MESA, Ariz. — Carlos Lagrange received the news Thursday that he was being reassigned to Yankees minor league camp, but there was still a reward to come for a standout camp.
The club’s top pitching prospect boarded the cross-country charter with the team from Tampa on Sunday for a chance to make one more start against the Cubs on Monday afternoon. It was a small taste of big league life, giving the 22-year-old right-hander a glimpse of what is to come if and when he gets the call to the majors later this season.
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“It leaves you wanting more,” Lagrange said through an interpreter. “It gives you hunger to keep on working harder to get to it.”
That reward, though, also came with some reality that was still the case even as he dominated lineups in the Grapefruit League earlier this spring: He is not yet a finished product. Facing the toughest lineup he has seen all spring — essentially the Opening Day Cubs lineup — Lagrange came back to earth for a day. His strike throwing was not as sharp as it was earlier in camp and it led to him getting tagged for eight runs on nine hits across 2 ²/₃ innings, raising his spring ERA from 0.66 to 4.96.
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Lagrange #84, throwing a warmup pitch before the start of the 2nd inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“It was tough, but it was pretty good, because I threw versus big league hitters,” Lagrange said. “There’s a big difference between big league hitters and minor league hitters. … It jumps out that they know how to look for a pitch and be ready to attack in different counts. Falling [behind] doesn’t help when you’re facing those guys.”
Of course, the results this time of year still do not matter, and the rough ending should not tarnish what was otherwise a terrific spring for Lagrange, showing the Yankees he may be closer to the big leagues than they thought entering camp, despite never having pitched above Double-A.
That will change later this week, as Lagrange is set to open the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, another test for him as he races toward the big leagues.
“I think it’s all been valuable [this spring],” manager Aaron Boone said. “But more than anything, he’s kept his head down as far as continuing to get better. That’s the biggest thing, just seeing what he did last year, feel like he’s grown over the winter and into spring training here. Real excited about where he’s at.”
After giving up a run in the first inning on a bloop single, Lagrange responded by striking out the side in the second — on a changeup to Dansby Swanson and on sliders to Matt Shaw and Dylan Carlson, generating some silly-looking swings. It reinforced that Lagrange has more than just a triple-digit fastball, as the secondary stuff is what may allow him to remain a starter long term.
“The off-speed’s what makes him special,” Boone said. “His fastball’s great. It’s 100, 102. But his secondaries are what make him potentially so good. What’s been exciting is just his consistency in this six weeks that we’ve seen of the strike throwing. So if he continues that, he’ll be impacting us before long.”
The Cubs came back around to punish Lagrange in the third, with Michael Busch (on a hanging slider) and Alex Bregman (on a 100 mph fastball above the zone) crushing back-to-back home runs.
But Monday’s experience can serve as an additional lesson for Lagrange to put in his back pocket as he heads for Triple-A. What he showed this spring caught the attention of everyone with the Yankees, from the front office to coaches to even established veterans like Gerrit Cole and Max Fried, who both said they had never seen anything like Lagrange’s consistent triple-digit velocity — Cole even calling it “silly.”
Now, as Lagrange heads out of sight, it is up to him to make sure he is not out of mind.
“I wanted to feel that I could compete, face guys and challenge guys and throw pitches in the strike zone and be aggressive attacking the zone,” Lagrange said of his spring overall. “I think I was able to do that. You get confidence from doing that and competing with those guys on the field. Really good experience for me.”
Isaac Newton knew long ago that momentum isn’t always upward. | Getty Images
The big, magic word for the White Sox this year is supposed to be “momentum.”
Momentum works both ways, folks.
To demonstrate without using video of a Russian dissident making the poor decision to stand by a an upper-story window, let us select this afternoon’s Cactus League finale.
The Sacramento or wherever they’re playing this year A’s tried as hard as they could to hand the game to the White Sox early. Starting pitcher Luis Morales walked the bases loaded in the first and then hung a sinker that Lenyn Sosa hammered for a three-run double. Reliever JJ Goss then gave up four runs in the fourth on a slew of hits, the key being a two-run double by Chase Meidroth.
Voila! White Sox up, 7-0! What could possibly go wrong, especially given the A’s pulled all their starters after two innings so they’d have plenty of time to pack for the flight home, inserting minor-leaguers?
Plenty, it turned out.
Anthony Kay, who had been having a good spring, didn’t exactly coast through the first three innings. But still, he had given up no runs until the small matters of a sac fly and then a grand slam by the mighty Drew Swift made it 7-5 after four. On one of those spring leave-the-game-but-come-back things, Kay then walked the first two batters in the fifth, both of whom scored when Morris Austin came in and couldn’t get much of anyone out. Morris then added two more runs on his own tab.
Make it 9-7, A’s, after five.
Sosa, who presumably would like to get some regular playing time when the games count, knocked in another run with a double in the sixth to make it 9-8. Grant Taylor, who has had a rough spring, gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth that turned out to be crucial, because a Darren Baker RBI single in the ninth could then only cut the A’s lead to 10-9.
If this game set momentum into the season for the White Sox, then look forward to lots of pure slop. Sox pitchers walked seven and hit three batters while giving up 12 hits. The batters were handed their own seven walks and went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position, but still left 12 on base.
Ah, well, the good news is that as awful as this game was, it doesn’t matter, just gives the White Sox a 15-16-1 spring record no one will remember even a few weeks from now. The bad news is, games that matter begin in Milwaukee Thursday afternoon, and nothing is pointing the momentum arrow upward.
Oh, yeah … normally we’d include some videos from the game. Turns out nobody shot any. Good decision.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 17: Spencer Arrighetti #41 of the Houston Astros throws a bullpen session during spring training workouts at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on February 17, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Houston Astros announced today that they have optioned SP Spencer Arrighetti to Triple-A Sugar Land.
This move would seem to indicate that Arrighetti will be the sixth starter for the team when they move to the expanded rotation in mid-April.
Having Arrighetti pitch in the starting rotation for the Space Cowboys will allow the Astros to keep him stretched out so that he is ready to go 90-100 pitches when he is recalled and they go to the 6-man rotation. They can also make sure he stays on schedule for when they intend to pitch him in the rotation.
Both of those would be much harder to do with him in the Astros bullpen.
The Astros begin a stretch of 13 straight games on April 10.
The final price for the most recent piece of Shohei Ohtani memorabilia didn’t just climb, it skyrocketed like a baseball leaving off the bat of the Dodgers two-way sensation.
The jersey he wore during the 2026 World Baseball Classic for Team Japan on March 6 at the Tokyo Dome—his home soil, his stage—sold for a staggering $1,500,010 via MLB auctions on Sunday night, the highest price ever paid for an Ohtani jersey.
That night against Chinese Taipei, Ohtani didn’t simply play. He detonated—launching a grand slam, driving in five runs, and turning a WBC game into something closer to a national celebration.
The jersey absorbed it all: the roar of the Tokyo fans, the flash of cameras, the weight of expectation in a country that sees him as both athlete and a god-like figure.
Collectors felt it too.
Over seven days, 298 bids poured in, each one chasing something bigger than ownership—chasing proximity to greatness.
By the time the hammer fell, the price had dwarfed his 2023 WBC jersey, which sold for just over $126,000.
Ironically, that 2023 WBC jersey was worn during the title game that saw Ohtani strike out his then-teammate Mike Trout to win the crown for Team Japan. To this day, it is still one of the most iconic moments in WBC history.
Japan’s 2026 run ended earlier than expected, bounced in the quarterfinals by eventual-champion Venezuela. The jersey becomes something else because of that—less a trophy, more a relic of brilliance in a fleeting moment early in the tournament.
His Logoman baseball card recently fetched $3 million. Another dual MVP card with Aaron Judge sold for $2.16 million. His historic 50-50 home run ball from the 2024 season sold for $4.39 million. His 2025 NLCS Game 4 Home Run: A ball from Ohtani’s historic 3-homer, 10-strikeout game in the 2025 NLCS sold for $270,000, and that was just one ball. Together, all three could have sold for over a million dollars.
Japan designated hitter Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a home run against Venezuela in the first inning during a quarterfinal game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Back in Los Angeles, the Dodgers open their season Thursday at Dodger Stadium. Ohtani will step into the batter’s box again, under brighter lights, chasing new moments and a three-peat.
Somewhere, tucked behind glass, a jersey waits—worth $1.5 million.
Still not as valuable as what will probably come next.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Tatsuya Imai #45 of the Houston Astros pitches during spring training workouts at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on February 20, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Houston Astros will play the first of two exhibition games against their Triple-A team, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys today.
RHP Tatsuya Imai will get the start tonight for the Astros in his final tune-up before the season opposite LHP Colton Gordon and the Space Cowboys.
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP Tatsuya Imai is back on the mound after last pitching in an intrasquad simulated game on March 17 at the Astros Spring Training complex in West Palm Beach, FL.
Imai has been stellar in his three official Spring Training appearances, working a combined 6.0 scoreless innings…in January, the Astros signed Imai to a three-year deal.
In 2025, he was an All Star for the Seibu Lions in the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB), where he went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA (35ER/163.2IP) in 24 games.
TONIGHT’S SPACE COWBOYS STARTER: LHP Colton Gordon, who was optioned to minor league camp on March 5, is coming off a productive rookie season with the Astros, in which he recorded a 5.34 ERA (51ER/86IP) in 20 games, including 14 starts.
Gordon entered the 2025 season as one of the Astros top pitching prospects and finished the 2025 season with the third most starts in the Astros rotation.
Among AL rookies in 2025, he ranked first in walks per nine innings (1.99) and first in strikeoutto-walk ratio (3.79).
YESTERDAY’S ROSTER MOVES: Prior to yesterday’s game, the Astros informed four players that they would not make the Astros Opening Day roster in IF/OF Cavan Biggio, RHP Peter Lambert, C Carlos Pérez and OF Taylor Trammell.
ASTROS RADIO: Tonight’s game can be heard on the radio on KTRH 740 AM with Space Cowboys broadcasters Garrett Green and Gerald Sanchez joined on air with Astros pre- and postgame analyst Brian Bogusevic. The trio will also call tomorrow night’s game before giving way to the popular duo of Robert Ford (play-by-play) and Steve Sparks (color) on Opening Day.
ON THE TUBE: Tonight’s game will not be televised, but the Astros will be back on the air tomorrow night on Space City Home Network. SCHN will also televise the Astros Opening Day matchup vs. LAA.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 26: Manager Tony Vitello #23 of the San Francisco Giants greets a fan on the field before the spring training game during the lineup card exchange against the Colorado Rockies at Scottsdale Stadium on February 26, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The 2026 Major League Baseball season begins in about 48 hours and, for reasons still unbeknownst to me, the San Francisco Giants have drawn the opening assignment. A brand new season, full of brand new baseball, kicks off on Wednesday at Oracle Park, with the Giants hosting the New York Yankees, while the rest of the baseball world tunes in, eagerly awaiting their turn on Thursday (when the Giants get the alway-annoying Day 2 off day).
You know what to do. This isn’t your first rodeo, unless it is, in which case, hello and welcome, we hope you enjoy your first date with baseball.
But in case you’ve forgotten — last Opening Day was a year ago, according to my calendar — well, here’s a refresher. Here’s 10 things you need to do before yet another season of baseball begins.
1. Stock up on beer and snacks
The older I get, the more I find myself gravitating to baseball over other sports. I only recently realized one of the main reasons: what sport has such a strong relationship with food?
You can’t go to the ballpark and not get a large, cold, overpriced beer, unless you don’t like beer, in which case you can’t go to the ballpark and not get a large, cold, overpriced margarita, unless you don’t drink, in which case you can’t go to the ballpark and not get a large, cold, overpriced lemonade. Or a water, I guess.
Most of us don’t make it to the ballpark often, for which our tailbones are appreciative. But over the years, I’ve learned that the couch experience of baseball-watching is greatly amplified by ensuring that baseball foods are exactly that: baseball foods, not ballpark foods.
And if you don’t eat baseball foods on Opening Day, when will you?
So my fridge is full of beer and hot dogs, and my pantry’s got enough sunflower seeds to ensure that my sodium levels stay delightfully in the red. Please join me.
2. Read Alex Pavlovic’s book
There’s still time to get and read Alex Pavlovic’s book, at least if you live in the Bay Area. Most bookstores within 50 miles of the ballpark should carry The Franchise: San Francisco Giants: A Curated History of the Orange and Black, and it’s a quick read. You can go get it tonight, read it tomorrow, and be ready to go on Wednesday.
Don’t let the double-colon insisted by the publisher trick you into thinking Pavs wrote anything other than a stellar book. I’ll be honest: I’m normally not a fan of this popular style of sports book, where writers are tasked with distilling a team into 20-something medium-length chapters. But Pavlovic wrote the best one I’ve read yet. While most of the books in this ilk are overly-formulaic, and read like someone curated 25 of the author’s articles from over the years, that’s emphatically not the case with this one. Pavs put in the work with countless interviews, and the result is that the book is filled with information that isn’t available elsewhere, and stories that haven’t been told.
If you haven’t read it yet, read it. You’ll have a good time, you’ll remember some great times, and you’ll learn a whole lot.
3. Check your subscriptions
Yes, it’s true: the streaming era has fully reached baseball, with countless “exclusive” options branching from the sport like snakes from Medusa’s head. Opening Day, as you’ve surely heard, is on Netflix, making it easier than ever to watch Love is Blind during commercial breaks. Saturday’s game eschews the local broadcast as well, going straight to FOX. Sometime next month, you’ll have to subscribe to Apple TV to watch the Giants play the Baltimore Orioles … while you’re there, I suggest binging Severance, unless the state of the world is bringing you down, in which case I recommend Ted Lasso.
What you shouldn’t do, is what I have a knack for doing with my accounts: waiting until 30 seconds before game time to make sure you’re logged in, and missing the first inning as you try to use your phone to send a code to your computer to let you in on your TV.
Technology, baby. Life’s never been more convenient.
You don’t just need to log in to Netflix and whatever platform you use for NBC Sports Bay Area broadcasts. Now’s also the time to check your written subscriptions, so you can digest as much Giants baseball as you’d like. I’m begrudgingly reporting that Vox Media still won’t allow me to take your money, so McCovey Chronicles will remain free to you. But we only cover so much: if you want reports from behind the scenes and the locker room, you’ll need to subscribe to Susan Slusser and Shayna Rubin at the San Francisco Chronicle, or Andrew Baggarly and Grant Brisbee (who?) at The Athletic, or Justice delos Santos at the Mercury News, or Kerry Crowley at the SF Standard.
Want to follow the Minor Leagues closely? You’ll needRoger Munter’s newsletter, which is second-to-none in Giants prospecting … or Baseball America and/or Baseball Prospectus if you want to follow prospects beyond those in Sacramento, Richmond, Eugene, San Jose, Papago, and Boca Chica. And if you want in-depth analytics and breakdowns, you’ll surely run through your monthly dose of free articles at Fangraphs.
If you’ve got a lot of money to spend and want to ingest as much Giants content as possible, you could easily spend triple digits monthly on subscriptions. Each one is well worth it, though you’ll probably want to pick and choose.
Also, if you’ve got a lot of money to spend, shoot me an email. I just want to talk. Got some questions.
4. Catch up on old friends
Sure, the Giants are your team, but we always end up watching extra baseball. And the best baseball, other than Giants baseball, is old friends baseball. Which means now is the time to see where those old friends are, so you can follow them this year.
Kyle Harrison is starting the year in the Milwaukee Brewers’ rotation. Mike Yastrzemski had a first Spring Training with the Atlanta Braves that would make Barry Bonds drool (seriously: he hit .400/.526/.900). Mason Black pitched well for the Kansas City Royals, though he’s beginning the year in AAA. Marco Luciano has been knocked down to AA for the New York Yankees. Wilmer Flores is headed to Mexico.
There are many, many others. We all have the players we’ve grown attached to over the years, even though they ultimately left. So see how they’re doing and where they are, so you can follow them.
Speaking of which…
5. Pick a second team
Having a second team is a rite of passage in baseball. If you don’t have a second team, who are you going to watch at night when the Giants play during the day? Who are you going to watch on Thursday and Sunday, when the Giants inexplicably don’t play? How can you be expected to survive on 162 games instead of 324?
My second team is the Houston Astros, because love makes you do things you previously thought were inconceivable. But if I’m recommending a second team to you, might I suggest the Seattle Mariners? They’re a fellow west coast squad, making them easier to follow. They have one of the most joyful players in baseball in Julio Rodríguez. They have a brewing intrasquad feud from the World Baseball Classic. Their best player is an MVP candidate with a nickname formed entirely due to his fat ass. They’ll likely make three or more trades with the Giants over the next 12 months.
But we all must choose our own journey, so pick the second team that makes sense to you. There are no wrong answers.
Except the Los Angeles Dodgers. That is emphatically a wrong answer.
6. Make sure your hat fits
Look, this one is very simple. You might be watching Opening Day from your couch, but you still need your gear. Hats have a way of magically changing size. Sometimes your head does a bit of Bruce Bochy wizardry and gets bigger. Sometimes you cut your hair and your size shrinks.
You can’t watch the first game without your memorabilia. Make sure your hat fits. Make sure your shirt is at the front of your closet. Make sure your lucky underwear is clean. I shouldn’t have to explain this to you.
7. Catch up on your lingo
Baseball has become a great sport for math nerds and linguistic nerds alike. There are acronyms and initialisms and phrases galore. If the future follows the recent past, you’ll hear some, like OPS (on-base plus slugging) and WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), on the broadcast. You’ll hear a lot more, like FIP (fielding independent pitching), IVB (induced vertical break), and WAR (wins above replacement), on the radio and the podcasts. You’ll get deeper still, with things like wRC+ (weighted runs created plus), xwOBA (expected weighted on base average), and TOOTBLAN (thrown out on the bases like a nincompoop) in these articles, and with the ever-present FYMM (f*** you, Max Muncy) in the comment section. You’ll venture into territory I can’t even prepare you for if you geek out at Fangraphs.
No time like the present to get caught up on your lingo. Unless you don’t want to, in which case a well timed YOU SUCK when sitting in the bleachers still works wonders.
8. Familiarize yourself with the roster
Spring Training is a joyous time, but everyone utilizes it differently. Obsessing over the minutiae of the roster isn’t for everyone. There are plenty of you reading this who don’t have a great idea as to who will be on the Opening Day roster, and that’s completely fine. We all fan differently. Again: there’s no wrong way. Except rooting for the Dodgers.
Fangraphs has a great tool called RosterResource that you can look through to get a feel for the team’s depth chart, and familiarize yourself with the names you’ll see on Wednesday … and in April, May, and June. Get to know your guys: they’re about to break your heart, after all.
9. Make some bold predictions
Now is the time for bold predictions: we’re late enough into spring that they carry meaning, but early enough that they can easily be forgotten. Which means you can go wild. Making bold predictions in late March is like buying scratch-off tickets with someone else’s credit card: you get to enjoy the spoils of victory should things break your way, with no cost for the far-more-numerous defeats.
Head to the comment section, or to social media, or call your friends, and tell them your bold predictions for the season. If you predict that Patrick Bailey hits 20 home runs, the Giants win the World Series, and Casey Schmitt reinvents himself as an All-Star closer, you’ll look like a genius if PB somehow puts 20 balls over the fence, and no one will remember anything you said if the Giants win 70 games and Schmitt continues along as an infielder.
All glory, no accountability. Have at it.
10. Go toss a baseball around
This reads like the baseball equivalent of telling you to touch grass, but I really mean it. If you’ve got a ball, a mitt, and a friend, family member, or neighbor, go toss a ball around. Stand in the sun. Smell the grass. Take some Advil when your shoulder flares up after throwing 20 heaters at 45 mph. You’re not as young as you used to be. Don’t worry; I’m not either.
Mar 23, 2026; Mesa, Arizona, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) tries to stay cool against the Chicago Cubs in the second inning at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
With the Yankees already heading out west for the opening series of the regular season against the Giants, they decided to make a little pit stop along the way. On Monday, the Yankees were in Arizona to end their spring season, stopping for a pair of games against the Cubs.
As for the opener of those two games, well, at least this one didn’t count (and wasn’t televised). Starting pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange and pretty much everyone else the Yankees threw on the mound had a less-than-stellar day, as Chicago piled on the runs. The final tally ended up being a 15-6 Yankees loss.
The game actually started on a decent note, as the Yankees scored first. In the top of the first inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-out single to score Paul Goldschmidt, who had led off the game with a walk. In the bottom of the first, Lagrange allowed two singles to the first two Cubs hitters, but then got Alex Bregman to ground into a double play. While he was on the verge of escaping, Lagrange then allowed a walk to Ian Happ and then another single to Carson Kelly to tie things up. That started a very long day for the Yankees’ pitching staff.
The Cubs really got to Lagrange a couple innings later. After Nico Hoerner led off the inning with a single, Michael Busch and Bregman hit back-to-back homers. Following another hit from Kelly, Lagrange was replaced by Will Brian. Before Brian eventually got out of the inning, he allowed a three-run shot of his own to Matt Shaw.
As it’s still essentially spring training and things are a bit looser, the Yankees did bring back Lagrange for the fourth inning, but Chicago picked up another couple runs, which ended up on his final statline.
Lagrange’s final line ended up being eight runs allowed on nine hits and two walks in 2.2 innings. He did strike out four batters, and his overall spring was impressive enough that we’ll write this off as a bad day against a good MLB lineup. There’s a reason why he’s not yet a finished product, for as tantalizing as his stuff can be at his best.
After giving up 10 unanswered runs, the Yankees finally go one back in the fifth. With Paul Goldschmidt on third after a double and an Aaron Judge single, Cody Bellinger got one in the air, allowing Goldschmidt to tag up and score.
This was just not a day for the Yankees pitchers in general. In the sixth, Cade Winquest and Yerry De los Santos combined to allow another five runs in the sixth. The Cubs didn’t even kick the extra point, they went for two and got to 15 runs on the day.
One good thing did happen before the end of the game, though. Spencer Jones hit his fifth and sixth home runs of the spring, coming off a pair of MLB relievers in Phil Maton and Jacob Webb. Jones did help lead a brief rally in the ninth, but that did come up way short.
Eventually, Kervin Castro and Osvaldo Bido came in and put in some good efforts, making the day not a complete waste on the pitching front. The good news about the pitching situation is that no one of importance right now — Lagrange is obviously somewhat important, just not to the MLB team yet — pitched in this won. The likes of Winquest and De los Santos could end up on the roster, but they’re not going to be relied on for big innings at the moment.
The Yankees will wrap up their 2026 spring slate tomorrow with another game against the Cubs in Arizona. Gerrit Cole is scheduled to get the start in that one, with first pitch coming at 3:05 pm ET.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MARCH 09: Pitcher Aaron Ashby #26 of the Milwaukee Brewers throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix on March 09, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Real baseball is so close that it’s back in our home ballpark. The big league Brewers are back in Milwaukee, set to take part in the first of two final tune-ups against the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field (the big one).
As far as newsy items today, the Brewers confirmed who will start in each of their first six games, giving us a clear picture of what the rotation will look like to begin the season. Before today, the question still remained whether Kyle Harrison, who has been dealing with a blister, or Brandon Woodruff, who is being treated cautiously after finishing last season with a lat injury, would be healthy enough to start the season with the team. Today, we got that answer: yes, Harrison and Woodruff are scheduled to start the fourth and fifth games of the season, respectively. They’ll follow Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, and Brandon Sproat, who will start the games in the White Sox series to open the year.
Also, yesterday’s announced optioning of Shane Drohan and Robert Gasser and the impending injured-list designations for Quinn Priester, Rob Zastryzny, Craig Yoho, and Akil Baddoo mean that the Brewers’ Opening Day roster is essentially finalized, barring an unexpected injury between now and Thursday afternoon. (It has happened before! Knock on the nearest wooden object.) A quick rundown, with more analysis later this week:
Catchers: William Contreras and Gary Sánchez
Infielders: Andrew Vaughn, Jake Bauers, Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, Luis Rengifo, David Hamilton
Outfielders/DH: Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio, Brandon Lockridge, Garrett Mitchell, Christian Yelich
Relievers: Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, Jared Koenig, Ángel Zerpa, DL Hall, Grant Anderson, Easton McGee
As for tonight’s game, the Brewers are fielding a strong lineup — not unexpected, given that I assume most of the minor leaguers stayed behind or traveled elsewhere — a lefty-heavy group which could be a preview of the lineup they’ll use Thursday against Chicago’s Shane Smith. (If that’s the case, it looks like we might be in for more platooning between Ortiz and Hamilton than we may have expected.)
Defensively, though, there’s one curious note that I would not expect to see on Thursday, and that’s Christian Yelich in left field and Jackson Chourio as the designated hitter.
On the mound, it looks to be a big “final tune-up” day for a bunch of the guys in the Brewers’ bullpen: Aaron Ashby is scheduled to start, but all of McGee, Hall, Anderson, Koenig, Uribe, Zerpa, and Megill are listed as scheduled to pitch after Ashby. For those keeping track at home, that’s all eight of the roster’s projected relievers.
Brady Singer will start on the mound for Cincinnati. Speaking of odd DH decisions, Ke’Bryan Hayes — one of the league’s best defensive players and worst hitters — is the designated hitter for the Reds tonight. It might be in Milwaukee, but it’s still spring training.
First pitch at 6:40 p.m. No TV tonight, unfortunately; catch the game on the radio.
The 2026 Dodgers are already setting records, even before the first official pitch of the season.
According to the ticket site TickPick, prices for the team’s Opening Day game on Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks are hitting record highs, with an average purchase price of $392 on the resale market.
The 2026 Dodgers are already setting records, even before the first official pitch of the season. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
That marks the highest price for an MLB home-opener on record, according to TickPick.
It is also the most expensive price ever for a regular-season game played at an MLB ballpark.
The only game in league history that featured a higher average ticket price was the “Field of Dreams” game in 2022 between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, but that was played before a capacity of less than 8,000 fans at the iconic Iowa cornfield used in the movie of the same name.
Tickets for this year’s home-opener, in which the Dodgers will raise a banner for their 2025 World Series championship during a pregame ceremony, are also 55% more expensive than the team’s home-opener a season ago, when they celebrated their 2024 championship.
A general view of Dodger Stadium during Game Five of the 2025 World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, October 29, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
The “get-in” price for the game is currently $196, as well, far surpassing the next most expensive home-opener for this season ($119 for when the San Francisco Giants host the New York Yankees on Wednesday).
Thursday will kick off a weekend-long celebration of the Dodgers’ 2025 title.
On Friday, there will be another pregame ceremony in which members of last year’s team are awarded their World Series rings.
The games will also feature the unveiling of the Dodgers’ new presenting field sponsor, Uniqlo. The team has a press conference scheduled for Wednesday to officially announce the partnership, which is expected to include the renaming of the stadium’s playing surface as “Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.”
The Cubs met the Yankees in an Arizona spring game for the first time in 75 years and left the visitors wishing they hadn’t bothered.
In front of a full house at Sloan Park that included many Yankees fans, the Cubs exploded with three home runs in an 18-hit attack that defeated the visitors 15-6.
The Yankees scored first, off Shōta Imanaga in the first inning, though Imanaga struck out both Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger.
The Cubs matched that in the first. Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch led off with singles, but Alex Bregman hit into a double play with Hoerner taking third. But after that, Ian Happ walked and Carson Kelly singled in Nico.
The Cubs exploded with six runs in the third. Hoerner led off with a single and Busch followed with a home run, his first of the spring. Three pitches later, Bregman homered, his third. One out later, Carson Kelly doubled and went to third on a single by Michael Conforto. Dansby Swanson struck out, but Matt Shaw followed that with a three-run homer, giving the Cubs a 7-1 lead.
Three more Cubs runs crossed the plate in the fourth. Nico singled and went to second on a ground out by Busch. Bregman doubled in Nico to make it 8-1, then Happ walked. After Kelly struck out, Conforto tripled in a pair of runs and it was 10-1.
Most of this was off a Yankees pitcher named Carlos Lagrange, and I’m sure you can find some sort of movie script that has a guy like that as the anti-hero. (Though it’s pronounced “La-GRAN-hay” and not as it’s spelled.)
Imanaga allowed one more run to the Yankees in a good five-inning outing in which he threw 81 pitches (54 strikes). He struck out five, and here’s more on his outing [VIDEO].
Best of all, Imanaga did not allow a home run in this outing. He will likely start Saturday or Sunday against the Nationals.
As for the bullpen: Daniel Palencia threw a 1-2-3 sixth in what is likely his final tune-up before Opening Day. Phil Maton allowed a solo home run to Spencer Jones in his only inning, the seventh. Hunter Harvey threw a scoreless eighth. Jacob Webb served up two homers, one to Jones, his second of the game, and wound up being replaced with two out having thrown 20 pitches. Hopefully, Webb’s results beginning Thursday will be better. Minor leaguer Zac Leigh finished things up.
The Cubs put together another crooked-number inning, scoring five in the sixth. Conforto doubled in one of those runs.
Conforto had a big day as the DH, going 3-for-4 with a single, double and triple and had four RBI. Personally, I’d put Conforto in right field on Opening Day, not Matt Shaw. But that’s just me.
And ICYMI, Seiya Suzuki will in fact miss the opener:
Seiya Suzuki (knee) will open the season on the injured list, Cubs manager Craig Counsell confirmed. The club also informed pitcher Ben Brown that he will make the Opening Day roster. Javier Assad will be optioned to Triple A and start the season in the Iowa rotation.
It’ll be interesting to see how Craig Counsell deploys Ben Brown in relief. I’ve always said I thought Brown was better suited to relief, with his somewhat limited repertoire and the ability to throw 98 miles per hour. He could do multi-inning relief, or possibly be a useful setup man.
The Cubs will wrap the spring schedule Tuesday with another game against the Yankees at Sloan Park. Don’t expect any of the Yankee regulars to play as they have likely departed for San Francisco for the MLB season opener on Wednesday. Cubs regulars, if they play, probably won’t play more than four innings or so. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Gerrit Cole will go for the Yankees, so that’ll be interesting. Game time is 2:05 p.m. CT. No TV Tuesday and the radio broadcast will be via the Yankees flagship WFAN 660.
The Yankees fell to the Chicago Cubs, 15-6, on Monday afternoon at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz.
Here are the takeaways...
-- After an impressive spring, Carlos Lagrangehad a tough Monday, allowing eight runs on nine hits across 2.2 IP. He struck out four and walked one on 66 pitches (38 strikes).
The 22-year-old let up two straight hits in the bottom of the first inning and nearly got out of the jam thanks to a double play. However, he surrendered a two-out knock to Carson Kelly that tied the game up at 1-1. Lagrange bounced back and struck out the side in the second inning, but couldn't maintain the momentum in the third.
The righty let up back-to-back home runs -- a two-run homer to Michael Busch and a solo shot to Alex Bregman that put Chicago up 4-1. He struck out Ian Happ following a mound visit, but then allowed a double to Kelly. The results didn't change when he came back out to pitch the fourth inning, allowing a single, an RBI-double, and a walk before getting pulled again.
-- Will Brian came in for relief in the third inning and things didn't get better for the Yanks. Brian let up a single to Michael Conforto, and after a strikeout, gave up a three-run blast to Matt Shaw that made it a 7-1 game. Cade Winquest later entered for Lagrange in the fourth, allowing a two-run triple to Conforto before getting a flyout to end the frame.
-- New York took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Shota Imanaga thanks to some two-out hitting as Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisholm Jr. had back-to-back singles, with Chisholm driving in Paul Goldschmidt from second base. The Yanks had another scoring chance in the third inning after Goldschmidt was hit by a pitch and Aaron Judge singled, but the 3-5 hitters went down in order.
-- Goldschmidt and Judge continued to provide the offense, as the first baseman doubled and the reigning AL MVP singled in the top of the fifth inning. Cody Bellinger drove in Goldschmidt on a sac-fly to make it a 10-2 game.
-- Yerry De los Santos allowed three runs on five hits in the sixth inning as the Cubs scored five runs overall in the frame to push the lead to 15-2.
-- Spencer Jones hit a solo home run off veteran Phil Maton in the top of the seventh inning. The slugging prospect blasted another HR in the ninth, this time a two-run shot to give him six home runs this spring. Max Schuemann joined in on the fun and went back-to-back with Jones, hitting a solo homer to cut the Cubs' lead to 15-6.
What's next
The Yankees will stay in Mesa, Ariz. for their final spring training game against the Chicago Cubs at 3:05 p.m. on Tuesday.
After that, Max Fried will take on Logan Webb and the San Francisco Giants to open the 2026 regular season on Wednesday at 8:05 p.m.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 28: Brady Singer #51 of the Cincinnati Reds throws a pitch in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on September 28, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Cincinnati Reds got bogus news early in spring camp when Hunter Greene needed elbow surgery to remove bone spurs, setting back their ace until the All Star break in July. Aside from that doozy, though, things had mostly been OK on the injury front (aside from Caleb Ferguson’s oblique issue).
As the heat ramped up down in the desert, though, a plague of blisters descended upon Goodyear. Yesterday we found out Nick Lodolo had one (that was bad enough to need popping), and that came on the heels of Brady Singer dealing with one, too – not the kind of news you want on the eve of Opening Day when things had already been seemingly set with the pitching staff.
As things stand, though, it appears Singer dodged any blistering that was bad enough to set him back, and he’ll get the ball tonight in Milwaukee as the Reds face off against the Brewers in a pre-season exhibition game at American Family Field.
(It’s Miller Park. It’ll always be Miller Park.)
Cincinnati has effectively set their Opening Day roster, so there aren’t really any position battles still ongoing in camp. That said, there are still a handful of non-roster players who made the trip with the big league club, as each of Michael Chavis, Garrett Hampson, Hector Rodriguez, Tejay Antone, and Michael Toglia are available off the bench tonight.
Doug Gray of Redleg Nation once again was kind enough to relay the travel roster on Bluesky, which features a conscious decision by manager Terry Francona to let Ke’Bryan Hayes DH for the night from the #2 spot in the lineup.
If you’d like a reminder of how old you are, I’ll point out that lefty Aaron Ashby is on the mound for the Brewers tonight, and the Reds have put together a lineup featuring TJ Friedl (in LF) and an entire fleet of right-handed hitters behind him to counter. Ashby, of course, is the nephew of longtime big league righty Andy Ashby, who last pitched two years after Joey Votto’s professional career begin in the Reds system.
Sal Stewart will start at 2B, Dane Myers gets CF for the night, and Eugenio Suarez will man the hot corner with a glove for a turn.
First pitch is slated for 7:40 PM ET, and to answer your question…no, you cannot watch it on television. 700 WLW will have the radio feed, however.
TEMPE, ARIZONA - MARCH 05, 2026: Luis Morales #19 of the Athletics throws a pitch during the first inning of a spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium on March 05, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
You just don’t want to read too much into spring training results. The ball flies in the desert air, pitchers are building up arm strength and sometimes even working on secondary pitches they haven’t mastered, the adrenaline isn’t pumping like it will be on Friday.
Then again, when a pitcher comes to camp showing the exact weaknesses that have plagued him prior, it can be informative. Such was the fate of the talented-but-wild Jack Perkins who came into camp with the question of “Will he be put into the rotation or maybe slotted in as the closer?” The answer, as it turns out, is “No.” Perkins has been optioned to AAA to continue working on throwing more strikes.
Still standing, and presumed to be in the A’s rotation when camp breaks, is another highly talented, but also raw, RHP in Luis Morales. Now 23, Morales got a taste of the big leagues in 2025 and generally acquitted himself well putting up a solid 3.14 ERA albeit it with less gushing underlying metrics (4.42 xERA, 4.54 xFIP).
Morales has a plus fastball and a wicked slider, but not always the ability to throw them where he wants to. This leads both to high walk totals and also centered pitches that can get whacked around. The hope, of course, is that with experience Morales can throw more and more quality strikes and harness the terrific arm he brings to the mound.
So far so bad.
Morales got knocked around again today, mostly thanks to a bases clearing double that followed 3 walks to load the bases. His final line today? 2.1 IP, 1 hit, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. To get just 8 outs, Morales threw 61 pitches of which only 34 were strikes.
This only continues a trend from throughout the Cactus League. Here’s where Morales’ numbers stand at the end of spring training:
2-2, 7.58 ERA, 19 IP, 21 hits, 16 ER (3 HR), 14 BB, 17 K. For those of you scoring at home that BB/9 IP rate is 6.63.
Here’s where if the A’s had “too many starting pitchers” (a baseball oxymoron) they would probably send Morales to join Perkins at AAA to start the season. But with the only alternatives being JT Ginn, who faded terribly the second half of spring training, and Luis Medina, who has returned from Tommy John surgery electric and wild as ever (7.1 IP, 9 BB), it appears that Morales’ spot is safe and that he will most likely face the Toronto Blue Jays or Atlanta Braves on the first road trip.
Watching Kade Morris carve up the #1 farm system yesterday, he looked far more ready to toss 6 quality big league innings than Morales currently does. Morris threw just 56 pitches in his 4 innings, 37 for strikes (that’s 2/3).
Without question Morales has big time talent and stuff — there’s no question you would want him in your organization over any of the alternatives that could make starts in April. But whether that means he’s going to be at all effective in the big leagues now? You wonder.
Hopefully the natural talent wins out, but far more electric arms have been taken to the cleaners because they couldn’t find the strike zone or couldn’t stay out of the middle of it. Count me as one fan who will watching anxiously as he (presumably) toes the rubber in Atlanta. He doesn’t look ready to me — but ready or not here he comes.
Feb 27, 2026; Jupiter, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter JJ Wetherholt (77) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the New York Mets during the fourth inning at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
This is not something that I would categorize as a surprise, but at least we have confirmation of what the St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day roster will look like in its final form. MLB Trade Rumors has confirmed that JJ Wetherholt, José Fermín, Thomas Saggese and Nathan Church will all head to St. Louis with the Cardinals while Nelson Velázquez will be sent to Triple A Memphis.
This is the video that the St. Louis Cardinals just dropped on social media as a tease of the JJ Wetherholt promotion.
Going into the 2026 campaign, the San Diego Padres are seeking to stabilize their starting rotation. Joe Musgrove and Griffin Canning will open the season on the injured list, while Yu Darvish’s elbow surgery will cause him to miss the entire 2026 campaign.
In the meantime, the Padres will start Nick Pivetta on Opening Day and patiently wait for Michael King to return to form. If so, he will become the staff’s No. 1 starter. A young pitcher has the opportunity to prove his place in the rotation until Musgrove is ready to come back.
Vasquez could save Padres from starting pitching woes
Randy Vasquez has positioned himself to exceed everyone’s 2026 expectations with an outstanding Spring Training. It was enough to impress Friars first-year manager Craig Stammen to move Vasquez up in the rotation order. And if he continues to dominate opposing lineups, it will be tough to take the young right-hander out of the third starter’s role.
Vasquez has shown several flashes of success during his time in San Diego. Coming off a 3.84 ERA last season, he came into camp throwing with newfound velocity. His four-seam fastball gained nearly three miles per hour after throwing it at 93.5 MPH in 2025.
Often, Vasquez was hitting 96 MPH, as he posted 8.2 innings of shutout baseball in early Cactus League contests. The third-year pitcher allowed only two hits and struck out eight batters. His strikeout rate was above 30%, as the hitter’s chase rate was nearly 40% in Arizona. It was higher than his career rate.
Spring Training does not answer all the questions
However, Vasquez did struggle in the later stages of Spring Training. Granted, pitchers are refining and simplifying their pitching repertoire. Vasquez was working to improve the effectiveness of his sweeper and curveball, the latter of which ranked in the 98th percentile for spin rate last season.
However, it might be time for Vasquez to phase out the cutter, as the pitch was continually getting pounded by hitters. You cannot ignore that his ERA rose to 4.86 at the tail end of the spring schedule.
Nevertheless, Vasquez was a standout performer, as he had an impressive 1.04 WHIP and a 15-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 18.1 innings pitched.
To have a breakout season, Vasquez must continue to pitch with the confidence he found in Peoria, Ariz. It is time to translate potential into wins this season.
