Category: Baseball

The Guardians gave up 20 runs to the Mariners last night. But it’s Spring Training so it doesn’t count. So there.

Logan Allen gave up 12 runs. I am always surprised when Allen doesn’t give up 12 runs, so nothing new here for me. Matt Festa got knocked around but hey it’s Arizona, it’s early, etc.

Jose Ramirez, Angel Martinez and Wuilfredo Antunez hit homers. CJ Kayfus doubled.

The team designated Nolan Jones for assignment to Columbus. MLB’s rules are opaque but I think he will either be claimed by another team or have to accept the assignment to keep his $2M contract because he is short of five years of service time. That Columbus team will be crowded with Jones, Johnathan Rodriguez, Petey Halpin, Kahlil Watson, Juan Brito and even potentially Stuart Fairchild in the outfield mix… with options like Antunez not far behind. Makes you wonder if we might see some small trades prior to Opening Day.

I think CJ Kayfus takes Valera spot as a right field option and Angel Martinez secures the fourth outfielder spot. With Gaddis on the IL, the Opening Day roster has come into focus, and I do think Parker Messick will beat out Logan Allen for the fifth starter role.

Jim Rosenhaus spoke to Chris Antonetti, Daniel Schneemann and Angel Martinez on the latest Guardians Weekly podcast.

At this point each season, everything is fresh and new, and nearly anything seems possible. For the Red Sox infield, the mystery of what the season holds is even more intriguing because the Red Sox have an almost completely new-look infield.

For the most part, the players are new to each other and to Fenway: Willson Contreras, Caleb Durbin, Isiah Kiner-Falefa (bench), and Andruw Monasterio (bench) are all new to the Sox. All but Kiner-Falefa have arrived from the National League. Durbin and Marcelo Mayer, the starting third and second basemen, are still new-ish to MLB, with both returning for just their second year in the big leagues. Mayer, in particular, is an unknown quantity since his first season was cut short by injury.

Trevor Story holds a special place in the infield; at this point, he’s the only infielder who returned from the 2025 team and is not on the IL or in the minors. As such, he’s the anchor, though even he brings some question marks with him related to health and age.

What are these infielders capable of, individually and as a group? With as many unknowns as there are, it would be foolish to make predictions but there are certainly goals.

Stabilize the Infield Defense

This is foundational goal and must be considered a bare minimum for the season. Veterans Story and Contreras will lead the way here, facilitating the transition out of the chaos of recent seasons.

The organization’s new focus on defense will be stabilizing in its own right because it’s given the front office a mission. By signing a number of glove-first utility players, the team should be able to significantly reduce the errors that have plagued them for too long, and shut the revolving door on the procession of Quad-A players who were needed due to poor roster construction and lack of depth.

Stay (or Get) Healthy

This might be considered a stretch goal, as injuries are a way of life in professional sports and the Red Sox have had their share recently.

Romy González and Triston Casas could be contributors this season but they begin the season on the IL, recovering from their respective surgeries (shoulder and knee). Brendan Rodgers, who wasn’t likely to make the MLB roster anyway, is likely out for the season due to surgery.

With Story and Mayer, who have been defined in many ways by their injuries in recent years, fingers are crossed. For Mayer especially, finishing the year on the field—something he hasn’t done since 2021, the year he was drafted—is crucial. He has never played more than 100 games in a season as a professional and needs to prove what he’s capable of. He will surely want to shut down the speculation, which only reignited when he experienced “soreness” late in spring training.

Unlike recent years, there is a versatile bench to draw from—to allow Alex Cora to execute his matchups, to keep starters fresh, and to step in when infield injuries arise.

Manufacture Enough Runs to Quiet the Talk About the Missing Power Bat

This is absolutely a stretch goal.

This task doesn’t fall only to the infield, of course, but since first and third base are typically seen as power-hitting positions, the battle lines are drawn. Contreras has amassed 172 HRs in his career, though never more than 24 in a season. His bat is one of the strongest on the entire team, not only among infielders, which speaks to the lack of overall power. There are other ways to score runs, of course, but in working to create those opportunities throughout the batting order, they find themselves operating outside of the long-time Red Sox identity. Contreras has decent power and hits to the gaps. His goal is to hit close to 20 homers and consistently drive in runners with doubles off the wall, or other well-placed hits.

Durbin (.256/.334/.387) is known for slapping singles, not for pop. He has speed and baserunning smarts, with 18 stolen bases in 2025. His part of this collective goal? Continue to get those hits, work walks, and turn on the speed to stretch some of those hits into another bag. Once he’s done that, the mission becomes swiping bases and racing home to score. He seems like a player who would find his groove in this hard-working, keep-the-pressure-on style of play.

Story rebuilt trust with Red Sox Nation and resurrected his career in 2025, as he hit 25 homers, drove in 96 runs, and stole a career-high 31 bases. At 33 and with his injury history, it’s unclear if he can maintain that pace, though he has spoken about managing his routines as a means of staying healthy and fresh. He will need to do just that and be a major offensive contributor, as he was last year.

Mayer has plenty of room to grow at the plate, slashing .228/.272/.402 with eight doubles, a triple and four home runs in 44 games. In the small sample size of 136 plate appearances over 44 games, he struck out 41 times (a rate of 30%) and walked eight times (a rate of 5%). Alex Cora has challenged him to improve his batting eye and plate approach, and in many ways, Mayer can only improve from here.

When González returns later in the season, he will hopefully be ready to do his share by mashing off the bench. Casas’ future in the infield or on the roster is unclear at this point, but if there’s any hope that he can resume the production he’s showed flashes of, he’ll be welcomed back with open arms.

Later this week, the infield will get the chance to prove itself in real games that matter. The foundation is there to build on, and the infield looks better, on paper at least, than any the Red Sox have rostered in several years.

Roki Sasaki has struggled with command this spring training, all while adding new pitches to his repertoire. The Dodgers have been exceedingly patient with the 24-year-old right-hander, insisting all spring that he will start the season in the starting rotation, rather than get optioned to the minors to continue his work in progress.

Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register talked with manager Dave Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman about the plan for Sasaki:

“There’s obviously a big gap between Triple-A and the big leagues,” Friedman said. “With certain really talented young players that we really believe in, we think that last mile of player development is generally better served at the major-league level.

“That said, even with our established guys it’s one of continued player development. Now for some guys, that’s more on the margins. For other guys there’s more involved. But we believe very strongly that he is going to be a very successful major-league starter. Just how quickly that comes to be is a fair question. Obviously we’re going to pour everything we can into making that happen sooner rather than later and we’ll go from there.”

Friedman talked with Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times about a number of topics, including organizational goals:

I wouldn’t say our mindset is all that different. But obviously, when you’re in a moment in time with an incredibly talented roster, I think the mindset is, ‘Don’t sit back on your heels, be aggressive, and don’t be nonchalant about the opportunity that we have in front of us.’ And so it’s more the idea of pressing an advantage and being aggressive on that front.

Santiago Espinal, who was selected to the Dodgers roster on Wednesday, will earn a $2.5 million salary this season, per Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic.

Alden González at ESPN wrote about how restrictions on pitcher usage constrain the potential of the World Baseball Classic, and that the Olympics potentially providing a road map for moving the WBC to midseason wouldn’t necessarily solve those restraints.

Janie McCauley at Associated Press previews the National League West.

Major League Baseball on Thursday announced that Polymarket is now the league’s official prediction market exchange, which is definitely a group of words that make complete sense together. Gabe Lacques at USA Today wrote about the potential pitfalls:

Manfred himself even has some control over the market.

The No. 2 search result after “2026 win totals” on Polymarket is “New MLB (collective bargaining agreement) by Dec. 1?” While Manfred has telegraphed a lockout by that date, the market believes there’s a 49% chance a deal will be struck between MLB and the players’ association by then.

It is time for my favourite post of the year. It is fun to read about where everyone who comes here is from and their answers to the various questions.

Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to copy and paste these questions into the comment thread and give us your answers.

Name:

Location:

Favourite Current Jay:

Favourite All-Time Jay:

Favourite Non-Jay:

Favourite Blue Jays Prospect:

Metaphysical Position on the Diamond:

Ballpark I’d Most Like to Visit:

Favourite Baseball Movie:

What was the best thing about your past year:

When Not Bantering, I:

On Twitter or BlueSky, I am:

Baseball Card Back Fun Fact:

Walkup Music:

Name: The One and Only Billy Shears

Location: Calgary. Surrounded by guitars and a mess. Or a mess of guitars.

Favourite Current Jay: Addison Barger

Favourite All-Time Jay: Depends on the moment. Let’s go with Jesse Barfield

Favourite Non-Jay: Former Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans

Favourite Blue Jays Prospect: JoJo Parker, if his walk-up music isn’t ‘Get Back’, I’ll have to pick someone else. Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner, But he knew it couldn’t last

Metaphysical Position on the Diamond: Second base. Moved over from short since my arm isn’t good enough to make that Metaphysical throw from the hole. Me and Bo, if we stand close together, you couldn’t tell us apart.

Ballpark I’d Most Like to Visit: Right now? Tokyo Dome. And I hope to get to in a few days.

Favourite Baseball Movie: Still Bull Durham. “Don’t think, it hurts the team”

What was the best thing about your past year: We had a vacation to Africa, that was amazing.

When Not Bantering, I: been playing tennis a lot, squash some and trying badminton, because why not.

On Twitter or BlueSky, I am: @bluebirdbanter

Baseball Card Back Fun Fact: I have my name on a bowling trophy. And no, it wasn’t for a record low score.

Walkup Music: Oh I don’t know, how about All Just To Get To You

Name: Tom M

Location: Calgary

Favourite Current Jay: Vlad

Favourite All-Time Jay: Jose Bautista

Favourite Non-Jay: Francisco Lindor

Favourite Blue Jays Prospect: I’m about to list 40 of them

Metaphysical Position on the Diamond: Crafty junkballing lefty starter

Ballpark I’d Most Like to Visit: Fenway

Favourite Baseball Movie: Bull Durham

What was the best thing about your past year: I got published as lead author on an academic paper for the first time

When Not Bantering, I: take pictures, develop pictures, sometimes run marathons.

On Twitter or BlueSky, I am: silent

Baseball Card Back Fun Fact: I can tell the difference between butter and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter 

Walkup Music: Work to Do, Average White Band

Name: Colin C

Location: Edmonton

Favourite Current Jay: Alejandro Kirk

Favourite All-Time Jay: Carlos Delgado

Favourite Non-Jay: Bobby Witt Jr

Favourite Blue Jays Prospect: Gage Stanifer

Metaphysical Position on the Diamond: Guy who sits on the ball bucket and heckles the ump

Ballpark I’d Most Like to Visit: PNC Park

Favourite Baseball Movie: Major League 

What was the best thing about your past year: vacation to Mexico 

When Not Bantering, I: Run around with my kid to all her different activities, play baseball and travel back and forth to Winnipeg a lot. (Editor: Because the mosquitos in Edmonton aren’t big enough??)

On Twitter or BlueSky, I am: A lurker 

Baseball Card Back Fun Fact: Have played baseball in 3 different Arizona Spring Training complexes.

Walkup Music: Bone Cracker

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Brewers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked fans who they think will win the NL Central in 2026. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it really came down to two teams: the Brewers and the Cubs.

Here’s what the results showed:

The Brewers, who have won the division in each of the last three and four of the last five seasons, came away with 74% of the vote, with the Cubs coming in second at 22%. The Reds garnered 2%, while the Pirates and Cardinals each picked up 1%.

After a franchise-best 97-65 record last season, the Brewers return most of their roster, with the notable exceptions of Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers (traded to the Mets), Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler (traded to the Red Sox), and Isaac Collins and Nick Mears (traded to the Royals). They also lost Rhys Hoskins, Jose Quintana, Erick Fedde, and Danny Jansen in free agency.

In terms of additions, the Crew added a lot of young guys, primarily through those trades. That includes pitchers Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan, and Brandon Sproat, as well as utility players in David Hamilton and Jett Williams. The Collins/Mears trade also netted them another lefty reliever in Ángel Zerpa, and they added Akil Baddoo, Gary Sánchez, Luis Rengifo, and Reese McGuire in free agency.

Is this a team that can stay atop the NL Central for the fourth straight year? Weigh in in the comments! Thanks for participating in our Reacts survey, and be sure to use FanDuel Sportsbook for all of your sports betting needs.

Brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

Good morning Birdland,

The final day of spring training has arrived! Huzzah! Kind of.

At 1 p.m. today, the Orioles will host the Phillies for their last game down in Florida. It will be broadcast on MASN and the Orioles Radio Network. Then, they will head north for a home-and-home of exhibitions with the nearby Nationals over the two days that follow. So, technically, they have a couple more “pre-season” games left on the docket before they actually open the season against the Twins on Thursday. But still, it feels like a significant landmark as we suffer through the final days without regular season baseball.

Friday featured the third annual Spring Breakout prospect showcase. The Orioles youngsters faced off with the Red Sox squad in a game in which the O’s prevailed 3-1. MLB.com’s Jake Rill recapped the action, but here are some of the highlights:

• Trey Gibson started and tossed three shutout innings.
• Joseph Dzierwa got the win and struck out eight over his three clean frames
• Reed Trimble had two hits and stole two bases
• Nate George and Ike Irish each doubled once.

How much can be gleaned from a single game full of well-regarded young players? Almost nothing at all. But it’s fun! And the final days of spring can be pretty dull, so it continues to be a welcome addition to the mix.

The big league Birds were also in action on Friday. They traveled to Tampa for a face-off with the Yankees, where they lost 3-1.

It was a pretty grim showing for the O’s offense, which collected just three hits, three walks, and struck out 11 times. Pete Alonso doubled, Douglas Hodo tripled, and Samuel Basallo had the lone RBI.

Things were better for the pitching staff! Zach Eflin tossed 5.1 shutout innings and struck out seven while throwing 70 pitches. It seems like he might be ready for Opening Day after all? Dietrich Enns got the final two outs of the sixth inning, and Rico Garcia worked yet another shutout frame. The only pitcher to get knocked around was Cohen Achen, a 24-year-old that has appeared in just two games above Double-A.

Outside of the game action, there are likely to be a flurry of roster moves around the league this weekend. Teams will start to make final cuts. Usually a few minor surprises crop up, which could make some bench or bullpen pieces available. The Orioles, like many teams, aren’t entirely settled in those departments. So, it is possible that a new name or two could make their way onto the Opening Day roster. But nothing has been reported on that front just yet.

Links

Buck Britton happy to be back on Orioles’ coaching staff after wild first season in majors | Roch Kubatko
Britton as well as many of the pitching coaches are back despite the rocky 2025 for the big league club. Some level of continuity on the coaching staff seems like a wise choice for Craig Albernaz and the broader organization. Although Albernaz has gotten nothing but rave reviews since joining the club, connecting with every single player in a clubhouse is difficult. Having a few familiar faces around should help to bridge any gaps that exist.

Jon Meoli: The Orioles kept their ‘elite’ pitching coaches for a reason. They think there’s a lot to build on. | The Baltimore Banner
Speaking of those pitching coaches…it sounds like everyone is happy that they are back. Trevor Rogers is even quoted in here saying that he was excited for Albernaz provided that he “just doesn’t touch the pitching department.” That’s high praise for a pitcher coming off of one of the best 100-inning stretches in recent memory.

Pair of O’s athletic trainers form all-woman staff for Spring Breakout | Orioles.com
For the Spring Breakout games, the up-and-comers aren’t just the ones in uniform. Even the staff represent the future of the Orioles, or at least the broader baseball world. Pretty neat!

Orioles’ Dylan Beavers: Scratched from lineup | CBS Sports
Beavers was supposed to play against the Yankees on Friday. Instead, he sat out with right knee discomfort. There has been no reporting on the severity of the problem. It could be nothing. We should know more today.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Chadwick Tromp turns 31 today. He was one of the many catchers to don an Orioles uniform in 2025. Ultimately he only played in six games for the Birds.
• Jimmy Yacabonis is 34 years old. The righty spent parts of three seasons from 2017-2019 on the Orioles pitching staff, accumulating a 5.75 ERA over 101.2 total innings.
• The late Tommy Davis (b. 1939, d. 2022) was born on this day. He played 18 seasons of big league baseball, including a four-year stint in Baltimore from 1972 through ‘75.

This day in O’s history

2018 – Just before Opening Day, the Orioles add former Rays hurler Alex Cobb on a four-year, $57 million deal.

Game results:

Reds 8, Cubs 6.

A’s 6, Cubs 2.

Well, that was no bueno. At least the televised game started out well. I made a bad coin flip and started out listening to the Reds game. Boyd wasn’t exactly good Friday night. Taillon wasn’t much better. Miguel Amaya had some juice. Al will have details at 8 a.m. CT.

“I’ve suggested to the hitting coaches that they stay away from him,” Counsell said. “I did have a meeting with the hitting coaches at one point this spring. I called them all together, and they got a little nervous. I said, ‘You guys should stay away from Ballesteros.’

“Joking, you know, but they got the message.” — Patrick Mooney.

Four and a half games left, including the Spring Breakout Game. Cub Tracks is not in favor of ST night games. Or Eugenio Suárez in the Central.

*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.

• Daryl Van Schouwen (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Ten years later, Cubs would love to duplicate championship success. “Seems like it’s about time for another one.”
• Jay Cohen (AP*): NL Central Preview: Loaded Cubs going for the division title, but Brewers and Reds are lurking. “… Bregman is hoping to lead the Chicago Cubs to their first Central title since 2020…”
• Andy Koval (WGN9*): PHOTOS: Cubs unveil new food for 2026 season at Wrigley Field. The teams’ respective 2026 journeys begin on March 26, when the Cubs will host the Nationals at 1:20 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field on Opening Day.
• Jordan Bastian, Jessica Camerato (MLB.com*): Nationals-Cubs Opening Day starters: Cavalli vs. Boyd.
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Daniel Palencia shows off his WBC gold medal as he rejoins Chicago Cubs: ‘I knew that moment was mine’. “I just don’t believe it,” Palencia said.
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs notes from camp: Jonathon Long in the mix for bench spot — and Shota Imanaga is a whiff machine. More Imanaga from Matthew Trueblood.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs’ top prospect Ballesteros earns Opening Day roster spot. “He’s on the team,” Counsell said on Friday. “I think we made Moisés unnecessarily nervous, actually.” Meghan Montemurro has more. Daryl Van Schouwen likewise.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Cubs extension updates: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Nico Hoerner. “… it’s generally been the case that a lot of extension negotiations end when it’s time to focus on games.”
• Patrick Mooey (The Athletic {$}): Pete Crow-Armstrong on WBC loss to Venezuela, Cubs teammate Daniel Palencia: ‘I love Danny’. “He pitched out of his mind,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He was great.”
• Jim Callis (MLB.com*): 2025 Draft picks key to Cubs restocking prospect pool. “The Cubs system is going through a transition right now.”

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.

Kyle Freeland will take the ball for the Rockies on Opening Day in 2026 — the fifth Opening Day nod for a pitcher who has quietly built one of the most unique résumés in franchise history. By Baseball-Reference, he is already the Rockies’ all-time leader in WAR among starting pitchers (19.2), a reflection of both longevity and effectiveness in baseball’s most difficult pitching environment. 

And yet, that same metric — WAR — is part of why Freeland is so often misunderstood. 

Because here’s the reality: WAR doesn’t always evaluate pitchers at Coors Field particularly well. And Freeland is one of the clearest case studies of that disconnect. 

His 2018 season is the most extreme example. FanGraphs credited him with 4.1 WAR. Baseball-Reference credited him with 8.4 WAR. Same performance, radically different value depending on the model. 

That season stands out — an outlier peak — but it doesn’t stand alone. Freeland has put together multiple solid seasons in Colorado, just not always at that elite level. 

Why Coors breaks clean metrics 

Most public pitcher WAR (Wins Above Replacement) models rely on two approaches: 

• FIP-based WAR (FanGraphs) — built from strikeouts, walks, and home runs.  

• RA9-based WAR (Baseball-Reference) — based on actual runs allowed.  

Both work well in most environments. At Coors, they don’t. 

At altitude, air density is roughly 15–20% lower than at sea level. Pitch-tracking research shows fastballs can lose roughly 2–3 inches of movement in Denver. 

Movement isn’t just reduced: It’s altered. That makes generating swing-and-miss more difficult and increases reliance on contact. 

So pitchers adapt. 

Freeland doesn’t overpower hitters — and that’s exactly what WAR tends to undervalue. 

2018 shows the disconnect 

Freeland’s 2018 line: 

• 202.1 innings  

• 2.85 ERA  

• 3.67 FIP  

• 4.1 fWAR  

• 8.4 rWAR  

That gap between fWAR and rWAR isn’t small — it’s philosophical. 

One model saw a pitcher without dominant strikeout numbers. The other saw elite run prevention. 

At Coors, Freeland threw 93.2 innings with a 2.40 ERA — not just surviving, but thriving. 

Coors isn’t just hitter-friendly 

Coors is often called “hitter-friendly,” but that undersells it. 

Park factors are averages — one adjustment applied broadly. 

Coors isn’t average. 

It interacts with pitch shape, contact quality, and decision-making in ways that don’t scale cleanly. Two identical pitches can produce completely different outcomes depending on where they’re thrown. Even the humidor reduced but didn’t eliminate these effects. 

In Colorado, the numbers rarely tell the whole story.

The skill that gets missed 

Freeland’s profile won’t jump off the page: 

• Modest strikeout rates  

• Solid command  

• Heavy reliance on contact  

But his value shows up differently: 

• Weak contact  

• Ground balls  

• Avoiding letting one inning break everything  

At Coors, that last skill might be the most valuable. 

WAR rewards outcomes that translate cleanly across environments. Freeland’s value comes from handling one that doesn’t. 

The Coors credibility tax 

There’s also a perception gap — call it the Coors credibility tax. 

A 4.30 ERA in a neutral environment looks like back-end production. At Coors, that same performance can resemble mid-rotation value or higher. 

If the Rockies are building around pitchers like Freeland, the question isn’t just whether they’re good enough: it’s whether we’re measuring them correctly. 

So what is he actually worth? 

On paper, a ~2 WAR pitcher looks replaceable. 

In reality, it’s not that simple. 

Freeland is owed $16 million in 2026, with a vesting option tied to innings in 2027. That reflects something the numbers struggle to capture: reliability in a uniquely difficult environment. A pitcher with similar “true talent” elsewhere might not translate to Coors at all. Freeland already has. 

Kyle Freeland isn’t an ace in the traditional sense. 

He’s something more specific: 

A pitcher built to survive — and occasionally thrive — in baseball’s most difficult pitching environment. 

Until metrics better capture environmental context and contact management at altitude, pitchers like Freeland will continue to look ordinary on paper and essential in reality. 

So the next time you see a WAR total next to a Rockies pitcher, ask: 

Is that number telling the whole story — or just the part that survives outside of Coors Field? 

What We Got Right and Wrong About the Rockies in Spring Training | SI.com 

The Rockies’ spring training offered a mix of optimism and reality — some encouraging performances, but familiar concerns still lingering. A few players showed growth, especially on the offensive side, yet questions about pitching depth and consistency remain. In the end, the biggest takeaway is that spring can hint at progress, but proving it in the regular season is a different challenge entirely. 

Venezuelan WBC champion Ezequiel Tovar makes triumphant return to Rockies after ‘goosebump’ moments | The Denver Post ($) 

Ezequiel Tovar returned to the Rockies fresh off helping Venezuela capture a World Baseball Classic title, bringing both momentum and confidence back to Colorado. The young shortstop embraced the emotional weight of the moment, calling the experience meaningful not just for himself but for his country. Now back with the Rockies, the question becomes whether that energy — and his strong international performance — can carry over into a bounce-back season at Coors. 

Rockies see top prospects Condon, Carrigg take next steps in solid spring | MLB.com 

The Rockies reassigned top prospects Charlie Condon and Cole Carrigg to minor league camp, a move framed less as a setback and more as the next step in their development. Both impressed during spring training, with the organization emphasizing their strong performances and long-term upside. Ultimately, the decision reflects timing rather than talent — and reinforces that both remain firmly in the Rockies’ plans for 2026, even if their debuts will have to wait. 

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

Good morning, baseball fans!

We have officially reached the last weekend before baseball gets back! Opening Day for the San Francisco Giants is right around the corner. So this weekend, I wanted to get one last temperature check before the season starts.

Personally, I’m just excited for baseball to be back. I have a tiny, tiny bit of cautious optimism. I can’t help it. A new season is like the first day of school, full of potential and not yet tainted with disappointment and annoyance. A fresh start. A time where anything is possible because it hasn’t actually started yet.

It’s the best. I’m gonna ride that feeling right into the first series. Maybe even two, depending on how the Yankees series goes.

How are you feeling going into the new season?

The team’s starting rotation is out and it should not be a surprise. Cristopher Sanchez will start the opener and will be followed by Aaron Nola and Jesus Luzardo. Anyone thinking Rob Thomson would keep the lefties back-to-back has not watched Thomson manage these past few years. Not there is much to gain from it, but having them split up keeps with is M.O. he’s had in playoff series past.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Despite some struggles initially, Bryce Harper met the moment in the World Baseball Classic. Now, to do so in the regular season ($).
• Gage Wood is working to perfect the three pitches he has, plus maybe a fourth pitch? Notes from around the minor league portion of spring ($).
• Spring training is winding down, so here are five players that surprised and flew under the radar a bit more.

MLB news:

• Guys! Gals! Buster Olney has takeaways from this spring training. He really likes Kevin McGonigle!
• Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase will move to the unpaid, non-disciplinary restricted list after an agreement between MLB and the union.
• Some didn’t like the World Baseball Classic, but viewing numbers suggest that it was a big hit for television.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are making a farce of the league. After winning back-to-back championships on the back of impossibly stacked rosters, they gave the best free agent on the market almost as much guaranteed money over the next four years than the White Sox, Guardians, and Marlins’ entire 2026 team payrolls combined. It is now a forgone conclusion that the Dodgers will capture their third consecutive World Series title in 2026. When – not if – that happens, expect Major League Baseball to suffer the same consequence that followed the crowning of its last three-peat champions; fans of the other 29 teams, driven to apathy, will simply walk away from the sport, in droves, and nothing will bring them back. Rob Manfred must choose one of two paths. He can stand idly by while baseball dies a slow death, or he can take decisive action to curtail —

Hold on, I’m getting a phone call from my editor. Yes? What’s that? Yeah, I was just writing about how the Yankees ruined baseball with their three-peat. That mass exodus of fans after 2000 was really something, right? Wait, what do you mean that never happened? People kept on watching baseball? 1998-2000 isn’t remembered as a black mark on the game’s history?

Oh. Well, I guess I can still submit this story to the Post.

Overwrought intro skit aside, my actual take is this: the Dodgers aren’t “ruining baseball”. Yes, it is groan-worthy to see the game’s leading financial juggernaut, possessing an already elite roster which just won the World Series, take on even more payroll to acquire a top-tier player. But pretending like it’s an affront to the integrity and health of the game itself is pretty rich, especially if you’re a fan of the Yankees. After all, our beloved team did just that in the 1998-1999 offseason, when they celebrated their historic 114-win championship year by trading for literally Roger Clemens. They won the World Series that year, and the year after that too – and then what happened?

I’ll tell you what didn’t happen – baseball didn’t die. Fans kept showing up to games. In 1998, a total of 70.37 million fans attended MLB games, coming out to an average of 29,285 per game. In 1999, those figures dropped all the way to…70.13 million total and 29,152 per game. I’m sure many non-Yankees fans were disgusted with Clemens being traded to the Yankees, but by and large, that disgust did not translate into a marked decrease in attendance. Likewise, the Yankees repeating as champions in 1999 also did not result in MLB attendance suffering in 2000. If anything, total attendance increased to 72.74 million that season, with the per-game average exceeding the 30,000 mark. It was the first 162-game season to accomplish that feat since the 1994 strike.

TV ratings for the World Series in those years also bear this out. The 1998 World Series garnered a Nielsen rating of 14.1 (meaning that an estimated 14.1% of all households with a TV were tuned in), with total viewership estimated at 20.34 million. In 1999, those figures actually improved to 16.0 and 23.73 million, respectively. And while 2000 did see a marked decrease (12.4 Nielsen rating, 18.08 million viewers), those figures rebounded strongly in 2001 (15.7 Nielsen rating, 24.52 million viewers). If fans of the other 29 teams were sick and tired of having to watch the Yankees play in the World Series year after year, they sure didn’t show it by tuning in to something else.

Now, you may argue that my comparison is flawed, because I’m ignoring the magnitude by which the Dodgers currently outspend the rest of MLB. It’s not just the fact that they have two rings in the bag and are going for their third – it’s that they’re going about it by flexing their financial muscles in a way that few other teams can compete with.

The raw figures seem to support this argument. The Yankees did have the highest payroll in baseball in 1999, but their $88.1 million figure only bested the second-highest spenders (the Texas Rangers) by $7 million or so. They led MLB again with a $92.9 million payroll in 2000, but this time, their lead over the second-place Dodgers was only $2 million. Compared to the Dodgers’ 2026 projected Opening Day payroll of $397 million, which clears the runner-up New York Mets’ payroll by a good $30 million, the 1999-2000 Yankees seem like small fries.

However, such a view ignores both inflation and the staggering increase of spending in MLB as a whole. Relative to their peers, the 1999-2000 Yankees outspent the league on a scale comparable to the current Dodgers. To wit: the 1999 Yankees’ payroll was 8.3% bigger than the next-highest spending Rangers, and 583% bigger than the last place Marlins’ $15.1 million mark. In 2000, the Yankees’ lead over the second-place Dodgers shrunk to 2.4%, but their $92.9 million payroll represented a 593% increase from the cellar-dwelling Twins’ $15.6 million total. Meanwhile, the 2026 Dodgers’ projected payroll is 9% bigger than the second place Mets, and only 543% bigger than the last place Marlins’ $73 million tally. Believe it or not, when adjusted for their respective eras, the scale of the Yankees’ spending during their three-peat years isn’t far apart from what the Dodgers are doing now.

The turn-of-the-millennium Yankees were every bit as villainous as the Dodgers are now, in terms of both their success and the ruthless spending by which they pursued it. And yet, despite the bad guys winning three consecutive World Series (and nearly winning a fourth!), fans kept showing up and tuning in, and MLB did not wane into irrelevance. So, I hope you can see why I’m a wee bit skeptical towards the claim that the Dodgers are ruining the game. This isn’t to say that what the Yankees did and what the Dodgers are doing is necessarily good for baseball. I do believe that a more level playing field would benefit the game (although I vehemently disagree with the idea that a salary cap would solve the issue). I do believe that fans of small and mid-market franchises do have a legitimate gripe against the Dodgers. But Yankees fans? The only sports team in America who was compared to U.S. Steel in their prime, and not as hyperbole? I think it’s best for us to sit this one out.

Attendance figures from AP News, TV ratings from Baseball Almanac, Historical payroll data from the Baseball Cube, 2026 projected payroll data from RosterResource

Every new season promises new surprises. Teams and players will drastically under- or overperform projections. Part of the fun of being a fan is planting your flag ahead of time and predicting the next breakout or disappointment (less fun).

For example, I think Masyn Winn is going to overachieve every projection system this year and put up a 5 WAR season. I could cite any number of statistics, narratives, or hunches to support my opinion, but the point is that I have a clear picture of how I think his season will go. If it deviates from that picture, I will be surprised or disappointed.

On the flip side, there are players that I simply don’t know what to make of. Nolan Gorman could hit 40 home runs this year or be DFA’d by the All-Star break, and I wouldn’t be shocked by either outcome. This list is subjective, but here are the five major leaguers and five minor leaguers that can’t surprise me in 2026.

Major Leaguers

Nolan Gorman
It may be cliché, but this is truly a make-or-break year for Gorman and the Cardinals. He only has three years of team control left, so the idea that he can incrementally improve and work his way back into the long-term picture is not realistic. No, he will need a full-blown breakout in his age-26 season. I don’t see the Cardinals sticking with Gorman into the second half if real changes to his contact and ability to translate his power into games are not evident in the early going. By the All-Star break, Gorman could be a DFA candidate or a core piece of the offense.

Andre Pallante
Pallante is such an interesting pitcher because he is elite at managing damage on contact but struggles to generate enough swing-and-miss to be viable as a starter (or reliever). As currently constructed, he has to walk a very fine line to be effective, but if he can add or refine an off-speed pitch to generate swing-and-miss, there could still be upside left. Pallante, with a little more control and a reliable off-speed pitch, is a mid-rotation starter. The Pallante we saw last year is not going to be pitching important innings on a contending club.

Dustin May
May’s injury history and inconsistencies have been well documented. He has also had a healthy and impressive spring training, with his fastball velocity up over two miles per hour year over year. If he combines the velocity and stuff from his early Dodger days with his health from last year, the Cardinals will have a massive asset on their hands. Every pitcher carries the risk of injury, but May is one of the few who has legitimate ace upside.

Nathan Church
At this time last year, expectations for Church were low to nonexistent. After a breakout 2025, he still might just be a AAAA player or fourth outfielder. Or… he might be Harrison Bader in the outfield and Brendan Donovan at the plate. He is particularly tough to project because he changed his profile to include more power last season in the minor leagues, but then completely faceplanted offensively during his major league time.

Thomas Saggese
Saggese has stayed under the radar a bit over the last couple of seasons. He was a top-100 prospect after his excellent 2023 season, but he did not have the pedigree of a Jordan Walker or Nolan Gorman. Still, upside remains, as Saggese has shown himself to be a competent defender at the major league level and is still just 24 years old. The question is whether he can get to the power that he showed in the minor leagues. Saggese excels at hitting balls at the right angles but will need to find more consistency to have real offensive impact.

Minor Leaguers

These are not necessarily all the highest-upside prospects in the system, but they could all be top-100 prospects in baseball, or not even ranked in the Cardinals system a year from now.

Yairo Padilla
Best Case Scenario: Padilla moves up to Low-A and starts showing power commensurate with his athletic 6’4” frame and impressive exit velocity numbers. With a good plate approach and athleticism to dream on, Padilla may still be the highest-upside player in the system.

Worst Case Scenario: Padilla has hit for essentially no in-game power in his first two professional seasons. If he fails to impact the baseball again this season, he will start to look more like Jeremy Rivas as a prospect than Fernando Tatis Jr.

Deniel Ortiz
Best Case Scenario: Ortiz continues to build on his impressive debut season. Ortiz is a prospect in the same vein as Joshua Baez in that he has excellent batted-ball data (launch angle and exit velocity), but there are questions around his contact ability. Ortiz still has extremely limited experience against high-level competition as a junior college draftee, so concerns about his contact rate against good velocity may be overblown. He improved throughout last season and could be primed for big numbers in the hitter-friendly environment at Springfield once he arrives.

Worst Case Scenario: If Ortiz’s contact issues persist and he cannot handle third base, he will quickly move from top-100 breakout candidate to an afterthought as a prospect.

Chen-Wei Lin
Best Case Scenario: Lin possesses a fastball that can touch 100 mph and intriguing enough secondaries that he might stick in the rotation if everything clicks. He never got into a rhythm in 2025 due to injuries and inconsistencies, but he finished with a flourish in his last two Double-A starts, striking out 15 in seven innings. Listed at 6’7”, Lin may need a little longer to develop, but entering his age-24 season, a delayed breakout is still very possible.

Worst Case Scenario: Another injury or walk-plagued year could lead to Lin falling into the non-prospect tier.

Braden Davis
Best Case Scenario: Davis gets his control ironed out and rides his spectacular changeup to becoming a top-100 prospect in baseball. Davis was second in the minor leagues in K% while throwing over 100 innings in his debut season, so the durability and swing-and-miss foundation you want to see in a starter are there.

Worst Case Scenario: If Davis’ command does not improve, or his stuff backs up, he will look more like a hopeful reliever than a potential strikeout-oriented mid-rotation starter.

Sebastian Dos Santos

Best Case Scenario: We just lived through the Rainiel Rodriguez breakout season in his first year stateside, so the precedent has been set for DSL players. Rodriguez was ahead of Dos Santos in comparable DSL metrics in wRC+ (185 to 158) and ISO (.338 to .258), but this is still impressive production from a middle infielder who was not known for power coming into the season. To make a real splash, Dos Santos will need to dominate the Florida Complex League and earn a promotion to full-season ball.

Worst Case Scenario: There is essentially no “floor” on a prospect who has yet to play in the U.S., but if the power does not come with him, Dos Santos will be just another player fighting to get out of the lower minors.

We spend all spring trying to project how a season will unfold, but some of the most important outcomes come from the players we can’t confidently project. So who do you have the least feel for right now?

We’ve arrived at the final weekend of spring training, and we can now count the number of exhibition games the Yankees have left on one hand. New York has four spring training dates left on the schedule, and by Wednesday next week, they’ll be in San Francisco to begin the season with a special Opening Night matchup with the Giants. We already have probable starters for that game, with Max Fried and Logan Webb scheduled to face off at 8 pm EST. It’s close enough that we can taste it, but for now, we’ll work through the last games on the exhibition slate as the Yankees and rest of baseball make their final tuneups.

It’ll be a relatively quiet day on the site today. In the morning, Kento will argue that the Dodgers aren’t exactly ruining baseball, and Sam will reflect on Frankie Montas’ career on the occasion of the right-hander’s birthday, while Matt gives us the results from this week’s SB Nation polls. In the afternoon, Cam Schlittler gets the ball, making his last spring start against the Tigers.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers

Time: 1:05 p.m. EST

Video: Gotham Sports App, Detroit SportsNet

Venue: Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland, FL

Questions/Prompts:

1. Jasson Domínguez was officially optioned to Triple-A yesterday. How many games will he play in the majors this year?

2. Will you be watching more March Madness, or baseball this weekend?

TAMPA — As far as spring training games go, Friday was an important one for Luis Gil, given some of the questions lingering around him this camp.

The Yankees right-hander came out and answered them emphatically.

Gil looked more dominant than he has all spring, mowing down the Orioles across five shutout innings in which he struck out seven and showed improved life on his fastball, turning back the clock to his AL Rookie of the Year form.

“That was 2024 Luis Gil right there,” a smiling Aaron Boone said after a 3-1 win at Steinbrenner Field. “There’s been incremental improvements, slowly but surely, through spring. But we hadn’t seen that yet. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come for him, because that’s what he’s capable of.”

Gil came out firing from the start and averaged 96.8 mph on his fastball — up over 1 mph from the rest of his starts this spring and up 1.5 mph from 2025 — while topping out at 98.8 mph on a strikeout in the third inning.

The uptick in velocity and stuff was thanks in part to Gil spending his bullpen session Wednesday working on his release point — getting it higher than he had been this spring — to have better deception, which paid immediate dividends.

He had struggled to get swing-and-miss on his fastball in recent starts — and for much of last season after coming back from a lat injury — but rediscovered some of it Friday, generating five whiffs on 23 swings against the pitch.

“Right now, I feel as close as I’ve been [to the 2024 version] and I feel like I’m ready for a long season right now,” Gil said through an interpreter

The Yankees will have to decide what the next step is for Gil, who also flashed a new sinker that he has been working on.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

The club is still determining whether it will start the season in a four- or five-man rotation, having the flexibility to do the former because of multiple off-days in the first two weeks.

If the Yankees go with four starters, Gil or Ryan Weathers would appear to be the odd man out, either in a piggyback role or potentially optioned to Triple-A for the first two weeks of the season.

But Gil made a strong last impression.

“I’ve been wanting to see that,” Boone said. “He had their respect with the fastball, which allows the other stuff to play better.”

We’ve reached the point in Spring Training where I must dust off the keyboard and start stretching my fingers out in preparation for my weekly recaps. Tonight’s contest between the Brew Crew and Snakes was originally scheduled to be an afternoon matchup, but due to the unseasonably warm hot weather, the game was flexed to a nighttime slot. The high temperatures certainly seemed to help the balls jump tonight, which didn’t do any favors for the pair of starting pitchers making their final starts of Spring before they next pitch on Opening Day for their respective clubs.

In Zac Gallen’s final tune-up for the season, things got off to a rough start immediately when he gave a leadoff double and then walked the bases loaded and gave up a 2 RBI single to Sal Frelick before getting out of the first inning. Gallen’s second inning went smoother, recording three straight outs to strand a leadoff single, but then the wheels came off and stayed off. After the D-backs’ offense put up a 6-spot in the bottom of the second, Gallen gave up a pair of solo homers and an RBI triple to trim the lead to 1 run in the third. Then in the fourth, Gallen gave up another solo homer to leave his final line at 9 H, 2 BB, 6 ER and 0 K over 4 IP. It was an outing to forget, but Zac left the game healthy which I suppose is the most important thing here. He did make 66 pitches, so should be able to reasonably get to 80-85 pitches next Thursday.

The Diamondbacks starting lineup was about as close as we’ve seen to a possible Opening Day lineup. Ketel, Corbin and Domo were all in the lineup for the first time together this Spring, then Arenado, Santana, Alek and Lawlar rounded out the rest of the expected regulars with the only missing pieces being Pavin at DH and Gabby/McCann at catcher. Lawlar kept his hot Spring going with a pair of hits and Alek, Domo, Arenado, Tawa each got a hit. Ketel Marte didn’t reach base but he had the hardest hit ball of the game with a 111.7 mph screamer. Corbin Carroll earned 2 walks but also fanned twice. All six runs by the starting offense came in the 2nd inning; 4 of those runs were charged to the Brewers just-named Opening Day starter Jacob Misiorowski.

For the bullpen, Phillip Abner allowed 1 run in his inning of work, but was followed by Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel, Bryce Jarvis, and Andrew Hoffman who all put up zeroes. In fact, those last four relievers, who all figure to be heavily involved in the D-backs bullpen plan this season, didn’t allow a single baserunner.

Most of our starting offense exited after the 6th inning, giving way to Tim Tawa and a slew of youngsters. Pedro Catuy played the hero when he provided the go-ahead hit in the bottom of the 8th He roped a double to left to score Jakey Josepha and Carlos Virahonda and put the good guys up by one run.

Well, the next time I recap a game, it will be the regular season! Congratulations everyone, we made it through the dark winter and have emerged out the other side ready to root on our beloved Diamondbacks in another campaign. See you next week!