Category: Baseball

MESA, Ariz. –– Last fall, Yoshinobu Yamamoto collected the final outs of the Dodgers’ World Series title defense.

Now, as the team embarks on a historic three-peat bid in 2026, the Japanese right-hander will be the first to return to the bump as the opening-day starter on March 26.

Manager Dave Roberts announced on Monday that Yamamoto will get the nod in the Dodgers’ regular-season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks later this month. It marks the second consecutive season that Yamamoto receives the opening day honor, after pitching in the team’s Tokyo opener last March.

“It is a pretty easy decision,” Roberts said. “It’s an honor to be the Opening Day starter.”

It also further cements his status as the ace of the team’s pitching staff, coming off a 2025 season in which he was a Cy Young Award finalist and World Series MVP.

Last year, Yamamoto was the Dodgers’ most effective pitcher during the regular season, leading the team in starts (30), wins (12–8 record), and ERA (2.49) while finishing third in Cy Young voting.

He was also their most clutch performer on either side of the ball in the playoffs, posting a 5–1 record and 1.45 ERA in a tour-de-force October that included two complete games and his World Series Game 7 heroics out of the bullpen on zero days’ rest.

That heavy workload hasn’t had any ill effects on Yamamoto’s ramp-up for the start of this season.

He bulked up his body over the offseason. He came into camp ahead of schedule in preparation for the World Baseball Classic. And in two starts with Team Japan, he pitched well, allowing just two runs over 6 ⅔ innings while striking out seven batters.

“Part of being a gamer, being a great competitor in big moments, is the preparation,” Roberts said earlier this week of Yamamoto, praising the unique training program that has helped him adapt to the majors and unlock the potential of his undersized 5-foot-10 frame. “When you prepare the right way, that eliminates a lot of doubt and fear. For me, that’s the core of who Yoshinobu is. That’s what we’re trying to get all of our guys to feel that same way.”

Yamamoto becomes the Dodgers’ first repeat opening day starter since Clayton Kershaw did it in eight consecutive seasons from 2011–2018. 

Last year, he pitched five innings in the team’s Tokyo season-opener against the Chicago Cubs, giving up one run on one hit and one walk while striking out four.

“He started for us last year on the road (in Tokyo),” Roberts said. “But for him to get that start on Opening Day at home I think it’s going to be special.”

Entering the final week of camp, there are still questions about how the Dodgers will line up the rest of their opening day rotation behind Yamamoto.

Tyler Glasnow will be in the group, as will Shohei Ohtani –– who returned to Dodgers camp from the WBC on Monday, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session later this week, and remains on track to be built up to 3-4 innings by the start of the regular season despite having not yet pitched in a real game this spring.

Beyond that, however, there remains competition.

Roberts said the Dodgers will open the year with a five-man rotation instead of six, given the abundance of off days the team is scheduled to have during the first couple weeks.

The last two spots seem likely to go to Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan, but Roberts said Justin Wrobleski and River Ryan remain in the mix, as well.

If Wrobleski doesn’t make the rotation, he would likely serve as a multi-inning option of the bullpen, perhaps capable of piggybacking with Ohtani as he builds up to full-length outings.

Ryan, meanwhile, could wind up in triple-A to begin the year despite his impressive 1.86 ERA this spring. The Dodgers are still trying to be mindful of his workload as he returns from Tommy John surgery, and could elect to ease him into the year as they manage what will be a limited workload for him this season.

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After a split squad and two games on Sunday, the Dodgers are back to facing just one opponent at a time for the rest of spring training, beginning Monday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers at Camelback Ranch.

Lineup

Miguel Rojas DH
Freddie Freeman 1B
Mookie Betts SS
Max Muncy 3B
Teoscar Hernández LF
Hyeseong Kim 2B
James Tibbs III RF
Zach Ehrhard CF
Eliézer Alfonzo C

Tyler Glasnow starts for the Dodgers.

Other pitchers

Blake Treinen and Jack Dreyer are also slated to pitch.

Active pitchers from minor league camp are veteran Keynan Middleton (wearing uniform number 97), Kelvin Ramirez (93), Robby Porco (98), and Evan Shaw (91). Shaw was a 16th-round draft pick in 2024 out of Kansas who had a 2.22 ERA in 52 2/3 innings for High-A Great Lakes last season.

Other position players

Michael Siani is active on Monday, as are non-roster invitees Ryan Fitzgerald, Nick Senzel, Ryan Fitzgerald, and Zyhir Hope.

Up from the minors are Chris Newell (00), Joe Vetrano (95), Eduardo Guerrero (87), John Rhodes (09), plus catchers Victor Rodrigues (05) and Frank Rodriguez (92).

The Good Phight will be previewing the 2026 season by going over each position on the field. We’ll talk about the players that will occupy them, the players behind them, their strengths and weaknesses and give a few takes about how we think the season will shake out.

One of the more controversial roster decisions in a while was made this offseason when the Phillies decided that they were going to bring back J.T. Realmuto. While the temptation to say “they needed to move on” is tempting, the options that were available to them on the free agent market were, let’s call it, less than appealing. They would have made due had a few free agent decisions been different, but here we are in 2026 and we still have Realmuto here.

Should we expect anything to change?

The starter: J.T. Realmuto

Yup, back for another go’round. Signed to a three-year deal this offseason after losing out on Bo Bichette, Realmuto returns to the Phillies hoping to pull a Cher. Disappointing from both an offensive and defensive viewpoint in 2025, the team is hoping that Realmuto can stare down Father Time a few years longer while they try and find some kind of long term solution in their player development system.

The backups: Rafael Marchan

There has been hope for some time that Marchan might be able to hit juuuuuust enough to maybe unseat Realmuto as the starter and/or take some of his playing time. However, when we look at the games played totals for both, there’s Realmuto with 132 games as a catcher in 2026 while Marchan came in at 42 (math doesn’t work, but Realmuto came in plenty as a pinch hitter and stayed in the game).

It seems that no matter what, Marchan just will not unseat Realmuto any time soon. So, he’ll have to be content with continuing to be a good caddie for him. Besides, he’s probably not a starter anyway.

The depth: Garrett Stubbs, Mark Kolozsvary, Paul McIntosh

To those that wonder why Stubbs keeps getting minor league deals with a significant minor league guarantee attached, I present to you the team’s depth.

It’s pretty funny to look around at other teams in the league and see who has/doesn’t have catching depth. The Cardinals are probably the outlier as they have about five catchers that are legitimate options at the major league level, but many others are in the bind the Phillies are. They need someone in case of injury, particularly when your starter is entering his age 35 season. Stubbs can do that job for a few weeks, but if there is a real injury to Realmuto and the Phillies are forced to start Marchan and Stubbs for an extended period, there might be trouble.

Strengths: the starting rotation loves ‘em!

We can’t really put a number on the love that the starting rotation has for Realmuto. Even Marchan was getting some love from the pitchers with his preparation prior to games. It’s something that we cannot quantify yet, how good pitchers feel with certain catchers behind the dish for their starts. We can look at rudimentary stats like catcher’s ERA to have some kind of idea, but how much of that belongs to the pitcher and his talent level, and how much goes to the catcher’s ability to call and receive games?

However, with a team that has its foundation poured in its rotation, maybe keeping Realmuto around a while longer is the wise move when considering some of the alternatives that they actually had (Adley Rutschman was not getting traded, folks).

Weaknesses: how will Realmuto’s bat and glove fare another year older?

If there was a statistic that could be used to tell a part of Realmuto’s game last season, he was worse in it than he was in 2024. Everything from the back of the baseball card stats to the ones that are more obscure, under the hood types. He just was not good last year….which makes me wonder.

Was it a blip on his career radar or the new norm?

The skeptic in us believes this is it, the decline phase manifested. Aging curves that have historically shown catchers decline quickly seems to be coming true for Realmuto. Yet there is still a tinge of me that believes he still can get back to at least an average catcher behind the plate and at it. Is that a point of view taken with the rosiest colored glasses known to man? It’s possible, likely even. It’s also probably one of the bigger questions facing the team this year.

Hottest take: J.T. Realmuto makes the All-Star game

Here come those rose colored glasses again.

Listen, there are better options at National League catcher. There is one in Los Angeles, one in Colorado that might be their lone representative, and that’s just the top of my head. Yet with a decent start to his season, it’s easy to think fans would vote for Realmuto, mainly thanks to name value alone. What might that decent start have to constitute?

I have no idea!

Does it mean at least double digit home runs and a batting average that makes even your favorite uncle nod in agreement? Probably. But Realmuto’s reputation around the league is probably such that if he is off to a good start, the players might send him to Philadelphia this July.

Realistic take: it doesn’t look great on paper, but the catching duo is perfectly fine

Listen, we all succumb to Father Time at some point. When that happens usually depends on how well we take care of ourselves. Realmuto still takes quite good care of himself, but his production is not enough that he should be dictating how much playing time he gets in June, July and August. It is finally the year that Thomson tells Realmuto he’s getting games off during the week and that Marchan is going to play more often. We’ve been saying it for some time, but we have reached the point where, for the good of the player and the team, it needs to be done.

Should that happen, there is a path where the cumulative production they put up (and anyone else should an injury occur) is good enough to be at least average when compared to catching across the game. Will they hit 20+ home runs? No. Will they hit .250? Probably not. But the defensive value, both what we can and cannot quantify, will probably add to whatever offensive output they have to give them one of the better catching tandems in the game.

Opening Day for the 2026 Texas Rangers is on March 26, 2026, at Philadelphia against the Phillies. Ten days away from Opening Day, it seems like we have a pretty good idea what the Opening Day roster is going to look like.

On the position player side, things have seemed pretty well set since Andrew McCutchen signed. Yes, McCutchen got a minor league deal, not a major league deal, but he’s Andrew McCutchen. Even at the age of 39 and coming off of a 95 wRC+ season, he’s not someone you’re bringing to camp to as an insurance policy or to kick the tires on. You’re signing Andrew McCutchen because you’re planning on him being on your 2026 roster.

Had McCutchen come to camp and struggled, then maybe the Rangers would have had a decision to make. But McCutchen has torn it up in five Cactus League games so far, slashing .586/.706/.833, and while you aren’t going to make a decision based on five spring games, that performance thusfar certainly helps McCutchen solidfy his hold on a roster spot.

McCutchen will presumably be platooning at DH with Joc Pederson, who had an awful 2025 season and hasn’t been good in 2026. Pederson is getting reps at first base as the Rangers look to provide manager Skip Schumaker additional lineup flexibility, and he’s going to get a chance to get going in 2026, though his leash won’t be as long as it was last year.

So barring injury, the Rangers seem set with Danny Jansen and Kyle Higashioka behind the plate, Jake Burger, Josh Smith, Corey Seager, Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran in the infield, Evan Carter, Wyatt Langford, Brandon Nimmo and Sam Haggerty in the outfield, and Pederson and McCutchen platooning at DH. Smith was nominally competing for the second base job, a competition he’s clearly won at this point. Duran’s spot as the utility infielder likely was locked up when Cody Freeman, his primarily competition for the job, went down with an injury. Tyler Wade is still hanging around, but I’m not sure that the Rangers would see any compelling need to clear a 40 man roster spot and send Duran down to give Wade a major league job.

On the pitching side, the first four rotation spots seem set, with Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, MacKenzie Gore and Jack Leiter. Jacob Latz and Kumar Rocker are each fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation, with Latz seemingly having the edge, although his usefulness in the bullpen could result in him going to the pen and Rocker getting the fifth starter spot, especially as it is anticipated (hoped?) that Cody Bradford will be ready to join the rotation in May.

Most of the spots in the bullpen also seem locked in. Robert Garcia, Chris Martin, Jakob Junis, Tyler Alexander, and Jalen Beeks are all safe. Cole Winn is out of options and Carter Baumler is a Rule 5 pick, so both have to be on the roster or potentially be lost, and each has pitched well enough that you figure the Rangers will keep them around to start the season.

Which leaves one spot up for grabs. That would potentially be going to Latz, if Rocker gets the fifth starter spot. If not Latz, Luis Curvelo is the pitcher on the 40 man roster who would seem to have the inside track. Aside from Latz and Curvelo, the options would seem to be a bevy of NRI arms. Ryan Brasier is a veteran who has veteranocity. Patrick Murphy impressed the Rangers last year in camp, got hurt, and then spent half the year in Korea. Josh Sborz is back, but his velocity isn’t, and while he’s had decent results this spring, I don’t think he’s a viable major league reliever if he’s only throwing 94 mph. And of course, the Rangers could end up with a late waiver claim or minor trade acquisition filling that spot.

So as things stand now, the only real questions appear to be, who the fifth starter will be and who will get the last bullpen spot, with the answer to the first question possibly answering the second question.

From a 40 man roster standpoint, the Rangers will need to add McCutchen, and possibly would need to add a reliever, depending on who ends up earning that final spot. Michel Otanez and Dairon Blanco would seem the most likely candidates to be designated for assignment to open those spots up — but then, I said that last week, when the news broke that the Rangers were signing Jalen Beeks, and Alexis Diaz got dropped instead.

26-year-old Ben Cowles has been on the Cubs, the Blue Jays, and the White Sox so far this year. The aim is obvious, to get him off the 40-man roster and onto the Triple-A team. If he gets put on waivers, someone claims him, and the circus is back in town.

Cowles can play a little bit. But not enough to claim a starting or utility spot on a team like Chicago, with championship ambitions. He’s more of a fill-in or Quadruple A player. His lifetime .258/.346/.409 slash line in the minors over 459 total games in five seasons isn’t going to get him anything but the taste of old coffee.

I’m not really sure why people keep claiming him, to be honest. He doesn’t have anything that the Cubs don’t have already but okay, let’s play that game.

Good luck to Ben. I hope he helps Iowa win it all. I suspect he’ll be on the way to another team, but maybe this time we can get this published before it actually happens. (We originally had this scheduled to run on the very day he was claimed by the Blue Jays.)

Detroit Tigers vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Time/Place: 1:05 p.m., Joker Marchant Stadium – Lakeland, FL
SB Nation Site:
Media:Tigers Radio Network

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Team Venezuela and Team Italy meet in the second World Baseball Semifinal at LoanDepot Park on Monday, March 16, with the winner advancing to face the Americans. 

Here are my top Venezuela vs. Italy home run predictions for the showdown, and make sure to also catch our full World Baseball Classic best bets and Venezuela vs. Italy predictions for tonight’s game.

Venezuela home run pick

Wilyer Abreu (+400 at DraftKings)

The Italians are sending veteran righty Aaron Nola to the hill tonight, and he struggled against left-handed hitters last MLB season while serving up a 2.21 HR/9 and .369 wOBA.

As a result, I’m targeting Venezuelan outfielder Wilyer Abreu to go yard tonight.

Abreu hit 21 of his 22 homers last year against righties, while posting a rock-solid .237 ISO, and he has also homered with a respectable .471 slugging percentage during the World Baseball Classic.

Italy home run pick

Jac Caglianone (+500 at DraftKings)

The 2024 sixth overall pick put up big numbers in Triple A last summer with 20 home runs and a monster .348 ISO across just 66 games, and Jac Caglianone is having a major impact in the World Baseball Classic with a homer, four RBI, and a 1.290 OPS through four games.

He also bats left-handed and should see multiple plate appearances against Venezuelan righty Keider Montero tonight, and Montero allowed a 2.14 HR/9 and .384 wOBA to left-handed batters last MLB season. 

How to watch Venezuela vs Italy and game info

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Opening Day is quickly approaching as the World Baseball Classic wraps up, and we're turning our attentions back toward spring training with three MLB picks on Monday, March 16.

I'm making three moneyline spring training predictions, highlighted by the San Diego Padres, as they face a San Francisco Giants lineup missing its best bats.

Spring Training predictions for March 16

Pick	Odds
LAA moneyline	+105
SD moneyline	-125
CHC moneyline	+100

Pick #1: Angels moneyline

Los Angeles Angels right-hander George Klassen has looked electric this spring, posting a 2.25 ERA with nine strikeouts over eight innings of work as he pursues a rotation gig to open the regular season.

A strong outing against the Athletics would go a long way toward making that happen. The A's have some big boppers like Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, and Tyler Soderstrom, but this is a lineup that also struck out 23% of the time (tied for 10th in MLB) last year.

The plus money on the Angels' moneyline offers enough value, especially with no starter yet announced for the A's, that I'll take the plunge.

Pick #2: Padres moneyline

I don't know if the Walker Buehler experiment will work out for the San Diego Padres, but they will keep trying in case they strike gold.

Initially, he seems like a good fade candidate against the San Francisco Giants, but that's before you notice that Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and Heliot Ramos aren't in the starting lineup. 

While the Friars have neither Manny Machado nor Fernando Tatis Jr. active as they lick their wounds from the Dominican Republic's controversial World Baseball Classic ouster, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts are still taking reps.

Even if Giants SP Tyler Mahle has yet to surrender a run in spring (he has issued seven walks in six innings), I'll take the more complete offense this afternoon.

Pick #3: Cubs moneyline

I'm really high on Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams this season, but with Jose Ramirez nursing a banged-up shoulder, the offense will likely be without its best weapon against the Chicago Cubs.

Cade Horton hasn't had great results this spring, but he showed that he can hang at the big-league level in his 2025 rookie campaign, boasting a 2.67 ERA over 118 innings.

Lineups haven't been announced, but the edge there should typically favor Chicago. Doubly so with Ramirez on the bench or otherwise limited due to injury.

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The Jays are busing to Jupiter, Florida, to play the Marlins. Google Maps says 3.5 hours, which is a long time on a bus. But a number of the veterans are going for the ride. Even George Springer. He really must want the at bats, because he could easily say ‘I don’t want to go’ and no one would make him. Seven hours on the bus for 3 or 4 plate appearances? He could stay in Dunedin and take as many swings as he wants.

Lineups….with no pitch listed for the Blue Jays, but it is going to be Lazaro Estrada

I’ll admit, the crappy umpiring of last night’s WBC game has put me off baseball at the moment. That last strike call was almost unbelievable, unless you had seen the strike call to Soto an inning before. As my son said, about the one in the ninth: it was closer to the ground than it was to the strike zone.

The conspiracy theorist in me wants to think that the WBC just wanted the US to win. But Occam’s razor would tell you that incompitence is the more plausible explanation.

We don’t generally go out of order with our spring prospect reports, but the timing is too good for Jordan Yost. The Detroit Tigers first round pick last summer stepped to the plate for his first at-bat as a professional on Sunday afternoon and made a little magic. The Tampa native had friends and family in attendance as he dug in with the bases loaded and no outs, trying to just hit something to the outfield. He did, crunching a grand slam to right field on a 1-0, 95 mph fastball from a Triple-A level pitcher. Welcome to pro ball.

The 19-year-old, left-handed hitting shortstop went to the Tigers with the 24th overall pick in the 2025 draft. A graduate of Sickles HS, Yost signed for $3,250,000. That was $500K underslot, helping the Tigers to land Michael Oliveto in the competitive balance round and still afford their seasonal hunt for talented prep arms ready to sign. Yost is the kind of player who seems likely to at least give them their money’s worth, with a chance to be a standout shortstop and one of the most valuable players from this draft.

Right now, the big calling card is pure hitting ability and defense. Yost is already an agile, sure-handed shortstop with a good arm. No doubt he is already enjoying the tutelage of Alan Trammell and the rest of the Tigers development staff, and he has the potential to be one of better defensive shortstops in the league if he continues to refine his game.

Yost makes a lot of good contact at the plate and shows an advanced eye as well. His feel for the barrel is impressive, and he stayed within himself to spray line drives and the occasional home run in his prep career. He has a quick, accurate bat and rarely strikes out. The question is whether he’ll develop enough power to handle major league pitching and do enough damage to become an everyday player. The defense alone could carry him to the major leagues as a bench player. He can hit. The rest is all about the ability to ramp up the raw power over the next few years.

Data before the draft had Yost as one of the few notable players who didn’t top 100 mph in combine BP sessions. The well below average raw power didn’t help his stock and the main criticism of the Tigers pick was that Yost’s lack of power was a limit on his upside and made this a conservative selection. Still, every major prospect site had him in the Tigers top ten this offseason and it was pretty comfortable to rank him sixth in the farm system. The floor on his talent is still useful and the upside is a well above average all around player who can lock down shortstop or play all over the diamond.

So it was particularly striking that Yost’s first appearance on our television or computer screens was him cracking a 102.7 mph grand slam off a 26-year-old Triple-A reliever on Sunday. His contingent in the crowd went nuts. It was a cool moment. But turning around a 1-0, 95 mph fastball in your first at-bat in major league camp was also a signal that Yost is on his way in the power department.

Yost has added that little toe tap since draft day, and you notice how he sits back along with the clean, simple action of the barrel into the zone. That’s a smooth, easy 102.7 mph, caught out front and launched to the pull side.

If the fear on draft day was that Yost wouldn’t grow into something like average power, that swing certainly should open some eyes. The slender, speedy 6’0” shortstop, has plenty of room on his frame to build muscle. Yost looks noticeably stronger through his shoulders and legs already, telling reporters after the game that he’s added 13 pounds since draft day while running even better. Time will tell, but there was some skepticism about Kevin McGonigle’s power potential on draft day as well, and maybe the Tigers just know what they’re doing here. Yost is unlikely to approach McGonigle’s plus power, but average certainly looks attainable. With Yost’s hit tool, that’s plenty.

His defense, pure hitting ability, and his speed all give him plenty of weapons to lean on and he advances into his pro career. He just needs to do enough damage to be playable, and as we suspected that’s not at all a far-fetched hope. The 19-year-old is already in a better spot to start his pro career than it looked on draft day, and the bar much more attainable.

We may see Yost again in the Spring Breakout game this Friday as the Tigers farm system takes on the Pirates prospects in the yearly exhibition game. He should start the year in Lakeland playing shortstop for the Flying Tigers, and with an advanced hit tool it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him hit his way to West Michigan by year’s end. Still, with Bryce Rainer and Franyerber Montilla all at similar stages of development, perhaps they’ll just let Yost cook in Lakeland all summer instead. He’s already taken a nice step up with the raw power since draft day. The next stages may take a few seasons to unfold, but after announcing his presence on Sunday, Jordan Yost is on his way.

We were expecting a terrific game and we got it. We were expecting a slugfest and we got a pitcher’s duel. It also ended on a terrible call.

USA 2, Dominican Republic 1

Team USA hit two solo home runs and Team Dominican Republic only had one as the United States advanced to the World Baseball Classic with a 2-1 win.

Paul Skenes started for Team USA and the Dominican Republic countered with Luis Severino. The Dominican Republic drew first blood on this 401- foot home run by Junior Caminero. [VIDEO]

It’s amazing how Caminero pulled a pitch that was on the corner, up and away.

Team USA put runners on second and third with one out in the top of the third after Bobby Witt Jr. walked and Bryce Harper doubled. But Severino struck out both Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber to end the threat. [VIDEO]

The Dominican Republic had another rally going in the third inning, but Aaron Judge threw this strike to Gunnar Henderson to nail Fernando Tatis Jr. trying to go from first to third. [VIDEO]

Team USA finally got to Severino in the fourth inning. First, Gunnar Henderson led off the inning with a home run. [VIDEO]

After Will Smith lined out, Dominican manager Albert Pujols pulled Severino for Gregory Soto. Roman Anthony greeted him with this 421-foot blast [VIDEO] to make it 2-1.

Skenes pitched 4.1 innings and allowed one run on six hits. He struck out two and walked no one.

Team USA almost made it 3-1 in the fifth inning when Aaron Judge connected off of Rockies reliever Juan Mejia. But Julio Rodríguez had other ideas and made a fantastic catch in center field, possibly stealing a home run. [VIDEO]

The Dominican Republic got a rally going in the seventh inning off of David Bednar. Austin Wells doubled with one out and then Geraldo Perdomo singled to center field. However, the slow-footed catcher stopped at third base. Perdomo then stole second base but with runners on second and third and one out, Bednar struck out Tatis and Ketel Marte to end the threat. [VIDEO]

Team USA did not have another hit after a Kyle Schwarber single in the fifth. So it came down to the ninth when the Dominican Republic had to score off of Mason Miller. Miller struck out Caminero to start the frame but then walked Junior Caminero. A wild pitch and an Oneil Cruz ground out to first put the tying run on third with two outs.

Miller got the count to 1-2 on Geraldo Perdomo before missing the zone with a fastball and a slider. So with a 3-2 count, Perdomo fouled off two 101 mile per hour fastballs before taking this slider down low. [VIDEO]

It’s a shame that pitch was called a strike and for an all-time classic contest to end on a bad call by the umpire. But there’s no ABS system in the WBC, so that’s how the game ended.

Later today, at 7 p.m. CT, Venezuela takes on Italy for the other spot in the WBC final. Michael Lorenzen is scheduled to start for Italy and Tigers pitcher Keider Montero is pencilled in for Venezuela. The game will be broadcast of FS1. We will, of course, have a game thread here later today for this semifinal game.

We haven’t done one of these Question Time things for a few days, but lets try this one? Who of the Jays minor leaguers has impressed you the most this spring?

I’m going to pick Brandon Valenzuela. He’s hitting the ball well, 7 for 23 with a home run and I’ve liked his glove behind the plate. I asked, in the GameThread, the other day, if ‘all things being equal’ would you give the backup catcher job to Valenzuela?

Of course, all things aren’t equal. Tyler Heineman is out of options and he did a good job for us last year, which trumps any 23 at bats in spring training.

Since catchers tend to get dinged up over the season, I’m pretty sure we’ll see Brandon at some point. If only to cause me more confusion with the various Brandon, Brenden, Braydon, Bradan, Brendans on the team. Those guys should get together and pick one and only one form of that name and all use it, all spelled the same. It is bad enough we have guys who just skip a letter out of their names, to make life tougher on me (yes I’m looking at you Jonatan).

Anyway, your turn.

Last week, we took a look at the early returns from the outfield group. This week, we’ll turn our attention to the catchers. The front office addressed this area at last season’s trade deadline by acquiring Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia. This duo is likely to handle the majority of the reps at catcher this season, and I expect Dom Keegan will have an opportunity to contribute a bit later this season.

Fortes is a plus defender across the board while Feduccia grades as roughly average in blocking and throwing but above average as a receiver. There aren’t many concerns about their defensive skill sets, but both are looking to turn in better offensive seasons than what they showed so far in their major league careers. Early Spring Training data suggests the Rays may get more offensive production from the catching position in 2026 – particularly through improved contact and stronger raw power indicators.

11.9%

… is the combined whiff rate for Fortes and Feduccia so far this spring. That’s a significant improvement from the 26.0% whiff rate Rays catchers posted in 2025.

The front office has quietly been moving towards a more contact-oriented offense, and this change has impacted the catching group as well. More balls in play should lead to a more efficient offensive output – even if some of those balls in play simply move runners along. I don’t think a sub 15% whiff rate is realistic as the wear-and-tear of the position could affect them later in the year, but around 20% seems possible and likely.

104.0mph

… is the 90th percentile exit velocity (EV90: industry standard to measure raw power) for Fortes and Feduccia so far this spring. Rays catchers produced a below-average EV90 of 102.8mph last season, so it’s clear that there’s more power in this duo than the collective combinations of catchers the Rays rostered in 2025.

Fortes and Feduccia were briefly part of that group last season, but they accounted for relatively few of the catching group’s batted-ball events. The raw power upgrade heading into 2026 is real and could make a difference for the offense.

6°

… is the average hard-hit launch angle for Fortes and Feduccia so far this spring.

They’ll need to find a way to elevate the ball more to tap into their power as we countdown to the beginning of the regular season. While the group last year didn’t hit the ball very hard, they did a nice job of elevating the ball when they did – evident in their average hard-hit launch angle of 12°. Fortes and Feduccia may currently be prioritizing contact over damage, which can sometimes lead to flatter contact profiles.

One way to unlock more power would be to take slightly more aggressive swings, even if that comes with a bit more swing-and-miss.

40.7%

… is the zone-minus-out-of-zone swing rate for Fortes and Feduccia so far this spring. While this is better-than-average, Rays catchers ran an even better 43.6% in 2025. However, it was hard for the group last season to leverage their swing decisions into much production because the whiff was prevalent and the power was quite low.

Maintaining strong swing decisions will be key for Fortes and Feduccia, as that approach gives them the best chance to elevate the ball and tap into their raw power. If these trends hold, the Rays should get significantly more offensive production from the catching position than the 70 wRC+ they received in 2025.