Category: MLB

Young Giants left-hander Carson Whisenhunt shows off big jump in velocity originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SCOTTSDALE — Carson Whisenhunt has felt strong all spring, and since the start of camp, he has talked about his optimism that he’ll look much sharper than he did as a rookie. But early in a simulated game Thursday, a pitch felt different coming out of his hand. It felt just a bit better than the others, and he snuck a peak at the scoreboard.

“I was like, ‘I kinda want to see where I’m at,'” he said later. “I was not expecting to see 97.”

There were a lot of 97 mph fastballs for Whisenhunt in two innings against teammates, along with plenty at 96. As a rookie last year, Whisenhunt hit 95 mph just once, topping out at 95.3 mph but averaging 92.6 in five starts. 

The velocity Thursday opened plenty of eyes in the seats behind home plate, where just about the entire front office was sitting. Even Whisenhunt was surprised. His velocity had been good in bullpen sessions, but he planned to be sitting around 95 mph in the simulated game. 

“That was a little different,” he said, smiling. “I’m feeling a lot better than I did last year. I’m moving better (and) the mechanics, especially — everything is kind of flowing right now. I’m trying not to overdo it but it came out hot today.”

Whisenhunt dealt with a back strain late last season, but in the offseason he focused on making sure he was physically ready for what will be an important spring. He also made some mechanical adjustments to tap into more of the velocity he had in the minors. He was 94-97 mph throughout his first full professional season and topped out at 98. 

“Last year I was sinking into my back hip a lot more and getting lower and I feel like it was kind of blocking velo, so to speak,” he said. “Now I’m a little more upright, not sinking as much, but still trying to get in my back hip a little bit, and then just kinda throwing the s— out of it. That’s the best way to put it.”

With the first spring games two days away, there is no obvious spot for Whisenhunt on the initial roster. The rotation is currently full and he’s probably too good of a starting prospect to be put in the bullpen in April. The Giants likely would want him to stay stretched out, and they have enough lefty relief options in camp at the moment. 

But Whisenhunt certainly made a statement Thursday about how ready he might be when a starter is needed. In addition to the fastball, he showed off what has long been one of the best left-handed changeups in the game, getting three strikeouts on the pitch. He also mixed in his new cutter, a pitch he learned from assistant pitching coach Christian Wonders.

“I’m just trying to get a little bit more feel with it,” he said of the cutter. “It’s still new so I’m playing around with the grip a little bit and finger pressure on certain aspects of it. But it was good today.”

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The San Diego Padres have not added a big-name pitcher since the re-signing of Michael King earlier this offseason. Instead, the Padres have picked up players on one-year or minor league deals seemingly hoping that quantity will deliver quality. The Padres added Griffin Canning, German Marquez and Walker Buehler. Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball believes that San Diego is looking for at least one of these arms to play a significant role in 2026.

Padres News:

• Projected rankings for the Padres as a team and the individual players came out and Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball thinks San Diego may be being overlooked. In almost all areas the 2026 team has improved over the 2025 team that finished second in the NL West and made the postseason. The Padres have a chance to prove the projections wrong if they can make a return to the playoffs as they are not expected to do so.
• The Padres had a busy holiday weekend making additions to the roster and extending general manager A.J. Preller and AJ Cassavell of MLB.com provides a recap of all the moves now that all the players have shown up in Peoria, Ariz.
• Catcher Luis Campusano is out of options and potentially out of time with the Padres. HE has the support of new manager Craig Stammen, and the belief is that he has the support of his teammates as well. If Campusano can produce at the major league level he could have a significant role this season, but if he cannot, he may find himself with another organization.
• Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune points out the fact that Walker Buehler in brown and gold is an odd sight considering all the time he spent in Dodger blue, but Acee also believes the Padres coaches and players are hoping Buehler can make the rotation. Although it will be strange to root for a player the Friar Faithful vehemently rooted against not too long ago, the odds of Buehler making the team could receive a boost if San Diego employs a six-man rotation.
• Front office executives from around MLB were apparently not fans of newly acquired Nick Castellanos. Jayson Stark of The Athletic wrote an article where he spoke with executives about which player subtraction would benefit their former team. The answer he got was Castellanos and this poll was conducted prior to him being released by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Baseball news:

• With the unceremonious departure of Tony Clark as the head of the MLBPA on Tuesday, the need for a new executive director became evident. The MLBPA named Bruce Meyer as the interim executive director, Wednesday.
• The Atlanta Braves are already absorbing injuries to their pitching staff, and they have yet to play their first game of the spring. Spencer Schwellenbach had surgery to clean up his elbow which will land him on the 60-day IL. Hurston Waldrep is expected to have the same procedure and he rook will start the season on the 60-day IL.

There was a long stretch of Red Sox history in which you could roll into spring training and write down the guy who would dominate the DH position in permanent ink.

For 14 years from 2003 through 2016, it belonged to David Ortiz. Then, after he retired and the Sox tried Hanley Ramirez there for a season in 2017, J.D. Martinez took over and led the team in games played from the position for five years from 2018 through 2022. Basically, if you wanted to get in the lineup and your last name didn’t end in a z, you’d better have a glove, and you better have spot where you could play every day.

But those days, much like the balls those guys hit, are long gone. Starting with Martinez’s final year in Boston in 2022, the Red Sox have now had four different guys lead the team in games from the DH slot in the last four seasons. And given the makeup of this roster going into 2026, we might be about to go five-for-five.

First up, here’s the guys who have played the most games at DH for the Red Sox over the last four years:

• 2022: J.D. Martinez (139 games)
• 2023: Justin Turner (98 games)
• 2024: Masataka Yoshida (101 games)
• 2025: Rafael Devers (RIP) (73 games)

Secondly, as a quick side note, not have having a permanent DH really changes the way you build a roster. Back in the days of Ortiz and Martinez, any other everyday position player signed or traded for had to make sense in some specific spot. But now, you can have overflow — because hey, “if both guys are good and you have extra at-bats, the other guy can just DH. Problem solved!”

Well, Craig Breslow and company have taken that theory and pushed it to its limit as, right now, I don’t have a clue who is going to get the most at-bats at DH in 2026.

It could be Jarren Duran, who might get displaced from the outfield for most of the season if Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu stay healthy and anchor down at their positions.

It could be Masataka Yoshida, who, if healthy, may bounce back offensively and doesn’t have anywhere to go defensively on this roster.

It could be Triston Casas, who still has serious upside power after a pair of injury plagued seasons and is now a less obvious fit at first base with Willson Contreras on the roster.

It could even be Kristian Campbell, who, unlike the other three guys I just mentioned, is right handed. He might work his way into the lineup against left-handed starters if his retooled swing sticks better than his glove at any one position.

Or who knows — it could be somebody else who gets shuffled in the deck we’re not even thinking about right now. Who do you think will lead the 2026 Red Sox in games played at DH?

Talk about this and whatever else you’d like, and, as always, be good to one another.

So much kvetching about the state of the rotation, which is understandable given the injury news before Spring Training games have even begun.

But, let’s pivot slightly: we know the deals that have already happened. Which ones should the Braves have made?

The list of signed free agent starters is here: https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/free-agent-tracker?sign=signed&pos=sp

For me, the big money deals were too big and inflated for the production they offered, but that shouldn’t be surprising at this point. The played-in-another-league-last-year deals (Tatsuya Imai, Cody Ponce) are a lot more modest, but still fairly risky — I would’ve preferred them be more like pillow deals.

That said, a lot of mid-tier deals, I think would’ve been good to make. Sure, the Braves may not want to add a mid-tier guy, but I don’t see those deals as substantially constraining flexibility. We’ve talked at length about Chris Bassitt at this point, and his salary is pretty reasonable. Steven Matz looks like he has a great chance to produce surplus on his contract. I’m not very excited about the Justin Verlander, Nick Martinez, and Dustin May deals, but they’re not terrible.

Foster Griffin was an interesting signing for the Nationals given the low, short commitment. Wouldn’t have minded that one.

There were a handful for quantity-for-quality-ish trades of starters. In particular, Shane Baz and Ryan Weathers come to mind. Those moves would’ve been the opposite of Chris Bassitt in a way since they wouldn’t necessarily add a reliable arm, but would just diversify a high degree of risk further. Even the MacKenzie Gore deal, while on the pricier side because Gore is a pricier pitcher production-wise, seemed okay.

I think that’s largely where I come out — either one of the Bassitt/Matz/Griffin deals, or one of the Baz/Weathers/Gore deals would’ve been nice. I don’t think the Braves have much interest in Zack Littell, but maybe if they give him a pretty cheap deal, that could be Bassitt-lite. They probably don’t have interest for the same reason they apparently had little inclination to engage on Bassitt, though.

Today marks one week that the marriage between the Phillies and Nick Castellanos officially came to an end. Both sides have since appeared to move on, as the Phillies look to their new starting right fielder in Adolis Garcia and Castellanos has agreed to a deal with the San Diego Padres. The end of the Castellanos era certainly was messy, with the details of the Miami incident finally becoming known as well as many other reports about Castellanos’ behavior from Phillies sources in Matt Gelb’s now infamous article.

It’s not a stretch to say that Castellanos never quite lived up to expectations in Philadelphia. He was brought in on a five year, $100M contract with the hopes that he would provide the middle of the order right-handed bat the Phillies have been starved for. However, Castellanos was just never able to come close to his 2021 season with the Reds where he hit 34 home runs with a .939 OPS. His best season in Philadelphia was 2023 where he was named an All-Star after a strong first half but ultimately ended up hitting .272 with a .788 OPS. Over his four seasons with the Phillies, Castellanos slashed .260/.306/.426 and had a 100 OPS+, meaning he was exactly league average. That was coupled with being one of the worst defenders at any position in baseball for the overwhelming majority of the deal.

But it’s also fair to say Castellanos had his moments. Despite his disappointing offensive season in 2022 and defensive struggles, he made numerous game changing or saving catches during the run to the 2022 World Series. The Phillies also may not have won the 2023 NLDS over the Braves without Castellanos, as he slugged four home runs in four games, including two off of Spencer Strider in the clinching Game 4.

In any case, Nick Castellanos’ Phillies career is over. It was an eventful one, for better or worse. How will you remember his time in Philadelphia?

• Livingston have lost 21 of their last 23 meetings with Rangers in all competitions (D2) since a 1-0 league victory in September 2018.
• Rangers have won 10 of their last 11 visits to Livingston in all competitions, including their last seven in a row (all in the league) since a goalless draw in August 2020.
• Livingston are winless in their last 12 home league games (D4 L8), the longest run by any side within a single Scottish Premiership season since Hamilton in March 2016 (also 12), while the last to go longer within a single campaign were St Mirren from August to February 2015 (14).
• After winning just one of their opening eight league games of the season (D6 L1), Rangers have since won 14 of their 19 league fixtures under Danny Rohl (D4 L1). Indeed, since his first Scottish Premiership game in charge on October 26th, the Gers have earned 46 points, at least nine more than any other side in the competition (Celtic second with 37), and 11 more than league leaders Hearts (35).
• Rangers have won each of their last 11 league games against opponents starting the day bottom of the Scottish Premiership since a 1-1 draw with Hamilton in February 2021.

For most of the 2025 season, the Yankees' bench was one of the weakest in baseball.

GM Brian Cashman's additions helped lift an uneven, light-hitting bench to allow manager Aaron Boone to navigate the second half of the season and postseason. 

It didn't result in a championship, they performed well enough that they brought back most of those bench options from a year ago. 

While that may signal that there aren't many spots open on the bench for Opening Day, there are still options the Yanks will have to sift through this spring.

Here's a breakdown of all the potential bench options...

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The Locks

Health is a big part of this, as Anthony Volpe will begin the season on the IL. That elevates a 2025 bench player into the starting shortstop role, but also opens up the backup infielder role.

Here are the sure-fire picks for the Yankees bench on Opening Day -- if everyone remains healthy:

Amed Rosario
Paul Goldschmidt
J.C. Escarra

Jose Caballero will be the everyday shortstop to start the season, and Boone and the organization will have to sort through that position once Volpe returns. Caballero's backup could be Rosario, who has experience just about all over the field. However, Rosario will be the backup to Ryan McMahon at third base when they take on southpaws.

Rosario's versatility will give Boone enough experience at multiple infield positions that he can prioritize others, like the outfield.

Goldschmidt will back up Ben Rice, who is set to take the majority of the starts at first base, while Escarra will give Austin Wells a spell once in a while as the team's backup catcher. 

Martian Left Behind?

One of the biggest stories this spring is what the Yankees plan to do with Jasson Dominguez.

The young outfielder started the 2025 season as the team's everyday left fielder, but he was overtaken by the surprising Trent Grisham to the point where Dominguez became the fourth outfielder as Grisham, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge roamed the outfield for most of the second half and the postseason.

And, unfortunately for Dominguez, all three outfielders are projected to be the Opening Day outfield when the 2026 season starts. So where does that leave Dominguez?

The organization has teased that Dominguez's role in 2026 will be reduced, and it seems likely he starts the year in Triple-A. In 2024, the last time Dominguez was in Triple-A, the outfielder slashed .309/.368/.480 with seven homers and an OPS of .848. Perhaps some more seasoning in the minors can help him on the defensive end and when it comes to hitting from the right side of the plate.

But Dominguez can also kill it this spring and force the Yankees to bring him along. That feels less likely at this juncture. 

Fourth Outfielder Options

Aside from Dominguez, New York has a few options to fill that fourth outfielder role.

Veteran outfielder Seth Brown was invited as an NRI, and his lefty swing would be perfect for Yankee Stadium. He did have career-lows last season with the Athletics, playing 38 games before being released. It's an intriguing prospect to bring Brown to Opening Day, but the team is already too left-handed, especially in the outfield.

Marco Luciano is a right-handed hitter who was invited to camp on a minor league deal and is a former top prospect. While he hasn't played in the majors in a couple of years, he could potentially show enough to break camp.

And then we have Oswaldo Cabrera, the Swiss-Army Knife of the Yankees the last few years. Cabrera broke camp last season as the starting third baseman before a season-ending injury forced a slew of moves -- from moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. to third to eventually trading for McMahon. Cabrera will look to prove to the Yanks that he's healthy. If he is, he should have the inside track to be a bench piece.

Many forget Cabrera has experience in the outfield -- as does Rosario -- so he could be used in a variety of ways. 

Spencer Jones

Jones took a massive step in his development in 2025, dominating Double-A pitching and carrying that over into Triple-A. Between the two levels, the young slugger slashed .274/.362/.571 with 35 home runs, 80 RBI and an OPS of .983. That production elevated Jones from an afterthought to on the doorstep of a promotion to the big leagues.

But just like Dominguez, Jones doesn't have a clear path to the bigs. The outfield is crowded, and it may not benefit Jones to sit on the bench and play once a week. Like most of the Yankees' roster, being left-handed also does Jones a disservice, as the team is already loaded with them. 

Jones could potentially play his way to breaking camp with the team, but he'll need to lower his strikeout rate. He fanned 200 times in 124 games in 2024 and 179 times in 116 games in 2025.

Other Infield Options

The Yanks need a fourth outfielder, but they can potentially piece it together with Rosario and Cabrera getting time in the outfield. Even Giancarlo Stanton could see some time in the outfield.

Although it's more likely the Yankees use a traditional outfielder on the bench, there are some infielders who could fill in the role if they play well enough or if Cabrera doesn't prove he's healthy enough.

Jorbit Vivas is one option. The youngster played 29 games in the bigs last season but didn't show much in terms of offense. He was 9 of 56 (.161) with two doubles, one home run and five RBI. He does provide versatility, playing at second and third last season, but would need to show more upside to make the team.

Paul DeJong is an interesting option. The veteran infielder was invited to camp and his experience is something the Yankees could use in a pinch. The 32-year-old played 57 games with the Nationals last year, slugging six homers while slashing .228/.290/.373. 

Meet the Mets

David Stearns was on hand to break ground on the team’s new minor league complex which will almost be entirely paid for by Steve Cohen.

After being acquired in the Freddy Peralta trade, Carlos Mendoza confirmed that Tobias Myers will be on the roster Opening Day but what role he would have remains unclear.

Christian Scott is in camp after losing all of last season to Tommy John surgery and he should provide valuable pitching depth to the team this year.

The team’s top prospects are all in camp and they all have something different they are working on to improve in hope of making the team in the future.

Tom Seaver’s family is auctioning off some of his things including memorabilia from the 1969 season.

Former Met Daniel Murphy is just one of the names that came up as a possible candidate to replace Tony Clark as leader of the MLBPA.

Around the National League East

Braves righty Spencer Schwellenbach underwent surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow and Hurston Waldrep will undergo the same surgery soon.

Marlins prospect Robby Snelling will get the start to open Grapefruit League action against the Mets.

Bryce Harper praised the Giants hiring of Tony Vitello as their new manager despite lacking major league experience.

Former Met Drew Smith signed a minor league contract with Washington and is hoping to impress the Nationals in camp after recovering from his second Tommy John surgery.

Around Major League Baseball

The Major League Baseball Players Association elected Bruce Meyer as its new interim executive director.

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol will miss the beginning of the season as he continues to recover from surgery for a torn labrum.

Due to his size Aaron Judge might benefit from the new ABS challenge system since umpires call him inconsistantly.

The Mariners signed catcher Mitch Garver to a minor league contract.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

On the latest episde of A Pod of their Own, broken hamate bones and the controversy of captains were discussed.

Lukas Vlahos previewed Ryan Clifford’s 2026 season.

This Date in Mets History

The New York Mets hosted their first ever spring training workout on this date in 1962.

Ahead of the Dodgers’ first official workout on Tuesday, manager Dave Roberts delivered his annual opening address to the team.

First full squad workout starts with a speech from Doc! #DodgersSTpic.twitter.com/pt1DH3vwM7

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) February 17, 2026

Included during the presentation was asking newcomers Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz why they chose the Dodgers. Well, besides the record-setting contractsboth signed.

From Alden González at ESPN:

Their message, Roberts said, centered on the team’s attention to detail, the professionalism with which they play and the way staffers take care of players’ families.

…

“I think one of our most overarching goals is to be a destination spot,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “Most important, where our own guys don’t want to leave. But where players from other teams are looking longingly, like, ‘Oh, I want to be on the Dodgers’ — that’s our goal. Because we feel like if we’re able to maintain our really talented players, we’re able to get really talented players from other teams, that obviously will help in our ultimate quest to win World Series.”

Roberts on Tuesday also was a guest on the ESPN Baseball Tonight podcast with Buster Olney, talking about Tucker and Díaz, among other things.

"What's makes a good manager – good players, and we got a lot of good players."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on the addition of Edwin Diaz and Kyle Tucker | @Buster_ESPN@ESPNLosAngeleshttps://t.co/LvReHHFmwMpic.twitter.com/HEeWF9Eu8h

— ESPN Podcasts (@espnpodcasts) February 18, 2026

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Christian Zazueta last season won the Branch Rickey Award as the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year, and figures to open his age-21 season with High-A Great Lakes. The right-hander was listed as one of 10 prospects to watch on the backfields this spring in Arizona by Baseball America.

“Zazueta’s fastball has taken a significant step forward alongside his physical development. The heater now sits around 93 mph and climbed as high as 98 in 2025,” wrote Jesús Cano. “The pitch excels because of his lower release height and excellent extension, allowing it to jump on hitters and generate more impact than the radar gun alone might suggest.”

Old friend alert

Former Dodgers general manager and current Colorado Rockies president of baseball operations talked with Renee Dechert at Purple Row about ‘Moneyball,’ which captured his time with the Oakland A’s under Billy Beane.

The whole interview is worth reading, but I particularly enjoyed this answer from DePodesta on on-base percentage, and how it was portrayed in the book (and movie):

It’s funny. There were a lot of things we were doing at that point that went beyond on-base, but it was in our conversations with Michael is probably the best way to express, at least directionally, what it is that we really were doing. We were trying to find value in the game. And at that point in the game, on-base was something that was probably a little undervalued. Now, in the last 20 years, there have been times where it’s been overvalued, and sort of gone through cycles.

Jaylon Thompson wrote about the first full-squad workout on Monday.

The Royals expect most of the spring competition to be reserve roles. The starting lineup is pretty much set with Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez leading the way.

“I mean, without naming names, it’s very obvious who some of the everyday guys are,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “The competition is going to be how we fill out the last, you know, I’ll say 10 through 13. You know, we have some guys that have more experience than others, but it’ll play out in spring training. And I think our guys are hungry. I think they understand what the competition is like. They want to go out and win.”

Anne Rogers writes about the team testing out the new ABS challenge system.

“We are going to talk about that a little bit to see who’s going to challenge,” catcher Salvador Perez said Saturday. “Early in the game, if we lose a challenge, we may need it later in the game. It’s like, ‘Should we wait?’ Even if the umpire makes a little mistake, you have to be 100% right to challenge in the first three innings. That’s kind of what I think. But I have to wait for Skip [manager Matt Quatraro] and see what Bobby [Witt Jr.], Vinnie and Maikel [Garcia] think about that.”

Stephen Kolek will start the Cactus League opener on Friday against the Rangers.

Stephen Kolek will be the #Royals starter for their Cactus League opener on Friday against the Rangers. Ryan Bergert follows on Saturday.

— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) February 18, 2026

Union reps came to Royals camp following the resignation of head Tony Clark.

“It was a good meeting,” said John Schreiber, who is the Royals’ player representative. “A lot of questions from guys and a lot of positive feedback. So feeling good about where we are right now. Obviously, it’s a little bit of a disappointment. A little bit of a challenge with what came out yesterday and all that stuff. But, you know, the unity and strength we have from this union from the players is what it’s about.”

David Schoenfield at ESPN gives the Royals a “C” for their offseason.

Kansas City outfielders hit a miserable .225/.285/.348 last season, which isn’t going to work if the Royals want to return to the postseason. They acquired Collins from the Brewers after he hit .263/.368/.411 and finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, but he was a 27-year-old rookie, so there isn’t any growth potential there — more likely some regression. Still, if he can get on base at a reasonable clip, he’ll give the Royals the leadoff hitter they lacked a season ago. Thomas hasn’t been good since 2023, so it’s unclear why the Royals would give him $5.25 million coming off a season in which he hit .160. Call it a ho-hum offseason that gets a boost with the underrated Maikel Garcia signing an extension that runs through 2031.

Philip Ruo at Royals Keep wonders who will lead off for the Royals in 2026.

Dan Szymborski has Carter Jensen at #15 and Blake Mitchell at #96 in his ZIPS top prospects.

The Astros sign former Royals infielder CJ Alexander to a minor league deal.

The Braves will be without pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep for the first two months.

The Mariners sign catcher Mitch Garver to a minor league deal.

Ten positional battles in MLB camps to be decided in spring training.

The Astros have interest in free agent outfielder Michael Conforto.

The key player for each World Baseball Classic team.

Bruce Meyer is named Executive Director of the MLBPA.

Aaron Judge wants to improve his baserunning.

Why the Orioles may not want to trade Coby Mayo or Ryan Mountcastle.

The Mets will never have a team captain under owner Steve Cohen.

How ten teams can overcome their playoff odds.

The Chiefs restructure Patrick Mahomes’ contract to free up more cap space.

The winners and losers from the first week of the Winter Olympics.

Antarctica has a gravity hole.

Cocaine is having a comeback.

The first worldwide Tic Tac Toe championship will be at SXSW.

Your song of the day is Built to Spill with The Plan.

Now that Spring Training is getting into full swing, various interviews are popping up ahead of Saturday’s games. Foul Territory posted many interviews from Guardians camp. The full, two-hour video is available on YouTube.

GM Mike Chernoff talked Travis Bazanna timetable, off season signings (and the lack thereof), and signing José. Players Gavin Williams, Slade Cecconi, Hunter Gaddis, and Cade Smith also made appearances.

Mason Horodyski of Channel 5 News also had a few interviews posted on his Twitter page. Gavin Williams spoke on his bond with Carl Willis. Slade Cecconi talked his mystic prediction powers and the power of friendship. Parker Messick is toying with a cutter. Hunter Gaddis gave his thoughts on how the new gaggle of bullpen pitchers are fitting in.

It was already announced the Logan T. Allen and Joey Cantillo will be getting the starts on Saturday. LTA will start at home against the Reds and Cantillo on the road against the Brewers.

As of yesterday, it is official perpetual baseball season:

From today through Sept. 27, there’s MLB or college baseball EVERY day… except two.

July 15–16 after the All-Star break. That’s it. Then 73 straight days of baseball before the postseason.

219 of the next 221 days filled with baseball 🙌

— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) February 18, 2026

Good morning baseball fans!

As we approach the beginning of the season, we’re going to be doing some questions for y’all about your thoughts about the San Francisco Giants and baseball in general!

Today’s question: What would be the darkest timeline for this season?

For those unfamiliar with the premise of the “darkest timeline,” it’s based on the episode of Community titled “Remedial Chaos Theory” in which a storyline plays out in various alternate realities based on the decision of which one of the main characters would go downstairs to get pizza.

You’ve probably seen the bit where Donald Glover’s character re-enters the scene with the pizzas while everything around him is on fire. And that wasn’t even the darkest timeline, just the most memorable (and meme-able) moment.

Basically the darkest timeline is the worst possible outcome with everything going as wrong as it could possibly go based on one factor changing.

A Giants example of this would be kind of like the 2021 team busting their butts, winning every game they possibly could win, only to have the Los Angeles Dodgers keep pace with them until the bitter end and ultimately overtake them in the first round of the playoffs because they were all tired as heck. And the Dodgers are like the monster in a horror movie.

You could also make a case for the 2011 season going pear-shaped after Buster Posey was injured. Or simply Game 6 of the 2002 World Series.

But in keeping with the spirit of the prompt, I’m going to go in a comical direction (read: joke. this is going to be a joke) and lay out my scenario for what could be the darkest timeline for the 2026 team.

On Opening Day, Tony Vitello is being hounded by the press after his recent statements about the handling of the announcement of his hiring, which causes a few too many people to be in a pre-game press conference in the dugout.

One of the attendees tries to toss a banana peel into the trash on their way out, but doesn’t realize they missed because they’re distracted by Lou Seal carrying a tray of drinks, dancing on the top of the dugout. Raphael Devers then slips on the banana peel, in cartoonish fashion, leading to a season ending injury.

Jung Hoo Lee and Willy Adames try to help, but Devers knocked over the water cooler on his way down and everything is slippery, so they crash into each other and end up on the concussion protocol for weeks.

Logan Webb attempts to set a good example to the rest of his team, and goes to warm up for the game. Unfortunately, he gets stung by a bee, causing him to throw an errant pitch directly into the knee of Matt Chapman, sidelining him for several days or even weeks, depending on the results of his MRI.

Lou Seal attempts to help boost morale by bringing the tray of drinks to the remaining players in the dugout, but trips on his way down the steps and spills hot coffee everywhere, as Patrick Bailey yells: “My eyes! The doctor said I’m not supposed to get coffee in them!”

The entirety of the infield and half of the relievers are now down with third degree burns, so Vitello begs the ownership to make corresponding moves immediately so they can actually field a team. But they’ve already spent too much money on real estate developments for the year, so they just send him deeds to various properties to shove into gloves and he tells them to take the field. And the season is over before it’s even started.

Annnnd, scene.

Feel free to come up with your own comical scenario, or go with something more realistic and depressing. Up to you!

What would be the darkest timeline for this season?

There was a time, not so long ago, when bullpen roles felt rigid. The setup man handled the eighth. The closer handled the ninth. Everyone else filled in the gaps and tried not to make a mess of things. But if there’s one quiet constant of Brewers baseball over the last several years, it’s this: they’ve understood the value of the multi-inning reliever better than most.

This isn’t some trendy, Rays-style opener experiment. It’s more practical than that. The Brewers have consistently built bullpens that don’t just survive when a starter exits in the fifth inning; they stabilize the game. And that stability often comes from the guy who throws the sixth and seventh instead of just one clean inning with the bases empty.

Modern starting pitching just doesn’t last the way it used to. Even good starters are carefully managed the third time through the order. Injuries pile up. Pitch counts climb. October-style urgency seeps into random Tuesday nights in June. If your bullpen is constructed entirely of one-inning specialists, you’re asking for burnout by August.

The Brewers have largely avoided that trap.

Think back to how they’ve deployed arms over the past several seasons. Whether it was a converted starter finding new life in relief or a swingman shuttling between roles, Milwaukee has consistently found ways to squeeze two or three innings out of pitchers who might be pigeonholed elsewhere. When a starter exits after four innings, it’s not a scramble. It’s often a bridge.

And that bridge matters more than the ninth inning sometimes.

We spend a lot of time talking about closers, and understandably so. High-leverage outs are dramatic. But the highest leverage point in a game frequently arrives in the sixth with two on and one out, not the ninth with the bases empty. The Brewers have shown a willingness to let their better non-closer arms handle those spots and keep going if they’re efficient. That’s not old-school long relief. That’s targeted aggression.

It also protects the bullpen as a whole. If one reliever can give you 2 1/3 clean innings on 28 pitches, that’s two other arms who get a full day off. Over 162 games, those saved bullets add up. Milwaukee’s ability to keep its late-inning arms fresh deep into seasons hasn’t been accidental. The approach fits the organization’s broader identity.

The Brewers are rarely the team with the deepest rotation on paper. They don’t wade into the top tier of free agency for 200-inning workhorses — just look at them trading aces like Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta before they inevitably lose them to free agency.

Instead, they build layers of pitching. Optionable depth. Pitchers with starter backgrounds who can slide into relief. Relievers who can stretch beyond the standard three outs if the matchup and pitch count allow it.

It’s flexible, and flexibility is currency in today’s game.

There’s also a developmental angle here. Milwaukee has long shown a knack for identifying pitchers with one or two standout traits and maximizing them. A fastball with unusual ride. A breaking ball with elite spin. In shorter bursts, those traits can dominate. But when those pitchers prove capable of turning a lineup over once without losing effectiveness, the Brewers don’t rush to cap them at a single inning. They experiment. They stretch them to 30 or 40 pitches. They see what happens.

Often, what happens is that the middle innings stop being a liability.

That might not show up in the save column, but it shows up in win expectancy. It shows up in series wins where the bullpen doesn’t feel fried by Sunday afternoon. It shows up in September when key relievers still have life on their fastballs.

If you want some easy current examples, look at Aaron Ashby and Jared Koenig, not to mention the now-departed Tobias Myers, all of whom filled that role at different points in 2025.

None of this means the Brewers have reinvented bullpen strategy. Plenty of teams deploy multi-inning arms. But Milwaukee has made it a habit rather than a contingency plan. When things go sideways early, they don’t panic. They patch the game together with purpose.

In a division that rarely offers much margin for error, that matters.

The art of the multi-inning reliever isn’t flashy. It won’t generate jersey sales. But it’s one of the reasons the Brewers so often feel competitive even when a game starts tilting in the wrong direction. They don’t just chase the final three outs. They control the gray area in the middle, and more often than not, that’s where games are actually decided.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – The Colorado Rockies invited 20 non-roster players to join Major League camp this year. Chief among them is their 2025 No. 2 prospect Charlie Condon (No. 2 Mid-Season PuRP).

The IF/OF was drafted third-overall in the 2024 MLB Draft out of the University of Georgia and has had a meteoric rise through the system. He finished 2025 in Double-A Hartford before being selected to the Arizona Fall League. While in the AFL, Condon was also selected as a Fall Star and as the winner of the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award winner. (In case you’re wondering, he said he put the award “on a dresser in [his] bedroom” but is also hoping to “one day…expand the trophy closet a little more.”)

This year, he made his debut in big-league camp.

“It’s great,” Condon said last weekend of his initial experience. “[It’s] just nice to be around the guys of the big-league group. They’ve been very welcoming to me so far. It’s been a good experience…I know all the guys here are really excited to work.”

Condon has been using the time to get to know all of the teammates he might start playing alongside soon.

“There have been a handful of guys that I’ve overlapped with in the minor league system here,” Condon said, “but just getting to know the guys that I haven’t played with yet [and] getting to know some of the new guys that we brought in this offseason…we’ve got a good group of position players. Just hanging out at first base the past couple of days, we’ve got some great guys over there. So it’s been fun to continue to get to know the guys I have played with and create relationships with the guys I haven’t.”

In addition to meeting his teammates, Condon is also eager to try out some of his offseason adjustments.

“I just worked on adjustability at the plate,” he said. “I brought my hands up a little bit higher to feel a little bit more of a natural turn.

“I felt like I hit well in the Fall League for average, but it’s got to kind of get that OPS and better ball flight [and] kind of feeling more of a natural turn in my swing. So hopefully that’ll lead to some more power production this year and things like that. But other than that, just getting stronger, staying healthy and being ready to go for today.”

In addition to his own personal adjustments, he’s also staying ready for the Rockies in whatever position they might need him to play – either strictly at first base or in the outfield.

“I’m kind of day-to-day wherever they need me,” he said. 

“The majority of my work has been at first base recently, but I still get out in the outfield and shag some balls during BP. [I] keep getting routes in and things like that so the corner outfields are never foreign to me, so [I’m] just keeping those in my back pocket. Wherever they need me – I feel comfortable at first base, I feel comfortable in the corner outfields, and [I’ll] just keep going from there.”

Condon is most looking forward to “the challenge” of big league camp.

“I feel like this is the best competition I’m going to have seen so far in my career, and I’m excited for it,” he said, smiling. 

“I feel like I’ve shown well against some of the other competition in the minor leagues, but [this is] as high as you can get to face the best competition you can. I’m excited about that, and I’m excited about growing closer with this group of guys as well.”

And most of all, he – like many others – is taking note of the clubhouse vibes.

“Obviously I wasn’t in big league camp last year, but there feels to be a different energy amongst the guys around here with the new leadership that we have,” he said. “There’s a lot of optimism, which is great. I think we’ve got some people in the right places and [we’re] just going to continue to keep moving forward and pushing the rock a little bit further.”

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Rockies embrace ‘Camp Schaeffer’ as franchise tries new methods to turn things around | Denver Post ($)

After being lauded as “insular” for many years, the Rockies are doing things differently this year — they’re opening camp up. On Tuesday, they sent out footage of a base-running drill; yesterday, they were very intentional about showing the media what a ‘day in the life’ looks like under the new regime. Schaeffer and DePodesta have said repeatedly that they value transparency and communication — and this is more proof of that.

RJ Petit aims to make impact with Rockies after Rule 5 draft selection | Denver Gazette ($)

RJ Petit was taken in the Rule 5 Draft by the Colorado Rockies in December and will be part of the Rockies’ bullpen in 2026. Kevin Henry profiles the towering 6-foot-8, 300-pound right-hander and what he could bring to the table.

Grading The Colorado Rockies Potential Starting Rotation For 2026 | Sports Illustrated

As we’ve discussed at length recently, grades are always arbitrary, especially when it comes to the national media and the Colorado Rockies. However, Jeremy Gretzer gave the Rockies’ rotation a B- for their efforts to retool and bolster a young rotation, even though they have a long way to go to completely rebuild the thing. He predicts the rotation as Kyle Freeland, José Quintana, Michael Lorenzen, Tomoyuki Sugano and Ryan Feltner. Do you agree with his grade and rotation?

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