BRADENTON, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 23: Paul Blackburn #58 of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch in the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates during a Grapefruit League spring training game at LECOM Park on February 23, 2026 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Yankees are back at their home-away-from-home field, and they’ll stay on TV as well for the second straight day following their George Lombard Jr.-led victory over the Red Sox yesterday. The Twins are rolling into Tampa today, and they’ll be facing one of the depth arms on the pitching staff in Paul Blackburn.
Blackburn was picked up late last year after getting released by the Mets, and wound up appearing in eight games in the regular season as well as mop up duty in Game 1 of last year’s ALDS matchup with the Blue Jays. He re-signed with the team over the offseason on a one-year, $2 million deal, meaning he’s one of the arms holding down a 26-man roster spot and has a leg up on making it to the Opening Day roster. So far this spring he’s pitched in two games (one start), tossing six innings of no-run ball. giving up seven hits and a walk against just three strikeouts in the process. He went four innings his last time out against Toronto, and he’ll look to build up his résumé as a potential inning-filler towards the bottom of the bullpen.
Opposite Blackburn will be Taj Bradley, a familiar face from the last three seasons playing within the Yankees’ division as a Ray. Traded at the deadline for Griffin Jax, Bradley had a rough second half, starting just six games and pitching to a 6.61 ERA in that span. Bradley was slated to pitch for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, but decided to pull out of the event last week and focus on his involvement with his new-ish team during spring instead as he looks to lock down one of Minnesota’s rotation spots. Thus far in spring, Bradley has started twice and pitched five innings, allowing six runs on 11 hits with nine strikeouts against just one walk.
The top of the Yankees’ lineup today is a familiar bunch, with the three primary non-Aaron Judge outfielders from 2025 taking the stage. From left to right, it’s Jasson Domínguez, Trent Grisham, and Cody Bellinger with the Martian batting second between Grisham and Bellinger. Giancarlo Stanton cleans up at DH and Ryan McMahon makes his second start of the spring at shortstop to see if he can be a viable backup to José Caballero with Anthony Volpe out. J.C. Escarra catches, while Max Schuemann, Seth Brown, and Zack Short fill out the order.
How to watch
Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field — Tampa, FL
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, left, talks to Chris Taylor with Andrew Toles, center, listening before a game in 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
The story of the Dodgers and Andrew Toles is one of a franchise trying to do the right thing by one of its former players struggling with mental health challenges.
Toles, a promising outfielder who played parts of three seasons with the team from 2016 to 2018, did not report to spring training in 2019 and was quietly placed on the restricted list before it was eventually revealed that Toles had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Every year since 2019, the team has quietly renewed Toles' contract so he can retain his health insurance while placing him on the restricted list so he would not take a roster spot.
The Dodgers, however, revealed this week that proceeding in this manner with Toles was no longer possible and the team is working with his family to figure out "how to best move forward."
"We’ve been in contact with the Toles family and have worked together on how to best move forward," the Dodgers said in a statement to The Times. "Continuing with the previous setup was no longer possible due to eligibility. The Toles family has asked that Andrew’s privacy be respected. Out of respect to the Toles family, we will not comment any further."
Toles, who turns 34 in May, was picked up by the Dodgers late in the 2015 season after he was released by the Tampa Bay Rays. Playing all three outfield positions, Toles batted .314 in 48 games during the 2016 season. But it was during the playoffs that he emerged, batting .364 while appearing in all 11 of the team's postseason games — including a .462 batting average and 1.082 OPS in the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.
In 2017, Toles made the opening-day roster and was the Dodgers' primary leadoff hitter. But an ACL tear in early May ended his season after 31 games, and he appeared in 17 games with the Dodgers during the 2018 season.
By 2020, Toles was found sleeping behind a building at Key West International Airport in Florida. He was homeless and taken to a mental health facility.
At last report, Toles was in the care of his father, Alvin, who said Andrew is in a “zombie-like” condition. ”We are having challenges,” Alvin told USA Today in 2021, “but nothing that God and I can’t handle. Schizophrenia, it’s just so tough. I mean, he can’t even watch TV. He hears voices and the TV at the same time, so it’s kind of confusing. I’ve seen him looking at some baseball games on his laptop, but I don’t think he really understands what’s going on. I just want him to have a chance in life. That’s all. Just to be healthy, live a normal life.”
MLB's restricted list is used to place a player who is unavailable due to non-baseball reasons, such as personal issues. It has also been used when a player retires at a young age without getting an unconditional release, but then returns to playing. Right-hander Salomon Torres spent several years on the restricted list after playing 1993-97 for three teams before returning to the majors in 2002 at age 29 to pitch for seven more seasons with two teams. (He spent a year pitching in South Korea in 2001 before his MLB return.)
FORT MYERS, FL - MARCH 03: Minnesota Twins second baseman Luke Keaschall (15) dives for a ground ball during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 3, 2026, at Lee Health Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
First Pitch (CT):12:05 TV: Twins.TV (via YES) Radio: NA Know Yo’ Foe: Pinstripe Alley
What to watch: Luke Keaschall, left fielder?? Good to get some reps out there since he’ll likely be used to platoon Larnach/Wallner/Roden/Outman/Rodriguez against lefties.
TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 05: Travis Bazzana #64 of Team Australia reacts after hits a solo home run in the seventh inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between Chinese Taipei and Australia at Tokyo Dome on March 05, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Gene Wang - Capture At Media/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Last night or early this morning, depending on where you live, the World Baseball Classic got underway at the Tokyo Dome with pool C play.
There are five teams in Pool C and they will play a round-robin tournament with the top two teams advancing to the quarterfinals in Miami and Houston. Team Japan is the overwhelming favorite to win the group, but the second ticket stateside is really up for grabs.
In the first game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Australia got home runs from catcher Robbie Perkins and second baseman Travis Bazzana while three pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout.
Alex Wells, who pitched 46.1 innings for the Orioles in 2021 and 2022, started the game for Australia and dominated Chinese Taipei for three innings. He allowed no hits walked just one and struck out six.
Perkins, who played in the Rockies system from 2014 to 2018, opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the fifth inning off of current Pirates farmhand Po-Yu Chen. Australia got their other run on a solo home run in the seventh inning by Guardians top prospect Bazzana, who was the first pick of the 2024 MLB Draft. That home run came off of Yi Chang, who pitched in NPB from 2018 to 2023.
Meanwhile, Australian pitchers Jack O’Loughlin and Jon Kennedy each threw three innings of scoreless baseball to complete the shutout. O’Loughlin, who got a cup of coffee with Oakland in 2024 and pitches in the Rockies system now, allowed two singles. He struck out two and walked one.
Kennedy pitched in the Braves system from 2016 to 2019. He almost let Chinese Taipei back into the game as two batters reaches with one out on an error and a single. But with the tying run at the plate, Kennedy completed the save with a long fly out and a grounder back to the mound.
Kennedy walked one and struck out one.
Chinese Taipei managed just three singles. Yu Chang, who played 235 games in the majors between 2019 and 2023 and was expected to be the main offensive threat for CT, went just 1 for 4.
LG Twins first baseman Bo Gyeong Moon hit a grand slam in the first inning and Korea never looked back as they downed the mostly amateur Czechia team thanks to four home runs, 11-4.
Daniel Padyšák, who played college ball in the US and minor league baseball in Japan in 2025, got the start for Czechia but didn’t fool anyone, getting hit hard. He loaded the bases with two walks and a single to Giants outfielder Jung Ho Lee before Moon connected for the grand slam. Padyšák only retired one batter before exiting and that was on a hard-hit line drive to left.
Korea added another run in the second inning on a groundout by Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones. Astros third baseman Shay Whitcomb made it 6-0 Korea with a solo home run in the third.
Czechia didn’t go down without a fight as shortstop Terrin Vavra, the one player on the team with major league experience with the Orioles from 2022 to 2025, hit a three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to cut the Korean lead in half at 6-3. But in the bottom of the fifth, Whitcomb hit his second home run of the game with a man on to put Korea up 8-3.
Jones hit Korea’s fourth home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Czechia managed to score a consolation run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Jan Pospisil, who is currently playing at the junior college level in the US.
Today:
Czechia has a quick turnaround as they face off against Australia today at 9 pm Central time in Tokyo. Then at 4 am Central, the host Samurai Japan open up their quest for a fourth WBC title with a match against Chinese Taipei.
TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 26: Nacho Alvarez Jr. #24 of the Atlanta Braves hits a two-RBI double in the third inning against the New York Yankees during a Grapefruit League spring training game at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 26, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After taking a win in yesterday’s exhibition game against Colombia (9-1), with the excitement of the World Baseball Classic now in full swing, Braves fans are still hoping to see signs of increasing promise throughout the remainder of Spring Training. This, after the news of Jurickson Profar’s second suspension, would be a highlight as everyone is watching to see what potential moves the team will make to add another power bat to their roster.
But first…Today’s Spring Training
Mauricio Dubón will be batting leadoff, and once again, Chris Sale will be returning to the mound to face off against the Blue Jays.
The matchup starts at 1:05 p.m. EST and will also be on MLB.TV’s free game of the day, alongside streaming on Gray TV.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 14: Robert Gasser #54 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches during the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game two of the National League Championship Series at American Family Field on October 14, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
MLB’s best team from a year ago gets set to take on MLB’s worst team from a year ago as the Brewers and Colorado Rockies square off in today’s Cactus League action.
Lefty Robert Gasser gets the start today for the Brewers. This will be his second Cactus League outing this year. In his first, Gasser had a crisp one inning with one strikeout on 11 pitches. We’re seeing the starting pitchers getting stretched out to three innings this week so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Gasser throw that many today. Following Gasser will be Coleman Crow, Craig Yoho, Jacob Waguespack, and Sammy Peralta. Yoho was slated to go yesterday, but Sproat, Henderson, and Drohan each went three innings and he wasn’t needed. On the mound for the Rockies is righty Michael Lorenzen.
The Brewers lineup will have a lot of starters at the top. Garrett Mitchell will lead off followed by Sal Frelick, Jake Bauers, Blake Perkins, and Luis Rengifo. Then a couple of prospects in Brock Wilken at first base, Jeferson Quero behind the plate, and Cooper Pratt at shortstop. Non-roster invite Eddys Leonard rounds out the lineup at second base.
First pitch will be at 2:10 PM CT and can be heard only on a webcast on Brewers.com.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home hosting the St. Louis Cardinals this afternoon at beautiful LECOM Park.
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Kansas City Royals second baseman (L) Carlos Febles is forced back to first base on a throw to Tampa Bay Devil Rays' first baseman Steve Cox (R) from Devil Rays' pitcher Wilson Alvarez during the third inning of their spring training game 09 March 2000 at Baseball City Stadium in Baseball City, FL. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Tony RANZE (Photo by TONY RANZE / AFP) (Photo by TONY RANZE/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Growing up, the first player to actually become my favorite player was Steve Cox. I remember seeing him react like a cat at first base and making ridiculous looking plays; naturally I considered him the best player on the team.
Actually looking back, he was just replacement level but darnit I think he was great. Overall he hit .262/.340/.417 with 39 HR, registering a 99 wRC+ and accruing 1.1 fWAR over 1399 plate appearances.
Anyways
First pitch against the Baltimore Orioles is at 1:05 at Charlotte Sports Park and the Rays will be proving radio coverage.
ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 23: Jeter Ybarra #26 of the Michigan Wolverines bats against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the 2025 Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field on February 23, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Gunnar Word/Texas Rangers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Michigan Wolverines baseball team continued their strong start to the season last weekend with a series win at San Diego. Taking 2-of-3 brought the Wolverines’ record to 6-4 overall on the young season, with three wins coming against ranked teams.
Michigan stayed put in California, having played at Cal State Northridge on Tuesday. The Wolverines will also face Pepperdine in a three-game series this weekend. Let’s take a look at what happened against the Matadors, and then preview the upcoming series at Pepperdine.
Michigan vs. Cal State Northridge recap
The Wolverines and Matadors needed extra innings to decide the outcome of the game, and it was Cal State Northridge coming out on top, 9-8, in 12 innings on Tuesday.
After the Matadors scored a run in the second to get things started, Michigan exploded for six runs in the top of the third inning thanks to a Jack Laffitte RBI single, a Colby Turner RBI double, a Brenden Stressler two-run single and then a Cade Ladehoff home run. All of a sudden, the Wolverines were up 6-1.
Turner hit another RBI double to plate two more to Michigan up, 8-1, but Cal State Northridge answered with a run in the fifth, five runs in the sixth and another run in the eighth to tie the game up at 8-8. The Matadors hit the game-winning single in the 12th to seal the deal.
Michigan vs. Pepperdine preview
The big matchup of the week will be this weekend against the Pepperdine Waves. The Waves have struggled mightily so far to start the year, getting out to a 2-9 start. They were swept by USC to begin the season, and then beat Fresno State once before losing the next two to the Bulldogs. Pepperdine’s most recent series was against Yale, and the Bulldogs took 2-of-3.
Like Michigan, Pepperdine also had a Tuesday game this week. The Waves went on the road to take on Cal Poly and got obliterated, 12-2.
It’s not a big surprise to see Pepperdine get off to a rough start, as its 2025 season was a struggle. The Waves finished with an ugly 12-42 record last season. They failed to qualify for the WCC Tournament.
Most of these California schools are solid given the year-round warmth, but Pepperdine is one that is struggling right now.
Players to watch
Pepperdine has struggled offensively this season, and there are no players on the team hitting above .300. First baseman James Dell’Amico has been the most consistent, as he is hitting .281 after 32 at-bats. However, power isn’t a big strength of his, as he has zero extra-base hits and only two RBIs. Infielder Joshua Woodworth is hitting .294, but he only has 17 plate appearances on the year.
On the mound, Michigan will likely see Casey Euper, Collin Valentine and Tommy Scavone starting for the Waves. Euper has been sensational so far this year, as he currently has a 0.87 ERA through 10.1 innings. He has given up just five hits and one earned run with four strikeouts and three walks.
Valentine has also been terrific this year. He currently has a 2.35 ERA with 15.1 innings pitched. He has allowed 14 hits and four earned runs with six strikeouts and five walks. Lastly, Scavone has given up eight earned runs in 15 innings pitched for a 4.80 ERA. He has been a strikeout machine, however, ringing up 16 batters so far while only walking six. He has given up 10 hits.
Despite the offensive struggles, Pepperdine has a solid pitching rotation that will present a challenge for Michigan. However, the Waves have issues out of the bullpen, so if the Wolverines are able to get to the starters early in the game, that would go a long way in winning at least a couple games in this series. It would be pretty disappointing if Michigan doesn’t win at least two.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 26: Brent Rooker #25 and Shea Langeliers #23 of the Athletics hug after Langeliers's walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 at Sutter Health Park on September 26, 2025 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Justine Willard/Athletics/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It feels like the Athletics are on the precipice of something great. For all the difficulties the organization has had with its ugly breakup with the city of Oakland and the will-they-won’t-they future in Las Vegas, the actual on-field baseball product looks very promising. There’s a very strong core already established on the position player side of things and the team has done very well to lock up a lot of those young stars to long-term contract extensions.
The pitching staff is definitely a few steps behind the position player core which is a big reason why they’re not projected to be in the AL Wild Card mix this year. Their temporary home in West Sacramento played a very significant role in boosting offense to the detriment of the home team’s pitchers in 2025 and it’ll continue to be a factor as long as they’re stuck in limbo there. The result is a pretty lopsided roster — it’s very possible the A’s will outslug all of their opponents, but they’ll be fighting an uphill battle with a pitching staff that’s allergic to preventing runs.
Position
Athletics Projected WAR
Mariners Projected WAR
Edge
Catcher
3.1
6.1
Mariners
First Base
3.6
2.9
Athletics
Second Base
3.0
2.7
Athletics
Shortstop
3.7
2.8
Athletics
Third Base
2.0
3.0
Mariners
Left Field
2.4
2.2
Athletics
Center Field
2.6
6.0
Mariners
Right Field
2.3
2.0
Athletics
Designated Hitter
3.0
1.6
Athletics
Starting Pitching
10.2
14.2
Mariners
Relief Pitching
1.4
3.4
Mariners
Total
25.7
46.8
Mariners
FanGraphs Depth Charts Projections
The contours of how the Athletics and Mariners lineup against each other are actually pretty interesting. The A’s hold the projected advantage at six of the nine field positions but the M’s are projected to earn 3.6 fWAR more in total from their position players. Such is the advantage of Seattle’s superstars at catcher and center field. And as you can see from each position’s projected fWAR, the Athletics don’t have that caliber of superstar at any position like the Mariners do — each position has an above average projection but no elite contributor. The pitching is the problem. It’s a long shot but if they manage to develop one of their back-end starters into a mid-rotation arm, it would go a long way towards pulling their pitching staff out of the depths of misery.
Just like their stadium situation, the A’s big league roster is in a state of limbo, not yet fully realized but making steady progress towards something tangible. If enough things break their way this year, they could sneak into the AL Wild Card picture, but they’re more likely to play the role of very dangerous spoiler for their rivals in the division. —JM
2026 FanGraphs Depth Charts projections: 78.7-83.3, 4th in AL West, 25.3% playoff odds
2026 PECOTA projections: 76.9-85.1, 4th in AL West, 10.8% playoff odds
If It All Goes Right
Youth hasn’t got anything to do with chronological age. It’s times of hope and happiness. – Wallace Stegner, Crossing to Safety
Warner L. Thomas is (finally) alone in the elevator and all he can do is laugh.
At the silly West Sacramento peasants scuttling all over this place.
At the gaudy green and yellow pin affixed to the lapel of his light gray custom suit.
At the way the universe really does continue to cast him in an ever-radiant beam of sunlight.
Seven years ago, his predecessor signed a contract locking in 15 years of naming rights for this dinky little ballpark. The amount wasn’t made public and, frankly, Warner can’t be bothered to learn or care, but it was certainly less than a decade of his salary. Warner can’t be bothered with much of this pomp and circumstance, to be honest. When this place became Sutter Health Park, home of the Lake Rats or whatever the hell they were called, he was down in Louisiana, far too busy orchestrating a steady monopoly on healthcare in the state to think about a b-side city in California, let alone baseball.
But a year after he was hired as President and CEO, a baseball team – one of the real ones, not like the Lake Rats – announced they would be playing their games for the next three years at Sutter Health Park. It was an embarrassment of marketing and PR riches simply thrown into their laps. They’d paid for naming rights to a ballpark for babies, and now they were namechecked constantly on a national level.
Most audacious of all? The team had been good this year. Good enough that an October wind had caused goosebumps to break out uncomfortably across the top of his exposed head as he’d loitered importantly on the field before the game. Everyone around him there had looked young and vibrant, evidence of their vitality clearly displayed beneath garish yellow and green. Warren felt small alongside these men, which he did not like, and confused, which he liked even less. Why was someone talking about churning 50 tubs of butter? How are they yelling for someone named Rook, while also jabbering to a child, who looks nothing like the aforementioned Rook, about an AL Rookie Race? None of that matters to Warner, though. He has done what is required of him, and soon (he hopes; the sounds the elevator makes do not give him confidence) he will be sipping something dark and expensive in the indoor portion of a suite. He’ll be able to see the sell out crowd, the teeming masses of yellow, and green, and teal, but he won’t have to actually be near them. Just as he likes it.
What a time of hope and happiness, indeed. —IM
If It All Goes Wrong
Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend. – Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose
To know a home is to leave it, a thing that can only be understood in its absence. Two years in, it starts to weigh on them. In visible ways: the running list in the group chat of visitor clubhouses, always cramped and small and smelly, that are nicer than their so-called home clubhouse. In less visible ways, too, ways that crawl under their skin and stay there: ATH the only line in the box score, a jarring contrast against the other teams known by their city names. What is a place without a name? What is a team?
It’s hard not to feel a twinge of jealousy, visiting other ballparks packed to the brim with hometown fans. They’d played angry that first year, putting an exclamation point on the fact that it might be a minor-league park but they were still major-league players. In the second year of this, with no promise of it ending soon, they’re still angry, still defiant, but also so tired. Tired of the subpar facilities, tired of the snide remarks, tired of living minor-league lives in West Sacramento. They’ve all worked hard, proven themselves, just as much as any other player in the league; they all know they deserve better. At the same time, they all know that doesn’t change anything, that the decision is made above their heads. They all tell themselves they’re fine with it, because what choice do they have?
Rooker, Butler, and Soderstrom started them off, signing extensions that promised a future, to themselves, to A’s fans everywhere, and to their teammates. Next off-season, Wilson and Kurtz follow. This is a core. This is a future. Everything else might be shifting sands around them but this foundation is ironclad.
The cracks appear in mid-May, during a brutal stretch, 19 games in 20 days. They don’t have to leave California, technically, but it feels like they’ve traveled all over. It starts with two interleague series, always weird, and they manage to sweep the Cardinals but then get demolished by the Giants in a sweep, their orange-and-black fans swarming all over Sutter Health Park. Then a four-game set at Anaheim, objectively a worse team than them, but they struggle towards a split, the big red A looming above like it’s taunting them. From there they go to San Diego, the ballpark jammed full for a weekend series, fans crowded into every available space soaking up the late spring sunshine, and this is what it should be like. They scrape out one win in the series and they’re lucky for that, a ninth-inning two-run go-ahead blast by Kurtz that feels like they could get back on track, at least until they’re steamrolled in Sunday’s finale. A sell-out crowd in San Diego watches the Padres dismantle the A’s pitching staff. They have to bring out a position player to pitch the bottom of the eighth. The San Diego fans are insufferable. The mood on the flight home is poisonous.
They go back home, but it doesn’t feel like it. Mariners fans descend on the ballpark for their first series of the year, teal just as prominent as kelly green in the stands. It’s like they’re back in Mesa at Hohokam. They lose the series, slip further back in the AL West. Then the Yankees come to town, with their media circus and their massive staff and their legions of fans who line the ballpark in stark black and white, chanting MVP every time Judge steps on the field. Soderstrom gets into it with a Judge fan in left field and gets fined. Then in the series finale, Wilson, facing a flamethrowing Yankees reliever with terrible command, takes an inside pitch off his wrist and they can all hear the sick crack of the bone breaking. McNeil, who’s standing in the on-deck circle, charges the mound and they’re brawling, an empty-the-bullpens, highlights-on-ESPN kind of brawl. They get swept.
Sometimes moments like these are turning points, bringing the team together to battle through adversity. That’s not what happens here. Everything has become too much. They have exceeded the angle of repose, the highest things can be piled up before they start to slip apart. When you don’t have a home base, everything is on shifting ground.
They finish fourth in the AL West. The timeline is adjusted on the ballpark, adjusted again. A lockout looms. A cold comfort: they don’t have anywhere to be locked out from. —KP
Mar 4, 2026; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner (7) singles during the fifth inning against Team Canada at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Mar 9, 2024; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Tiedemann (70) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second inning at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Ricky Tiedemann is a 23-year-old, left-handed pitcher. The Jays picked him in the third round of the 2021 draft. He was added to the 40-man roster on November 18th, 2025. He’ll be using his first option year this year.
As you know, he had Tommy John surgery in August of 2024, missing all of the 2025 season. And, just to add to our worries, he’s been on the shelf this spring, since February 24, because of elbow soreness. The team said that an MRI came back clean. They also said that he could be shut down for but I haven’t seen anything suggesting he is throwing again.
I’m ok with them taking things slowly. It isn’t all that unusual for some soreness when coming back from Tommy John.
Until the Tommy John, he was progressing very nicely. In 2024 he was #1 on our prospect list. Tom M wrote:
2023 was derailed by injuries, including shoulder soreness that delayed his debut by a couple of weeks and a bicep strain that knocked him out from early May through late July. In the 44 innings he managed, mostly at AA, he was as comically dominant as ever, posting a 44% strikeout rate and a 1.68 FIP. He got 18 more innings of work in the Arizona Fall League. Tiedemann has the prototype power pitcher’s frame at 6’4” and a broad shouldered 220lbs. He throws from the far first base side of the rubber with a slingy delivery and low, wide arm slot that makes the ball feel like it’s coming straight at righties and from behind lefties’ ears. That release point complements the big horizontal movement on all three of his pitches. The fastball sits 94-96 and touches 98 without much vertical rise but with huge arm side run. His best secondary has been a changeup with depth and run, although it backed up a bit in 2023. His slider is a big sweeper, again with huge horizontal break (so much that hitters are sometimes able to lay off it because it looks like a ball inside before breaking all the way across the zone and being called a ball outside), which he has great feel to land in the zone for strikes. It’s three pitches that can all be plus, although he hasn’t regularly had all three sharp at the same time yet. Tiedemann’s command never quite locked in in 2023 with all the disruptions, but in spite of a somewhat unorthodox delivery it could wind up being average or a little above with time.
Unfortunately, the ‘derailed by injuries’ has been a continuing thing.
When he has pitched, he’s been terrific. In 41 minor league starts, 140 innings, he has 226 strikeouts and 68 walks.
He is only 23. There is lots of time for him to right the ship. There has been several pitchers who had injuries troubles when they were young and still went on to have a great career (I can almost hear people saying back that there have been lot of pitchers who had injury troubles when they were young and never got their careers back on track. Both are true).
If his arm can’t stand up to the stress of being a start, a left-handed reliever who can throw 98 mph isn’t a bad thing to have on your pitching staff.
MLB Pipeline still lists him as our number 5 prospect. They say:
Prior to the injury, Tiedemann had come into camp at 245 pounds and was bulked up closer to 255 by mid-season, but now he’s about 15 pounds above his listed weight of 220, a much more natural and athletic size for a pitcher. This has helped him become more fluid on the mound again. While 32 starts and 200 innings may never be in the cards for Tiedemann, that’s just fine. He’ll build up in a bulk role this season when he’s ready to roll, and while all of this comes with a “but” related to his health, he still has as much raw talent as any player in the Blue Jays’ system.
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 (2-6-3) travel to Jupiter, FL to take on the Miami Marlins (4-6).
RHP Tatsuya Imai is set to make his second start of the Spring and will be opposed by 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner RHP Sandy Alcantara.
ABOUT IMAI: In January, the Astros signed free agent RHP Tatsuya Imai to a three-year deal.
In his Spring debut on Feb. 26 vs. NYM, he tossed a scoreless 1.0 inning (10 pitches). Imai, 27, has been one of the top starting pitchers in Japan in recent years. 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.
Among qualified pitchers, Imai posted the lowest WHIP (0.89) in the Pacific League, while ranking second with 178 strikeouts in his 163.2 innings pitched. Imai has been an NPB All-Star three times in his career (2021, 2024, 2025) that has spanned parts of eight seasons (2018-25). He went 58-45 overall with a 3.15 ERA (337ER/963.2IP) in 159 games in the NPB.
TODAY’S POTENTIAL RELIEVERS: RHP Spencer Arrighetti, LHP Tom Cosgrove, RHP Anthony Maldonado, LHP Steven Okert, RHP Logan VanWey, RHP Amos Willingham and RHP Sam Carlson.
VS. THE MARLINS: Today will mark the second of five Grapefruit League matchups between the Astros and Marlins this Spring. The clubs will also meet for a Spring Breakout exhibition on March 19 at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. The Astros are 1-0 vs. the Marlins this Spring.
TODAY’S ROSTER MOVES: Prior to today’s game, the Astros optioned LHP Colton Gordon and RHP Miguel Ullola to minor league camp. The Astros now have 59 players in camp, including 21 non-roster invites – 32 pitchers, seven catchers, 11 infielders and nine outfielders.
ASTROS IN THE WBC: IF Shay Whitcomb is off to a fantastic start for Team Korea in this year’s WBC, going 2×4 with a pair of homers and three RBI in the team’s opener vs. Team Czechia this morning at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Thursday, March 5, 12:10 p.m. CST
Location: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Jupiter, FL.
Andrew McCutchen turns 40 this October. Yet his desire to extend his Major League Baseball career runs deep enough that he's willing to try and make a team to keep it going.
McCutchen agreed to a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Morning News reported, ending a three-season rekindling of his relationship with the Pittsburgh Pirates in which the club could not rekindle its days of playoff contention when the outfielder was in MVP form a decade ago.
Though McCutchen batted just .242 in his three-season reunion in Pittsburgh, he remained a league average hitter for the stint, posting a .736 OPS and 104 adjusted OPS as the Pirates continued to struggle creating a contender. This season, the seemingly open invitation McCutchen had in Pittsburgh faded away, as the club signed Ryan O'Hearn to be their primary right fielder.
It seemed a lane might exist for McCutchen to get at-bats against left-handed pitchers, but trades with Boston and Tampa Bay that added Jhostnyxon Garcia and Jake Mangum, respectively, closed that off.
So, McCutchen will aim to win a job out of the Rangers' camp in Surprise, Arizona. The club has emerging star Wyatt Langford, oft-injured Evan Carter and recently acquired Brandon Nimmo as their primary outfielders, but several iterations remain where McCutchen is a fit, particularly against left-handed pitching.
McCutchen won the 2013 NL MVP for the Pirates and has hit 332 homers that also included stops with San Francisco, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and the New York Yankees.
MESA, AZ - OCTOBER 23: Yunior Tur #52 of the Mesa Solar Sox pitches during the game between the Salt River Rafters and the Mesa Solar Sox at Sloan Park on Monday, October 23, 2023 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
*In an effort to make the nomination voting easier for everyone, I will comment, “NOMINATIONS”, and you may reply to that with your picks and upvote the player you’d like to see on the next nominee list.
The voting continues and the winner of this round of voting is right-handed reliever Yunior Tur. A 26-year-old out of Cuba, Tur was always considered a large project as a pitcher but also one that has a high ceiling if he can learn how to pitch instead of throwing. His first couple years in the system were a big learning curve as he struggled to adjust to the States and better hitters, but Tur put up a solid season this past year, spent mostly at Double-A. The jury is still out on his ultimate role with the big league club in the future, whether that’s starting or relieving so watching his progress this coming year should provide answers on that front.
Joining the next list of nominees is outfielder Ryan Lasko. The Athletics’ second-round draft pick in the 2023 Draft, Lasko’s calling cards are his above-average speed and defense, though those also come with questions about his abilities in the batter’s box. That should provide him with a high floor as a possible defensive-oriented center fielder or fourth outfielder, but if he can show some improvement with the bat and unlock the power he’s shown he has in the past, Lasko would be yet another quality outfielder in the Athletics’ farm system.
The process for this public vote is explained below. Please take a moment to read this before participating:
Please only vote for one. The player with the most votes at the end of voting will win the ranked spot. The remaining four players move on to the next ballot where they are joined by a new nominee.
In the comments, below the official voting, the community will nominate players to be put onto the ballot for the next round. The format for your comment should be “Nomination: Player Name”.
If a prospect is traded, his name will be crossed out, and all other players will be moved up a space. If a prospect is acquired, a special vote will be put up to determine where that player should rank.
The voting continues! Time to vote for the 2nd-best in the A’s farm. Here’s a quick rundown on each nominee— the scouting grades (on a 20-to-80 scale) and scouting reports come from MLB Pipeline.
Núñez has an electric fastball that sits 97-99 mph and reached up to 101 last year, though the movement is somewhat lacking as hitters are able to see it a little longer. His upper-80s slider is his best pitch. It’s at least a plus offering that gets good depth and has posted high whiff and chase rates in the Minors. He occasionally throws a curveball, but that is a distant third pitch in his arsenal, leaving him with drastic handedness splits.
Núñez is inconsistent in his delivery at times, and that was evident with his inability to consistently throw strikes in his short time with the A’s last year. The arm talent is there to carve out a role for himself in a Major League bullpen, perhaps as a quality late-inning weapon, though he will always come with some volatility given his challenges with locating pitches.
Causey thrives with a fastball that hovers around 90 mph, but that’s because he has a funky sidearm delivery that helps him get crazy movement and deception with his arsenal. Causey excelled in his first full pro season, posting a 1.72 ERA across High-A Quad Cities and Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He’s a fast mover with a different look that could add to the Royals’ bullpen in the coming years.
Causey began the year with a sinker, changeup and sweeper, but he added a four-seam fastball this season to help him at the top of the zone. After years of working on adding a cutter, Causey finally found something that works with the four-seamer.
Zhuang leans heavily on his four-seam fastball that he can change speeds quite a bit with, throwing heaters that range anywhere from 86-96 mph, though it generally sits in the low-90s. His low-80s changeup has emerged as his best secondary pitch. He also brings a mid-70s curveball, low-80s slider and mixes in a low-80s splitter, providing a decent starter repertoire.
Zhuang, nicknamed ‘Z-Man’ within the organization, did a good job of staying healthy last season to silence some previous injury concerns. But while he has above-average command and enough pitches to remain a starter in the Minors, questions still remain about the effectiveness of his offspeed stuff, especially against higher competition, which could eventually lead to him switching to a bullpen role where his fastball can play up in shorter stints.
Turley falls in line with similar A’s draft picks in recent years — like Denzel Clarke and Rodney Green Jr. — as a toolsy outfielder with some concerns about his ability to make consistent contact. He’s got big power and is able to drive the ball out to all fields with great bat speed, but his strikeout rates throughout his career with the Beavers were somewhat alarming. The question over whether he can hit enough to tap into that raw power is something he’ll have to prove early in his pro career. He has a tendency to chase breaking stuff often, though he mitigates that issue somewhat with his strong ability to draw walks.
A big knock on Turley coming out of college was poor defense, but the A’s believe he is plenty athletic and speedy enough to improve and envision that happening as he grows into his 6-foot-1 frame. His body type and look in the box remind some within the organization of Mark Canha, and he’ll look to move through the system as a power-hitting corner outfielder.
Lasko is still trying to learn his craft from an offensive standpoint. He brings good plate discipline and bat speed, but pitch recognition is something he’s still working to improve. The A’s have also worked with him to rein in his high intensity during games. The power element he showed in college has also yet to show up much in pro ball.
Defense is Lasko’s calling card. He’s a plus defender in the outfield with a great arm and plays center field fearlessly with high energy. His speed is evident in his range, as well as on the basepaths. He’s another talented center fielder in the A’s system who could one day provide stellar defense in the Majors, but the hit tool is something he’ll have to continue improving to become anything more than a fourth outfielder at the highest level.
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