Category: MLB

Details have started to emerge about Netflix’s plans for MLB Opening Night, and the streaming giant apparently wants to make a splash with its baseball debut.

Literally.

Netflix reportedly plans to station 73 red kayaks in McCovey Cove behind Oracle Park’s right field wall for the March 25 game between the Giants and Yankees that marks the official start of MLB’s regular season.

The plan, first reported by the San Francisco Standard, is an homage to Barry Bonds’ single-season home run record the Giants legendary slugger set during the 2001 season.

Nine of Bonds’ 73 bombs that season reached the San Francisco Bay — and 35 of the 108 ever hit by a Giant, despite only playing seven seasons in a ballpark that celebrated its 25th birthday last year.

Bonds, who rarely grants interviews, has been rumored to be targeted by Netflix to appear as an analyst on the broadcast. His name was not among the seven members of the broadcast team revealed on Wednesday, but the announcement did tease an eighth, yet-to-be-named “special guest.”

Matt Vasgersian, recently named the voice of the weekly Sunday morning game on Peacock/NBC, will provide play-by-play with popular former players from each side serving as color analysts.

Hunter Pence will provide the Giants’ perspective, while CC Sabathia will represent the Yankees. Pence, a folk hero from the Giants’ World Series dynasty, still lives in San Francisco and has done commentary for NBC Sports Bay Area, as well as Apple TV. Sabathia went in to the Hall of Fame wearing a Yankees cap, but he was born and raised in Vallejo, about 30 miles northeast of Oracle Park.

The broadcast will also feature a live set on site hosted by Elle Duncan with another Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols, commentating with Anthony Rizzo, the former Yankees and Cubs first baseman. Lauren Shehadi will report from the field and the teams’ dugouts, and comedian Bert Kreischer will reprise his role from Netflix’s NFL broadcast.

The streamer made football its first foray into the major American sports market when it aired its first Christmas Day game in 2024. With its global audience, Netflix has recently been speculated as a natural landing spot for the NFL’s increased slate of international games.

Netflix’s baseball strategy appears to follow its football footprint, targeting high-profile keystone events.

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In addition to Opening Night, Netflix acquired the rights through 2028 to air the Home Run Derby and one “special event” per season, beginning this year with the Field of Dreams game set for Aug. 13.

The Bay Area-based company appears to be going above and beyond the typical broadcast.

According to the Standard, Netflix will also host a “pop-up bullpen,” where fans can test their arms. The kayaks, branded in Netflix red, will reportedly be available for use by fans.

McCovey Cove, one of the sport’s iconic attractions, figures to be on center stage.

Whether Netflix gets its wish and truly makes a splash remains to be seen. The water sits about 20 feet behind a 25-foot brick wall in right field, and San Francisco’s marine layer only adds another obstacle.

The entirety of the Giants’ projected 26-man roster has combined for three splash hits. Nobody on the Yankees has ever done it. The mightiest slugger of them all, Aaron Judge, would seem to be a natural candidate — but only one right-handed hitter has ever splashed down on the fly.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

It looks as if, once again, the Diamondbacks will be going into the season without a regular closer. Strengthening the bullpen was one of the major concerns this winter, after it proved such a problematic area in 2025. But it appears that is happening across other spots, rather than closer. Given the expected return of A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez at some point in the first(ish) half of the season, I can kinda see the point in not splashing out big-time on a closer. But, let’s be honest, we were all expecting better than Taylor Clarke and Paul Sewald as major-league signings this off-season, no offense intended to those two.

While it seems likely that manager Torey Lovullo will play match-ups, rumblings indicate that Paul Sewald may be the main man to be leaned upon in save situations, on the back of improved velocity this spring. Sewald has played down any such notion, telling Arizona Sports 98.7, “They’ll pitch me when they decide to pitch me.” But fans may be a little gun-shy of this idea, considering we have been here before. Sewald was the closer out of the gate in 2024, but was relieved of the role after a terrible July, where he had a 10.80 ERA and went 0-2, with four blown saves. You’re forgiven if putting him back in the roles seems almost like the definition of insanity.

However, this poll is designed to find out less what you think the team will do, and more what you think they should do. Outside of Sewald, there are a number of possible candidates, though all of them come with question marks of varying sizes. For example, Kevin Ginkel has closing experience with 16 career saves. But he had a rough go of things last year, posting a 7.84 ERA. There’s no obvious and outstanding candidate, which is why even a non-roster invitee like Jonathan Loáisiga could be in the mix. We saw this work out very well last year, with non-roster invitee Shelby Miller, who ended up leading the team in saves by the end of the season.

So what we have below is a list of potential candidates. Which one would you LIKE to see occupy the closer’s position for the D-backs, until the more established names of Puk and Martinez come back? Or if you feel the “closer by committee” thing is a good idea, that would be “other”, I guess. As ever, you can explain your decision in the comments below…

Blue Jays 1 Yankees 8

That didn’t go well.

Eric Lauer didn’t have a good time of it. He went 3.1 allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, a home run, and 4 earned. His spring ERA is 8.64. I know spring doesn’t really matter for him, he’s going to make the team, but it would be nice to see him put up some zeros. Especially if he wants to be a starter.

Other pitchers:

• Chase Lee: 2 outs, clean.
• Jorge Alcala: 1 inning, 1 walk, 1 k.
• Lazaro Estrada: 1.2 innings, 4 hits, 3 earned, 1 walk, 2 home runs.
• Brendan Cellucci: 1 out.
• Chad Dallas: 1 inning, 2 hits, 1 earned, home run, 2 k.

Starters:

• Myles Straw: 0 for 3, k. .174 on the spring.
• Nathan Lukes: 1 for 2, walk, k. .273.
• Jesus Sanchez: 1 for 3, double, RBI, 2 k. .226. His defense in right field wasn’t impressive.
• Eloy Jimenez: 0 for 3. .281. After a nice start to spring, he’s really slowed down. I can’t see him making the team unless he turns things around in a hurry.
• Brandon Valenzuela: 0 for 2, k. .333.
• Rafael Lantigua: 0 for 3, k. .458.
• Sean Keys: 1 for 3. .208.
• Arjun Nimmala: 1 for 2, k, steal. .263.
• Charles McAdoo: 0 for 2 k.

None of the replacements had a hit.

Tomorrow the Jays play the Phillies in Clearwater. Jose Berrios starts (after not being able to play in the WBC for insurance reasons).

In the eighth inning of the Italy/Mexico game has Italy up 9-1.

It looks like Canada will play the US on Friday. And Italy will play Puerto Rico on Saturday, unless Mexico make a big comeback (they won’t). Vinnie Pasquantino has three home runs in the game for Italy.

The Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night in Tampa behind a big performance from Giancarlo Stanton, who launched two home runs and drove in three runs as New York continued its spring slate with an 8-1 victory.

The game turned quickly in the third inning when the Yankees’ offense came to life. Trent Grisham opened the scoring with an RBI double to right field that brought home minor-league catcher Ali Sánchez. Moments later, fourth-outfielder candidate Randal Grichuk followed with a sharp double of his own, plating Grisham to extend the lead.

That set the stage for Stanton, who delivered the biggest swing of the inning. The Yankees’ designated hitter launched a two-run homer to left-center field, pushing the lead to four runs and continuing a strong spring at the plate for Big G.

Toronto managed its only run of the night in the fourth inning when Jesús Sánchez lined an RBI double to right field to score Nathan Lukes, trimming the Yankees’ lead slightly. However, Cam Schlittler and New York’s pitching staff quickly regained control of the game, keeping the Blue Jays quiet the rest of the way.

Stanton added another highlight in the sixth inning when he connected for his second home run of the night, a towering solo shot to center field that extended the Yankees’ advantage.

The Yankees continued to add insurance runs late in the game. In the seventh inning, Jonathan Ornelas launched a solo home run to right-center field, his first of the spring. Later in the frame, Zack Short delivered an RBI single that scored Ernesto Martinez Jr. to further widen the gap. New York added one final run in the eighth inning when Cole Gabrielson went deep with a solo homer to right field.

On the mound, Cam Schlittler delivered an impressive outing for the Yankees. The right-hander worked 3.2 innings, allowing two hits and one run while striking out six Blue Jays hitters. Schlittler showed good command throughout the outing and consistently missed bats, an encouraging sign as he continues his development. That all-important pitch count reached 46 tonight with 36 crossing the plate for strikes.

Relievers Kervin Castro and Carlos Lagrange followed with strong appearances of their own. Castro worked 1.1 scoreless innings, while the up-and-coming prospect Lagrange closed out the game tossing four shutout innings (averaging 101.5 mph, mind you) that resulted in a save the long way.

At the plate, the Yankees finished with 10 hits on the night. Stanton’s two home runs led the way, while Grisham, Grichuk, Ornelas, and Gabrielson each contributed key knocks as New York’s lineup continued to show depth during spring training.

Spring training games rarely tell the full story of a team’s season, but performances like Stanton’s and a strong showing from the pitching staff provide the Yankees with plenty of positives as they continue working toward Opening Day. They’ll be back at it tomorrow afternoon for a road game in Lakeland against the Tigers. Will Warren is set to face future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander with first pitch at 1:05pm ET.

Box Score

The San Diego Padres have been known for one thing over the last few years. Whether the offense is “Slam Diego” or in a historical rut, whether the starting rotation is elite or strung together with Scotch tape, the bullpen is elite.

The Friars have been lauded by many to have the best relief corps in all of MLB. Heading into the 2026 season, the bullpen is by far the greatest strength in San Diego.

As the final games of Spring Training are played these next weeks, there are a few spots remaining for the Padres to fill.

Obvious roster inclusions

Most teams carry eight relievers on their 26-man roster. San Diego will probably do the same despite toying with the idea of a six-man starting rotation. Doing so would lose the bullpen depth they crave so it’s unlikely for that to be the case.

Some pitchers fill clear roles on the staff. Mason Miller will be the team’s closer. There’s a case to be made that he could be the best closer in all of baseball next year.

Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada will all return and fill the same high-leverage roles they excelled in last season.

David Morgan figures to be included in that group as well after his fantastic rookie campaign last season. After a bumpy start, he finished with a 2.66 ERA across 47 ⅓ innings. 

Beyond that, Wandy Peralta will likely fill a similar role to last year’s as a lefty who can serviceably cover innings. But after that, the lines blur on who might join the relief corps.

The fight for the last two spots

That covers six of the bullpen spots. It gets tricky after that. The race has yet to be narrowed down and will be over the next two weeks. With Yuki Matsui possibly starting the season on the injured list, the current frontrunners are Kyle Hart, Logan Gillaspie, Bradgley Rodriguez and Jackson Wolf.

Kyle Hart

After winning the KBO equivalent of the Cy Young in 2024, Hart signed a deal with the Padres to be the club’s fifth starter in 2025. But he struggled with consistency as a starter and was sent down to Triple-A El Paso.

But later in the season he returned to San Diego as a reliever and pitched to much better results. So far this spring Hart has yet to allow a run across 8 ⅔ innings of Cactus League play. If he keeps that up he’ll be poised to fill out the bullpen given his ability to cover multiple innings.

Logan Gillaspie

Gillaspie impressed at the beginning of last season with a 2.57 ERA across 7.0 innings and was used as a reliever who could cover several innings. 

His problem was limiting walks and hits, with a below-average 1.57 WHIP. But he’s also yet to allow a run and has brought his WHIP down to 0.65 across 7 ⅔ innings.

Bradgley Rodriguez

Showcasing an impressive fastball, Rodriguez made his MLB debut late last season, making seven appearances for the big-league club. In that time he recorded a 1.17 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. 

But what was most exciting was his ability to limit opponents to a .160 batting average. That ability has carried over this spring, with Rodriguez lowering his WHIP to 0.50 and not allowing a run in 6.0 innings of Cactus League play.

The number six prospect for San Diego could factor in as a major part of the plans moving forward if he keeps pitching the way he is now.

Jackson Wolf

Wolf made his MLB debut in 2023 for the Friars, only making one start for the club. He’s been used mostly as a starting pitcher in the minors. But without a clear track to a starting opportunity it seems likely he could make some relief appearances.

Across a team-leading 9 ⅔ innings this spring, Wolf has logged a 1.93 ERA with seven strikeouts. If he can limit the walks it would force San Diego to call him up to the majors.

Whoever ends up with the final spots for the Friars, what’s certain is that they have a great problem on their hands: too many good options.

Cam Schlittler was slowed down a bit early in camp due to a back issue, but the Yankees' young righty was magnificent, making his second start of the spring on Wednesday.

Schlittler started his night on a very high note, falling just one pitch shy of an immaculate inning, as he struck out the side on just 10 pitches in the top of the first. 

He continued cruising from there, retiring the first 10 batters before allowing a one-out single in the top of the third. 

Jesus Sanchez followed that with an RBI double for Toronto’s first run of the game. 

The 25-year-old got a groundout to bring his night to an end, before turning things over to righty Kervin Castro, who easily got a flyout to officially close his book.

Schlittler looked extremely sharp as he utilized his full arsenal to allow just the one run on two hits, while generating eight swing-and-misses and striking out six.

He stretched out to 46 pitches, 36 of which were for strikes, over 3.2 innings of work. 

“I thought it was great,” he told YES Network’s Jack Curry. “I was pretty efficient, just being able to get ahead in the count and get those putaway pitches -- still a little bit I can work on, but really happy with the results.”

What exactly he has left to work on, he thinks, is pretty simple. 

"Just continue to build up," Schlittler explained. "Making sure my body and arm is feeling good -- continue building six-to-eight pitches each outing, continue to refine my arsenal and just make sure I’m in the zone with all of those pitches.”

As far as his back, the youngster feels he’s in a really good position to be ready for Opening Day. 

While his pitch count will likely be a bit behind the rest of the starters over his first few regular season outings, he’s prepared to go out and do whatever he can to help the team.

“It’s a little disappointing not being able to get to that 90-mark and the max some of the other guys will have,” he said. “But whatever I can do -- if I only have 70 pitches, I’m going to try to do everything I can to make it a quality start.”

The Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-1, on Wednesday night at Steinbrenner Park.

New York is now 12-6 in Grapefruit League play.

Here are some takeaways...

- Cam Schlittler was terrific in his second outing of the spring. The young right-hander was in control from the get-go, setting down the first 10 hitters he faced before Toronto was able to strike in the third. They used a one-out single and double to bring in their first run of the game, but Schlittler got a groundout and Kervin Castro a flyout to end the inning. 

The 25-year-old closed his book with just the one run allowed on a pair of hits while striking out six. Three of those punchouts came when he finished just one pitch over an immaculate inning in a 10-pitch top of the first. He generated eight swing-and-misses, topped out at 99.8 mph, and his secondaries were sharp as he stretched out to 46 pitches. 

- Trent Grisham has had a bit of a rough time at the plate thus far this spring, but he put together two good at-bats in this one. The outfielder doubled home the first run of the game in a left-on-left matchup in the bottom of the third, then drew a five-pitch walk and stole a base in the bottom of the fifth. 

- Randal Grichuk showed exactly why the Yanks took a shot on him on a minor league deal. Also appearing in his second game of the spring, the veteran followed Grisham's double with a two-bagger of his own against Toronto lefty Eric Lauer, giving New York a 2-0 lead at the time. 

- That advantage was doubled just two batters later, as Giancarlo Stanton lifted a first-pitch middle-middle curveball 411 feet over the left-center field fence. And the big man wasn't done there, as he struck again in the sixth, this time launching a slider away 415 feet to left-center for a solo shot. 

All three of Stanton's homers this spring have come over the past two days. 

- Carlos Lagrange walked the first batter he faced, but quickly settled in from there. He got out of the inning with a strikeout on a 102.8 mph fastball and a double play, then retired the next nine batters he faced to close the ballgame. The youngster allowed just the one baserunner, struck out three, and topped out at 103.1 mph over four scoreless innings.

- Jonathan Ornelas and Cole Gabrielson lifted solo homers, and Zack Short singled home a run in the late innings.  

- Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jose Caballero played five innings and went hitless in their returns from the WBC. 

Game MVP: Giancarlo Stanton

Big-G has had his power bat going over the past two days at Yankee camp.

Highlights

GIANCARLO STANTON pic.twitter.com/4nxheo8OeG

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 11, 2026

6 strikeouts tonight for Cam Schlittler 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZRG4wNKmVK

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 11, 2026

Giancarlo Stanton’s second of the night! pic.twitter.com/5OkEGEyylV

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 12, 2026

What's next

Will Warren looks to continue his strong spring as the Yanks travel to Lakeland to take on the Tigers. 

First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

A few days ago, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said that his team is a power-hitting, not base stealing group when asked why he has slugging first baseman Nick Kurtz hitting leadoff. That was the case last year and will be again this year, evident by the 29 home runs the team has already hit this spring. This afternoon, the A’s powerful offense led the way, blasting five home runs in a 13-3 pummeling of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks scored first as A’s starting pitcher Luis Morales gave up a home run to the second batter he faced, second baseman Ildemaro Vargas. The A’s responded right away as their second baseman Andy Ibáñez hit his first home run in an A’s uniform, a two-run blast off Arizona’s pitcher Ryne Nelson in the top of the second inning.

Ibáñez crushed it 😤 pic.twitter.com/TzSatR7z0F

— Athletics (@Athletics) March 11, 2026

Arizona continued the back-and-forth nature of the game’s early going by tying the game at two in the bottom of that inning, their rally aided by A’s third baseman Max Muncy’s third error of spring training.

The A’s took the lead for good the following inning courtesy of Shea Langeliers’ third Cactus League home run, a solo shot to left field. Muncy added a solo home run in the fourth inning, redeeming himself from the error he committed earlier in the game.

Muncy Mash 💪 pic.twitter.com/1UUemeTZ37

— Athletics (@Athletics) March 11, 2026

Muncy, who got three hits plus a walk, looks ready for Opening Day offensively. However, the natural shortstop’s defense at third base continues to be erratic. He will need to clean things up before the season, or his defensive mistakes could cost the A’s games this year.

Up by two through four innings, the A’s broke this game open by scoring five runs against Diamondbacks reliever Thomas Hatch in the fifth inning. Brent Rooker immediately followed Tyler Soderstrom’s three-run home run with a solo shot of his own.

Meanwhile, Morales settled down, turning in his best start of the spring so far. He allowed two runs — one unearned — over 4 2/3 innings while working in and out of trouble. In the second inning, he got Anderdson Rojas to ground into an inning-ending double play with runners on second and third and one out. The next inning, Arizona loaded the bases with one out before Morales struck out the next two batters to escape the jam and finished the day reaching 75 pitches. He should be well almost fully stretched out with just a couple weeks to go until Opening Day.

The A’s reserves added on late, scoring two runs in the seventh and eighth innings to make the game even more of a blowout. Today, the team went far down its bench, giving playing time to Carlos Pacheco, Breyson Guedez and Jose Ramos, three recent international signees who are much further away from MLB than the team’s top prospect Leo De Vries.

Unlike the past few games in which A’s relievers allowed the other team to make a comeback, they were nearly perfect this afternoon. Justin Sterner, Hogan Harris and non-roster invitee Nick Anderson all threw scoreless innings to wrap up a big win for the A’s. And now they’re rolling.

The Athletics will look to make it six wins in a row tomorrow at the Texas Rangers. Right-hander J.T. Ginn will make his fourth start of the spring, while the Rangers have yet to announce their scheduled starter for that game. Ginn allowed four runs, including two home runs, over three innings in his last outing against the Colorado Rockies. Look for Ginn to pitch better tomorrow as he vies for a spot on the A’s Opening Day rotation or bullpen.

As Spring Training rolls on, the St. Louis Cardinals roster is starting to come into focus, but there’s still no obvious choice for what the back of the rotation will look like. Who do you think should be the 5th starter? The same question could be asked about who the 4th starter will be, too.

It’s all but a foregone conclusion that the Cardinals will have Dustin May, Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy as the first three starters. That leaves Richard Fitts, Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy with one of them being the odd man out assuming the Cardinals go with a 5-man rotation and that’s no certainty either. For the sake of discussion, let’s say St. Louis starts the 2026 regular season with a 5-man rotation. Here are the stats of the bottom of the order candidates so far in Spring Training:

Andre Pallante

• Games: 3
• Innings Pitched: 9.0
• ERA: 3.00
• Strikeouts : 7
• WHIP: 0.78

Kyle Leahy

• Games: 3
• Innings Pitched: 8.2
• ERA: 5.19
• Strikeouts: 9
• WHIP: 0.92

Richard Fitts

• Games: 2
• Innings Pitched: 4.2
• ERA: 7.71
• Strikeouts: 4
• WHIP: 1.71

I’ve only seen a handful of Spring Training games, but I’ve seen impressive moments (and a few concerning ones) for all three of these players. The last game I saw Andre pitch, he was sharp. Kyle Leahy had a rough outing against Pittsburgh in his second Spring Training appearance, but his most recent game was solid. I saw many comments about Richard Fitts first game that said his fastball velocity was up. The second Fitts game was underwhelming. If the St. Louis Cardinals went with a conventional 5-man rotation, it would be a tough choice of which of these 3 would end up in the bullpen.

If I were forced to pick as of right now, I would have Pallante and Leahy as the 4th and 5th starters and have Fitts be the long reliever out of the bullpen, but I will admit I thought about Leahy having that role after the Pirates game. If you had to choose just 5 Cardinals starters, who would you go with and who goes to the pen? I know we’re only halfway through Spring Training, so the sample size is admittedly not large.

A few months ago, we explored the idea of the Cardinals going with a 6-man rotation and I’m starting to think that might be the right approach. If 2026 is the season where we find out who the future Cardinals core will be, what better way to figure out who the arms we can depend on will be than letting each of these pitchers get their chance at starting?

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Giants fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

The 2026 MLB season is about to start, and the San Francisco Giants have high hopes of returning to the postseason for the first time since 2021. But it won’t be easy, as the National League West projects as one of the more challenging divisions in baseball.

There’s a clear hierarchy in the NL West. At the top sits the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who boast an embarrassment of riches. At the bottom sits the Colorado Rockies, who are just a standard embarrassment. And in the middle are the Giants, San Diego Padres, and Arizona Diamondbacks, who are jockeying for position in the division, with sights set on a playoff berth.

It’s no guarantee where anyone will end up. No one thought the Giants had a chance of catching the Dodgers in 2021, but catch them they did. Still, it seems overwhelmingly likely that they end up in either second, third, or fourth place in the division. So what’s your pick?

There were no postgame interviews today as the Colorado Rockies beat the Seattle Mariners 11-7.

(Taco’s anyone?)

However, please enjoy seven minutes of game highlights. (Spoiler: There’s a lot to see.)

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I’m going to throw some numbers at you and let you decide whether or not I’m completely making them up.

Matt McLain, the resident 2B of the Cincinnati Reds and likely #2 hitter in the lineup everyday, is 17 for 28 so far in Cactus League play in 2026. Seventeen for twenty-eight, or a .607 batting average.

He is Joey Votto now, roughly – he has walked 5 times so far in spring games while only owning a pair (2!) strikeouts across 10 games played.

He’s hit 5 dingers. He has 3 more home runs than he has strikeouts.

He is slugging 1.179. Over the final 11 seasons of Barry Bonds’ career, his OPS was 1.173.

Matt McLain, after homering again on Wednesday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers as part of a 3 for 3 day (that featured a pair of runs scored and a stolen base), is now hitting .607/.667/1.179, numbers that are so ridiculous they quite frankly ruin the triple-slash format because they’re so good.

He has a 1.846 OPS at the moment. That’s the best in all of spring training baseball across MLB right now.

In fact, he’s atop the spring MLB leaderboard in runs, hits, home runs, RBI, average, OBP, and SLG. He leads every Major League Baseball player in all of those.

Here’s the leaderboard. You can look at it yourself. You can look at it yourself, but you cannot unsee Matt McLain, because he’s literally the first name listed on pretty much any category you choose to sort.

He does not lead all of Major League Baseball in height, but that doesn’t matter.

None of these spring stats really matter, either, and they’ll all reset to .000 the moment the regular season begins in two weeks. The hope is, though, that McLain has fully turned the corner from his shoulder troubles and struggles from a year ago, and that the ridiculous dude we’ve had the chance to follow this spring is the guy who’s capable of being a really, really good big leaguer showing out in the best manner possible.

My brain typically ignores spring stats the moment spring training ends, and I honestly don’t recall anyone doing anything of note – bad or good – this side of Dave Sappelt. This McLain spring, though, may just be so ridiculous that I have a hard time forgetting it.

Kyle Teel and the White Sox might be screaming “Mama Mia!” 

The Team Italy and Chicago catcher could be out for the next 4-6 weeks after he hurt himself running the bases during the Italians’ win over Team USA on Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic

White Sox general manager Chris Getz told reporters Wednesday that Teel suffered a grade-2 hamstring strain in his right hamstring and that he would “likely” be starting the 2026 season on the injured list. 

Teal got hurt during the 8-6 Italy win — which put the Americans’ chances at advancing in the tournament in peril — when he hit the ball down the first-base line and appeared to be in some discomfort as he ran to second base. 

It was a disappointing turn of events for the 24-year-old backstop, who had an impressive showing during the World Baseball Classic. 

Teel, a Ridgewood, N.J., native, hit a home run in the second inning and had four hits in six at-bats in the tournament. 

Getz was happy to see Teel and infielder Sam Antonacci, representing the organization so well, but the loss of Teel took some of the “wind out of the sail.” 

It’s a grade-2 hamstring strain for Kyle Teel. He could be out 4-6 weeks. pic.twitter.com/QtcVZj5Ybr

— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) March 11, 2026

“But I am proud of how those guys have been representing the organization, and I’m really happy for those guys,” he said.

White Sox Manager Will Venable told reporters Wednesday that he texted with Teel to “check in on him” and to “make sure that he was in a good headspace.” 

“Such a positive guy,” Venable said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “He said he was great and was optimistic that he was going to make this as quick as possible.”

Teel played in 78 games for the White Sox last season and slashed .273/.375/.411, while hitting eight homers and 11 doubles.

MESA, Arizona — Matt Halbach doubled in Scott Kingery with one out in the ninth and the Cubs had a walk-off 9-8 win over the Royals on a beautiful afternoon at Sloan Park.

Those guys, of course, aren’t likely going to be playing for the Cubs this year, though Kingery might wind up at Triple-A Iowa as infield insurance.

Before that happened, the teams combined for seven home runs and the Cubs wound up batting in very weird sequences in the seventh and eighth innings. I’ll get to the latter, but let’s begin at the beginning.

Colin Rea allowed a run in the first inning on a triple and an error by Nico Hoerner, and then the Cubs got to work in the second. With two out, Carson Kelly and Dylan Carlson singled and Matt Shaw was hit by a pitch.

Pedro Ramirez cleared ‘em with this grand slam [VIDEO].

Gotta tell you, I am really impressed with Ramirez. He turns 22 on April 1, plays solid infield defense and has hit well this spring. Granted, spring, granted, small sample size but this is a player to keep an eye on.

Nico was next and sort of made up for his error by homering [VIDEO].

So it’s 5-1 Cubs, but Rea gave that all back by allowing three home runs in the third and fourth innings. The 5-5 tie stuck until the seventh, with Caleb Thielbar and Hunter Harvey throwing efficient scoreless innings, then Hoby Milner gave up a homer to give KC a 6-5 lead in the top of the seventh.

The Cubs scored a pair in the bottom of the inning and I swear to you, they batted out of order. Now, that doesn’t really matter in Spring Training but take a look at this part of the boxscore:

What happened here was this: Rojas had replaced Hoerner in the top of the seventh and should have led off the inning. Instead, Moisés Ballesteros led off and singled. Then he was replaced by Joan Delgado as a pinch-runner. THEN Rojas batted, and struck out.

Don’t ask me why. That’s what I saw. It broke Gameday for quite some time, eventually the above is what they went with. Th Cubs scored two runs, one on an RBI single by Brett Bateman, one on an RBI single by Kingery. The Cubs led 7-6 going to the eighth.

Jacob Webb gave up an unearned run thanks to an infield popup that was dropped by Halbach. In fairness, there was a bit of wind that blew the ball near the mound. That tied the game. A homer off Gavin Hollwell in the ninth gave KC the lead, then the Cubs won the game in the ninth. Justin Dean challenged a pitch that was called strike three, and it was overturned. Given another chance, Dean doubled. He scored the tying run on Kingery’s single and then Halbach won it with his double.

This might have been a meaningless spring result, but right there you can see how an ABS challenge can help change the result of the game. You can be sure the Cubs are filing that info away for future reference.

Attendance watch: 12,026 attended this Wednesday afternoon affair at Sloan Park. That makes the season total for 11 dates 132,824, or 12,076 per date.

The Cubs will host the Seattle Mariners at Sloan Park Thursday afternoon. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Emerson Hancock will go for Seattle. Game time is 3:05 p.m. CT. No TV Thursday, but the Mariners flagship station Seattle Sports 710 AM will have a radio broadcast.