Well, that was no bueno. At least the televised game started out well. I made a bad coin flip and started out listening to the Reds game. Boyd wasn’t exactly good Friday night. Taillon wasn’t much better. Miguel Amaya had some juice. Al will have details at 8 a.m. CT.
“I’ve suggested to the hitting coaches that they stay away from him,” Counsell said. “I did have a meeting with the hitting coaches at one point this spring. I called them all together, and they got a little nervous. I said, ‘You guys should stay away from Ballesteros.’
“Joking, you know, but they got the message.” — Patrick Mooney.
Four and a half games left, including the Spring Breakout Game. Cub Tracks is not in favor of ST night games. Or Eugenio Suárez in the Central.
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Andy Koval (WGN9*): PHOTOS: Cubs unveil new food for 2026 season at Wrigley Field. The teams’ respective 2026 journeys begin on March 26, when the Cubs will host the Nationals at 1:20 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field on Opening Day.
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Kyle Freeland will take the ball for the Rockies on Opening Day in 2026 — the fifth Opening Day nod for a pitcher who has quietly built one of the most unique résumés in franchise history. By Baseball-Reference, he is already the Rockies’ all-time leader in WAR among starting pitchers (19.2), a reflection of both longevity and effectiveness in baseball’s most difficult pitching environment.
And yet, that same metric — WAR — is part of why Freeland is so often misunderstood.
Because here’s the reality: WAR doesn’t always evaluate pitchers at Coors Field particularly well. And Freeland is one of the clearest case studies of that disconnect.
His 2018 season is the most extreme example. FanGraphs credited him with 4.1 WAR. Baseball-Reference credited him with 8.4 WAR. Same performance, radically different value depending on the model.
That season stands out — an outlier peak — but it doesn’t stand alone. Freeland has put together multiple solid seasons in Colorado, just not always at that elite level.
Why Coors breaks clean metrics
Most public pitcher WAR (Wins Above Replacement) models rely on two approaches:
FIP-based WAR (FanGraphs) — built from strikeouts, walks, and home runs.
Both work well in most environments. At Coors, they don’t.
At altitude, air density is roughly 15–20% lower than at sea level. Pitch-tracking research shows fastballs can lose roughly 2–3 inches of movement in Denver.
Movement isn’t just reduced: It’s altered. That makes generating swing-and-miss more difficult and increases reliance on contact.
So pitchers adapt.
Freeland doesn’t overpower hitters — and that’s exactly what WAR tends to undervalue.
2018 shows the disconnect
Freeland’s 2018 line:
202.1 innings
2.85 ERA
3.67 FIP
4.1 fWAR
8.4 rWAR
That gap between fWAR and rWAR isn’t small — it’s philosophical.
One model saw a pitcher without dominant strikeout numbers. The other saw elite run prevention.
At Coors, Freeland threw 93.2 innings with a 2.40 ERA — not just surviving, but thriving.
Coors isn’t just hitter-friendly
Coors is often called “hitter-friendly,” but that undersells it.
Park factors are averages — one adjustment applied broadly.
It interacts with pitch shape, contact quality, and decision-making in ways that don’t scale cleanly. Two identical pitches can produce completely different outcomes depending on where they’re thrown. Even the humidor reduced but didn’t eliminate these effects.
In Colorado, the numbers rarely tell the whole story.
The skill that gets missed
Freeland’s profile won’t jump off the page:
Modest strikeout rates
Solid command
Heavy reliance on contact
But his value shows up differently:
Weak contact
Ground balls
Avoiding letting one inning break everything
At Coors, that last skill might be the most valuable.
WAR rewards outcomes that translate cleanly across environments. Freeland’s value comes from handling one that doesn’t.
There’s also a perception gap — call it the Coors credibility tax.
A 4.30 ERA in a neutral environment looks like back-end production. At Coors, that same performance can resemble mid-rotation value or higher.
If the Rockies are building around pitchers like Freeland, the question isn’t just whether they’re good enough: it’s whether we’re measuring them correctly.
So what is he actually worth?
On paper, a ~2 WAR pitcher looks replaceable.
In reality, it’s not that simple.
Freeland is owed $16 million in 2026, with a vesting option tied to innings in 2027. That reflects something the numbers struggle to capture: reliability in a uniquely difficult environment. A pitcher with similar “true talent” elsewhere might not translate to Coors at all. Freeland already has.
Kyle Freeland isn’t an ace in the traditional sense.
He’s something more specific:
A pitcher built to survive — and occasionally thrive — in baseball’s most difficult pitching environment.
Until metrics better capture environmental context and contact management at altitude, pitchers like Freeland will continue to look ordinary on paper and essential in reality.
So the next time you see a WAR total next to a Rockies pitcher, ask:
Is that number telling the whole story — or just the part that survives outside of Coors Field?
The Rockies’ spring training offered a mix of optimism and reality — some encouraging performances, but familiar concerns still lingering. A few players showed growth, especially on the offensive side, yet questions about pitching depth and consistency remain. In the end, the biggest takeaway is that spring can hint at progress, but proving it in the regular season is a different challenge entirely.
Ezequiel Tovar returned to the Rockies fresh off helping Venezuela capture a World Baseball Classic title, bringing both momentum and confidence back to Colorado. The young shortstop embraced the emotional weight of the moment, calling the experience meaningful not just for himself but for his country. Now back with the Rockies, the question becomes whether that energy — and his strong international performance — can carry over into a bounce-back season at Coors.
The Rockies reassigned top prospects Charlie Condon and Cole Carrigg to minor league camp, a move framed less as a setback and more as the next step in their development. Both impressed during spring training, with the organization emphasizing their strong performances and long-term upside. Ultimately, the decision reflects timing rather than talent — and reinforces that both remain firmly in the Rockies’ plans for 2026, even if their debuts will have to wait.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 15: A general view of Oracle Park before a MLB game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Francisco Giants on August 15, 2025 at Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
We have officially reached the last weekend before baseball gets back! Opening Day for the San Francisco Giants is right around the corner. So this weekend, I wanted to get one last temperature check before the season starts.
Personally, I’m just excited for baseball to be back. I have a tiny, tiny bit of cautious optimism. I can’t help it. A new season is like the first day of school, full of potential and not yet tainted with disappointment and annoyance. A fresh start. A time where anything is possible because it hasn’t actually started yet.
It’s the best. I’m gonna ride that feeling right into the first series. Maybe even two, depending on how the Yankees series goes.
MIAMI, FL - MARCH 17: Bryce Harper #24 of Team USA celebrates after hitting a single in the sixth inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Championship game presented by Capital One between Team Venezuela and Team USA at loanDepot Park on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The team’s starting rotation is out and it should not be a surprise. Cristopher Sanchez will start the opener and will be followed by Aaron Nola and Jesus Luzardo. Anyone thinking Rob Thomson would keep the lefties back-to-back has not watched Thomson manage these past few years. Not there is much to gain from it, but having them split up keeps with is M.O. he’s had in playoff series past.
Sept 16, 2007; Boston, MA , USA; New York Yankees pitcher (22) Roger Clemens throws a pitch during the 1st inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 4-3. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
The Los Angeles Dodgers are making a farce of the league. After winning back-to-back championships on the back of impossibly stacked rosters, they gave the best free agent on the market almost as much guaranteed money over the next four years than the White Sox, Guardians, and Marlins’ entire 2026 team payrolls combined. It is now a forgone conclusion that the Dodgers will capture their third consecutive World Series title in 2026. When – not if – that happens, expect Major League Baseball to suffer the same consequence that followed the crowning of its last three-peat champions; fans of the other 29 teams, driven to apathy, will simply walk away from the sport, in droves, and nothing will bring them back. Rob Manfred must choose one of two paths. He can stand idly by while baseball dies a slow death, or he can take decisive action to curtail —
Hold on, I’m getting a phone call from my editor. Yes? What’s that? Yeah, I was just writing about how the Yankees ruined baseball with their three-peat. That mass exodus of fans after 2000 was really something, right? Wait, what do you mean that never happened? People kept on watching baseball? 1998-2000 isn’t remembered as a black mark on the game’s history?
Oh. Well, I guess I can still submit this story to the Post.
Overwrought intro skit aside, my actual take is this: the Dodgers aren’t “ruining baseball”. Yes, it is groan-worthy to see the game’s leading financial juggernaut, possessing an already elite roster which just won the World Series, take on even more payroll to acquire a top-tier player. But pretending like it’s an affront to the integrity and health of the game itself is pretty rich, especially if you’re a fan of the Yankees. After all, our beloved team did just that in the 1998-1999 offseason, when they celebrated their historic 114-win championship year by trading for literally Roger Clemens. They won the World Series that year, and the year after that too – and then what happened?
I’ll tell you what didn’t happen – baseball didn’t die. Fans kept showing up to games. In 1998, a total of 70.37 million fans attended MLB games, coming out to an average of 29,285 per game. In 1999, those figures dropped all the way to…70.13 million total and 29,152 per game. I’m sure many non-Yankees fans were disgusted with Clemens being traded to the Yankees, but by and large, that disgust did not translate into a marked decrease in attendance. Likewise, the Yankees repeating as champions in 1999 also did not result in MLB attendance suffering in 2000. If anything, total attendance increased to 72.74 million that season, with the per-game average exceeding the 30,000 mark. It was the first 162-game season to accomplish that feat since the 1994 strike.
TV ratings for the World Series in those years also bear this out. The 1998 World Series garnered a Nielsen rating of 14.1 (meaning that an estimated 14.1% of all households with a TV were tuned in), with total viewership estimated at 20.34 million. In 1999, those figures actually improved to 16.0 and 23.73 million, respectively. And while 2000 did see a marked decrease (12.4 Nielsen rating, 18.08 million viewers), those figures rebounded strongly in 2001 (15.7 Nielsen rating, 24.52 million viewers). If fans of the other 29 teams were sick and tired of having to watch the Yankees play in the World Series year after year, they sure didn’t show it by tuning in to something else.
Now, you may argue that my comparison is flawed, because I’m ignoring the magnitude by which the Dodgers currently outspend the rest of MLB. It’s not just the fact that they have two rings in the bag and are going for their third – it’s that they’re going about it by flexing their financial muscles in a way that few other teams can compete with.
The raw figures seem to support this argument. The Yankees did have the highest payroll in baseball in 1999, but their $88.1 million figure only bested the second-highest spenders (the Texas Rangers) by $7 million or so. They led MLB again with a $92.9 million payroll in 2000, but this time, their lead over the second-place Dodgers was only $2 million. Compared to the Dodgers’ 2026 projected Opening Day payroll of $397 million, which clears the runner-up New York Mets’ payroll by a good $30 million, the 1999-2000 Yankees seem like small fries.
However, such a view ignores both inflation and the staggering increase of spending in MLB as a whole. Relative to their peers, the 1999-2000 Yankees outspent the league on a scale comparable to the current Dodgers. To wit: the 1999 Yankees’ payroll was 8.3% bigger than the next-highest spending Rangers, and 583% bigger than the last place Marlins’ $15.1 million mark. In 2000, the Yankees’ lead over the second-place Dodgers shrunk to 2.4%, but their $92.9 million payroll represented a 593% increase from the cellar-dwelling Twins’ $15.6 million total. Meanwhile, the 2026 Dodgers’ projected payroll is 9% bigger than the second place Mets, and only 543% bigger than the last place Marlins’ $73 million tally. Believe it or not, when adjusted for their respective eras, the scale of the Yankees’ spending during their three-peat years isn’t far apart from what the Dodgers are doing now.
The turn-of-the-millennium Yankees were every bit as villainous as the Dodgers are now, in terms of both their success and the ruthless spending by which they pursued it. And yet, despite the bad guys winning three consecutive World Series (and nearly winning a fourth!), fans kept showing up and tuning in, and MLB did not wane into irrelevance. So, I hope you can see why I’m a wee bit skeptical towards the claim that the Dodgers are ruining the game. This isn’t to say that what the Yankees did and what the Dodgers are doing is necessarily good for baseball. I do believe that a more level playing field would benefit the game (although I vehemently disagree with the idea that a salary cap would solve the issue). I do believe that fans of small and mid-market franchises do have a legitimate gripe against the Dodgers. But Yankees fans? The only sports team in America who was compared to U.S. Steel in their prime, and not as hyperbole? I think it’s best for us to sit this one out.
Sep 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante (53) walks off the field after a pitching change against the San Francisco Giants during the third inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images
Every new season promises new surprises. Teams and players will drastically under- or overperform projections. Part of the fun of being a fan is planting your flag ahead of time and predicting the next breakout or disappointment (less fun).
For example, I think Masyn Winn is going to overachieve every projection system this year and put up a 5 WAR season. I could cite any number of statistics, narratives, or hunches to support my opinion, but the point is that I have a clear picture of how I think his season will go. If it deviates from that picture, I will be surprised or disappointed.
On the flip side, there are players that I simply don’t know what to make of. Nolan Gorman could hit 40 home runs this year or be DFA’d by the All-Star break, and I wouldn’t be shocked by either outcome. This list is subjective, but here are the five major leaguers and five minor leaguers that can’t surprise me in 2026.
Major Leaguers
Nolan Gorman It may be cliché, but this is truly a make-or-break year for Gorman and the Cardinals. He only has three years of team control left, so the idea that he can incrementally improve and work his way back into the long-term picture is not realistic. No, he will need a full-blown breakout in his age-26 season. I don’t see the Cardinals sticking with Gorman into the second half if real changes to his contact and ability to translate his power into games are not evident in the early going. By the All-Star break, Gorman could be a DFA candidate or a core piece of the offense.
Andre Pallante Pallante is such an interesting pitcher because he is elite at managing damage on contact but struggles to generate enough swing-and-miss to be viable as a starter (or reliever). As currently constructed, he has to walk a very fine line to be effective, but if he can add or refine an off-speed pitch to generate swing-and-miss, there could still be upside left. Pallante, with a little more control and a reliable off-speed pitch, is a mid-rotation starter. The Pallante we saw last year is not going to be pitching important innings on a contending club.
Dustin May May’s injury history and inconsistencies have been well documented. He has also had a healthy and impressive spring training, with his fastball velocity up over two miles per hour year over year. If he combines the velocity and stuff from his early Dodger days with his health from last year, the Cardinals will have a massive asset on their hands. Every pitcher carries the risk of injury, but May is one of the few who has legitimate ace upside.
Nathan Church At this time last year, expectations for Church were low to nonexistent. After a breakout 2025, he still might just be a AAAA player or fourth outfielder. Or… he might be Harrison Bader in the outfield and Brendan Donovan at the plate. He is particularly tough to project because he changed his profile to include more power last season in the minor leagues, but then completely faceplanted offensively during his major league time.
Thomas Saggese Saggese has stayed under the radar a bit over the last couple of seasons. He was a top-100 prospect after his excellent 2023 season, but he did not have the pedigree of a Jordan Walker or Nolan Gorman. Still, upside remains, as Saggese has shown himself to be a competent defender at the major league level and is still just 24 years old. The question is whether he can get to the power that he showed in the minor leagues. Saggese excels at hitting balls at the right angles but will need to find more consistency to have real offensive impact.
Minor Leaguers
These are not necessarily all the highest-upside prospects in the system, but they could all be top-100 prospects in baseball, or not even ranked in the Cardinals system a year from now.
Yairo Padilla Best Case Scenario: Padilla moves up to Low-A and starts showing power commensurate with his athletic 6’4” frame and impressive exit velocity numbers. With a good plate approach and athleticism to dream on, Padilla may still be the highest-upside player in the system.
Worst Case Scenario: Padilla has hit for essentially no in-game power in his first two professional seasons. If he fails to impact the baseball again this season, he will start to look more like Jeremy Rivas as a prospect than Fernando Tatis Jr.
Deniel Ortiz Best Case Scenario: Ortiz continues to build on his impressive debut season. Ortiz is a prospect in the same vein as Joshua Baez in that he has excellent batted-ball data (launch angle and exit velocity), but there are questions around his contact ability. Ortiz still has extremely limited experience against high-level competition as a junior college draftee, so concerns about his contact rate against good velocity may be overblown. He improved throughout last season and could be primed for big numbers in the hitter-friendly environment at Springfield once he arrives.
Worst Case Scenario: If Ortiz’s contact issues persist and he cannot handle third base, he will quickly move from top-100 breakout candidate to an afterthought as a prospect.
Chen-Wei Lin Best Case Scenario: Lin possesses a fastball that can touch 100 mph and intriguing enough secondaries that he might stick in the rotation if everything clicks. He never got into a rhythm in 2025 due to injuries and inconsistencies, but he finished with a flourish in his last two Double-A starts, striking out 15 in seven innings. Listed at 6’7”, Lin may need a little longer to develop, but entering his age-24 season, a delayed breakout is still very possible.
Worst Case Scenario: Another injury or walk-plagued year could lead to Lin falling into the non-prospect tier.
Braden Davis Best Case Scenario: Davis gets his control ironed out and rides his spectacular changeup to becoming a top-100 prospect in baseball. Davis was second in the minor leagues in K% while throwing over 100 innings in his debut season, so the durability and swing-and-miss foundation you want to see in a starter are there.
Worst Case Scenario: If Davis’ command does not improve, or his stuff backs up, he will look more like a hopeful reliever than a potential strikeout-oriented mid-rotation starter.
Sebastian Dos Santos
Best Case Scenario: We just lived through the Rainiel Rodriguez breakout season in his first year stateside, so the precedent has been set for DSL players. Rodriguez was ahead of Dos Santos in comparable DSL metrics in wRC+ (185 to 158) and ISO (.338 to .258), but this is still impressive production from a middle infielder who was not known for power coming into the season. To make a real splash, Dos Santos will need to dominate the Florida Complex League and earn a promotion to full-season ball.
Worst Case Scenario: There is essentially no “floor” on a prospect who has yet to play in the U.S., but if the power does not come with him, Dos Santos will be just another player fighting to get out of the lower minors.
We spend all spring trying to project how a season will unfold, but some of the most important outcomes come from the players we can’t confidently project. So who do you have the least feel for right now?
TAMPA, FL - MARCH 11: Cam Schlittler #31 of the New York Yankees looks on during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 11, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We’ve arrived at the final weekend of spring training, and we can now count the number of exhibition games the Yankees have left on one hand. New York has four spring training dates left on the schedule, and by Wednesday next week, they’ll be in San Francisco to begin the season with a special Opening Night matchup with the Giants. We already have probable starters for that game, with Max Fried and Logan Webb scheduled to face off at 8 pm EST. It’s close enough that we can taste it, but for now, we’ll work through the last games on the exhibition slate as the Yankees and rest of baseball make their final tuneups.
It’ll be a relatively quiet day on the site today. In the morning, Kento will argue that the Dodgers aren’t exactly ruining baseball, and Sam will reflect on Frankie Montas’ career on the occasion of the right-hander’s birthday, while Matt gives us the results from this week’s SB Nation polls. In the afternoon, Cam Schlittler gets the ball, making his last spring start against the Tigers.
Today’s Matchup
New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers
Time: 1:05 p.m. EST
Video: Gotham Sports App, Detroit SportsNet
Venue: Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland, FL
Questions/Prompts:
1. Jasson Domínguez was officially optioned to Triple-A yesterday. How many games will he play in the majors this year?
2. Will you be watching more March Madness, or baseball this weekend?
TAMPA — As far as spring training games go, Friday was an important one for Luis Gil, given some of the questions lingering around him this camp.
The Yankees right-hander came out and answered them emphatically.
Gil looked more dominant than he has all spring, mowing down the Orioles across five shutout innings in which he struck out seven and showed improved life on his fastball, turning back the clock to his AL Rookie of the Year form.
“That was 2024 Luis Gil right there,” a smiling Aaron Boone said after a 3-1 win at Steinbrenner Field. “There’s been incremental improvements, slowly but surely, through spring. But we hadn’t seen that yet. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come for him, because that’s what he’s capable of.”
Luis Gil, throwing a pitch in his previous outing, threw five scoreless innings in the Yankees’ 3-1 spring training win over the Orioles on March 20, 2026 at Steinbrenner Field. Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Gil came out firing from the start and averaged 96.8 mph on his fastball — up over 1 mph from the rest of his starts this spring and up 1.5 mph from 2025 — while topping out at 98.8 mph on a strikeout in the third inning.
The uptick in velocity and stuff was thanks in part to Gil spending his bullpen session Wednesday working on his release point — getting it higher than he had been this spring — to have better deception, which paid immediate dividends.
He had struggled to get swing-and-miss on his fastball in recent starts — and for much of last season after coming back from a lat injury — but rediscovered some of it Friday, generating five whiffs on 23 swings against the pitch.
“Right now, I feel as close as I’ve been [to the 2024 version] and I feel like I’m ready for a long season right now,” Gil said through an interpreter
The Yankees will have to decide what the next step is for Gil, who also flashed a new sinker that he has been working on.
The club is still determining whether it will start the season in a four- or five-man rotation, having the flexibility to do the former because of multiple off-days in the first two weeks.
If the Yankees go with four starters, Gil or Ryan Weathers would appear to be the odd man out, either in a piggyback role or potentially optioned to Triple-A for the first two weeks of the season.
But Gil made a strong last impression.
“I’ve been wanting to see that,” Boone said. “He had their respect with the fastball, which allows the other stuff to play better.”
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 03: Starting pitcher Zac Gallen #23 of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitches against Team Mexico during the first inning of the MLB exhibition game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 03, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We’ve reached the point in Spring Training where I must dust off the keyboard and start stretching my fingers out in preparation for my weekly recaps. Tonight’s contest between the Brew Crew and Snakes was originally scheduled to be an afternoon matchup, but due to the unseasonably warm hot weather, the game was flexed to a nighttime slot. The high temperatures certainly seemed to help the balls jump tonight, which didn’t do any favors for the pair of starting pitchers making their final starts of Spring before they next pitch on Opening Day for their respective clubs.
In Zac Gallen’s final tune-up for the season, things got off to a rough start immediately when he gave a leadoff double and then walked the bases loaded and gave up a 2 RBI single to Sal Frelick before getting out of the first inning. Gallen’s second inning went smoother, recording three straight outs to strand a leadoff single, but then the wheels came off and stayed off. After the D-backs’ offense put up a 6-spot in the bottom of the second, Gallen gave up a pair of solo homers and an RBI triple to trim the lead to 1 run in the third. Then in the fourth, Gallen gave up another solo homer to leave his final line at 9 H, 2 BB, 6 ER and 0 K over 4 IP. It was an outing to forget, but Zac left the game healthy which I suppose is the most important thing here. He did make 66 pitches, so should be able to reasonably get to 80-85 pitches next Thursday.
The Diamondbacks starting lineup was about as close as we’ve seen to a possible Opening Day lineup. Ketel, Corbin and Domo were all in the lineup for the first time together this Spring, then Arenado, Santana, Alek and Lawlar rounded out the rest of the expected regulars with the only missing pieces being Pavin at DH and Gabby/McCann at catcher. Lawlar kept his hot Spring going with a pair of hits and Alek, Domo, Arenado, Tawa each got a hit. Ketel Marte didn’t reach base but he had the hardest hit ball of the game with a 111.7 mph screamer. Corbin Carroll earned 2 walks but also fanned twice. All six runs by the starting offense came in the 2nd inning; 4 of those runs were charged to the Brewers just-named Opening Day starter Jacob Misiorowski.
For the bullpen, Phillip Abner allowed 1 run in his inning of work, but was followed by Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel, Bryce Jarvis, and Andrew Hoffman who all put up zeroes. In fact, those last four relievers, who all figure to be heavily involved in the D-backs bullpen plan this season, didn’t allow a single baserunner.
Most of our starting offense exited after the 6th inning, giving way to Tim Tawa and a slew of youngsters. Pedro Catuy played the hero when he provided the go-ahead hit in the bottom of the 8th He roped a double to left to score Jakey Josepha and Carlos Virahonda and put the good guys up by one run.
Well, the next time I recap a game, it will be the regular season! Congratulations everyone, we made it through the dark winter and have emerged out the other side ready to root on our beloved Diamondbacks in another campaign. See you next week!
Longtime Yankees announcer and ESPN Radio host Michael Kay pushed back strongly against criticism directed at USA captain Aaron Judge following his lackluster performance in the World Baseball Classic.
Kay called out fans who questioned the star outfielder’s effort and production on the international stage, namely in the championship game, when he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Aaron Judge walks back to dugout during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Championship between Venezuela and United States at loanDepot park on March 17, 2026 in Miami, Florida. Getty Images
Kay addressed the backlash during his radio show, taking issue with what he described as an overreaction to a small sample of games.
“We can go up and down that All-Star-laden-Hall-of-Fame-to-be lineup, and they all crapped the bed. Every single one of them except for Harper,” Kay said this week. “But the one guy who’s going to get villainized and scrutinized and criticized, the one guy that everybody decides, ‘I’m going to pile on this guy,’ is Aaron Judge, who if you look at his numbers in the WBC, probably had as good a WBC as anybody that played on Team USA.”
Judge went 6-for-27 with two homers and five RBIs in the tournament.
Michael Kay during the New York Yankees Old Timers Day on August 24, 2024 at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
He hit .222 with an .845 OPS — outside of the team’s top five in each category.
“Derek Jeter has five World Series championships and he’s called overrated,” Kay said. “Aaron Judge has no World Series championships, and he’s called overrated. The haters are out there in full force. That’s just the way of the world right now.”
Kay added, “As I said this [Wednesday], I blame Yankee fans that try to find the warts on this guy. Those are the people I don’t get,” Kay said. “And I know you’re starved for another championship. I get it. [It’s] been since 2009. I understand. But you’re Yankee fans and you see what he does to get you into the postseason on a yearly basis.”
Judge and the Yankees are the favorites to win the American League for the second time in three years this coming season.
The soon-to-be 34-year-old is a career .236 playoff hitter with an .822 OPS.
When mom promises you pizza rolls if you hit a grand salami | Getty Images
So it turns out having a fully staffed team makes spring training games a little more fun to watch. The Mariners made Cleveland pitching miserable tonight, stacking a 10-run inning in the second that featured three home runs en route to a 20-8 victory, with most of those Cleveland runs coming in garbage time. If this is a preview of Opening Day, when Seattle will welcome Stephen Vogt and his Guardians to town, it’s safe to say most Mariners fans will take it.
As much as I love our Seattle announcers, I love being lazy more, and so I listened to the Cleveland broadcast team rather than dig out the radio and try to sync things up, and I am glad I did just this once because it was interesting to hear an outside perspective on the Mariners. The Cleveland crew was impressed, to say the least:
“This seems like an offense with a ton of answers.”
“This is what this club can do to you. You don’t bring your A-game against Seattle, you become a punching bag.”
“Canzone and Robles would be starters on other teams. That’s just how deep Seattle is.”
“This offensive machine for Seattle just keeps on clicking.”
“There’s just not a weakness on this club. Top to bottom, there might not be a better ballclub in the American League than Seattle.”
It is thrilling to hear other analysts cooing over the Seattle Mariners – thrilling in the true sense of the word, both exciting and scary – and still a little bit unbelievable, like: the Seattle Mariners? The Seattle Mariners, the baseball team? Our Seattle Mariners?
The Mariners scored the majority of their runs in the second, racking up 10 runs on three homers. It started with a titanic Cole Young solo shot as he continues his hot hitting this spring:
The Mariners then small-balled another pair of runs on a double by Brendan Donovan, a beautiful deep drive to the gap that it’s not hard to imagine overlaid in T-Mobile Park, scoring Andrew Knizner and Leo Rivas, each aboard with singles. Guardians starter Logan Allen then walked Julio Rodríguez, triggering the mid-inning ejector button from manager Stephen Vogt, who brought in Tyler Thornton, who…really struggled with the zone. He hit Randy Arozarena, earning himself a powerful [glaring in Cuban] and loading the bases for Dominic Canzone, who got this pitch and did not miss it:
“You simply cannot throw him that pitch” was the trenchant commentary from LL’s Ryan Blake and I have to say, there’s a reason he’s a SABR-nominated analyst, folks.
Thornton then issued back-to-back walks to Connor Joe and Cole Young, up for the second time this inning and officially fulfilling “batting around” by however you determine it (but does it count if the tenth man walks and thus does not have an at-bat? Much to think about), which set up Victor Robles for his first homer of the spring:
It’s been nice to see Robles’s bat waking up over these last few games of the spring. It’s probably just that he’s past the shoulder stiffness he was dealing with earlier in the spring, but I like to believe he truly is powered by the power of friendship and was sad while all his friends were gone.
The Guardians actually got out to an early lead in this one against Gabe Mosser, who gave up a two-run blast to José Ramírez in the first. The Mariners’ 10-2 lead was imperiled briefly in the bottom of the second when Mosser gave up another two-run shot, this time to Angel Martinez. But the Mariners offense quickly re-established the length of their lead in the third.
Per spring training rules, Logan Allen was able to re-enter the game in the third, and while he didn’t give up a bunch of homers this time, the Mariners cruelly decided to torture him with death by a thousand cuts, racking up four straight singles against Allen to open the inning, making the game 12-4. Young and Robles then teamed up again for back-to-back doubles to stretch the lead to 15-4 and knock Allen out of the game for a second time, as Jay Driver cleaned up the mess.
I have never thought of Stephen Vogt as a cruel man, but bringing Logan Allen out for a third time to start the fourth inning is forcing me to reconsider. Allen was roughed up again in the inning, giving up a two-run homer to Julio, who you know had to get in on the homer parade with his first of the spring, scoring Brendan Donovan, who had singled. Donovan was on base four times with three hits and a walk, and the one out he made was a sac fly in the fifth that scored the Mariners’ 18th run of the game. Oh, but sorry, you probably wanted to see Julio’s first spring dinger:
Meanwhile, Mosser was cruising until the fourth, when with two outs he seemed to get either fatigued or just lost his handle on the zone. He lost a challenge on a close pitch that resulted in a walk to Austin Hedges, then gave up a double to C.J. Kayfus and walked Steven Kwan on five not-particularly-close pitches to load the bases, prompting Dan Wilson to bring in UW alum Stefan Raeth to try to extricate the Mariners from the jam. Raeth fell behind Brayan Rocchio 3-0 but was able to battle back with two well-located fastballs, getting Rocchio to ground out harmlessly on the second one to quell the threat.
Matt Brash had the fifth inning and…the command is still a work in progress at this point. With two outs and one on, he walked Gabriel Arias on four pitches, nibbling a little more than we would like to see, but also our Canadian friend looked mildly uncomfortable in the 98-degree heat. The desert is not his milieu! He managed to get out of the inning without damage, though, getting Angel Martinez to ground out. Now get him onto an air-conditioned flight back to Seattle, please and thank you. Also on that flight, I hope: José A. Ferrer, who pitched a solid scoreless inning with a walk and two strikeouts.
Cole Young pushed this game even further into laugher territory with his second homer of the game in the sixth, scoring Canzone, who had singled for his third hit of the game [he would go on to have four because he played all nine in this one]. This home run came courtesy of former Mariner Matt Festa and if Statcast is to be believed, traveled 478 feet. I’m not sure about that, but I do believe it came off the bat at 109 because that sucker was flying. Tom Hamilton, the Cleveland announcer, was audibly relieved when Young got pinch-hit for in the eighth – “Cole Young’s night is finally done” – and that’s just a wild world to live in. I’m not well-versed enough in non-Mariners young players to know: has anyone had a bigger sophomore spring than Young?
Casey Legumina, mopping up with the Mariners up 20-4, got touched up for three runs to make the game 20-7, and Carlos Vargas pitched the bottom of the eighth and mowed down the Guardians min0r-leaguers, with two groundouts and a strikeout, needing just 11 pitches. He was so efficient Dan Wilson had to bring him back out in the ninth, where he wasn’t as sharp, walking the first man he saw before striking out Luis De La Cruz and ceding the mound to Peyton Alford. Alford let in another run – although it wasn’t totally his fault, as Will Wilson (whose defense seems to actively be getting worse as spring goes on? What’s going on with my defensive loadbearing third baseman?) threw the ball away on what could have been a groundout or at least an infield single – but recovered to strike out his last two hitters and deliver the Mariners a very satisfying palate-cleansing big win. On to Opening Day!
Sep 19, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Rowdy Tellez (44) reacts after hitting a two-run home run during the tenth inning against the Miami Marlins at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
It was reported Friday evening that the Atlanta Braves inked a minor league deal with first baseman Rowdy Tellez. The 31-year-old is set to enter his ninth MLB season. He split the 2025 campaign between the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers, where he combined for a .228 batting average.
In his career, Tellez owns a .234 average and has logged 4,523 innings at first base, posting a .995 fielding percentage defensively.
It’s not a headline-grabbing move for Atlanta, but Tellez provides some experienced depth at first base and could prove to be a serviceable option if needed.
More Braves News:
The camp roster now stands at 36 after several reassignments on Friday. Most notably, prospect JR Ritchie was reassigned to minor league camp.
Chris Sale was named the Opening Day starter for the matchup with the Kansas City Royals next week.
Austin Riley homered in Friday’s 8-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
MLB News: Major League Baseball announced that Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been placed on unpaid non-disciplinary leave following a sports betting investigation.
How good is an SEC baseball team without a closer?
The No. 2 Texas Longhorns have a burgeoning back-end problem because Dylan Volantis is no longer walking out of bullpen gates and that’s been a major factor in head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s team blowing a second consecutive ninth-inning lead on a Friday night, with the latest coming in a 4-3 walk-off defeat to the No. 5 Auburn Tigers at Plainsman Park.
A second solo home run from Texas junior center fielder Aiden Robbins broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the inning before the Horns took advantage of a walk, throwing error on a pickoff attempt, balk, and a throwing mistake by the Tigers third baseman trying to cut down senior right fielder Jayden Duplantier at home plate thanks to some slick infield grass in Auburn.
After junior left-hander Haiden Leffew worked out of a jam created by starter Ruger Riojas in the seventh inning and his own jam in the eighth inning, Leffew started the ninth by allowing a full-count double to right center and then issued a four-pitch walk to put runners on first and second.
That was the point at which Schlossnagle and pitching coach Max Weiner made a surprising decision — instead of going to junior right-hander Thomas Burns, the flame-throwing, ostensible closer for the Horns who was unable to close out last Friday’s home meltdown against Ole Miss, it was soft-tossing redshirt junior left-hander Ethan Walker called to the bump.
And it wasn’t just for one batter, either. Walker was able to recover from throwing three straight balls to start his outing to force a grounder into the hole on the left side of the infield that sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez was unable to handle cleanly, but did keep the run from scoring from second base.
Still in the game after a right-handed batter, Walker got a big strikeout looking on a 2-2 pitch with the bases loaded before throwing an 82-mile-per-hour pitch over the middle of the plate on his first offering to Auburn center fielder Bristol Carter, who stayed in the middle of the field by hitting a liner to dead center field.
Trying to field it quickly to keep the game-tying run from scoring from second base, Robbins mishandled it instead, allowing the runner at first to close the plate with the walk-off victory.
Heading into the ninth, it was a classic Friday SEC pitcher’s duel between Riojas and Auburn left-hander Jake Marciano.
For Texas, Riojas didn’t have it early as the Tigers opened the game with a double down the right-field line before following with another to take a 1-0 lead before the Longhorns ace recorded his first out. But after that Riojas was able to find his command, forcing 11 groundouts and striking out six batters over the ensuing innings.
In the seventh, Riojas got into a jam again, allowing two singles sandwiched around a full-count walk, forcing Leffew to escape the one-out, bases-loaded situation, which the Wake Forest transfer accomplished by inducing a double play started by Rodriguez.
In the eighth, Leffew allowed a one-out infield single to shortstop before issuing a five-pitch walk, but recovered by striking out the next two batters.
At the plate, the Horns had a second straight poor outing, struggling to time up Marciano, whose fastball wasn’t overpowering in terms of velocity, as Schlossnagle indicated on Thursday, but the whippy action of the Hokies transfer clearly made it difficult to time as Marciano recorded nine strikeouts with the help of his secondary pitches to keep Texas off balance.
Of the two hits allowed by Marciano, one was the solo home run by Robbins in the fourth inning, a 422-foot bomb at 110 miles per hour off the bat.
TAMPA, FL - MARCH 11: José Caballero #72 of the New York Yankees throws the ball during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 11, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
ESPN | Buster Olney: Shortstop has not been all that much fun the past few seasons, reaching a nadir in 2025 when Anthony Volpe struggled his way to an 83 OPS+ while also slipping defensively from his first two seasons in the big leagues. But as spring training approaches its end, Buster Olney is optimistic that 2026 could be different. First, José Caballero played really well after the Yanks acquired him and he’s set to hold down shortstop at least until Volpe is healthy. Second, Olney notes that top prospect George Lombard, Jr. waits in the wings. Despite being ticketed to start the season back at Double-A, it’s not impossible he could be part of the plan at shortstop as soon as this summer.
MLB | Thomas Harrigan: Carlos Lagrange has arguably been the best part of Yankee spring training this year. Almost unhittable, Lagrange’s eye-popping velocity and movement have been on display all spring. The fastball peaked at 103.1-mph. Meanwhile, his slider, sweeper, and change all popped. In fact, he recorded more strikeouts with the changeup than with any other pitch. But enough talk. Open the article and watch the embedded Lagrange offerings. Utterly filthy.
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): Did you know there’s been ongoing conversation about whether the Yankees are too analytically-driven? Or maybe it’s that they’re not analytically-driven enough. Skipper Aaron Boone argues that he’s the least analytical of the AL East’s managers. Using platoon advantage as a proxy for the argument writ large, the Yankees have the second-fewest at-bats in the division with the platoon advantage (50.9%), trailing only the Blue Jays. There’s way more behind the paywall, and Kirschner makes a point of identifying the role of analytics with the organization’s pitchers, including the “Gas Station.”
NJ.com: The Voice of the Yankees has had enough with the Aaron Judge criticism. Michael Kay rode to the Captain’s defense on his show Thursday. “I blame Yankee fans that try to find the warts on this guy…” Kay said. “And I know you’re starved for another championship… But you’re Yankee fans and you see what he does to get you into the postseason on a yearly basis.” Callers seemed to support Kay, with one drawing the historical parallel of Yankee fans booing Mickey Mantle for not being Joe Dimaggio, and an octogenarian Yankee fan commiserating with Kay having to explain Judge’s greatness to “the rear end of a horse.” Sounds like a must-listen episode.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Luis Severino #40 of the Athletics pitching in the top of the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Sutter Health Park on September 24, 2025 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Justine Willard/Athletics/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The A’s at least won one of these two night games they just had. They came out on top tonight against the Chicago Cubs by a 6-2 final, taking the win and putting their meaningless spring record at 13-15. Lots of good signs from tonight, and we can still finish spring with a .500 record!
It was Luis Severino on the bump tonight for the Athletics as he made his final exhibition start before his Opening Day assignment next week. Looking to put in his work and look sharp doing it, Sevy collected a quick punchout in the first but also missed with a fastball down the middle to Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya that the backstop deposited over the left field fence for a home run. Quick 1-0 lead for the Cubbies.
Things went quiet for the next few innings as both teams traded zeros. Cubs starter Jameson Taillon looked strong over the first four innings tonight, allowing just a few singles while punching out six A’s through the first four innings.
With Taillon on a roll, Max Muncy strode to the plate to lead off the top of the fourth and connected on a 1-0 fastball high and hit it over the wall in left field to tie this game at 1-1:
Muncy came into camp fighting for the starting third base job. That’s a foregone conclusion. Is the former first-round draft pick now primed for the breakout we all had hoped came last year?
That was only just the beginning. Newcomer Andy Ibanez worked a walk against Taillon, which brought up Lawrence Butler for his third at-bat of the game. And what did our right fielder do? Oh, just connect on an opposite-field two-run home run to give the A’s their first lead of the night:
That was Butler’s first home run of his short spring and it gives a bit of hope that all those reps in the batting cages and against minor league pitching wasn’t for not. If Butler and his knee are healthy then he’s a key contributor to this team. If not, we have a giant hole in right field.
That Butler blast also chased Taillon from the game, ending his night before five full innings. And yet the A’s still weren’t done. After a quick groundout Shea Langeliers stepped into the batter’s box and swatted his own home run, a solo blast to up the lead to 4-1:
Not that it means anything, but that was ‘Bangeliers’ seventh home run this spring, putting him into a tie for the league lead with Reds second baseman Matt McClain. There’s no way there was more untapped power in his bat… is there?
Now staked to a three-run lead, Severino was out from this game after going five full innings and reaching 79 pitches while only really making that one mistake to Amaya. Severino has done well in his previous Opening Day assignment and the money is on him shutting down the Blue Jays’ lineup next Friday night.
Speaking of Amaya, righty Nick Anderson relieved Severino to begin the sixth and for the second time tonight, Amaya delivered a solo home run, preventing a shutdown inning and cutting into the new lead the A’s had just built up.
The A’s had an immediate and golden opportunity to get that run back and then some in the bottom half of the frame when they loaded the bases with no outs. A forceout, strikeout, and groundout killed that rally right there however. Hopefully that wasted opportunity wouldn’t come back to bite us.
Righties Mark Leiter Jr. and Michael Kelly each did their jobs with scoreless innings apiece in the seventh and eighth, respectively, bridging the gap to the ninth.
But before that, the A’s wanted some insurance. A pair of singles from some late-game replacement prospects gave Ibanez a chance to do some damage for his new squad. He came through in the eighth with an RBI single to plate the Athletics’ fifth run of the evening. The A’s got a bit lucky on their next run as Colby Thomas hit a pop up to the left fielder than he dropped, resulting in another run for the Green & Gold.
Now with a four-run lead, why not let Kelly finish things off? Kotsay decided to let the right-hander end the game. He collected a couple strikeouts to start the frame before running into a bit of trouble but he managed to finish the game off without allowing a run. A win for the good guys!
We got a bit of it all tonight. A quality outing from our starting pitcher, who is now primed for a big outing on Opening Day. The powerful lineup showed up tonight with three home runs from three separate players. The bullpen mostly did it’s job outside of one pitch. Butler made an appearance in right field and seemed like he made it out feeling fine (though let’s check in tomorrow). Add in the fact we got a win and it was a successful night for the A’s at the ballpark.
We do it all again tomorrow in what’ll be the team’s third-to-last game of camp. We’ll shift back to daytime contests the rest of the way. The A’s head to the Dodgers’ facility to take on the defending champions. It hasn’t been officially announced but it’s expected that it’ll be left-hander Jeffrey Springs for the A’s. The Dodgers meanwhile have no qualms letting people know that it’s Emmitt Sheehan on the bump for them tomorrow afternoon. A glorious chance to get a win against these guys is always a plus.
The regular season is now officially less than a week away. Who else is ready for these games to start counting?
