Category: MLB

TAMPA — Oswaldo Cabrera has not watched the replay, and if he has any control over it, he never will. 

That night in Seattle last May — when an awkward slide into home plate left him lying on the ground writhing in pain with a broken left ankle and ligament damage around it — remains “horrible” in Cabrera’s mind. 

But nearly 10 months later, hours before the first time he returned to the field for a game in his Grapefruit League debut Friday night, the Yankees utilityman wanted to remember that night for a different reason — for the teammates and coaches who visited him in the hospital later that night and the outpouring of support from fans and people back in his native Venezuela, lifting the spirits of the man who is usually the one doing that for others. 

“That was one of the most beautiful things that happened that night,” Cabrera said Friday afternoon before playing four innings at shortstop and drawing a walk and scoring in his only at-bat. “They did a really nice job showing me the love, the support that I really needed in that moment. I’m so glad for having that.” 

Aaron Judge, who visited the Seattle hospital along with Anthony Volpe and Aaron Boone, remembers Cabrera having a smile on his face despite the physical and mental pain he was in. 

“He knew it was a rough road ahead of him, but if anybody was going to attack it head on, it’s going to be that guy,” Judge said before he left camp for the WBC. 

“He’s, on what you might think is the worst day, still the best person,” added Boone. 

Even for the effervescent Cabrera, though, the gruesome injury tested his psyche. There were obvious physical challenges he had to overcome in the months since — following surgery that inserted a plate and seven screws to stabilize his ankle — but that was not the hardest part of the rehab process. 

“Staying positive, staying mentally strong,” he said. “Having that mentality of, ‘Keep going, that this is nothing hard, we can come back from this and this is not a big deal.’ I think that [was] a big challenge I had this offseason.” 

Though Cabrera was fielding ground balls by the end of last season, he entered camp still trying to knock off some rust. The Yankees felt he had stalled out a bit and wanted to see the last bit of burst in how he was moving. 

Over the last few weeks, though, he showed the improvement they needed to see, leading to the final box that needed to be checked off before he could play in Friday’s game: sliding. 

Cabrera had been thinking about this since the night he got hurt. He had slid hundreds, if not thousands, of times before in his career without issue until that ninth inning in Seattle, when he ran home on Judge’s sacrifice fly but had to make a late pivot to avoid the throw up the line and his ankle gave out on him. 

“I’m going to try to pick him up and he’s like, ‘No, no, no, no, no,’ ” Judge said. “Then I saw what was going on.” 

And so began the long road that led Cabrera to a back field earlier this week, when he finally had to get over the hump and slide again. 

“For me, it was just go over there, try to lose my fear — because obviously it’s a fear from the last time, but trying to not put anything on my mind to make me feel like I’m afraid to do that,” he said. 

Once he did, Cabrera was cleared for takeoff, generating a wave of emotions. He described his anticipation for Friday’s exhibition like it was his MLB debut or his first World Series appearance. 

“Feels like a kid living his dream,” he said with an ear-to-ear smile after the game. “Feels so good, feels amazing to be back in the field.” 

It still remains to be seen whether Cabrera will be ready to start the season on time, but in his mind, there is little doubt. 

“Absolutely it is [possible],” Cabrera said. “I didn’t talk about this with anybody in the organization, the coaching staff or the manager, but I’m working in a way to make the Opening Day [roster].”

The Atlanta Braves took on the Twins in an evening spring training game today with a lineup full of players fighting for final roster spots while some of their stars battle it out in the WBC. Reynaldo López was on the mound looking to continue his success and hopefully stretch out a little bit.

Speaking of fun:

Reynaldo López has looked solid so far this spring. Over 5.0 innings and two appearances, he had yet to give up a run in the spring. He had never gone over 3.0 innings though, so it was a question mark of when he was able to add some more length to his starts since he is coming off a major injury.

Well, it was mostly good news this evening on the Reynaldo López front. He was able to stretch it out for 4.0 innings in his outing this evening. He did finally give up his first run, raising his spring ERA to 1.00. He did struggle a bit outside of runs giving up four hits, and two walks, but struck out three. Another good sign is that all four of his hits given up were singles. It should also be noted that his first walk was when Josh Bell won an ABS challenge.

Reynaldo López himself did claim that he struggled to command his fastball. However, if this was a rough outing in his eyes, he likely was just trying to prove to himself that he can be better. We will take this type of outing gladly.

Martín Pérez came in to get some work as well and looked solid by his standards for his first 2.0 innings. It makes sense that he would give it his all since there is a real chance that he may win a spot in the rotation with the Braves possibly running a 6-man rotation to start the year. He did appear to struggle in his third inning of work though, loading the bases. He was close to giving up a run, but was aided by an outfield assist on a play at home. All-in-all in his third inning of work he gave up a single, a double to old friend Orlando Arcia, a HBP, and a walk but came out it without surrendering a run. The odds of him getting out of that inning with no runs in the future is slim. His full outing was 3.0 innings surrendering zero runs on two hits, one HBP, and one walk. His first two innings were great, but his third was not.

Hayden Harris has only pitched 3.0 innings thus far this spring but got the ball tonight for the eighth inning. He did not start strong, giving up a double to the first hitter he faced. However, he seemed to calm down at least a little bit by following that up with a strikeout and a grounder to SS. He then gave up a walk though, putting runners on the corners with two outs. He was able to finish the job with a strikeout on a 91.7 MPH fastball. In case anyone is wondering, his average fastball last season was 91.9 MPH, so we are not seeing a velocity drop.

The Braves’ offense got the job done, but it was led by a lineup that only had few guys that will likely make the roster. Kyle Farmer got the start at 3B and continued his hot spring getting another hit. He is an interesting player to watch because he has been a below replacement level player the last two seasons, but has easily been one of the better players this spring with the bat. José Azocar has also made a strong case this spring as well and continued tonight by picking up a single and double to raise his spring OPS to .921.

Another player this spring that we should keep an eye on is Jonah Heim since he likely will be the backup catcher while Sean Murphy recovers. Heim has struggled this spring, but did have two hits tonight raising his average to .188 and OPS to .472.

The Braves’ offense was able to muster up four runs from their “starting” lineup before the subs came in, and that was enough to win.

The Braves will be back at North Port, Fl. tomorrow and will face the Baltimore at 1:05 ET. The Braves have not announced yet who will be on the mound, but expect to see more regulars in the lineup.

Aaron Judge has officially made his mark on the world stage.

In his first career World Baseball Classic at-bat, Judge blasted a two-run homer into the left-center stands in the first inning of Team USA’s opening pool play game against Brazil on Friday.

Judge’s home run was met with a loud roar from the fans at Daikin Park in Houston.

AARON JUDGE GOES YARD #WorldBaseballClassicpic.twitter.com/rHI5uO5p6m

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 7, 2026

The blast gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead early on, as Brazil’s starting pitcher Bo Takahashi struggled in the first inning.

Brazil did answer back with a leadoff home run by outfielder Lucas Ramirez off USA starter Logan Webb.

This year is Judge’s first appearance in the WBC, having skipped out on 2023’s tournament and being a rookie in MLB back in 2017.

Despite it being his first go-around, Judge was named captain of the U.S. team upon agreeing to participate in this year’s tournament in April 2025.

During an appearance on “The Show with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman” in February, USA manager Mark DeRosa detailed how he failed to bring Judge on in 2013, and what the process was like bringing the three-time American League MVP on for this time around.

DeRosa said he got wind that Judge wanted to play for Team USA from legendary Yankees southpaw Andy Pettitte, and decided to go from there.

“I just said, ‘Hey Aaron, I’m not going to bug you throughout the year. … I talked to Andy Pettitte, I’d love for you to be obviously the captain of Team USA and kind of start with you and filter everything around you as the pillar of this thing,’” DeRosa said was his pitch to Judge. 

“He called me back within 48 hours and was like, ‘I’m in, I want to do it.’ … I started it in April, I just started slow-playing and trying to make pitches,” he added. “I was building a Dream Team at night in my apartment on paper. Trying to make lineups out and pitching staffs.

“I was just slowly cold-calling people and seeing where their heads were at.”

All rise!

Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge made his World Baseball Classic debut on Friday for Team USA and punctuated the occasion with a two-run blast.

After Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a single and Bryce Harper struck out, Judge came up against Brazil starter Bo Takahashi.

Judge got ahead in the count, 3-0, when Takahashi hung a 80 mph sweeper over the heart of the plate. The two-time reigning AL MVP got the green light and deposited the pitch 405 feet into the crowd in Houston.

ALL RISE.

AARON JUDGE HOMERS IN HIS FIRST AT-BAT AT THE WBC 🇺🇲 pic.twitter.com/IsmLG1SlBx

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 7, 2026

The 3rd annual MLB Spring Breakout showcases the top prospects in baseball, including the San Diego Padres top players in their minor league system. Ninety-one of the top 100 prospects have been named to be included in the rosters for the 16 games that will be played between March 19-22.

This will be the last year that the present format will be in place. Beginning next season, and including 2028, the format will change to a single-elimination style tournament with two teams crowned champions. The Cactus League will have a champion from their 15 teams and the Grapefruit League will have a champion from their 15 teams. The new format doesn’t begin this year in order to not compete with the WBC.

The top 100 prospects in MLB include No. 4 Leo DeVries, traded by the Padres to the Athletics in exchange for Mason Miller and JP Sears. The A’s also received ranked prospects Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Nuñez, all of whom are currently on the A’s roster for the game.

MLB No. 1 prospect, SS Konnor Griffin, and No. 2 prospect, SS Kevin McGonigle, will play against each other when the Pittsburgh Pirates (Griffin) match up with the Detroit Tigers (McGonigle) on March 20 at 4:35 p.m. PT on MLB Network.

The No. 3 MLB prospect, SS/2B Jesus Made, will play for the Milwaukee Brewers against the No. 4 prospect, SS Leo DeVries for the A’s on March 22 at 1:05 p.m. PT on MLB Network. Eight of the 16 games will be broadcast live on MLBN while the other games are carried on their respective team networks or on MLB.TV.

San Diego Padres

The Friars play their breakout game on March 21 versus the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Ariz. at 6:05 p.m. PT on Padres.TV and broadcast on 97.3 FM The Fan, their flagship radio station. MLB.com released its new top 30 prospects for the Padres this past week. Lefty starting pitcher Kruz Schoolcraft is now ranked as the top prospect in the system. Although he has only pitched 1.2 innings of professional baseball, Schoolcraft has huge upside and is being ranked solely on that assessment.

Catcher Ethan Salas, the No. 2 Padres prospect, is still admired for his defensive attributes but is no longer considered a balanced player with his offense not showing well in his limited time above low-A ball. After missing most of the past season, Salas will have to prove himself as a hitter to regain his position as a top prospect in MLB.

The rosters for the teams are including the full top 30 prospects for each team and additional players added per the organization’s desire to have the largest pool of players to choose from. On March 18, the rosters will be trimmed to 23-27 players per team and that will be the final roster for the games.

The Padres have all 30 of their top prospects as well as players recently brought over from the Dominican Summer League to begin their training on US soil and be assigned to a US team. International players to note include SS/2B Jhoan De La Cruz, who helped lead his DSL team to the championship last season. Taiwanese righty Lan-Hong Su and RHP Jeferson Villabona were added from the international ranks. SS Dylan Grego, who was drafted in 2025 and both of the newly drafted catchers, Ty Harvey and Truitt Madonna, are on the original list.

The Cubs top rated prospect, MLB No. 55 catcher Moises Ballesteros, headlines their roster and RHP Jaxon Wiggins, the No. 58 MLB prospect, will likely start the game for the Cubs. The Padres have multiple pitchers who could start but Schoolcraft is the only one ranked on MLB Pipeline and he sits at No. 88.

There will be an updated Padres roster and a game preview after the final rosters are announced.

The Dodgers play their first night game of the spring as they host the Kansas City Royals at Camelback Ranch. Ryder Ryan makes his second start against right-hander Mitch Spence.

FRIDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Royals
• Ballpark: Camelback Ranch
• Time: 5:05 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: none

The World Baseball Classic is in full swing; I’m watching Mexico try to finish off Great Britain as I write this. But there are still players left behind in Spring Training who are still competing for jobs and Mitch Spence is one of those.

The Royals traded for the righty just as Spring Training was getting underway, and after spending most of the last two seasons with the Athletics, he appears to be on the outside looking in at the Royals’ big league roster. He’s only made one appearance so far this spring, a two-inning start against Milwaukee back on March 1. In that game, he struck out two, walked none, gave up zero hits, and hit a batter. So, a pretty good start for him. He’ll try to build on that tonight.

Here’s the starting lineup for the Royals:

Collins and Massey are the only guys starting tonight who currently project to make it to the Royals’ opening day roster, and neither as starters. Starling Marte still won’t make it onto the field, sadly. Maybe tomorrow!

Here are all the pitchers on tonight’s roster who could appear after Spence:

• Nick Mears (RHP)
• Hector Neris (RHP)
• Steven Cruz (RHP)
• Ben Sears (RHP)
• Beck Way (RHP)
• Auguto Mendieta (RHP)
• Daniel Lynch IV (LHP)
• Lucas Erceg (RHP)
• Henry Williams (RHP)

The game will be broadcast on local radio at 96.5 FM, though you could also watch the Dodgers’ TV broadcast on MLB TV if you are subscribed and not in either market, so that’s how I’ll probably be enjoying the game.

Today, this Colorado Rockies soundly defeated The Athletics 11-6.

For game highlights, click here.

I was unable to download manager Warren Schaeffer’s comments, so here’s Chase Dollander:

Brett Sullivan had quite a day:

And here’s Rockies third baseman Kyle Karros (who gave us some “Karro’s taco’s):

And, finally, please enjoy five minutes of Rockies highlights:

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

The Dodgers host the Kansas City Royals at Camelback Ranch on Friday in their first night game this spring, with a 5:05 p.m. PT start. This is the second of two consecutive night games at Camelback Ranch, with the Colorado Rockies coming over on Saturday.

Lineup

Miguel Rojas 3B
Freddie Freeman 1B
Mookie Betts SS
Teoscar Hernández LF
Dalton Rushing C
Alex Freeland 2B
Nick Senzel DH
James Tibbs III RF
Michael Siani CF

Ryder Ryan starts first in what will be a bullpen game for the Dodgers.

Other pitchers

Tanner Scott, Will Klein, Edgardo Henriquez, and Ronan Kopp are slated to pitch Friday, as are non-roster invitees Antoine Kelly and Wyatt Mills.

Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres, March 6, 2026, 5:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV/MLB Network

Location: Peoria Sports Complex – Peoria, AZ

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.

• Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
• Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
• Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads

GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!

Bryce Harper is already vouching for big leaguers to play in the 2028 Olympics. 

The Phillies star spoke with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale on Friday and made it clear where he stands as baseball returns to the Summer Games. 

”I hope LA ’28 happens,” Harper said. “I’m hoping the next CBA agreement can happen where teams and players can come to an agreement on taking that two-week break, especially it being in our home country.

“It would be great for baseball. You talk about growing the game and being able to grow it at that, at the highest level would help out tremendously.”

Despite the growing popularity of the World Baseball Classic, Harper put the Summer Olympics on a much higher tier than the tournament, which kicked off on Wednesday. 

“Obviously the WBC is great, but it’s not the Olympics,” Harper said. “That’s no disrespect to the WBC or anything. But everybody knows when the Olympics are on, everybody is watching. Doesn’t matter what sport it is. It could be the most random sport and it has all of the fans watching it.”

Baseball became an official Olympic sport in 1992, and stayed so until 2008, although major leaguers have never been allowed to play in the games. 

After being removed from the Olympic program in 2012 and 2016, baseball returned in 2021 during the Tokyo games, although current MLB players were excluded. 

In 2024, baseball was once again removed when the games headed to Paris. 

Last month, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred appeared to be on the same page as Harper regarding the professional baseball players in the Olympics. 

“I think that we’re a lot closer to [an agreement] than the last time we talked about it,” Manfred said during the Winter Olympics. “There are some issues with the MLBPA that we just need to resolve. I sense a lot of momentum towards playing in L.A. in 2028. I think we’re going to get over those issues.

“I think people have come to appreciate that the Olympics on U.S. soil is a unique marketing opportunity for the game. I think we’ve got a lot of players interested in doing it and I feel pretty good about the idea that we’ll get there.”

Welcome to Pinstripe Alley’s coverage of the 2026 World Baseball Classic! We previewed Pool A, Pool B, Pool C, and Pool D in the linked articles. Since the first several days of the WBC feature a bevy of games, we’ll be recapping them in batches. Enjoy!

Friday marked the first full slate of World Baseball Classic action after a few appetizers in Tokyo on Wednesday and Thursday. The early batch of games lacked any major upsets, but just because the games went to chalk doesn’t mean they weren’t full of exciting moments and intriguing storylines. Let’s take a gander at the first four contests in a jam-packed day of around-the-globe baseball.

Pool C: Japan (1-0) 13, Chinese Taipei (0-2) 0

The defending WBC champs entered the fray on Saturday night in Tokyo with a mighty roar in their home ballpark against poor Chinese Taipei, a squad already fighting an uphill battle with the loss of their captain Chieh-Hsien Chen in their tournament-opening loss to Australia. Who else would light the fire in the second inning but the biggest star in the sport? Shohei Ohtani strode to the plate with the bases loaded against Hao-Chun Cheng and did what baseball superheroes do: he hit a grand slam to right field.

That blast was the first blow in what would become a 10-run inning for Samurai Japan. Red Sox DH Masataka Yoshida, new MLB addition Murataka Murakami, and the rest of the lineup added on before Ohtani came right back up and smacked a single to plate that 10th and final run. He almost hit for the cycle in just a few innings before departing early with the game well in hand. I’m not sure Yoshinobu Yamamoto needed quite that much run support, but he did his job, pitching around three walks to log 2.2 scoreless innings in his first taste of competitive ball since his 2025 playoff masterclass.

Japan added three more runs i the third to polish off the blowout victory, which ended in a shutout thanks in part to a close call in the fifth. With Hiroya Miyagi pitching, the Guardians’ Stuart Fairchild clubbed a high drive down the left-field line which easily reached the seats, but was ruled foul. The call on the field stood after review. This one’s about as close as it gets; I’m sure the umpires were relieved they didn’t have to make this decision in a close game.

Pool A: Cuba (1-0) 3, Panama (0-1) 1

The first Classic game to take place in Puerto Rico since 2013 was a tight, well-pitched affair between two Latin American rivals. Cuba, a tournament semifinalist in 2023, faced off against José Caballero and Panama, the team that recently played against the Yankees in a pre-tournament scrimmage. The Cubans struck first in the second on a line-drive homer to right from Yoelkis Guibert to break the seal. Then in the third, the Angels’ Yoán Moncada took Cleveland’s Logan Allen deep to left for a two-run homer, extending Cuba’s lead to 3-0.

Cuba’s pitching staff, led by 2025 Pacific League MVP Livan Moinelo and Toronto’s Yariel Rodríguez, held the Panama offense at arm’s length. Former Braves infielder Johan Camargo finally managed to get his squad off the schneid in the seventh inning, but a costly baserunning mistake from the Phillies’ Edmundo Sosa an inning later defanged a potential rally. In the ninth, Yomiuri Giants star closer Raidel Martinez retired the side in order to seal the victory. As a Yankees-related postscript: no hits, one walk, and a few slick plays at shortstop for Caballero in the loss.

Pool D: Venezuela (1-0) 6, Netherlands (0-1) 2

Team Venezuela returned to Miami, the site of their greatest heroics from the last WBC, to host old friend Didi Gregorius and the Dutch contingent in the first game of Pool D, which has a case as the “Pool of the Death.” Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. got the party started for Venezula with a leadoff double, and then a Luis Arraez single past a drawn-in infield gave them an early 1-0 lead.

The Netherlands responded quickly to tie the score thanks to a two-out RBI hustle double by D-backs prospect Druw Jones off Ranger Suarez—making his father (and manager) proud. But the Venezuelans would not allow the tie to hold for long. Who better than a Miami Marlin to tee off in his home ballpark? While Javier Sanoja is not a household name, he put himself squarely on the radar with this go-ahead homer.

That 2-1 scoreline held up until the fifth inning, when the Dutch pitching staff—and defense—faltered. Venezuela got the first two men aboard before Maikel Garcia laid down a sacrifice bunt … and easily raced to an uncovered first base. Arráez made them pay with a bases-loaded walk, then a Willson Contreras two-run single rubbed salt in the wound. Wilyer Abreu kept the Venezuelan drum circle going with one last RBI of his own, and the big inning allowed their staff to keep the beat all the way to victory. A Jones sac fly in the sixth marked the only tally afterward.

Pool B: Mexico (1-0) 8, Great Britain (0-1) 2

This game has a misleading final score; it’s a classic case of an underdog team pushing a superior opponent to the limit before the wheels fall off at the very end. Mexico could not feel comfortable with a narrow 1-0 lead bestowed by a homer from Nacho Alvarez Jr., and indeed that lead vanished in the sixth thanks to the Nationals’ Harry Ford—who had his coming out party in the previous Classic, when he was still a Mariners prospect. This solo shot tied the game and put everyone on upset watch.

But Panama was not the only team to suffer from self-inflicted wounds today. Later in the inning, the Brits got two aboard with two out for third baseman Ivan Johnson, who smacked a single to left. But an overaggressive send from their third base coach gave Seattle’s Randy Arozarena just the opportunity he needed to announce his return to the international stage. He easily cut down Matt Koperniak attempting to score from second and kept Great Britain at bay.

At last in the eighth, the sun set on the British empire. A strong outing from delightfully-named Rays prospect Gary Gill Hill quickly went sour, giving the heart of the Mexican order a big opportunity. Fellow Ray Jonathan Aranda greeted new pitcher Tristan Beck with an opposite field three-run home run into the Crawford Boxes to untie the score for good.

Mexico put the finishing touches on a surprisingly tough victory in the ninth thanks to run-scoring hits from Alek Thomas, Joey Ortiz, and—of course—Arozarena. Here’s Yankee-related postscript number two: Jazz Chisholm Jr. was another Bomber who suffered defeat in his tournament debut. Jazz went 0-for-5 as the leadoff man for Team GB. He’ll look for a better performance against Aaron Judge and Team USA tomorrow night.

Here are the games that still lie ahead tonight. We’ll have the recap for this quartet in the morning!

Puerto Rico vs. Colombia (Pool A)
Pitching matchup: RHP Seth Lugo vs. LHP Jose Quintana
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
Venue: Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, PR

Nicaragua vs. Dominican Republic (Pool D)
Pitching matchup: RHP Ronald Medrano vs. LHP Cristopher Sánchez
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: FS2
Venue: loanDepot park, Miami, FL

United States vs. Brazil (Pool B)
Pitching matchup: RHP Logan Webb vs. RHP Bo Takahashi
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Venue: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

Chinese Taipei vs. Czech Republic (Pool C)
Pitching matchup: RHP Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang vs. LHP Jan Novak
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
TV: FS2
Venue: Tokyo Dome, Japan

The Dodgers are under the lights for a second straight night at Camelback Ranch, hosting the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.

Landon Knack makes his third start of spring, and is expected to be backed by Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Jack Dreyer, and Ben Casparius, all of whom pitched often in the bullpen last season.

Left-hander Sean Sullivan starts for the Rockies.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs Rockies
• Ballpark: Camelback Ranch
• Time: 5:05 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570

As the programs of the Mountain West continue to run through the non-conference portion of the season, we here at Mountain West Connection want to highlight a marquee matchup each weekend until conference play. This week, we will discuss San Diego State’s upcoming series against Saint Mary’s

The Rundown

The Aztecs have had a good season one month in, and it has not been an easy road for them. Just in the last week, San Diego State took on then No. 1 UCLA in a one-game pit stop, Washington in a four-game road set and Long Beach State back home for one match. SDSU went 4-2 in that span, beating the best team in the nation 4-3, splitting the series against the Huskies while losing in run total 16-21 and bouncing back against the Dirt Bags in a 13-10 slug fest.

While San Diego State was climbing the hill of power four teams, Saint Marys had a weekend date with SDSU conference rival San Jose State. The Gaels, who entered last weekend 4-3, took the series against the Spartans in a dominant, 3-1 fashion. Saint Mary’s only lost the third game of the series, getting skunked 8-0 while winning the other three games by a combined 20 runs. They then went back home to take on the UC Davis Aggies, beating the future Mountain West member 7-2.

Both teams are on winning streaks and carrying a lot of momentum heading into Tony Gwynn Stadium, both trying to build up their resumes a bit more before conference play kicks off next week for SDSU and in two weeks for Saint Marys. It should definitely be a good weekend for baseball fans in San Diego.

Saint Marys (8-4) vs San Diego State (8-5)

Location: Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego, Calif.

Dates/Times:

Friday, March 6: 6:00 p.m. PST

Saturday, March 7: 5:00 p.m. PST

Sunday, March 8: 1:00 p.m. PST

Broadcast: Mountain West Network

History: San Diego State is 4-8 against the Saint Mary’s Gaels, with the last series being in 2025 when the Aztecs got swept by the Gaels in three straight games from Feb. 28, 2025-March 2, 2025.

Three key questions to the series

1. Can the Jabin Trosky show continue to put up bangers?

SDSU infielder Jabin Trosky has been tearing it up through the first month of the season, Toting a .377 batting average and a .930 OPS, the redshirt junior who transferred in from Oregon State has mounted 20 hits (most on team), five doubles (second most), a triple and 11 runs (third most) with 27 total bases (best on team). Trosky also has the second most stolen bases, successfully making it three times. When you factor everything, it is no wonder that Trosky made the Brooks Wallace Award (best college shortstop) watch list.

Trosky will have to bring it this weekend, as the Saint Mary’s pitching staff will not make it easy for him or the rest of the Aztecs’ lineup (which will be discussed shortly). However, if the redshirt junior can catch fire and energize the San Diego State bench, there will be some highlights added to his film reel.

2. Will San Diego State be able to rain on the Saint Mary’s fireworks show?

The Gaels have not won two-thirds of their games because of flukes. Saint Mary’s has had a great showing at the plate so far, with seven players boasting a .350+ batting average (two with .400 or better) and five with a 1.000 or better OPS. Saint Mary’s junior outfielder Tanner Griffith poses the biggest threat to the Aztecs’ pitching rotation, as he is going into this weekend’s series with a .515 batting average and a 1.491 OPS. His batting average is currently one of the best in the nation, sitting behind Miami outfielder Derek Williams (.535) and Iowa infielder Gable Mitchell (.521) in third place. 

San Diego State does have great pitching, with two great options in Drew Talavs (2.81 ERA, 16 IP) and Rohan Lettow (2.70 ERA, 16.2 IP) and Alec Belardes (5.51 ERA, 16.1 IP) as starters and multiple relief pitchers sitting below the 3.00 ERA mark (four of them have an ERA below 1.00). However, there are also multiple pitchers in the bullpen that are currently above 4.00 ERA, so the disparity is there. If the Aztecs are able to calm the extremes and pitch solid, there will be no problems. But if the Gaels are able to get to the pitching staff, SDSU will have a hard time keeping up.

3. Will the Aztecs get through the tough pitching onslaught from the Gaels?

It is safe to say that Saint Mary’s has been able to get the most out of their pitchers this year. The program has a team ERA of 4.17, with three starters staying below a 4.00 ERA while pitching at least 12 innings each. Graduate student Jake Hilton has been the ace of the troop, standing atop the Gaels’ starting pitching staff with a 1.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 14 strikeouts. The bullpen has also rocked so far, as three of the four relief pitchers with at least seven innings pitched boast an ERA at 4.50 or lower. 

Saint Mary’s performance has kept their opponents in check, as the combined opposing team batting average is at a .246. San Diego State’s team batting average is .262 at the time of writing, so they are not far off from the Gaels’ opposing average. There is work needed to be done to even the playing field, but if the Aztecs can rally behind its leaders and take care of business at the plate despite the uphill climb, they can win this weekend’s series.

The lines between baseball and video games just got blurred in the most delightful way imaginable. 

The two-time World Series champion Dodgers have announced that on March 31 at Dodger Stadium against the Guardians, the first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a Yoshinobu Yamamoto x Yoshi from Super Mario Bros. bobblehead. 

Now this is the cultural crossover we’ve been waiting for. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers are giving away this limited edition Yoshinobu Yamamoto x Yoshi from Super Mario bobblehead on March 31 vs the Guardians @SuperMarioMoviepic.twitter.com/4V42fGetk7

— MLB (@MLB) March 6, 2026

The cross-promotion arrives at the same time that the new “Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Movie” lands in theaters on April 1. 

Call it marketing genius, call it cartoon chaos. Either way, the night will belong to the reigning World Series MVP and Nintendo. 

For anyone who grew up with Nintendo controllers in their hands, the connection is obvious. Yoshi — the beloved green dinosaur companion of Mario — has been one of the most recognizable characters in gaming for more than three decades.

But in Los Angeles, the name “Yoshi” suddenly belongs to someone else, too.

In October, Yamamoto delivered a World Series performance that also felt pulled from a video game cheat code. Yamamoto pitched a complete game in Game 2 of the World Series against the Blue Jays. Warmed up in relief in Game 3. Allowed just one run and got the victory in Game 6, and then returned less than 24 hours later on no rest to pitch 2.2 shutout innings of relief to get the win in Game 7. Overall, he was 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA in the Fall Classic, earning him a permanent place in Dodgers history. 

Yamamoto’s nickname of “Yoshi” was already floating around the Dodgers’ clubhouse for the last two seasons, but now he can share it forever with the smiling green dinosaur in collectible form. 

Yoshi, the video game character, will wear a Yamamoto jersey in the bobblehead giveaway, because duh, why wouldn’t he?

The club released a short video on Friday that captures Yamamoto doing a pregame stretching routine — calm, focused, almost monk-like — before a mischievous Yoshi bobblehead begins to interrupt the moment. The tiny plastic dinosaur wobbles beside him as the pitcher casually flips himself into a headstand, unfazed by the chaos unfolding next to him, while politely asking Yoshi to “please be quiet.”

Yoshinobu, meet Yoshi.

Join us at Dodger Stadium on 3/31 for the collab we’ve all been waiting for! Get your Yoshi Bobblehead presented by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Tickets are available now at https://t.co/DZQkfNeXIj. pic.twitter.com/wlfyVxn4lY

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 6, 2026

The video is hilarious. The symbolism is perfect. 

It’s the kind of strange, joyful collision that only sports can produce. 

For the Dodgers, this promotion fits neatly into their long tradition of bobblehead greatness. They already have other cultural crossovers planned this year already. Ice Cube in a low-rider, Shaquille O’Neal, even Kobe Bryant got a bobblehead last season wearing the iconic Lakers jersey while holding a baseball bat. 

The Dodgers open the gates on March 31 knowing something special is coming. A stadium full of fans. A sea of green bobbleheads bouncing in the night air. A video game character reborn in a baseball uniform.

Somewhere in the dugout, Yamamoto will probably shake his head and laugh quietly at the whole thing.

Because even a World Series MVP can’t escape becoming a dinosaur in Los Angeles.

Not when your nickname is Yoshi.

The Dodgers’ full bobblehead promotional schedule can be seen here. 

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