Baseball News
Zach Thornton – LHP
Tyler Phillips – RHP
First pitch: 6:10pm EDT
TV: SNY
After some deliberation, Tarik Skubal is sticking to his original plan to return to Detroit Tigers spring training after his lone appearance in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Team USA manager Mark DeRosa announced on Monday, March 9.
Skubal, the Tigers' back-to-back Cy Young winner, is a free agent after the 2026 season and had always planned to return to spring training in Lakeland, Florida after making his start on Saturday against Britain.
But in the days before the tournament, Skubal stressed how much he was loving the experience and hinted at a plan to regroup with the national team in Miami and at least be a cheerleader. And after his scheduled outing on Saturday in Houston, Skubal explicitly said that "things have changed."
"When you get into these environments, when you get this team, it’s hard to walk away from that," Skubal said after tossing three strong innings in the Americans' 9-1 win over Great Britain.
"I didn’t expect these types of emotions to run through my brain or my thoughts to differ. I was pretty committed to making a start and getting back to camp," Skubal said. "Things have changed, obviously, that’s why I’m going to have some conversations to try and figure out a plan for me."
Skubal, 29, is expected to sign the richest contract of any pitcher in MLB history this winter, perhaps approaching $500 million and his USA teammates were more than understanding about his plan.
“He's got the two Cy Young awards, but this guy's about to make half a billion dollars here in the next offseason,’’ three-time MVP and Team USA captain Aaron Judge said. “So, for him to put it all on the line for his country, and come out here and show up for us. ... You know, maybe it is just one game, but you know there's a risk with everything you do, and for him to take that risk and come out here and be with us, the boys love it."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tarik Skubal won't pitch again for Team USA in World Baseball Classic
Spring plods along, and we’re now just a few weeks away from Opening Day and the real start of the 2026 season. The World Baseball Classic will cover a good portion of that time, and the tournament is heating up as pool play is wrapping up in the next couple of days. The United States squad has gotten off to a strong start, and seem likely to end up advancing to the quarterfinals — it’s just a question of whether they’ll win out and take the top seed of their pool or not.
While we wait for the eventual champions to be determined, Yankees camp continues to churn out results. The competition within the pitching staff is ongoing, as Ryan Weathers endured his first blowup in spring on Sunday while Paul Blackburn similarly struggled on Thursday. Will there be a race for the fifth starter after all, or will spring results only shift around roles in the bullpen? How will the Yankees returning from the WBC do jumping back to spring action? If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.
Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of March 12th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
Spring Training tends to be silly, and that was perhaps best exemplified by Monday afternoon’s game against the Twins. The Braves won 9-8, but gave up a whopping five homers. I guess a 12/0 K/BB ratio is the saving grace when you give up five homers, but considering the Braves didn’t hit any homers, it just goes down as a meaningless March statistical curiosity.
Even though the game ended at 9-8, the regulars basically kept the line moving off Zebby Matthews to start the game. They sent 12 men to the plate in the first frame, riding a bunch of bloops to a massive eight-run inning (capped by Drake Baldwin actually barreling a ball for his second hit of the frame). Matt Olson made two of the inning’s three outs, but if you ever wanted to see a team and rotation hopeful (Matthews, who can win a spot on the Twins’ staff given Pablo Lopez’ absence) tormented by every bloop finding a hole, this was the game for you.
After that outburst, it was all Twins — albeit, against guys that don’t really factor into Atlanta’s big league future. Carlos Carrasco gave up two dingers in 2 2/3, but at least he didn’t walk anyone. A procession of relievers did a nice job, until the Twins knocked another homer off Hayden Harris, who struck out three in his inning of work. The game only got “close” because of the efforts of undrafted free agent Trent Buchanan, who was the victim of two more Twins homers while collecting just two outs. Eventually, Adam Maier came on and threw a single pitch to end the game.
The Braves had one barrel to the Twins’ eight. Fun times.
Austin Riley went 3-for-3, and Mauricio Dubon went 2-for-3 with a double that got out to the track. Eli White and Drake Baldwin also collected a couple of knocks.
Spring Training continues with the Braves visiting the Jays in Dunedin tomorrow.
The Colorado Rockies provided the following medical updates on Monday morning:
Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Joey Wentz will miss the 2026 season with a torn ACL, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and the AJC’s Chad Bishop. Wentz was injured in a Spring Training game on Sunday, March 8, 2026 when covering first base.
Wentz joins fellow starting pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep in missing at least a big part of the 2026 season, if all all of it, thinning Atlanta’s starting rotation options greatly.
Wentz, once a top Atlanta Braves prospect, re-joined the organization and found some success after being thrust into starting duty when injuries mounted during the 2025 campaign.
The injury to Wentz leaves Atlanta’s starting rotation thin – with Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes in the the top four spots. Bryce Elder is the front-runner for the fifth spot with prospect JR Ritchie a potential option to start the season. Veterans Martin Perez and Carlos Carrasco are both in camp on minor league contracts. Veteran Jose Suarez, who pitched with Atlanta last season, and returned to the team this off-season after being designated for assignment, is another option.
Wentz debuted for the Detroit Tigers in 2022 and has also appeared for the Minnesota Twins and Pittsburgh Pirates during his career. He pitched in 14 games with Atlanta in 2025, making 13 starts.
This is a developing story.
The Nationals have a stockpile of young infielders. That means 19 year old Ronny Cruz can get lost in the shuffle sometimes. However, he showed off what he can do yesterday in his first at bat of the spring. The youngster launched a home run off of big leaguer JP France, which gave the Nats the lead in their Grapefruit League clash with the Astros.
Hopefully this home run could prove to be a bit of a coming out party for Cruz. He is going to have to stand out because the Nats have so many 18 to 20 year old infielders all coming through the system at the same time. Cruz is more of a project than some of these other guys, but he has a ton of potential if everything clicks.
Despite a slender 6’2 170 pound frame, Cruz has big time raw power, as we saw yesterday. He is also a good athlete and a strong defender. Cruz plays shortstop right now, but with all the young infielders in the system, he is likely to play all over the infield. In the game yesterday, he played second base.
It is clear that Cruz is held in high regard by the organization. When asked about which minor leaguer has impressed him the most, Cruz was Paul Toboni’s answer. With the depth of talent in the Nats system, that tells you a lot.
Cruz is actually an interesting story. He grew up in the Dominican Republic, but after an IFA deal fell through, he moved to the US for his last two years of school. Cruz impressed enough on the field in those two years to be drafted by the Cubs in the third round. That is despite suffering a knee injury in his senior year.
With all of this in mind, it is understandable that Cruz is a bit raw. He has some swing and miss issues, and his swing decisions are not great. However, the raw talent is undeniable. There is also more to dream on once he fills out his frame. That is why the Nats took a flier on him as part of the Michael Soroka deal last deadline.
They took one safe, lower upside prospect in Christian Franklin and shot for the stars with Cruz. There is a chance that Cruz just does not pan out. His numbers in rookie ball were only average, and his raw power did not translate to games.
However, with all the buzz surrounding him this spring, it is clear that Cruz got a lot better in the offseason. The fact he homered off an experienced arm is a great sign. Cruz is just scratching the surface, but some of his gifts are starting to show.
Seeing guys like him is one of my favorite parts of Spring Training. It gives you a taste of the next generation of players. That home run will stick with me when thinking about Cruz. With guys like Devin Fitz-Gerald, Gavin Fein, Coy James and Eli Willits joining the organization in the last year, Cruz gets a bit overshadowed. However, he has my attention now.
It will be interesting to see what they do with him this season. With all of these infielders, finding playing time for them could be tough. I think Cruz should start the year in Low-A, but he will have to compete with guys like Fein, Willits, Angel Feliz and potentially Luke Dickerson.
Having all of these mouths to feed forces these guys to be versatile, which could be a good thing in the long run. It also creates healthy competition. If you do not perform, the guy next to you is there to take your spot. There are not going to be enough spots for all of these guys to make it, so only the cream of the crop will rise.
Cruz is behind a lot of these players in the pecking order, but if he continues to perform, he will make it. He has as much raw talent as any of these guys, but he is rough around the edges. If he can refine his game, Mike DeBartolo may have found a diamond in the rough in his only trade deadline as an MLB GM.
There’s some interesting decisions that have to be made. Where could the Astros be leaning as of today?
This article updates my previous roster projection: https://www.crawfishboxes.com/houston-astros-analysis/72007/astros-2026-roster-and-depth-chart-projections-as-of-february-1
Let’s start with the rotation:
Now, Arrighetti hasn’t been sharp, and his velocity hasn’t been consistent. He’s also only pitched twice, so there’s time.
Weiss went 2.1 IP in his first appearance. He’s also coming off a year where he threw over 170 IP and that durability/reliability should matter. Weiss went 3 innings today in his second appearance of the spring, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, walked 1 and struck out 6. By performance, he should be in the rotation, but we know there’s more to it than that. He will be on the roster in some fashion.
Jury is still out on Lance McCullers Jr. He’s only pitched one time, and he threw all of 8 pitches. The good news was that his velocity was significantly up from last year on his fastball/sinker. It’s the difference between him being a major leaguer or not.
The bad news is he’s only pitched once, and threw all of 8 pitches. Astros are understandably being cautious with Lance considering his injury history, and he has thrown a simulated game for 2 innings, the details of which are not public outside of the fact he threw “about 40 pitches”. That happened March 4, so 5 days ago.
McCullers gets the start tomorrow against Baltimore in an outing that could very much determine his future going forward with the Astros.
A strong outing could put him into a rotation slot, likely bumping Ryan Weiss to the pen even though Arrighetti hasn’t performed well as yet. A tough outing could have the team reevaluating his timeline and his role. Whether or not McCullers can maintain velocity inning to inning is a very big question that needs to be answered.
Considering Lance threw 40 pitches in a simulated game 5 days ago, I would expect he’s looking at something between 50-60 pitches tomorrow.
Now the bullpen:
The final two spots in the bullpen are the ‘flex spots’. I have included Weiss here as well as the rotation because what happens with McCullers directly impacts Weiss.
With the Astros employing a 6-man rotation, they will need a couple of pitchers who can go multiple innings, which Blubaugh and Weiss can certainly do. Having a short pen and trying to protect Hader and Abreu from multi-inning appearances will require having guys who can go multiple innings all season.
Sam Carlson and Kai-Wei Teng have impressed in camp, but the Astros selected Munoz in the Rule 5 draft and like his power stuff. After a rough start to Spring Training, Munoz has settled in and shown that power stuff racking up 7K in 4 inning. Since the team has to keep Munoz on the roster all season or offer him back to his original team, if Munoz continues to pitch well I think that situation gives him a leg up in being the last man in the pen with Hader sidelined.
Peter Lambert has also impressed in camp, and threw 3 shutout innings today, allowing 2 hits with 2 BB and 3K. He has worked himself into the conversation as a non-roster invitee.
Josh Hader’s situation is still the most tenuous of any Astros player. Hader is one of the most irreplaceable players on the roster, and he is still only throwing bullpens after being shut down last year with a shoulder capsule injury and then biceps tendinitis he developed before Spring Training. Presuming the bullpen session goes well, Hader will throw live BP Friday.
At this current progression, it’s possible Hader doesn’t return to the roster until after April 15, perhaps closer to May 1 to sharpen his stuff and command after the offseason setback.
Pitchers recap:
Starters: Brown, Imai, Burrows, Javier, Arrighetti, McCullers Jr (pending Tuesday start)
Bullpen: Hader (IL) Abreu, King, Sousa, Okert, Blubaugh, Weiss, Munoz (with Hader sidelined for now)
Now let’s get to the lineup:
C: Yainer Diaz, Christian Vazquez
It’s clear Astros don’t like/trust Cesar Salazar to handle regular backup catching duties, nor do they think he’s capable of being an everyday player if Yainer were to be down for any length of time. They bring back Vazquez for his defense, preparation and leadership. Vazquez can’t hit a lick anymore, but Houston values his veteran leadership presence.
Walker Janek, who has torn it up in spring, still needs another year of minor league ball. He hasn’t played above high A ball. He is expected to start the season at Double-A Corpus Christi, but could be promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land with a strong first half.
IF: Christian Walker, Jose Altuve, Jeremy Pena, Carlos Correa, Isaac Paredes, Nick Allen
The first 5 of these players, barring a trade, are going to play a significant amount of time – meaning full time to very close to full time starter reps. How the Astros manage this is debatable, but they will all play the overwhelming majority of games. Allen is the backup SS/defensive replacement.
OF: Yordan Alvarez, Jake Meyers, Cam Smith, Zach Cole, Joey Loperfido
Yordan is expected to primarily DH, but how much time does he actually get in LF is still to be determined. If he played twice a week in LF, that would be 52 games. That doesn’t seem unreasonable. Three times per week would be 78 games, which would be a new career high and seems unlikely (at least for now).
Cole is a power LH bat with a cannon arm, and the team reacquired Loperfido because they like the adjustments he’s made to his swing and think it will make him more consistent. They always liked Loperfido’s defense.
Cam was the prize oft he Tucker trade and they expect him to take a big step forward this season, but they have the depth if he doesn’t. Meyers will play CF as long as he is an Astro.
Taylor Trammell has really played well this spring. Team loves his grit and hustle, he is a terrific defensive player as well. Trammell has always had the tools to be successful but he’s never hit at the MLB level. With Cam and Jake entrenched as the right handed OFs, there’s just no room for Trammell right now.
Shay Whitcomb and Zach Dezenzo are both playing in the WBC. Whitcomb went 2×4 for Team Korea with 2 HR in a start at 3B, and had a pinch hit double in today’s win over Australia. Dezenzo went 1×3 with a double for Team Italy in a start in RF. He also walked and scored twice.
However, both being right handed bats, neither seems to have a role on the current roster as neither can play SS at the MLB level, and the Astros have corner infield spots covered between Correa, Walker and Paredes. Both could be call ups during the season as injury replacements.
Best projected lineup:
Paredes has only had a handful of innings at 2B this spring, so whether or not the Astros are comfortable with him at 2B is yet to be determined. However if they are, it would make more sense to DH Altuve, who posted his best offensive numbers last season while DHing. This lineup actually projects to be pretty good.
Now best projected lineup doesn’t equate to most likely projected lineup, as we know Yordan will not play LF often.
Here is what a Yordan at DH lineup looks like:
This is still a solid lineup that should produce.
I also think that on days when Paredes spells Altuve or Correa, Paredes should slot into that player’s spot in the lineup and not change the entire lineup as a result. Espada is the King of Lineup Variations, but with a steadier reason for variations instead of playing injury mix-and-match, it may become more uniform in that regard.
Here is a maxed out lefthanded hitting lineup for Astros:
or Yordan at DH:
Lineup Recap:
Regulars: Diaz, Walker, Paredes, Altuve, Pena, Correa, Yordan, Meyers, Smith
Bench: Cole, Loperfido, Allen, Vazquez
This team has a lot more depth than it had last season, and along with better health (how could it be worse than last year?) it should translate to more wins.
Today the Texas Rangers take a day trip over to Peoria, AZ for a Cactus League matchup against the National League’s San Diego Padres. Recent signee Andrew McCutchen is in the lineup at DH for his spring debut with the Rangers.
Taking the mound for Texas will be RHP Trey Supak, who is 29 years old and still trying to make it to the big leagues, opposite RHP Randy Vasquez for San Diego.
The Padres will have a telecast and radio feed for this one but you can also follow along on Gameday. First pitch from Peoria Stadium is scheduled for 3:10 pm CT.
Go Rangers!
As I write this, I am watching the Great Britain baseball team take on Brazil in the World Baseball Classic. While both sides have been eliminated, there’s still something to play for here: the winning country will automatically be entered the next WBC, without having to go through the qualification tournament. So this is definitely a significant game. Right now, it’s proving a tense affair, with the game scoreless through four innings. Fingers crossed the British team can avoid the late-inning meltdowns which have been a bit of a feature in their previous three games. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, here’s the D-backs line-up this afternoon.
We will see how deep Zac Gallen goes this time. After him, potential pitchers are: RHP Hayden Durke, RHP Taylor Clarke, RHP Gerardo Carrillo, RHP Andrew Hoffmann, RHP Juan Burgos and RHP Grant Holman. Hoffmann has been one of the spring standouts so far, with five strikeouts over three innings of one-hit ball. Also, be interesting to see whether Burgos can sustain his streak: all seven outs he has recorded so far have been by way of the K. He leads the team in that department. Unfortunately, over those 2.1 innings, there have been six hits and two walks as well.
No scheduled broadcast for this one, so see you in Gameday, providing GB vs. Brazil has finished! And as I write, the southern hemisphere has just taken the lead… [Update Britain roared back to win. D-backs prospect Wallace Clark walked twice and scored a run. See you again in 2029, WBC!]
The Dodgers look to snap their two-game losing streak as they take on the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Monday. Emmet Sheehan goes for the Dodgers while Aaron Ashby starts for Milwaukee.
Sign up for a user account and get:
It’s a rematch of the NLCS at American Family Fields of Phoenix as the Brewers take on the Dodgers Monday afternoon.
And just like the NLCS, on the mound for the Brewers will be Aaron Ashby to start things off. He’s continuing to get stretched out this spring training for a potential starting role. Following him will be offseason trade addition Shane Drohan and then non-roster invitee Jacob Waguespack. The Dodgers will have Emmett Sheehan starting on the mound for them.
In the starting lineup, the Brewers have a number of their key roster pieces in there today. Sal Frelick will lead off while playing in center field for a change, followed by Luis Rengifo and the 2018 MVP, Christian Yelich. Jake Bauers and Gary Sánchez fill up the middle of the order. Some of the spring breakout stars, Akil Baddoo and Brandon Lockridge, will follow while David Hamilton and Greg Jones round out the bottom of the order.
The Brewers did make a round of roster cuts today, optioning Jeferson Quero and Sammy Peralta and reassigning a number of non-roster invites to minor league camp, including top prospects like Jesús Made and Luke Adams. Jones has also been reassigned, along with Eddys Leonard, Darrien Miller, Ramón Rodríguez, and Matt Wood.
First pitch is at 3:10 p.m. CT and can be seen on Brewers.TV today with Brian Anderson, Bill Schroeder, and Tim Dillard in the booth. It’ll also be broadcast on WTMJ 620 and the Brewers Radio Network.
Just a day after the White Sox announced the former Rule 5 draft pick Shane Smith would be the Opening Day starter, another Rule 5 pick takes the mound against the Rockies. Jedixson Paez, who was picked up on December 10, 2025, and was assigned to the White Sox prospects on March 5, will get this afternoon’s start. Paez was previously with the Boston Red Sox organization, and unless the Soxes come to an agreement, Paez must be on the active White Sox roster all season long, or be returned to Boston; this start is crucial to his future in Chicago.
As for the players currently playing in the World Baseball Classic, there was not a lot going on yesterday. Seranthony Domínguez (Dominican Republic) and Kyle Teel (Italy) did not play. Curtis Mead (Australia) went 0-for-4, 2 K, and Munetaka Murakami (Japan) was 0-for-3, BB. Sam Antonacci (Italy) had a better day, with a final of 1-for-4, 3B, R, RBI, K.
Kyle Freeland will get the start for the Rockies today. We’ll also see our old friend Nicky Lopez starting at shortstop.
The game won’t be available to watch or listen to, but it starts at 3:05 p.m. CT.
Earlier today, the White Sox sent three more players out of major-league camp:
Murray had two homers in Cactus League play but not much else. González had gotten rocked pretty hard over four appearances, while Sandlin hadn’t appeared at all in Cactus League play.
We’re back, and so is J.P. Crawford.
The Mariners play the Diamondbacks in another rousing round of Spring baseball. Crawford is in the lineup and playing shortstop for the first time this Spring, after a slower start than usual while battling shoulder issues. Ryan Bliss and Brendan Donovan flank him on either side of the infield. Luke Raley gets another starter in center field, which is increasingly becoming a thing. Rob Refsnyder is in right and Victor Robles is at DH.
Bryan Woo is on the mound for his third start of the Spring. I expect he’ll work a bit deeper than last time, and probably exit around the fourth inning, as he continues to ramp up.
Game information
Game time: 1:10 PT
TV: No
Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, the Seattle Sports app, or Gameday
Texas Rangers at San Diego Padres, March 8, 2026, 1:10 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Peoria Sports Complex – Peoria, AZ
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.