Category: MLB

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty & Chris Kirschner: ($) A projection of the Yankees Opening Day roster now that spring training is underway. There aren’t too many surprises, with Jasson Domínguez starting the year at Triple-A and Cade Winquest and Jake Bird rounding out the bullpen as perhaps the most notable insights.

Kuty and Kirschner also provide some updates on two potential X factors for the Yankees. José Caballero is focusing his offseason work on increasing his bat speed, which was well below average last season. “If your bat speed increases, even if you mis(hit) a ball, you’re going to hit it a little harder than you used to,” said the shortstop, who led the AL in steals for the second straight time last year. Luis Gil, who struggled to regain his Rookie of the Year form while dealing with injuries last season, will likely get a shot in the rotation early with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón beginning the season on the shelf. “He’s capable of big things,” says manager Aaron Boone of the 27-year-old, adding, “I’ve seen him dominate like the aces dominate, so he’s capable of that, without question.”

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: After coming up through the Yankees system with the label of a “bat-first” prospect, Austin Wells has made himself into one of the top defensive catchers in the game. The primary driver of this has been his pitch framing, with his 19 framing runs at the bottom of the zone leading MLB the past two seasons. “One thing that has helped him separate is an ability to make adjustments fast,” said Tanner Swanson, the Yankees’ catching coach. “He’s capable of taking information even with minimal training.”

That propensity for continual improvement has not translated to his offense, which sputtered at times last year after a strong rookie season. “I expect a lot more out of him offensively, as does he,” said Boone of his backstop. “Being a Major League catcher, especially as a rookie and a first- and second-year player, there’s a lot of things you’re focusing on away from your hitting. I still think there’s a lot more in there offensively.” Wells agrees. “It’s just about keeping it consistent,” he said. “That’s the next level for me, and I think that’ll help me give less at-bats away.”

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: As he gets the chance to square up against top competition in spring training camp, the Yankees remain bullish on George Lombard Jr. Per Brian Cashman, the organization’s consensus number-one prospect “could play defense in the big leagues right now, but he’s still developing on the hitting side.” The Yankees’ GM also calls the shortstop an “exciting, high-ceiling talent,” while Boone praised his “consistently great work habits.” For his part, Lombard embraces all that comes with his place atop the Yankees’ farm system. “I feel like I’m blessed to be in that situation, where I have those expectations and goals to meet,” he said. “I really just try to block that out. I acknowledge the situation that I’m in, and then just focus on my work and let those things figure themselves out.”

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

Criticism of the offseason and the lack of moves made by San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operation and General Manager A.J. Preller was warranted. Preller changed the narrative of the offseason with a flurry of moves as Spring Training was getting under way. In one weekend the Padres added position players Nick Castellanos and Ty France and pitcher Griffin Canning, German Marquez and Walker Buehler. With those moves, Preller added depth to the roster and created competition in areas of need at designated hitter, first base and the starting rotation.

Castellanos started the first Spring Training games and was held without a hit, but he showed promise that he could make a successful transition to first base with a couple plays on ground balls to his right, one of which required him to dive to make the stop, recover and make a good throw to Wandy Peralta who was covering first base to get the out.

The afore-mentioned moves followed the free agent addition of Miguel Andujar on a one-year $4 million deal that became official on Feb. 11. The Padres and Preller got to see the benefits of Andujar on the roster in their 7-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. He launched a solo home run to left field that got San Diego on the scoreboard and gave the Padres offense life.

There were also some additions that came early in the offseason that were almost forgotten about by many of the Friar Faithful. Jose Miranda, who was signed to a minor league deal in early January, has been one of the best players in camp after four Spring Training games. Samad Taylor is another January addition who signed a minor league deal who has performed well this spring.

It is fair to question the pitching additions that have thrown for San Diego this spring. Starters Triston Mackenzie and JP Sears, who was added at the 2025 trade deadline, were roughed up in their first spring outings. They each allowed four runs and were unable to complete an inning of work. Right-handed reliever Ty Adcock also did not look particularly sharp in outing on Sunday. He allowed a run on three singles, but he faced a string of left-handed hitters, which would not be a typical time for him to be on the mound.

With all the additions/moves made by Preller, the fan perspective on the San Diego offseason has changed. A group that was largely disappointed in the lack of activity this offseason has reversed course and is more than pleased with the work that has been done to fill out the roster. With that being, said the roster could always be better and with Preller another move or moves could come before Opening Day.

The Guardians are now 4-0 so far in Spring Training after beating the Diamondbacks today. Overall record doesn’t mean much in Spring Training, nor does player performance but I’m never going to complain about Guardians players playing well, and today was pretty eventful when you look at which players performed well.

First and foremost, the lineup today had us Guardians fans dreaming about a potential DeLauter-José 2-3 combo for the next 5+ years. It started when DeLauter roped a 101.2 mph double down the right field line on a 96 mph sinker that was way up and in on his hands. The fact he was able to hit that ball as hard as he did just goes to show how special Chase DeLauter really is. José followed that by knocking in DeLauter with a ground-rule double the very next at bat. José would later go on to hit a 3 run home run in the bottom of the 5th, which is just a great sign to see him doing this in February.

We saw some other solid performances today:

Tanner Bibee: 2.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K

Jaison Chourio: 2-2, RBI, R

Bo Naylor: 2-3, double

Johnathan Rodriguez: 1-2, BB

Overall it was a very fun game for the Guardians. As a big Minor League Baseball fan, I love Spring Training, because you get to watch players from nearly every level of the organization.

The Guardians take on the Dodgers Tuesday at 3:05 PM ET. It will be Gavin Williams vs Gavin Stone, and this one WILL be televised! Yay!

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Tobias Myers gave the Mets reason to be hopeful about the right-hander Monday, as he was impressive in his first outing with the team.

Ever since he was acquired from Milwaukee in the offseason, the Mets made sure to note that Myers wasn’t simply a throw-in with starter Freddy Peralta. 

They wanted someone to help replace Brandon Sproat, a top prospect who was part of the package sent to the Brewers.

Myers tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in a 4-3 win over Toronto at TD Ballpark, walking none and striking out three.

More importantly, it was an opportunity for Myers — who is expected to pitch in a multi-inning role this season — to work on some new pitches that he’s added to his repertoire over the past year.

There was the splitter he added in the second half of last season and is still fine-tuning, as well as a slider that he and pitching coach Justin Willard added more than a week ago.

“The slider I threw a lot today,” Myers said. “They probably think it’s a curveball that’s pretty big and I want to get the [velocity] up on that.”

The splitter, Myers believes, is more effective than the changeup he threw previously.

While making sure to note the pitch is nothing like teammate Kodai Senga’s famous ghost fork, Myers did say having experienced pitchers like Senga and Clay Holmes around — pitchers also adept at moving the ball around the zone — will help his development.

The Mets have said Myers will open the season on the major league roster, whether in the rotation or the bullpen, and he could get a start in the spring, especially when Holmes and Nolan McLean head to the World Baseball Classic.

In the meantime, manager Carlos Mendoza has liked what he’s seen, especially the “life” on Myers’ fastball.

Nick Morabito made his presence felt in all facets of the game Monday.

The outfielder, who spent all of last season at Double-A Binghamton, had an RBI single off José Berríos and stole second.

He also made a fine running catch down the left field line on a fly ball by Daulton Varsho.

Afterward, Mendoza called Morabito “a baseball player.”

“He’s a guy that’s a pretty good defender, he has good at-bats, puts the ball in play and runs the bases,” Mendoza said. “He can win games.”

The Mets have not been shy about trying to steal bases in the early going this spring and Mendoza said to expect more of it.

“We are always gonna be aggressive, especially when the situation presents itself,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got the personnel.”

Yesterday in the press box, we had a lively discussion about some alternate jobs for various Rockies if they weren’t Major League Baseball players.

On the Purple Row board, Doug78 mentioned yesterday that they thought, “If Karros can’t make it in the MLB, he definitely has a career being cast in a teen drama for the CW.” I personally think Chase Dollander could be a PR guy, and maybe Ryan Feltner would be a graphic designer or VFX artist.

What are your thoughts? Would Karros cut it as a television star? What other jobs would Rockies players have?

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

It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. You’re always welcome here. The show will start shortly. The hostess will seat you now. There’s no cover charge, but there is a two-drink minimum. Bring your own beverage.

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

Last week I asked you if you thought it was a good idea for managers (or coaches) to have access to PitchCom to facilitate calling pitches from the dugout. It seems most of you were either against the idea or didn’t have an opinion, as 46 percent said you were against it and 18 percent didn’t have an opinion. The other 36 percent thought it would be fine.

Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. But you’re free to skip ahead if you want. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Here’s some (rare?) video of saxophonist Hank Mobley on Danish television in 1968. Joining Mobley is an all-star backing group of Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (NHØP) on bass and Albert “Tootie” Heath.

You voted in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic final between 2001: A Space Odyssey and Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 2001: A Space Odyssey is your champion! That’s not a real surprise. It was the number-one seed coming into the tournament and it’s certainly the most-acclaimed science fiction film of all-time, coming in as the number-six film of all-time (in any genre) in the most-recent BFI Sight & Sound critics poll. The film does have its critics—Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky (of Solaris and Stalker fame) in particular didn’t like it—but most critics and scholars see it as a film that changed the way we think about what a film can be.

As I said in my original essay on the film, 2001 is the first film to really capture the sheer awe of outer space and maybe no film since then has even approached it. It’s also a film that leaves you with a lot of questions at the end, even if director Stanley Kubrick was more than happy to explain it when asked. It came out at a time when the “New Hollywood” movement, freed from the restrictions of the Production Code, really pushed the boundaries of what film could be. And luckily, there was an audience for this kind of new expression in 1968.

So here’s the final bracket with everything filled in.

Running the Science Fiction tournament was more difficult than our previous tournaments. For one, I was willing to cover the entire 20th Century this time, whereas the Film Noir was limited to 1941 to 1959, the Western tournament was limited from 1939 to 1972 and the Hitchcock one was limited to Hitchcock’s career which went from the 1920s to 1976. Secondly, there are always some disagreements about what counts as science fiction. Genres are always difficult to nail down, but science fiction is a really broad category that has changed a lot from 1902’s A Trip to the Moon to 1999’s The Matrix. Thank goodness I didn’t include 21st Century films in the tournament or I would have gone nuts trying to figure out what counted.

I just want to thank everyone who participated and voted. I especially thank those of you who carried on the comments in the discussions. What really makes it worthwhile is the way that we share the ways we interact with the films. That’s the way I learn new things. Even those of you whom I disagreed with—heck, maybe especially those of you whom I disagreed with—taught me to look at the films in different ways.

But you’re all still wrong about Back to the Future. It’s very so-so. Just like Huey Lewis and the News. And Repo Man and Brazil should have done better. So should have Stalker, but that’s my own fault for putting it up against Blade Runner in the first round. I also saw The Incredible Shrinking Man for the first time for this tournament, and it turns out I loved it. So that was a nice moment for me.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

The Cubs signed Michael Conforto to a minor-league deal today and that is just another indicator that the Cubs consider their biggest question in Spring Training to be who is going to be the fourth outfielder. The Cubs already had non-roster invitees Chas McCormick and Dylan Carlson in camp as well as prospect Kevin Alcántara and waiver claim Justin Dean. Prospect Brett Bateman is also in camp as a non-roster invitee, but he’s not considered a serious candidate to claim the 4th outfielder job, at least not out of Spring Training. Maybe in August.

So tonight, I’m going to ask you which one of the non-roster invitees is most likely to be a contributor to the Cubs this season. Not necessarily right out of Spring Training, but over the course of the season.

The model here is Mike Tauchman, whom the Cubs signed to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invitation in 2023. Tauchman didn’t make the Opening Day roster, but accepted an assignment to Triple-A Iowa and got called up to the majors in May. Of course, Tauchman was an important player on both the 2023 and 2024 Cubs.

Two pitchers in recent years were NRIs and ended up making major contributions to the team were Mark Leiter Jr. in 2021 and Brad Keller last season. It’s easier to make the roster as a reliever than as an outfielder. If anything, the other relievers are more likely to get injured than other outfielders.

So let’s quickly review the three NRIs. We’re going to bypass Dean, since he’s on the 40-man roster and is likely ticketed for Iowa. He could certainly see some time in the majors if he does well down there and there’s an injury in the majors. But he’s got options and the Cubs won’t have to make a decision on him in March. We’re not going to count Kevin Alcántara, because he’s a top prospect and in the Cubs long-term plans at the moment. They hope he’s more than a fourth outfielder. The same goes for Brett Bateman, although he’s not as well-regarded as Alcántara.

The first candidate is Dylan Carlson. Once upon a time, 2021 to be exact, Carlson was one of the top 20 prospects in baseball and was expected to be a star for the Cardinals. His rookie season of 2021 was pretty good. He hit .266 with 18 home runs and a .343 on-base percentage. Carlson finished third in Rookie-of-the-Year balloting. He didn’t set the world on fire his rookie year, but it was promising enough that you could easily predict stardom for him down the road.

That didn’t happen. Instead, Carlson suffered a series of injuries that cut into his playing time and his power. In particular, he suffered a shoulder injury after colliding with Jordan Walker in Spring Training in 2024 and he never really seemed to be himself since then. Last year with the Orioles, Carlson hit just .203/.273/.336 with six home runs over 83 games. Hamstring and oblique injures have also cost him enough speed that he’s no longer an acceptable center fielder except on an emergency basis.

On the plus side of Carlson, he’s still just 27 and if he ever got healthy, that top prospect that used to be there is probably still in there somewhere.

Al covered Conforto pretty well earlier today. Just last year, the Dodgers thought enough of Conforto to give him a $17 million, one-year deal. That was coming off a two-year, $36 million deal with the Giants. And as Al wrote, Conforto was a pretty good outfielder for the Mets from 2015 to 2021. But he missed the entire 2022 season with a shoulder injury and hasn’t really been good since, although he was solid enough for the Giants in 2024 that the Dodgers took a chance on him with that one-year deal.

The other downside on Conforto is that he turns 33 on March 1. He also hasn’t played center field since 2019.

Finally, there’s Chas McCormick, who has spent his entire career with the Astros until now. He made his major league debut with Houston in 2021 just shy of his 26th birthday. From 2021 to 2023, McCormick was an excellent fourth outfielder. He played over 100 games in all three of those seasons and hit 50 home runs in those three years combined. McCormick had a 117 OPS+ over those three seasons and was a solid defender at all three outfield positions.

Then McCormick suffered a hamstring injury early in 2024 and hasn’t been right since. He hit a poor .210/.279/.290 last season and put up almost identical numbers in 2024. McCormick also turns 31 in April, so his decline might be as much age-related as injury-related.

On the plus side to McCormick, he’s still a solid defender at all three outfield positions. Unlike Carlson and Conforto, McCormick still has minor league options, so he could be sent down to Iowa to start the season. However, most of these minor league deals with an invite to Spring Training contracts have an opt-out clause where a player can leave the organization if they aren’t on the major-league (or 40-man) roster by a certain date. So there may not be as much flexibility on McCormick as it might seem initially.

Obviously none of these outfielder are without warts. If they were, they wouldn’t have signed a minor league deal. Teams would be fighting for their signature. But all three of these players were very good once and not too long ago. Which one do you think is most likely to be good again in 2025?

Thanks for stopping by tonight. Please get home safely. If you braved the snow to get here, be extra safe. We want you healthy enough to stop by again. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for more BCB After Dark.

Observations from Yankees’ spring training on Monday:

Let’s review

With the help of ABS, Ryan Yarbrough went from having two runners on base to being out of a jam, just with one tap of the cap.

The lefty’s 3-2 pitch to Oneil Cruz was called Ball 4, but Yarbrough challenged it and was proven right, with the overturned call marking Strike 3 for the third out of the inning.

Life’s a switch

Batting from the left side, Jasson Domínguez poked an RBI double to right field against right-hander Tyrone Yulie in the second inning.

But then in his first chances to face a lefty this spring his next two at-bats, Domínguez struck out from the right side both times.

Caught my eye

Max Schuemann started Monday’s game in right field, displaying some defensive versatility that could aid his case to make the Yankees Opening Day roster if Oswaldo Cabrera isn’t ready in time.

The righty bat, acquired from the A’s at the start of camp, is known as a strong defensive infielder but also has some experience in the outfield.

Tuesday’s schedule

Will Warren will make his spring debut, starting against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Clay Holmes plans to make one more start in Mets camp before he begins his next spring challenge: the World Baseball Classic.

The right-hander first talked about participating in the tournament last year after Andy Pettitte, Team USA’s pitching coach, contacted him.

“He said he wanted me to be a part of the team, and I’m honored to get an opportunity to do this,” Holmes said after making his first Grapefruit League start Monday. “I think the world of Andy. Someone like him believing in me and being in my corner and wanting me to be part of the team was special and meant something.”

It’s another step in Holmes’ career.

It was just a year ago that he entered spring training dealing with questions about whether he’d be able to be successful as a starter after breaking out as a reliever with the Yankees, where he’d met Pettitte.

Holmes ended up throwing 165 ²/₃ innings, only three fewer than team leader David Peterson.

“I knew last year a cloud followed me,” Holmes said. “ ‘How many innings can you throw?’ I never doubted myself. It’s nice to know I’m capable of it, [but] it doesn’t make it any easier this year. I just have something to build on.”

Holmes’ 2025 wasn’t totally smooth.

After putting up a 2.99 ERA over his first 17 starts, he pitched to a 4.52 ERA over his final 14 starts — excluding two September relief appearances.

This year, Holmes is again a full-time starter, and he’s adding to his workload with the WBC.

Before the right-hander made his first start of the spring against Toronto at TD Ballpark, Carlos Mendoza sounded unconcerned about Holmes pitching too much.

“He’s a guy that takes very little time off from throwing,” the Mets manager said. “We’re not doing anything different.”

Holmes’ inclusion in the WBC won’t impact anything, according to Mendoza.

“It’s basically the same progression as last year,” Mendoza said. “The WBC has nothing to do with it. It’s a credit to him. He’s so meticulous about his preparation and offseason training.”

Holmes allowed just one hit in 3 ²/₃ innings in a 4-3 win, but that hit was a two-run, 431-foot homer to dead center by Kazuma Okamoto off a curveball that Holmes left up.

Okamoto, who signed with Toronto this offseason, will play for Team Japan in the WBC.

Holmes joked that he might be able to use the bad pitch to his advantage next month.

“Maybe he’ll go back to his Japanese teammates and say, ‘He throws a big curveball to right-handers,’ ’’ Holmes said.

Holmes walked two and struck out three over a 57-pitch outing. 

“He’s a big part of our rotation,” Mendoza said. “He was super-consistent for us last year, and it wasn’t easy making that transition. People were talking [about] innings limits and things like that, and we never put a limit on him. It’s Year 2, and he continues to be a big part of our rotation.”

So as well all know now, the Atlanta Braves “are well on [their] way towards launching a new era in Braves broadcasting.” That quote came directly from the team itself via a publicly released statement but there have also been rumors that the Braves wouldn’t be the only team on this particular network. The Atlanta Hawks of the NBA were rumored to be a partner before and now we’re learning that they wouldn’t be the only partner, either.

According to a report from Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal, the Braves have been in talks with multiple cable distributors and Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs for short) when it comes to distribution deals and reportedly the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and the Nashville Predators of the NHL may be looped in on this as well.

Here’s a quote from the article:

The sources indicated the Braves are in talks on distribution deals with Comcast, Charter and DirecTV and possibly with virtual MVPDs such as YouTube TV and Hulu. IN the near term, the team is partnering with Gray Media to broadcast 15 spring training games across 26 Southern markets, including Atlanta’s Peachtree TV, but is ideating an altogether different blueprint for the regular season.

The Braves, with or withut the other three teams, intend to launch their network in time for the regular season, the sources said, and have already begun hiring sales personnel.

So the quote here aligns with what the Braves have been saying all the way at the top of this article: That they are prepared to launch this network in time for the actual games that count. It was also interesting to note that none of these other teams are guaranteed to join up with the Braves on this venture — the article noted that the Hawks and Grizzlies are being encouraged by the NBA to wait for that league to start its own “centralized streaming RSN” in the next couple of seasons and the CMO of the Predators Bill Wickett reportedly said that they haven’t spoken to the Braves about this venture, either.

With that being said, the one thing that ties all of these teams together is that they will all need to figure out their TV situation sooner rather than later since all four of these teams either used to or currently call FanDuel Sports South their TV home. That connection alone would’ve been enough to justify these teams linking up together for a network and then also Tom Friend mentioned that the owner of the Predators does have experience working with Liberty Media.

So the big news here is that the Braves aren’t trying to have this be a Braves-only network but they also seem to be fully ready to have that be the case if it comes down to it. There are still more questions than answers at this point but it does seem like we’re starting to get an idea of how the Braves want this to work out going forward. We’ll see what happens.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Is this the year Ronny Mauricio breaks through?

From the moment he was first called up in September 2023 and immediately hit a ball 117 mph, the Mets have been waiting for the performance to match the potential.

He was slowed by a torn ACL suffered while playing winter ball in late ’23, which cost him all of ’24 and part of ’25.

Now, Mauricio is healthy and trying to make sure he has a role this year after spending much of last September on the bench.

“I use that as a source of motivation,” Mauricio said, through an interpreter, of spending much of the stretch run on the bench last season. “Last year, when I wasn’t playing, I was able to step back and see things I needed to improve in my game if I want to be on the field and be able to help the team.”

According to Mauricio, who turns 25 in April, there were plenty of areas on which to focus.

“I want to control the strike zone and work on my defense,” Mauricio said.

More than anything, though, he wants to make sure he remains in one piece.

“I have to stay healthy,” Mauricio said. “I’m hitting the gym as much as possible to stay fresh for the whole season. I feel more stable now.”

The knee injury cost Mauricio plenty.

He’s eager to put it behind him, which he’s confident he’ll be able to do this spring.

“I want to maintain my speed and be the type of player I know I’m capable of being,” Mauricio said. “I want to return to the type of player I was before the injury.”

Carlos Mendoza wants to see that from Mauricio, as well, noting that his biggest takeaway from the young player this spring is that he’s back in good form physically.

“He’s healthy,” the Mets manager said. “When you watch him take ground balls [and] the way he’s moving around, there’s no limitations there now. He’s free. He’s happy to finally be a full-time player for us without any restriction.”

In Monday’s 4-3 win over Toronto, Mauricio started at third, walked, and ran the bases with abandon.

With Francisco Lindor out due to a hamate-bone fracture, there’s even more of an opportunity for Mauricio to contribute and show the Mets he belongs not just on the roster but on the field.

That might be tougher when they are at full strength and have Lindor back at shortstop, with Jorge Polanco at first base, Marcus Semien at second and Bo Bichette at third.

Mauricio nonetheless wants to give them something to think about.

“The last two years, I haven’t been able to have a real spring training because [of the injury],” Mauricio said. “I want to show I can play wherever the team needs me: second, third or short.”

The Athletics continued their rough start to spring training, losing 6-2 to the San Francisco Giants. The A’s stopped scoring after the first inning, while the Giants scored six unanswered runs. Good thing spring stats and records don’t matter!

Looking to avoid a third straight loss to begin preseason action, the A’s started the game strongly. The first three batters reached base against Giants starting pitcher JT Brubaker. Max Muncy, one of the A’s vying to start at third base, came up to bat with the bases loaded, no outs and a chance to do some damage. However, he grounded into a double play, foreshadowing things to come. With a run in, a runner on third and two outs, second baseman Andy Ibàñez doubled to left field, bringing in the A’s second and final run of the game.

Taking the mound with a two-run lead, A’s starting pitcher J.T. Ginn turned in an impressive first spring training performance. He struck out the side in the first inning beginning with Luis Arraez, who is one of the hardest MLB players to strike out. Ginn proceeded to complete a clean second inning, this time inducing three groundouts.

Given how well Ginn pitched in this two-inning stint, it might not be a bad idea for the A’s to deploy him in this role out of the bullpen this season. However, he has also had success as a starting pitcher, which makes him one of the most interesting A’s pitchers to watch this spring. More performances like that this spring and Ginn may very well be in the A’s rotation to open the season.

The third inning was where the game’s momentum shifted. In the top of the inning, the A’s had a chance to extend the lead. Unfortunately, Muncy was thrown out trying to go from second base to home on Darell Hernaiz’s double to right field and then Henry Bolte grounded out with the bases loaded. In the bottom of that frame, the Giants broke through against A’s top pitching prospect Gage Jump. San Francisco got three straight singles before Jump induced a double play grounder to escape a bases loaded jam and keep the A’s ahead by one.

The following inning, the Giants tied it. Then, they proceeded to score once an inning from the fifth to the eighth off a mix of returning relievers like Elvis Alvarado and non-roster relievers. Meanwhile, the A’s offense was shut down by multiple Giants minor league pitchers. Once the Giants took the lead, the A’s did not come close to scoring again until the eighth inning. They got two baserunners with one out, only for the next two batters to not come through. The A’s finished the game with ten hits, although only two were extra-base hits.

Ginn’s strong performance was the highlight of today’s game as the A’s need improvement from him and the other young pitchers if the team wants to return to playoff contention. Speaking of young pitchers, both Jump and fellow pitching prospect Braden Nett showed promise, even though they each allowed a run in their respective innings.

The A’s will try again tomorrow to get that elusive first spring training win vs the also winless Milwaukee Brewers. Mason Barnett, another of the team’s young starting pitchers, will start with relievers Justin Sterner and Hogan Harris lined up to follow him. Will the team’s offense shake off its rust tomorrow or will it be another low-scoring day for the A’s?

Notes:

• Nick Kurtz showcased his on-base ability today, drawing two walks as the A’s leadoff hitter.
• Andy Ibàñez had a good day as he drew a walk in addition to his double.
• Darell Hernaiz looks ready to play for Puerto Rico in the WBC. He got two hits and played a clean game at shortstop
• Polarizing prospect Henry Bolte struck out twice, further proof that his ability to make contact is still a concern.
• Max Muncy made a throwing error on a slow ground ball hit his way at third base. His defense was erratic last year. Is third base the best fit for him defensively?
• Infield prospect Joshua Kuroda-Grauer got two hits. His hitting ability is not in question, but will that be enough to get him to MLB at least in a utility role given his lack of power.

PHOENIX –– On the scoresheet, Monday might’ve only gone down as one inning, 17 pitches and three inconsequential spring training outs for Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia.

But for the still-grieving pitcher, who just four months ago missed the World Series following the loss of his newborn daughter, his official return to game action couldn’t have been any more meaningful.

“We’ve been waiting for that one,” Vesia said afterward, before adding with a gracious smile: “It was a little overwhelming … just trying to take it all in.”

Indeed, in the Dodgers’ 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners, Vesia’s outing was emotionally charged throughout. He received a rousing ovation from the crowd as he entered the game at the start of the fifth inning. He was greeted by a line of high-fives and handshakes as he returned to the dugout after his 1-2-3 frame.

Mostly, though, he rediscovered a feeling he had missed during the hardship of his heartbreaking winter –– getting to pitch, compete and exude his typically energetic demeanor from back atop a big-league mound.

“I just want to have fun on the mound,” he said. “I just want to be able to spazz out and be myself out there. Because right now, I feel really good out there. It’s just me and myself and baseball.”

Ever since arriving at Dodgers camp this spring, Vesia has been chasing that sense of normalcy.

He is grateful for all the support he and his wife, Kayla, received in the wake of last year’s tragedy, noting how on even the first day of spring, “we walk out the doors, and (there was) cheers and lots of love. It means a lot.”

But, the 29-year-old left-hander is also ready to fall back into familiar, comforting routines. 

And compartmentalizing it all, he acknowledged, “has been hard, (but) hard in a good way, because I want to interact with the fans and all that, but I know I have a job to do.”

Vesia began preparing for this coming season back in November. He spent more time than usual bulking up in the gym, a place where he said he rediscovered “mental clarity” amid his personal grief.

So far, that work has helped him get off to a quick start in Dodgers camp.

Vesia was not only one of the team’s first pitchers to begin facing batters in workouts in recent weeks, but also had two of the biggest highlights from the club’s live BP action: Striking out Shohei Ohtani not once, but twice, after getting some good-natured ribbing from his superstar teammate.

“Shohei was like, ‘Hey, I want a little piece of that,’” Vesia recalled with a laugh. “So I was like, ‘OK, come on.’”

After each Ohtani strikeout, Vesia celebrated by strutting around the mound and unleashing one of his familiar celebratory shrieks. He did the same thing on Monday afternoon, as the crowd roared again for his strikeout of Mariners infielder Cole Young on a full-counter slider. 

“To see him get back out here in a baseball game, in a big league game, and have a clean inning and be received by the fans, I know it meant a lot to him,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And obviously, his teammates feel for him and want to support him. So today was a really good day for Alex.”

Dodger teammates, Vesia said, have been among his biggest supporters as he has navigated this spring.

While he has only once spoken publicly about the death of his daughter –– in a prepared statement he read to reporters on the first day of camp earlier this month –– he said he has found comfort in discussions he’s had around the clubhouse.

“That’s honestly been a blessing,” he said. “I do like talking about it with the guys. I don’t want them to feel like they can’t, because to share those important moments and whatnot – these guys are my brothers. I truly do love all of them. It’s meant a lot.”

Nothing has meant more, though, than getting back to pitching.

After all he has endured, it’s his way to keep moving forward.

I cannot remember going into a St. Louis Cardinals season with so many different expectations than what the team faces in 2026. I’ll ask a question that does not just have one good answer and that is what would make the St. Louis Cardinals upcoming season a success to your eyes?

A majority of the baseball metrics sites project the St. Louis Cardinals having a losing record in 2026 with the best-case scenario being around a .500 team. The season I hope to see is not connected to the win-loss record, though. One of my biggest gripes with the St. Louis Cardinals for the past 3 seasons was the lack of direction and clarity. Ownership and management were giving unclear signals from 2023 through the 2025 season about whether they planned to add to the current team or if some kind of teardown was required. For 2026, we now have that answer.

I will look back at the 2026 season as a success for the St. Louis Cardinals if there is clarity about which players (if any) are worth building around for the next few seasons. I want to see Masyn Winn add offense to his prolific defense and have a relatively injury-free year. Can JJ Wetherholt make the major league roster and establish himself as the St. Louis Cardinals everyday 2nd baseman? Will Alec Burleson follow up his Silver Slugger year with another great offense campaign and is there a place for him on the team moving forward? What about Ivan Herrera as a catcher and/or DH? Don’t even get me started on the Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker development question. I also want to see where Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy settle into the rotation. Is Liberatore capable of being a #1 starter? I have hopes and questions.

I also want to see what Chaim Bloom will do with the roster now that the first big teardown is complete. Will he make smart trades at the deadline this summer? What free agents will he be able to lure into the organization once the Cardinals want to add and compete again? I’ll admit that this past offseason was just a honeymoon period. Now, the roster building begins and we’ll start to learn more about what type of builder Chaim Bloom is. I also want to see another year of Oli Marmol managing to decide if he’s the type of leader this team needs to take it back to contention. While I think I’ve seen enough to know how I feel about Oli, 2026 will be another year to observe and measure.

Yes, I would love it if the St. Louis Cardinals shocked the baseball world and contended in 2026, but I think the season can still be a success if they don’t. If I more clearly understand the core group of players that will be a part of this team for the next 3 years or so, I’ll consider the 2026 season a success. What is your measuring stick for a successful Cardinals season? I expect the answers will vary wildly and it will be fun to look back after the season is over to compare notes on how this plays out.

The San Diego Padres had a late start to their practice routine on Monday, before they played the Milwaukee Brewers at Peoria Sports Complex. The players had their MLBPA union meeting as well as their normal team meetings and didn’t appear on the practice fields until 10:30 a.m. or later.

That did not seem to slow down the minor league players that rallied late in the game to score six runs in the eighth inning for a come-from-behind 7-5 victory. Nor did it affect catchers Freddy Fermin and Ethan Salas, who combined for four challenges that were upheld by the ABS system, all overturning umpire calls.

Jose Miranda came in as a sub for Miguel Andujar, after he hit his first home run of the spring in the bottom of the fourth inning and got the Padres on the board, contributing to the eighth inning rally and challenging a called strike that was changed to a ball and earned a walk. He scored on Romeo Sanabria’s bases loaded double that cleared the bases.

Overall, the Padres challenged five times, winning all of them. The Brewers challenged twice and lost both.

The system appeared to work flawlessly to those of us in the stands, with the calls coming very quickly after the appeal and the umpire’s request for a review. The game was not slowed by the system even though it did end up being a three-hour and one-minute contest.

For the experts who have declared the Padres farm system dead, they should have watched as outfielder Pablo Reyes started off with a walk and was followed by a Luis Campusano single, a Miranda walk, the Sanabria double and a Salas walk. All of which were topped off by outfielder Samad Taylor’s second hit of the day. There was a Brewers pitcher balk called in there as well.

Ramon Laureano and Fernando Tatis Jr. were the only regulars to start this game, with neither getting a hit. The damage was done by Andujar’s home run, and the rally in the eighth inning.

Padres pitching did not have its best day. JP Sears started and couldn’t get out of the first inning, allowing four runs on four hits as well as a hit-by-pitch. He got two outs and was followed by Carlton Loewen who struck out the next hitter. David Morgan, Mason Miller, Wandy Peralta and Jeremiah Estrada did not allow a run over the next four innings but there were walks and/or hit batters by everyone but Morgan.

After going through nine pitchers to get through eight innings, Padres manager Craig Stammen gave the ball to Garrett Hawkins to close out the ninth. He got two quick outs before allowing a hit and a walk but then got the final out on a strikeout. The 6-foot-5-inch reliever that was added to the roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft before the winter meetings, got his first save of the spring. Reliever Manuel Castro, who pitched the top of the eighth, got the win.

All-in-all, a pretty typical Spring Training game but enjoyable for Padres fans, although the umpire certainly did not enjoy his afternoon.

As a side note, Tatis Jr. came out into the autograph signing area for a prolonged period during practice today. He did have a member of security with him but fulfilled the desires of multiple fans by signing for many minutes before continuing with his game prep for today.

The Padres travel to Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. on Tuesday for a game against the Chicago Cubs. Most of the regulars do not travel during away games in the spring but tomorrow could be an exception as all but Laureano and Tatis Jr. got today off for the home game.

With many of the WBC attending players set to leave this coming weekend, more playing time in Arizona could lead to an unusual lineup for tomorrow’s game.