Category: MLB

The Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 8-2, on Saturday night in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Freddy Peralta made the 45-minute trip down south to make his third start of the spring against the Astros and looked sharp as he has all camp with four innings of one-run ball. The lone run allowed by the right-hander came in the first inning after Yordan Alvarez singled home Taylor Trammell who walked to lead off the game before stealing second base.

From there it was smooth sailing for Peralta who ended the first inning by getting Carlos Correa to ground into a double play and then retired the next nine batters in a row. He finished with five strikeouts to one walk and threw 56 pitches (39 strikes), 11 more pitches than his previous outing on March 8 against the Yankees.

New York's Opening Day starter will likely have one more start this spring before gearing up for the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 26 at Citi Field.

-- With most of the Mets' projected starters staying behind, the offense was hard to come by, particularly against Ryan Weiss who went the first 4.1 innings and outdueled Peralta by allowing no runs on two hits and a walk. A.J. Ewing got New York's first hit with a single in the fourth and finished 1-for-2 with a walk in the leadoff spot. The youngster raised his batting average to .381 and has been one of the more impressive players in Mets camp.

-- Speaking of impressive young players, Carson Benge also had a productive day at the plate, going 1-for-3 batting third. His single in the sixth came with runners on first and second but the runners were only able to move up a base. New York squandered the bases loaded and one out opportunity with two consecutive strikeouts.

-- Ben Rortvedt, who replaced Austin Barnes at catcher in the bottom of the sixth, had the best night for the Mets with his 2-for-2 performance. He scored both of New York's runs and had the Mets' only extra-base hit with his leadoff double in the ninth.

-- Cristian Pache, still vying for a spot on the Opening Day roster, also had a solid night at the plate by going 2-for-4 with an RBI. He's hitting .440 this spring and is an option to make the roster as the team's fourth outfielder.

-- Mitch Voit, New York's 2025 first-round pick, made his first start of spring training and got his first hit as well in the nine hole while playing second base.

-- Mark Vientos' rough spring continued with an 0-for-4 night. He's now batting .048.

-- The Mets allowed the Astros to steal three bases, including one of home in the seventh inning.

Game MVP: Yordan Alvarez

Alvarez finished 2-for-3 with a three-run home run.

Highlights

Four strikeouts through three innings for Freddy Peralta! 🔥

(via @MLBNetwork) pic.twitter.com/Y8XfPqYGq7

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 14, 2026

What's next

The Mets return home for a Sunday matinee against the Toronto Blue Jays as they continue their spring training schedule. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m.

The Mets fell to the Astros 8-2 at CACTI Park of The Palm Beaches. The loss dropped New York to 10-8 in Grapefruit League action, with one tie.

• Freddy Peralta started for the Mets and was terrific, holding Houston to just one hit and one earned run over four innings of work. He walked one batter and struck out five. He allowed his lone run in the first inning on a Yordan Alvarez run-scoring single. With the outing, he lowered his spring ERA to 2.70.
• Luis García pitched a scoreless fifth for the Mets to keep New York within a run.
• The Mets trailed by one run until the sixth, when Alvarez hit a three-run home run against Saul Garcia, who allowed three earned runs on one hit and two walks. He also struck out two batters.
• The Mets broke through in the seventh with a run on a Jose Ramos, which drove home Ben Rortvedt. The run cut the Astros’ lead to three runs.
• Houston plated three more runs in the seventh against Jordan Gerber, who ended up pitching 1 1/3 innings for the Mets and surrendering three earned runs on three hits, with one walk and two strikeouts.
• Colton Cosper took over for Gerber in the eighth and allowed an unearned run on two hits. He walked a batter and did not record a strikeout.
• The Mets picked up a run in the ninth on a Cristian Pache single, which drove in Rortvedt.
• Rortvedt and Pache each picked up two hits for the Mets. Seven other Mets collected a hit apiece.
• Mets’ top prospects Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing each had a hit. Benge’s average now stands at .367 and his OPS is .839 on the spring, while Ewing raised his average to .381 and his OPS to 1.090.

Freddy Peralta was sharp again making his third spring outing Saturday. 

The righty took the ball in the Mets’ meeting with the Astros and delivered four more high-quality innings of work. 

Houston did make him pay for walking the first batter of the game. 

Taylor Trammell stole second following the free pass, then scored on Yordan Alvarez’s single, but Peralta used a double play ball to help him get out of the inning. 

He then retired the next nine batters he faced, picking up four strikeouts along the way. 

Peralta closed his night with just the one run allowed, a pair of baserunners, five punchouts, and 11 whiffs in his second-to-last spring tune-up. 

“I felt pretty good,” he said afterwards. “Everything is getting in the position I want it to be -- I can’t wait to start the regular season and to get some wins.”

The righty stretched out to 56 pitches, then went and threw another nine in the bullpen. 

He plans on adding 20 more onto his count his next time out, then will be set for a full workload when he takes the Citi Field mound against the Pirates on Opening Day. 

Peralta’s fastball velo (93.2) was down a couple of ticks from last season (94.8) and his last spring outing (94.2), but it’s nothing he’s concerned about. 

“It’s normal,” he said. “I know myself, I know how I work. I know whenever I get to the season and I feel the intensity that’s when I am who I really am -- I know what to do during the spring, so I don’t worry about the velocity much.”

PHOENIX –– Finally, the Dodgers have found something they don’t excel at.

In fact, to this point of spring training, they’ve been significantly worse at it than every other team.

This year, Major League Baseball is introducing an automated ball-strike challenge system (ABS) into regular-season play. And so far, during a trial run in Cactus League exhibition games, the Dodgers have flat-out stunk when trying to appeal pitches.

Overall, the team won just five of the 27 pitch calls they’d challenged entering play Saturday. Among hitters, their 15% success rate (2 for 11) is six points worse than any other team. Among pitchers and catchers, their 21% success rate (3 for 11) isn’t even half as good as the next closest club.

While the Dodgers have downplayed their concern over the early numbers, manager Dave Roberts said they are “going to do an organization forum on Tuesday to get our guys, our hitting coaches, our players to talk about some things, maybe some strategies.”

Roberts also acknowledged that, while many of the Dodgers’ failed challenges have been “borderline” misses, the team’s “idea of the strike zone individually, collectively just hasn’t been great.”

“I honestly don’t know the answer right now,” Roberts added, when asked about the root cause of such pronounced struggles.

With Opening Day less than two weeks away, the team will have to find some better answers quickly.

Granted, the Dodgers have approached the ABS system with a more exploratory mindset in camp. Strategy has not been a priority. Getting calibrated to the exact dimensions of the zone has.

“Even if we’re wrong, we need to use it just to figure out the tops and bottoms of the zone,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said earlier this spring. “A lot of us are still trying to learn it … Spring training is the time to figure it out, figure out your zone and see if you have a better idea of it [before the start of the season].”

Still, their grand total of five successful challenges this spring has felt somewhat jarring. Every other club has at least 12 overturned calls. The Yankees are setting the pace with 37.

“We’ve just got to get that education,” Roberts said. “We’ll be better. I’m certain of that.”

Individually, sample sizes have been minuscule for most of the players expected to be on the Dodgers’ MLB roster. Alex Call and Dalton Rushing are the only ones who have attempted more than one challenge, with Call 1 for 2 and Rushing 0 for 2. Rushing has attempted the most challenges among the team’s catchers, going 2 for 6 on his attempts from behind the plate.

Their biggest lesson so far: Just how fine the margins between a ball and a strike can be.

Earlier this week, Rushing challenged a called ball while catching that was upheld –– with the ABS system showing it missed the zone by less than 1/10th of an inch.

“I would’ve bet my whole life that baseball was touching the zone,” Rushing joked with SportsNet LA afterward. “But that’s what spring training is for.”

On Saturday, Rushing got redemption when he challenged a ball that ABS showed had clipped the corner of the strike zone. As a scoreboard graphic at Camelback Ranch confirmed the successful challenge, Rushing playfully gave thanks by looking toward the sky.

It also remains unclear just how pivotal the ABS system will be when real games start. Teams are only allowed two missed calls before they run out of challenges. Most nights, overturned balls and strikes figure to have only a marginal impact on the outcome of games.

Nonetheless, it is one area the two-time defending champions are focused on improving before Opening Day on March 26.

“At the end of the day, we want to get it right,” Roberts said.

For now, they have nowhere to go but up.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

The morning was good enough: I was able to sit down with catcher Shea Langeliers, OFer Henry Bolte, and pitching coach Scott Emerson for interviews I will post in the coming days. There is also a chance I might be able to catch up with Jacob Lopez and/or Denzel Clarke on Monday.

Then came the afternoon as the A’s managed 15 of the game’s 17 hits, 12 of its 13 runs, and scored in 6 of the 8 innings in which they batted. Langeliers has batted 3 times since our interview and he has yet to hit anything but a HR. I take only partial credit.

But perhaps more encouraging was some of the individual contributions. Here’s what the Eyeball Scout saw…

Jacob Lopez

Lopez got ahead 0-2 to the game’s first batter and then walked him. But then he found his mojo and for 4 hitless innings he was every bit the Jacob Lopez we saw last season. His breaking pitches were moving a ton and his fastball, sitting mostly at 90-91 MPH, got the usual high number of swings and misses. A healthy Lopez makes the A’s rotation so much better and based on today he appears to be just fine.

Leo De Vries

I get it: the hyperbole and optimism gets old. He is a talented young man and not some Norse god. But De Vries had 2 at bats today and both were impressive — and led to a 2-2 day with 2 RBI. His first PA he spit on a tough 2-2 off speed pitch just barely below the knees (it was so close I thought the Royals might challenge it) and then muscled a single into CF. His second PA showed amazingly quick wrists as he rifled a ball into the LF corner for a 2-run double.

Yes it’s only spring training, but it’s also a fact that De Vries is now batting .400/.442/.625 and the quality of the at bats is hard to ignore. At SS he made a slick play on a ball he had to charge and throw across his body; he also missed a throw trying to make a swipe tag on a stolen base. The latter was the classic “try to do too much” that reminds you that we are in fact watching a teenager, while the former suggests a true SS.

Tommy White

Yes he’s hitting the cover off the ball and had a nice opposite field poke through the hole among 2 RBI hits today. But what made an impression to the Eyeball Scout today came in the field with White at 3B. A ground ball was slapped near the bag at 3B with White off the line. He came over and in and in a “do or die” attempt he made a slick pickup off a tough second hop and then fired a strike across his body to 1B to get the out.

The questions around White have always been primarily whether he can stick at 3B. Well for at least one play he sure made me rethink my skepticism.

Colby Thomas

Thomas is another player who has raised my eyebrows as to whether he is “a keeper”. For all his flaws, and they are very much there, one thing that is evident is that he can really mash LHP. Today’s hit, off a lefty, was just scorched to LF, hit fairly close to the SS but by him in a blur. I believe the exact exit velocity was “Fosse wow”.

Wander Suero

I’ve seen Suero twice now, once on TV and once in person today. I don’t know that he’s any great reliever but I have to say I kind of like his stuff and think he could be in play for a meaningful call up during the season. His velocity isn’t anything special — today he was throwing mostly 90-91 MPH — but like Lopez his fastball seems to play up.

Perhaps his “Luis Tiant-lite” delivery and slight short-arm action helps to create deception. He also gets a fair bit of late movement on his pitches, some cutting away late. In these regards he reminds me a lot of Justin Sterner. Whether that’s a compliment or an insult is up to you, that’s just who comes to mind.

Other notes…Scott Barlow had an effective appearance (1.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB, 4 K) but was throwing only 88-89 MPH and leaned heavily on his slider. He also threw 33 pitches and only 18 strikes. Cade Marlowe had a “grind it out” PA for a walk and roped a double into the RF corner and carries a .333 BA forward as he tries to penetrate the OF depth chart.

Lots to like today, and frankly not much to worry about. The A’s started the Cactus League slow at the plate and in the win column, but maybe they are peaking at the right time. We’ll see you from Goodyear on the morrow!

While it may just be Spring Training, the White Sox can at least say they took one game from the Dodgers this year. The Good Guys took care of business in their 7-2 victory — but it may have come at a heavy price.

The Sox bench came through today. Lenyn Sosa and Luisangel Acuña led a first three-spot inning in the second. Sosa’s leadoff double and Acuña’s single and steal got Chicago on the board first, thanks to Dalton Rushing’s throwing error. Tristan Peters ponied up a sac bunt and Derek Hill tripled, later scoring on another Dodger error to add to the lead.

Sosa and Peters were especially eager to evade the next flight to Charlotte, as they drove in three more runs in the third. Sosa ended his game with two hits, two runs and an RBI, while Peters topped his three-RBI day off with a Freddie Freeman home run robbery to get Grant Taylor out of bases-loaded, sixth-inning jam.

But the bench wasn’t the biggest news of the day. It was Mike Vasil.

Vasil was incredibly efficient, throwing 3 ⅔ scoreless innings using just 46 pitches. He allowed a pair of hits and walks but punched out three, including Andy Pages and Mookie Betts.

Unfortunately, the Sox can never have nice things.

After walking Freeman and Muncy at the end of the fourth, Vasil voluntarily left the game after reporting a sore right elbow. He’ll undergo further testing, but it’s never a good sign when a pitcher willingly walks off the mound. Let’s hope Chicago doesn’t miss both Kyle Teel and Vasil for longer than April.

Chicago’s bullpen characteristically couldn’t finish the shutout. Taylor and Tyler Gilbert gave up a run apiece in the sixth and seventh. Luckily, Tyson Miller managed to close out the game, granting the Sox a well-earned win that might still turn out costly.

Record: 10-12. Change on 2025: -1.5. 5-inning Record: 5-15-2.

The Diamondbacks came back from five runs down, powered largely by Jacob Amaya’s grand-slam (below). An eighth inning home-run by Angel Ortiz then gave Arizona the lead, as they won consecutive games for the first time since March 4. It wasn’t a great day for the D-backs’ pitchers though, who allowed sixteen hits. Zac Gallen was responsible for almost half of those, giving up seven hits over 2.2 innings, with no walks, a hit batter and one strikeout. Zac was charged with three runs, all earned, and threw 55 pitches. All the other damage came off Kevin Ginkel, who gave up four hits and four runs in the fourth, including a three-run homer, while recording two outs.

There was better work from the other pitchers. Joe Ross tossed a pair of scoreless frames, followed by zeroes from Ryan Thompson (albeit around two hits) and Juan Morillo, before Logan Mercado notched the same with two strikeouts and a walk in the ninth. On offense, Amaya singled in addition to his home-run and drove in a total of five runs, with Tim Tawa, James McCann and Avery Owusu-Asiedu each recording two hits. Tawa also walked, while Luken Baker got a hit and a walk. Corbin Carroll got his first post-hamate hit, going 0-for-3 as a designated hitter.

Tomorrow, it’s a game against the Padres at Salt River Fields, with Brandon Pfaadt starting. That one will be on dbacks.tv and will actually have own own broadcasters! There’s also the USA/Dominican WBC semi-final to enjoy.

Today, was a split-squad day for the Colorado Rockies.

First, the Rockies traveled to play the Milwaukee Brewers, where they lost, 8-4. For more details, click here.

Please enjoy just over four minutes of game highlights:

The Rockies also welcomed the Chicago Cubs to Salt River Fields, where they managed a 4-3 walk-off win on a Braxton Fulford home run. For more details, click here.

Unfortunately, we don’t have video of that.

However, we do have this defensive gem from Ethan Holliday:

And please enjoy these Kyle Freeland Ks:

Tomorrow the Rockies will travel to play the Los Angeles Angels at 2:10 pm.

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

TAMPA — As far as aces go, Max Fried is about as low-maintenance as they come. 

So in what has been a relatively uneventful spring for the Yankees, Fried has fit right in with a ho-hum buildup toward his start on Opening Day in San Francisco. 

But as the Yankees await the early season returns of Carlos Rodón and then Gerrit Cole from the injured list — potentially forming a three-headed monster that Fried said was part of what drew him to the organization in the first place — the left-hander’s value as an anchor of the rotation remains significant. 

“He’s how you hoped it would be,” manager Aaron Boone said Saturday at Steinbrenner Field after Fried threw 75 pitches across 5 ¹/₃ innings of a 6-4 loss to the Phillies. “He loves the game — that’s evident. You live that with a guy all year long, you see who really loves it, and he loves the craft of pitching. He loves all that being on a team is about. He’s similar to [Aaron Judge] in that way, where it’s team above him, is how he kind of embodies it. Super accountable. Demands a lot of himself and his teammates. 

“And the thing that’s really stood out to me is how great of an athlete he is. It’s fun to watch him control the running game, get off the mound. I’m quite confident if we were ever in a situation that I needed a center fielder or something, he could go out and do that well.” 

Boone added with a chuckle that he does not see that scenario actually happening, though Fried, the four-time Gold Glover and former Silver Slugger, would probably be game for it. 

Instead, the Yankees just need Fried to deliver more of what he did in his first season in pinstripes.

Despite a rough stretch late in the summer after a blister threw him out of rhythm, Fried pitched to a 2.86 ERA across 32 starts and 195 ¹/₃ innings, living up to the first installment of his eight-year, $218 million contract. 

Now more comfortable in his surroundings with a year in The Bronx under his belt, Fried is the sure thing in a rotation that is projected to open the season with high potential but also some relative inexperience behind him in Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Ryan Weathers and Luis Gil. 

“It’s definitely a different position to be in, but it’s not like Carlos and Gerrit aren’t around,” Fried said. “So you still have those guys around, they’re going to be available to me and all of those guys as well. Anything I can do to help anyone, I’m obviously willing because at the end of the day, we all want the same thing: we want to win and perform well.” 

That includes doing the little things well, like fielding his position.

During a bunt defense drill earlier in camp, Fried was vocal and invested, providing some extra juice to an otherwise mundane part of every spring training. 

“He drives a lot of the conversation, too,” Boone said. “A lot of the drill stuff that we’ve done, fundamental stuff, he’s a big voice and is pushing guys and is asking questions. He’s kind of setting the tone and setting the standard.” 

In Saturday’s exhibition, Fried was charged with an error on a pickoff throw to second base, though it should have gone to Jazz Chisholm Jr. for dropping the throw. It led to one of the three runs he allowed on five hits, though he did not walk a batter and felt his command was as good as it’s been all spring. 

Fried will have one final tuneup next week before it gets real on Opening Day against the Giants, holding down the fort until his fellow established veterans join the fold. 

“When I signed, one of the things I was most excited about was to be able to pitch with Gerrit and Carlos, knowing the success that they’ve had and the talent they have,” Fried said. “They’re some of the best pitchers in the game. Knowing that I get to learn from them and be able to get to know them personally, I’m really excited about it.”

The Brewers put up a win in the Cactus League today, but for most fans, they were just interested in today’s bulk pitchers: Jacob Misiorowski, the starter, and Brandon Sproat, who followed. Both did pretty well, and a balanced Brewer offense, powered by homers from three guys who aren’t necessarily known as power hitters, did plenty.

The Miz didn’t get off to a great start. The first three batters of the game, Tyler Freeman, Cole Carigg, and Jordan Beck, all singled. Beck’s knocked a run in, and TJ Rumfeld followed with a sacrifice fly that made it 2-0. After that, though, Misiorowski locked in—he finished the first with a strikeout and a groundout, and then went three more innings without allowing another hit. He did walk two in that stretch, but he ended up with four innings, two earned runs, six strikeouts, and two walks.

The Brewer offense, meanwhile, didn’t have much trouble answering the Rockies. Some bad luck in the first inning cost them a potential rally—after Sal Frelick led off with a hit, Joey Ortiz, perhaps a little sharper than his teammates due to the competitive baseball he’s been playing in the World Baseball Classic, smoked a line drive that turned into a double play. But in the second inning, Milwaukee got to one of the better Colorado pitchers, Victor Vodnik. Things started with a Jake Bauers walk, a wild pitch, and, one out and a wild pitch later, a Brandon Lockridge walk. That brought David Hamilton to the plate, and he got a hanging 1-0 changeup that he crushed 107mph and 431 feet for a three-run, scoreboard flipping homer.

Vodnik got the second out but then gave up consecutive hits to Jett Williams and Frelick before getting pulled. That brought Ortiz back to the plate, and he reached on an infield single that was about 40mph slower than the batted ball that turned into a double play in the first. That scored Williams to make it 4-2, and the Brewers very nearly broke it completely open after that; Christian Yelich walked to load the bases and Bauers hit a fly ball at 112 mph, but Beck caught it for the third out.

Brandon Sproat was the next pitcher in for Milwaukee, and after he threw a three-up, three-down top of the fifth, Ortiz led off the bottom of the fifth with a wall-scraping homer to right. He didn’t exactly crush the ball, but it was one of those up-and-away pitches that when Ortiz is looking good he does damage on. Another Yelich walk and this time another monster shot off Bauers’ bat—this one 113 mph—found grass in the outfield, scoring Yelich from first. Bauers scored a couple batters later on a Hamilton groundout, and Milwaukee led 7-2.

Beck led off the sixth with a solo homer off of Sproat. Ortiz hit another ball hard in the sixth, but it was caught in center field. The game hummed along for a while—Jared Koenig came in with two outs in the eighth, walked a guy, and ended the inning with a groundout. Lockridge hit a homer (on his 29th birthday) in the bottom of the inning, and Sproat returned for the ninth. Sproat did allow a single and a run-scoring double in the ninth, but he finished the game with Milwaukee winning 8-4.

Milwaukee almost got through this one with just two pitchers, as Misiorowski pitched four innings and Sproat pitched 4 2/3. Both pitchers allowed two earned runs on four hits; Miz, as mentioned, struck out six and walked two, while Sproat struck out three and didn’t walk any. Misiorowski threw 70 pitches, Sproat 65.

On the offensive side of the ball, Frelick and Ortiz were the two Brewers with multiple hits, while Ortiz, Lockridge, and Hamilton homered. Bauers also had a nice day, as he went 1-for-2 with a double, two batted balls with exit velocities higher than 112 mph, and a walk.

Meanwhile, some non-spring training news: Andrew Fischer came a couple feet from hitting a grand slam in Italy’s game against Puerto Rico today. A fan reached over the wall and caught it, and it was instead ruled a two-run double (in a game Italy won by two), but Fischer crushed it. I think he can hit. Video below:

The Brewers continue their Cactus League slate tomorrow in Scottsdale against the Giants at 3:05 p.m. No TV for that one, either.

Even as far as spring training games go, this was a pretty forgettable one for the Dodgers, coming out on the losing end of a 7-2 effort against the White Sox. After a strong start to his spring, Justin Wrobleski didn’t showcase his best stuff, laboring through a difficult outing against a White Sox lineup that, to claim it doesn’t quite stand out, would be putting it lightly. Wrobleski came into this game without allowing a single earned run in three appearances (2 starts), and despite nearing 70 pitches, couldn’t quite crack three full innings, responsible for five of the seven runs Chicago scored.

Facing a lineup built almost entirely of right-handed hitters, Wrobleski didn’t allow a ton of hard contact and was probably a bit unfortunate in giving up four runs—his struggles to find the zone consistently were partially to blame, conceding a couple of walks and hitting the zone only 40% of the time.

Putting up a pretty unproductive effort were the Dodgers’ star hitters, who, unlike the White Sox, couldn’t fully capitalize on all of their free passes. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy combined for four walks, and only one of them (Betts) came around to score.

Still needing to fill a bulk of the game with relievers after Wrobleski’s day was done, Dave Roberts turned to Alex Vesia, among others, with a couple of points to highlight regarding his appearance. Traditionally, almost exclusively a four-seamer-slider arm, Vesia tossed in a few more changeups than usual, and his fastball velocity was still well below his career norm (91.5 MPH in comparison with the 92.7 MPH average last season). Following Vesia, Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia both tossed a scoreless inning.

The second Dodger run came courtesy of Zach Ehrhard. The young outfielder, subbed in during the game to play right field, hit a triple in the top of the seventh and came around to score on a Ryan Fitzgerald groundout. That’s particularly noteworthy given it was the only extra-base hit the Dodgers had the whole game. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the ninth, but couldn’t do anything with it.

Up next

Youth versus experience will be on display as the Dodgers face the other Chicago-based club, with Emmet Sheehan going against Jameson Taillon in a split-header day, with games against the Cubs and the Rangers. River Ryan will be the other starter. Both games start at 1:05 PM Pacific time.

One day, I will be able to write up a Cubs recap and present a lot of highlights from the game.

Today is not that day. (Though I do have SOME video to show you.)

The Cubs lost to the Rockies 4-3 at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale Saturday afternoon, another very warm day in the Phoenix area (84 degrees at game time, likely warmer tomorrow). A walkoff homer by a Rockies minor leaguer named Braxton Fulford off Grant Kipp won the game for Colorado, and obviously that means nothing for the 2026 regular season Cubs.

The much bigger story of this game is Ben Brown, who had a very good outing. Brown threw four innings, allowed two hits and one run, didn’t walk anyone and struck out six. He threw an efficient 51 pitches (39 strikes).

Here’s a breakdown of Brown’s day [VIDEO].

And here are the six K’s [VIDEO].

If Brown could throw like that all the time, well, he’d be in the Cubs rotation. Consistency has been one of his big issues. Yes, Rockies today, but that team does have some good hitters and, on a split-squad day for Colorado, many of their regular-season starters were in their lineup. So good for Ben — now go out there and do it again next time, which might wind up being one of the Cubs’ split-squad games next Friday.

Again, I fail to understand, if there’s a video feed like that one available, why that feed couldn’t be streamed. People would watch that! The audio is, as noted, from the Cubs radio broadcast on The Score.

MLB and its teams have to do some hard thinking about how to handle Spring Training games on TV going forward. This year has been a pretty big failure on that account.

The Cubs’ runs scored on a single by Kevin Alcántara, a sacrifice fly by Jonathon Long and a throwing error by Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman after an attempted steal by Matt Shaw. Hoerner scored on the error. Good to see Long back in the lineup after missing three weeks with an elbow issue caused by a collision in a Sloan Park game in February. He went 1-for-3 with the sac fly as the DH in this game.

Hunter Harvey allowed the Rockies a run in the sixth, unearned due to a throwing error by Scott Kingery that allowed Brenton Doyle to reach base to lead off the inning.

The game remained 3-2 until the bottom of the ninth, when the aforementioned walkoff homer happened, sending Rockies fans home happy.

The Cubs return to Sloan Park Sunday afternoon to take on the Dodgers. Jameson Taillon, just returned from the World Baseball Classic, will start for the Cubs and Emmet Sheehan goes for the Dodgers. Game time is 3:05 p.m. CT and this game will be televised on both Marquee Sports Network and the Dodgers channel SportsNet LA — so there will be game highlights Sunday! There will also be a radio broadcast via WSCR The Score.

The St. Louis Cardinals offered us an unprecedented opportunity to have direct access to the thinking of manager Oli Marmol. We were given a 30-minute online session to ask questions and one of the top recommendations from the community here was the viability of a 6-man rotation for this season.

Here’s what Oli had to say about using a 6-man rotation this season:

“I thought that worked really well last year…and here’s the way I was thinking about it. We didn’t have the depth in Triple A so it was almost this game within a game where we had to not get hurt. That was part of the strategy…so how do we keep these dudes healthy and not have to tap into the layer beneath them…thank God we were able to make it through where every starter made every start and the strategies that were put in place worked. I can say that you can plan all you want, but you have to get lucky for that to happen…With having almost every Thursday off if you look at our schedule, it would actually put guys on a 7-day which is not a great thing out of the gate. I think there’s times to plug them in in order to give guys the rest necessary, but not at the expense of part of the rotation being on a 7-day rather than a 6-day. That complicates things as well. People often talk about injury from a workload standpoint, where a lot of times it’s also not enough work and then jumping in. Relievers can go…he got hurt because he went 3 days in a row…well, there’s also the other side of the guy hasn’t pitched in 6 days and you ask for 2 innings. You have to balance that out as you think about the bullpen and the rotation. Out of the gate, I’m less likely to think of it as a 6-man, but I think there are times where you start to get into the schedule where that makes sense”.

You can expect to hear a lot of takeaways from our writers based on Oli’s comments. I was struck by the fact that this get-together with online writers and podcasters was Oli’s idea and not something that the Cardinals came up with. He expressed how vital it is as the team continues this rebuild process to help fans understand what the team is thinking as they make decisions since it’s been a long time since the St. Louis Cardinals have not been in a realistic contention position. He also did emphasize that he’s not assigning any length of time to how long this rebuild will take before the team is competing for a division title or pennant. The current roster could surprise or it could take longer. He wants transparency with the fanbase as we all move forward together.

One final thought on what Oli Marmol had to say. He emphasized that the front office is not dictating decisions on the field. He said that if you don’t like a decision that was made during a game, the responsibility is on him. He said that Chaim Bloom and his team are providing ample information so they can make informed decisions, but he completely owns the decisions on the field. I came away from our time with Oli Marmol impressed with this new direction and inclusion of online personalities into what the St. Louis Cardinals are working to accomplish. I believe the organization is in very good hands. Let’s hope that leads to winning sooner rather than later.

Meeting with the media before the Mets traveled to West Palm Beach to take on the Houston Astros on Saturday night, manager Carlos Mendoza spoke about a number of topics and players with New York still in the thick of it during spring training.

Clay Holmes, the starter

When the Mets signed Holmes last offseason with the idea of converting the career-reliever into a starting pitcher, a lot of people were skeptical if it could work. Even if it did work and Holmes acclimated to the change and pitched well, concerns over his innings pitched were always at the forefront of discussions.

Despite a shaky second half at times, Holmes did, in fact, pitch well in his first year as a full-time starter. The right-hander went 12-8, finished with a 3.53 ERA in 33 games (31 starts) and pitched a career-high 165.2 innings. 

The only time the right-hander ever really faltered came in July when he had a 4.91 ERA (1.57 WHIP) in six starts and even though he finished strong (3.09 ERA in September/October), Holmes’ midseason struggles were to be expected as he entered uncharted territories for the first time in his career.

But with that experience under his belt, Mendoza thinks his starter is now much more prepared going into his second season in the Mets’ starting rotation.

“Second year after a full year as a starter, he’s got a better understanding of what the routine looks like between outings, how he’s going to pace himself in outings, pitch usage, how he’s going to attack a lineup not only once or twice but three times through the order,” Mendoza said. “…This is a guy that wants to use all the resources, wants to use all the information and he continues to tinker with pitches. He’s got a pretty good repertoire versus lefties and righties and he’s in a good place."

Not only does Holmes have more knowledge about being a starter, he’s looked the part of a starter during camp with his 2.84 ERA (0.71 WHIP) through 12.2 innings. Not only that, but Holmes also looked dominant in his lone WBC appearance, going three scoreless innings and striking out six against Great Britain.

With the addition of Freddy Peralta as well as the emergence of Nolan McLean, New York’s pitching staff should be less of a question mark than it was last season and Holmes continuing to improve has a lot to do with that.

Carson Benge, the starter?

While it's too early to tell if Benge has proven enough in spring to be the team's starting right fielder on Opening Day, the 23-year-old has been spectacular for the Mets and has at the very least put himself in the conversation.

"Hopefully that’s the case that we get to those last few days and we have to make some tough decisions because we got a lot of guys playing well and are healthy," Mendoza said. "That’s the case with Carson. He continues to go out there, continues to give good at-bats, play good defense, run the bases, left on left – so he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing on his end."

Getting an extended look in camp, Benge has gone 10-for-27 (.370) with a triple, five RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base to go along with an .858 OPS in nine games.

After playing mostly right field so far, Benge is in center field on Saturday (batting third) which Mendoza says is about giving him exposure, like they've done with other players, to "prepare them for potential scenarios that can happen in the regular season."

Mendoza isn’t worried about how his youngster will handle the position change because from everything that he’s seen and heard from Benge, he’s as even-keeled as it gets. It's something that will benefit him in the majors whether he makes the Opening Day roster or not.

"You go by what you hear from people in player development," Mendoza said. "[Benge is a] quiet, baseball guy that doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low and that’s kind of what we’re seeing here. I don’t think the moment is going to be [too] big for him. He’s a pretty neutral guy to be honest with you. He goes about his business, he plays baseball, goes home and comes back the next day and does it again."

Francisco Lindor 'day-to-day' after minor league game

After playing in his second minor league game since hamate bone surgery, Lindor is considered "day-to-day", per Mendoza.

The shortstop remains on track to play on Opening Day which has been New York's message throughout the entire process. What Lindor does next remains to be seen, but he looked good in the game and had a couple of at-bats, per Mendoza.

Mets lineup

1. A.J. Ewing – RF
2. Mark Vientos – 1B
3. Carson Benge – CF
4. Christian Arroyo – 3B
5. José Rojas – DH
6. Austin Barnes – C
7. Vidal Bruján – SS
8. Cristian Pache – LF
9. Mitch Voit – 2B

SP: Freddy Peralta (RHP)

Astros lineup

lineup to follow

Broadcast info

First pitch: 6:05 PM EDT
TV: MLBN, Space City Home Network (Astros)
Radio: KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2 (Astros)