Category: MLB

Sure it’s early, and we’re only two games in, and the Colorado Rockies are at a promising .500 after trashing the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier today.

I get it: Spring training doesn’t matter. But this is — at least for Rockies fans — an interesting team because anything could happen. (And whatever does happen, at least it won’t be what happened over the last five years.)

So here’s tonight’s question: Which Rockie will take a leap in terms of improving his performance this season?

There are so many possibilities . . . .

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TAMPA — It may be time to bubble wrap Aaron Judge until Opening Day, or at least until the World Baseball Classic.

Making his Grapefruit League debut much earlier than normal, because he is leaving camp next week to captain Team USA in the WBC, the Yankees slugger wasted no time looking like he was in midseason form. 

Judge crushed a pair of home runs Saturday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field, delighting the sellout crowd early in a 20-3 win over the Tigers in the spring home opener.

“It’s spring training,” Judge deadpanned.

But this is unlike any spring that Judge has had before.

He is usually easing into fairly meaningless Grapefruit League exhibitions by the first week of March, but this year, he will be playing in high-stakes games with Team USA, with pool play set for March 6-10 and the knockout rounds to follow.

“Even going back to last year, [I was] trying to get more at-bats early on so that I could be ready in April,” Judge said. “Felt like that worked out for us and I’m trying to do the same thing that we did last year. 

“But also at the WBC, you don’t want to get exposed, man. You’re playing for your country so you got to be ready to go.”

Two years ago, Judge got off to a quiet start in April before turning red-hot the rest of the year, the opening month the only blemish on his dominant MVP campaign. So he came into camp last year with the goal of getting more exhibition at-bats under his belt, hoping that it would parlay into a stronger start. 

The result? Judge hit .427 with 10 home runs and a 1.282 OPS in March and April on the way to a second straight MVP. 

This guy is pretty good, huh? pic.twitter.com/XmRwP6rVOE

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 21, 2026

Now, Judge’s ramp-up for the season is beginning even earlier, set to play again on Sunday against the Mets (as designated hitter), with Aaron Boone planning to start him in four or five games before he heads to Team USA’s camp next Sunday.

“It’s all about getting ready. But if I don’t get results, I get asked questions about what happened to the power. So I’m glad I don’t have to talk about that,” he said with a grin. “It’s about getting ready. At this point in my career, I got things I need to work on, things I need to do that are going to help us put the best team out there. I’ll figure out the results and stuff playing real games.”

For proof that spring results don’t matter, Judge did not hit a single home run in the spring of 2024, before crushing 58 during the regular season.

But the Yankees, who are about to go two-plus weeks without seeing any of Judge’s at-bats up close, liked what they saw on Saturday.

After flying out in his first at-bat, Judge drilled a cutter at the bottom of the zone 420 feet to the batter’s eye in his second at-bat. And in his third, he turned on a 92 mph up-and-in fastball and smoked it 395 feet down the left-field line that he was somehow able to keep fair.


“Just some really good swings, good at-bats,” Boone said. 

Soon, Judge will be taking them for Team USA, getting to fulfill a longstanding goal by representing his country for the first time in his career. Besides wanting to win the WBC, he is not surprisingly looking at the tournament as a chance to get better by being around the best of the best.

“That’ll be the coolest part,” Judge said. “[There’s] very few chances — All-Star games you get an opportunity to be around the best players in the world, but this room’s going to be different. You got some of the best players in the U.S. all in one room. It’s going to be exciting, fun. 

“Getting a chance to pick some guys’ brains a little bit and see how — more preparation. That’s the one thing I always look at any guy we get here is how do they prepare? How do you prepare to be great? All those guys in that room are going to be great, so it’ll be fun.”

PORT ST. LUCIE — A.J. Ewing might not make an impact in the majors this season, but he took advantage of his presence in the Mets’ Grapefruit League opener on Saturday, hitting a sacrifice fly and showing off his speed and baseball IQ in center field in a 2-1 loss to Miami at Clover Park.

Known as one of the organization’s quickest players, Ewing was in center field when he alertly chased down an errant throw by Kevin Parada on a stolen base attempt by Miami’s Colby Shade.

Ewing got to the ball and made a strong throw to third for the out.

The 21-year-old, who finished last season with Double-A Binghamton, has impressed Carlos Mendoza.

“There’s a lot to like,’’ Mendoza said. “I like him as a hitter at the plate. And his defense, he gets great jumps and made some good plays with reads off the bat.”

Ewing entered spring as one of the top three position player prospects in the organization after swiping 70 bases last season in the minors. If he can hit well enough, Ewing could make an impact down the road.

“His ability to give you a really good at-bat from the left side and speed is pretty encouraging,’’ Mendoza said.

As Jorge Polanco works to acclimate himself with first base, he’ll have a pair of other infielders with little experience as his primary backups.

Mendoza said prior to Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener that Brett Baty and Mark Vientos would likely get plenty of reps there, especially as the veteran Polanco is expected to get significant time at DH.

“We’ve got options,’’ Mendoza said of first base. “It depends on matchups and the schedule. We feel really good with the guys when it’s not Polanco.”

The split could make sense, with the right-handed Vientos pairing with the lefty-swinging Baty, who is still taking things slow this spring after experiencing right hamstring discomfort early in camp.

“He continues to progress,’’ Mendoza said of Baty. “He’s trending in the right direction.”

There remains no timetable on when Baty, who is now mostly working at first base to protect the hamstring, might begin work in the outfield.

Marcus Semien was at second base and in the leadoff spot for Saturday’s opener, but Mendoza said they would monitor the 35-year-old’s workload in the spring.

“He wants to play,’’ Mendoza said of Semien, who has appeared in at least 155 games eight times in his career, but was limited to 127 last season due to a left foot injury.

“He takes pride in being available, posting [and] being in the lineup,’’ Mendoza said. “We will have to watch him closely and communicate once we get going.”

Mark Vientos and Luis Torrens are among the veterans expected to make the trip to Tampa on Sunday, along with Carson Benge.

Clay Holmes will make his Grapefruit League debut when he starts Monday’s game against Toronto in Dunedin, Fla.

Twins right-hander Joe Ryan has gone down with a back injury which could jeopardize his participation in this year’s World Baseball Classic.

Ryan, 29, was scratched from his scheduled spring training start on Saturday because of lower back tightness, and was set to undergo an MRI exam to find out more about his condition.

“It happened during his prep work,” Twins manager Derek Shelton told reporters, according to The Athletic. “We sent him for imaging just to be sure. … There is day-to-day soreness with everybody, but this is something that came up.”

The exact details of Ryan’s injury and a potential timeline to return still remain unclear.

Ryan’s apparent injury also raises concern about if he would be able to pitch for Team USA in the WBC in March. He is expected to join the team in Houston at the end of the month.

Despite Ryan needing to be ready earlier in the offseason to account for the WBC, he has previously said that he did not make many changes to his preparation.

“It didn’t feel like this crazy overhaul in any way,” Ryan told reporters earlier this month. “We just started things a little bit earlier and let the program and the process take care of the rest.”

Ryan is coming off of his best season in the MLB in which he pitched to a 13-10 record with a 3.42 ERA and 194 strikeouts through 30 starts, earning him his first career All-Star appearance.

His injury also comes just a day after fellow Twins righty Pablo Lopez announced that he will be undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery.

“I don’t think its hit me yet,” López told reporters on Friday. “It’s sitting definitely heavy. … I think it’s going to hit me harder next week when (surgery) happens and all of that. We knew what we were looking at. I think I’m a pretty realistic person.

“I know what’s in front of me.”

Observations from Yankees’ spring training on Friday.

Looking Golden

In his spring debut, Paul Goldschmidt went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and a lineout.

The 38-year-old first baseman had exit velocities of 108.3, 107.5 and 97.9 mph, an encouraging early sign.

What’s that smell?

There was a sewage problem outside of George M. Steinbrenner Field, which seeped into the bathroom inside the Yankees clubhouse and surrounding areas.

A brutal stench emanated from the clubhouse throughout the afternoon. “It’s spring training for the toilets, too,” a Yankees spokesman said.

Added Aaron Boone: “It’s not great. And it’s all over the place. Hopefully they get it cleaned up here overnight and back in business [Sunday].”

Apparently, two sewer lines broke outside the main GMS Field entrance just before today’s game.
Things got progressively worse.
“It’s not great…it’s all over the place,” Aaron Boone said of areas of the Yankee clubhouse.
Hoping for a quick cleanup before tomorrow’s game v NYM pic.twitter.com/5L23TM6frH

— Pete Caldera (@pcaldera) February 21, 2026

Caught my eye

Ryan McMahon, showing off his narrower stance, went the other way in his first two at-bats, one a double into the left field corner and the other a flyout.

Sunday’s schedule

Luis Gil will make his first start of the spring against the Mets at Steinbrenner Field.

Still undefeated!!! The Sox are a mighty 2-0, with total runs of 19-3. Can we call it a season now?

The A’s decided not to play any major league regulars in their Cactus League opener and the White Sox took advantage, scoring five runs in the first three innings, mainly thanks to Edgar Quero having an excellent sense of direction. He came up with the bases loaded in the first, thanks to a Chase Meidroth double and two walks, and hit a little looper to left:

That was good for two runs, then he came up in the third with runners on second and third and decided if one blooper is good, two are even better:

Hence, four RBIs on two bloops that were barely 83 mph but, as coaches teach kids, you put the ball in play and good things can happen. Quero did have one solid knock, a 98 mph double, but that was with the bases empty. He also threw out a would-be base thief and correctly challenged a ball-strike call. OK, so he maybe misplayed a pitch that led to a A’s run, but let us not quibble when he has a day like this.

The only other Sox run thanks to a player apt to be in the majors this year came via Brooks Baldwin flexing his mighty power in the second:

John Schriffen, brilliant as always, repeatedly referred to it as Baldwin’s first homer of the spring; that was pretty inevitable, because it was Baldwin’s first at-bat of the spring.

Luisangel Acuña struck out looking his first time up as a member of the White Sox, but later slashed a double. There were no plays in center that could determine whether he can play there, the only one being a double to the wall there was no way to get to.

Chicago’s other six runs came late, when Sox hitters who will mostly play Double-A to start the season faced A’s pitchers who will be lucky to make Single-A. The minor-leaguers got half of the club’s 14 hits, with William Bergolla Jr. and Dru Baker knocking two apiece. The A’s also tossed in some lousy fielding and bad base running to keep the score well spread.

On the pitching side, Chris Murphy was the first of seven Sox hurlers who got out of the game with just two runs, only one earned, despite giving up 11 hits and walking four. That was no doubt helped by the total lack of major league opposition, and very little upper minors opposition. Plus the aforementioned bad base running.

The White Sox stay at Camelback Ranch tomorrow to host Milwaukee. That game will also be televised, giving fans the first chance to watch Munetaka Murakami. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. Central.

TEMPE, Ariz. –– Saturday might have only been a symbolic first step in their quest for a third straight World Series title.

But the dynasty Dodgers already looked like a juggernaut. 

Even in a meaningless spring training contest that included only a few of their big-name stars, the Dodgers kicked off their 2026 campaign with a 15-2 rout of the Angels in their Cactus League opener, hanging nine runs on the Tempe Diablo Stadium scoreboard before nine outs had even been recorded in the game.

“It was a very good overall day for us,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Scored a lot of runs and got a lot of guys at-bats.”

The last time the Dodgers were in action, they were lifting the Commissioner’s Trophy after their Game 7 win in the World Series against the Blue Jays.

In 112 days since then, expectations have only been raised.

The team once again boasts a $400 million payroll, easily leading the sport and raising the spectre of a lockout next season. It added Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz to its collection of superstar talent over the winter, making anything less than another World Series this year a failure for the two-time defending champions.

For now, however, the Dodgers’ task is simple: try to get their aging, but also rejuvenated, roster through this spring unscathed.

And on a sunny Arizona afternoon Saturday, they made a positive first impression in their return to the diamond.

While Tucker, Díaz and most of the team’s other stars weren’t in the lineup, Shohei Ohtani was still leading off as designated hitter, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto was back on the mound after a quick offseason turnaround.

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Ohtani began the game by chopping an infield single to third base, his lone hit in three at-bats. That sparked a three-run first inning, which was also keyed by a single from Teoscar Hernández (who went 3 for 3), walks from Santiago Espinal and Alex Freeland, and a two-run bases-loaded knock from Hyeseong Kim at the end of an eight-pitch battle.

Yamamoto then retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the bottom of the first, before the Dodgers struck for six more runs while batting around in the top of the second. That rally was highlighted by another RBI single from Kim, whose swing has looked improved in the early days of camp this spring, and a two-run double from outfield prospect Zach Ehrhard.

When Yamamoto returned to the mound for the second inning after a long break in the dugout, he didn’t look as sharp, allowing two runs on three hits and a dropped ball from Hernández at the wall in left field that got lost in the sun.

Yamamoto said the layoff between innings affected him but still came away pleased with how he felt over his 30-pitch performance –– a good sign for a pitcher who led the team in innings last year and was pushed especially hard during their elongated postseason run.

“I thought he looked good,” said Roberts, who pulled Yamamoto with two outs in the second. “Thirty pitches was enough. I didn’t feel like we needed to push him today.”

Afterward, Yamamoto also noted that he’ll have one more spring outing with the Dodgers next Friday before leaving camp to join Team Japan for next month’s World Baseball Classic. 

That evidently came as news to Roberts, who told reporters this week that Yamamoto would only make Saturday’s start before departing –– and even wished his pitcher luck in the WBC as he took him out of the game.

“At first, I didn’t know what he was talking about,” Yamamoto said with a laugh in Japanese afterward. “But as I was coming off the mound, I thought, ‘He must think this is my last game.’”

So go things for the Dodgers right now, balancing ever-changing workloads and ramp-up schedules in preparation for the regular season.

It’s still early days, and there remains a long way to go this spring. But they’re officially off and running, looking dominant as ever just one game in.

Dodgers make claim

The Dodgers added to their outfield depth Saturday, claiming 27-year-old Jack Suwinski off waivers from the Pirates. Suwinski is only a .199 career hitter in four MLB seasons, but he hit 26 home runs in 2023. He has also been a surprise Dodgers killer, batting .314 with five home runs in 15 games against the team.

Suwinski joins Ryan Ward and Michael Siani as left-handed-hitting outfield options on the 40-man roster. In a corresponding move, the team placed Kiké Hernández on the 60-day injured list.

After losing their spring training home opener, the Colorado Rockies came back to soundly defeat their Salt River Fields roomies, the Arizona Diamondbacks, 11-6. For more details, go here.

We’re not yet to the point in the season where we’re doing game recaps, but we wanted to share manager Warren Schaeffer’s postgame comments and some other Rockies comments.

First, here’s Schaeffer:

And here’s Tanner Gordon on his outing today as well as his evolving pitch arsenal:

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Well we got baseball. Some ugly baseball for A’s fans but baseball nonetheless. The Athletics dropped their first game of the 2026 season this afternoon, dropping the first Cactus League game to the Chicago White Sox 11-2 to kick things off down in Arizona.

Right-hander Jack Perkins was on the bump this afternoon, hoping to impress the coaching staff and put himself into real consideration for a rotation job. He was already facing an uphill battle in that regard and didn’t really help himself today. He allowed a leadoff double and a pair of walks to load the bases, then gave up a two-run single that actually chased him from today’s contest. He got to 26 pitches which is where the team probably wanted him to reach this afternoon but it was a lot of work to get there and he didn’t even finish the frame. Shaky spring debut for Perkins to be sure.

Right-hander Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang came next and only made one mistake in his outing, allowing a solo home run to give the White Sox a lead they wouldn’t relinquish all day. Top prospect Wei-En Lin came on next and pitched a full inning but not before allowing a pair of runs himself. The game was already getting out of hand at this point and it’d only get worse as the day went on.

Relievers Eduarneil Nunez and Nick Anderson pitched an inning apiece, with Nunez collecting a pair of punchouts and Anderson one. Nunez has a high ceiling but he’ll need to really learn how to harness his stuff if he wants to reach those heights.

On the offensive side of things, the A’s didn’t have much going for them today. They were able to push across their first run of the game in the second thanks to a pair of singles, a productive out and a wild pitch. Not exactly small ball but a run is a run.

The team scored their second and final run in the top of the fifth thanks to some more poor White Sox defense, but that was it from the A’s offense today. The Sox ended up scoring five more times over the final few frames against some depth arms trying to crack the bullpen to push the score to the eventual final of 11-2. Not a great day in the runs department but wins are meaningless this time of year anyway.

Here’s a wrap up of some of the most notable lines from today’s contest:

Third-string catcher is one of the camp battles going on this spring thanks to the departure of former first-round pick Daniel Susac, but glove-first backstop BrianServen is fighting for that spot and had himself a day at the plate, collecting a pair of doubles to cap a 3-for-3 day in the batter’s box.

And third base. Man, this could be a spring-long battle we have on our hands. Max Muncy, Darell Hernaiz, and Brett Harris, all of whom are fighting for that job, all collected hits today. No one seperated themselves from the pack but we are off to a good start at that positional battle.

Elsewhere outfield prospect Junior Perez collected a single this afternoon while fellow outfielders Henry Bolte and Colby Thomas went hitless. It’d take a massive camp for Perez to sneak his way onto the Opening Day roster but if he’s going to do it then today was a good start.

That’s about it folks. The A’s got their butt handed to them today but we do it all again tomorrow! The Cleveland Guardians roll into town for the A’s first home game of Spring Training tomorrow. The club plans to go with veteran Luis Severino for tomorrow’s contest, likely following Perkins in only doing one inning or so. Sevy will be followed by fellow starter Luis Morales, relievers Brady Basso and Michael Kelly, and at some point we’ll also get to see prospect Kade Morris on the bump. Hopefully tomorrow goes much better than today’s game! Baseball is back and everything is right in the world again.

Chase Burns got the start in Saturday afternoon’s contest between the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians in the two teams’ combined complex in Goodyear, Arizona, and in doing so officially began their Cactus League campaign.

Burns kept the Guardians off the board in a pair of scoreless frames, doing so without so much as allowing a hit. He did walk a trio against a pair of strikeouts before handing the ball over to Rhett Lowder, a fellow Wake Forest product who’s also very much in the mix for a spot in the team’s Opening Day rotation. Lowder fanned 4 in his pair of IP, though he did get dinged for a pair of hits, a walk, and a run allowed. Julian Aguiar, himself an outside candidate for the team’s starting rotation, similarly allowed a run in a pair of IP.

On the offensive side of things, it was once again Will Benson haunting his former club. Cleveland’s former 1st round pick slugged a 2-run homer off righty Colin Holderman after lefty Logan Allen – Cleveland’s starter on the day – departed after a pair of scoreless frames. in a battle for a spot on the Opening Day roster himself alongside the likes of JJ Bleday and Nathaniel Lowe as one of the team’s lefty bats with some pop, it was once again a reminder that Benson still owns a wealth of yet-to-be-tapped potential that he showed, at times, in 2025 during a horribly unlucky campaign on the surface.

Edwin Arroyo chipped in with a double and a run scored for the lone other extra-base hit on the day for Cincinnati, while Hagen Danner – a former 2nd round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays – was tagged for a pair of ER in a lone IP out of the bullpen to wrap up the pertinent portions of Cincinnati’s box score.

Jose Franco will take the ball to start tomorrow’s game against the Seattle Mariners as the Reds play host at Goodyear for the first time (they were the road team against Cleveland on Saturday). First pitch in that one is set for 3:05 PM ET, though it will only be able to be perceived with your ears via 700 WLW and the MLB At-Bat app.

Record: 1-1. Change on 2025: +1. 5-inning record: 0-2.

Yeah, after yesterday’s well-pitched endeavor, this was very much the opposite. It was probably worse than the score actually indicates, since the Diamondbacks put up a crooked number in both the eighth and ninth innings, to leave the final tallies looking more respectable than they deserved to be. After a scoreless first inning for Mitch Bratt, things got out of hand quickly. Colorado scored five in the second though to be fair, Bratt wasn’t helped by two misplays at the hot corner from LuJames Groover (only one being scored an error). His replacement out of the pen, Zane Russell, then faced four batters without retiring anyone, and that was the end of this as a contest.

All told, the D-backs needed ten pitchers to get through the game. Casey Anderson, who replaced Russell in the second, was a rare bright spot, striking out both hitters he faced. Alfred Morillo, Yu-Min Lin and Spencer Giesting were all charged with multiple runs, though Lin did come back out for a seven-pitch second inning, after initially being lifted with two outs in the fourth. I got quite excited seeing Diaz work a clean seventh with a pair of K’s, though turns out this was Indigo rather than Yilber. All told, Arizona pitchers struck out thirteen, but walked eight, all in the first six innings. Must do better there.

On offense, Jordan Lawlar got the team on the board with a home-run in the second (above). Though he may not be a fan of the new ABS system getting rung up on three straight called strikes his next time up – two of which were successfully appealed balls! He also walked, while Tim Tawa also had a hit and a walk. Tawa’s replacement, Tommy Troy, went 2-for-2, including an RBI double in the ninth. And keeping up with the ABS score, there were eight challenges during today’s game, five of which proved successful. Rockies’ catcher Hunter Goodman was particularly effective, being perfect in his three challenges.

Tomorrow, the team gets to face someone apart from the Rockies for the first time. They face the Angels at Salt River, with another 1:05 pm start, and Kohl Drake the scheduled starter.

The Dodgers scored nine runs in the first two innings, turning their Cactus League opener into an 15-2 drubbing of the Angels on Saturday afternoon at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Things were going so well offensively for the Dodgers that they chased starter José Soriano with two outs in the second at 31 pitches. But, this being spring training, that wasn’t a full hook by new Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, and Soriano was right back on the hill to begin the second inning. But after a five-pitch walk to open the frame, Soriano’s day was done.

That didn’t stop the scoring, as the Dodgers scored six runs in the second inning after a three-run first, turning this one into a laugher from the jump.

Hyeseong Kim, in the mix for playing time at second base while Tommy Edman is out, got things going early with a two-run single in the first inning and an RBI single in the second. He also shared his skincare routine with Kirsten Watson in the dugout during the game.

Shohei Ohtani was only expected to bat three times, the norm for regulars, especially this early in spring training. He got that work in by the top of the second inning, leading to an early exit. Ohtani had an infield single and scored to lead off the game, and made the first and third outs in the extended second inning.

The mention this week of Teoscar Hernández aiming for a Gold Glove Award was farfetched, even before he dropped a fly ball at the left field wall in the second inning. Though this was mostly due to the sun wreaking havoc in that part of the field. Bread and butter for Hernández though is at the plate, and he collected a hit in each of the first three innings, including a double, and scored three times.

Andy Pages doubled and tripled in his three at-bats. Non-roster invitee Santiago Espinal started and played three innings at third base, with an RBI single, two walks, and two runs scored in his three trips to the plate.

One more time

In between the outbursts in the top of innings, Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the ball for his first start in camp. After a perfect first inning with two strikeouts and a long layoff in between, Yamamoto was less sharp in the bottom of the second, giving up a double and two singles for two runs, one earned.

It was initially thought Yamamoto would only make one start for the Dodgers before leaving next week for the World Baseball Classic. But he told reporters in Tempe he’s slated to start again Friday, which is in Scottsdale against the Giants, before leaving for Tokyo.

Prospect watch

Zach Ehrhard, one of two minor league outfielders acquired from the Boston Red Sox for Dustin May last July 31, got the start in right field, and contributed a walk and RBI double in the second inning inning.

Zyhir Hope in left field and 100-steal man Kendall George in left got into the game in the third inning, with Josue De Paula in right field and James Tibbs III at first base by the fourth inning. Hope doubled and scored in the ninth, and made a diving catch to save two runs and end the sixth inning.

Left-hander Adam Serwinowski, acquired last trade deadline in a three-team deal involving the Reds and Rays, pitched a scoreless fifth inning with a walk and two strikeouts.

Luke Fox, a 2023 draft pick who ended last season with Double-A Tulsa, struck out three with a walk in a scoreless eighth inning.

Up next

The Dodgers have another road game on Sunday, battling the San Diego Padres in Peoria (12:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Jackson Ferris starts on the mound for Los Angeles. Sadly, the Padres aren’t turning to a recent non-roster invitee addition, robbing us of a Ferris-Buehler pitching matchup. Instead, Randy Vásquez starts for San Diego.

Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto toed the rubber Saturday for the team's Cactus League opener against the Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium with the expectation that it would be his only start before joining Team Japan for next month's World Baseball Classic.

Even manager Dave Roberts believed that was the case as he came out to lift his star pitcher with two outs in the bottom of the second inning of the Dodgers' eventual 15-2 win.

“Doc came to the mound, and he said, 'Good luck in the WBC,'” Yamamoto said via interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “But actually, I have one more game to pitch."

After giving up one earned run, three hits and striking out three in his 30-pitch outing, Yamamoto said he believes his next start will be on Friday against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium.

Read more:What to expect with MLB's ABS system, and how Dodgers will navigate it

Yamamoto cruised through the first inning, striking out third baseman Yoan Moncado swinging and getting shortstop Zach Neto to look at a called strike three on a darting sinker.

But then the Dodgers, who had scored three runs in the top of the first, sent 11 men to the plate, scoring six runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter in a half-inning that took nearly 30 minutes. Yamamoto believes the long break between innings may have disrupted his workflow, contributing to a messy second inning.

A dropped fly ball on the warning track in left field by Teoscar Hernández spelled trouble for Yamamoto, scoring a run and allowing Jo Adell to reach second base with nobody out. Yamamoto struck out the next hitter, getting left fielder Josh Lowe to swing through a splitter, before allowing back-to-back outfield line drives to catcher Logan O’Hoppe and second baseman Christian Moore. After Bryce Teodosio flied out for the second out of the inning, Yamamoto's day was done.

Yamamoto reached into his five-pitch repertoire Saturday, mixing in six fastballs, eight splitters, five sinkers, four cutters, four curveballs and three sliders. His fastball sat between 91 and 93 mph, topping out at 94.9 mph.

"I was looking for some stuff I needed to get back before I go back to Japan and join the team,” Yamamoto said. “I was looking forward to the feeling, the delivery and those things.”

He added: "Yesterday's practice, I was already feeling good. And then, somehow I was able to carry that to today's game, especially the first inning. I think I was great, but due to the gap between innings, that affected me a little bit."

With Yamamoto’s time being limited with the Dodgers before the WBC, Roberts spoke pregame Saturday about what he hopes to see from his star pitcher in the time leading up to the event.

“I think that obviously, him going and pitching for Team Japan, he’s going to be trying to ramp it up and get prepared,” Roberts said. “So, I think it’s just more of what he does [on] strike one, [how he] uses secondaries, and be efficient and get some outs.”

Though Yamamoto will pitch once more before leaving for the WBC, Roberts told reporters that he isn’t concerned about the WBC interrupting Yamamoto’s preparation for the regular season.

“I think I’m confident because there’s no exact science on ramping up early and success, or being methodical and not participating to result in success during the season,” Roberts said. “There’s just no exact science. For me, and for all of us, you’re just believing in the player, knowing that he knows what it takes to be ready for a season and he takes care of himself, so I think for me, it’s an easy way to think and wrap my head around, just kind of believing in him, trusting him.”

Etc.

Just over a week into camp, utilityman Hyeseong Kim has already made a strong first impression, as he vies for more playing time in his second season. On Saturday, he went two for three with three RBIs to help spark the Dodgers' offensive outburst. Elsewhere, the top three hitters in the lineup — Shohei Ohtani, Hernández and Andy Pages — combined for six hits in nine at-bats with two RBIs. ... The Dodgers claimed outfielder Jack Suwinski from the Pittsburgh Pirates. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers transferred utilityman Kiké Hernández to the 60-day injured list.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

TEMPE, AZ — He’s the iron man of pitching, stretching the human element to limits beyond comprehension, so it only made sense that World Series hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the first pitcher to step onto the mound Saturday in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spring-training opener.

“When you think about it,’’ Joel Wolfe, Yamamoto’s agent, told USA TODAY Sports, “what can’t he do?’’

Let’s see, in the past 12 months, he led the Dodgers in the regular season with 30 starts and 173.2 innings, going 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA.

In the playoffs, he became the first pitcher to throw consecutive complete games since Curt Schilling for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, and the first to pitcher to end a World Series game by retiring 20 consecutive batters since Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956.

In the World Series, he was the first pitcher to start a World Series game one night and pitch on no days’ rest the next since Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in 2001 against the New York Yankees.

And here was Saturday, back on the mound, dominating the Los Angeles Angels in their Cactus League debut, yielding three hits and one earned run with three strikeouts, throwing 22 of his 30 pitches for strikes.

“I was already feeling good in practice,’’ he said. “I was looking forward to the feeling, the delivery, and those things.’’