Category: Baseball

Edward Cabrera started against the Angels’ Ryan Johnson, a comparatively inexperienced player (overall #74 in the 2024 draft). Neither have pitched yet this season. The Ryan Johnson Express derailed; Cabrera was as advertised. Ian Happ homered. What did I tell you?

Ryan will have better days. Dansby Swanson got his first hit of the season off Johnson. By that point, it was 6-0. Yoan Moncada clouted one for the Angels’ runs.

Matt Shaw is going to see more time in right, I suspect. Dylan Carlson might see a few at-bats, too, if Conforto continues to slump.

Cubs 7, Angels 2.

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

• Kyle Williams (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Michael Busch has grown into indispensable member of Cubs’ lineup. “Busch slugged 34 homers — including four in the postseason — with 90 RBIs and an .866 OPS.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Nico Hoerner reflects the standards of this generation of Cubs players. “In each scouting report, it just said, ‘Our kind of player…’ More from Bleacher Nation*.
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): Do you want the good news or the bad news about Matt Shaw’s changes? “This spring, he’s trying to show he can hit enough to be a corner outfielder. Can he?”
• Jason Ross (North Side Baseball*): How Ian Happ’s small changes can make a world of differences. “Happ has made a subtle adjustment to his swing, specifically from the right side. What might this mean for his 2026 season?“
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): ‘Tough love’ from this Cubs exec earned PCA’s respect. “ Jared Banner has been connected to Crow-Armstrong since the beginning of his professional path.”
• Kyle Williams (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki ‘at the last steps’ of recovery from PCL sprain. “Suzuki injured his knee on March 14 in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinal.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Moisés Ballesteros getting plenty of opportunities in Chicago Cubs’ lineup — even as Seiya Suzuki nears return. “Ballesteros’ smooth swing and elite hit tool rocketed him through the Cubs’ farm system…”

Food For Thought:

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

Good morning, baseball fans!

Today, I wanted to check in to see how everyone is feeling after the first series of the year for the San Francisco Giants, in which they were swept by the New York Yankees. Yes, I know they will have technically started the second series by the time you’re reading this, but you’re just going to have to live in the past with me because these are pre-written to post at the crack of dawn.

This is one of those seasons where I really have to laugh at myself. I start to get so excited for Opening Day to finally arrive after a long, cold, miserable winter. And I start to let myself get a little bit optimistic, despite knowing better.

And then the Giants actually start the season and it’s like we never even left the previous season. It’s like a weird form of a time loop, but instead of living out the same day over and over again, we’re cursed to live out the same mediocre baseball season forever and ever until the end of time.

But you know what, I’ll take it. Having baseball is still better than not having baseball. Even if the baseball in question isn’t good, or fun, or particularly entertaining. And, of course, it’s only the first three games. Literally anything could still happen this year so it’s silly to read too much into anything right now. But that’s never stopped us!

How are you feeling about the rough start to the season?

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants continue their series against the San Diego Padres tonight at 6:40 p.m. PT.

Yesterday, The Athletic published their yearly survey of MLB fandoms and where they are on the “Hope-o-meter.” (Gift link here.)

The Colorado Rockies finished 27th, ahead of the Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, and Minnesota Twins. Some 25.3% of fans said they felt “optimistic.”

(Surprising no one, Los Angeles Dodgers fans are 99.7% optimistic.)

Here’s how the Rockies number have trended since 2022:

• 2025: 8.8 percent (29)
• 2024: 4.6 percent (30)
• 2023: 1.8 percent (30)
• 2022: 17.2 percent (23)

So, this year’s 25.3% marks a substantial upward shift.

Staff from The Athletic selected four representative fan replies to represent the sample, going with three positive comments (mostly about the rebuild finally happening) and one negative one (the team is beyond fixing).

This survey arrived in my inbox at just the right time as I’d been pondering the Game Thread comments following the Rockies being swept in Miami and wondering if I needed to revise my thinking about the 2026 season.

Like everyone else, I was bummed out by the first three games followed by absolute elation after last night’s drubbing of the Toronto Blue Jays.

If the Purple Row Site traffic is any indicator, Rockies fans are engaged and eager to see what this team can do. (I’m not sure the national media fully understands this yet.)

Yesterday, Sam Bradfield wrote about some overreactions to the opening series, and I guess I needed to remind myself that this is, in fact, a rebuild, and rebuilds take time. We are going to see some lows — like last weekend — and some highs — like last night.

And I appreciate my fellow Rowers reminding me that we are embarking on a climb that’s going to take time and be pretty awful on occasion. I mean, a best-case scenario is that the Rockies lose just under 100 games, and that still means a lot of losing waiting around the corner for us.

As Mario pointed out, this rebuild should have started years ago, and the delay has put the Rockies in the deep hole in which they fine themselves now.

It’s also a weird time in the season when we just don’t have enough data to know much of anything, so it’s not yet possible to determine if there’s progress. There’s just the losing with an occasional blowout and the waiting to see what happens.

So here are some things that I’m going to be watching for when I start to feel some purple despair (because I’ll forget how awesome that first game against the Blue Jays felt).

Let me start with this reminder from Jason Collette:

Yes, that’s Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman on that list. The first games of the season are not indicative of a player’s potential.

Second, as a teacher, I know better than anyone that improving at anything takes time, and that’s going to be true of where the Rockies are right now. Let’s see what they look like next month and the month after that and the month after that with the understanding that the Rockies have a tough starting schedule by any measure.

Plus, it’s going to be a learning season not just for the players but for the front office as well. President of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and general manager Josh Byrnes are going to be learning, too, as is the coaching staff. Look, you can’t say of a pitching philosophy “Everything is on the table,” and not expect some failure. Solving problems means accepting and learning from failure. As a fan, I have to remember that.

And we are going to see incremental improvements both with the Rockies and on the farm.

But we need to prepare for a lot of lows and enjoy a few highs.

On top of all of that, I need to remember to be thankful for the Purple Row community. We all have our moments of overreacting, but I feel like we also help each other see multiple perspectives. We’re a community, and one can’t just do better than being part of a great learning community.

As wolf213 pointed out on Sunday, the Rockies are using the climb as a metaphor for a reason. It’s important not to forget that when you’ve just started the trip.

And so, I leave you with our 2026 theme song, which I will probably refer to from time to time:

Miley looks so young there. Meanwhile, being Rockies fans has aged us in dog years.

Still, grab your backpack, making sure to take your Hope-o-meter, and lace up your shoes.

Let’s do a rebuild.

This week on the internet

Check out what’s happening in Albuquerque this season:

I’m here for both the burger and the uniform.

Colorado Rockies top 44 prospects | FanGraphs

Mario left this in The Feed yesterday, but it’s worth sharing again here. Brendan Gowlowski’s analysis leaves much to ponder.

Smashburger named Official Smashburger of the Colorado Rockies for 2026 MLB Season | Nations Restaurant news

Keeping with the food theme, the Rockies now have an official “Smashburger.”

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

If you missed anything about the Home Opener yesterday, everyone’s got you covered.

Jaylon Thompson covers the emotional aspect of the game.

There was a wide range of emotions — from jubilation to heartwarming moments. The Royals honored late outfielder Terrance Gore with his family in attendance. His son, Zane, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and it was a perfect strike.

“You know, I didn’t know Terrance at all,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said, “(but) these guys all knew him. And just to see his family, they were in Atlanta as well. I mean, super nice kids. Just to see his son tearing up there at the video, and then he goes out there and throws a laser to Gordo, that made me feel good. Very moving.”

The Royals faithful — all 39,320 in attendance — erupted with applause. And the moment set the stage for what became a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Anne Rogers wrote about how Kris Bubic’s last Home Opener start was during the COVID season.

Six years ago, Kris Bubic made his Major League debut on July 31, 2020, which also happened to be the Royals’ home opener in that pandemic-shortened season.

He pitched that game in an empty stadium in front of cardboard cutouts. “Eerie” is the way he described it.

“Today, obviously a different story,” Bubic said.

Blair Kerkhoff covers the amazing start Salvador Perez has had in the ABS era.

Heading into Monday’s games, including the Royals’ home opener against the Minnesota Twins, Perez was a perfect 4-for-4 in challenging the home plate umpire’s ball-strike call.

Three occurred in the first game last Friday, a loss at the Atlanta Braves, and in the fifth inning with consecutive batters. In all three cases, Perez challenged a “ball” call by home plate umpire Doug Eddings, who originally ruled the pitches from Cole Ragans below the strike zone.

In each case, Perez was proven correct, a couple by tenths of inches.

The perfect streak ended in the Royals’ 3-1 victory on Monday. Perez went 1-for-2; a ball called by home plate umpire Alex Tosi was upheld.

John Sherman spoke about the stadium situation prior to the game. There’s not much to glean. AP News also covered that here. The phrase “sense of urgency” was written again, which I feel like they said 3 months ago?

What’s the latest on the search for a new stadium?

In short, as team owner John Sherman replied this time, same as he has for a while now: It’s to be determined.

But Sherman offered a bit more detail Monday on exactly what needs to be determined before the Royals announce where they plan to pursue a move when their lease expires in 2031.

“I think we would want to have site control and certainly the public financing in place before we announce it,” Sherman said when asked by The Star what needs to fall in place before making a decision. “There will be work still to do, but those two things are important.”

The late Terrance Gore’s son, Zane Gore, threw out the first pitch. Anne also covered it here.

Royals co-owner Patrick Mahomes was there at the game. The broadcast showed him…a lot.

Pete Grathoff covers the Royals franchise valuation from Forbes.

Caleb Mears at Kings of Kauffman wrote about Nick Mears’ role amid his home opener success.

Brewers sign prospect Cooper Pratt to 8/$50.75M deal. He has 0 MLB plate appearances.

FanGraphs covers the Orioles giving Shane Baz an extension.

Jeff Passan covers the early experience league-wide of the ABS. Ken Rosenthal also covers the ABS for The Athletic ($).

Make sure you get a chance to laugh at Duke’s last-second loss in the tournament.

The NFL is moving to hire and train replacement referees because they did not learn any lessons from 2012’s replacement referee fiasco. I learned that the idea of using replacement referees was hilarious and I would relish the opportunity to see more nonsense while Mahomes “continues rehab” and the Chiefs games don’t matter.

NASA is preparing to launch astronauts around the moon.

For you Law & Order fans, of which I would guess there are many – Mariska Hargitay will make her Broadway debut in Every Brilliant Thing.

Your song of the day is Shoulders by Coheed and Cambria.

PHOENIX — OK, whoever wrote this Hollywood script has a merciless sense of humor.

Come on, this was supposed to be the first chapter of Justin Verlander’s glorious return, his first start in a Detroit Tigers uniform in 3,135 days, at the age of 43 years and 38 days.

Instead, it was a living nightmare Monday night for the future Hall of Famer and the oldest athlete in major North American team sports.

Final score: Arizona Diamondbacks 9, Tigers 6.

Verlander took the loss, and lasted just 3 ⅔ innings, giving up six hits, five earned runs and two walks with one strikeout.

It took Verlander 20 pitches to record his first out.

It was 2-0 after the first four batters.

It was 5-0 after the first 11 batters.

The Diamondbacks had a homer, triple, double and three singles by the third inning. All-Star outfielder Corbin Carroll had a triple, homer and four RBIs by the second inning, becoming only the second player to accomplish the feat in an entire game against Verlander, joining Denard Span.

The Diamondbacks scorched six balls over 100 mph the first two innings, and Verlander didn’t produce a single strikeout until the 15^th batter he faced. He recorded only six swings and misses in his 80-pitch outing.

"It sucks, not the way I obviously wanted it to go," Verlander said, "which is disappointing for myself more than anybody else in the world. … You spend all spring training working on stuff, feel OK, and then the first game of the season felt like nothing was right. ...

"They had way too many good swings on most of my pitches. I need to be better."

Jarren Duran placed eighth in American League MVP voting in 2024, between Tarik Skubal and Yordan Alvarez. The following season, his 3.9 fWAR output was a disappointment. Offensively, his offensive output was most hampered by a .050 decrease in his slugging percentage, which includes 13 fewer extra-base hits. His strikeout rate also increased by about 2.5% from 2024 to 2025. Defensively, he recorded 23 defensive runs saved in 2024 and just nine in 2025. His outs above average fell from 10 to -2. Some positional adjustments are going on, and he played much more left field in 2025, but his DRS in center field alone fell from 17 to -2.

Looking at some under-the-hood numbers, Duran’s elite bat speed remained consistent, and he was pitched in a similar manner in terms of pitch types seen. Mechanically, he tinkered with his stance, but the changes were consistent with normal season-long fluctuations. While there are likely several factors at play in Duran’s decreased output, a major factor was the pitches that he chose to swing at.

In 2025, 26.5% of the pitches Duran saw were over the heart of the plate. That number is slightly below his 2024 rate, but it’s right around the league average. In his breakout campaign, he swung at 73.3% of those pitches. In his down year, he only swung at 68.2%. While that might seem like a small dropoff, his overall swing rate was only 1% lower, meaning he was swinging at other, worse pitches.

When you let pitches over the heart of the plate go, they’re called strikes. When you’re behind in the count, you don’t see as many good pitches to hit, unless the pitcher makes a mistake. The past two seasons, Jarren Duran has had a .453 weighted on-base average when he’s ahead in the count. Behind in the count, that number is .220. His chase rate is also nearly 10% higher when the pitcher is ahead.

Duran is also a good fastball hitter — he posted a .368 wOBA against fastballs in 2025, compared to a .265 against breaking balls. That’s in part because more breaking balls come when pitchers are ahead in the count, but the point remains.

Defensively, I remember a few occasions like this, where a miscommunication between Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela led to a fly ball turning into an out. I don’t have statistical support for this one, but I can’t remember these types of plays happening in 2024.

All of this might feel self-explanatory, but I think there can be pressure to work counts, take pitches, and hit with two strikes. Playing next to a Gold Glove winner who makes highlight reel plays on a nightly basis might also lead to a tendency to be passive in the field. While some level of patience is necessary to succeed in the majors, I don’t think that’s who Duran is. There’s a time and place to force the issue (not leading off first base in the eighth inning), but Duran should have a long leash. Swing at the first pitch if it’s there. Stretch singles into doubles, even if it means getting thrown out from time to time. Steal home!

I don’t know Jarren Duran personally. I only know him from watching him play baseball and seeing him in interviews. I don’t know what’s going on in his brain, but he looks like someone who is thinking too much and not letting his instincts take over. In 2023, Dustin Pedroia told Duran to “act like you’re going to hit the f—— s— out of the ball.” He improved defensively in the outfield on the advice of Jackie Bradley Jr., which boiled down to “practice playing outfield”, which led to him getting better jumps on the ball. Given non-baseball, but still on-the-field events that have occurred in Duran’s career, a reasonable person might tell Duran to slow down and think before he acts. While I have no World Series rings, zero career fWAR, and a CPA rather than a therapist’s license, my unqualified advice to Jarren Duran is when they give you a pitch to hit, let it rip.

Welcome back to the Minor League Roundup!

I’ll be releasing a weekly update this season covering everything you need to know about each of the Brewers’ minor league affiliates. This week’s edition is a bit brief, as only Triple-A Nashville has begun its season. Starting next week, this roundup will include coverage of each Brewers affiliate while highlighting notable stats and naming a Player and Play of the Week.

Triple-A Nashville(1-2)

Record this week: 1-2

First half record: 1-2

OF Eddys Leonard: 5-for-9, 2B, 3B, BB

OF Greg Jones: 5-for-11, 2B, 3 RBI

INF/OF Jett Williams: 3-for-11, 3 BB, 3 SB

LHP Robert Gasser: 1 GS, 5 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 11 K

RHP Coleman Crow: 1 GS, 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 K

LHP Tate Kuehner: 1 GS, 5 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 K

Nashville dropped two of three games this week to the Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, despite solid performances from each of their starting pitchers. Robert Gasser had an incredibly impressive first start of the season, striking out 11 in 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Triple-A roster features a few of the Brewers’ top hitting prospects, including Williams (No. 3), Cooper Pratt (No. 4), Luis Lara (No. 12), Luke Adams (No. 13), and Brock Wilken (No. 22). Adams and Wilken failed to record hits this week, but Lara went 3-for-12 with a home run and Pratt went 4-for-15. The two hitters with the best stats this week were outfielders Eddys Leonard and Greg Jones, both unranked by MLB Pipeline.

Double-A Biloxi(0-0)

High-A Wisconsin (0-0)

Single-A Wilson (0-0)

Player of the Week

Gasser, who — as shown by his performance on Opening Day — doesn’t really have much to prove in Triple-A anymore. Kyle Harrison is currently the only left-hander in the Brewers’ rotation. If the Brewers decide that Brandon Sproat could use some more time to develop in Triple-A, Gasser would be the logical replacement, especially with Logan Henderson reportedly dealing with soreness in his pitching elbow.

Play of the Week

Not a lot of contenders this week, but this smooth 3-6-1 double play — turned by Tyler Black, Williams, and Crow — is worthy of the award.

Yankees minor league baseball is back! While the big league club worked on sweeping the San Francisco Giants out west, the first games of the minor league season took place over the weekend, with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre opening their season on Friday.

They only played three games, and the other three full-season affiliates don’t officially kick off until Friday, but we did get some notable performances and interesting storylines from the first few games of the year from the farm’s top affiliate.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Record: 2-1, 1 GB in International League East after a 2-1 week against the Buffalo Bison (Blue Jays)

Run differential: +5

Coming up: Away @ Rochester Red Wings (Nationals)

It was a choppy start to the season for the RailRiders, who opened the season on Friday before the cold Buffalo weather forced a Saturday postponement, leading to a Sunday doubleheader.

Debuting one of the best Triple-A rosters you can put together, they put on a show on Friday afternoon, riding five sharp innings from Brendan Beck to an 8-0 shutout victory. Eight of their nine starters got a hit, and the first seven batters all recorded an RBI, with Spencer Jones hitting a double and Yanquiel Fernandez mashing a home run.

The opener of Sunday’s doubleheader was a whirlwind. Scranton took an early lead and rode a solid start from Carlos Lagrange, but was dragged into a 3-3 tie heading into extras (minor league doubleheaders are only seven innings). RBI knocks from Jasson Domínguez and Max Schuemann were just enough to win the game in 10 innings, 5-4, with flamethrower Yovanny Cruz getting a win in his Triple-A debut and Danny Watson picking up his first Triple-A save.

The nightcap was a bit rougher. Jones and Fernandez both launched home runs to get the RailRiders out to an early lead, but Dom Hamel struggled badly with his command in his organizational debut, allowing a six-run fourth inning en route to a 7-3 loss.

It was a strong weekend for the two hitters we all have the most eyes on in Domínguez and Jones, with other notable performers including the veterans on minor league deals. Beck and Lagrange looked good in their season debuts, with Lagrange managing to still hit 101.3 on the radar gun on a frigid day in Buffalo. Much of the bullpen also thrived, with notable names like Cruz, Harrison Cohen, and Kervin Castro delivering scoreless relief along with two guys who we’ll see in the Bronx soon when the inevitable bullpen shakeup occurs (Yerry De los Santos, Angel Chivilli).

It was not a great defensive weekend, as Scranton committed six errors in three games. One of them was particularly bad from Domínguez in left field.

Players of Note:

Spencer Jones: 4-for-12, HR, 3 RBI, 2B, BB, 5 K

Jasson Domínguez: 4-for-13, 3 RBI, R, 2 K

Ernesto Martinez Jr.: 4-for-11, RBI, 3B, 2B, 2 K, SB

Carlos Lagrange: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Prospect of the Week: Brendan Beck

Weekly Stats: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K, 18 whiffs

In a stacked rotation that includes a former Rookie of the Year and two Top 100 prospects, a name that may fall behind is Brendan Beck, a former third-round pick who’s battled injuries that cost him most of the first three seasons of his professional career before finally putting together a full season in 2025.

Beck got off to a fantastic start in Double-A Somerset that year and earned a summer promotion to Triple-A, where he struggled with inconsistency. His low-90s fastball wasn’t playing as well and, despite his positioning in the organization, he was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. After going undrafted, he came to camp as a non-roster invite while also getting the chance to pitch with his brother, Tristan, for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic.

With that experience behind him, he’s opened 2026 with a bang, dominating Buffalo with one of the better outings of his professional career. While that low-90s fastball was his most-utilized pitch, he located it well and earned a called strike + whiff rate (CSW%) of 43 percent. His best pitch was his slider, and it wasn’t close, wiping out several hitters by generating nine whiffs on just 15 swings. He also mixed in a splitter and curveball, both generating positive readings. The splitter, especially, seems revamped from 2025.

Beck profiles as a back-end starter or long reliever when he reaches the majors, and the more starts like these that the 27-year-old gets under his belt, the quicker that day will come, whether it’s for the Yankees or for someone else.

Phillies News:

• Even former Phillies Andrew McCutchen feels bad for Phillies fans
• We already have a Phillies Panic Meter from PhillyVoice
• ICYMI: Stolnis discusses the Phillies historically slow offensive start
• Want to see Andrew Painter’s debut and BOGO hotdogs? Still tickets for Tuesday
• There is another Next Chase Utley
• If you miss Taryn Hatcher, you can catch her covering the PBA

MLB News:

• Where will the Kansas City Royals end up? Nobody knows!
• Takeaways from this opening weekend
• Murakami already making waves…
• The shrinkification of MLB players has become a pandemic ($$)
• Fans Hope-O-Meter results from TheAthletic ($$)

Hello, friends.

As the now-old movie quote goes, “Oh no, we suck again!” The Orioles were back at it last night, not convincing anybody that anything is going to be different this year no matter how many slogans they put out. They dropped a 5-2 game to the Texas Rangers to start off their three-game set, falling to 2-2 on the year. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the game for more of the not-so-lovely totals.

The offense getting worked again is an ongoing early story, though for me it’s got to be the clunker of a first outing for Chris Bassitt that’s the most disappointing. He was supposed to not end up in Charlie Morton territory; he’s younger and the Orioles paid him even more money. He had the narrative around him of his postseason success last year and all of that. It was worth nothing in the 2026 season, at least to begin. He will get many more starts to prove he’s better than that, but for now, it’s a bad ERA number.

Alright, fine, I’m also disappointed about the offense. There are no bonus partial wins for silver linings, of course. Even so, it was nice to see Gunnar Henderson connect for his first homer of the season last night, and add a second hit later in the game. Good things will be needed from him this year, and from Taylor Ward and Pete Alonso. This is doubly true as long as these guys are the top three hitters in the lineup. They aren’t doing it yet.

It’s only been four games. Many, many more games remain. Still, I understand the early frustration. The team needs to go out in the month of April and convince people that things are really going to be different this year. They’re 2-2 through four games and honestly, even one of their two wins still had some nervousness underneath it that maybe the offense isn’t fixed. Until they blast this narrative away, it will linger because it’s been lingering since July of two years ago.

Perhaps they can start to author a different story in tonight’s game. The series with Texas is scheduled to continue at 6:35 tonight. As of this writing, the Rangers still don’t have an announced starting pitcher. It’ll be Zach Eflin getting the start for the Orioles. There’s one more guy who needs to quickly show that he’s put a rough 2025 behind him, or else sunny assumptions about the 2026 squad will have to be revisited in the aftermath of a dose of cruel reality.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

How an offseason of spin helped Coby Mayo square up at the plate like never before (The Baltimore Banner)
Every article in this vein always makes me think, “I hope this is still true by season’s end!”

Inside the Orioles clubhouse makeover: New layout, shuffleboard, and more (The Baltimore Sun)
You know what would be cool? If there was still an Orioles offseason event where you could get a peek into the empty clubhouse.

Orioles throw good money after Baz (FanGraphs)
Some national baseball website analysis on the weekend’s Orioles contract extension news.

French offers opinions on a variety of Orioles pitchers (School of Roch)
If you can believe this, the Orioles pitching coach really likes his starting rotation, the one that didn’t even have room for Dean Kremer.

At 34, Dietrich Enns breaks out a new pitch to try to become a fixture in the Orioles bullpen (Steve on Baseball)
The full article is for Steve’s Substack subscribers only. Let’s hope the new pitch does in fact allow Enns to become a fixture who people want to be a fixture.

A potentially intriguing bat may be emerging in Norfolk (On The Verge)
I’m not jumping on the Willy Vasquez hype train yet, but if you do, it seems like you won’t be the first one.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

The Orioles were most recently victorious on today’s date just a year ago, when they beat the Red Sox, 8-5, thanks to scoring four first-inning runs and four eighth-inning runs. Just four of the 17 players who appeared for the O’s in that game are active on the roster to begin this season.

There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2025 one-game pitcher Elvin Rodríguez, and 1954 three-game pitcher Dave Koslo.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: mathematician/philosopher René Descartes (1596), composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685), composer Joseph Haydn (1732), baseball Hall of Famer Mule Suttles (1901), actor Christopher Walken (1943), and actress Rhea Perlman (1948).

On this day in history…

In 1774, in a retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, the port of Boston was ordered closed by Great Britain.

In 1814, the army of the Sixth Coalition (against Napoleon) occupied Paris after two days of fighting. This led to Bonaparte’s surrender and temporary exile.

In 1906, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States – today known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) – was established.

In 1995, Tejano singer-songwriter Selena was shot and killed by the woman who was the president of her fan club. The murderer had been embezzling thousands of dollars from the fan club.

A random Orioles trivia question

I received a random book of Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ll ask a question in this space each time it’s my turn until I run out of questions. Last time, I asked who was the ERA leader for the 1970 Orioles. The answer was elusive for some, but if you knew it was Pete Richert with his 1.98 ERA in 54.2 IP, good job. Here’s today’s question:

Who was the first Orioles player to hit for the cycle in franchise history?

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 31. Have a safe Tuesday.

Last year, we attempted to do a “monthly” reader mailbag series to give fans the chance to guide the discussion. That seemed to be a bit over the top. So, this season, we’re going to try every OTHER month instead. This way, enough time builds up between iterations that fans can develop new curiosities about the team, the minor leagues, the organization, or its philosophies.

We are going to make a run at our first of the season this week! So, get those questions in and the fellas will answer them on the next episode of the Viva El Birdos Podcast!

“Early Season Samples”

A tradition that goes back to Doubleday himself, overreacting to early-season performances or lack thereof, is something every fan of every fan base willfully participates in, and at a certain point, the realization around game 10-15 that this is a marathon and you have to try your best not to ride the rollercoaster too much. That’s not telling you how to fan; that’s me trying to work hand in hand with your cardiologist to keep you from “taking the dive” from a managerial decision or poor performance in April that likely the team wouldnt be as patient with in August or September. That being said, here are some early-season trends through the first 4 games that should have some fans optimistic:

Jordan Walker leads the team in OPS with a 1.269 through his first 16 PA and has 3 BB to his 1 K. Jordan seems to be controlling the strike zone, taking his walks, and impacting the baseball when he gets good pitches to hit. I’m not calling for a statue to be built for Walker, but he seems to be stacking wins at the plate in both results and process, and that will only further confidence and internal belief as he dials in on what could be his last real chance in St. Louis as the everyday RF.

Ho-HUM, Alec Burleson leads the team in Hits and RBI’s and is posting an OPS of 1.111. For an offense starved for production, one player Cardinals fans can count on watching produce all season long will be Burly.

JJ Wetherholt looks the part immediately, and we had heard about his poise and maturity, and I’m personally happy that Manager Oliver Marmol decided to insert JJ in that spot. My hope, if nothing else, is that even when Nootbaar returns, JJ continues to lead off. “When faced with a decision between the short term and long term, we will choose the long term every time.” If there were any player on this team I would want taking the most PA’s in 2026 its Wetherholt. He will be someone who gains the most from seeing the most opportunities and gets him to his ceiling quicker.

On the pitching side, Michael McGreevy pitched 6 no-hit innings against the Rays, with diminished velo on his fastball. I was highly skeptical that McGreevy was going to be effective early this season. To his credit, he mixed his pitches well and kept the Rays offense off balance all game long. I will be eager to see how he handles a more potent offense like Detroit in his 2nd start of the season.

George Soriano, at the time of his acquisition, was a bit curious. Cardinals fans seemed to be really excited about Andre Granillo, but Chaim Bloom and his staff seemed to have identified a potential diamond in the rough. 9 scoreless innings in spring and has pitched 3 more scoreless to begin the year. The FB velo is up from 95.7 to 96.6 on average this year, and he is throwing his Changeup as his primary offering, which produces a whacky 7.6 inches above average in drop compared to league-average measured changeups. I expect by the end of April, Soriano will find himself in setup duty and high-leverage opportunities frequently.

Who have you been most impressed by early in the season? Let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to submit your questions as well! We want to make sure we are covering content that you care about most, and this is your opportunity to guide the discussion!

-Thanks for reading

The Yankees’ hopes of going 162-0 were quashed on Monday, as the Mariners won in walk-off fashion 2-1 to open up a three-game set with the Bombers. New York was getting shut down against Luis Castillo, a common occurrence at this point against the Mariner ace, but managed to tie the game shortly after he exited only to have the bullpen get stretched too thin in relief of Ryan Weathers. Paul Blackburn was the choice to pitch the eighth and ninth innings, and while he handled the former things quickly got out of hand in the latter leading to Cal Raleigh’s RBI single to end it.

The underlying story of the game, however, was the Yankees challenging early and often against home plate umpire Mike Estabrook’s strike zone, succeeding each and every time. They converted five strikes into balls on successful challenges, including two in a José Caballero at-bat that turned a strikeout into a walk and a Giancarlo Stanton would-be strikeout that kept him alive long enough to hit a single. Aaron Boone even felt the need to chirp at Estabrook after the Stanton challenge to get the calls right, proving that even with the ability to overturn calls Boone will still find a way to continue his beef with umpires and potentially grow his record pace of getting tossed from games.

All of this is leadup to ask the question that many are asking themselves already: why not let ABS be the law of the land for every ball and strike? There’s been dozens of converted calls already as teams have figured out that the catcher and hitter stand the best chance of recognizing a bad call, and the Yankees have benefitted tremendously from Austin Wells’ recognition of the strike zone behind the plate as he’s been the best in the early-going at getting strikes back for his pitchers. He’s far from the only one, as players around the league have already made umpires look quite silly for some of the calls they make. Surely getting the calls right has proven to be essential after so many have already been shown to be off on a consistent basis.

There’s a logistical and cultural pushback to that response, to be fair. The umpire’s union will fight tooth and nail to keep umps relevant in the game, and they likely don’t want to cede control of the strike zone over completely just because of a few games-worth of hype for a new system. But there’s also a healthy portion of the audience that wouldn’t want them to do that anyway — the purists who have always argued in favor of the human element in the game wouldn’t want the umpires thrown to the side either. And there’s a point to be made that the ABS challenge system we have right now is a skill to utilize that rewards players who confidently know the strike zone, which is fun to watch in its own right. Sure, getting an egregious call overturned here and there is an easy call to make, but all of the Yankees’ challenges last night were on pitches that strayed only an inch or so away from the strike zone — those are calls that New York is making because they have players with elite understanding of the zone, and some other teams wouldn’t make those challenges in the same position. It’s exciting to see a batter call his shot or a catcher claim that his pitcher hit the mark, and I’m personally quite content with where ABS has landed at the moment. But where do you fall, are you satisfied with ABS functioning as a show of skill or do you want it to be freely administered?

Today on the site, Michael leads off with a recap of what Triple-A Scranton got up to in their first week of play as the minor leagues get underway. Peter follows up with the first At-Bat of the Week featuring Aaron Judge’s first bomb of the year (and his first ABS challenge), and Jonathan wishes Chien-Ming Wang a happy birthday as he reflects on his Yankees career. Matt creates the Yankees’ All-March Birthday Team to continue his year-long quest to round out each month’s roster, and Jeff reacts to the Yankees’ low placement in The Athletic’s recent “Hope O’Meter” poll.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Seattle Mariners

Time: 9:40 p.m. EST

Video: YES Network, Mariners.tv, TBS (out-of-market, only)

Venue: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA

Conflict resolution specialists will tell you that solutions to major disagreements are usually found in complicating the root issue and finding common ground. The worst disputes, then, are the extraordinarily simple ones. 

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association may be digging trenches for one of these quite-simple but quite-destructive disagreements: should Major League Baseball have a salary cap? The MLB owners, represented by Commissioner Rob Manfred, seem to think it’s non-negotiable for baseball’s continued growth, while the players seem to think that would be the worst thing ever. Good start.

The two sides cannot just get divorced and go their separate ways — they are chained together by billions of dollars that nobody gets if they don’t work together. If they can’t agree (“you never do the dishes”) there will be a lockout, and because of the depth of this lovers’ quarrel (it’s not really about the dishes), there is a legitimate chance the 2027 MLB season is simply cancelled. Then nobody will do the dishes.

Can the two sides avoid a lockout? No. There will be “a lockout” of some length, but whether its explosive yield is measured in July 4th sparklers or in megatons of TNT is yet to be determined. How can the two sides avoid cancelling most or all of the 2027 season? Can they just hug it out?

The reason this is a big story is that there is a big problem: this is not a sports disagreement, though it is about baseball. This is not a financial disagreement, though it is about money. This is, in reality, a philosophical disagreement about the meaning of life—er, Major League Baseball, and the first one that threatens the very fabric of the sport since the last time the owners really tried to get a salary cap in 1994. 

Come this offseason, this will go from a somewhat-threatening idea to one of the biggest stories in the world overnight. Describing the sticking point in detail could reasonably fill up a 4000-word legal brief. But remember: this is a simple issue, not a complicated one, so I will describe it simply: 

The MLB currently has no mechanism to control team spending on contracts and players, known as a salary cap, which exists in each of the other three major men’s leagues in the United States. This is a very pro-player arrangement, creating uninhibited bidding wars for elite players which, for the super-elite Juan Soto, ended at a preposterous $765 million. Owners would like to end this situation and place some controls on this spending because they believe it will fix baseball’s competitive balance problem, which has allowed the Los Angeles Dodgers to sign most of the best free agents in the past three offseasons and win the last two World Series. The Players Association, understandably, thinks the owners just want to spend less money and would like to keep the lucrative status quo.

I, for one, am generally inclined to support the labor side of labor vs. billionaire showdowns, as are probably most people on planet earth. However, what makes this issue so fascinating is that the owners believe they have broad public support for a salary cap; and they do, per a poll after the World Series that showed both casual and avid MLB fans overwhelmingly support the introduction of a salary cap. I do too.

Some writers and industry experts will tell you that all this saber-rattling is simply pointless hot air, and that the owners will ultimately back down when the small-market teams realize that a salary floor, which must exist with any salary cap to maintain competitiveness, will cost them too much money. The Miami Marlins, for example, have a total team payrolljust above Shohei Ohtani’s individual salary. That will not be allowed to continue if the owners get what they want, and it is possible the MLBPA will be able to leverage a fifth column of small-market owners to preserve their criminally low spending. 

Key word: criminal. The embarrassment that is the MLB’s payroll disparity has gotten bad enough that I do not believe this arrangement will be tolerated unto eternity, and it is why I am perhaps more willing than others to imagine a legitimately apocalyptic future in which we lose a full season for the first time ever. 

Frankly, small market owners categorically refusing to spend money on their baseball teams and the MLBPA’s vicious, decades-long opposition to any and all pushes for a salary cap can no longer survive baseball’s brush with the most disruptive of concepts: modernity. 

Baseball is, more than ever, swept up by modernizing forces. The pitch clock, extra-inning ghost runners and challenging balls and strikes would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. Now, innovations are flying off the factory line like bags of candy in the last week of October. And the public has greeted these innovations with open arms. Baseball is more popular than ever, and 79 percent of avid fans support a salary cap. It looks like that final dam is ready to break.

We shall see how much this public support survives the impending cancellation of actual baseball games next winter. I contend that the support for a salary cap should continue. Anachronisms like totally free-market sports leagues do not hold up with how Major League Baseball is actually financed these days. Local control over revenue has collapsed with the regional sports network model. MLB owners understand this; when they renegotiate their media rights deal in 2028, it will be a defining moment for the sport and how much money it can make in the future.

A salary cap could thus be the difference of billions of dollars in the long term for the MLB if they can successfully argue that enforced competition will command higher prices for media buyers. That will certainly be their argument to the players, though the MLBPA cares far less about long-term revenue boosts, which may or may not increase salaries 10 years from now. Many players in the league today will not be in said league in 10 years, so what do they care about all that? The players will clap back by saying, “can you just relax until we renew media rights in 2028? We have such a good thing going, let’s sell that to ESPN and Fox, not your new thing!”

That tension is what makes this such a philosophical disagreement, and one that could actually torpedo an entire MLB season. Unlike the 2021 MLB lockout, which saw the owners push for a salary floor (side note: this 2021 push is one of the reasons I don’t buy the anti-salary floor fifth column idea above) and expanded playoffs, everyone is dealing with much starker media rights realities than last time. Baseball will have to radically change itself to keep up in the modern sports market, and I do believe the owners will have a high level of patience to ensure that. There is too much money at stake long-term.

So how can we avoid a disaster that I have just spent 1000 entire words describing the severity of? You could bet on the inherent goodness of human beings, and the owners and players ultimately love each other; love is always stronger than hate, right? Maybe, but let me tell you what’s stronger than both: fear.

As we get closer to this throwdown actually throwing-down, long-winded position papers and carefully crafted press releases will quickly turn to widespread fear of how bad cancelling the 2027 season would be for both of them. And it would be a calamity, with baseball riding a wave of public momentum that they simply cannot afford to squander. Players would lose a year of their physical prime, owners a year of revenue. Broadcast and merchandising partners may distrust both groups if they cannot figure this out, as will investors and fans, the most important consumer of their shared product. All of this will create tremendous fear in both camps, and they might have to run into each other’s arms for comfort — that will probably mean just small adjustments to the luxury tax and perhaps some more league regulation on spending and player control of contracts.

The benefits of a salary cap for owners are potentially massive, but the risk associated with cancelling a season is colossal and could make things significantly worse instead of better. Avoiding that outcome may be the players’ silver bullet, as they just want to keep the hype train going. When you took a wrong turn and are now careening toward a precipice, the one who wanted to make the turn is at fault. 

But something big should happen. Much opining about the looming lockout centers on whether or not baseball actually has a competitive balance problem. It all depends on how you define “competitive balance” and how far back you push the definition. To keep things short, you can come up with any statistic (World Series wins, team records, division titles) and any time frame to argue that there is or is not a problem. I will pick secret option C: it feels like there is a problem, and that means there is.

Competitive balance is a perception, not an outcome. Whether or not smaller markets have actually succeeded is inconsequential next to how impossible their chances feel. The Dodgers winning the last two World Series is not the thing that annoys me. It’s that they have done so on the backs of signing basically every exciting free agent on the market in recent years. Kyle Tucker, Edwin Diaz, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Teoscar Hernandez… the list goes on. When there is a big free agent (everybody get ready for Tarik Skubal hooooo boy) they are now expected to sign with the Dodgers. If they don’t, then they go to the Mets. Everyone else, including the once-Dodgers-esque New York Yankees, feels like a surprise.

For fans of smaller-market teams, having a good player like Skubal in Detroit or Paul Skenes in Pittsburgh, two of the best pitchers of the last 20 years, is a total bummer. They cannot keep that player because they cannot pay him. That is the worst, and that is the great crime of baseball’s salary cap-less system. When a team decides they are not going to pay the luxury tax, like my Boston Red Sox did in 2020, it costs their fans everything. It cost me my favorite player of all time: Mookie Betts. And then Xander Bogaerts. And then Rafael Devers. 

How much of my desire for a salary cap is based on hatred for a system that the Red Sox ownership group has exploited for maximum profits and minimum baseball enjoyment? A… bit, but a salary cap would ultimately damage teams like the Red Sox more than it would help them. For all my griping, Boston is still one of the biggest markets in the sport. I have no idea the actual plight of a Pittsburgh Pirates fan who just has to count down the days until Paul Skenes is traded or leaves for nothing.

All of the above is stupid. Some of the above are fixable with a salary cap. Fear about what would happen to baseball’s resurgence if this death match goes the distance will probably stop any push for a true cap short… for now. But in five years, we will be having this same conversation with 20 times the fervor, as another half decade of modernity bludgeons baseball’s anachronistic systems into submission. We will eventually have an MLB salary cap; we just might not get it now. Because while we are currently in a generation-defining staring contest, both sides will probably realize it is in their shared interest to blink. A compromise is the only way out. But it is not in my interest, and not in my kids’ interests, who I want to share my love of baseball with, even if I live in Pittsburgh. Eventually, we’re going to have to get uncomfortable so we can get something done.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Ben Rice didn’t exactly raise eyebrows with his first base defense last year, and when he did it wasn’t in a good way. The young Yankee cost his team some outs down the stretch and in the playoffs, especially when it came to his footwork around the bag and tracking popups. It’s only been two games, but Mr. Arroz seems to be handling himself much better at the cold corner, making three plays at first on Sunday that it would be hard to imagine him pulling off in 2025. The Yankees see this as a strong step forward in his development, and proof that his work ethic and coachability can be a major asset.

FanGraphs | David Laurila: I’m writing this ahead of Ryan Weathers’ first start of the season, coming Monday night against the Mariners. The offseason acquisition went deep on the sharp, splitter-like changeup he developed in the Marlins’ bullpen last year, and effective use of the offspeed offering will likely be a big part of whether the southpaw sticks in the Yankee rotation this season. By the time you read this, you’ll already have seen how MLB hitters react to Weathers’ repertoire, and hopefully it’s “poorly.”

New York Post | Dan Martin: It’s been quite the 12 months for David Bednar. The Yankee closer was demoted to Triple-A while still with the Pirates last year, a wakeup call and chance for adjustment that he wasn’t going to get while facing big-league pitching. The right-hander needed just five outings with Pittsburgh’s Indianapolis affiliate to get himself back on track, and he almost immediately re-asserted himself as one of the best relievers in baseball. After two clean saves to start the year with the Yankees, Bednar credits that reset for a major piece of his success since.

The Associated Press: A melancholy happy trails to Ken Clay, who passed away last week at the age of 71. Clay spent five seasons in the majors, peaking with two World Series rings with the 1977 & ‘78 Yankee teams (despite George Steinbrenner’s criticisms). Our best to his family and loved ones.

How Andrew Painter is learning to get ahead with the big league ball originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Andrew Painter learned something last year that does not show up in a box score.

The baseball itself can change your whole season.

“The ball is different,” he said.

That is key to understanding part of what happened to Painter in 2025 — and everything the Phillies are expecting from him when he makes his Major League debut Tuesday night against the Nationals.

He is 22, the club’s top-ranked pitching prospect, and after years of anticipation, hype, injury and rehab, the more interesting part of his story is not the date on the calendar.

It is what he figured out in the year leading up to it.

“The minor league balls usually have a little higher seam, and the spin is usually a little higher,” Painter said. “So with fastballs, that’s why in the Minors you’ll sometimes see some of these weird ones with great vertical break, whereas you won’t really see that with the big league ball.”

That doesn’t mean one ball is better and one is worse. It means they reward different things. Painter says fastballs and breaking balls tend to play better with the minor league ball. Something like a splitter can benefit from the big league ball because you are trying to kill spin.

The difference is real, especially for a pitcher trying to recapture a feel he had before a torn UCL took two years away from him.

In 2022, Painter was one of the most dominant arms in the minor leagues. He opened that season at Clearwater and ended the year at Double-A Reading. He posted a 1.56 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP across three levels of the system. 

The 19-year-old Painter steamrolled through the lower levels of the minors with a minor league ball.

When he returned to action at Triple-A last season — his first full year back from Tommy John surgery, and his first full season throwing the Major League ball against advanced competition — he ran into something he had never encountered before.

Painter was not just returning from one of the worst injuries a pitcher can endure. He was attempting to regain feel for a fastball with a different baseball in his hand, against better competition, while building himself back physically. 

The result was a season where he allowed 119 hits in 106 2/3 innings, gave up 18 home runs and saw his WHIP jump to 1.55, fourth-highest in the International League. His ERA landed at 5.40.

And he didn’t fully realize why his command was not as sharp in the moment.

“Looking back, especially when I’m trying to chase what the fastball was pre-TJ, all those fastballs — everything I was throwing before and through TJ — were with a Minor League ball,” Painter said. “So it’s kind of hard to compare. You’re comparing apples to oranges there.”

In 2025, Painter looked like two different pitchers at once.

Last year at Triple-A, Painter’s first-pitch strike rate was only 47.2 percent. If that number had qualified in the Majors (minimum 110 innings), it would have been the lowest at the big-league level since 2004.

Meanwhile, his zone percentage — the share of total pitches that actually crossed the strike zone — was a staggering 49.2. That would have led the Majors in 2025, ahead of Tarik Skubal’s 48.3. Over the last 10 seasons, only 10 pitchers have posted a higher single-season zone rate.

That combination does not usually happen. The pitchers who live in the zone tend to get ahead. Skubal led the majors in both categories last season. George Kirby did the same in 2023, and Miles Mikolas followed suit in 2024. 

Painter lived in the zone while pitching from behind more than half of the time, and that begins to explain the problem.

Painter’s struggles began midseason at Triple-A. Lehigh Valley pitching coach Phil Cundari and Painter were working on expanding his repertoire during that time. 

“Before last year, his arsenal didn’t include the changeup, and that came at the beginning of the year,” Cundari said. “Along the way, we also moved toward developing a sinker, a two-seamer, and the sweeper as well. So now you’re talking about three essentially new pitches being incorporated in the middle of a season.” 

All with a different ball and different level of hitter.

Those additions even affected Painter’s fastball control, especially early in counts.

“I feel like last year I kind of got into a habit where some of those [first pitch] fastballs would just fly up and away, especially to lefties,” Painter said.

While Painter would commonly fight back into the zone, he predictably kept going back to the fastball — and got beat.

“It wasn’t that there weren’t as many strikes,” Cundari said. “There weren’t as many good strikes.”

“One of the biggest things is confidence in the zone,” Painter said. “You have to realize how much easier it is to pitch when you’re ahead in the count, and I think the results themselves kind of push you to say, ‘Alright, I need to get ahead of this guy.”

That is where the reset comes in.

Painter does not talk much about his heater, which reached 99 mph in Grapefruit League action, as the main solution. He likes to talk about his slider.

“That’s my best in-zone pitch,” he said. “It’s the pitch I throw for a strike at the highest clip. I think there were times last year where I’d fall behind, then I’d try to go back to [the fastball] and the miss would be consistent. 

It’s realizing that cue and that feel for the hard slider kind of gets me back in the zone. It’s kind of swallowing your pride a little bit and not being afraid to flip something in there — whatever pitch you feel most confident throwing for a strike.”

Working closely with Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham and catcher J.T. Realmuto this spring, the adjustment showed up in the numbers. His first-pitch strike rate climbed nearly three percentage points. His zone rate stayed extremely high at 49.4. But it was his slider usage that jumped from 11.6 percent in 2025 to 29.5 percent this spring.

Once Painter gets strike one, everything opens up — he can change shapes and utilize his full five-pitch mix to put hitters away.

“What stood out on a start-by-start basis [last year] was that he wasn’t leaving the zone,” Cundari said of Painter. “The toughness and resilience he showed during that time were impressive … that speaks to the level of competitiveness he has.”

Having spent a full year throwing the big league ball and a spring camp behind him, Painter now possesses a more thorough understanding of his pitches, their purpose and what strike one unlocks.

The minor league education is done. The debut is on tap.