Category: MLB

Despite their 12-3 loss to the Tigers, the Rays and their prospect Xavier Isaac had a heartfelt moment on Saturday.

In his first game back from having brain surgery last year, Isaac, 22, singled to right field in the eighth inning, a moment which was celebrated by his Rays teammates.

“It was awesome. The dugout was pumped up. Everybody shook his hand, high-fived him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters, according to MLB.com. “No, [his results] don’t matter.

“But any time you get some positive reinforcement or a reward for the work that he’s been putting in on the back field — hopefully he values that as a pretty special moment. I know we all did.”

Isaac, who was selected by Tampa Bay with the No. 29-overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, underwent “life-saving” surgery back in July 2025 to remove a brain tumor, which sidelined the first baseman for more than eight months.

“Just being back on the field, just being at first, honestly, was the best. I haven’t been on defense in two years, so that was a good moment,” Isaac said. “And I got the hit. A lot of relief.”

Isaac last played for Double-A Montgomery before his surgery, which he previously said was “the scariest moment” of his life.

“As soon as I found out that, I was definitely not worried about baseball,” Isaac told reporters earlier this month.

Isaac is now spending spring training with the Rays as a non-roster invitee as he prepares for his fifth professional season.

After impressing across both Low-and High-A during the 2023-24 seasons, Isaac’s stats dipped last season, which he admitted was likely linked to his brain tumor.

“Mentally, I feel like I wasn’t there last year, wasn’t the same there, and it was something wrong — and I did not know what was going on,” Isaac said. “It was probably that, and that’s a big reason why.”

Isaac was the Rays’ ninth-ranked prospect in 2025, according to MLB.com

TAMPA — A bad back has sidelined another Yankee.

Cody Bellinger’s back “went out on him a little bit” Friday, manager Aaron Boone said, which kept him out of Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field. Bellinger will not play in Sunday’s game against the Phillies, either, but the Yankees are hoping he could get back into action by Tuesday following Monday’s team off-day.

“He’ll probably be, I’m guessing, a couple days,” Boone said. “He was quite a bit better today. Trainers aren’t too concerned about it. And this is something that crops up on him every now and then, usually sometime in spring or early in the year.”

The 30-year-old Bellinger has played in three games so far this spring, the most recent one Thursday.

The veteran outfielder missed a pair of games last April due to the same back issue, but it proved to be a minor deal then, which the Yankees are hoping is also the case this time around.

An inflamed back forced Cam Schlittler to be slowed down earlier in camp, but the right-hander has since resumed his ramp-up and is expected to throw another live batting practice Sunday.

The plan is for Giancarlo Stanton to make his spring debut on Tuesday when the Yankees host Panama at Steinbrenner Field. As has become customary, the veteran DH has been slow-played into games in an attempt to keep him healthy over the long haul.

And while Stanton has consistently maintained that the pain from his tennis elbow in both arms is never going away, he has continued to get his work in early in camp, including taking ground balls in right field on Saturday morning.

A day after Gerrit Cole faced hitters for the second time in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, Brian Cashman joined the chorus of voices who have gushed about how everything has gone to this point.

“There’s twists and turns to rehab — you have good days, you have bad days — it feels like he’s had nothing but good days, which is fantastic,” Cashman said. “He had Tommy John in a little bit of an older part of your career and you don’t know how age is going to play an impact. Even if everything goes perfect, sometimes the velocity’s not there after they come back. But right now, it looks good.”

Amed Rosario was a late scratch from Saturday’s lineup due to WBC travel. He was going to get only one at-bat in the game before having to fly out, so the Yankees opted to have him take it in live batting practice on a backfield instead. … Ryan Yarbrough was sick Friday, so his next outing has been pushed back after starting a game last Monday.

Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz believed that his team was going to get a huge boost in the lineup this offseason.

Before Kyle Schwarber signed a five-year, $150 million deal to stay with the Phillies in December, De La Cruz thought that the three-time All-Star was joining the Reds.

“I thought we were going to get him,” De La Cruz told The Enquirer on Friday. “That was going to be fun.”

De La Cruz also said he saw Schwarber on his free agent visit for Cincinnati while working out at the Reds’ facility, and that they had a brief conversation.

It was rumored early in the offseason that Schwarber, an Ohio native, could have signed with the Reds, and that they offered him a five-year deal worth $125 million, according to multiple reports.

Though Schwarber ultimately remained in Philadelphia, he admitted that he was “impressed” by the Reds after meeting with them.

“I was impressed,” Schwarber told MLB.com in December. “Me and [my wife] Paige went down to Cincinnati, and we were able to sit down and have that conversation with them and hear them out. I would say that they were not pulling chains, and that they were wanting to try to get me to Cincinnati.

“There are things that you have to cover your bases and every aspect of it. We had those conversations, and I appreciate every conversation I had with every team.”

De La Cruz was not alone in thinking that Schwarber could have wound up in Cincinnati, as Phillies teammate Bryce Harper told reporters earlier in February that he also thought the designated hitter was signing with the Reds.

“I thought Kyle was going to go to Cincinnati to tell you the truth,” Harper said. “I thought it was a done deal going to Cincinnati just because being at home and things like that.

“Obviously I didn’t know. We kind of messed with him the whole time about him going back home and playing in front of his fan base.”

Schwarber was regarded as one of the top available bats this free agency after having a career year in 2025, posting a slash line of .240/.365/.563 with an NL-leading 56 homers while leading all of MLB in RBIs (132).

PHOENIX –– Blake Treinen made the road to redemption sound simple Saturday morning.

The Dodgers’ bullpen can learn from the struggles it endured last year. But that dark past is now something to forget.

“Nobody in this organization, in the seven years I’ve been here, has ever focused on negatives,” Treinen said. “Some teams might be like, ‘I can’t act like I did last year. I can’t do what I did last year.’ But we’re not gonna live in the past. Nobody lives in the past.”

Revisiting last season, of course, is not a fun exercise for many of the Dodgers’ returning relievers.

As a group, the team’s bullpen posted the 10th-highest ERA in the majors while blowing the 10th-most saves.

Previously trustworthy veterans including Treinen and Tanner Scott were a big part of the problem. Treinen suffered a career-worst 5.40 ERA while battling an elbow injury that sidelined him for 3.5 months over the summer. Scott succumbed to a 4.74 ERA while dealing with his own elbow problems, ultimately losing his role as de facto closer after going 23 for 33 in save opportunities.

Those flaws nearly sunk the Dodgers’ title-defense hopes, forcing the team to lean heavily on its starting rotation in the playoffs and convert Roki Sasaki into an emergency postseason closer.

But now, the club is banking on a bounce-back performance from its new-look –– yet largely familiar –– relief corps.

“They’re going to be better this year,” manager Dave Roberts declared Saturday.

It starts, in many ways, with Treinen and Scott.

While the arrival of new $69 million closer Edwin Díaz should provide the Dodgers’ bullpen with backend stability, getting Treinen and Scott back on track will be just as important.

In a perfect world, they could be two of the Dodgers’ primary set-up men. Díaz’s presence should also allow Roberts to deploy them in more matchup-friendly situations. 

First, however, they’ll have to rectify the issues that plagued them last year –– and forget the frustrations that came along with them. 

For Scott, the task this year will be staying away from the middle of the strike zone, a bugaboo that resulted in him allowing 11 home runs in 2025 (tied for ninth most among all MLB relievers). 

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He said he’s done a “deep dive” with pitching coaches Connor McGuiness and Mark Prior this spring to diagnose flaws in his delivery, which he believed contributed to his poor command and his late-July elbow injury. 

Compared with last spring, which Scott described as a “sprint” because of the Dodgers’ early start in Japan, he also feels like he has more time to make sure the changes stick.

In his Cactus League debut Saturday, he offered some early encouraging signs by throwing a scoreless inning in which he located his pitches around the edges of the zone.

“(I’m) just making sure my stuff is playing exactly how I want it to be,” Scott said. “Everything starts with delivery.”

For Treinen, one big focus will be recalibrating his typically lethal sweeper. Last season, the pitch failed to induce as much swing-and-miss as usual, a problem some people around the team believed stemmed from slight changes in his arm slot.

On Thursday, Treinen also had an encouraging start to spring play, throwing a scoreless inning that included two strikeouts, the first coming on a swing-and-miss sweeper. 

“Last game was great, results-wise,” Treinen said. “There’s still a lot to improve on. But that’s good, when I feel like I was OK but the results were good.”

There are other middle relievers the Dodgers will count on this season.

Alex Vesia remains another top left-handed option, while Jack Dreyer will look to build upon his rookie success. The team is hoping to get production from Brock Stewart, Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol once they return from injuries (though Graterol’s status is uncertain now, as he continues to battle shoulder problems that sidelined him all of last season). Ben Casparius, Will Klein and Edgardo Henriquez are also battling for depth roles (though Henriquez has looked shaky in his first couple spring outings, struggling to command the ball).

“I mean, our whole lineup is stacked,” Scott said of the bullpen. “Anyone can pitch in any spot.”

Still, outside of Díaz, no other relievers on the club have the kind of track records that Treinen and Scott do.

That’s the past experience they’ll try to tap into this season –– leaving the failures of last year, for both themselves and the bullpen at large, in the rearview mirror as they look forward now.

“Wash it, flush it like a toilet, and just let it be,” Scott said. “Wasn’t that great last year. But it’s a new year.”

TAMPA — Jasson Domínguez looked like the future, going 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs in Friday’s win over the Twins.

On Sunday, “The Martian” will be spotted again, starting against the Phillies in Clearwater.

But Saturday, general manager Brian Cashman brought the once-hyped prospect back to earth, reiterating the challenge that the 23-year-old outfielder still faces to make the major league roster.

“He’s taking his reps and trying to push himself in the mix,” Cashman said before the Yankees’ 5-1 win over the Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “Clearly the everyday spot’s not there, with [Trent] Grisham and [Cody] Bellinger and [Aaron] Judge and [Giancarlo] Stanton, currently. But you know how things change really quickly, so all he can do right now, him and [Spencer] Jones, as well as [Randal] Grichuk and anybody else, is put themselves in a position for us to take notice and we’ll evaluate what opportunities exist at the end of camp and make calls.

“Hopefully those calls will be tough ones to make.”

Despite a slash line of .417/.429/.833 through four spring training games, Domínguez’s narrow path back to The Bronx grew slimmer when the Yankees recently agreed to a minor league deal with Grichuk, a 12-year veteran who offers a far superior track record against lefty pitching.


Grichuk, who participated in his first workout with the Yankees on Saturday, has a .268 lifetime batting average against southpaws, while posting a .819 OPS.

Domínguez has only had 134 career plate appearances against lefties, but the switch-hitter has badly struggled from the right side, batting .176 with one home run and a .530 OPS. 

Grichuk, who debuted with St. Louis in 2014, has 212 career home runs and a career .763 OPS. 


“Just trying to provide some choices for us,” Cashman said of signing Grichuk. “Hopefully we’ll have tough decisions by the end of camp. That means everybody stayed healthy and performed at a high level and it makes those decisions difficult. That’s ultimately the goal. But obviously he has a history of hitting left-handers. We tried to acquire him at the deadline last year. He got popped from Colorado to Kansas City, so took another crack at him again this winter.”

Last year, Domínguez lost his starting job after being deemed too green to contribute to a title contender. This year, a 34-year-old on a minor league deal may provide more upside.

The future may have to wait.

“He’s been a pro,” said Cashman, describing how Domínguez has handled the situation. “I think he knows what’s in his control, which is performing, showing a commitment level on a day-in and day-out basis, and then letting the rest take care of itself. So he knows what’s in his control, which is that, and what’s not in his control, which is how the roster shakes out.

“I think Domínguez, Spencer Jones and anybody else is just looking to make a name for themselves and make sure people take notice of them. We’ll act accordingly.”

PORT ST. LUCIE — In a bullpen that’s been overhauled since last year, with former closer Edwin Díaz now a Dodger, replaced by Devin Williams following a rough season in The Bronx, among the most intriguing members is Craig Kimbrel. 

Only four pitchers have recorded more career saves than the right-hander who turns 38 in May and is still looking to contribute. 

Kimbrel is coming off a season in which he did not record any saves and was released twice before he finished the year with Houston. 

He made his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday and had mixed results in his one inning, as Kimbrel gave up a run and walked a pair of batters in a 3-2 loss to Washington at Clover Park. 

At this point of Kimbrel’s career, though, he’s not overly concerned about the numbers — although he was bothered by the two free passes. 

Earlier in the week, Kimbrel said his body felt good and he was working his way back into form, and following Saturday’s appearance, Carlos Mendoza was encouraged by some of the veteran’s stuff. 

There was increased velocity on his fastball and Kimbrel said he’s trying to integrate a cutter into his arsenal “to get guys off my fastball and open up some offspeed opportunities.” 

“It was good to go out there and compete and get on track to where I want to be,’’ Kimbrel said. 

The Mets could have a spot for Kimbrel in the pen if he proves that he’s still capable of getting batters out and the team values his presence in camp, but he turns 38 in May and will have to earn a spot. 

Mendoza said Saturday that Luis Robert Jr. is scheduled to play his first game of the spring Wednesday, adding that it will be on the minor league side as the team looks to keep the center fielder — acquired from the White Sox in the offseason for a package that included Luisangel Acuña — healthy after Robert battled lower-body injuries during the previous two seasons. 

He’s been getting at-bats, but the team has held off on putting Robert in game situations. 

Mendoza said Francisco Lindor has not yet progressed to impact activities — like catching a ball — after getting the stitches out of his surgically repaired left hand following the stress fracture in his hamate bone. 

“He’s getting a lot of exercise and [building] strength in that area,’’ Mendoza said of the shortstop who advanced to long toss and one-handed swings Friday. “He’s continuing to get stronger before we start impact drills.” 

Grae Kessinger, in camp as shortstop depth, was scheduled to get an MRI on Saturday after injuring his left knee in Friday’s game against the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla., was on crutches in the clubhouse Saturday.

TAMPA — There goes the captain — and a third of the projected Opening Day roster. 

The Yankees just hope to get them all back in the condition they sent them. 

Aaron Judge and most of his other teammates who are playing in the World Baseball Classic got their final tuneup in Saturday afternoon before leaving for the camps of their respective countries. 

Some could be back in as soon as 10 days, but others, including Judge, may be gone for two-plus weeks — meaning they would return just a week before Opening Day — which comes with a bit of an unsettling feeling for the Yankees as they watch their most precious commodities from afar. 

“Honestly, I’m excited for them,” manager Aaron Boone said Saturday after a 5-1 win over the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field. “I am looking forward to following it. I think it’s going to be a great tournament. So sure, in some ways, you want to make sure they’re getting what they need and obviously you don’t want injury to happen. 

“The reality is, somebody in the tournament is probably … something’s going to happen. It doesn’t mean it wouldn’t happen here necessarily. But I think everyone that is going is very well prepared. There’s risk in everything you do in life. These guys have come in ready to go, checked a lot of boxes this winter to put themselves in position to go do this. At the end of the day, it’s something that’s been very good for the game. 

“I’m sure there’ll be some moments you hold your breath a little bit, but that’s OK.” 

Besides Judge, the Yankees will be without their starting catcher (Dominican Republic’s Austin Wells) and starting double-play combination (Great Britain’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Panama’s José Caballero); their top three relievers (USA’s David Bednar, Dominican Republic’s Camilo Doval and Puerto Rico’s Fernando Cruz); and two of their most important bench bats (USA’s Paul Goldschmidt and Dominican Republic’s Amed Rosario). 

And while Judge said he told his teammates staying back at camp that he would be just a phone call or text away if they needed anything, he is also taking on the captaincy for Team USA and wants to be present in that role while he is there. 

“I wear many hats,” Judge said. “Captain of the Yankees is one of them. … But I’m going to try to be where my feet are. Be with those boys with Team USA, I’m going to try to soak all that up, enjoy that moment and give everything I can to those guys.” 

Judge, who is usually just easing into Grapefruit League games at this point in spring, played in his fifth exhibition Saturday.

The back-to-back AL MVP has been looking forward to this event since being the first player to officially commit to Team USA last April, spearheading a flurry of the game’s best players joining — which wasn’t fully the case in the last WBC in 2023, when USA fell to Japan in the championship. 

“Now it’s time for us to go out there and change that script,” Judge said. “You get a chance to throw yourself into full games, heated competition, you’re fighting for your country, it’s pretty cool.” 

The Yankees are hoping that playing in such high-stakes games in early March can benefit their large swath of participants, taking that momentum right into the start of the regular season. Most of them also mentioned wanting to pick the brains of their new teammates and find out what makes them great. 

“I haven’t known any professional baseball outside the Yankees, so I’m looking forward to getting out there, listening to what guys are doing and maybe bring some stuff back here,” Wells said. 

But the event also comes with its share of injury risk, no matter how careful and intentional the Yankees were in building their WBC players up early this spring. 

“It’s the same risk for anybody else,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “It’s part of this year’s process. Like any year, there’s so many twists and turns as your season plays out and challenges, from injuries to unexpected poor performance to whatever other issues might pop up. It all gets put in the pot as you’re trying to cook up a championship run. But we wish them all the best. 

“If you have good players that those countries want, we’re losing a lot of people — it’s a reflection of we have a lot of good players.”

PORT ST. LUCIE — For most of the previous seven seasons, there was hardly ever a question about who would be at first base.

For better or worse, Pete Alonso was an everyday presence at first base, solid at scooping balls in the dirt, despite lacking range or a strong arm.

Those days are over and the hole Alonso leaves is clearly felt more in the lineup than in the infield.

Still, until the Mets prove that some combination of Jorge Polanco, Mark Vientos and Brett Baty can handle the position, there will be curiosity regarding the new-look infield.

Saturday was another step in that process, as Baty made his first start of the spring at the spot and the lefty swinger — while not looking like a natural — at least held his own.

“It was a fun challenge out there,’’ said Baty, who’d never appeared in a game at first in the majors or minors prior to Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Washington at Clover Park. “There were no mistakes, but it didn’t look pretty, either. We’ll get better over there, for sure.”

The overall performance, though, was encouraging, according to Baty.

“It gives me confidence [going] into the next game,’’ Baty said.

There was a grounder to the right side by Washington’s James Wood that caused Baty to pause only briefly before he headed quickly to first, as second baseman Marcus Semien made the play easily.

“There are some things you never see in practice till you get out there and do it in a game,’’ Baty said.

Speaking of a play like the Wood one in particular, Baty said he chatted with infield instructor Kai Correa and Carlos Mendoza, as part of the learning process.

“I felt like I wanted to go get the ball,” Baty said. “That’s just how I’ve always been: At third base, go get every ball you can go get. Second base the same thing. Some [balls] I wanted to get and I had to remember Marcus is right behind me and I need to get my butt to first base.”

It’s a play he watched his former teammate make plenty of times.

“I felt Pete was really good at knowing where the second baseman was and his job was just to be at first base,’’ Baty said of Alonso, who departed for Baltimore in the offseason.

Baty’s spring won’t be limited to just learning the nuances of first base. He’ll also see time in the outfield, with Mendoza saying he’d likely be in right field early on, so that Baty remains on the right side of the field.

“I tell people I feel like a football receiver out there,’’ Baty said of the outfield. “I can catch fly balls and show off the arm. I like it out there.”

Mostly, he likes being in the lineup and if all goes according to plan, Baty will see time at first, second and third base, as well as potentially left and right field.

“I love tackling adversity,’’ Baty said of the work that goes into becoming a more versatile player. “Any way to get at-bats … and help the team win.”

There will undoubtedly be bumps in the road for all three first basemen, with Polanco moving from the middle of the infield and Vientos — who is slated to play third base for Team Nicaragua in the WBC — having the most experience at the position, with just 12 major league games.

They have until March 26 to get more comfortable playing the position, with Mendoza noting how many aspects of the game they need to stay on top of at first, from in-between plays, positioning, holding runners and knowing where to be on cutoffs.

The manager remains confident they will prove to be up to the task.

“I feel comfortable that any of the three can play first base,’’ Mendoza said, adding of Baty, “I’d like to continue to get him as many reps as possible. It’s not easy, but he’s embracing the opportunity. He’s up for the challenge.”

Today, the Kansas City Royals absolutely pounded a Colorado Rockies squad that issued 15 walks. (You read that correctly.)

For more details on the game, click here.

Here are Michael Lorenzen’s comments on the day, which he saw as an important learning experience:

In addition, Ryan Feltner weighed in:

That said, please enjoy this Jordan Beck home run:

And don’t overlook Charlie Condon’s third homer:

That’s baseball.

The Rockies will face the Cleveland Guardians tomorrow afternoon at 1:05.

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With most of the expected big hitters out of the lineup after yesterday’s split-squad games, some other sources made Tanner Bibee’s first inning of the spring a miserable one. For him.

No. 2 hitter Sam Antonacci started things off for the White Sox when he got a 2-0 cutter that had too much of the plate.

Antonacci knew that was gone from the start, all 107.1 mph, 416´worth. That shot was followed by Miguel Vargas and LaMonte Wade Jr. doubles, with Wade later scoring on a wild pitch for a 3-0 Sox lead.

Bibee settled down for two scoreless innings after that, but Shane Smith showed his weak first start had just been working out the kinks as he kept the Guardians off the board until one run in the third, although a sweet play by William Bergolla Jr. at short kept the damage from being worse.

Lousy Cleveland defense (see, other teams have that, too) helped the Sox to two more runs in the fifth, with Bergolla and Antonacci scoring after walking and getting hit by a pitch, the first of two HBPs for Antonacci in the game. Bergolla also had an RBI single in the sixth, making it 6-1, and Antonacci scored in the seventh for a 7-1 lead. Both players are making management decisions on which middle infielders to keep when camp breaks ever more difficult.

Three Sox relievers cruised their way to the seventh, when Tyler Davis decided the game was too much of a yawner and coughed up three runs on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the seventh. Cleveland added one more in the eighth and had the tying run at the plate, but Adysin Coffey got a three-pitch K to end the threat. Shane Murphy then had an easy ninth for the save.

The Sox only had seven hits for their seven runs as they ran their spring record to 6-4, but six walks and those two HBPs, along with bad Guardian fielding decisions, helped things out.

Next up is a rematch with the Cubs, first pitch at 2:05 p.m. Central tomorrow. It will be on ESPN 1000, but you won’t get to watch the game unless you’re on of those turncoats who get Cubs TV.

Record 5-4. Change on 2025: +0.5. 5-inning record: 2-7.

Whenever a pitcher is leaving the mound with a trainer after having hit two batters and walked a third, while showing sharply lower velocity… Yeah, it’s never a good thing. Such was the situation this afternoon in Tempe for Brandyn Garcia. His fifth inning appearance was sharply curtailed, and the worst was feared. Not least because, if he went down, the only left-handed reliever left on the D-backs’ 40-man roster would be Philip Abner, and the non-roster invitees wouldn’t help much either [there’s only three, and Yu-Min Lin is already reassigned] However, it appears to have been just a stomach bug for Garcia, rather than looming Tommy John surgery. Phew.

While we make our way back from the SnakePit Fainting Couch, the D-backs notched their third consecutive win, though as has become a habit this year, it required a late comeback. A five-run eighth inning proved key, with a three-run homer by Yassel Soler the big hit. Later in the inning, Wallace Clark drove in the final run with a single. I think that might be the first hit ever in a D-backs jersey by a player born in the United Kingdom, Clark being a native of London. Arizona’s other runs came on a two-run homer by Luken Baker in the fourth inning, and a Jorge Barrosa triple the next frame. Soler also walked in addition to his home-run: Baker and Aramis Garcia each had two hits.

Mitch Bratt’s start started well, with a 1-2-3 first, but he ended up lifted in the second after allowing two runs, and also gave up a homer in the third inning, after returning. His final line: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The D-backs ended up using ten pitchers again. The other runs came off Paul Sewald – good to see him in mid-season form already – and Jonathan Loasiga, making his Arizona debut. Bryce Jarvis got the save with a clean ninth, and Abner also appeared, loading the bases but escaping without damage thanks to a pair of strikeouts. A good day for home-plate umpire Jonathan Parra: three ABS challenges, but all confirmed his call.

Tomorrow, it’s back to Salt River Fields where the Guardians will be visiting. Michael Soroka gets his second start, with a 1:10 pm first pitch. Several members of the A-bullpen are scheduled to work behind Soroka.

PORT ST. LUCIE — In the wake of the hamate injury that has sidelined Francisco Lindor for the spring, there have been more opportunities at shortstop.

While the 29-year-old career minor leaguer Jackson Cluff is expected to be minor league depth, he made perhaps the best play of the spring Friday in Jupiter, Fla., when he went deep into the hole on a grounder and fired a strong throw to first to get the out. 

It’s unclear how Cluff could find a path to Queens this season, but he isn’t ruling it out after an unusual professional journey that’s so far taken him to Triple-A, but not the majors. 

Cluff, a practicing Mormon, played at BYU and following his freshman year, he took two years off from school — and baseball — to go on a mission for the church. 

So while players his age were continuing their baseball careers, Cluff was instead taking part in the voluntary mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

“You don’t have to do it, but for people who grow up and are active in the faith, it’s an expectation if you’re asked,’’ Cluff said. “My dad did it and my little brother is on a mission right now. Most people do it.” 

After being unsure prior to BYU, Cluff said he became confident in his choice. 

“I decided it was something I wanted to do and put my career on pause for two years,’’ Cluff said. “Everyone was very supportive, saying, ‘You need to do what you want to do.’ ” 

Cluff ended up spending his two years in Atlanta, not exactly the far-flung places others have gone. 

“You should have seen the look on my face when I found out where I was going,’’ Cluff said. “My dad went to Norway and learned Norwegian. My father-in-law went to Japan. I had teammates go to Mexico and Brazil. But I went to Atlanta and it was awesome.’’ 

As part of his work, Cluff focused on proselytizing and community service. 

“We knock on doors and walk around town,’’ Cluff said. “You get on a bus in Atlanta and talk to people.” 

When the two years were up, Cluff returned to BYU, this time as a 22-year-old sophomore. 

“I wanted to play one more year and it was really important to have a good season because I wanted to play professionally,’’ Cluff said. “Most college players are getting drafted as a 21-year-old junior.” 

Cluff responded with a solid season and called it a “no-brainer” to sign with the Nationals when they took him in the sixth round of the 2019 amateur draft. 

“I told every team, ‘If you pick me, I’ll go,’ ” Cluff said. 

Then, Cluff’s first full professional season was wiped out by COVID-19, before working his way up to Triple-A in 2024, where he spent all of last season. 

His goal this year is to “help this team win games at the big league level at some point this season.” 

Cluff said he knows the infield depth with the Mets will make that difficult, and despite his slow road through the minors, he’s only appreciative of his experiences. 

“The only time my religion comes up in the clubhouse is when people ask if I really took two years off,’’ Cluff said. “I don’t have any regrets. How the mission impacted me personally and helped my faith and perspective on life is much more important than baseball. It’s given me so much direction.” 

And as for his pursuit of his major league dream, Cluff said, “As long as I have a jersey on my back, anything is possible.”

The Mets' spring training plan of stretching Tobias Myers out as a starter continued on Saturday afternoon as the right-hander toed the rubber in the top of the first inning against the Washington Nationals for the first time in camp and ended his outing after three innings of one-run ball.

Myers allowed two hits, both in the third inning, walked one and struck out four while throwing 46 pitches (34 strikes). Through two appearances, Myers has a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 innings.

But it wasn't the results that Myers was most pleased with after the game; it was how he felt during and after the game that Myers was most pleased with.

"It felt good, definitely felt good," he said. "Body felt like it was under control, like I’m not trying to do too much out there, so I feel like when I’m in that mindset and kind of letting everything kind of take care of itself, I keep myself in a better spot than trying to go out there and do a little too much. That’s my key takeaway from today – felt under control and body felt great."

New York acquired Myers from the Milwaukee Brewers in the same deal that brought over Freddy Peralta and after proving to be a Swiss army knife in two seasons with the Brewers, the Mets are hoping the right-hander can do a little bit of everything for them this season. Saturday's start was another chance at showcasing that.

It also gave Myers and Francisco Alvarez a chance to connect in a game for the first time after Myers threw to prospect Kevin Parada in his spring training debut on Monday. While it was the first time the duo played together in a game, it was not the first time Myers had thrown to Alvarez.

"It was great. I actually got to throw to Francisco two weeks before camp started," Myers said. "He was down in South Florida, I was living down there in the offseason so me him, Freddy, couple [other] guys met up and were able to get some work in before camp started. 

"It’s really, really cool – especially this morning – like being able to communicate all morning what we wanna do. Alvy’s full of energy, he’s fun back there. I mean he’s obviously really good at framing pitches because we had like five or six overturned back there, so he’s making them all look like strikes."

While spring training offers the chance for new pitchers and catchers like Myers and Alvarez to familiarize themselves with each other, it's also the time for pitchers to work on new pitches and grips or perfect old ones. It's no different for Myers, who has added a slider to his repertoire this spring to go along with a splitter that he unveiled last season.

"The splitter is fairly new," Myers said. "Last year I started throwing it middle of the season, so trying to fine-tune that pitch and make sure it’s in a good spot when camp breaks. Same pitch, same grip [for my] slider. I’m just spiking it a little bit, so not much different there. We’re just kinda looking for a little bit more depth to get some more swing and miss, so that’s coming along pretty well. It’s been only two weeks throwing it, so it’s been pretty decent."

Whatever role the Mets end up needing out of Myers this season, he'll need his array of pitches to get outs like he did on Saturday. The next step for the 27-year-old, relayed to him by Carlos Mendoza and David Stearns, is to build up his pitch count to 60-65 pitches before re-evaluating the situation.

But no matter how New York uses Myers, he's excited for the opportunity and keeps the same mindset.

"I’m comfortable on the mound, so I feel like if you start a game, if you’re relieving, you’re closing, you still got to get three outs or whatever the case may be so for me I just try to keep that mentality and keep everything simple," he said.

Myers also trusts everybody in charge and knows they have his best interests at heart.

"I like to pride myself on [being] a coachable pitcher, so I like to put my trust in my coaches," he said. "It’s something I did [in Milwaukee] for sure, being a younger guy and kinda getting thrown into like the starting rotation over there.

"Here, very similar. I know everybody here is very, very smart. I know these guys have a great track record and it’s pretty easy to tell when you talk to them and talk to other guys that communicate with those guys, so for me it’s like put my trust in those guys and let them guide me."

The bats of the Cincinnati Reds have been alive for most of Cactus League play in the early going, and that was very much still the case on Saturday. The Reds went on the road and beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-7 in their own ballpark, even doing so while television cameras were broadcasting their action for the first time in seemingly a millenium.

The Good

Matt McLain got the party started in the Top of the 1st with his first dinger of the spring, a solo shot that was part of an overall excellent 2 for 3 day that included a pair of runs scored. Elly De La Cruz smacked another double – every single one of his hits this spring, so far, has been of the extra-base variety – and Sal Stewart singled, stole a base, played 3B, and scored a run.

Michael Chavis – in camp as a non-roster guy – socked a homer, Dane Myers drove in a trio on a two-hit day as he angles to be a right-handed hitting option all across the outfield, and Blake Dunn drove in a trio and scored a run as he angles to be a right-handed hitting option all across the outfield.

Down in the bullpen, big offseason additions Pierce Johnson and Caleb Ferguson both fired scoreless frames, even though neither was completely clean.

The Bad

Lyon Richardson surrendered another run, something he’s done in every one of his appearances so far this spring. But because baseball is weirdly beautiful, he also picked up the win on the day.

Wins! Still a stat in 2026, for whatever reason!

At the plate, Christian Encarnacion-Strand made his own spring debut after dealing with hamstring issues, but was limited to just DH duties and went 0 for 3 with a K. I really, really hope there’s a CES redemption story somewhere in the near future, but I’m beginning to think that ship may well have sailed.

The Ugly

Hunter Greene made his spring debut and got shelled immediately.

He did not retire a single batter in the Bottom of the 1st before being pulled, though thanks to the fun rules of spring training play he returned to the mound for the Bottom of the 2nd to get in more work. His second frame was markedly better, but he was ultimately responsible for 4 ER on 5 H and a walk while fanning nobody.

The good news, though, is that he looked fine. His heater hit triple digits repeatedly, he just wasn’t putting hitters away in vintage mid-season form. Nothing looked like a problem, per se – just a lot of rust and getting his feet wet in an exhibition that didn’t mean a thing in the win column.

What’s Next

Cincinnati’s central Arizona road trip will continue on Sunday, this time at Hohokam Stadium over in Mesa against the Athletics. Andrew Abbott will toe the rubber, with first pitch set for 3:05 PM ET.

No, there’s no TV coverage of it. It’ll be on 700 WLW for your ears, though.

Don’t call it a debut. Since his family didn’t come to see this, Kade Anderson says his first game action as a member of the Mariners’ organization doesn’t count as a debut. But whatever noun you use to describe it, the adjective is “impressive.”

Using a fluid, repeatable delivery, Anderson sat 94-95 with his fastball, freezing up hitters while his slider looked sharp in the zone and induced whiffs outside it, all setting up a changeup that got some Matt Brash-esque swings and misses.

Anderson struck out the very first batter he saw on three pitches. Whiff on a fastball, whiff on a changeup, freeze on a fastball. The victim? Xander Bogaerts, hardly a guy off the backfields. Interrupted by an infield base hit that should have been an out and a full-count walk, Anderson completed the inning by striking out the side. That first inning featured 18 pitches, 13 for strikes, with seven whiffs on ten swings and a 100% first-pitch strike rate.

He came back out for the second, which opened with back-to-back hits. Since both of those runners scored after Anderson was pulled, his final line won’t jump off the page, but Anderson showed every bit of the potential that’s had us salivating since he fell to the Mariners with the third pick of last summer’s Draft.

Cal Raleigh was effusive: “Very impressive. So he can locate the ball, he can command it, he can throw off-speed in the zone for strikes. There’s not…I mean there’s going to be a learning curve, for sure, he was just a little picky around the zone, but for the most part I thought he threw the ball great, especially for the first time out.” (In an extremely Cal move, he used the opportunity to take a potshot at his bro to provide additional context on Anderson’s performance, “I think Logan gave up 10 runs in his first spring training game.”)

Perhaps because he didn’t consider it a debut, Anderson says he wasn’t nervous. “I think you’d be surprised. It’s just another game for me. And when you have that mindset, it makes it much easier on yourself, you don’t get as many nerves.” In the comments, please rank the BS on a scale of 1-10. I’m leaning toward a 4.

Unfortunately for those in attendance, as Anderson got pulled, someone called Houston Roth, who I have definitely heard of before, quickly let all the air out of the room that Anderson had just filled, letting the Padres score a decisive five runs.

But the game got interesting again as Emerson Hancock came out for the third and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, showing the extra velo he’d flashed in his relief appearances last summer. The Mariners plan to begin the season with Hancock as a depth starter, so whether he can hold that extra velo will be a key question. He kept it in his second inning of work, wherein he struck out the side in order, but lost it a bit in an attempt at a third inning. Even so, he was 94-96 in that third inning of work, which, while not 97s of his first inning, is still a couple ticks above where he’s been before.

More promising to me is his slider. He’s got an interesting history with the pitch. In 2023, he was averaging 87 with it, but only getting 30 inches of break. He made an adjustment that offseason and swapped some velo for movement, making it a much better whiff-generator in 2024 and 2025. But what he’s shown so far this spring has been a marriage of the 2023 velo with the 2024-2025 movement. It’s a promising development for a guy whose fastball is coming in harder, and whose sweeper was getting all the praise from Jerry Dipoto on the broadcast. To be sure, I’ve been burned too many times by Emerson Hancock seeming to improve, but Emerson Hancock seems to have improved.

Other Notes

• In the battle for the fourth infield spot, Ryan Bliss had a bad day in the field, missing his landing on one play and showing his noodle arm in another, resulting in two infield base hits that could have been outs. He made up for it a bit with a walk at the plate. Colt Emerson was 0 for 2.
• Luke Raley accounted for the Mariners’ sole run today with his first dinger of the spring, which went to the deep part of the park.
• I would make fun of a new entry in the Randy Arozarena defensive canon, but it’s his birthday, so he gets a pass.
• Cal Raleigh had an unremarkable day except that he’s the first man to play nine full innings this spring, prepping his body for the WBC, which he departs for this afternoon.
• The first Sun Hat Award of 2026 (the award for a noteable contribution to a game I recap) goes to Hancock.