Category: Baseball

On Sunday, the Chicago White Sox gave fans another reason to be excited about the 2026 season when they announced that Shane Smith will be the Opening Day starter against his former team in Milwaukee. This is the earliest that Chicago has named their starter ahead of Opening Day since 2018, when the Sox pegged James Shields as the starter on February 27. 

Smith has been one of the most exciting players and storylines to follow since Dec. 11, 2024 when the Sox selected him in the Rule 5 draft. Coming from an organization known for scouting and producing some of the best pitchers in the game, Smith showed plenty of upside as a starter and reliever. His talent immediately shone in his Sox debut and during his first month in the majors; Smith held a 2.23 ERA and racked up 26 strikeouts in his first six games.

As the spring and early summer progressed, Smith continued to dominate. He became the best pitcher in the rotation and was named the Sox’s only All-Star in July. Despite exhibiting natural bumps in his rookie year, Smith finished 2026 with the fewest earned runs (62) and home runs (17) allowed, lowest WHIP (1.196) and most innings pitched (146 ⅓) among Sox pitchers who started more than 20 games.

Fast forward six months, and Smith will be headlining a quirky starting rotation made up of returning youngsters, veteran pitchers and rookies fresh off of Tommy John surgery. 

Fans willing to make the trek up to Milwaukee are bound to be treated to a memorable Opening Day. And if the Brewers give fireballing Jacob Misiorowski the bump to start the game, that’ll be even better.

While the line from George Kirby’s start against Milwaukee won’t jump off the page, Kirby himself was delighted in it – and not just because of how he pitched, effortlessly mixing his pitches so much that Statcast couldn’t keep up (those splitters? Changeups, actually. And the fastball clocking in at 94? A cutter.).

But it’s not a new pitch that’s got Kirby smiling. Rather, it’s a small device clipped to his belt that allows him to call his own pitches.

“[Knizner] called a good game. I got this thing on my belt now, though, so I can kind of call pitches when I want to,” he grinned.

Once again, while Cal Raleigh is away at the WBC, his pitchers are taking some time to try something new out. For Kirby, though, it cuts deeper. Calling his own pitches is an idea that Kirby has toyed with before and dismissed, but came back to this off-season, talking it over with pitching coach Pete Woodworth. Kirby is obsessed with throwing his pitches with “conviction”, something he’s been honing in on since last year, and being able to have ownership at times over his pitch calling is something he feels will help him in that pursuit.

“It’s just a way for me to have more conviction in some of my pitches. Something that I really want to throw instead of shaking 20 times to get to the one, you press it and go from there.”

It’s not every pitch – Kirby said he only did it 8-10 times during his outing on Sunday and that he’s “still learning where the buttons are” – so it’s not like Kirby is putting his catchers out of a job. But it’s something that allows him to feel even more invested in his outings. He feels like it will encourage him to lock in even more and read hitters’ swings so he can be more attuned to which pitches are performing especially well on a certain day.

“I think it’s a way for me to settle in my game a little better. I feel like there’s always a pitch or two where like, oh, I wish I didn’t throw that. And that’s kind of the worst thing to do mentally. I feel like, when I’ve got this thing [said with a loving pat to the transmitter], if I have something in my head, I’m going to call it right there. I don’t want to play the mental game of, oh, I should have thrown the curveball there, or the slider there, or whatever it may be.”

For Kirby, who emphasizes the mental side of the game so much, it’s an exciting way to tap into the mind-body connection.

“I just think having it locks me in even more, and then I’m more in control and therefore more convicted and confident.”

That sounds very good for George Kirby – and very scary for the hitters who will face him this season.

It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! We finally got some real, meaningful baseball this week, as the 2026 World Baseball Classic is finally underway. A whopping 13 Yankees have suited up for this year’s tourney, led of course by Yankees and Team USA Captain Aaron Judge. Regardless of whether they’re with their national teams or stuck in Tampa at the spring training complex, what have the Bombers been up to this week? Let’s find out!

World Baseball Classic

Our lead story is, of course, the World Baseball Classic. While a small army of Yankees are involved, one certainly stands above the rest — both literally and figuratively.

Welcome, Grichuk

New Yankee outfielder Randal Grichuk, signed recently to a minor league deal with the Yankees, posted on Instagram to mark his 13th season.

CC Fires Back

After the Yankees announced that CC Sabathia’s No. 52 will be retired this season, a certain old sportswriter who yells at clouds and writes for the New York Post penned a column criticizing the decision. Not one to take an insult lying down, Sabathia took to his social media accounts to say, “Ah damn Phil sorry you feel that way…see you 9/26/26 😂😂😂😂.”

Aces for Jazz

On his last day off before the WBC, Jazz Chisholm Jr. decided to hit the green and play some golf…where he proceeded to hit a hole-in-one that was so impressive that the PGA Tour official Instagram posted about it. Apparently, nobody has done it on this particular hole in 25 years. Nice work, Jazz — but maybe save your impressive athletic feats for the diamond.

There’s Waldo!

Yankees fan favorite Oswaldo Cabrera made his spring debut on Friday night, the culmination of a long recovery from last spring’s broken ankle. Good to see you back in pinstripes, Cabrera!

More Media Day Photos

Both the Yankees and the players have been slowly posting photos from this year’s media day, so we have a few more this week.

Question of the Day

This week’s Question of the Day was one that the pitchers took very, very seriously: if the pitchers had a Home Run Derby, who would win? This isn’t as easy a question as it used to be, back when pitchers actually came to the plate on a frequent basis for NL teams and semi-regularly for AL squads, but that made their answers all the more interesting.

The Texas Rangers have claimed outfielder Dairon Blanco on waivers from the Kansas City Royals, the team announced today. To make room on the 40 man roster, the Rangers have placed pitcher Jordan Montgomery on the 60 day injured list.

Blanco is a righthanded hitting outfielder who turns 33 in April. Originally from Cuba, Blanco played in the Cuban National Series until defecting in 2016. Blanco signed with Oakland, and was traded to the Kansas City Royals at the 2019 trade deadline in a deal that sent Jake Diekman to the A’s.

Blanco made his major league debut in 2022, and spent most of 2023 and 2024 in the majors before getting just 8 plate appearances in the bigs in 2025, with the bulk of his time spent at AAA. Blanco is very fast but not a real good defender, with the bulk of his playing time coming in left field in the majors. Blanco has a career .257/.312/.416 slash line in 284 plate appearances, though with 59 steals in 73 attempts. he slashed .253/.332/.405 for Omaha in AAA last year.

Blanco has two options remaining per Fangraphs, so if he doesn’t lose his 40 man spot in the interim, the Rangers will be able to send him to the minors at the beginning of the season.

Montgomery going to the 60 day injured list was an inevitability, as he will miss the first couple of months of the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

More than the vast majority of spring training games, this matchup between the Yankees and Mets was all about the starting pitchers. While both of them disappointed on their own levels, Ryan Weathers’ disastrous outing proved pivotal in the Yankees’ 10-4 loss against an underwhelming Freddy Peralta.

It might have read 82 degrees and sunny on the forecast, but Weathers called for heavy clouds as the Mets did a number on the high expectations he provided the Bombers in his first start this spring. Starting off the game in the best possible way—punching out Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco on his way to a 1-2-3 first—Weathers’ outing took a turn for the worse in the second inning. Despite not allowing a single extra-base hit, the southpaw coughed up three runs courtesy of one too many walks for a pitcher who was unable to find the zone the whole game.

With four of the first five hitters reaching base in the second inning, Weathers was relieved to keep him from laboring too much in a single frame, but that didn’t mean the outing was over. Chris Veach bailed out Weathers from a bigger blowup in the second by retiring Polanco and Semien, but the Yankee starter was determined to concede more runs, which is what he did coming out for the third under the spring re-entry rules. Perhaps slightly unsettled by a fielding error from Zach Short—that allowed Bo Bichette to reach base to start the third—Weathers quickly thereafter conceded back-to-back doubles on his way to allowing five earned runs, unable to get out of the third.

The left-hander hit the strike zone in only 35 percent of his four-seamers, and the sinker that he was able to locate more consistently got pummeled in the zone, responsible for four of the seven hits he allowed. The lack of success with either of his fastballs didn’t give much of a chance for that sweeper and changeup to succeed. Opposing hitters didn’t register a whiff in any of their seven swings against Weathers’ changeup. Let’s get back to his fastball for a second, though. Weathers, who was sitting at 98.7 mph on the heater in the first, saw that velocity drop by over a mile and a half in the third, failing to record a single out on the frame.

When Weathers left the mound for the final time, the Yankees had already squandered a two-run first-inning lead that had come courtesy of the prospects at the top of the order and Seth Brown. The veteran lefty hitter drove in Spencer Jones, who stole his third base this spring, yet to be caught on the basepaths. Brown was the Yankees’ most productive hitter on the day, recording two of the team’s six hits.

Once all the starters had left, the Mets added three insurance runs against Dom Hamel, securing a safer 10-4 lead. Much like in the third inning, an error at second base contributed to the scoring, this time done by Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek.

It wasn’t all clouds on this day, however. Jasson Domínguez shined with a two-run single and perhaps more importantly, showed off some improved left-field defense.

Outfield defense was on display all around for the Yankees, as Jones made a nice diving catch in center at one point and Duke Ellis robbed a homer.

Much like today, the focal point of Monday’s game will be the Yankees’ starting pitcher. For the first time this spring training, left-hander Max Fried takes the mound for a start as the Yanks see a familiar foe with an unfamiliar uniform. Now a Pirate, José Urquidy will start for Pittsburgh against New York on George Steinbrenner Field—first pitch is at 6:35 PM ET.

Box score

Two games, two wins.

Blue Jays 1 Orioles 0

Cody Ponce had a nice time against the Orioles today. He threw 3 no-hit innings, no walks with 1 strikeout. I was impressed.

Other pitchers:

• Mason Fluharty: 1.2 innings, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts. 2.45 ERA this spring.
• Braydon Fisher: 1.1 innings, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts. 2.70.
• Michael Plassmeyer: 1 inning, 2 hits. 3.60.
• Javen Coleman: 1 inning, 1 walk, 1 k. 0.00.
• Hayden Juenger: 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 k. 0.00.

Hitters, starters:

• Myles Straw: 1 for 3. .200 on the spring.
• Jesús Sánchez: 1 for 3, RBI, K. .240.
• Eloy Jiménez: 0 for 2, walk. .321. After a hot start he’s cooled off some.
• Brendan Valenzuela: 0 for 3. .333.
• Yohendrick Pinango: 0 for 3. .100.
• Charles McAdoo: 0 for 3. .273.
• Rafael Lantigua:1 for 2, walk. .526.
• Arjun Nimmala: 2 for 2, walk, run. . 250.
• Riley Tirotta: 0 for 2, walk, k. .150.

Others:

• Braden Barry: 0 for 2. .000.
• J.R. Freethy: 0 for 2, k. .000.
• Carlos Mendoza: 0 for 1. .429.
• Geovanny Planchart: Walk.
• Eddy Micheletti, Jr.: 0 for 1, k. .429.
• Tucker Toman: 0 for 1, k. .250.
• Maddox Latta: 0 for 1, k. .000.
• Jay Harry: 1 for 1. .250.
• Carter Cunningham: 0 for 1, k. .000.

Tigers 0 Blue Jays 5

Kevin Gausman looked good too. 3.1 innings, 3 hits and 3 strikeouts.

• Angel Bastardo: 1.2, 1 hit, 2 walks. 0.00.
• Tyler Rogers: 1 inning, 1 hit. 4.50.
• Jesse Hahn: 1 inning, 1 k. 12.00.
• Spencer Miles: 1 inning, 2 hits, 3 k. 3.60.
• Tanner Andrews: 1 inning, 1 k. .0.00.

Hitters, Starters:

• George Springer: 0 for 3, walk, k. .333.
• Nathan Lukes: 1 for 2, walk. .211.
• Davis Schneider: 0 for 3. .053. I’m not going to get too concerned, he didn’t hit last spring either (but they didn’t have him on the opening day roster).
• Daulton Varsho: 0 for 2. .409.
• Addison Barger: 2 for 3, home run, 3 RBI. .273. The homer and the single were against lefties.
• Tyler Heineman: 1 for 2, RBI, k. .273. He was also picked off first.
• Jonahan Clase: 1 for 2, walk. .294.
• Josh Kasevich: 1 for 3, double, 1 RBI. . 381. It hit high off the wall.
• Sean Keys: 0 for 2, walk. .190.

Others:

• Jace Bohrofen: 0 for 1. .000.
• Josh Rivera: 1 for 1. .231.
• Jake Casey: Walk. (Sean Casey’s son).
• Cade Doughty: 0 for 1. .000.
• Robert Brooks: 0 for 2, 2 k. .286.
• Je’Von Ward: 0 for 1. .333. He made an error in left. It looked like he was going to try for a diving catch, changed his mind and then had the ball go off his glove.
• Nick Goodwin: 0 for 1, k. .333.

The Jays are now 5-8-2. The Jays have tomorrow off. Tuesday they host the Braves. Dylan Cease starts.

The Mets defeated the Yankees today in Port St. Lucie by a score of 10-4. With a victory both today and on February 22, the Mets have swept the all-important Grapefruit League Subway Series. Look for celebratory merch ASAP.

• Freddy Peralta struck out the first two batters to face him, but an outfield miscue by AJ. Ewing led to a triple by George Lombard Jr., who promptly singled Lombard in, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Jones then stole second and scored on a Spencer Jones single.
• Peralta settled in, not allowing a baserunner in his second or third inning. Overall, Peralta gave up three hits, two runs, and one walk with four strikeouts.
• Francisco Alvarez led off the second with a single, and was pushed to second base by a Tyrone Taylor walk. Carson Benge then singled in Alvarez, putting the Mets on the board. A Vidal Bruján walk loaded the bases for Ewing, who redeemed himself after his first inning snafu by driving in Taylor and Benge and giving the Mets a lead they would not relinquish.
• In the third, the Mets added another pair of runs on doubles by Brett Baty and Taylor and then Bruján singled in Taylor to put the Mets up 6-3.
• Carl Edwards Jr. pitched the fourth for the Mets and got himself into trouble early, allowing a Seth Brown single to start the frame and loading the bases on two walks before allowing a Jasson Domínguez single to bring in two and make it a 6-4 game.
• Tyrone Taylor continued to have himself a day, driving in another run on a sac fly in the fourth.
• Christian Arroyo, Ji Hwan Bae and Jose Rojas all drove in runs in the seventh to give the Mets a 10-4 lead.
• Brett Banks got one out for the Mets, and Jonathan Pintaro pitched two and a third scoreless innings before being pulled in the top of the ninth after fatigue set in and he loaded the bases. Aaron Rozek threw one pitch for a ground ball double play to end the game.

The Mets are back on SNY tomorrow evening against the Marlins.

After beating the Dodgers last night 6-4 at Camelback Ranch, the Rockies will look to take the momentum back home to Salt River Fields this afternoon.

RHP Eiberson Castellano (0-0, 2.25 ERA) makes his first Cactus League start this afternoon after making two other relief appearances. In total, Castellano has thrown four innings and allowed one run on six hits with one hit batter, one walk and four strikeouts. He was signed by the Rockies as a minor league free agent after spending six seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies’ system, where he won their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2024, and one with the Minnesota Twins after being selected by them in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft. Castellano was returned to the Phillies in March, and represented the organization in the Arizona Fall League before electing free agency.

“We think very highly of Mr. Castellano,” manager Warren Schaeffer said before the game. “[He’s got a] big arm, big body, attacks the strike zone, good breaking ball… there’s a lot to like. It’s just a matter of getting to see him more often.

“We like a lot about him,” he continued. “Just those things alone make him a viable candidate. It’s a long season, but he’s a guy that can absolutely build up to be a starter. I think anything’s possible for him.”

In his last outing, Castellano threw two innings against the San Diego Padres and allowed two hits with one hit batter, one walk and two strikeouts.

The right-hander will face Guardians’ left-hander Joey Cantillo (0-1, 11.12 ERA). Cantillo is making his third start of spring training, and has given up nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits with two home runs, three walks and five strikeouts. Cantillo was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 16th round of the 2017 draft out of Kailua High School in Kailua, HI. He was traded to Cleveland in 2020 alongside Austin Hedges, Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Gabriel Arias and Owen Miller in exchange for Mike Clevinger and Greg Allen. In his last outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cantillo pitched three innings and allowed three runs on two hits (including a two-run homer) with two walks and two strikeouts.

First Pitch: 2:10 p.m. MT

TV: Rockies.tv

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Lineups:

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Bryce Elder had a rough one on the mound at Charlotte Sports Park against the Rays, as he ended up conceding more runs than innings pitched in what turned out to be a battle of the bats between the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay in spring training action.

It was clear from the jump that this was probably going to be a shaky outing for Elder in today’s contest. Despite being given a four-run lead to play with, that ended up not mattering much as Elder was all over the place (and not in a good way, this time). He dealt with two men on base before recording an out (with the second runner reaching via hit-by-pitch) and then a wild pitch moved both of those runners into scoring position. Elder eventually got out of the inning by only giving up a single run thanks to a couple of ground balls that he induced but he also sandwiched in a walk in between the fielder’s choice RBI for Ben Williamson and the double play that ended the inning.

It was clear that Elder was going to have to step things up after his rough first inning but the results didn’t go his way in that regard. Jonny DeLuca led off the second inning with a double and made it home on another fielder’s choice RBI that cleared the bases. The bases were soon busy again, as Elder ended up surrendering a walk, a single and then an RBI single that made it a 5-3 game at that point. Elder then ended up getting pulled for the remainder of the inning in favor of Darius Vines, who promptly gave up a three-run shot to Ben Williamson to put five runs on Elder’s line and give the Rays the lead in this one. Vines followed that up by giving up a double and a walk immediately afterwards, so this was clearly just a rough day for Atlanta’s pitchers — and it was only going to get rougher.

Elder ended his day on a high note by re-entering the contest during the third inning and only surrendering another walk while getting through his only scoreless inning of the day. With that being said, a line of 3.1 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K and 5 R certainly isn’t encouraging. Now granted, the wind was blowing out towards the fences in this one so it wasn’t like Elder was the only one struggling with that but also, Elder was the only pitcher who walked more than one batter in this one. It was definitely a frustrating day on the mound for Elder in this one and that was only compounded due to something happening soon afterwards that was completely out of his control.

Joey Wentz entered the game in the bottom of the fifth inning looking to continue to bolster his case for a spot in the starting rotation. However, he suffered a setback in this frame that might leave him out for a little bit of time. Wentz started off this frame by giving up a leadoff double and he was an out away from getting out of things unscathed. Unfortunately, he not only ended up giving up a run while trying to field a bunt but he also hurt himself while trying to cover first base in the process.

Wentz stayed on the ground for a while in plenty of pain but he eventually stood up under his own power. He did take a cart ride to the clubhouse but according to reports from Braves beat writer Mark Bowman of MLB.com, there’s reason to believe that this was simply a precautionary measure since Wentz was seen walking around the clubhouse after his outing. Either way, a starting pitcher going down (no matter how far up or down that pitcher is on the depth chart) is the absolute last thing that the Braves want to see at this point and here’s hoping that there is, in fact, nothing serious when it comes to Wentz’s injury. His injury (alongside two late runs given up by Tyler LaPorte) was the capper on a rough day for Braves pitching.

Fortunately for the Braves, this didn’t stop them from continuing to rake at the plate. As I mentioned earlier, the Braves scored four runs in the first inning as seven of Atlanta’s starting nine took plate appearances in the first inning alone. Luke Williams and Dominic Smith both picked up singles to start things off, Jorge Mateo plated the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly and then Ben Gamel added another homer to his spring tally to make it 3-0 Braves. Kyle Farmer liked what Ben Gamel did so much that he crushed a homer of his own immediately afterwards, giving the Braves their third separate instance of back-to-back home runs so far this spring. Boom!

Luke Williams added a homer of his own in the second inning but things quieted down in the middle portion of this game considerably following two loud innings to start this game for the Braves. Once the seventh inning rolled around, Dominic Smith collected his second hit of the game in order to plate José Azocar on an RBI single and then Jair Camargo smacked a two-run dinger of his own to make it four big flies on the day for the Braves. They may have dropped the game but it was still nice to see the Braves continue to send the ball flying all over the diamond in yet another game.

So to sum things up, today was a mixed bag in terms of what was on display during the game. It was definitely nice to see the Braves continue to mash at the plate but it that was a double-edged sword as the conditions did contribute to Atlanta’s pitching staff struggling to contain the Rays’ bats as well. It was a rough day in particular for two pitchers who are the most-likely hurlers in this contest to be contributing to big league games once the regular season starts later this month. Elder had issues with location and command and Wentz suffered an apparent injury. You always have your peaks-and-valleys in spring training and today was certainly a valley in many ways.

A big slew of roster moves this afternoon, including some significant names.

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves and have 47 players in camp.

Optioned to Triple-A Reno:

• LHP Mitch Bratt
• RHP Juan Burgos
• LHP Kohl Drake
• RHP Grant Holman
• INF Jose Fernandez

Reassigned to Minor League camp:

• RHP Gerardo Carrillo
• RHP Hayden Durke
• RHP Junior Fernandez
• LHP Spencer Giesting
• RHP Taylor Rashi
• INF LuJames Groover
• INF Cristofer Torin
• INF Tommy Troy
• OF A.J. Vukovich
• OF Ryan Waldschmidt

Fernandez… Oh, J. Fernan… Um, I mean Jose Fernandez and Waldschmidt are probably the two names of most significance. Many were expecting Waldy to snag an Opening Day roster spot, given the absence of “true” outfielders on the 40-man roster. His spring numbers had merely been okay though: .240/.269/.480 for a .749 OPS, with a K:BB of 9:1. Fernandez had opened a lot of eyes, after being a surprising add to the 40-man roster. He was leading the team in spring home-runs, and a 1.148 OPS was impressive too. Most of the rest are fairly unsurprising, but I’d not be shocked to see at least some of these names at Chase Field later this year.

Bullpen day for the D-backs, though a switch in the “starting” pitcher, with Drey Jameson taking over from previously announced starter Kevin Ginkel. After Jameson, the list shows RHP Ginkel, RHP Shawn Dubin, RHP Junior Fernandez, RHP Taylor Rashi, RHP John Curtiss and LHP Spencer Giesting. Amusing that half of the position players optioned or re-assigned above, are in the Arizona starting line-up this afternoon – Troy, Waldschmidt and Groover – and three of the pitchers were similarly crossed off the list. Memo to self. The SB Nation system works on Eastern time, so remember to schedule this one for 4 pm Eastern, not 3!

Today’s game will be broadcast on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, with Chris Garagiola and Josh Collmenter running the broadcast.

Today the Texas Rangers continue their preparations for the upcoming season with a Cactus League matchup against the Anaheim Angels.

RHP Nathan Eovaldi will take the Surprise, AZ mound for Texas for today’s contest opposite RHP Victor Mederos, now under the tutelage of former Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux.

You can listen to this one via 105.3 The Fan or follow along on Gameday. First pitch from Surprise Stadium is scheduled for 3:05 pm CT.

Go Rangers!

After a pair of night games, it’s back to day games for a big for the Dodgers, who are in Mesa on Sunday to take on the Athletics.

Sunday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at A’s
• Ballpark: Hohokam Stadium, Mesa
• Time: 1:05 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: none