And just like that, Spring Training is over. Just one game stands between the Dodgers and the start of the 2026 season.
In the Freeway series so far, the Dodgers have scored 20 runs, and the high-powered offense looks ready to go.
On the pitching side, Shohei Ohtani also makes his last start before the regular season. Ohtani has only had one start so far this spring, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing one hit, hitting one batter himself, and striking out four. His fast ball topped out at 99.9mph.
Shohei pitched 61 pitches in his first outing and should be looking to extend that pitch count to five innings, 75 pitches. With his start on Tuesday, it slates his first start of the season to be next Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians.
Justin Wrobleski was thought to have been a piggyback partner for Ohtani if he didn’t get built up in time, but since Roki Sasaki’s starts have been suboptimal so far this spring, that may not be the case.
Jack Kochanowicz will start for the Angels.
Tuesday game info
Teams: Dodgers vs. Angels
Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
Time: 5:10 p.m.
TV: SportsNet LA, Fan Duel Sports Network West (Angels), MLB Network (out of market)
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 13: Tomoyuki Sugano #11 of the Colorado Rockies delivers a pitch during a spring training bullpen at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 13, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Kyle Cooper/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images)
We’re almost there, folks.
It’s time for one last hurrah at Salt River Fields before the Colorado Rockies ship out to Florida to open the 2026 season up against the Miami Marlins. Opening Day is almost here!
To wrap up spring training, the Rockies will face off against the Detroit Tigers for the second straight game, following yesterday’s 6-5 win.
Taking the mound for the Rockies is Tomoyuki Sugano. The offseason acquisition looked solid in his limited work this spring, posting a 0.00 ERA and giving up one unearned run on four hits with a strikeout in his lone start. Hunter Goodman will slot in at DH today and utility man Willi Castro will take first base. Jake McCarthy will lead things off, with Ezequiel Tovar batting cleanup.
Justin Verlander, returning to Detroit this season to finish his career where it began, will pitch for the Motor City Kitties. The 43-year-old vet is set to pitch fourth in Detroit’s rotation. He posted a 5.40 ERA in 10.0 innings across three starts this spring, giving up nine hits (five of which were home runs) with 15 strikeouts.
The Rockies hope to head into the regular season with one last win. See you on the other side!
PEORIA, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 27: Felnin Celesten #93 of the Seattle Mariners throws to first during the eighth inning of the spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Peoria Stadium on February 27, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Following on the heels of Julio Rodríguez and Noelvi Marte, Felnin Celesten was supposed to be the Mariners’ next big international signing success story. The Mariners gave him $4.7M to sign Celesten out of the Dominican Republic in 2023, the largest signing bonus they’ve ever handed out in IFA. However, injuries have slowed Celesten’s development and he only just completed his first full professional season in 2025, a fine-but-not-spectacular season in Low-A with Modesto.
It’s not the incandescent rise the Mariners nor Celesten himself might have imagined for a player nicknamed “The Phoenix,” although it’s a name that’s becoming more apt as Celesten battles back from one injury after another. In a conversation with Celesten this past summer while he was at Everett for a short while, Celesten spoke about how the various physical challenges and injuries he’s gone through have taught him how to take better care of his body, prepare himself better for the demands of the season, and know himself better in a general sense.
“I know what I need now,” he said through translator Hecmart Nieves. “That’s the biggest thing. I need the training room. I need to take care of my body, to stay healthy on the field. That’s been the biggest adjustment…Injuries, it’s probably not the best way to find out what you need, but it’s definitely helped me to know myself better and what things I need to improve on.”
Part of taking care of his body was also taking care of his mind, something Celesten said the Mariners helped him with. Instead of allowing feelings of frustration to overtake him or viewing his injuries in a negative light, Celesten, who comes from a background of deep Christian faith, asked himself: what does God want me to learn from this? How can I come back better from this?
“Baseball is a hard game, and it comes with ups and downs. I’m proud of how I’ve handled myself this season, not letting the lows get too low and overcoming whatever gets in the way. Everything that has happened to me is like God giving me a message, opportunities to grow, and that’s the way I see the game and my life.”
With the WBC in action, Celesten got several opportunities to play with the big-league club this spring, getting into six games and collecting three hits. While the slight-framed shortstop doesn’t seem like he’s going to grow into a power hitter, he’s been working on putting the ball in the air more while still hitting the ball hard, and continues to hit from both sides of the plate, putting up near-identical lines against both lefties and righties.
While there’s a chance a stronger and more durable Celesten, removed from the hamstring injury and broken hamate bone that plagued him early in his career, can hit for more power, it seems like much of his prospect value will remain in his glove.
Celesten is a natural shortstop but has at times not made the routine plays, something he looked to have cleaned up during the Spring Breakout game. Playing behind a dominant Ryan Sloan, who induced groundball after groundball, Celesten ranged around the six, showcasing smooth footwork and clean mechanics.
He then went on to boot a routine ground ball in the Mariners’ final spring training game, because development isn’t linear, and Celesten is a prime example of that. His 2026 will be about, first and foremost, staying healthy; beyond that, continuing to maximize his modest power while spraying the ball all around the field and letting his plus speed do the rest. Easy to say, difficult to do, but Celesten’s early-career struggles have set him up to know just how hard, exactly, the task is ahead of him, and what he needs to do to best prepare himself to accomplish it.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 19: An aerial view of AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Park and Globe Life Field on December 19, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Texas Rangers bid farewell to spring training with a final exhibition matchup against the Kansas City Royals this afternoon in Arlington.
RHP Jack Leiter will take the mound for his final warmup before the games begin for real on Thursday. Meanwhile, KC will counter with RHP Seth Lugo.
Today’s Lineups
ROYALS
RANGERS
Maikel Garcia – 3B
Brandon Nimmo – RF
Bobby Witt – SS
Wyatt Langford – LF
Vinnie Pasquantino – 1B
Corey Seager – SS
Salvador Perez – C
Jake Burger – DH
Lane Thomas – DH
Josh Smith – 2B
Jac Caglianone – RF
Josh Jung – 3B
Jonathan India – 2B
Joc Pederson – 1B
Isaac Collins – LF
Evan Carter – CF
Kyle Isbel – CF
Kyle Higashioka – C
Seth Lugo – RHP
Jack Leiter – RHP
You can catch the telecast on CW33, listen to the radio broadcast via 105.3 The Fan, or you can follow along on Gameday. First pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:05 pm CT.
But what if Perdomo’s performance regresses from last season’s highs? That could tip the Diamondbacks below 81 wins. And three of my five wagers would be losers. Let’s look at what will likely happen.
Was his 2025 breakout real?
One stat was so extraordinary, that his breakout was certainly real instead of a technical fluke. That stat was Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
Jim McLennan wrote that Geraldo Perdomo Should Have Been the MVP Runner Up. What impressed me most was the WAR table. It had three data columns: bWAR, fWAR, and the average of the two. All three columns showed Perdomo as the clear runner up to Ohtani.
Will he regress?
The argument for regression is well articulated in the following quote. “After hitting just 14 home runs in 1,420 plate appearances during his first four seasons in the big leagues, Perdomo’s home run total [20] was the most unexpected part of his elite 2025 campaign. However, his average exit velocity (16th percentile), hard-hit rate (11th percentile) and bat speed (7th percentile) raise some serious questions about the sustainability of his power surge. His defense and on-base ability still give him a 3-WAR floor, but significant regression seems likely.” — Joel Reuter, Feb 2026
My view is that it’s not valid to predict regression by looking at Perdomo’s batting weaknesses, without also looking at Perdomo’s batting strengths that resulted in his “elite 2025 campaign.” Nevertheless, regression could happen.
I looked at eight projections for Perdomo homers in 2026. Each projection had its own PAs and homers. It’s a big assumption, but assuming the same PAs as last season, and no change in the homers per PA of the projections, then with 720 PAs, the projections ranged from 12.2 to 15.7 homers. My wager of Perdomo hitting 18 or more homers is equivalent to roughly 15% more homers than the most optimistic projection. However, my wager was based on more than just raw optimism. Read on!
How can I understand his 2025 breakout in context of his batting weaknesses?
The following graph (courtesy of Baseball Savant) shows his below-average bat speed (68.3) and his above-average squared up per swing (32.3%). Perdomo is circled in red and a red arrow points to him.
Also, Perdomo was above-average in launch angle sweet spot percentage (36.2%). With his below average bat speed and his below average hard-hit percentage (31.9%), his 20 homers were exactly in the middle of the 145 qualified batters. That shatters the preconception that high bat speed and a high percentage of hard hits are ‘the only way’ to hit homers.
Another shattered idea was that batters who hit homers were focused on hitting homers. Geraldo Perdomo said the following about his focus: “I know I had a little bit of pop. I don’t try to hit for homers. I just try to hit more line drives. If it happens sometimes on accident, I take it. I think it’s going to come with time.” — Geraldo Perdomo, February 2025
Another important idea is that Perdomo has two types of swings; homer swings and non-homer swings; each with its own swing speed.
“…Perdomo dramatically increased his swing speed on home run swings. Each of the first 2 seasons, we see that the split in swing speed from home run to non-home run was right around 2-2.5 MPH. This season, those splits grew to 4-5 MPH. How rare is that? The league average swing speed split between homers and non-homers in 2025 was 2.8, basically right where Perdomo has been for the last 2 seasons. In 2025, his overall split of 4.3 MPH was 12th-highest out of over 140 qualified hitters in MLB.” — 1AZfan1, February 2026
The graph shows that in 2025, Caleb Durbin was most like Perdomo in bat speed and squared up per swing. It was Durbin’s rookie season. Remarkably he earned 2.8 WAR. Durbin and Perdomo were born exactly 4 months apart. It will be interesting to compare them at the end of this season.
In 2026, will his breakout continue?
His batting strengths have existed since 2022, when he was a rookie in the Majors. In December of 2023, my player review included the following table that compared Perdomo to the other Diamondbacks batters.
“Thus the combination of bat control along with a faster swing is producing a marked increase in the quality of contact, making his [Perdomo’s] above average batting line appear much more sustainable than in the past.” —Jack Sommers, April 2025
In 2023 and 2024, one stat (created by 1AZfan1) showed Geraldo Perdomo was top-two in the Majors. That stat is Peskiness; a combination of many pitches per PA, few swings outside the strike zone, and few whiffs. In short, pitchers see him as the most Pesky batter in the Majors. My view is that the most important part of Peskiness is that he gets more pitches per PA, which gives pitchers more chances to make a mistake pitch that allows Perdomo to hit a homer.
Three consecutive years as the best in the Majors shows consistency that argues that his breakout will continue.
Perdomo has gone beyond Pesky. He improved his batting. Details are in the following quote.
“Perdomo has gotten bigger and stronger. He’s changed his mechanics from both sides of the plate. He’s somehow chasing and whiffing even less than he did last season, and he’s somehow doing so while lifting the ball more, swinging a bit harder, and hitting the ball a bit harder.” — Davy Andrews, September 2025
All things considered, I’m confident his breakout will continue.
Two Very Positive Projections for 2026.
In his Positional Power Ranking for Shortstop, Dan Szymborski ranked the Diamondbacks as number 6. “He [Perdomo] might even still be underrated; I’m surprised at how little attention was given nationally to his elite performance in 2025.” — Dan Szymborski, March 2026
“It wouldn’t surprise me if … Geraldo Perdomo becomes a top-three shortstop in baseball this year. … Either way, Perdomo’s skill set — more walks than strikeouts, power, speed, glove — puts him in a position to lock up the spot in 2026.“— Jeff Passan, Mar 13, 2026
Summary.
His 2025 breakout was real.
Perdomo has batting weaknesses that could lead to regression. But it’s not valid to look at his batting weaknesses without also considering his batting strengths that caused his breakout.
Perdomo’s batting strengths include squared up per swing and launch angle sweet spot percentage.
My wager of Perdomo hitting 18 or more homers is equivalent (with 720 PAs) to roughly 15% more homers than the most optimistic projection.
Thoughtful ideas included:
High bat speed and a high percentage of hard hits are not the only way to hit homers.
With a focus on hitting line drives, Perdomo hit 20 homers.
Perdomo has two types of swings; homer swings and non-homer swings; each with its own swing speed.
His breakout will likely continue.
His batting strengths have existed since 2022, when he was still a rookie in the Majors.
Bat control and a faster swing increased the sustainability of his breakout.
For three years, pitchers have found Geraldo Perdomo the most Pesky batter in the Majors because of his many pitches per PA, his few swings outside the strike zone, and his few whiffs.
Beyond being Pesky, last season Perdomo improved his batting with more strength, better mechanics, more lift of the baseball, swinging a bit faster, and hitting the baseball a bit harder.
Two writers have projected that this season Perdomo will be the third and sixth best shortstop in the Majors.
I’m confident that Perdomo’s performance will exceed .275 BA and 17.5 homers, helping the Diamondbacks win more than 81 games.
Port St. Lucie, Florida: New York Mets pitcher Devin Williams during a spring training workout, February 20, 2026 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images) | Newsday via Getty Images
If you still don’t know who Devin Williams is, you’ve definitely seen him pitch before. You’ve seen him throw the same pitch, in fact, over and over again—rocking back and firing a changeup on the lower-outside corner which Pete Alonso connects with the other way as the Mets’ dugout erupts and Howie Rose delivers the call of a lifetime. In the time it took for you to read that sentence, you probably could have watched the highlight another couple of times.
So, who is Devin Williams? To the Mets, he used to be the man who gave up Alonso’s iconic 2024 homer in the Wild Card Series. Now, he’s the new face of their bullpen. But to the rest of the league, Williams has simply been one of the best relievers in baseball for the better part of a decade.
The Mets signed the 31-year-old Williams to a three-year, $51 million deal, marking the first of two ex-Brewers whom president of baseball operations David Stearns would reunite with (along with Freddy Peralta) this offseason. Williams was signed in early December, back when he was expected to be the setup man to Edwin Díaz; but Díaz, of course, broke for Los Angeles to join the back-to-back champion Dodgers, leaving Williams slotted into the closer spot on the roster. It’s a role Williams has played before. Over the course of his six scintillating seasons in Milwaukee from 2019-2024, Williams oscillated between the role of setup man and closer depending on whether bullpen-mates like Josh Hader or Trevor Megill had the job at a given time. One thing that remained consistent was Williams’ spectacular performance. From 2020-2024, Williams put up a 1.70 ERA (the second-lowest among qualified relievers in that span) while posting a 14.64 K/9 rate (second only to — you guessed it — Edwin Díaz). Along the way, Williams earned two All-Star selections, two N.L. Reliever of the Year Awards, and a Rookie of the Year Award for his absurd 2020 season in which he pitched to a 0.33 ERA while striking out 53 of 100 batters faced.
Despite what the Alonso homer may have led you to believe, Williams’ calling card has always been his un-hittable changeup, better known as the “Airbender” pitch. From ’20-24, Williams’ changeup produced an incredible 46.8% Whiff rate while yielding just a .135 opponent batting average, both marks ranking the best in baseball for any pitch among right-handers (min. 2000 pitches thrown). Since 2020, no single pitch by a reliever has produced as many strikeouts (284) as Williams’ Airbender.
But after being traded from the Brewers to the Yankees following the 2024 season, the ever-consistent Williams had a confusingly ineffective season. In 2025, he pitched to a 4.79 ERA while recording -0.3 bWAR. A look at his underlying metrics don’t reveal all too many problems — in fact, they seem to bear all the signs of a usual dominant season from Williams. His changeup still had its good break, while his Chase%, Whiff%, and K% all ranked in the 97th percentile or higher. Most perplexing of all, Williams’ xERA (expected ERA) was 3.02, almost two full runs-per-nine below his actual ERA.
So…who is Devin Williams really? Is he the dominant arm from his Milwaukee days, or the struggling Yankee trying to avoid further damage? The most likely answer does actually seem to be the most promising one, though perhaps also the least satisfying: it really was just a fluke. The baseball gods with their small sample sizes and unpredictable balls in play may have just done a number on Williams’ numbers, while the expected stats and underlying metrics tell the true story of a still-elite reliever.
There are statistical deep dives arguing the above point with far greater precision, but for a perhaps more digestible piece of evidence: Williams did put up good traditional numbers for significant stretches of the season. From May 7 through July 13, he pitched to 1.90 ERA in 23.2 IP. From September 7 on, he threw nine scoreless innings in nine appearances. That’s about three months of the season where Williams wasn’t only getting great results, but elite results — the kind he’s become accustomed to over the course of his career.
This spring, Williams gave up a solo home run to Cardinals prospect J.J. Wetherholt on the first pitch he threw: a new cutter that he’s been developing with the Mets’ coaching staff. Since that swing, he’s allowed no runs and two hits in four more spring appearances, striking out six batters and utilizing his signature changeup to record four of those (one in each appearance). It’s a hard thing to truly believe in a bounce-back season, especially after a player puts up negative WAR with an ERA near 5.00, but if there ever was a time to do so it’s now. The predictive stats are there. The not-so-cherry-picked traditional stats are there. The spring stats are there. And perhaps most importantly, Williams is here. The Mets committed to having him in their bullpen for three years — not a carefree expenditure, especially for a reliever — after seeing the numbers he put up last year. That should be a sign to any who trust Stearns’ front office that they firmly believe his 2025 season was an anomaly, and that he’ll be ready to deliver high-quality, high-stakes innings in 2026 and beyond.
So, one final time: Who is Devin Williams? He’s no longer a show-stopping rookie, but he’s not necessarily past his prime. He’s coming off an ugly season, but not a damning one. He’s not Edwin Díaz—nobody is—but he doesn’t have to be. He’s been one of the best relievers in baseball, all signs point to him continuing to be one of the best relievers in baseball, and he’s the Mets’ closer for the next three years. Even if he’ll forever be “the guy who gave up the homer to Alonso,” maybe we haven’t yet seen the most famous Williams changeup in Mets history.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 12: Seth Halvorsen #54 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during the sixth inning of the Spring Training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 12, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Much of the Colorado Rockies 2026 roster came into focus over the weekend in terms of position players and the starting rotation. This morning, they began crafting the bullpen into its final form.
Kevin Henry reported that reliever Seth Halvorsen will start the season in Triple-A Albuquerque.
Official word from #Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer …
Reliever Seth Halvorsen sent to Triple-A
Tyler Freeman will start the year on the IL (lower back inflammation). Troy Johnston has made the team.
According to Henry, manager Warren Schaeffer added this: “Coming off injury, high walk rate in spring. He needs to go down there and get right because we know what kind of pitcher he can be for us in leverage situations.”
Currently, Halvorsen has a 21.60 ERA in 5.0 innings pitched, allowing eight hits that resulted in 12 runs.
The news that Tyler Freeman will begin the season on the Injured List is not a surprise given the nagging back issues he has struggled with throughout spring training.
Troy Johnston, then, will be on the team as a first baseman and outfielder. In spring training, he has slashed .358/.426/.547 in 22 games and hit his first spring homer last night against the Detroit Tigers.
With a little more than 24 hours before first pitch of Opening Day, the Yankees are putting the final touches on their active roster. The latest move saw the team select the contract of right-handed reliever Cade Winquest to the big-league roster; Jon Heyman was the first to report the news.
The Yankees selected Winquest from the Cardinals in the Rule 5 Draft, just the ninth player they’ve selected since the inception of the modern Rule 5 Draft in 1965 and their first since Brad Meyers in 2011. He becomes the first Rule 5 Draft pick to make the Yankees’ Opening Day roster since first baseman Josh Phelps was selected from the Orioles in 2006 (he played 36 games in 2007 before being designated for assignment and claimed by the Pirates). Per the rules of the Draft, the Yankees must keep Winquest on the active roster for the whole season — he cannot be optioned or DFA’d — otherwise they are required to place him on waivers and offer him back to St. Louis should he clear waivers.
The 25-year-old righty was used mostly as a starter in his three seasons between Low-A and Double-A in the Cardinals organization, but the Yankees feel he can best help the team coming out of the bullpen this season. He throws a mid-90s fastball that’s gotten hit pretty hard in his minor league career, but the real weapon in his arsenal is an upper-70s curveball that induced a 46-percent whiff rate in 2025. To the Yankees, that’s fairly worth a back-of-the-bullpen flyer.
The Yankees are hoping Winquest can bounce back from a rocky spring, where he pitched to a 7.20 ERA and 7.45 FIP in nine relief outings lasting ten innings. Fortunately, exhibition play is exhibition play for a reason, and players who appear shaky on the surface often have more to offer when the games actually count and they’re not just working on particular preseason tinkerings. Winquest is the second auditioning player to break camp with the big-league team after the Yankees selected the contract of non-roster invitee Randal Grichuk. Winquest joins Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn as the low-leverage swingmen in the Yankees bullpen, all three capable of making a spot start in an emergency.
The 26-man roster is now almost full with Winquest’s addition, though they could open another spot by optioning Luis Gil as they use a four-man rotation for the first two weeks of the season. As it stands, Brent Headrick and Jake Bird appear to be competing for the last spot.* One of those two could be the 26th man, or perhaps they could both be in if Gil is sent down. Maybe there’s a mysterious other contender on another team! We’ll find out soon enough. [Update: Both indeed made the team with Gil going to Triple-A. Jake has more here.]
*Osvaldo Bido was mentioned in an earlier version of this post as a possible contender as well, but he has since been claimed off waivers by Atlanta.
Well, I don’t think the Royals are going to end up with the Cactus League Crown this year.
At 9-20, the Royals have not exactly played great during Spring Training. The good news is twofold: first, that all of Kansas City’s best players were playing in the World Baseball Classic. Two, that Spring Training doesn’t matter.
Nevertheless, the tuneups continue, and the Royals will face their compound buddies the Rangers—but in Globe Life Park in Texas. A nice opportunity to play in a big league stadium.
Feb 25, 2026; Lakeland, Florida, USA; Detroit Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle (85) during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images | Mike Watters-Imagn Images
The Detroit Tigers made the decision everyone was waiting for all spring, announcing on Tuesday that top prospect, infielder Kevin McGonigle, has made the Opening Day roster.
The 21-year-old McGonigle hit a pair of homers in Grapefruit League play, and another tape measure shot off Athetlics’ starter Luis Severino in an exhibition tune-up for Team Dominican Republic prior to the World Baseball Classic. He slashed .250/.411/.477 this spring, good for a 135 wRC+ and struck out just 16.1 percent of the time, while posting a 19.6 percent walk rate
Of course, his bat was never really the big question. The Tigers main opening on the roster was at the shortstop position, and as late as last fall there were still enough questions about McGonigle’s defense at the position that it wasn’t a sure thing that the Tigers were ready to play him there. The young infielder played in the Arizona Fall League last October after the regular season ended, working with Tigers’ great Alan Trammell on his defensive actions at both shortstop and third base. The results have been impressive this spring.
McGonigle was never poor at the shortstop position, but he lacks the big arm that can get a shortstop out of a tough play in the hole, for example. He has the quickness, the hands, and throwing accuracy to play the position well, but even late last year there were still extra steps, sloppy transfers from glove to throwing hand, poor angles on ground balls, all the little details that cut into a shortstop’s time to make a play. McGonigle and the Tigers have systematically worked to make his actions more precise and efficent, and that work paid off as he’s looked much improved this spring.
Everyone who knows ball knows Kevin McGonigle is going to hit. He may have some rookie struggles as pitchers try to junk ball him and avoid giving him fastballs to crush, but McGonigle also has an elite eye and a disciplined approach. They’re not going to get him out like that for long, and he’ll live on base taking walks if they try that too much. All spring, the young infielder has displayed the lightning quick bat and plus power that we’ve watched for two full seasons in the minor leagues and which carried him to a consensus ranking as the second best prospect in baseball. The defensive home when he reached the majors has been the trickier question to answer in the minor leagues, with many speculating his best position was second bsae. In showing off his upgrades at the shortstop position and showing the versatility to handle third base as well, McGonigle answered the big questions and made the Opening Day roster.
Kevin McGonigle's spring training data. He's good. Some might say he's a top 2 prospect in baseball. pic.twitter.com/lzP8buRUHZ
The Tigers spent the 37th overall pick in the 2023 draft to select McGonigle out of Monsignor Bonner HS in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. In two seasons, he’s missed time to a hamate fracture in 2024 and a sprained ankle to start the 2025 season, but despite the somewhat limited reps, he’s torn through the Single-A, High-A, and Double-A levels, reaching camp this spring looking like one of the teams best hitters, and with his defensive upgrades, one of their best all around players as well.
McGonigle grew up in the Philadelphia area as a big Chase Utley fan, and their resemblance as players has been a common feature in McGonigle profiles during his rapid ascent through the minor leagues. The short list of all-time Tigers greats who’ve reached the majors at this age includes Al Kaline, Lou Whitaker, and Alan Trammell. This is rareified air, but McGonigle is more likely than all those players but Kaline to hit the ground running as a hitter.
McGonigle is the 15th Tiger player to debut before the age of 22 since the year 2000 https://t.co/C78MF3LG8y
The Chase Utley comps have been popular, but you could also flip it around and think of McGonigle as left-handed hitting Alex Bregman. The combination of power and contact ability in a small, compact frame is definitely reminiscent. Whichever comparison you prefer, McGonigle has handled every challenge his coaches have thrown at him this spring, and no doubt A.J. Hinch is thrilled to add a low strikeout, power bat to an offense that badly needed more balance between sluggers and strikeouts down the stretch and in the postseason last fall.
The decision makes the Tigers eligbile to receive a prospect promotion incentive (PPI) selection after the regular first round of the 2027 draft, but only should McGonigle win Rookie of the Year this year, or finish top three in MVP voting in a season before he becomes arbitration eligible. He’ll also have to stay on the roster all season. These are all smaller concerns, of course. The Tigers are probably thinking more about a long-term contract that extends beyond their six years of team control. In such case, his service time control won’t matter at all.
Kevin McGonigle came to camp with questions to answer, and he answered them all. We’ve been expecting this decision and we’re very excited to see his major league career begin. The Tigers have a strong farm system of young prospects who will be joining their buddy in the Show over the next two seasons, but McGonigle was always going to lead the way. The Tigers are a much better, more well rounded, roster and lineup with him on the squad.
Mar 17, 2026; Port Charlotte, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot (44) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in the first inning during spring training at Charlotte Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Rays fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
TAMPA, FLORIDA - MARCH 11: Carlos Lagrange #84 of the New York Yankees waits to enter a spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 11, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark Taylor/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On Sunday, the New York Daily News’ Gary Phillips wrote a story about ascendent Yankees pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange which gave me pause when I read the headline. Specifically, the story was about Lagrange’s partnership with a start-up company called Finlete. Finlete is a platform of sorts which allows fans to essentially treat players like stocks—financial assets to be bought into and speculated on to grab a piece of their future earnings if their career takes off.
This isn’t a piece of artistic license on my part: it is quite literally the pitch Finlete makes to its customers, albeit with slightly more pillowy language. “Invest in the career of a top baseball prospect,” their website invites visitors in boldfaced font. For just a $300 down payment, you can “back” a prospect and partake in the rewards if the kid reaches the pros.
So, what’s in it for the players? Well, as Phillips details in his story, the prospect gets all the money from Finlete ‘investors’ upfront and can spend it right away on whatever they need. Lagrange, who in January received over $150,000 from Finlete after signing on with them in September, confirmed that the upfront cash played a role in his decision to enter a partnership with them.
Now, I suppose most of you reading probably weren’t familiar with Finlete before. But if you’re like me and you perked up a bit at seeing that name, that’s probably because you remember their most famous client: Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase. Clase, who partnered with Finlete last year, was federally indicted last fall for his alleged role in a scheme to make money for sports bettors by intentionally spiking pitches at the start of his outings.
Phillips mentioned Finlete’s agreement with Clase in the story, and asked Finlete cofounder Rob Connelly about it—naturally, Connelly declined to comment. If your most famous client is a guy facing criminal charges for the most serious challenge to MLB’s integrity since Pete Rose, we’re already off to a bad start.
Of course, given the league’s recent actions, questions about integrity don’t seem to particularly concern them. Already heavily intertwined with the online sportsbooks which have invaded every televised sports broadcast in America, the league recently announced a partnership with Polymarket, a so-called ‘prediction market’ which allows gullible users to light money on fire by betting—sorry, investing, there’s that word again—on the possibility of just about anything taking place.
Polymarket and its competitor Kalshi are the end result of this gambling craze: open seas of speculation where the cursory limitations sportsbooks place on what what their users can ‘predict’ are further sanded down. The league has announced that they’ll be working with Polymarket to “address integrity concerns”—concerns which of course never would have existed if they didn’t take the reported $300 million-per-year bag to enter this partnership, or the myriad of sports betting sponsorships that came before.
It can be easy for people to lose sight of the fact that behind all the rush to make money off these gambling crazes is the simple truth of why gambling looks appealing to more and more people: they’re financially insecure. Full-time jobs that pay well and provide good benefits are increasingly elusive; gig work and hustling for extra income to make up the difference become increasingly obligatory. It doesn’t take much for a person in dire financial straits to plunge what little they have into bets which could in theory multiply those earnings. But gambling is addictive, and once addictive cycles of behavior around gambling emerge, it stops being about winning money to pay off your student loans or get your car serviced. It becomes about the act of staking, the endorphin rush of making a decision you know you shouldn’t make.
As the financial pressure on ordinary people increases, activities they previously engaged with for leisure start to transform into an extension of the grind. As a result, it’s no longer enough for a baseball fan to pay recurring fees to various streaming websites or MLB itself just to be able to watch all their favorite team’s games, or shell out hundreds of dollars for a ticket. They are repeatedly and obnoxiously entreated to put money down on the outcome, too.
We’ve seen what this leads to: online and in-person harassment of athletes for “losing fans’ money” on bets that didn’t work out. Phillips mentioned this ugly, extremely common side effect of gambling in his article—Lagrange appeared not to be troubled by the possibility. But in much the same way it’s easy to abstract away the money you bet with, it’s easy to abstract away threats which haven’t yet been made. People who invest in a baseball player’s potential future earnings to essentially ride their coattails likely don’t have their own ducks in a row financially. If they feel they’ve been wronged, they can resort to doing some ugly things.
Of course, you have to be in a precarious situation yourself to allow people to “invest in your future”. And that’s where I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the makeup of Finlete’s ‘roster’, as it were. Out of the ten players they list on their website, all of them are from Latin America—half, including Lagrange, from the Dominican Republic, three from Venezuela, one from Mexico, and one from Panama. For his part, Lagrange has nothing but praise, at least publicly, for the way Finlete negotiated with him, but the company still has a ton of leverage in this situation. Just as a Hispanic player is more likely to accept a team-friendly extension from their big league club for the immediacy of a major pay raise, they’re more likely to opt for a scheme like this.
Connelly describes what Finlete does as “[shifting] career risk away from athletes and onto investors”. But that’s disingenuous. These athletes are still taking all kinds of risks—chief among them trying to make it as a nonresident Hispanic man in a country with a government which is actively hostile to them. Like it or not, Lagrange is taking a very real risk every day he wakes up in the morning and travels to the Yankees’ spring training facility.
No, what Finlete is doing is simply creating risk for more people; taking the kinds of agreements which players have taken in the past (and occasionally sued over, as in the case of Fernando Tatis Jr.) and expanding them to hundreds of other people. They’re taking advantage of a loose regulatory environment and a public which has spent years being goaded into betting on as many discrete outcomes as possible. Why stop at offering players predatory loans when you can convince a bunch of impressionable strangers with bad money habits to take them too?
I think some people’s initial reaction to hearing about Lagrange’s partnership with Finlete is going to be “well, good for Lagrange. He’s having success and getting rewarded for it.” But to me, this is one of those supposedly heartwarming stories which distracts from a darker reality. Just like how a person who resorts to GoFundMe to pay their medical bills shouldn’t have that gargantuan expense foisted on them in the first place, a baseball player shouldn’t feel like he needs to enter an agreement like this to find some security as he strives to make the majors. And even if it all works out for Lagrange, Finlete just represents yet another way to financialize baseball; continuing its transformation from nation’s pastime to just another vehicle for speculation.
The consensus No. 2 prospect in Major League Baseball has done the near-impossible: Win a starting infield job on a veteran-laden team coming off a playoff appearance.
The Detroit Tigers announced March 24 that McGonigle will make their opening-day roster, and if the 21-year-old is in Detroit, it's not to sit the bench. Drafted 37th overall in 2023, McGonigle won a job outright in spring training - he can play either shortstop or third base - posting a .923 OPS with two homers and impressing both Detroit brass and his teammates with his field presence.
At 5-foot-9, 187 pounds, McGonigle is not the potential aircraft carrier that No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin, the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop, embodies. Yet it will be McGonigle debuting at the game's highest level while the Pirates send Griffin to Class AAA.
If he starts at shortstop, it will be over veteran utilityman Zach McKinstry and former All-Star Javy Baez. His youth and skill set certainly raises the ceiling for a position in which the Tigers trotted out McKinstry, Trey Sweeney and others over the past two years while making runs to the American League Division Series.
Kevin McGonigle stats
McGonigle has a career .308/.410/.512 line in the minor leagues, with 123 walks to just 84 strikeouts over three seasons.
Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle practices during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Detroit Tigers have made it official.
Young phenom Kevin McGonigle, one of the top prospects in all of Major League Baseball, has made the Tigers’ Opening Day roster.
Detroit drafted McGonigle with the 37th-overall selection in the 2023 MLB Draft, a move made possible when the team drafted Max Clark to a below-slot deal after making him the third-overall pick that same draft class. While McGonigle has dealt with injuries since being drafted (a fractured right hamate bone in 2024 and a right-ankle sprain early last season) the infielder has done nothing but rake since the Tigers selected him.
Last year at High-A West Michigan he posted a slash line of .372/.462/.648, and the numbers dipped a bit when he moved to Double-A, he still belted 12 home runs in 46 games.
He also played in the Arizona Fall League, earning MVP honors thanks to slashing .362/.500/.710 with five home runs over just 19 games.
During Spring Training this year, he slashed .250/.423/.500 over 19 games and 52 plate appearances, with a pair of home runs and six runs batted in.
Moments like this from Monday night — a 108-mph rocket off the bat — have Tigers fans excited about his future:
Kevin McGonigle smokes a 108-MPH single to center that appears to tie the game, but Woody Hadeen is called out. pic.twitter.com/N9KLY9wfwH
Where he fits in Detroit was once an open question, manager A.J. Hinch has noted that a better pre-pitch routine has led to improved defensive play at shortstop.
“”He’s been very, very good on defense,” stated the Tigers manager.
Now that he is on the roster, he might just be Detroit’s starting shortstop come Opening Day.
AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 04: Texas pitcher Jason Flores (4) watches his pitch as he follows through during the college baseball game between Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on March 4, 2025, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Certainty in SEC baseball scheduling isn’t easy — the conference schedule released last September wasn’t finalized with on television until February, which wouldn’t matter much except for Thursday-Saturday series that impact how coaches choose their midweek games.
That’s the explanation for how the No. 2 Texas Longhorns ended up traveling to face the Houston Cougars at Schroeder Park on Tuesday before returning to Austin for a Red River Showdown against the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners that starts on Thursday.
“Had I known we were going to have a Thursday series, I certainly wouldn’t have scheduled a road game on a Tuesday night, in Houston, much less. But we owe coach [Todd] Whitting a trip. This is what it’s come down to,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said in his Monday appearance on the Around the Horns podcast.
Last year, a matchup between the Cougars and Longhorns in Austin was cancelled due to cold weather.
“We’ll leave some guys back so they can be rested, but we have to go down there and play. I know they had a rough weekend, but he’s got one of his better Big 12 teams right now, so we’re excited to go play,” Schlossnagle said.
Houston is 12-11 and 1-5 in Big play with a 6-6 home record after losing a home conference series to Kansas State and getting swept on the road in Lawrence over the weekend after allowing 29 runs to Kansas in the three-game series.
The loss of star center fielder Tre Broussard for three weeks due to a hamstring injury hasn’t helped the Cougars — considered a top 2026 MLB Draft prospect, Broussard’s speed makes him an elite outfielder and a dangerous base runner to complement an excellent left-handed swing with some power. In 14 games, Broussard is slashing .468/.542/.787 with three home runs and 17 RBI after stealing 31 bases last season.
Batting .289 as a team, Houston only has one regular starter hitting over .300 — shortstop Tyler Cox, a Dartmouth transfer who hits leadoff and is batting .329 — but does have some pop with 27 home runs on the season.
Former Texas outfielder Easton Winfield is scuffling for a second straight season, batting .200 in nine games with four starts, continuing his downward trend after leading Louisiana-Monroe in eight offensive categories as a freshman in 2024.
Receiving the start for the Coogs is freshman right-hander Caleb Kimble (7.71 ERA, 0-0), the first of his career after throwing two scoreless innings against Arkansas Pine-Bluff before allowing two runs on three hits in 0.1 innings against Kansas State.
Houston has a staff ERA of 5.87, a WHIP of 1.49, and is allowing opponents to bat .260.
Texas is giving sophomore right-hander Jason Flores (0-0, 9.00 ERA) his second start of the season after moving freshman right-hander Sam Cozart into the weekend bullpen. Flores has consistently received praise from Schlossnagle despite subpar results this season — in his first start against Lamar in the first midweek game, the 6’1, 240-pounder allowed three runs on three hits with one walk and one hit batter in 1.2 innings before giving up two runs on three hits with a walk and a wild pitch in two innings of relief against Houston Christian.
The poor results have often come on good pitches for Flores, a distinction that matters less the more often it happens, making Tuesday an important opportunity for the No. 76 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, according to Perfect Game.
Schlossnagle also wants to get freshman right-hander Brody Walls some work after he pitched well in last week’s embarrassing home loss to Tarleton State, allowing one unearned run over 2.1 inning with four strikeouts.
“Brody did great last week against Tarleton,” Schlossnagle said. “He’ll certainly see the mound tomorrow in some form.”
Tuesday also represents an opportunity for struggling junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza to get back on track after a hitless week that saw his batting average drop from .325 to .269 as he went 0-for-16 with four strikeouts.
“I don’t think it’s swing mechanics much with Ethan — if anything, it may be that green monster out there. When you’re a right-handed hitter, like it does in Fenway, it’s in your mind,” Schlossnagle said.
Auburn’s 37-foot wall in left field is only 315 feet from home plate, which the Texas head coach believes may have influenced multiple infield popups by Mendoza, a rarity for the contact hitter with burgeoning power who typically has a strong feel for the barrel.
Sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez is also continuing to battle through the impact of his left hand injury last year that offseason surgery did not fully repair. The switch hitter is still batting .280, but his slugging percentage is down 118 points from 2025, when he hit seven home runs, five of which came before he was hit by a pitch against Missouri in late March.
“If Adrian was fully healthy, we would have six, eight more homers, for sure,” Schlossnagle said.
Now almost a year fully removed from the injury, it seems likely to linger through the season and continue sapping his power — Rodriguez doesn’t have a home run this year, forcing him to settle for some gap-to-gap pop.
