Category: MLB

It’s a Monday in March, and you know what that means: it’s time for another edition of Pinstripe Alley’s Making the Team Meter! The third week of March is typically a major milestone, as we are now officially closer to Opening Day than we are to the first spring training game. As such, this is typically the week that teams take an axe to their spring training roster, and the Opening Day squad begins to slowly take shape. Thanks to the World Baseball Classic, however, the Yankees have taken their time trimming down the roster, as they have worked to make sure that they have kept enough players in the big league camp to get through the spring schedule.

Despite this relative lack of cuts, we can look at usage, individual performance, and comments by Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman to get a sense as to how these few roster battles are shaping up, and begin to more firmly project the anticipated Opening Day roster — although, as will be clear shortly, comments from the organization might actually increase the uncertainty, rather than help us gain an insight into what the team is thinking.

As always, in case you need it, I’ve included the key below as a refresher. I’d also like to remind you that, like last week, players who were cut or removed from the injured list prior to last Monday will not appear on these lists, while those cut in the last seven days will.

As always, let’s start with the pitchers:

In a spring where injury news has been fortunately few and far between, the majority of the pitching staff looks, in theory, rather set. Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Ryan Weathers, Will Warren, and Luis Gil represent the team’s five starters. David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz, and Tim Hill will be the team’s quartet of high-leverage relievers, while Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn will at least open the year as multi-inning relievers capable of starting if needed. Even if Weathers and Gil have looked inconsistent on the mound so far this spring, nothing that we have seen has truly changed this projection, which leaves just two bullpen spots up for grabs.

And yet, early during yesterday afternoon’s broadcast on the YES Network, Michael Kay, David Cone, and Meredith Marakovitz threw a wrench into these projections by highlighting the number of off-days the Yankees have during the first month of the season. From the start of the season on March 25th through the end of April, New York has a whopping five days off, including three in the first eight days of the season. Because of this, the team can open the season with just four starters for at least the first two trips through the order.

Judging from Aaron Boone’s comments during his fourth inning interview on YES, I think the Yankees are inclined to use a four-man rotation to start the season; after all, Boone did say he wants to avoid giving his starters seven or more days of rest between starts, something that can easily happen with a five-man rotation early in the season. But exactly how this changes their plan for the roster remains to be seen. The simplest way, which the Yankees have done in recent years, is to have the No. 5 starter begin the season in Triple-A, allowing them to carry an extra reliever for the season’s first week; this is especially useful, as most starters are only built up to 80-90 pitches for their first start anyway. But Boone stressed the fact that the team has seven to eight players who will be built up as starters, and suggested that possibility of lining up those not in the rotation to piggy back behind the starter, allowing them to remain stretched out, at least early in the season.

How the Yankees opt to approach this — something which Boone suggested they will do this week — will have ramifications throughout the roster. If they take the first way and bring an extra reliever, one of Warren and Gil will open the season in Scranton (hence why both are now listed as yellow, although I think the team is more likely to carry Warren than Gil, even before Gil’s stinker yesterday), and they will carry three relievers. If they opt to employ Yarbrough, Blackburn, and Warren/Gil as swingmen, as David Cone called the role yesterday, then they may be able to carry one fewer reliever than normal, allowing them to carry 14 position players (and thus solving the roster jam there, discussed below).

Regardless of the number of relievers the Yankees will take, there’s still very little clarity. The team cut another round of pitchers this week — Michael Arias, Brendan Beck, Kyle Carr, Dylan Coleman, Dom Hamel, and Ben Hess — but none of them were exactly in line to crack the roster anyway. Angel Chivili and Jake Bird have struggled, Cade Winquest and Osvaldo Bido need to make the roster (the former because he was a Rule 5 Draft pick, the latter because he’s out of minor league options), and Yerry De los Santos, Kervin Castro, and Brent Headrick have looked good this spring, but lack long track records. How will the Yankees weigh these considerations? Bryan Hoch has Bird and Headrick make the team, with a shoutout to Castro, but as we’ll see later, his projected roster has some flaws. The FanGraphs Depth Chart has not wavered from its Winquest/Bird pairing. For now, it truly is anybody’s game.

Catcher, on the other hand, looks very, very different:

Austin Wells will be the starter. J.C. Escarra will be the backup. With the Yankees opting to have Ben Rice focus on first base this spring, this will be the Yankees’ catching tandem. Michael Kay’s offhand comment yesterday that Ryan McMahon’s struggles at shortstop may put Escarra’s roster spot in danger should be ignored, because it would be malpractice to have Rice start the season as the backup catcher without any game action behind the plate to start the season.

Miguel Palma was reassigned to the minor league camp after yesterday’s game.

Last but not least, the position players:

Out of the players on this list, 11 can make the Opening Day roster. After the Yankees took an axe to the roster this week — George Lombard Jr., Marco Luciano, Braden Shewmake, Duke Ellis, Yanquiel Fernández, Ernesto Martínez Jr., Jonathan Ornelas, and Zack Short were reassigned to minor league camp, 23 remain with the big league club — a testament to the team’s need for bodies with so many players representing their country in the World Baseball Classic.

With a pair of veterans in Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario under contract, the Yankees entered the spring with just one bench spot up for grabs. That fact has not changed, although the nature of that last spot has. Heading into the spring, Jasson Domínguez and Oswaldo Cabrera were penciled in by fans and journalists alike. The Martian, however, is now ticketed to Scranton despite a strong spring, barring an injury to one of the team’s three outfielders or Giancarlo Stanton, and while Cabrera has returned to the diamond, it seems likely that the team will have him start the year in the minors, possibly on a rehab assignment, as they continue to bring him along slowly as he recovers from last May’s gruesome ankle injury.

As it stands, the Yankees have two options for the final spot, either a right-handed hitting outfielder to serve as a platoon bat in Randal Grichuk, or a backup shortstop in Paul DeJong or Max Schuemann (Jorbit Vivas is not a realistic option due to his inability to play shortstop, while Zack Short is clearly behind the other two in the pecking order). In an ideal world, the Yankees clearly want to bring Grichuk north with them, letting Ryan McMahon open the season as the backup shortstop — both Hoch and FanGraphs, in fact, hand Grichuk the final spot on the bench. At the moment, though, this is unrealistic. McMahon has looked uncomfortable moving laterally at shortstop, and while he certainly can play the position in an emergency, the Yankees simply cannot go into the season without a backup to José Caballero. Unless the third baseman shows major improvement with more reps at the position, they almost certainly will be taking DeJong or Schuemann.

There may be a solution to this conundrum: piggybacking the starting pitchers. If the Yankees open the season with a four-man rotation, and use Gil, Yarbrough, and Blackburn for 60-70 pitches behind three of Fried, Schlittler, Weathers, and Warren, they may be able to operate with only 12 pitchers on the active roster, at least for the first two weeks of the season. Carrying one fewer arm than normal would allow the Yankees to carry 14 position players, enabling them to carry both a shortstop and Grichuk. It wouldn’t be a permanent fix — once the five-man rotation begins in earnest, they will need to bring the bullpen back to full strength — but as we’ve seen in recent years, by the time a decision will need to be made, the baseball gods tend to make the decision rather obvious.

And that’s where we stand today. We’ll be back again next week, this time on Monday, for one last projection before the Yankees open the season next Thursday. In the meantime, let us know in the comments section below what you think about our read on the Yankees roster bubble.

Good morning, Camden Chatters! Another Monday is upon us as we inch closer and closer to Opening Day 2026. We are now just 10 days from the first real Orioles game of the season. We’re so close! This is the final week of Grapefruit League games. The Orioles play the Red Sox at home this evening, at 6:05 EDT. After that, it’s just five more days of games before they head north for a pair of exhibitions against the Washington Nationals.

The Orioles attempted to play the New York Yankees last night, but the weather had other ideas. The game started on time and Tyler O’Neill made some noise with a two-run single to score Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo, but the rain came in the third inning and washed away the game. Zach Eflin started and threw 32 pitches in 2+ innings.

We still don’t know if Eflin will be ready to join the roster on Opening Day, although Craig Albernaz says that Eflin is progressing faster than he expected. So we’ll see.

One spring mystery has emerged: Where is Coby Mayo? Mayo is the presumptive starting third baseman for the Orioles and he has been swinging a red-hot bat in spring training. On March 10th, he had four hits, including a home run. He hasn’t played since then! It’s been four games without Coby. There are, of course, other ways to practice and get ready that aren’t playing in games. And no one has reported any injury concerns for Mayo. But still, where is he? If we see him in the lineup tonight, I will retract my concern.

Meanwhile, the real baseball excitement continues with the World Baseball Classic. The United States eliminated Canada on Friday, which is why O’Neill was back in the Orioles’ camp. That same night, the Dominican Republic knocked out Korea. That set up a semifinal between USA and DR, which took place last night.

It was an exciting game that ended with USA on top. DR took an early lead on Junior Caminero’s home run, but Gunnar Henderson tied the game with a homer of his own in the 4th inning. Roman Anthony also homered and Team USA took a 2-1 lead that they did not relinquish.

DR got the tying run to third in the bottom of the ninth, and Mason Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo looking on a pitch that was very clearly below the strike zone. What an awful way for them to go home. There is no ABS in the WBC.

Henderson goes into the final with an OPS of 1.358. His two homers so far are tied for the most on the team with three other players. He’s played in half as many games as those other guys, by the way. Has he done enough to get the start in the final?

On Saturday, Venezuela knocked out the defending champion Japan, while the underdog Italy beat Puerto Rico to make it to their first semifinal in WBC history. Italy and Venezuela face off tonight to see who will move on to play USA in the final on Tuesday.

Links

Orioles option Cade Povich to minors as rotation takes shape – The Baltimore Banner
If Cade Povich had made the Opening Day roster, it would have meant that something went horribly wrong. I expect we’ll see him at least a bit during the season, though. Andy Kostka takes a look at the current state of the starting rotation.

Cano back to being a pain for opposing pitchers – MASN Sports
I mean, I hope this is true. But it feels a little early to be making such a declaration.

Nick Markakis talks Orioles, Alonso, WBC – Baltimore Baseball
Markakis was in camp as a guest instructor.

Who bats leadoff for O’s? No answer yet, but Ward emerging as option – MLB.com
Jake Rill says that who will bat leadoff is a burning question in spring training. That feels a little dramatic. Per Rill, it’s down to Taylor Ward and Gunnar Henderson.

Camden Chat’s 2026 Pre-Season Contest
Are you looking for a fun activity? Participate in our pre-season contest! There are no physical prizes, but you can feel really good about yourself for being so smart.

Birthday and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies, both of the old-timey variety. Catcher Hobie Landrith (b. 1930, d. 2023) appeared in 62 games with the Orioles in 1962 and 1963. He had a 14-season career, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds. Clint Courtney (b. 1927, d. 1975), also a catcher, played for the Orioles in 1954 and 1961.

There isn’t much happening on this day in Orioles history. In 2021, they signed Maikel Franco, who went on to play poorly in 104 games that season. In 2010, the San Francisco Giants returned Steve Johnson, who they had drafted in the rule 5 draft just a few months earlier.

This starts the final full week of spring training games, meaning we are a bit closer to real baseball action. For those that aren’t fans of the WBC, this is a positive thing as seeing these few games of still minor leaguers starting in regular positions is getting tiresome. We all reach this point each year during spring where we just want it to end, but for the Phillies, they just want their guys healthy through this week.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Chase Utley is being honored by the Phillies by getting a Wall of Fame. He’s continuing to build a case for Cooperstown ($).
• Garrett Stubbs is willing to do most anything they ask in order to stay on the major league roster ($). We’ll see about that.
• Turns out, Jesus Luzardo will not be pitching for Venezuela at all in the WBC. He’ll stick with the Phillies through the end of camp.

MLB news:

• The Padres’ sale will move forward with at least four groups known to have bid on them. The price might reach $3 billion.
• Seiya Suzuki had to leave Japan’s quarterfinal game with a knee injury. He’ll get some more tests this week while the Cubs hold their breath.
• Francisco Lindor made his spring debut on Sunday for the Mets, increasing the likelihood that he’s ready for Opening Day.

Team USA vanquished the Dominican Republic. The defending champions, Japan, already had been dismissed.

So … congratulations to the United States for winning the World Baseball Classic?

Not so fast, and certainly not based on Sunday’s tense but hardly crisp 2-1 victory in which the U.S. eliminated the Dominican Republic.

“That was high-level baseball at its finest,” U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said.

High-level baseball, no doubt. It was the heavyweight match, the WBC game everyone wanted to see.

At its finest, well, the Americans better hope not.

Read more:Plaschke: Get all beaned up and enjoy the surprisingly profound World Baseball Classic

U.S. batters struck out 15 times, walked once, and went hitless with runners in scoring position. None of their final 13 batters got a hit.

Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony each hit solo home runs in the fourth inning, and five relievers shut out the Dominican over the final 4⅔ innings.

That guaranteed the U.S. a spot in Tuesday’s championship game, against the winner of Monday’s game between Italy and Venezuela.

Can the Venezuelans beat the U.S.? They eliminated Japan, their leadoff batter is Ronald Acuna Jr., and they are outslugging the U.S.

Can the Italians beat the U.S.? They already did, in pool play. They have hit more home runs than the U.S., in fewer games. They would have Aaron Nola lined up to start.

Tuesday’s starter for Team USA: New York Mets rookie Nolan McLean. He was the losing pitcher in the Italy defeat, giving up three runs — including two home runs — in three innings.

You never know: The difference in Sunday’s game was billed as Paul Skenes.

“You can make the argument he is the best pitcher in the game,” DeRosa said. The other candidate, according to DeRosa: Tarik Skubal, who could have been in line to start the championship game but opted out of the WBC after one appearance.

Skenes breezed through the first inning in nine pitches and the first three in 38, dented only by a Junior Caminero home run.

Before the game, Dominican manager Albert Pujols said facing an All-Star lineup is one thing in the All-Star Game, quite another in a game that counts and a pitcher faces batters more than once. Skenes has started two All-Star games and pitched one inning each time.

Sure enough, Skenes required 33 pitches to get his final four outs, saved throughout his outing by repeated defensive brilliance: from right fielder Aaron Judge, from shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., from second baseman Brice Turang and from third baseman Henderson.

“Toughest lineup I’ve ever faced, for sure,” Skenes said. “I’m sure they would probably say the same thing about facing us.”

Credit to the Dominican, of course, for a lineup that started with Fernando Tatis Jr., with a heart of Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Manny Machado, and with shortstop Gerardo Perdomo batting ninth. Perdomo led National League position players in WAR last season, according to Baseball Reference.

The tough U.S. lineup? On paper, sure. In the past four WBC games — after routs of Brazil and Britain — the U.S. has scored more than five runs once and has a two-run win, a two-run loss, a two-run win and a one-run win.

“I’m still waiting for our offense to explode,” DeRosa said.

Said Henderson: “We haven’t played our complete game yet.”

Read more:'Bigger than baseball.' Why being in Puerto Rico for WBC meant so much to Kiké Hernández

The most valuable player for the U.S. might be closer Mason Miller, who earned the save Sunday. Miller has faced 14 batters in the WBC, allowing no hits and striking out 10.

Because this is the WBC, DeRosa has to consult with Miller’s employers, the San Diego Padres, to determine whether Miller can pitch for a third time in five days in the world championship, should the U.S. need him.

DeRosa called Sunday’s game “a game we’ll remember forever” and, given the hype, why not?

The Americans are the favorites Tuesday, no matter who they play. However, if the U.S. bats do not rouse from their slumber, the championship game will be a game the Americans curse forever.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Team USA is heading to their third straight World Classic Baseball championship game appearance coming off a victory over the Dominican Republic in a 2-1 nail biter. The Pirates’ ace Paul Skenes was on the mound for the Americans and earned his second win in the WBC.

In this semi-final matchup, the Dominican Republic brought one of the most stacked lineups with a power hitter at every position. The USA brought out the best pitcher they had to offer who did the impossible by limiting DR to just one run scored.

In 4.1 innings pitched the 23-year-old former Air Force cadet struck out two batters while allowing just one run off of a Junior Caminero homer in the second inning. From there though Skenes was able to limit the damage with the help of a stellar USA defense that had several highlight plays to keep the Dominican hitters under wraps. Bobby Witt Jr. had several stellar plays (again) from shortstop, and Aaron Judge had a huge throw to catch Fernando Tatis Jr. at third base.

Paul Skenes held the Dominican Republic to just one run! pic.twitter.com/bYGfIxZrFB

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 16, 2026

Overall, Skenes finished the contest calm and composed, but had clearly had given his team everything he had when he was relieved in the fourth. Physically, he was throwing high heat and the most pitches so far this tournament, finishing with 71 pitches on the night. The mental fortitude showed up as well, as Skenes proved he could be rattled but recenter himself after facing some adversity against this stacked lineup. Skenes showed up in a pivotal moment for the U.S and finishes his WBC run with a 1.08 ERA, nine strikeouts, and just one run allowed across two contests.

Former Pirate David Bednar has been a workhorse in the bullpen for the U.S and he had another scoreless frame against D.R, and also ended his night with two strikeouts in a high leverage spot.

Team USA will face off against the winner of Italy and Venezuela in Miami at LoanDepot Park on Tuesday night.

MIAMI — There were no majestic bat flip into the night.

There was no dancing on the basepaths or selfies in the dugout.

There was no blaring music in the clubhouse, just a simple speech by Team USA captain Aaron Judge who reminded his teammates that they haven’t accomplished anything yet.

But you know what?

The Americans managed to have the time of their lives Sunday night, relying on their pitching to shut down perhaps the most powerful lineup ever assembled, in the most unique environment that Judge has ever experienced.

USA 2, Dominican Republic 1.

“Just a game we’ll remember forever, right," USA manager Mark DeRosa said. “We understood this was going to be a talked-about game, probably one of the most watched games of all time. … Whether we won or didn't win, baseball won.’"

The crowd of 36,337 at loanDepot Park hung on every pitch, stood on their feet, passionately cheering throughout the night. When it was over, Team USA went back to the clubhouse re-living the scenes.

“It was bigger and better than the World Series," Judge said. “The passion that these fans have, representing their country, representing some of their favorite players, there’s nothing like it.

“It gives me chills right now thinking about how special that was."

USA now moves onto the championship game Tuesday night where it will play the winner of Monday's Venezuela-Italy semifinal game on Monday night at loanDepot Park.

If USA wins that title game, you just may see a party that will make South Beach clubs look like a senior citizen bingo night.

The team that has been ridiculed for treating games like a business meeting, can’t wait to unload all of its emotions with a WBC title, letting everyone know there are plenty of different ways to celebrate.

So, please, Team USA pleads: stop with the narrative.

They may not have espresso machines in the dugout and they’re not donning customized jackets after hitting home runs.

But, don’t kid yourselves, they’re having a blast.

“I think we’ve carried ourselves this tournament the way we’ve wanted," USA center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “And that is feeling like we’re the best team in this tournament, the best team in the world."

TAMPA — With a week left in camp before the Yankees head west, Brent Headrick took his latest swing to claim one of the final two bullpen spots. 

The big lefty tossed a scoreless inning of relief and struck out a pair on Sunday in the 12-1 loss to the Tigers at Steinbrenner Field, his fourth scoreless outing in five appearances this spring. 

“I like where he’s at,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I think he can really help us. I think he can be a factor. I think he can be impactful. It’s just about consistently repeating the stuff, time in and time out. That’s what we saw last year — really good one day, little bit of a falloff the next time out. So getting that consistent stuff, because when he’s at his best, it really plays.” 

Headrick, who was still adjusting to being a full-time reliever last season, averaged 93.9 mph with his fastball Sunday, down a tick from his 94 mph average in 2025, though he maxed out at 95.1. 

The Yankees believe he has the ability to handle both lefty and righty bats — which could help his case to make the roster, given that he would be the third lefty in the bullpen, alongside soft-tossers Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough — and both of his strikeouts Sunday came against righties. The final two spots are expected to come down to Headrick and righties Jake Bird, Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest and Kervin Castro. 

“I think [Headrick] is taking to becoming a reliever,” Boone said. “I think he trained this winter with that in mind, that he is a reliever. So it’s learning how to bounce back sometimes the next day or pitch four outs and be in play two days later. I feel like he’s training for that now and hopefully that serves him well from a consistency standpoint but also allowing him to be more durable too.” 

Oswaldo Cabrera was a proud countryman Saturday night, watching his native Venezuela knock off Japan in the WBC quarterfinals. 

“I was almost crying for my guys over there,” Cabrera said in Sarasota after the split-squad doubleheader nightcap against the Orioles was washed out in the third inning. “You know how much that [means] for all Venezuelan people. Especially on this side, playing baseball, I know almost everybody who is there [on the team]. They are making a full country so proud. So they are doing a really nice job.” 

Anthony Volpe stood in on Gerrit Cole’s bullpen session Sunday morning just to track pitches as he continues his hitting progression.

Volpe has not yet faced live pitching, but is scheduled to do so in the coming weeks. 

Cody Bellinger was replaced in right field after four innings, but Boone said he was fine and it was just a matter of the veteran playing a third straight day. 

The Yankees made another batch of cuts Sunday, reassigning INF/OF Marco Luciano, INF Braden Shewmake, OF Duke Ellis, OF Yanquiel Fernández, INF/OF Ernesto Martínez Jr., INF Jonathan Ornelas, C Miguel Palma and INF Zack Short to minor league camp.

Observations from Yankees spring training on Sunday.

Good start

Veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk, brought in to mash lefties, delivered a single in his first at-bat Sunday against Tigers southpaw Framber Valdez. 

De-Boot

Paul DeJong could not handle a ground ball behind second base in the fourth inning, resulting in the veteran shortstop’s first error of the spring, though he got picked up when Ryan Yarbrough got the next batter to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. 

Caught my eye

Max Schuemann, who has an outside shot to make the roster as a backup shortstop (in addition to being a defensively gifted utility player), continued his strong spring at the plate.

He recorded a pair of singles off Valdez and is hitting .409 with a 1.112 OPS through 11 games.
 

Monday’s schedule

The Yankees have their final off-day of camp, though Cam Schlittler will throw a simulated game to keep him on track the opening weekend of the season.

Team USA’s win didn’t come without controversy. 

The United States defeated the Dominican Republic 2-1 at loanDepot park on Sunday night to advance to the World Baseball Classic championship game, but the final called strike had the DR fuming, and rightfully so. 

MASON MILLER WINS THE BATTLE

TEAM USA WINS THE GAME! #WorldBaseballClassicpic.twitter.com/IJCG9vjv5r

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 16, 2026

American pitcher Mason Miller fired the ball and his 3-2 pitch was clearly out of the strike zone, but home plate umpire Cory Blaser surprisingly called it the third strike to end the game. 

Dominican Republic batter Geraldo Perdomo was fuming when he heard the strike call and threw his hands up into the air in shock as his team had the tying run on third base.

MLB’s ABS system that allows a batter to challenge balls and strike calls is not part of the World Baseball Classic.

The Fox Sports broadcast noted the ball was outside the strike zone and even the MLB’s own Statcast showed the pitch well below the strike zone.

“That slider right there that was below the zone. And, one team reacting. The other just stunned,” former major league pitcher John Schmultz said on the broadcast after viewing the replay. 

“Thinking, ‘You sure we don’t have ABS yet? You sure we can’t challenge that?’” play-by-play man Joe Davis added. “Perdomo and the Dominican Republic are wondering, and they’ll have to wonder what would have happened with Fernando Tatis Jr. left standing on deck.” 

It wasn’t the only time in the game that Blaser had made a seemingly bad call. 

In the eighth inning with Juan Soto on at the plate, a third strike was called on a pitch that had been outside the strike zone, and was backed up by the statcaster. 

“You just hate to end a game this big with these types of consequences on a pitch that’s not a strike,” Alex Rodriguez said during the Fox postgame show.

In a similar vein to Davis’ comments, Derek Jeter predicted that there could be a change coming to the WBC regarding ABS.

“Well, you can pretty much guarantee they’re going to have the (ABS) challenge system in place for the next WBC, right?” he said.

The United States will face the winner of Italy and Venezuela, which will be played on Monday, in Tuesday’s title game. 

Team USA had to battle back from an early 1-0 deficit and managed to gain the lead in a two-run fourth inning. 

Gunnar Henderson had hit a solo home run to kick off the inning and tied the game at one. 

Roman Anthony gave the United States the lead with his own solo shot two batters later.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: Carlos Rodón continues to work back from offseason arm surgery, and he’s surprised himself a bit in bullpen sessions. “I backed off and threw harder,” Rodón said. “I was like, ‘OK, that makes no sense.’ But it made it easier to command. It’s just little ins and outs of pitching, trying to find the stroke again, knowing how much effort in this pitch and the line of this pitch.” The radar readings on Rodón thus far have been promising, with the left-hander reportedly sitting in the 93 mph range and touching 95 mph. There’s reason to hope that at full health in 2026, Rodón can rediscover a bit of the velocity he lost in 2025.

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty: ($) One of the few remaining positional battles on the Yankees roster exists in the underbelly of the bullpen, and a new name to watch is that of Kervin Castro. The 27-year-old Venezuelan has been with the organization since being selected in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft in 2023, and he’s impressed some key figures with a strong performance this spring. “Kervin’s got my attention,” Aaron Boone said this weekend. “Elite human being,” bullpen coach Preston Claiborne added. Though Castro is still unlikely to make the bullpen out of camp barring injuries, he certainly seems to be in the mix for a call-up once the regular season gets going.

MLB.com | Jonathan Mayo: Mayo runs down the state of the Yankees’ farm system, which was depleted after the club sent out 17 prospects as part of midseason trades last season. But the Yankees have shown an ability to restock even while sending out boatloads of players; Mayo highlights the $10,000 international signing of Jesus Rodriguez, who helped net Camilo Doval last summer, and Rafael Flores, an undrafted free agent who went to Pittsburgh in the David Bednar trade. Now, the Yankees are looking for their 2025 draft class to flourish and help replenish a system that seems a little thinner at the moment. First-round pick Dax Kilby has thus far been up to the task, starting fast with the organization in 2025 and already ranking among the top 100 prospects in the game despite falling to the Yankees at the 39th pick.

FanGraphs | David Laurilla: As part of his Sunday Notes, Laurilla spoke with Aaron Boone at camp, where Boone noted that last spring was the first time he got a good look at Cam Schlittler, thinking to himself at the time that Schlittler was going to quickly make an impact on the Yankees. Laurilla asked which players fit that bill this year, and Boone highlighted Carlos Lagrange, Elmer Rodríguez, and Ben Hess. At this point, fans have heard Lagrange and Rodríguez’s names quite a bit this spring, and it’s no surprise that either could be factor come midseason. Hess, the team’s 2024 first rounder, is more of a dark horse, but it’s notable that the Yankee manager called him out by name. The right-hander had an impressive first full season in pro ball last year, and could earn himself a ticket to the Bronx sooner rather than later if he stays on an upward trajectory.

All things considered, this year’s iteration of the World Baseball Classic has delivered on all of its promise for excitement. Sunday’s game, between two powerhouses in the Dominican Republic and the United States, was a matchup that was highly anticipated, and would decide who would appear in the WBC championship game. The Classic’s semifinal game did not disappoint on this front, as high quality pitching from both sides and a couple of big solo home runs were ultimately the deciding factor.

Semifinals Game 1: United States 2, Dominican Republic 1

Adrenaline was flowing for perhaps the premier matchup for this tournament, and it was clear from the very beginning. Both starting pitchers in this one—Paul Skenes for the United States and Luis Severino for the Dominican Republic—were pumping fastballs close to triple-digits. Both hard-throwing righties looked good in their starts, though they were ultimately bit by the limited mistakes they did serve up.

This game was dictated by moments, and in a matchup of this stature, it were those by the biggest names the sport has to offer. Early on, the stars of the American League East shined in this one. It began in the bottom of the second inning, when Junior Caminero of the Rays continued his terrific tournament with a solo homer into left field. His third homer of the Classic sent loanDepot park and the D.R. dugout into a frenzy.

An inning later, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge made one of his patented rocket-like throws to third base, this one nabbing Fernando Tatis Jr. attempting to take an extra base.

The United States squad took that momentum and pumped it into the bats in the top half of the fourth. In that inning, more AL East-ers had their moment, when a solo homer from Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson tied the game up, and another from Boston’s Roman Anthony gave the U.S. the lead.

For a good stretch after the big solo bombs from the United States’ youngsters, this game was dictated by good defense and pitching that kept possible offensive opportunities at bay. Skenes stranded the bases loaded in the fourth inning, and when he was lifted in a tight spot an inning later in favor of Tyler Rogers, the side-winder induced an inning-ending double-play to put an end to another rally.

The Dominican lineup was threatening once again in the seventh, when hits from Austin Wells and Geraldo Perdomo had a couple of runners in scoring position. David Bednar, who came out of the ‘pen to being the frame, was able to record subsequent strikeouts of Tatis and Ketel Marte to escape yet another jam, as the U.S. continued to tightrope out of danger against the potent D.R. lineup.

For the U.S., the bullpen continued to deal, as Garrett Whitlock was the next man up, and he managed a seamless 1-2-3 inning against the heart of the Dominican lineup — with the aid of a generous called strike three on a man who knows the strike zone better than anyone this side of Ted Williams, Juan Soto.

For the ninth inning, yet another electric arm hit the mound for the United States, as Mason Miller was tasked with locking things down in the ninth. He did not make it the smoothest of rides, with Julio Rodríguez reaching on a walk and advancing on a wild pitch, but after an eight-pitch battle with Perdomo, the hard-throwing righty ultimately shut this one down with a strikeout.

As with Soto, the last pitch was below the zone. As with Soto, home-plate umpire Cory Blaser punched Perdomo out anyway.

The United States bullpen pitched 4.2 scoreless innings to finish this game off, which was ultimately the deciding factor. It should be mentioned as well that the relievers for the D.R., five of whom kept the U.S. scoreless for the final five innings of the game, were terrific in their own right.

I’m surely not alone in this sentiment, but it feels safe to say that this was about as high quality a baseball game as you can possibly find, and it was almost entirely a joy to watch from end-to-end. Between terrific pitching, defensive highlights, and big homers from three of the game’s biggest and youngest stars, it was a terrific exhibition of the beautiful game. It’s just a shame that a one-run affair had to end in an umpiring controversy.

The United States will play the winner of Venezuela and Italy on Tuesday at 8pm ET in the World Baseball Classic’s championship game.Team USA manager Mark DeRosa has said that talented 24-year-old Mets righty Nolan McLean will get the ball, hoping for a better outing than his start against Italy. The second semifinal will take place tomorrow night at the same time, with Venezuela’s Keider Montero set to face Italy’s Michael Lorenzen.

Box Score

In a World Baseball Classic, which by the way does not use the automatic ball-strike challenge system that is now in use in Major League Baseball, Team USA beat The Dominican Republic 2-1 in a thrilling semifinal matchup on Sunday night at loanDepot Park in Miami.

The game featured 23 total strikeouts, 15 by Dominican pitchers, and all three runs came on solo home runs. Junior Caminero got things started for the Dominicans in the second innings, while Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony each went deep in the fourth to give Team USA the lead. It was a white-knuckle ride the rest of the way, with three hits and no runs after the fourth inning.

Will Smith singled once in his four at-bats in Sunday’s win. The United States in the championship game on Tuesday will play the winner of Monday’s Venezuela-Italy semifinal.

Dodger Stadium will always be Dodger Stadium, but things might be officially a little different beginning this season, at least with the presentation. Uniqlo, a worldwide fashion company that originated in Japan, has reached agreement with the Dodgers to be the official field sponsor at MLB’s third-oldest stadium, entering its 65th season in 2026.

From Katie Woo at The Athletic:

Dodger Stadium’s name will remain unchanged. The Dodgers did not sell the naming rights to their ballpark and were not open to doing so throughout the process. Protecting the legacy of Dodger Stadium, which has been the name of the historic park since its opening in 1962, was a top priority for the organization. However, Uniqlo will hold the rights to the playing field, which will likely be named Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.

Mookie Betts hit his first home run this spring on Sunday against the Cubs in Mesa. Coming off the worst offensive season of his career, Betts is fully healthy this spring and talked with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register about trying to regain the bat speed he has lost over recent years, especially after last spring’s stomach virus that cost him 20 pounds.

From Plunkett:

Betts said he is back to his usual playing weight this spring, has gained back the lost strength and – even at age 33 – bat speed.

“I think the most important part is I think I’m 178 now, almost 180. I’m able to just have speed,” he said. “When I lost all that weight, I was down 10 mph in (bat) speed. Guys are throwing 100 mph. With a slow bat, it’s going to be hard. It’s no excuse. It’s a fact. Now that I’ve got my speed back, I don’t have to hurry up and make decisions so fast.”

MIAMI — Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony each hit solo home runs in the fourth inning and Team USA’s pitching kept the mighty Dominican Republic lineup in check enough to secure a 2-1 victory in a World Baseball Classic semifinal on Sunday night.

“That was high-level baseball at ‌its finest,” USA manager Mark ​DeRosa said. “Just a game that we’ll remember forever. It was three solo shots that decided the game.”

The United States advanced to its third WBC final in a row and will try to win its second Classic championship and first since 2017 when it takes on the winner of the Venezuela-Italy semifinal on Tuesday night in Miami. Venezuela and Italy play their semifinal game on Monday night in Miami. DeRosa confirmed that right-hander Nolan McLean will start Tuesday’s final.

The Dominican Republic fell short in its bid to win its second WBC title and what would have ⁠been its first since 2013.

“It’s a bitter drink but we knew that someone would be happy and the other side would be sad,” Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols said. “We have to keep our heads up ⁠because we did a tremendous job.”

A lineup, which came in averaging 10.2 runs per game in the tournament, was held to just Junior Caminero’s two-out solo home run over the left field wall on an 1-2 count in the bottom of the second inning off USA starter Paul Skenes (2-0), the reigning National League Cy Young winner.

Caminero’s homer was his third of the Classic and 15th for the Dominican Republic, breaking the record for most home runs in a single WBC.

“The DR is the toughest lineup I’ve ⁠ever faced, that’s for sure,” said Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates ace. “I think they would say the same thing about us.”

USA closer Mason Miller struck out Caminero to open the bottom of the ninth, then walked Julio Rodriguez, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Rodriguez moved to third on ⁠a groundout by pinch hitter Oneil Cruz. But Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo looking to end the game and pick up his second save of the WBC.

“I don’t want to focus on the last pitch. Obviously, it didn’t go our way,” Pujols said. “Disappointed about the way the game ended, but I don’t want to criticize. It just wasn’t meant to be for us.”

Miller said: “When you go into a game with a lineup of guys that are staples in the middle of every order around the league and some of the best players in that game, you’ve got to be at your best.”

Dominican starter Luis Severino pitched 3 1/3 innings and allowed the tying home run by ​Henderson to lead off the top of the fourth. Severino gave up five hits but struck out ‌six and did not issue a walk.

Anthony then gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead when he blasted a solo ⁠homer 421 feet to right center off reliever Gregory Soto (0-1). Anthony, who grew up in South Florida, played ​his first game at loanDepot park as a pro and first ⁠since 2018 when he played there with his high school, ⁠Majory Stoneman Douglas High from nearby Parkland, Fla.

“For me, I was here the last time around watching the championship game heading into my first spring training and heading into my first full year of minor league baseball, so it’s a bit of a full-circle moment,” Anthony said. “It was a dream of mine since as long as I can remember. … Just being around these guys and competing with these guys, ⁠day in and day out. It’s unbelievable.”

USA’s bullpen allowed only two hits over 4 2/3 shutout innings.

Aaron Judge helped keep the Dominican Republic from adding to its lead in the third when the right fielder ‌threw out Fernando Tatis Jr. ⁠at third base trying to advance on Ketel Marte’s single.

Skenes ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth when he gave up a double to Vlad Guerrero Jr., and an infield single to Manny Machado. After a fielder’s choice out at second, Skenes ​hit Rodriguez with a pitch to load the bases. But Skenes got Austin Wells to fly out to left to end the threat.

Skenes lasted 4 1/3 innings, struck out ⁠two, walked none and allowed six hits overall.

“It makes it a lot ⁠easier to be a starting pitcher when you ‌can get to the fifth inning — and that’s the nature of this tournament,” Skenes said. “The innings are limited for starting pitchers — and you can hand the ball off pretty confidently that the bullpen is going to get ​the job done. They’ve done a great job.”

Tatis Jr. and Marte knocked Skenes out of the game after hitting consecutive singles in the fifth with one out. Tyler Rogers replaced Skenes and induced Juan Soto to ‌ground into an inning-ending double play.

The Baseball gods giveth and taketh away. 

Aaron Judge showed off his defensive prowess and then had a home run taken away from him by an impressive defensive play by Julio Rodríguez.

The Yankees slugger looked as though he was about to extend the Americans’ lead in the World Baseball Classic semifinal against the Dominican Republic at loadDepot Park on Sunday night. 

Judge hit a blast that was headed over the center field wall before Rodríguez leaped and snagged it for the second out of the top of the fifth. 

J-ROD ROBS AARON JUDGE pic.twitter.com/c1JgwC0lWP

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 16, 2026

Rodríguez let out a massive celebration before sending the ball back into the infield. 

Earlier in the game, Judge reminded everyone why trying to run on him just isn’t a good idea. 

The Yankees star showed off his arm when Fernando Tatis Jr attempted to reach third after Ketel Marte hit a line drive into right field in the bottom of the third inning. 

Judge quickly scooped the ball and launched it in an attempt to throw out Tatis, firing the ball perfectly to Gunnar Henderson to get the third out of the inning. 

It was the second time in the tournament that Judge had shown off his arm and made a similar play in the United States’ win over Mexico. 

A ball hit to right field was played by Judge and led to him throwing out a runner at third to end the inning. 

The United States had been trailing 1-0 after Junior Caminero had hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second. 

AARON JUDGE SHOWS OFF THE CANNON! pic.twitter.com/ydhdnMcHNc

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 16, 2026

The Americans turned the game around in the top of the fourth after Henderson hit a home run in the fist at-bat of the inning to tie things 1-1. 

Roman Anthony gave the United States a 2-1 lead two batters later when he hit a solo home run of his own.

And finally, the outfield. Due to the sheer number of non-roster invitees this spring (34 all told), it has been quite the process. The first part of this series was published almost six weeks ago, back on February 2. As a result, a fair amount of water has gone under the bridge between now and then. Indeed, none of the four players we will be covering here, currently remain in consideration for an Opening Day roster spot. All of them have already been re-assigned to minor-league camp. However, I would bet you we’ll see one or more of them on the D-backs at some point over the next six months. So they still deserve coverage.

Druw Jones (93)

Druw’s star has certainly dimmed, since MLB Pipeline named him the number fifteen prospect in all baseball, the season after the D-backs drafted him with the second pick in the 2022 draft, paying him almost $8.2 million, still a club record. Three years later, he doesn’t even rank that high in the Arizona system, coming in at #16 on the recently released Pipeline list. He had a sub-.700 OPS in Hillboro last year: even though he was aged just 21, you’d expect better. A variety of injuries have taken their toll, and mechanical adjustments haven’t had the hoped for results. The defense is as good as you’d expect given his lineage, but the bat needs seriously to come around if he’s ever to come close to that early hype.

Kristian Robinson (62)

This will be Robinson’s ninth season in the Diamondbacks’ farm system, in part for reasons that we really do not need to rehash once again. But he still only turned 25 in December, and put up decent numbers after a mid-season promotion to Reno. Over 41 games for the Aces, he had a line of .262/.393/.469 for an OPS of .862 – not bad for his first time in Triple-A. Of course, having been part of the Great Britain roster in the WBC, I am naturally obliged to root for Robinson. But even beyond national allegiance, it would be quite the story if he were to end up patrolling the outfield at Chase Field this summer.

A.J. Vukovich (95)

A fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft, Vukovich spent all of 2025 in Reno, where his 22 home-runs and 79 RBI led the team in both categories. Admittedly, so did his 111 games, nobody else reaching three figures. But at the age of 24, he was still considerably younger than average for the level. I was a bit surprised he didn’t appear on even the Fangraphs’ list, which goes down as far as the top 56 prospects for the team. The bat probably does need to be improved, but I’d not mind a long-term outfield for the Diamondbacks of Corbin Carroll, Jordan Lawlar, Vukovich and Ryan Waldschmidt. And, speaking of whom…

Ryan Waldschmidt (59)

It seems appropriate to finish off this round-up with the consensus top player in the the D-backs’ farm system, and our only widely agreed top 100 prospect. It’s remarkable that he was under serious consideration for a spot on the team’s Opening Day roster, despite having less than 150 professional games to his name – none of them above Double-A. It’s probably for the best that Lawlar seems to have slotted into center acceptably, so that will give Waldschmidt a chance to polish his skills in Reno for a bit. I would still bet we will end up seeing Ryan in a Diamondbacks uniform at some point this year, as an appetizer for 2027 and beyond.