Category: Sports News

New York Post | Joel Sherman: ($) Gerrit Cole will return to the field Wednesday, starting a spring training game against the Red Sox. The Yankees’ ace is scheduled to pitch one inning, marking his first appearance since spring training of last year, when he sustained a UCL injury that required Tommy John surgery. While this development is encouraging, Cole will still begin the year on the IL as he continues to build himself up to full strength, with late April his earliest plausible return window.

MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: There’s encouraging news on New York’s other injured frontline starter as well. Carlos Rodón is expected to return “at some point in April,” Aaron Boone told the press Tuesday, confirming that the left-hander is still on the same schedule outlined at the start of spring. Boone did not rule out Rodón making a spring training appearance as well, though none are currently scheduled.

Boone also confirmed he would be comfortable with playing third baseman Ryan McMahon at shortstop, a development that has ramifications for several players hoping to make the team. With Anthony Volpe starting the season on the IL, McMahon’s ability to serve as a fill-in for starter Jose Caballero would allow the team to carry Randal Grichuk, a right-handed outfielder who fills an area of need, instead of utilityman Max Schuemann or one of the team’s non-roster invitee shortstops.

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty: ($) A story about the conspicuous lack of stories coming out of Yankees’ spring training camp. Luis Gil, the team’s projected fifth starter, struggling and Cam Schlittler dealing with minor back and lat discomfort have been the closest thing to drama permeating George M. Steinbrenner Field. Jasson Domínguez, the heralded former top prospect who played in 123 games last season, is slated to start the season at Triple-A, but he’s handled the demotion with aplomb, skirting a potential pain point. This type of calm is “very unique for spring,“ said Giancarlo Stanton.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: The Yankees reassigned non-roster invitee Bradley Hanner to minor-league camp Tuesday morning as the team continues to whittle down its roster. The right-hander had a 9.00 ERA in five appearances in big-league camp after signing a minor-league deal with the Yankees on the heels of a middling campaign last year with the Rockies’ Triple-A team. With this move, New York now needs to clear 20 more roster spots to get down to 26 for Opening Day.

Even the avid baseball fan would have acknowledged that were Venezuela to win the World Baseball Classic, Ronald Acuña Jr. would likely be the MVP. 

Maikel Garcia made sure to keep it in the family. 

He's almost better-known as the cousin of the great Atlanta Braves outfielder, but in leading Venezuela to its first World Baseball Classic championship, Garcia forged his own road to stardom. 

Garcia led the WBC with 10 hits in seven games and they came in almost every form: A home run, a bunt single and a pair of doubles as he drove in seven runs and stole three bases – absolute kerosene in Venezuela’s No. 2 hole between Acuña and three-time batting champion Luis Arráez.

It’s a key coming-out party for Garcia, the Kansas City Royals third baseman who secured his long-term future by signing a five-year, $57.5 million contract extension with the Royals a year ago. He responded with a season worthy of some down-ballot MVP consideration, amassing 5.8 WAR while hitting 16 homers with an .800 OPS.

Still, higher-profile teammates were scattered all over this World Baseball Classic, with Bobby Witt Jr. making highlight-reel plays for Team USA and Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone hitting tape-measure homers and doling out espressos and pecks on the cheek for Italy.

Yet as they return to their spring training site in Surprise, Arizona, and Acuña to his Atlanta Braves teammates up the road in Florida, it is Garcia who will have a gold medal in his luggage – and some MVP hardware, as well. 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who won WBC MVP 2026? Maikel Garcia honored for Venezuela

This World Baseball Classic, the moment never looked too great for Team Venezuela. They stared down an early deficit against defending champions Japan, then caught fire to overtake them and reach the semifinals. When the upstart Team Italy gave them a scare, they once again punched back, riding a seventh-inning rally to punch their ticket to their very first WBC final. On Tuesday night, against a hungry Team USA, Venezuela’s offense struck quickly and Eduardo Rodriguez set the tone with a terrific start on the mound. Even when Bryce Harper’s late home run tied the score, they responded immediately with a rally of their own to jump back on top. In the end, Eugenio Suárez’s go-ahead double in the top of the ninth was the crowning moment for Venezuela, who celebrated their first ever World Baseball Classic championship at loanDepot park in Miami.

Both starting pitchers came out of the gate hot. Nolan McLean induced a double play from speedster Maikel Garcia and retired the side on five pitches in the top of the first, then Rodriguez wasted little time sending the U.S. packing in the home half. The next time Garcia saw McLean though, there were two runners in scoring position in the third. The Royals third baseman and soon-to-be WBC MVP (.970 OPS with a WBC-leading 10 hits) hammered a ball to Byron Buxton in left center field, but it was plenty deep enough to score the game’s first run for Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez continued to hum. The 32-year old southpaw cruised through 4.1 innings, scattering two baserunners while striking out four. He combined with Mariners reliever Eduard Bazardo to limit the star-spangled American lineup to one hit in the first five full frames. E-Rod has had his share of struggles the past few seasons, but he was in vintage form in what must have ranked as the biggest game of his life.

In the top of the fifth, Venezuela exploited McLean’s biggest weakness: the home run ball. Red Sox outfielder Wilyer Abreu, whose go-ahead home run against Japan gave Venezuela the chance to make it to this game, punished a middle-middle fastball from McLean to the deepest part of loanDepot park and extended the lead to 2-0.

Venezuela manager Omar López was able to turn things over to his bullpen, a unit which carried the day in the quarterfinal against Japan and especially in the semifinal against Italy. Giants righty José Buttó pitched around a Harper two-out single, then Angel Zerpa and Andrés Machado combined for a scoreless seventh.

Meanwhile, the American bullpen matched Venezuela’s stride for stride. Brad Keller took over for McLean with two outs in the fifth and passed the baton to Will Vest after collecting four quick outs. Vest posted a scoreless seventh, then Griffin Jax a spotless eighth. Much like the semifinals, this game would come down to the late innings.

In the bottom of the eighth, Team USA got a runner aboard with two outs for the third straight inning—this time on a walk from Bobby Witt Jr. As any baseball fan knows, you can only allow two-out baserunners so many times before a team makes you pay. Indeed, Bryce Harper only needed one swing to make Machado pay dearly for the free pass. He clobbered Machado’s 1-0 center-cut changeup over the center field wall for a dramatic game-tying home run.

From there, it could have been so easy to crumble, but Machado rebounded to strike out Aaron Judge to end the inning. It was a tough night for the captain, as he went 0-for-4 with a hat trick of K’s. Having been four outs away from victory, Venezuela needed to muster a quick reply—and did they ever.

It started with what else but a leadoff walk. Boston’s Garrett Whitlock lost Luis Arraez to a base-on-balls; López sent in Marlins speedster Javier Sanoja to pinch-run. Sanoja immediately put the rally on the line by taking off for second, and beat Brice Turang’s tag by a shoestring. The call upheld on review, giving Venezuela a critical runner in scoring position.

Enter Eugenio Suárez. The veteran slugger worked Whitlock to a full count before slashing the payoff offering to the left-center gap. Pete Crow-Armstrong could only reach it on the first bounce—Sanoja motored home to put Venezuela back on top. Tyler Rogers entered to put out the fire, but Team USA was once again compelled to come from behind.

Venezuelan closer Daniel Palencia entered with no margin for error to close out the World Baseball Classic. He gave them no quarter. First, he struck out Kyle Schwarber. Then, he induced a harmless popup from pinch-hitter Gunnar Henderson to Garcia at third. Finally, Palencia got Roman Anthony to swing through a fastball and give his country their first World Baseball Classic crown.

After having to rally from behind in the previous two rounds to reach their first ever title game, Venezuela was able to snag the initiative, bounce back from the late Harper homer, and again rely on their bullpen to finish the job. In the postgame, They got their revenge on America in the process—in 2023, Team USA rallied from behind to stun them on the back of a Trea Turner grand slam, but this time, they could not find the go-ahead hit.

As for why this theoretical best US lineup ever constructed never fully jelled, well, it’s impossible to say. But not for nothing, the hitting coach for this group is a guy who should be familiar to Yankee fans.

Now, the MLB season awaits. It’s always sad when the WBC wraps up, but the 2026 Classic was another terrific tournament, providing thrills the whole way through. At last, Aaron Judge will go from being Team USA captain back to New York Yankees captain, and a consequential season in pinstripes awaits. Of course, we at Pinstripe Alley will be with you for every out, run, and win.

Congratulations to Team Venezuela!

Box Score

We have a new World Baseball Classic champion to add to the list of winners of this now-prestigious tournament. It also just so happens that the current face of the Atlanta Braves helped to push the team and his country to the winner’s circle. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Venezuela completed their dark-horse run by taking down Team USA 3-2 in order to win the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Congrats to @WBCBaseball champions @ronaldacunajr24 and Team Venezuela!

And congrats to Team USA and all of the participating countries for a great #WorldBaseballClassichttps://t.co/60TLQuypJD

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 18, 2026

Acuña contributed to the cause on Tuesday night with a hit and a walk over the course of three plate appearances. He didn’t score a run in this one but he finished the tournament with 10 runs scored along with seven hits, seven walks and two stolen bases. That’s good for a slash line of .269/.424/.538 with an OPS of .962 over the small sample size of tournament baseball.

Two of those seven hits were homers but there was no bigger hit for Venezuela in this tournament than the clutch RBI double from Eugenio Suárez that regained the lead for Venezuela after Bryce Harper hit a clutch homer of his own to tie the game up in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Simply put, this was an incredible game of baseball where both teams treated the situation with the magnitude that a winner-take-all game like this deserves. For Team USA, it’s a second-straight run to the Final that ends in disappointment despite the late-game heroics from Harper. For Ronald Acuña Jr. and Venezuela, it’s a defining win for the sport of baseball in that country and that team will surely go down in Venezuelan sports history for pulling off this great run to the title.

For Braves fans, it was certainly encouraging to see Ronald Acuña Jr. going at full-tilt throughout this entire competition and if that translates to the regular season then we should be in for plenty of fun once the season gets underway. Most importantly, Acuña got through this completely healthy and he looks like he’s firing on all cylinders. He was already a World Series champion but now he’s a World Baseball Classic champion — and this time, he was on the field to do something about it.

Congratulations to Ronald Acuña Jr. and Team Venezuela on a job well done throughout the tournament and congratulations to everybody involved in this year’s WBC for putting on an incredible show. Let’s do this again in three-to-four years, right?

Venezuela outlasted the United States in a pitching duel, with Eugenio Suárez providing the tournament-winning RBI double in the ninth inning of a 3-2 victory Tuesday night in Miami to win the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Venezuela, which clinched a berth in the 2028 Summer Olympics by reaching the WBC semifinals, wins its first World Baseball Classic by winning six of its seven games.

Eduardo Rodriguez, the Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander, pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, allowing only a single and walk. Team USA remained scoreless until Bryce Harper hit a game-tying, two-run home run in the eighth.

Team USA only scored two runs in each of its final two games. That got them to the precipice of winning the tournament thanks to strong pitching of their own, holding the mighty Dominican Republic lineup on Sunday to just one run. They only allowed three runs on Tuesday, two of them off New York Mets starter Nolan McLean.

Wilyer Abreu homered in the fifth for Venezuela. Cubs closer Daniel Palencia closed out the win for Venezuela with a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Will Smith started for the second straight game at catcher for The United States, but was 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the title game.

Smith during the tournament played in four of seven games, including catching in both the semifinal and championship game. He had three hits in 13 at-bats, including a double, RBI, and two walks, hitting .231/.313/.308.

How all Dodgers did during the WBC

Shohei Ohtani homered in three of his four games, tying for most in the WBC along with Vinnie Pasquantino (Italy), Junior Caminero (Dominican Republic), and Jarren Duran (Mexico). Ohtani had six hits in 13 at-bats with a double and five walks, hitting .462/.611/1.231 with seven RBI and six runs scored.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched in two games and allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings, with seven strikeouts and four walks, with a 2.70 ERA. He won Japan’s tournament opener, and got a no-decision in the quarterfinal loss to Venezuela.

Edwin Díaz pitched a scoreless inning in each of his three appearances for Puerto Rico, including a save on March 9 against Cubs. Díaz struck out seven, walked one, hit a batter, and allowed one hit.

Hyeseong Kim hit a two-run home run during pool play for Korea, but that was his only hit in 12 at-bats during the tournament. He also walked twice, stole a base, scored two runs, and drove in three, hitting .083/.214/.333 in four games.

Minor league third baseman Jake Gelof had two hits in 11 at-bats in four games for Israel during pool play, with a double and walk, hitting .182/.250/.273 with three RBI and one run scored.

It had been a rough World Baseball Classic for Bryce Harper, but that all changed with one swing of the bat.

Team USA trailed Venezuela 2-0 with two outs and a runner on in the bottom of the eighth inning. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Venezuelan pitcher Andrés Machado left a changeup over the heart of the plate. Harper jumped on it, sending it a towering 432 feet to deep center field for a no-doubt home run to tie the game.

Harper looked towards the United States dugout, flipped his bat in the air and pointed at the flag on his sleeve as he rounded third.

BRYCE HARPER TIES THE GAME FOR TEAM USA! pic.twitter.com/zRVBaURBTm

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 18, 2026

It was a much-needed shot of life for the Americans, who had been silenced by Eduardo Rodriguez and Venezuela's trio of relievers — Eduard Bazardo, Angel Zerpa and José Buttó — to that point.

Aaron Judge struck out looking on the next at-bat, and Venezuela re-took the lead on an RBI double from Eugenio Suárez in the top of the ninth. Venezuela held on to win 3-2.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch Bryce Harper home run that tied WBC championship

The first pitch of the Dodgers’ 2026 season won’t capture the exuberance of the last pitch of 2025. But it will be meaningful in its own right, as the official first step of the team’s quest for a third straight championship.

How poetic that the same arm should deliver both pitches.

"It's an honor for me,” Dodgers opening day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said Tuesday through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And then it's opening day at a Dodger Stadium home game, and that's very [much an] honor to me. I also feel the responsibility."

Yamamoto is scheduled to make one more Cactus League start, against the Padres on Friday, before taking the Dodger Stadium mound next Thursday when the Diamondbacks come to town. It will be the second opening-day start of Yamamoto's MLB career, and his first at home.

It will also mark the end of a whirlwind offseason and spring training for Yamamoto, who not only shouldered a demanding postseason workload, but also navigated an especially quick turnaround to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

“It’s hard to put into words,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He is just very driven, he’s very disciplined in his work. That’s some of the things that allows him to compete at a high level. Where most people would feel that you win the World Series MVP, you don't have enough to pitch in the WBC. He wanted to pitch for his country, and now he’s really excited about the start of 2026.

“He is a very determined person. He really is. We’re just lucky he’s on our team.”

No one needs to be reminded that Yamamoto was a playoff hero last year, but let's really break down his efforts.

On Oct. 14, Yamamoto made his third start of the postseason and threw a complete game against the Brewers to put the Dodgers ahead 2-0 in the NL Championship Series.

Eleven days later, he tossed another nine innings to help the Dodgers even the series against the Blue Jays. And he wrapped up the World Series with appearances on back-to-back days, starting Game 6 and finishing Game 7.

Yamamoto threw 526 pitches in the postseason, 235 in the World Series alone, and he still touched nearly 97 mph in his final inning of work.

Read more:Hernández: Yoshinobu Yamamoto's remarkable World Series Game 7 became his playoff exclamation point

Most pitchers would need at least a full offseason to recover. When Blake Snell slow-played his offseason because of lingering shoulder discomfort after the World Series run, the decision made all the sense in the world.

Yamamoto, however, was already pitching in meaningful games by March 6.

In Yamamoto's first start of the WBC, he held Chinese Taipei hitless for 2 ⅔ innings. Then in the quarterfinal game against Venezuela last Saturday, he surrendered a leadoff homer to Ronald Acuña Jr. and a second-inning RBI double to Gleyber Torres before settling in for two scoreless innings. The eventual 8-5 loss eliminated Team Japan from the WBC.

“As Team Japan, the result was not what we were aiming for,” Yamamoto said. “But at a personal level, my condition was good.”

The season will be the true test for Yamamoto’s training methods, which have been infamous since before his transition from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and are already spreading across the Dodgers' clubhouse. Look no further than shortstop Mookie Betts this week lauding the effects of throwing a javelin.

Read more:'There's endless possibilities.' Mookie Betts embraces Yoshinobu Yamamoto's training methods

If they continue to work, Yamamoto could be in the running for the Cy Young Award, after finishing third in National League voting last year.

“There's high competition, there are a lot of great pitchers out there,” Yamamoto said, “but I hope that I get there.”

Yamamoto’s offseason work, however, wasn’t simply geared toward getting to opening day or winning an individual award. He knows as well as anyone that this team has set a high bar with back-to-back championships.

“The same goal,” Yamamoto said of 2026, “winning a world championship with this team."

Now over four months removed from that final pitch of the 2025 World Series, one lesson has stuck with Yamamoto.

"I learned how difficult [it is] to get one win,” he said. “As a team, I want to be able to share that joy."

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

It’s Tuesday night at BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and join us. We’re waiving the cover charge. The dress code is casual. We still have a few tables available. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you if you thought Ben Brown should spend more time (or more innings) as a starter or a reliever in 2026. By a vote of 59 percent to 41 percent, you thought that Brown should stick to the bullpen, at least this year.

On Tuesday nights I don’t generally write about movies. But I always have time for jazz, so let’s get to that now. You can skip ahead if you want.

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We’re getting closer to International Jazz Day (April 30) and this is a performance from the 2018 International Jazz Day by pianist Robert Glasper. He’s got quite the elite side players with Ben Williamson on bass and Terri Lyne Carrington on drums.

This is “Stella By Starlight.”

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Welcome back to everyone who skipped the music and movies.

The Cubs are counting on Jameson Taillon to be a rock at the back of the Cubs rotation this year. Taillon is in the final season of a four-year free agent contact that he signed before the 2023 season. So far, he’s been solid. Not great. Not bad. Solid. Everything you could hope for in a back-end starter. Taillon’s ERA last year was 3.68. Pretty good! His underlying numbers weren’t quite that good, but that was probably more because of the Cubs strong defense than luck. I was hoping for something similar out of Taillon in 2026.

But this spring, Taillon has not been good. He had a decent start in for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, allowing one run on two hits and two walks over 3.2 innings against Panama. That’s not bad! It was also against a second-rate Panamanian team.

Back in Mesa with the Cubs, Taillon has struggled. He’s made four starts and has gone 0-3 with a 22.18 ERA. Taillon’s made three starts before leaving for Team Canada. In the first one against the White Sox, he allowed four runs over 1.2 innings. In the second one against the Rockies, Taillon allowed three runs over two innings. Then against Cincinnati, Taillon got knocked around for six runs over 2.1 innings.

In his first game back from the World Baseball Classic, Taillon got shelled. He was rocked for ten runs on eight hits and four walks over just 3.1 innings. Like every other non-WBC game that Taillon has pitched this spring, he gave up two home runs.

So are we concerned about this? On the one hand, in the one game that Taillon pitched that counted, he was fine, albeit against a mediocre Panama team. It’s also just Spring Training, and the list of pitchers who had poor Spring Trainings and ended up having perfectly fine seasons is long. Most studies I’ve seen have said that except for some very specific exceptions (such as a power increase for hitters), Spring Training results don’t correlate at all to regular season results.

On the other hand, Taillon has look bad. Like really bad. And it’s not like Taillon is such an ace that we can just trust that he’ll bounce back once the starter’s gun sounds on the regular season. He’s not a pitcher with a ton of room for error. The home runs are especially concerning. Counting the WBC game, he’s allowed nine over four starts. That’s over just 15 innings.

So how concerned are you about Jameson Taillon heading into the season? I don’t think there’s any way that he doesn’t start the regular season as a member of the rotation, but how much leash should he have? Should the Cubs be sure that Colin Rea or Ben Brown’s April workload is such that they can make Taillon’s next start?

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We enjoyed having you stop in. Please get home safely. Don’t forget anything at your table or if you checked anything. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for more BCB After Dark.

The Astros clobbered the Pirates earlier today 10-2, beating up on SP Mitch Keller. Keller has been a solid starter for the last 4 seasons.

Lance McCullers Jr. had another encouraging start, this time going 4 innings. He allowed 1 run on 3 hits, walking 3 and striking out 1, with a hit batter. He was clearly working on certain pitches at certain points in the game. He threw 31 of his 58 pitches for strikes.

Lance primarily worked 92-93 with fastball, but twice hit 94+, once at 94.1, and once at 94.4. He appeared at times to be focused on refining his cutter. McCullers looks to be in line to be a part of the starting rotation. While there has been some recent consternation of whether the Astros will employ a 5 or 6 man rotation, it would seem McCullers will be, at worst, the Astros 5th starter until he shows he cannot handle the job.

Joey Loperfido continued his strong spring, going 1×1 with 2 walks and 3 runs scored out of the leadoff spot. He also stole his 3rd base of spring. Loperfido played RF today. If we are to believe Astros GM Dana Brown that Spring Training performance matters, Loperfido should have played his way into being a starting outfielder, leapfrogging Zach Cole. Loperfido is batting .355 with a .958 OPS in Spring.

Cole, meanwhile, played CF and was 1×3 with a HR and 2 BB, He also struck out twice, which has been his Achilles heel all spring. Cole hit an 82 MPH sweeper on the inside black about belt high 412 ft to RF, the ball coming off the bat at 110.1 MPH. Despite the strikeouts, Cole’s exit velocities have been very high, and management believes he has had some bad luck on batted balls at very high exit velos this spring. Cole needed a game like today to keep his name in the conversation for making the Opening Day roster.

Cole’s second HR of spring came as the second of back-to-back home runs with Brice Matthews. Matthews first HR of spring was a 2-run shot to right. He drove a 2-2 sweeper that came in just under 82 mph on the outer third of the plate about belt high opposite field 345 ft at 94.4 MPH off the bat. Matthews was 1×3 with a pair of walks, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. He started the game at 2B, where he was a part of 3 double plays, and then shifted to LF.

While Matthews wasn’t expected to make the Opening Day roster, Jeremy Pena’s injury situation could potentially open a door for him. If Pena starts the season on the IL, there are certainly scenarios where Matthews could play 2B with Jose Altuve DHing, or Matthews could play either CF or RF with Yordan Alvarez DHing.

Shay Whitcomb also continues to make his case for an Opening Day spot. After a solid WBC that saw him launch 2 HR in his first WBC game, he started today at 3B and started an around-the-horn double play. He also went 2×3 with a run scored and 2 RBI, as well as his 2nd SB of spring. Whitcomb is batting .308 with a .785 OPS this spring, not including the WBC. While Whitcomb is a longshot to make the OD roster, he has played well enough to be in the mix and get himself in consideration for a call up later on.

Taylor Trammell has cooled off significantly in recent days. He finished today 0x3 with a walk. He struck out 3 times. His batting average has fallen to .250 while his OPS remains a strong .854. Astros have to beware of fools’ gold with Trammell, who has never hit at the MLB level in his career, but is a very good defender at all 3 outfield spots with a strong arm and good speed. He was a longshot to make the OD roster, got himself in the mix with strong early play, but is likely playing himself right back down to Triple-A. He is likely a minor league depth piece provided he stays in the organization.

Christian Vazquez made his first appearance of spring for the Astros Tuesday after joining the team following the WBC. Vazquez’ signing late in spring should be all the evidence needed that he has the inside track to being the backup catcher over Cesar Salazar. Team clearly is not comfortable with Salazar’s bat at the MLB level, so much so they signed a player who hasn’t hit a lick since the Astros acquired him at the deadline in 2022. However, Vazquez is respected league-wide for his defense, preparation and leadership. He went 1×3 with 2 walks, a run scored and an RBI.

Roddery Munoz and Christian Roa continue to make their pushes to be part of the bullpen. Munoz, a Rule V pick who must be returned to the Reds if he isn’t on the MLB roster all season, has rebounded from a rough start to spring to put himself squarely in the mix for a pen spot. He went 1.1 IP today of scoreless ball, he allowed 2 hits and struck out 1. He has been mowing guys down guys at the plate since his second appearance and now has 14K in 8.1 IP.

Roa went 1.2 IP scoreless and hitless, striking out 2. His only blemish was hitting a batter. He has a 1.04 ERA this spring.

J.P France will start Wednesday and Peter Lambert Thursday.

J.P. France will start tomorrow for the Astros and Peter Lambert will start on Thursday. Lance McCullers is pitching today in Bradenton and Tatsuya Imai is throwing a sim game in West Palm.

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) March 17, 2026

Tatsuya Imai threw a sim game today, and is looking for better results with some secondary pitches:

Tatsuya Imai stretches out in sim game, eyes higher in-zone rate with changeup and splitter:https://t.co/b0YIuffd6u

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) March 18, 2026

As the Astros get prepared to play the Pirates across the state in Bradenton, Tatsuya Imai is about to pitch in a simulated game here in West Palm Beach. Altuve, Correa and Walker among those facing him.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 17, 2026

Tatsuya Imai said he threw 51 pitches today in a simulated game and is getting excited for the start of the season.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 17, 2026

The Astros found out who they will face on the mound Opening Day against the Angels, and it won’t be former Astro Yusei Kikuchi:

José Soriano will be the Opening Day starter against the Astros, #Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. Soriano got emotional after being told yesterday.

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) March 17, 2026

Jose Soriano was 10-11 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.396 WHIP last season in LA. While he did allow a league-low 0.6 HR/9 rate, he only strikes out 8.1 batters per nine, and his walk rate was 4.2/9, which is quite high. He is entering his 4th MLB season at age 27. Soriano is a righthander, but he had reverse splits, performing better vs. lefties than righties. He allowed a .268 AVG and .715 OPS to righty hitters and only a .233 AVG and .666 OPS to lefties.