Category: MLB

Game result:Diamondbacks 16, Cubs 8.

Zounds!

Jefferson Rojas continues to impress. He’ll need to get that BA up, though, to get to The Show. Miguel Amaya is smoking the ball. So is Matt Shaw. The pitching? The jury is still out. The third inning was troublesome for everypitcher. Knoxville sometime starter Dawson Netz closed out that span after six runs scored, but that wasn’t the end of it. Edward Cabrera came back out after a break and didn’t look any better than he had before. Netz also returned. He didn’t fare well. Neither did anyone else that pitched Wednesday afternoon at the stick, wearing Cubs colors. Rojas apparently angered the Diamondbacks.

I confess that I turned the audiocast off when it got to be 11-5. There was no telecast available. Us old folks need our naps, and opportunities are rare.

There was additional scoring while I dozed.

One of these days we’ll have video.

Miscellaneous:

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Marquee Sports Network reaches agreement with Hulu and Amazon Prime to stream Chicago Cubs games. “Chicago Cubs fans will have more direct-to-consumer streaming options to watch games this year.” Jeff Agrest has more* {$}.
• Mark Feinsand (MLB.com*): The Cubs’ message ahead of 2026 is simple: Win now, worry later. “With more than 40 percent of the roster potentially headed to the open market in the fall, the 2027 Cubs are almost certain to have a drastically different look than this year’s iteration. “
• Daryl Van Schouwen (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs pitcher Cade Horton appears to be back on track. “Horton is crafting the look of a staff ace who could one day get the call for Opening Day.” Jordan Bastian has more*.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Should the Cubs be concerned about Jameson Taillon’s spring training? “If I just sat here and told you I don’t care,” Taillon said, “I’d be lying straight to your face.”
• Brent Maguire (MLB.com*): Untouchable as Venezuela’s closer, Palencia shuts the door with straight heat. “ Venezuelan right-hander struck out nine batters across five hitless innings in 2026 WBC.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Ian Happ underscores that the focus right now is on winning in 2026. “The focus is just so much on this group,” Happ told The Athletic{$}.
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): Seiya Suzuki’s timeline is relatively clear,once you remove the bad data. “… his sprain is considered mild.”
• Stephen J. Nesbitt (The Athletic {$}): MLB All-Under-25 Team: Paul Skenes, Nick Kurtz, PCA headline an exciting crew. “Baseball has a golden generation of young stars right now, with several standouts replacing players who have aged out of this group.”

Food For Thought:

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

1962
A player who would represent GM Ken Harrelson’s cleverest trade and be a mainstay for some poor late-1980s White Sox teams, Iván Calderón, was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Signed by Seattle at age 17 and in the majors by 22, Calderón’s push for Rookie of the Year (STATS) was derailed by a broken hand. Benched (?) by the Mariners, Hawk swooped in and stole away Iván the Terrible for the low, low price of catcher Scott Bradley in the middle of the next season, 1986.

Calderón responded to the show of confidence by having what would stand as his finest season in the majors in 1987, when he put up 4.2 WAR along with 28 homers and 83 RBIs for the White Sox. He never again approached those numbers in Chicago, but over four-plus seasons (and not counting a career swan song of nine games in 1993), Calderón had 9.0 WAR and 70 homers, hitting .273.

After a bounce-back 1990 (2.6 WAR as a “veteran” on the upstart White Sox), Calderón was swapped to Montreal in a brilliant trade for Tim Raines.

In 2003, Calderón was murdered in a bar in Puerto Rico, in a crime that still has not been solved.

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1970
Future White Sox broadcaster and raconteur Ken Harrelson broke his leg sliding into second base during a spring training game with Cleveland. The break was so bad he was unable to return until September and effectively ended his career.

It also gave us one of the most iconic photos of The Hawk, as crutches did not sully his sartorial splendor:

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1972
The White Sox sold pitcher Rich Robertson back to the Giants. Chicago had picked up the southpaw on February 7, but during an off-day on the Spring Training schedule the White Sox cut their first six players from camp. Robertson, who’d given up five runs over six innings including two homers, was the only veteran in the bunch. He’d return to the Giants but did nothing to hang onto his MLB career, as San Fran cut him after just eight days.

Robertson caught on with Atlanta, starting 20 game in Triple-A over the summer, his last in pro ball.

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1979
White Sox shortstop prospect Harry Chappas appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline, “The Littlest Rookie.” 

Chappas was all of 5´3´´, and his career was as short as his height. In three years, Chappas appeared in 72 games with 184 at-bats, one home run, two stolen bases and 15 walks. Despite a horrendous career slash of .245/.307/.283, Chappas was never a negative-WAR player and finished his career (all played with the White Sox) with 0.6 WAR.

Part of the reason for his struggles, from those who knew him, was because of his reluctance to take advice from coaches and teammates. 

Chappas’ one career homer came in 1979 off of Milwaukee’s Bill Travers, who was otherwise enjoying a solid (2.4 WAR) season.

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1981
Maverick White Sox GM Frank “Trader” Lane died in Dallas, at 86.

Lane, who took over the White Sox in 1948 at a time when the franchise was threadbare in both coffers and talent, built the Go-Go White Sox of the 1950s. It was under his oversight the South Siders started a record streak of winning seasons (1951-67). The GM brought in such talent as Nellie Fox, Minnie Miñoso, Chicago Carrasquel, Billy Pierce and Sherm Lollar, more often than not in transactions that were utter steals for the White Sox. Lane was also a metrics innovator.

His GM career extended beyond the White Sox, to more than 400 trades in his career. But he is best known for his White Sox tenure, during which he forged 241 total deals.

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2010
Oney Guillén, White Sox minor league employee, commentary contributor to franchise radio flagship WSCR-AM, and son of manager Ozzie Guillén, was forced to leave the team after continued negative tweets levied against his own club. Oney had been a 36th round pick by the White Sox in 2007.

As for telling Oney he had to quit the team, Ozzie said, “I think that’s the hardest thing I ever did in my life.”

The Cheat had our South Side Sox coverage of the flap.

Many fans in the Yankeeverse aren’t too pleased with Austin Wells after his 2025 campaign. Count this site among them, as Jeremy gave him a C+ in our 2025 Roster Report Cards series.

It’s not hard to see why. After being touted as a bat-first catcher for much of his prospect days, Wells showed considerable offensive promise in his first full season in 2024. Although he endured a truly hellacious September/October slump, to the tune of a 23 wRC+ over 83 plate appearances, Wells still managed to post a 107 wRC+ overall. It wasn’t hard to dream on Wells being able to avoid another late-season swoon and being even better in 2025.

But, as we know all too well, that’s not what happened. In 2025, Wells’ wRC+ sunk to 94. His walk rate shrunk, his strikeouts ballooned, and if it wasn’t for Anthony Volpe and his batting average of .212, Wells’ .219 mark would have been the lowest among all Yankees regulars.

It’s only natural to wonder what went wrong for Wells last year. But digging into the data, what I found wasn’t a broken player, but a batter with a good understanding of who he is, and a great idea of what he wanted to do at the plate. Under the hood, Wells did the important things well in 2025. If he can keep doing those things in 2026, he should enjoy better results.

First, let’s establish Wells’ profile. Wells’ strength lies in his ability to hit for power. He consistently ran ISOs of around and above .200 in the minor leagues, and last year saw him stroke 21 homers in 448 plate appearances, good for a .217 ISO. Per Baseball Savant, his bat speed, average exit velocity, and barrel rate were all comfortably above average last year. The WBC just provided us with a prime example of Wells’ power:

On the other hand, making contact isn’t Wells’ forte. Yes, he managed to post a better-than-league-average K rate of 21 percent in 2024. However, Wells consistently ran K rates higher than that in the minors. Additionally, even though his K rate increased by five percentage points from 2024 to 2025, key contact ability indicators like his swinging strike rate and zone contact rate remained virtually unchanged. All this leads me to believe that Wells’ “true” K rate is somewhere closer to his 2025 mark than 2024. Let’s just say that Wells isn’t going to contend for the batting title anytime soon, or ever for that matter.

So, we’ve established that Wells doesn’t make a ton of contact, but he hits the ball reasonably hard. How, then, can he go back to being an above average hitter?

The key lies in maximizing the value of Wells’ contact by optimizing its distribution. Or, in plain English, pulling the ball in the air. And I’ve got great news: Wells already did that reasonably well in 2025. He just needs to lean into it more. It’s been said many times before, but it’s true so it bears repeating: pulling the ball in the air is good. I’m not saying this just because Wells is a left-handed hitter who calls Yankee Stadium home; this is true for all MLB hitters. Between 2022-2024, pulled air balls (defined as any contact that isn’t a ground ball) resulted in a .547 batting average and a 1.227 slugging percentage across the league. Mind you, this includes pop-ups, which drags down the overall results.

Now, I’m not suggesting that pulling balls in the air is a one-size-fits-all approach. Such an approach comes with risk; swings designed to do that will have holes in them which more level swings won’t. If you don’t have much in the way of raw power to begin with, you might be better off leveraging your contact skills to hunt for singles, like Luis Arraez or Steven Kwan. Conversely, if you have tons of raw power, maybe you shouldn’t fret too much about pulling the ball and just focus on making contact, letting your natural power supply the oomph. Looking at you, Aaron Judge and James Woods.

But Austin Wells fits in neither of those camps. He doesn’t possess the elite contact skills of Arraez or Kwan. He has above average raw power, but nowhere near Judge or Woods levels. In order to be a good hitter, Wells needs to make a conscious effort to make the most of what contact he does make, and that means pulling the ball in the air.

The good news is that Wells seems to be aware of this, and he’s trending in the right direction. Behold this graph:

But I think there’s potential for even more. Though his 2025 pulled airball rate of 22.8 percent was the highest of his career to date, that mark only placed him 85th among 348 players with at least 200 plate appearances last year. That mark can, and should, be higher. For context, the 2025 pulled airball king was Isaac Paredes, who had a 128 wRC+ last year despite a 14th-percentile average exit velocity, with a whopping 38.5 percent clip. Guess who barely came in second with a 38.4 percent mark — none other than Cal Raleigh, who had a pretty good season last year. I’d say that’s a good player to try to emulate.

Wells is already near-elite at avoiding ground balls. 67 percent of his contact was airborne last year, 29th-best in baseball. Given that he hits so many air balls, even a slight increase in his pulled airball rate would pay huge dividends.

Now, I realize this is easier said than done. How exactly should he go about trying to pull the ball in the air more? Should he adjust his timing to catch more balls out in front? Or does the secret lie in making better swing decisions? I don’t know, which is why I’m a blogger and not a hitting coach. What I do know is this: Wells needs to pull the ball in the air to have success at the plate. He already does so at an above-average rate, but by doing it even more, he could be even better. Let’s not forget that the 2025 version of Wells was already a three-win player thanks to his elite framing. If he realizes his offensive potential, we have a perennial All-Star on our hands.

(All data from FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.)

We are just one week away from Opening Day of the 2026 season! The Milwaukee Brewers are wrapping up Cactus League play and have a lot of cut-down decisions still to make. Entering today, the Brewers still have 38 players in major league camp. They’ll have to get that number down to 26 by next Thursday.

How that initial 26 will look is still up for debate. Even so, the Brewers have reiterated many times over the years that the Opening Day roster is just for one day, and they can and often have made changes heading into the second game of the season.

Still, tough decisions are going to have to be made for the Brewers to make it down to 26. Here’s how things currently project for that first game against the White Sox next week.

Catchers (2): William Contreras, Gary Sánchez

There’s not much controversy here. William Contreras will be the starter once again for the Brewers and will play the vast majority of games with no desire to take a rest day. While there was some belief earlier in the offseason that the Brewers could roll with Jeferson Quero as backup catcher, once Gary Sánchez was signed, that put those beliefs to bed. Sánchez provides a veteran backup that also can easily be pushed aside once Quero is ready.

Infield (6): Andrew Vaughn, Jake Bauers, Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, David Hamilton, Luis Rengifo

Right before spring training, the Brewers made a surprising trade, sending out their entire third base depth chart to the Red Sox. The deal returned David Hamilton to the organization, and a few days later, the Crew signed Luis Rengifo to help cover third base. Prospects like Jett Williams, Brock Wilken, and Cooper Pratt aren’t quite ready yet for the MLB roster.

Tyler Black has made a push this spring, but the role he fits best is occupied by Jake Bauers, who has also had a strong spring.

Outfield (5): Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Blake Perkins, Sal Frelick, Christian Yelich

Little in the way of surprises here as well. Chourio, Frelick, and Yelich are all guaranteed locks. Mitchell and Perkins have remained healthy this spring, which makes them very strong favorites to handle center field duties once again.

The tough decision is Brandon Lockridge, who has overhauled his swing in the offseason and has had a tremendous spring training. He’s certainly pushing for a roster spot, but the problem is that there are only so many to go around. It’ll come down to Mitchell most likely, and whether or not he’s ready to go after shoulder surgery last year. He needs to get the at-bats and physically be able to handle the kind of workload they need. If he can do that, he’ll get the spot. If not, Lockridge will take it.

Starting rotation (5): Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Kyle Harrison, Robert Gasser

It seems to be tracking as if Brandon Woodruff will not need an IL stint to start the season. Whether or not Woodruff will start on Opening Day remains to be seen, but if his spring training start later today goes well, he certainly could get that call. Still, he’s in this rotation.

Murphy has already confirmed Misiorowski and Patrick are in this group as well. As for the final two spots, that’s been the battle all camp. It looks as if Kyle Harrison has the inside track for a spot after coming over in that Durbin trade. However, Harrison did just leave his outing on Wednesday with a blister, so that does throw a wrench into things. Still, as of now, I’m projecting Harrison to make the team and the rotation.

The final spot I have going to Robert Gasser. I think it’s between him and Brandon Sproat, but I give the edge to Gasser because he’s been in the organization a bit longer, and the Brewers aren’t looking to have him work on tweaks as they have been with Sproat. They might want to give some more time to Sproat to work on those changes. Plus, Gasser is scheduled to start Saturday’s game for the Brewers, while Sproat only has a few game outings this spring. This is the time of year the Brewers line up the guys they want, and with Gasser in there, I give the edge to him.

Bullpen (8): Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, Ángel Zerpa, Grant Anderson, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Easton McGee

The bullpen picture looks a little different than we might have been expecting not long ago. Rob Zastryzny, who is out of minor league options, has a rhomboid strain and will be on the IL until mid-April, so that takes him out of this bullpen. His potential replacement, Craig Yoho, is dealing with a calf injury as well, so he is also out of the running.

Megill, Uribe, Koenig, Zerpa, Anderson, and Ashby are all locks for this roster. DL Hall likely can be considered one as well. That leaves just one spot remaining, and with the injuries that happened, McGee is sitting in a pretty good position to get that spot.

It’s just McGee and Sammy Peralta left in big league camp as true relievers for that last spot. Peralta is a lefty and McGee is a righty, so choosing McGee would give the Brewers four righties and a more balanced bullpen. There’s a chance that Sproat or Shane Drohan could end up taking that final bullpen spot as a long reliever type, but with Ashby and Hall already in this bullpen, there’s really no need for a third long reliever.

Injured List (4): Quinn Priester, Rob Zatryzny, Craig Yoho, Akil Baddoo

Quinn Priester is working through a wrist issue that has plagued him all spring. The aforementioned Zastryzny and Yoho came down with new injuries late in camp here, which are unfortunate. Akil Baddoo, who was still on the outside looking in for this outfield picture, has a quad strain that will keep him out for a couple of weeks, so he will also find himself on the IL to start the year.

We’ve officially hit the part of spring training where spring training has gone on too long. How do I know that you ask? Well Garrett Stubbs hit leadoff and played third base yesterday. Get me to Opening Day.
On to the links

Phillies news:

• Bryce Harper reflected about what the World Baseball Classic and the sport itself means to Jeff Passan in the immediate aftermath of the WBC final.
• Matt Gelb’s latest notes on the spring, including Adolis Garcia’s new stance and a look at looming roster decisions. ($)
• Zack Wheeler is progressing well. Could an actual game be his next step? ($)

MLB News:

• Toronto’s José Berrios won’t be ready for the start of the season, as he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back.
• J.P. Crawford’s status for Mariners at the start of the year is also in jeopardy, as he received a cortisone shot in his ailing shoulder.
• The Athletic is asking for your help with the Hope-o-meter, their annual surgery of fan optimism for each team. ($)

Hello, friends.

We are now just one week away from Orioles Opening Day. It’s true! Real baseball that counts will be back at Oriole Park at Camden Yards next Thursday afternoon. Hopefully that will be fun. Until then, there are another six exhibition games to get through, including a split-squad day today. Road Orioles play the Yankees at 1:05, while home Orioles play the Pirates at 6:05. The night game will be televised locally on MASN. The day game has only a Yankees broadcast for TV. Neither game has a radio broadcast.

In yesterday’s spring training action, the Orioles played the Blue Jays. They were victorious by a 3-2 score, with each of Ryan Mountcastle and Adley Rutschman recording multi-hit games and Jeremiah Jackson hitting his first homer of spring training. The starting pitcher, Albert Suárez, gave up a run in four innings while striking out five batters in what could be his last big audition to make the roster before camp is over. The O’s improved their Grapefruit League record to 9-11-3 with this win. Four games in Florida remain.

This deep into spring training, it’s around the point where I’d like to start seeing good results from players who are going to be on the roster and getting regular playing time. Some guys are doing pretty well and not giving much reason to worry about them. Others are more in the “Well, it’s a good thing that doesn’t count” category.

These guys who I think are likely to be in the Opening Day lineup are OPSing over .800:

• Adley Rutschman (.880 OPS)
• Samuel Basallo (.946)
• Coby Mayo (1.131)
• Taylor Ward (.960)

Additionally, Gunnar Henderson was a hot hitter in the World Baseball Classic when Team USA’s idiot manager put him in the lineup. He had not been doing well early on before leaving for Team USA. I am choosing to be more excited about the recent results. Tyler O’Neill, who only had 11 PA before joining Team Canada, has also had a split spring with interesting things going on.

Riding the struggle bus for spring with an OPS below .700:

• Colton Cowser (.564)
• Blaze Alexander (.653)
• Heston Kjerstad (.669)
• Leody Taveras (.595)

Kjerstad probably starts in the minors, especially since his bat has cooled. Taveras isn’t here for his bat. Those other guys, though… it’s time to get it going. Cowser is the expected regular center fielder and Alexander is likely to play a lot this season between Jackson Holliday’s and Jordan Westburg’s injury situations. Maybe they’ll start to make us feel a little better about them in the next few days.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Two more roster cuts gets Orioles camp down to 47 (Baltimore Baseball)
Reliever Jose Espada and pitching prospect Luis De León were reassigned to minor league camp yesterday. Neither was ever likely to make the Opening Day roster, so no surprises there. De León is a guy I’ll be following curiously this season.

O’Neill on WBC experience, spring breakout roster, other Wednesday notes (School of Roch)
The Spring Breakout game is happening on Friday evening in Sarasota, with Orioles prospects playing a team of Red Sox prospects. As you can probably guess, there is no local broadcast of the game.

Three reasons why this could be a special season in Birdland (Steve on Baseball)
Are you buying any of this optimism from Steve Melewski?

Bryan Ramos keeps building sleeper case to make Orioles Opening Day roster (Orioles.com)
If I had thought it worth including Ramos above, he definitely would have made it on the “who’s hot” list. There is a case for him, if the Orioles aren’t worried about the last infielder on the bench being able to play shortstop.

Orioles begin construction on flag court bar that will open midseason (The Baltimore Banner)
There were multiple announcements involving corporate sponsorships yesterday. As those corporations have not paid me to promote them (but if they want to, my rates are reasonable) I will not be doing so at this time. This one is about a beer company sucking up flag court real estate. This one is indistinguishable from some stupid idea John Angelos could have had. Maybe he even did have it. I hope it doesn’t turn out like an eyesore.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Nothing of particular note has been recorded for this date in Orioles history. That probably won’t change today unless there’s bad news.

There is one lone former Oriole with a birthday today. Happy 52nd birthday to Rocky Coppinger, an Orioles pitcher from 1996-99. He had a 5.68 ERA in 45 games with the team. Young Mark was excited about him once.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: explorer David Livingstone (1813), O.K. Corral gunfighter Wyatt Earp (1848), Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891), author Philip Roth (1933), and rapper Yung Gravy (1996).

On this day in history…

In 1284, the Principality of Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England after the Statute of Rhuddlan was enacted by the king of the time, Henry I, who had conquered Wales following a rebellion over the previous two years.

In 1831, the first recorded bank heist in American history took place as burglars took $245,000 in 1831 dollars from City Bank on Wall Street in New York City. City Bank still operates today as Citibank.

In 1918, Congress established time zones in the United States and granted approval for daylight savings time.

A random Orioles trivia question

I received a book of random Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ll ask a question each time it’s my turn in this space until I run out of questions or forget. The book gives multiple choice answers, but that would just make it too easy for us, so you don’t get them. Here’s today’s question:

Who was the only player to ever record his 500th home run in Memorial Stadium?

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 19. Have a safe Thursday.

Gerrit Cole completed a major milestone in his recovery from Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, pitching in his first live-action game and making his Grapefruit League debut. He pitched a single inning, tossing 10 pitches in a breezy outing that saw him touch the high 90s in velocity on his fastball. With the team committed to running back most of the 2025 team that wound up winning 94 games but got bounced in the ALDS, the few new faces that will appear need to really count for them, and Cole’s is the biggest one.

The team’s defacto ace since signing the then-largest contract for a pitcher in free agent history in 2019, Cole’s shown the team exactly why they need him out on the mound. He’s been a perennial Cy Young candidate in pinstripes and won the award in 2023, anchored the staff in their run to the World Series in 2024, and provided a wealth of knowledge to the rest of the pitching staff. He was also sorely missed for a good portion of that 2024 season as he started on the IL, missed the entirety of last year to the aforementioned Tommy John, and likely pitched through an injury in 2021 that led to the team flaming out in the Wild Card.

Health is always the predominant factor when it comes to pitchers, who carry more risk in their arms than any other ballplayer. And the risk never fades away after the injury is over — some careers never return to the trajectory they were on as players are forced to adjust to prevent repeat injury, or simply lose some of the velocity they relied on when they return. Thus far Cole hasn’t displayed those concerns, and from quotes throughout spring looks unburdened and free to flash some of the vintage heaters he dominated the league with. But with the journey back to the mound still not complete, as Cole will likely still be sidelined from regular season action until late May or early June, what can the Yankees expect when they do finally slot him back into the rotation?

His ’24 campaign, as alluded to, was delayed by injury and forced him to sit out for a similar timeline to the one he’s facing now. His results remained strong, tossing 95 innings and sustaining a sub-3.50 ERA while he dealt with a little more traffic on the bases than he normally allowed. If that’s the baseline for what the Yankees can expect in the regular season, Cole will still be a solid addition but will need to be more than that come October if the Yankees want to go farther than they did with this team last year. However, that year Cole’s issues could’ve required Tommy John and he managed to stave it off, while this most recent issue forced him to go under the knife and resolve the issue for good. If Cole’s got access to more life on his reconstructed elbow, there’s room to hope that he turns the clock back to that marvelous 2023 form, one that would instantly push the Yankees near the top of any “best rotation in baseball” conversation. It’s anyone’s guess what spring training form will translate to, but in Cole’s case his form deserves a bit more examination than anyone else in camp, and the signs have been only positive thus far.

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Today on the site, Kento leads off with a look at why Austin Wells needs to stay the course in his pursuit of offensive results, followed by a double dose of Matt first examining Ben Hess’ potential contributions this season before covering Fritz Brickell’s short time in New York celebrating the life that was unfortunately taken too soon. Andrés recaps all of the production from Yankees contributors in the World Baseball Classic, and later in the afternoon Peter previews the Los Angeles Dodgers and their stranglehold over the preseason predictions.

Today’s Matchups

New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles | Blue Jays (split squad)

Time: 1:05 p.m. EST

Video: YES, Gotham Sports App, ESPN Unlimited |Gotham Sports App, Sportsnet

Venue: George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, FL | TD Ballpark, Dunedin, FL

Didier Fuentes is doing his best to make his case for the Opening Day roster, as he is lighting up the radar gun and opposing hitters this spring. He has currently pitched 9.0 scoreless innings with 17(!!!) strikeouts and 0 walks, which is just preposterous stuff even in a small sample against varied levels of competition. He is relying heavily on his four-seam fastball, which has been sitting 96-97, with his slider as his clear second pitch and a few sinkers mixed in to round out his arsenal. An argument could certainly be made on merit for carrying him on the Opening Day roster as a starter or bullpen option, but there is another argument for giving him a little time to continue refining those secondary pitches before he is inevitably needed at the major league level later this season. That combination of stuff and command has Didier with a lethal look about him though. It will be interesting to see what the front office decides, as these roster decisions are rapidly approaching.

Braves News

Fuentes’ 4.0 inning, 8 strikeout performance headlined an otherwise quiet Spring Training game on Wednesday against the Phillies.

The Braves finalized their Spring Breakout roster, cutting many interesting pitchers from a staff led by Owen Murphy.

BravesVision formally announced their broadcast crew, which is largely the same crew that already existed for the local broadcast, with Paul Byrd returning to supplement the sideline coverage and Charlie Culberson joining the post-game crew.

MLB News

Blue Jays beleaguered starter Jose Berrios has a stress fracture in his elbow and will miss Opening Day.

The Reds are carrying top pitching prospects and former Wake Forest stars Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder on their Opening Day roster.

Paul DePodesta discussed his plans to turn around the Rockies with ESPN.

New York Sports+ | Joel Sherman ($): Gerrit Cole finally threw a pitch in anger. 54 weeks after undergoing Tommy John surgery, the former Cy Young winner returned to the mound with a spring start against the Red Sox yesterday. He threw just 10 pitches in a clean inning, but his fastball velo looked hot. There’s a way to go in the rehab process yet, but we got a good first step out of the way on Wednesday.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: We have two stories filed by Gary today, the first talking with Oswaldo Cabrera about the importance of Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic victory. Cabrera wasn’t on the roster for his country of course, but the meaning of such an upset win reverberates nonetheless. Hosting a watch party in Tampa, Oswaldo was openly shedding tears of joy over the accomplishment of his countrymen, and hopefully seeing that kind of international performance serves as inspiration for a player at the bubble of the Yankee 26-man roster.

Sports Info Solutions | Mark Simon: Part of SIS’ spring preview series, let’s delve into whether the Yankees are a good defensive team. The left side of the infield should be solid, with Ryan McMahon, José Caballero, and eventually Anthony Volpe all more than competent, but the steps backward that presumptive center fielder Trent Grisham took in 2025 could be a defensive vulnerability.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Carlos Lagrange has been one of the revelations out of camp, and while the massive right-hander may still need some time with Triple-A Scranton to start the year, it shouldn’t surprise any of us if he finds his way to the Bronx this year. The Yankees are already publicly admitting that he’s major-league ready, so it seems its just a matter of time before a roster slot opens and we see that 101 mph heater in pinstripes.

With the Major League spring camps winding down, the Minor Leagues will take over the training complexes for their respective teams. To begin that transition, MLB is hosting the third annual Spring Breakout Series in the spring facilities of all 30 MLB clubs. There will be eight games in both the Cactus League and Grapefruit League complexes, with 91 of the top 100 prospects on rosters for the games.

The following is the schedule, with times (ET) and TV coverage:

Thursday, March 19

• Marlins at Astros, 12:05 p.m. ET (Space City Home Network)
• Phillies at Twins, 1:05 p.m. ET (MLBN, MNNT & Amazon)
• Reds at Giants, 9:05 p.m. ET (MLBN, NBC Sports Bay Area & Amazon)
• Guardians at Angels, 1 p.m. ET (MLB App)
• Nationals at Cardinals, 4:30 p.m. ET (MLB App)
• Rays at Mets, 7:10 p.m. ET (MLBN, SNY & Amazon)

Friday, March 20

• Royals at Rangers, 4 p.m. ET (Rangers Sports Network & Amazon)
• Mariners at Brewers, 5:10 p.m. ET (MLBN)
• Red Sox at Orioles, 6:05 p.m. ET (MASN)
• Tigers at Pirates, 7:35 p.m. ET (MLBN, SNP & Amazon)

Saturday, March 21

• Blue Jays at Phillies, 1:05 p.m. ET (MLBN, NBC Sports Philadelphia & Amazon)
• White Sox at Dodgers, 6:30 p.m. ET (MLBN, CHSN & Amazon)
• Braves at Yankees, 6:35 p.m. ET (YES)
• Rockies at Diamondbacks, 8 p.m. ET (MLB App)
• Padres at Cubs, 9:05 p.m. ET (Marquee)

Sunday, March 22

• Brewers at Athletics, 4:05 p.m. ET (MLBN & Amazon)

The Padres will play the Chicago Cubs on March 21 at 6:05 p.m. PT at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. Their trimmed roster was announced today and represents many of the top prospects in the system. Top pitching prospect LHP Kruz Schoolcraft will join the 2024 draft LHP Kash Mayfield and RHP Miguel Mendez as three of the top four Padres prospects on the roster. They are joined by catcher Ethan Salas, who rounds out the top five with pitcher Humberto Cruz (No. 5) recovering from elbow surgery this season.

There are 27 prospects on the Padres roster.

Gameday Roster (Padres Top 30 Prospects list):

PITCHERS (13)
Jaxon Dalena, RHP, No. 30
Clay Edmondson, RHP, NR
Harry Gustin, LHP, NR
Luis Gutierrez, LHP, No. 20
Garrett Hawkins, RHP, No. 14
Kannon Kemp, RHP, No. 19
Josh Mallitz, RHP, NR
Kash Mayfield, LHP, No. 4
Miguel Mendez, RHP, No. 3
Johan Moreno, RHP, NR
Kleiber Olmedo, RHP, NR
Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP, No. 1/MLB No. 88
Lan-Hong Su, RHP, No. 18

CATCHERS (4)
Brendan Durfee, C, NR
Ty Harvey, C, No. 8
Truitt Madonna, C, No. 24
Ethan Salas, C, No. 2

INFIELDERS (6)
Kale Fountain, 1B/3B, No. 10
Dylan Grego, SS, NR
Ryan Jackson, SS, NR
Jorge Quintana, SS/3B, No. 7
Romeo Sanabria, 1B, No. 28
Jose Verdugo, SS, NR

OUTFIELDERS (4)
Braedon Karpathios, OF, No. 12
Kavares Tears, OF, No. 27
Kasen Wells, OF, NR
Ryan Wideman, OF, No. 9

Tune in on Padres.TV/MLB.com, MLB app and SDPA for the Padres coverage. Marquee will carry the game for the Cubs.

Other notable prospects

Taiwanese pitcher Lan-Hong Su has been added to the prospects in Arizona. He will begin his US career on a minor league team or with the Arizona Complex League this summer. At 19, there is still growth that needs to occur before the organization gets a real feel for who he will become but his promise is significant.

When the Padres traded Brandon Lockridge to Milwaukee for Nestor Cortes, shortstop Jorge Quintana and cash. The majority of Padres fans probably didn’t realize the prize of that trade is Quintana. Currently ranked as the No. 7 prospect in the system, Quintana is 18 and has raw skills. If unable to stick at shortstop he could move to third and still be a valuable player in the system.

Catcher Ethan Salas needs to step forward this year in order to maintain any prospect status but the Padres remain high on the 19-year-old. He is joined on this roster by two other catchers drafted in the 2025 draft who could become average to above-average backstops in time, Ty Harvey and Truitt Madonna.

First baseman Romeo Sanabria has distinguished himself in Padres camp with his bat and solid defense. Infielder Kale Fountain is the other bat to watch in the lineup, his power potential is still to develop but was the reason he was drafted by the organization.

This will be the final year for this format as the new approach next year, if there is a spring training next year, will be totally different. This information was covered in the preview post on Gaslamp Ball.

The Red Sox re-negotiated a deal with lefty Danny Coulombe after an issue with his physical popped up. 

Multiple outlets reported that the veteran pitcher and the organization had originally agreed to a one-year deal for $2.25 million that included $750,000 in incentives. 

The reworked deal now pays him $1 million, along with an active roster bonus that gets Coulombe to $2.25 million as well as the $750,000 related to incentives, The Athletic reported. 

Coulombe, 36, is coming off a 2025 season where he pitched for the Rangers and Twins. 

He registered a 2.30 ERA while striking out 43 batters in as many innings. 

Neither the club nor the player’s representative has addressed the issue publicly. The initial reports did not indicate what was flagged in the physical to lead to the contract change.

Coulombe was out for three months in 2024 after he had surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow, and in 2025, he was out a month early in the season due to a forearm extensor strain. 

He also missed a part of the end of the year due to shoulder fatigue. 

When he arrived at camp this spring, he told reporters that he was healthy. 

“As you get older, it just gets a little harder to get warm in the morning,” Coulombe said. “But I feel good now. I feel healthy, and this is a good [Red Sox] bullpen.”

Coulombe has pitched 11 years in the major leagues, spending time with the Dodgers, A’s, Twins, Orioles and Rangers.

You hate when speculation becomes reality, as San Diego Padres Joe Musgrove will begin the 2026 season on the injured list. Not good news with Opening Day being a week away. 

The Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, A.J. Preller is in a bind with his starting rotation needing an immediate reinforcement. Suddenly, the Friars have concerns about where the innings will come from the rotation besides Michael King, Nick Pivetta and Randy Vasquez. Unfortunately, the free agent market has dwindled to one intriguing option… Lucas Giolito.

Giolito is a dependable starter

Giolito posted a 3.41 ERA in 26 starts with the Boston Red Sox last season. He can pick up the slack, but the Padres better act fast because Giolito’s market should heat up before Spring Training ends. Several teams are expected to pursue him.

The San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves have been identified as potential destinations for Giolito. Both teams, like the Friars, are searching for starting pitching depth. His addition would be a tremendous depth piece to any team’s 40-man roster.

Adding a proven starter like Giolito will keep the rotation stable until the injured starters can return. His pitching style does fit the confines of Petco Park. He is a fly-ball pitcher who struggles with giving up home runs. However, the marine layer off the bay during night games should keep those drives inside the ballpark. 

Padres have been searching for SP depth all offseason

It does not hurt to add more depth to the organization, as the Padres signed experienced starter Griffin Canning before the start of Spring Training. He will not be available until May, as Canning is recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon suffered last June. 

The right-hander has been recently throwing off the mound and fully participating in fielding drills. Canning has confirmed no discomfort, but the recovery process is in the early stages. 

Also, the Friars brought in other starting pitching candidates on minor league deals. German Marquez and Marco Gonzales had trouble finding consistency on the mound in Spring Training games. Marquez has a 12.15 ERA in three outings, while Gonzales was hit hard in a recent appearance against the Texas Rangers. 

Arm injuries are part of baseball; adding a proven starter like Giolito could be the difference in keeping the Padres in playoff contention.

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo put the wraps on the World Baseball Classic, welcome Nolan McLean back to the Mets, and dive into the team's final roster decisions. 

Leading off, Connor and Joe look back at the WBC and toward what it can be in the future, then turn their full focus back to the Mets and the battles for the final bullpen and bench spots. 

The guys also study the state of Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, and the starting rotation, go Down on the Farm to preview this year's Spring Breakout Game, and answer Mailbag questions about Ryan Clifford, Mark Vientos, and prospect Zach Thornton.

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s a question: Which Colorado Rockie (or Rockies) do we appreciate that should receive more attention?

Look, we’re the Colorado Rockies Sickos [complimentary]. We knew that Brenton Doyle was an elite outfielder before most of baseball figured it out.

But who are some of the players on the roster (or on the farm) that you think more people should be talking about?

Me, I’m going with Ezequiel Tovar. We’ve been aware of his game since he was called up, but after having a stellar World Baseball Classic — including being named to the 2026 Classic All-Tournament Team — more fans are becoming aware of just how good he is (if he’ll stop chasing those outside breaking balls).

Let us know in the comments, Purple Row Night Owls!

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Introduction:

Continuing our NL West offseason reviews, having already looked at the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres in prior weeks, we turn our attention today to the San Francisco Giants.

2025 Season Overview/Recap

On June 13th, the San Francisco Giants were 41-29 and tied for first place in the NL West with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Two days later, GM Buster Posey swung a trade with the Boston Red Sox for the disgruntled Rafael Devers to bolster their roster. However, the Giants would do so badly over the course of the next month and half that they’d pivot to being sellers at the trade deadline. Ultimately the Giants would finish with an 81-81 record in 2025, finishing third in the NL West. Although they got off to a promising start through the first half of the season, this proved to be a very mediocre Giants squad, especially compared to the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. They weren’t as bad the last place Colorado Rockies, but they also weren’t particularly good either, much like the 2025 Arizona Diamondbacks, who they finished two games ahead of.

Notable acquisitions:
OF Harrison Bader (2 yr, $20.5M) 
1B/2B Luis Arraez (1 yr, $12M) 
SP Tyler Mahle (1 yr, $10M) 
SP Adrian Houser (2 yr, $22M, 2028 option) 
RP Sam Hentges (1 yr, $1.4M) 
RP Jason Foley (1 yr, $2M) 
OF Will Brennan (Split Contract 400k in MILB, 900k in MLB. ) 

Notable subtractions:
SP Justin Verlander (Tigers)
C Andrew Knizner (Mariners)

Offseason Summary and Review

Let me put this as politely as possible, I am not a fan of the Giants offseason. This was a mediocre roster to begin with entering the offseason, and I don’t think any of these moves improve the team enough to push them into serious contention. Harrison Bader has only been an above average hitter in four out of the nine seasons he’s played at the MLB level. His baserunning has declined into the negative the last two season, while his defense is only slightly above average at best.

Luis Arraez may have once won the batting title back in 2023 his .354 batting average, but that appears to have been the peak of his career. The career high 3.4 fWAR he posted that season fell to 1.1 fWAR in 2024, and then fell even further down to just 0.9 fWAR in 2025. Arraez has never brought much else to the table other than an empty batting average, and that lofty .354 average from 2023 fell to .324 in 2024, then it catered even further to a career low of .289 in 2025. $12m would be a great deal for a 3.5 WAR player, but Arraez clearly isn’t that guy and he’s unlikely to replicate that success again. (There’s also the question of how good of a fit Arraez is for Oracle Park, but I digress…)

I like the Tyler Mahle signing the most out of all the deals the Giants made over the winter. Mahle seems to be healthy for the first time in years after having his 2023 season end in Tommy John Surgery. While I don’t think he’s going to return to form and match the 180 IP and 4.9 bWAR he put up in 2021, I do think he is a definite upgrade to the Giants rotation if he can stay healthy.

Adrian Houser is coming off a career best 3.3 bWAR, with his previous career high being the 2.0 bWAR back in 2019. In between those two seasons Houser has been maddeningly inconsistent, putting up negative WAR just as often as he has been able to provide positive WAR. Needless to say, I like this signing a lot less than I like the Mahle signing

Neither Sam Hentges nor Jason Foley have pitched in the Major Leagues since 2024, and both are currently on the Giants Injured List. Hentges is currently working his way back and has just now began throwing against live batters, while Foley likely won’t be coming off the IL until June at the earliest. Both are low risk deals with decent upside, though I think Foley is unlikely to provide much value to the Giants at all.

Will Brennan is coming off of TJ surgery AND a groin surgery, with the latter being a lingering issue apparently. Brennan hasn’t proven himself to be an everyday player, but if he manages to figure it out and breakout with the Giants, he’s under team control until the 2030 season.

This may not seem that different from what the Padres or Dodgers did, but neither the Dodgers nor Padres needed to move the needle as much as the Giants this offseason. The upside offered by each of these players seems very limited even in the best case scenarios, though there is some upside with all of these players. The two things that keeps this slipping any lower than a D+ grade is that these are all reasonable contracts, with no egregious overpays, and at least they did something.