiter, Payton Martin, Marlon Nieves, Lucas Wepf, Christian Zazueta
• Catchers (3): Gio Cueto, Francisco Espinoza, Victor Rodrigues
• Infielders (9): Alex Freeland*, Moises Bolivar, Chase Harlan, Elijah Hainline, Kellon Lindsey, Noah Miller, Emil Morales, Joendry Vargas, Logan Wagner
• Outfielders (12): Ryan Ward*, Charles Davalan, Josue De Paula, Zach Ehrhard, Kendall George, Zyhir Hope, Ching-Hsien Ko, Eduardo Quintero, Mike Sirota, James Tibbs III, Brendan Tunink, Landyn Vidourek

*on 40-man roster

The Dodgers’ spring breakout game on March 21 is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., though that could be subject to slight change considering the Dodgers’ big league team plays a Cactus League game against the A’s that starts at noon. MLB Network will televise the Dodgers-White Sox spring breakout game, and it will be streamed on Amazon and on MLB.tv.

MLB’s third annual MLB Spring Breakout game is scheduled for March 19-22.

Growing in popularity, the four-day event features top prospects from every team in 16 exhibition games. Tampa Bay’s prospects will play Thursday, March 19 at the Mets (Clover Park — St. Lucie, FL) at 7:10 PM. The game will be broadcast for free in the MLB App, and will be carried by MLBN, SNY, and Amazon.

The Rays Preliminary 40-man player pool, with overall rankings via MLB Pipeline Rays Top 30 Prospects list, is as follows:

PITCHERS (11)
Anderson Brito, RHP, No. 6
Alex Cook, RHP
Michael Forret, RHP, No. 8
Gary Gill Hill, RHP, No. 27
Trevor Harrison, RHP, No. 16
Brody Hopkins, RHP, No. 3/MLB No. 85
Ty Johnson, RHP, No. 18
TJ Nichols, RHP, No. 7
Joe Rock, LHP
Santiago Suarez, RHP, No. 9
Jose Urbina, RHP, No. 17

CATCHERS (4)
Caden Bodine, C, No. 13
Nathan Flewelling, C, No. 11
Dominic Keegan, C, No. 20
Tatem Levins, C

INFIELDERS (15)
Jadher Areinamo, INF, No. 15
Andreimi Antunez, SS
Gregory Barrios, SS
Cooper Flemming, SS, No. 28
Taitn Gray, 1B, No. 30
Xavier Isaac, 1B, No. 14
Cooper Kinney, INF
Tre’ Morgan, 1B/OF, No. 19
Daniel Pierce, SS, No. 5
Emilien Pitre, 2B/SS
Narciso Polanco, INF
Adrian Santana, SS
Will Simpson, 1B
Brayden Taylor, INF
Carson Williams, SS, No. 1/MLB No. 63

OUTFIELDERS (10)
Slater de Brun, OF, No. 10
Homer Bush Jr., OF, No. 25
Theo Gillen, OF, No. 2/MLB No. 76
Brailer Guerrero, OF, No. 24
Mac Horvath, OF
Jacob Melton, OF, No. 4
Dean Moss, OF, No. 29
Austin Overn, OF, No. 26
Aidan Smith, OF, No. 12
Brendan Summerhill, OF, No. 21

How to watchall games:

3/19 Reds at Giants Scottsdale Stadium (Scottsdale, AZ) 4:05 PM MLBN, NBC Sports Bay Area, Amazon
3/19 Guardians at Angels Tempe Diablo Stadium (Tempe, AZ) 4:10 PM MLB App, MLB.com
3/19 Marlins at Astros* CACTI Park (Palm Beach, FL) 12:05 PM Space City Home Network
3/19 Phillies at Twins Hammond Stadium (Fort Myers, FL) 1:05 PM MLBN, MNNT, Amazon
3/19 Rays at Mets Clover Park (St. Lucie, FL) 7:10 PM MLBN, SNY, Amazon
3/19 Nationals at Cardinals* Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium (Jupiter, FL) 4:30 PM MLB App, MLB.com
3/20 Royals at Rangers* Surprise Stadium (Surprise, AZ) 4:00 PM Rangers Sports Net., Amazon
3/20 Mariners at Brewers American Family Fields of Phoenix (Phoenix, AZ) 5:10 PM MLBN
3/20 Red Sox at Orioles Ed Smith Stadium (Sarasota, FL) 6:05 PM MASN
3/20 Tigers at Pirates LECOM Park (Bradenton, FL) 7:35 PM MLBN, SNP, Peacock, Amazon
3/21 Rockies at Diamondbacks* Salt River Fields (Scottsdale, AZ) 8:00 PM COLR, ARID
3/21 White Sox at Dodgers* Camelback Ranch (Glendale, AZ) 6:30 PM MLBN, CHSN, Amazon
3/21 Padres at Cubs Sloan Park (Mesa, AZ) 9:05 PM Marquee, SDPA
3/21 Braves at Yankees George M. Steinbrenner Field (Tampa, FL) 6:35 PM YES
3/21 Blue Jays at Phillies BayCare Ballpark (Clearwater, FL) 1:05 PM MLBN, NBC Sports Phi., SportsNet, Amazon
3/22 Brewers at Athletics Hohokam Stadium (Mesa, AZ) 4:05 PM MLBN, Amazon

* – Traditional doubleheader with MLB Spring Training game

All games will stream live and for free in the MLB App.

More cuts. More cuts!

The #Braves today optioned RHP Jhancarlos Lara to Triple-A Gwinnett, and reassigned RHP Austin Pope and INFs Jim Jarvis, Alex Lodise and Luke Waddell to minor league camp. Atlanta now has 54 active players in camp.

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 5, 2026

None of these guys really had much of a shot of making the roster, so this is mostly just procedural.

Jhancarlos Lara turned some heads in the low minors, but has really struggled in Double-A and Triple-A. He hadn’t any official Spring Training appearances this year. While he does have a bit of an inside track on an eventual bullpen spot due to being on the 40-man roster, his performance hasn’t really warranted any discussion of that sort for a while.

The Braves signed Austin Pope to a minor league deal in December. He’s made three Spring Training appearances so far, with a 4/1 K/BB ratio and a homer allowed. You could see him as a fill-in relief role for Atlanta at some point this season, but he’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster.

Jim Jarvis was “acquired” in the Rafael Montero “trade” to Detroit last season. He had a really fun contest on both sides of the ball against his former team earlier this Spring, but has a really ugly line of just one single and no walks in 14 PAs, and hasn’t really done anything interesting in the minors either.

Alex Lodise struck out a bunch in his first taste of pro action after being drafted in the second round in 2025. He’s only had nine official Spring PAs, and has struck out three times there, too.

Luke Waddell’s been a Spring Training mainstay for a few years now, and has collected two singles, a double, and a walk in ten Spring chances so far this year. He’s never really figured out Triple-A pitching, so again, largely procedural here.

As many players have departed for the World Baseball Classic, the remaining St. Louis Cardinals will continue their Spring Training schedule by taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates in LECOM Park today. According to MLB.com, Dustin May will get the start for St. Louis while Mitch Keller takes the mound for Pittsburgh. The Cardinals Spring Training Schedule shows this game will be featured on Cardinals.TV.

Wednesday notes…

• FORMER CUBS IN D-BACKS CAMP: Michael Soroka, Ildemaro Vargas.
• CUBS MINOR LEAGUERS SCHEDULED FOR TODAY: #48, RHP Tyler Beede; #12, INF/OF Darlyn De Leon; #19, INF Matt Halbach; #20, OF Kane Kepley; #25, OF Jordan Nwogu, #73 RHP Tyler Ras; #41 RHP Tyler Santana; #35 RHP Frankie Scalzo, Jr. #41, INF Karson Simas and #33 LHP Evan Taylor.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

D-backs lineup:

How we're lining up in Mesa ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/jY05sJ1miZ

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 5, 2026

Colin Rea will start for the Cubs. Other Cubs pitchers scheduled today: Hunter Harvey, Phil Maton, Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, Luke Little and Corbin Martin.

Ryne Nelson will start for the D-backs. Other D-backs pitchers scheduled today: Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson, Drey Jameson, Spencer Giesting, Shawn Dubin and Junio Fernandez.

No TV or radio today.

MLB.com Gameday

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

Please visit our SB Nation Diamondbacks site AZ Snakepit. If you do go there to interact with D-backs fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

As we have done in the past, we’ll have a first pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time. For today, that will be 2 p.m. CT and 3:30 p.m. CT.

These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked ”Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher photos and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Starter, reliever, long guy – it doesn’t matter to Cooper Criswell. He’ll embrace whatever role the team wants to give him.

“My dad was a basketball coach for 30-plus years, and he always told his teams, every guy on a team has a role, and you need to know your role,” Criswell said. “So for the past several years, that’s been my role, and I love doing it. Any way you can go out there and help the team win.”

The soft-spoken 29-year-old with a gentle Georgia accent isn’t what you might expect. Towering over most of his teammates at 6’6”, he says he’s actually the short one in the family; his brother, a former basketball player, is 6’8”. Despite his height, he’s no flamethrower: the hottest pitch he threw in his three-inning start yesterday was a 92.5 mph sinker.

Rather than overpowering batters with big stuff, Criswell relies on a four-pitch mix that works all quadrants of the plate: cutter up, sinker down, changeup with arm-side movement and sweeper with glove-side movement. All of this comes out of a low, almost sidearm arm slot (9°) that’s at odds with his statuesque mound presence, creating another wrinkle for batters.

“Me and my older brother growing up, like everyone in the front yard, did the Derek Jeter sidearm throw from shortstop,” said Criswell, grinning. “And it’s kind of naturally been that way since high school. Maybe it’s crept a little lower over time.”

It all adds up to a package the Mariners saw and liked when they acquired the former Red Sox from the Mets this off-season, pouncing on Criswell when the Mets DFA’d him shortly after acquiring him. For his part, Criswell is happy to have ended up with the Mariners, an organization he says he’s heard good things about both on the pitching and the people sides, and one that seems prepared to help him become the best pitcher he can be.

“Where the game’s going right now, I feel like velo’s talked about a ton, and that hasn’t even been mentioned to me yet. So that’s kind of refreshing, being a guy who’s not lighting up the radar gun but being told hey, you can pitch in the big leagues even if you don’t sit 96-97. So it’s nice and refreshing, getting that here.”

Even with non-premium velocity, though, Criswell racked up seven whiffs in his three innings of work against the Giants, coaxing 19 swings on his 41 pitches. He gave up just two hits, both singles: one, when Matt Chapman ambushed a first-pitch sinker that caught too much plate for a hard-hit single, and another ground ball base hit on a cutter to Will Brennan that Leo Rivas couldn’t quite make the play on. The average exit velocity against Criswell was 81.6 mph as he mixed his cutter, sinker, and changeup in about equally (30%), accenting with the sweeper.

“That’s kind of my aim, just throw any pitch in any count, to keep the hitters off balance so they can’t sit dead red on a fastball or something.”

A good example of Criswell’s approach was in the first inning of last night’s game. Criswell had one out with two on after giving up the two singles (one hard-hit, one not) and was facing Casey Schmitt. He started Schmitt off with a sinker in the zone that Schmitt was under, fouling it off for an 0-1 count. Next Criswell went to the cutter up out of the zone, trying to coax a swing, but it was too high. He then changed eyelines again, pulling out a changeup that Schmitt harmlessly tapped directly to Rivas at short. It’s not the sexiest highlight, unless you like inning-ending double plays:

It’s a delicate line Criswell has to walk: if the cutter or sinker wind up in the zone in a hitter’s count, there’s a good chance the pitch could get punished, as Chapman did in his at-bat. But Criswell has embraced the Mariners’ philosophy of working ahead—he had nine of eleven first-pitch strikes last night—and competing in the zone. When he arrived, the Mariners sat Criswell down and showed him the numbers for when pitchers are in 0-1 counts vs. 1-0 counts, something he considered eye-opening. While he’s always thought of himself as being aggressive in the zone, he acknowledges that in past years he’s maybe tried to nibble too much early in counts, and is committed to “going straight at guys” this year.

“Just trying to get in the zone with all four pitches, really trust your stuff. They’re constantly telling everyone—not just me—you wouldn’t be here if your stuff’s not good enough. So trust it in the zone…Don’t try to nibble and pick the corners. Make them beat you.”

Criswell says he’s going to continue building as a starter this spring, because it’s easier to go from a starter to shorter outings than vice-versa, but he’s ready for whatever the Mariners ask him to do, with his dad’s advice in his back pocket.

“You don’t know what’s going to come, but you’re there for the team in any way you can be.”

A question off the top….do we want GameThreads for WBC games? Just for Team Canada games? USA games? Japan? Dominican Republic? All the games? I guess I could put up a GameThread, each morning, for all the WBC games of that day. Anyway give your opinion.

Today we have the Jays traveling to North Port, Florida to play the Braves. The Jays have a lot of guys going to the WBC, but there are a number of Jays who are likely to make the active roster in the lineup today. There are five Braves going to the WBC. And, of course, Jurickson Profar is suspended for the season.

Eric Lauer starts for the Jays. Chris Sale for the Braves.

Lineups:

Go Jays Go.

Is it on TV?

It sure is. First pitch is at 1:05 PM on MLB Network.

What’s the lineup?

What should we watch for?

Yikes. As fun as it’s been watching Braiden Ward small-ball his way around the bases this spring, today’s lineup is absolutely brutal. And we don’t even have any fun WBC exhibitions to flip over to. Honestly, this afternoon might be a good time to do your actual job.

Spring is a time for hope. But in the back of the minds of even the most optimistic Royals fan there are concerns about how it could all go wrong. Which players give you cause for concern?

The Royals seem to be relying a lot on the performance of young hitters like Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone. Jensen performed well, but could he struggle the more pitchers see him? Will Caglianone continue to pound the ball in the ground as he did his rookie campaign?

Carlos Estévez led the Majors in saves, but he certainly made us sweat through a lot of them. Can he still be a solid closer or does his career-worst strikeout rate last year give you pause? Does Lucas Ereceg’s significant drop in strikeout rate ring alarm bells?

Pitchers are always at risk of injury, and the Royals have their fair share of pitchers with a history of landing on the Injured List. Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic are both coming off injuries that cut their 2025 season short. Seth Lugo had a second-half swoon that raised questions about whether or not he can handle his workload. And Michael Wacha turns 35 years old in July – any pitcher at that age should make you a bit nervous.

Which players makes you the most nervous on this roster?

Mets lineup

1. Mike Tauchman – LF
2. Jorge Polanco – 1B
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Brett Baty – RF
5. Ronny Mauricio – SS
6. Jose Rojas – DH
7. Cristian Pache – CF
8. Jackson Cluff – 2B
9. Ben Rortvedt – C

SP: Justin Hagenman ( RHP)

Nationals lineup

lineup to follow

Broadcast info

First pitch: 1:05 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV

The Yankees are back at their home-away-from-home field, and they’ll stay on TV as well for the second straight day following their George Lombard Jr.-led victory over the Red Sox yesterday. The Twins are rolling into Tampa today, and they’ll be facing one of the depth arms on the pitching staff in Paul Blackburn.

Blackburn was picked up late last year after getting released by the Mets, and wound up appearing in eight games in the regular season as well as mop up duty in Game 1 of last year’s ALDS matchup with the Blue Jays. He re-signed with the team over the offseason on a one-year, $2 million deal, meaning he’s one of the arms holding down a 26-man roster spot and has a leg up on making it to the Opening Day roster. So far this spring he’s pitched in two games (one start), tossing six innings of no-run ball. giving up seven hits and a walk against just three strikeouts in the process. He went four innings his last time out against Toronto, and he’ll look to build up his résumé as a potential inning-filler towards the bottom of the bullpen.

Opposite Blackburn will be Taj Bradley, a familiar face from the last three seasons playing within the Yankees’ division as a Ray. Traded at the deadline for Griffin Jax, Bradley had a rough second half, starting just six games and pitching to a 6.61 ERA in that span. Bradley was slated to pitch for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, but decided to pull out of the event last week and focus on his involvement with his new-ish team during spring instead as he looks to lock down one of Minnesota’s rotation spots. Thus far in spring, Bradley has started twice and pitched five innings, allowing six runs on 11 hits with nine strikeouts against just one walk.

The top of the Yankees’ lineup today is a familiar bunch, with the three primary non-Aaron Judge outfielders from 2025 taking the stage. From left to right, it’s Jasson Domínguez, Trent Grisham, and Cody Bellinger with the Martian batting second between Grisham and Bellinger. Giancarlo Stanton cleans up at DH and Ryan McMahon makes his second start of the spring at shortstop to see if he can be a viable backup to José Caballero with Anthony Volpe out. J.C. Escarra catches, while Max Schuemann, Seth Brown, and Zack Short fill out the order.

How to watch

Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field — Tampa, FL

First pitch: 1:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES Network

Radio broadcast: N/A

Online stream: Gotham Sports Network, Twins.TV

For updates, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Taking on the Twins 👊#RepBXpic.twitter.com/5MyRyAlREL

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 5, 2026

On the road again🚗

📺 https://t.co/usGFyQCbUxpic.twitter.com/XOkO1DJf4g

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) March 5, 2026

The story of the Dodgers and Andrew Toles is one of a franchise trying to do the right thing by one of its former players struggling with mental health challenges.

Toles, a promising outfielder who played parts of three seasons with the team from 2016 to 2018, did not report to spring training in 2019 and was quietly placed on the restricted list before it was eventually revealed that Toles had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Every year since 2019, the team has quietly renewed Toles' contract so he can retain his health insurance while placing him on the restricted list so he would not take a roster spot.

The Dodgers, however, revealed this week that proceeding in this manner with Toles was no longer possible and the team is working with his family to figure out "how to best move forward."

Read more:'Opportunity is present.' Alex Freeland trying to take advantage of reps at second base

"We’ve been in contact with the Toles family and have worked together on how to best move forward," the Dodgers said in a statement to The Times. "Continuing with the previous setup was no longer possible due to eligibility. The Toles family has asked that Andrew’s privacy be respected. Out of respect to the Toles family, we will not comment any further."

Toles, who turns 34 in May, was picked up by the Dodgers late in the 2015 season after he was released by the Tampa Bay Rays. Playing all three outfield positions, Toles batted .314 in 48 games during the 2016 season. But it was during the playoffs that he emerged, batting .364 while appearing in all 11 of the team's postseason games — including a .462 batting average and 1.082 OPS in the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.

In 2017, Toles made the opening-day roster and was the Dodgers' primary leadoff hitter. But an ACL tear in early May ended his season after 31 games, and he appeared in 17 games with the Dodgers during the 2018 season.

By 2020, Toles was found sleeping behind a building at Key West International Airport in Florida. He was homeless and taken to a mental health facility.

At last report, Toles was in the care of his father, Alvin, who said Andrew is in a “zombie-like” condition. ”We are having challenges,” Alvin told USA Today in 2021, “but nothing that God and I can’t handle. Schizophrenia, it’s just so tough. I mean, he can’t even watch TV. He hears voices and the TV at the same time, so it’s kind of confusing. I’ve seen him looking at some baseball games on his laptop, but I don’t think he really understands what’s going on. I just want him to have a chance in life. That’s all. Just to be healthy, live a normal life.”

MLB's restricted list is used to place a player who is unavailable due to non-baseball reasons, such as personal issues. It has also been used when a player retires at a young age without getting an unconditional release, but then returns to playing. Right-hander Salomon Torres spent several years on the restricted list after playing 1993-97 for three teams before returning to the majors in 2002 at age 29 to pitch for seven more seasons with two teams. (He spent a year pitching in South Korea in 2001 before his MLB return.)

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

First Pitch (CT):12:05
TV: Twins.TV (via YES)
Radio: NA
Know Yo’ Foe: Pinstripe Alley

What to watch: Luke Keaschall, left fielder?? Good to get some reps out there since he’ll likely be used to platoon Larnach/Wallner/Roden/Outman/Rodriguez against lefties.

Lineups

Twins	Yankees
SP: Taj Bradley	SP: Paul Blackburn
1. Brooks Lee, SS	1. Trent Grisham, CF
2. Luke Keaschall, LF	2. Jasson Dominguez, LF
3. Trevor Larnach, DH	3. Cody Bellinger, RF
4. Matt Wallner, RF	4. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
5. James Outman, CF	5. Ryan McMahon, SS
6. Eric Wagaman, 1B	6. JC Escarra, C
7. Tristan Gray, 2B	7. Max Schuemann, 2B
8. Ryan Kreidler, 3B	8. Seth Brown, 1B
9. Noah Cardenas, C	9. Zack Short, 3B