Category: MLB

Here we are!

After starting with 20 teams earlier this month, we’re down to just two squads vying for the World Baseball Classic title in tonight’s championship game.

Team USA took down the Dominican Republic on Sunday in a closely fought 2-1 game, while Venezuela beat previously undefeated Italy 4-2 on Monday night.

Tonight’s game features a few of the Brewers’ top players, including second baseman Brice Turang for the USA (batting eighth) and catcher William Contreras (not in the lineup), outfielder Jackson Chourio (batting ninth), and lefty reliever Ángel Zerpa for Venezuela.

Mets’ pitcher Nolan McLean gets the start for the USA, while the Diamondbacks’ Eduardo Rodriguez starts for Venezuela. Team USA is the home team in this one, though based on how loud the Venezuelan fans were in last night’s win, it may feel more like a road game despite being played on home turf in Miami.

First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. CT on Fox, and the full lineups are included below.

MESA, Arizona — Tuesday notes…

• ICYMI:

• WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: For those interested, there will be a separate game thread posting at 6:15 p.m. CT for the WBC championship game between the USA and Venezuela that begins at 7 p.m. CT.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Angels lineup:

Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs. The only other Cubs pitcher scheduled today is Javier Assad, now back from the WBC. Looks like the Cubs might be doing a piggyback two-pitcher game as they did last night against the Guardians.

Mitch Farris will start for the Angels. Other Angels pitchers scheduled today: zzzz

No TV today. There will be radio broadcasts on WSCR The Score and the Angels flagship station, KLAA 830.

MLB.com Gameday

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

Please visit the Angels site Crashing The Pearly Gates. If you do go there to interact with Angels fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

As we have done in the past, we’ll have a first pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time. For today, that will be 8 p.m. CT and 9:35 p.m. CT.

These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked ”Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher photos and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Venezuela lineup

1. Ronald Acuña Jr., RF
2. Maikel Garcia, 3B
3. Luis Arraez, 1B
4. Eugenio Suarez, DH
5. Gleyber Torres, 2B
6. Ezequiel Tovar, SS
7. Wilyer Abreu, LF
8. Salvador Perez, C
9. Jackson Chourio, CF

SP: Eduardo Rodriguez

United States lineup

1. Bobby Witt Jr. – SS
2. Bryce Harper – 1B
3. Aaron Judge – RF
4. Kyle Schwarber – DH
5. Alex Bregman – 3B
6. Roman Anthony – LF
7. Will Smith – C
8. Brice Turang – 2B
9. Byron Buxton – CF

SP: Nolan McLean

Broadcast info

Time: 8:00 PM EDT
TV: FOX

Venue: loanDepot Park — Miami, Florida, USA

And it all comes down to this.

Tonight the home United States team will welcome Team Venezuela to the championship game of the World Baseball Classic.

If the US wins, it will be their first WBC championship since 2017. This will be Team Venezuela’s first appearance in the WBC title game.

And now to the lineups.

Venezuela will start LHP Eduardo Rodriguez who has had one previous outing in the 2026 WBC. When facing the Dominican Republic, he went 2 2/3 innings and surrendered home runs to Juan Soto and Ketel Marte.

The rest of the lineup looks like this:

1. Ronald Acuña Jr., RFF
2. Maikel Garcia, 3B
3. Luis Arraez, 1B
4. Eugenio Suárez, DH
5. Gleyber Torres, 2B
6. Ezequiel Tovar, SS
7. Wilyer Abreu, LF
8. Salvador Perez, C
9. Jackson Chourio, CF

In addition to Ezequiel Tovar, don’t forget that RHP Antonio Senzatela is on Team Venezuela.

For the United States, RHP Nolan McLean will toe the rubber. In his most recent appearance against Team Italy, he allowed three earned runs in three innings.

And here’s the rest of Team USA’s lineup:

1. Bobby Witt Jr., SS
2. Bryce Harper, 1B
3. Aaron Judge, RF
4. Kyle Schwarber, DH
5. Alex Bregman, 3B
6. Roman Anthony, LF
7. Will Smith, C
8. Brice Turang, 2B
9. Byron Buxton, CF

And now to the details:

First Pitch: 6:00 PM MDT

TV: Fox

Radio: MLB Audio; Sirius XM

It should be quite a game.

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With just more than one week before opening day, the Athletics faced off against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona this afternoon. Luis Morales took the mound for the A’s against Anthony Kay for the Sox.

Kay kept the A’s off balance, allowing two base hits but no runners advancing to second throughout the first three innings. With one out and a 3-2 count in the bottom of the third, Chase Meidroth homered off Morales to deep right center field. He then walked the next two batters and gave up an RBI double to Austin Hayes. That ended the day for Morales*, having given up two runs and being responsible for the runners on second and third with two outs. James Gonzalez replaced him and promptly gave up a three-run blast to Andrew Benintendi, bringing the score to 5-0 and finalizing Luis Morales line at 2.2 innings, four earned runs, on three hits and two walks.

Morales returned to pitch the bottom of the fourth inning. He tossed a hitless, scoreless inning. Andy Ibáñez homered against Kay to get the A’s on the board in the top of the fifth inning. Jedixson Paez replaced Anthony Kay. Zack Gelof walked and Nick Kurtz doubled, scoring Gelof. Morales continued to pitch the bottom of the fifth, giving up a homer to Munetaka Murakami. That brought the score to 6-2 in favor of the Pale Hose.

Luis Medina entered the game to pitch the sixth for the A’s. He tossed a scoreless inning, as did Joel Kuhnel in the seventh inning. Zack Gelof walked off former A’s hurler Sean Newcomb to lead off the eighth. He was replaced by pinch runner Euribiel Angeles.

Lawrence Butler made his 2026 debut, DH’ing for the A’s today. He went 0-3 with two strikeouts and was removed for a pinch hitter in the eighth. Shane McGuire, hitting for Butler homered, driving in Euribiel Angeles.

That ended the scoring and the A’s dropped this one 6-4 to the White Sox. They have a rare spring day off tomorrow and will hit the field again on Thursday against the Mariners at 6:05 PM PDT.

*Morales final line was 4.1 innings, giving up five earned runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out five Sox today.

Team USA will have its flame-throwing right-hander available if necessary on Tuesday night.

The Americans will have reliever Mason Miller available at their disposal if they see fit to use him in the World Baseball Classic championship game against Venezuela, manager Mark DeRosa told reporters.

The Padres pitcher has already thrown in four games in the tournament, saving two in as many chances. He has an eye-popping 10 strikeouts in four innings — thanks in large part to his triple-digit fastball — and has yet to allow a run.

“I’d like to avoid him, but the score will dictate it,” DeRosa said. “Yes, he’s available.”

Miller closed out Sunday’s 2-1 semifinal thriller over the Dominican Republic, as he struck at two, including the game’s final batter in controversial fashion.

The righty deployed a slider on a payoff pitch to Dominican infielder Geraldo Perdomo, who appeared to deftly lay off a pitch well below the strike zone.

However, home plate umpire Cory Blaser punched out Perdomo to end the game. In the WBC, unlike spring training and the upcoming major and minor league seasons, there is no usage of the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System that would have potentially allowed Perdomo to have turned the strikeout into a walk.

Before Miller even gets the chance to maybe get the ball, Mets starter Nolan McLean is slated to get the ball for the Americans as they look for their second WBC title.

McLean pitched earlier in the tournament, allowing two home runs in the United States’ 8-6 loss to Italy in pool play.

Though he didn’t pitch as well as he would have liked, McLean is coming off an impressive stint with the Mets down the stretch in 2025 where he showed off his stuff, which includes elite spin rate.

DeRosa is confident in the Oklahoma State product’s abilities to lead the Americans.

“He’s just built for this — his mindset, his skill, his want, all of that,” DeRosa said earlier this week.

If you try hard to remember, you’ll actually recall that the Cincinnati Reds spent a good chunk of the 2025 regular season carrying six starting pitchers – at minimum – on their active roster. Such was the luxury of having Nick Martinez around all year, his versatility the linchpin in making sure the rest of the rotation was always as rested as could be.

Once they acquired Zack Littell and promoted Chase Burns, they almost always had more options than a typical 5-man rotation at any given point down the stretch. It’s simply necessary in the modern game, what with max effort velocities and the inevitable injuries that come with them.

It appears the Reds are more than just comfortable with that concept. So comfortable that manager Terry Francona revealed to C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic on Tuesday afternoon that they’ll carry six starters come Opening Day 2026.

Rhett Lowder and Brandon Williamson will make the team after both missing all (or 97%, in Lowder’s case) of the 2025 regular season with injuries. Chase Burns, meanwhile, will make the team despite having run into some mid-spring load management after not recovering well enough from an extended start. Those three will join Brady Singer, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott on the team’s roster as starting options, something the club will get to juggle early on.

It’s not the end of the world, aside from the fact that it’s Hunter Greene’s months-long absence that even opened this opportunity. The reality is that none of Lowder, Williamson, or Burns was going to approach anything akin to 170+ IP after shortened 2025 campaigns – don’t forget that Burns was shut down for a while with forearm pain and eventually migrated to a fireman role in the bullpen.

So, effectively spreading out their innings now is what’s going to begin the process lest the Reds run into a scenario where they simply have to shut a guy down in, say, an August stretch run that has them chasing a playoff spot. Former Enquirer beat writer Charlie Goldsmith added more context from Francona which more or less echoes this.

Goldsmith also casually dropped that both Connor Phillips and Will Benson have been told they’ve made the team, with Benson’s addition meaning, in all likelihood, that only one of Nate Lowe or JJ Bleday will make the club, too.

Quite the interesting series of developments ahead of tonight’s matchup against their Goodyear brethren the Cleveland Guardians!

If you enjoy seeing the Atlanta Braves uniforms being adorned with a bright-yellow bag of concrete on the left-hand sleeve then I have some news that is relative to your interests. If you’re a fan who was hoping for another company’s logo to grace the sleeves (or if you’re a purist who doesn’t want to see any of that anywhere on the uniform) then you might want to be sitting down with this one.

Earlier today, the Braves announced via press release that the concrete bags aren’t going anywhere any time soon. The Braves and QUIKRETE are now locked into a partnership through the 2036 season. Here’s a quote from the press release:

QUIKRETE and the Braves have been partners for nine seasons dating back to 2017, spanning the club’s tenure at Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta. Over that time, the partnership has grown to include some of the most recognizable branding in Major League Baseball and a strong connection with fans throughout Braves Country.

The leading construction materials company will continue as the Official Jersey Patch Partner of the Atlanta Braves, remaining the first and only jersey patch partner in team history. The QUIKRETE logo patch appears on home and away Braves uniforms throughout the regular season and postseason, providing prominent national broadcast visibility as the team competes on baseball’s biggest stages.

I’d imagine that this also means that the QUIKRETE logo will remain in yellow on the outfield fences as well. In case you didn’t notice it (and really, why would most of y’all since I’m sure this isn’t exactly the outfield fence enthusiast group), the QUIKRETE logo is the only logo on the outfield walls that is in yellow instead of white, so there’s that. It’s clear that this is a partnership that both corporate entities value and now they’re set to be locked in together for the foreseeable future.

What do y’all think? Are you a fan of the yellow bag on the sleeves? Would you prefer a different sponsor? Would you prefer none at all?

The Dodgers on Tuesday night take on the Kansas City Royals in Surprise, playing their final road game of the Arizona portion of their spring training. Highly-regarded outfield prospect Mike Sirota (wearing number 05) gets his first start of spring, hitting ninth at designated hitter in his fourth Cactus League game.

Lineup

Andy Pages CF
Kyle Tucker RF
Santiago Espinal 1B
Dalton Rushing C
Kyle Freeland 2B
Nick Senzel 3B
Jack Suwinski LF
Hyeseong Kim SS
Mike Sirota DH

Roki Sasaki starts on the mound.

Other pitchers

Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, and Ben Casparius are three relievers slated to pitch Tuesday night.

Minor league pitchers active on Tuesday are Cam Day (90), Cody Morse (91), Nicolas Cruz (92), Jacob Frost (94), and Nick Robertson (97).

Other position players

Ryan Fitzgerald and catcher Seby Zavala are the two non-roster invitees available on the bench.

Up from minor league camp are Eduardo Quintero (06), Jesus Galiz (07), Damon Keith (08), Kole Myers (87), Yeiner Fernandez (88), Kyle Nevin (93), and Logan Wagner (95).

Mark DeRosa has made two changes to Team USA’s lineup for Tuesday’s World Baseball Classic championship game against Venezuela.

Third baseman Gunnar Henderson and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, both of whom started the semifinal win over the Dominican Republic, are sitting as Alex Bregman and Byron Buxton are back in the lineup with Venezuela starting southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez.

Mets rookie pitcher Nolan McLean is starting for the U.S.

The U.S. is rolling out its usual top four with shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. leading off ahead of first baseman Bryce Harper, right fielder Aaron Judge and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.

Bregman will hit fifth ahead of left fielder Roman Anthony, catcher Will Smith and second baseman Brice Turang, with Buxton hitting ninth.

Ronald Acuna Jr. is leading off and playing right field for Venezuela, followed by third baseman Maikel Garcia, first baseman Luis Arraez, designated hitter Eugenio Suarez, second baseman Gleyber Torres, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, left fielder Wilyer Abreu, catcher Sal Perez and center fielder Jackson Chourio.

A new champion will be crowned as Venezuela knocked off defending champion Japan in the quarterfinals before dispatching Italy in the semis. Japan beat the U.S. in the 2023 final.

The U.S. won the previous WBC in 2017.

Tuesday’s broadcast starts at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Alright, it’s time to make your official prediction for the season.

We have talked all offseason long about the Phillies and the moves they made and didn’t make. There has been gnashing of teeth, rending of garments, all the marks of people unhappy with what they have accomplished in the player acquisition department.

Now, we ask the big question:

It’s the question that is the ultimate judge of team success. There might be many versions of players ups and downs this season, but this is a team game, one where they are all judged on what sort of finish they have. Should someone like Cristopher Sanchez take another step forward in his career, that won’t matter to some without a certain threshold cleared. Should Bryce Harper channel his offseason annoyance at the POBO into an elite, MVP caliber season, it won’t matter unless the team wins.

What say you?

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

The San Francisco Giants waited longer than usual to announce their first round of camp cuts this Spring Training, which is perhaps partially due to a new coaching staff wanting to get familiar with everybody, but probably mostly due to the roster logistics required after losing players to the World Baseball Classic. But once they got the cuts started, they just kept coming.

On Tuesday — their final off-day before the season starts in eight days — the Giants announced their fourth wave of camp cuts, following their flurry of reassignments in the past few days. This time it’s just a pair of players: right-handed pitcher Blade Tidwell, who was optioned to AAA Sacramento, and first baseman Jake Holton, who was reassigned to Minor League camp. For anyone confused by the verbiage of those differing cuts, it’s simply because Tidwell is on the 40-man roster and Holton is not.

Tidwell, who was part of the Tyler Rogers trade at last year’s deadline, impressed in his first Spring Training with the organization, while also not looking ready for an MLB job. The small sample size did him in, as he got tattooed with a 9.45 ERA in 6.2 innings across five appearances, but he showed absolute gas with a fastball that tickled the periphery of triple digits, while striking out 13 batters in those 6.2 innings (he also walked six batters). In addition to those five Cactus League appearances, he pitched for the Giants in their exhibition game against Team USA, and while it didn’t go well — he ceded five earned runs in 2.2 innings — he had some impressive pitches, and struck out stars Roman Anthony and Gunnar Henderson.

He’ll start the season in Sacramento’s rotation, along with a few other high-profile arms for the Giants. It seems all but certain that, health permitting, we’ll see Tidwell in San Francisco at some point this year, perhaps filling in for the Giants rotation, or perhaps in a role as a heat-throwing high-leverage reliever.

Notably, while this is the fourth round of cuts, Tidwell was the first player that the Giants have optioned this spring. That speaks both to the unresolved camp battles at play, and the smattering of players on the 40-man roster who don’t have options.

As for Holton, he got a lot of playing time as an NRI, appearing in 19 games and getting 37 plate appearances. He didn’t hit very well, though, as he went 7-34 with two extra-base hits, seven strikeouts, and one walk, for a .680 OPS and a 71 wRC+, with fairly soft contact. Holton has spent the last three seasons (plus the end of 2022) in AA for the Detroit Tigers, but it seems likely that he’ll begin this year with his first taste of AAA, and will likely serve as emergency depth a la Trenton Brooks two years ago.

The Giants began camp with 19 NRIs, and are now down to 10 (they’ve assigned 10 to Minor League camp, while adding one in Joey Lucchesi). Add in Tidwell’s optioning, and the team has trimmed its roster to 49 players … which means they still need to make 23 cuts (or IL placements) before next Wednesday.

The Mets settled for their second tie of the spring as nine innings were not enough to determine a winner in their game against the Marlins. The game ended 5-5, though the Mets at one point led 5-1 until the late innings.

• Sean Manaea had his best start of the spring, hurling four perfect innings against Miami. It was a welcome sight for Manaea, who has struggled with a velocity dip and uneven performances so far as he tries to prove himself following an injury-plagued and ineffective 2025 campaign. He struck out four batters and threw 36 of his 52 pitches (69%) for strikes.
• The Mets got all of their offense from Bo Bichette, who drove in all five runs. Facing Sandy Alcantara in the third inning, Bichette doubled home Tyrone Taylor and Marcus Semien to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. With the score 2-1 in the seventh, Bichette hit a three-run home run against Robby Snelling to extend New York’s lead.
• Craig Kimbrel came in to relieve Manaea and allowed one run on one hit, with one walk and no strikeouts. The run came on an Esteury Ruiz single, which plated Owen Caissie.
• Tobias Myers pitched a scoreless sixth but allowed a run on a Ruiz sacrifice fly in the seventh. Myers allowed just the one run on one hit, with two walks and three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.
• Jacob Jenkins-Cowart hit a game-tying, three-run home run against Colton Cosper in the bottom of the eighth, and that was the end of the scoring on the afternoon.
• Francisco Lindor got the start at short and played six innings in the field. He went one-for-four with two strikeouts and a run scored.
• Semien got two hits in three at-bats and scored two of New York’s five runs. Taylor also had two hits for the Mets, while Brett Baty, starting in right field, also had a base hit. Catchers Luis Torrens and Ben Rortvedt each picked up one hit.

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It’s time for the grand finale of the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

The United States enters the title game looking to capture its second WBC crown after falling short in 2023, while Venezuela is chasing history with its first-ever championship appearance.

Team USA advanced with a 2-1 semifinal win over the Dominican Republic, leaning on strong pitching and just enough power to get through, even with some controversial calls. Solo home runs provided the offense, while the bullpen shut the door late against one of the tournament’s most dangerous lineups.

Venezuela, on the other hand, advanced with another comeback victory, topping Italy 4-2 thanks to a decisive three-run seventh inning. Big hits from stars like Ronald Acuña Jr. fueled the rally, continuing a trend of late-game heroics throughout the knockout rounds.

With MLB stars on both lineups, this matchup promises fireworks from the very first pitch.

WBC 2026: Venezuela vs. USA start time

Tonight’s (March 15) World Baseball Classic semifinal between USA and Dominican Republic is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.

How to watch Venezuela vs. USA for free

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the game for free.

Sling TV is one of our favorite ways to watch TV live and stream live baseball; its affordable Select plan includes FOX and starts at $19.99/month.

DIRECTV is another great service to try — its five-day free trial includes ABC and you can save $35 on your first month.

Venezuela vs. USA pitchers

Eduardo Rodriguez will start for Venezuela, while Mets starter Nolan McLean will be on the mound for Team USA.

Venezuela and USA starting lineups

1. Ronald Acuña Jr. , RF
2. Maikel Garcia, 3B
3. Luis Arraez, 1B
4. Eugenio Suárez, DH
5. Gleyber Torres, 2B
6. Ezequiel Tovar, SS
7. Wilyer Abreu, LF
8. Salvador Perez, C
9. Jackson Chourio, CF

• Bobby Witt Jr., SS
• Bryce Harper, 1B
• Aaron Judge, RF
• Kyle Schwarber, DH
• Alex Bregman, 3B
• Roman Anthony, LF
• Will Smith, C
• Brice Turang, 2B
• Byron Buxton, CF

Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post

This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.

On this episode of The Dodgers Post, Jack Harris and Dylan Hernández wrap up the latest news as Dodgers spring training winds up.

The begin with the team’s unsurprising decision to name Yoshinobu Yamamoto its opening day starter –– and how it sets up a potentially Cy Young-caliber season for the reigning World Series MVP.

The evaluate the rest of the Dodgers’ rotation, which remains somewhat in flux as camp enters its final days.

Then, they pick their biggest standouts –– and biggest disappointment –– from spring training this year.

Also, they discuss their feelings about the Dodgers selling naming rights to the playing surface at Dodger Stadium.