Category: Baseball

Another week, another Book Club. How else to get through February & March in MN besides baseball books and catching up on movies?! This time: Baseball in the Roaring Twenties by Thomas Wolf.

The title is actually a misnomer, as the book focuses specifically on the year 1926. Overall, I found it to be a great examination of the key events both on the diamond and off it. Without delving into as much detail as Wolf, I thought it would be fun to hit some of the key points of what MLB was like a literal century ago.

To set the scene, we’re talking about a league year in which…

• No team resided west of St. Louis
• The rosin bag was introduced
• The sacrifice fly came into being
• Satchel Paige made his debut for the still-developing Negro Leagues (they would draw between 3,000-5,000 fans for their World Series contests that year)

In the wider world of sports, Gertrude Ederle attempted the first-ever female English Channel swim (a feat immortalized in this under-the-radar but surprisingly effective film) while Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney traded fisticuffs in the squared circle. Perhaps the biggest baseball fan to ever reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave was in office: not Calvin Coolidge—wife Grace.

A game-fixing scandal involving star players Ty Cobb & Tris Speaker was an extremely sensitive topic for MLB officials in the wake of the 1919 World Series. Though neither player was convicted in a court of law—some conveniently-lost documents saw to that—they both received a harsh reprimand from Commisioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis and were ostensibly forced to leave their long-standing clubs to finish up their careers.

Between the white lines…

• Heinie Manush (DET) led the league with a .378 BA
• Babe Ruth (NYY) swept all the power categories: 1.253 OPS, 47 HR, 153 RBI, 139 R
• George Uhle (CLE) was the wins (27) & IP (318.1) king
• Lefty Grove (PHA) presided over Ks (194) & ERA (2.51)

The respective league MVPs were quite interesting as well…

• Somehow, 1B George Burns (CLE) ousted the AL’s Bambino with this line: 5.2 WAR, 216 H, 64 2B, 115 RBI, .358 BA, 130 OPS+
• In the NL, C Bob O’Farrell (STL) (3.9 WAR, 144 H, 30 2B, 9 3B, .293 BA, 112 OPS+) took home hardware in large part due to his handling of the Cardinals pitching staff

When the dust settled, it was a Yankees (91-63) versus Cardinals (89-65) World Series.

Through six games, the Fall Classic had been a taut, thrilling affair. As usual, the Sultan of Swat presided. In Game 1, he ripped his pants sliding and the team tailor ran onto the field to sew them up, causing a 15 minute delay. Before Game 4, Ruth promised a critically-ill 11-year old boy—Johnny Sylvester—that he’d sock a home run for him. The Maharajah of Might mashed three dingers just to be safe.

The season’s most indelible moment would occur in Game 7. With the Cards up 3-2, the Yanks loaded the bases with two outs in the 7th inning. Despite pitching a complete game the day before, veteran Grover Cleveland Alexander was summoned from the pen. Ambling to the bump without so much as a stretch, Ol’ Pete tossed three spheres toward the dish and called his arm good.

Tony Lazzari—a rookie on the verge of stardom—dug in and sent an Alexander attempt deep, far, and…foul. Whether by inches or feet is known only to the 38,093 paid at the House That Ruth Built. Reprieve given, Grover got a third strike by Tony and STL escaped the jam.

With the visitors still clinging to a one-run lead and riding Alexander to the finish, Ruth represented the last hope for the Bronx Bombers. On a 3-2 count, the STL ace did the smart thing and let the Babe trot to first base (instead of tie the game). What happened next is one of the most inexplicable plays in the history of the World Series.

With Bob Meusel (120 OPS+) & Lou Gehrig (153 OPS+) due up, the Big Fella—he of 11 SB & 9 CS in ’26—decamped for second base on the first pitch! O’Farrell threw a seed to Rogers Hornsby who slapped the tag down on Ruth. Game over. World Series over. Theeeeeee Yankees lose.

Imagine the second-guessing in today’s media landscape?! In that more innocent time: Ruth got up, shook the Rajah’s hand, and jogged off the field.

That was baseball in 1926.

In 2025, 13 different Rockies made their MLB debuts. The list includes

• OF Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP)
• LHP Ryan Rolison
• INF Ryan Ritter
• LHP Carson Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP)
• RHP Juan Mejia
• 3B Kyle Karros
• C Braxton Fulford
• RF/DH Yanquiel Fernández
• RHP Chase Dollander
• LHP Dougan Darnell
• RHP McCade Brown (No. 18 PuRP)
• 1B Warming Bernabel
• RHP Zach Agnos. 

Of the 13, eight were sent back down to Triple-A Albuquerque for performance issues or as part of rehab assignments for injuries or bereavement (Agnos). While it’s not unusual to yo-yo a bit in the course of an MLB player’s development, for the Rockies, some players were forced to come up before they were ready because of lack of depth.

Only seven of the 13 ended the season on the 26-man roster.

Of the 13, only nine remain with the team this spring.

• Rolison was traded to the Braves.
• Fernández was released and is now in the Yankees minor league system.
• Darnell was waived and is now in the Tigers farm syst…
• Bernabel elected free agency and is now in the farm system for the Washington Nationals. 

As spring training continues, the Rockies’ new front office and revamped coaching staff will be making hard decisions about who makes the roster, especially in terms of which prospects might be ready and who might need more time to develop. 

When to make the call

When it comes to deciding when a player is ready to be promoted to the Major League roster, Rockies new GM Josh Byrnes said there aren’t “hard and fast rules.” It’s just a matter of going back to the plan that the player has been tracking toward and making sure they are ready for the harsh reality of life in The Show.

He wants to make sure that players get a fair shake and at least 40 plate appearances at the MLB level.

“Hitting is so hard in the big leagues. It’s not easy … it’s turbo stuff, game planning, defense, everything, making it hard on you. There’s no soft spots. So it’s just even the mental game of baseball,” Brynes said. “It’s like, you’re going to go have 40 plate appearances, and there’s no soft underbelly. It’s just not how the Major Leagues is.” 

At Rockies Fest in January, new assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas also talked about the importance of having a process to know when a player is ready. He, too, emphasized the value of communication and talking with the player and staff throughout the organization, so that the decision isn’t just based on a player’s recent Minor League performance.

“[We also look at] player playing goals, some work ethic things, routines, if they have enough chronic workload buildup. But you also do want to see him perform, right? So there is a process that needs to lead to winning and competitiveness and all of those things,” Ribas said, adding that there isn’t a computer screen that lights up green when a player is ready.

“There’s a human element. They’re taking into account their development path, their interaction with coaches, what their hard skills are, what their soft skills are.”

Brian Jones, Colorado’s director of research and development, believes it’s important to look at elements off the field as well. 

“There’s other things going on, right? Are they a good teammate? Are they doing the things in the weight room like they’re supposed to? So there’s a lot of factors we talk about, like, is this guy mature enough to handle these responsibilities?” Jones said at Rockies Fest.

“It’s not just having some success on the field and looking like he should be called up. So there’s a ton of things that go into being Major League ready. It’s not just looking at the stats.” 

Who to look for

When it comes to thinking about which prospects the Rockies have in their farm system, Ribas is encouraged — especially when it comes to pitchers.

He specifically said 23-year-old RHP Brody Brecht (No. 3 PuRP) — the Rockies’ No. 38 overall pick from the 2024 Draft, who played in Single-A Fresno in 2025 — and Sean Sullivan (No. 8 PuRP) — the Rockies’ second-round pick from 2023 who played for the Single-A Grizzlies and Double-A Yard Goats last season — stand out.

He also has high hopes for Gabriel Hughes (No. 12 PuRP), who has had a bumpy path with injuries, but still has the stuff that made him the No. 10 overall pick in the 2022 Draft.

“I have three years of experience of being in the draft room, and every year I walked away from our Tigers draft saying the Rockies had a great pitching class. Like, there are real arms coming out of here,” Ribas said.

“Everybody in this room should be really excited about some of the pitchers that are going to show up here in Denver this year because I think the draft strategy has been good. It will be refined. We’ll communicate and collaborate more frequently, but there has been a lot of exciting arms infused into this organization. So get to know their names. There’s a lot of good ones.”

Jones shares the same excitement.

“I think there’s a lot of unique guys that we have that are gonna be fun to see how they develop,” Jones said. “I mean, you have guys that are hard throwers and guys that are deceptive.”

Jones also highlighted Sullivan, who doesn’t have the velocity like some young arms, but has traits that don’t rely on movement as much — like a later release point — that are altitude-friendly. 

“The slot is unique and he’s left handed, so it’s coming from the A [slot], that you typically don’t see,” Jones said. “You saw Jimmy Herget last year. [He’s] not the hardest thrower, but has some weirdness to him. So weird is pretty good.” 

Jones also shouted out Welinton Herrera (No. 17 PuRP), the 21-year-old LHP who the Rockies signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2021.

“One guy you might see sooner than some others could be Welinton Herrera,” Jones said. “He throws really hard. He also has a slider that he’s been working on, so you will see that show up here.”

For a team that struggled with promoting young pitchers in 2025, hopefully, Rockies pitching prospects fare better in 2026.

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Rockies 2026 Spring Breakout rosters announced | Purple Row

Charlie Condon (no. 1 PuRP), Ethan Holliday (no. 2 PuRP), and several other top prospects will be in action for the Spring Breakout game on March 21 vs. the top prospects from the Arizona Diamondbacks. This year’s showdown will be the third installment of the new spring training tradition that gives fans a glimpse into what their future rosters might look like.

Ranking all 30 teams by tiers, 1-9 | MLB.com

Rockies fans are accustomed to finding their team at the bottom of MLB lists — and for good reason. After all, the Rockies lost 119 games last year. Heading into the 2026 season, the Rockies aren’t at the bottom of Mike Petriello’s list. Instead, they are one of four teams in Tier 8, one that is dubbed “Lots of losses ahead, but finally headed in the right direction.”

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Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The Atlanta Braves continued trimming down the roster Thursday, announcing five more cuts. Jhancarlos Lara was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, while Austin Pope, Jim Jarvis, Alex Lodise and Luke Waddell were reassigned to minor league camp. After these moves, there are 54 active players in camp. 

None of the moves come as much of a surprise as the Braves begin the gradual process of shaping their Opening Day roster. With several established players already locked into big-league roles, many of the early cuts were expected to come from the group of younger depth pieces and non-roster invites still getting their first looks in big-league camp.

More Braves News:

Spencer Strider and the Braves were victorious during Thursday’s 9-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The full 40-man Spring Breakout Roster is here! Cam Caminiti, JR Ritchie, and John Gil headline the list.

Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies compete against each other in the World Baseball Classic this afternoon, and here’s everything you need to know. 

MLB News:

Boston Red Sox reliever Vinny Nittoli has been diagnosed with ligament damage in his elbow and is likely headed for a season-ending surgery. 

Yesterday, the Guardians crushed the White Sox 12-3 and Cade Smith made a great 2026 Cactus League debut.

Smith threw 9 pitches in a 1-2-3 fifth inning in his return from neck soreness. Tanner Bibee threw four scoreless, Erik Sabrowski struck out two in a scoreless frame, and Tim Herrin struck out three… but also allowed two hits, a walk and a run.

On the offensive side, CJ Kayfus hit a two-run homer, so did Milan Tolentino and Carter Kieboom hit a three-run bomb. Jaison Chourio had a triple, Angel Martinez had two BABIP hits including a double, Brayan Rocchio, Angel Genao, George Valera and Kody Huff added doubles. Oh, and Autin Hedges had two hits, so you know how bad a night it was for Rangers’ pitching.

Australia won again in the World Baseball Classic, beating Czechia 5-1, but Travis Bazzana went 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout. He did put on a defensive clinic at second base, though.

Travis Bazzana makes a great play picking up his first baseman as Australia escapes trouble in the third pic.twitter.com/gbXnTIFbkP

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 6, 2026

Travis Bazzana starts a BIG double play to help Team Australia hold the lead! #WorldBaseballClassicpic.twitter.com/vaASlNm62m

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 6, 2026

Stephen Vogt had some comments about Chase DeLauter. I’ll let you decide what they mean. Sounds like they are trying to build him up for Opening Day but it’s obviously not ideal.

"He's learning how to work. We're learning how to help Chase feels close to 100% every day"#Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt says Chase DeLauter is "day to day", but is happy with the way things have progressed this spring. #GuardsBall@WEWSpic.twitter.com/oirjWyMAA9

— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) March 5, 2026

The Guardians return to afternoon baseball today at 3:05PM ET and to TV vs. The Angels.

Team USA's roster for the World Baseball Classic is stacked with MLB stars. So is the coaching staff, albeit with former stars.

Mark DeRosa is managing the squad, which includes MVP winners such as Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper, and the reigning Cy Young Award winners in Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes. DeRosa, a solid player across 16 MLB seasons, is joined by a who's who of assistants.

REQUIRED READING: Team USA stars ready to win WBC for the 'greatest country in the world'

Team USA was runner-up in the 2023 World Baseball Classic after falling to Japan in the championship. The U.S. has assembled a much more impressive roster on paper in 2026 but will face staunch competition from Japan again, as well as the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela, among others.

DeRosa, who's now an MLB Network analyst alongside his Team USA managing duties, has no shortage of experience among his coaching staff for the WBC. Here's a look at Team USA's full staff ahead of its first game against Brazil on March 6 in Houston:

Team USA coaching staff for WBC

• Manager: Mark DeRosa
• Bench coach: Skip Schumaker
• Pitching coach: Andy Pettitte
• Hitting coach: Matt Holliday
• First base coach: George Lombard
• Third base coach: Dino Ebel
• Bullpen coach: David Ross
• Assistant manager: Fredi Gonzalez
• Assistant manager: Brian McCann
• Assistant manager: Michael Young

There's plenty of MLB managing experience on Team USA's coaching staff, including current Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. Schumaker, an 11-year MLB veteran, was the National League Manager of the Year with the Marlins in 2023.

Former Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, the winningest postseason pitcher ever, returns as pitching coach. Pettitte won five World Series titles with New York. Seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday will lead the hitters. The 2007 batting champion's sons Jackson Holliday and Ethan Holliday were both recent top-five picks in the MLB draft.

Tigers bench coach George Lombard is the first base coach and Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel will handle the same duties for Team USA. Lombard's oldest son, George Lombard Jr., is a top prospect for the Yankees. His other son, Jacob Lombard, is one of the top 2026 MLB Draft prospects.

Former Cubs manager David Ross will lead the bullpen. The World Series is a two-time World Series champion with the Red Sox (2013) and Cubs (2016).

Brian McCann, Michael Young and Fredi Gonzalez round out the staff as assistant managers. McCann and Young are both seven-time All-Stars, and Gonzalez, a former MLB manager, led the Marlins from 2007-10 and Braves from 2011-16.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who's coaching Team USA in WBC? Meet the staff under Mark DeRosa

Puerto Rico, one of just four countries to advance to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals in the first five tournaments, will play on in the 2026 edition. Yet the Boricua may have already suffered their most significant losses weeks before the WBC began.

For the first time since 2013, Puerto Rico will be without its superstar infielders, Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor, who were ruled out of the tournament due to insurance concerns.

Lindor subsequently suffered a hamate bone injury that would have knocked him out, anyway. Yet Correa’s loss – along with valued catcher Victor Caratini and right-hander Jose Berríos – can be attributed to a risk management issue that girds the tournament’s capability to utilize major league stars in a full-go, competitive environment during spring training.

Why can’t Carlos Correa play in the WBC?

Correa’s history of leg injuries is well-documented, since he suffered a fractured right tibia as a Houston Astros minor leaguer. The injury history emerged in the spotlight during Correa’s second tour through free agency, when deals exceeding $300 million in value with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets were scrapped due to concerns that emerged during his physical before the 2023 season.

Major league players are insured during the WBC – which is co-owned and operated by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association - through National Financial Partners. NFP refuses to guarantee contracts for players whose contracts are in their second guaranteed year in a season a position player turns 37, and fourth guaranteed year for pitchers turning 37, baseball officials familiar with the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

Yet injury history and recent surgical procedures can also scuttle a player’s eligibility.

Jose Altuve, Jose Berríos: Ineligible for WBC

Lindor had a minor right elbow debridement after last season, scuttling his eligibility before his hamate issue emerged. Jose Altuve, 35, had a pair of strikes against him: He suffered a broken thumb playing for Venezuela in the 2023 WBC, and his $125 million contract extension runs through 2029; he will turn 37 in 2028.

Berríos, 31, pitched for Puerto Rico in 2013, 2017 and 2023. Yet he revealed last month that elbow inflammation that ended his season early was preceded by problems with his biceps tendon that he pitched through. Now, he’ll miss his first WBC, but should be nearing full health in time for the Blue Jays to begin defense of their American League title.

And Venezuela’s infield depth will be further thinned by the absence of Miguel Rojas, the Dodgers’ World Series hero. He turned 37 on Feb. 24, rendering his $5.5 million salary for 2026 – his final big league season, he’s said – uninsurable.

“It's really hard to not have the opportunity to put my country on my chest and to represent them and help win a World Baseball Classic – and not have the opportunity to do it because I'm 37 years old," Rojas said at the Dodgers’ fan festival last month. "That's not right. I don't feel it's right."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Puerto Rico WBC roster 2026: Why isn't Lindor playing? Insurance issues

The pool play for the WBC begins in earnest today, which means as I write this, Shohei Ohtani hits a grand slam to open the scoring for Samurai Japan.

Because of course he did.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Aaron Nola has had much better stuff, much higher velocity this spring so far. Maybe we can thank the WBC for that ($).
• Kyle Backhus continues to have a solid spring in his audition for the Phillies. The manager certainly likes him.

MLB news:

• MLB Pipeline has a new #1 team in their organizational system rankings. For once, the Dodgers aren’t the best at something!
• Andrew McCutchen will try for one more season in the sun. This time, the sun will be much hotter as it will be in Texas.
• Well, maybe those Orioles were after more starting pitching after all as it’s now being reported that they made a nine-figure offer to Ranger Suarez.

The Hawk* signs a blank check, Kirby Puckett departs this vale,and other stories.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.

“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.

Today in baseball history:

• 1906 – Rookie owner Charles W. Murphy puts the last pieces of a Chicago Cubs dynasty in place, trading rookie infielder Hans Lobert and pitcher Jake Weimer to the Cincinnati Reds for third baseman Harry Steinfeldt. Not a heavy hitter, Steinfeldt completes the Frank Chance–Johnny Evers–Joe Tinker infield with more than adequate defense. (1,2)
• 1907 – Philadelphia Phillies owners A.J. Reach and John Rogers are acquitted of damages resulting from the 1903 National League Park disaster. A balcony collapsed at the Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue ballpark, killing 12 and leaving 232 fans injured. (2)
• 1945 – Former Philadelphia Athletics catcher Harry O’Neill is killed in combat during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The 27-year-old O’Neill becomes the second former major leaguer to lose his life in the war. Elmer Gedeon, a one-time outfielder with the Washington Senators, was killed in 1944. (2)
• 1973 – Larry Hisle of the Minnesota Twins becomes the first designated hitter in major league history during an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hisle makes the new American League rule look good by collecting two home runs and seven runs batted in. (1,2)
• 1987 – Free agent Andre Dawson* signs a one-year contract with the Cubs for the bargain-basement price of $650,000. Dawson had offered to sign a contract with the dollar amount left blank just so he could play on the natural grass at Wrigley Field and save his fragile knees. He will hit 49 home runs, lead the majors in RBIs, and win the 1987 N.L. MVP Award. (1,2)
• 2005 – Suzyn Waldman becomes the first woman to be a full-time color commentator in major league history, making her debut with John Sterling on WCBS-AM 880, the radio flagship of the New York Yankees. The former radio-talk host on WFAN, the first all-sports radio station in United States, was also the first female to broadcast on a national baseball telecast, as well as the first to provide local TV (Yankees) major league play-by-play. (2)
• 2006 – Hall of Fame outfielder Kirby Puckett dies in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 45, a day after suffering a massive stroke. Puckett, who led the Minnesota Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991, hit .318 with 207 home runs and 1085 RBI over 12 seasons. A 10-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove winner, Puckett ended his career abruptly due to irreversible retina damage in his right eye. (2)
• 2016 – The Commissioner’s office overturns the two-game suspension handed to Dodgers IF Chase Utley for a dangerous slide that injured the Mets’ Ruben Tejada in last year’s NLDS. The decision is because the rules regarding sliding at the time were too vague; they have since been strengthened. (2)

Cubs Birthdays:Hal Mauck, Bill Sweeney, Ted Abernathy, Terry Adams, Jake Arrieta, Leonys Martín. Also notable: Lefty Grove HOF, Willie Stargell HOF.

Today in history:

• 1521 – Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam.
• 1788 – The British First Fleet arrives at Australian territory of Norfolk Island to found a convict settlement.
• 1831 – Edgar Allan Poe court-martialed and dismissed from West Point military academy for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders.
• 1836 – Battle of the Alamo: After 13 days of fighting, 1,500-3,000 Mexican soldiers overwhelm the Texan defenders, killing 182-257 Texans including William Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett.
• 1857 – Dred Scott Decision: US Supreme Court rules Africans cannot be US citizens.
• 1869 – Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table of the elements to the Russian Chemical Society.
• 1918 – US naval boat “Cyclops” disappears in Bermuda Triangle. The ship was traveling from Barbados to Baltimore — it has never been found.
• 1964 – Boxing legend Cassius Clay joins the Nation of Islam and changes his name to “Muhammad Ali”, calling his former title a “slave name.”

Common sources:

• (1) — Today in Baseball History.
• (2) — Baseball Reference.
• (3) — Society for American Baseball Research.
• (4) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
• (5) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.
• (6) — Wikipedia.
• (7) — The British Museum
• (8) — For world history.

*pictured.

Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, in order to help correct the record.

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

The Orioles were Grapefruit League winners yesterday with a 4-3 decision over the Rays in Port Charlotte. The Birds’ travel lineup included only two players guaranteed to make the team — Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo, who had a hit apiece — along with a couple of bubble guys in Leody Taveras and Jeremiah Jackson. The bulk of their offense came on homers by two minor league fillers, Jose Barrero and “Danger” Will Robertson.

But the pitching was the story for the Orioles — specifically, Zach Eflin, who made his spring debut and dazzled with two scoreless innings, striking out three. Reportedly, Eflin’s velocity yesterday was better than it ever was during his miserable 2025 season, when back soreness torpedoed his performance. His mechanics and pitch arsenal more resembled the Eflin who dominated in nine starts for the O’s in 2024. It’s hard not to be impressed at how sharp Eflin looked in his first mound action in eight months.

For much of the spring, it’s been assumed that Eflin will start the year on the injured list as he continues to ramp up his workload. But after yesterday’s performance, there’s reason to believe he could be full-go by Opening Day. And if he is, how exactly will the Orioles’ rotation shake out? The O’s have already announced that Tyler Wells will be in the bullpen, but that would still leave six starters — Eflin, Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt, and Dean Kremer — for five spots.

Bradish and Rogers are guaranteed to be atop the rotation, and Baz, for whom the O’s traded four prospects and have high expectations, is a lock for the starting staff as well. Unless the Orioles go with a six-man rotation, that leaves one of the other three out in the cold. Bassitt, a veteran known for his durability — with four straight seasons of 30+ starts — seems unlikely to be bumped to the bullpen, though he did pitch (quite well) in that role for the Blue Jays last postseason. Kremer, the Orioles’ 2025 leader in innings pitched with 171.2, also seems betted suited for starting than relieving, and Eflin hasn’t worked out of the bullpen since 2022.

There are three weeks until Opening Day, and chances are that the situation will resolve itself one way or the other. Just when you think you have more starting pitchers than you need, baseball has a way of, well, throwing a curveball. For now, the O’s should be happy they’ve got some pitching depth. They’re going to need it.

Links

With increased velo, Eflin surprises himself in 1st start since back surgery – MLB.com

More from Jake Rill on Eflin’s successful debut. If Eflin can approach his 2024 performance this year, it’ll certainly take some of the sting out of the Orioles’ not ponying up for an ace.

Kittredge on shoulder inflammation: “I really don’t think it’s all that serious” – School of Roch

Andrew Kittredge scoffs in the face of shoulder inflammation. Pshaw!, he says.

Brandon Hyde looks back on his last Orioles season: ‘I wish I could have done more’ – The Baltimore Banner

The former O’s manager talked to the Baltimore media for the first time since his firing. If you were expecting some lingering bitterness or saltiness toward the Orioles, sorry, his comments are all class.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Ex-Orioles born on this day include right-hander Anthony Telford (60) and Jake Arrieta (40), who spent four rocky years with the Birds before they dumped him off on the Cubs. I wonder what ever happened to him after that? Nothing much, I’m sure.

March 6 has been a slow day in Orioles history. The only time the O’s have made any roster moves on this date was in 2020, when they returned two Rule 5 picks — right-handers Michael Rucker and Brandon Bailey — to their original clubs. Had the O’s known that spring training would be canceled by the pandemic a week later and they’d end up playing only a 60-game season later that summer, maybe they could’ve tried to hold onto one or both of those guys for the shortened campaign. In any case, neither pitcher amounted to much, with Rucker posting a 4.96 ERA in three seasons for the Cubs and Bailey pitching just five major league games for the Astros in 2020.

The man who managed Shohei Ohtani in Japan dropped by the Dodgers’ training camp the other day, camera crew in tow. He was there to interview Andrew Friedman.

Friedman, quite naturally, assumed the questions would be about Ohtani.

Not at all. The questions were about Friedman, and what he had in common with the people who lead companies that make bullet trains and electron microscopes and Hello Kitty.

Hideki Kuriyama managed Ohtani on the Nippon Ham Fighters, the team that nurtured Ohtani’s ambition of pitching and hitting at an elite level. Today, in addition to serving as the Fighters’ chief baseball officer — the equivalent of Friedman’s role as the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations — Kuriyama hosts a prime-time television show in which he interviews the top executives of global corporations based in Japan.

Read more:Dodgers work with Andrew Toles' family to continue supporting former outfielder

These companies are household names in Japan, and often in the United States: Hitachi. Suzuki. Japan Airlines. Nippon Steel. Rakuten, the e-commerce giant. Sanrio, the Hello Kitty people.

The Dodgers are a household name in Japan.

The Dodgers are the brand. Nippon Ham is a brand too, but that brand is a food processing company.

Remember when Fox owned the Dodgers and Disney owned the Angels? That is baseball in Japan: teams owned by companies that can be more interested in their core business of financial services or transportation or media or whatever than in their team.

“The Japanese baseball market is stuck,” Kuriyama told me through interpreter Chinami Inaishi. “Ownership belongs to the owner-corporations. They really see the teams as part of their branding and marketing. Their efforts to focus on the team strength seems very different than that of Major League Baseball.”

That, really, was what Kuriyama wanted to talk about with Friedman: What could Japanese teams learn from how Friedman leads?

“One of the things that we talked about was patience,” Kuriyama said, “the ability to wait. I felt that. A lot of people have said that about him, so I’ll take that to heart.”

Beyond that? Friedman talked about integrating the work of different departments, no matter how unrelated those departments might appear from the outside.

“One of the things I learned is that an organization is not just the sum of people,” Kuriyama said. “To have a really good organization, everyone has to be united in what they want, and each person has to contribute. It’s kind of like multiplication rather than addition.”

To Friedman, championship math is about more than wins and losses.

“We spent time talking about the quest we are on to create a destination spot,” he said. “Obviously, the primary goal is to win championships. But that’s an outcome. We believe the process part of increasing your chances of getting there is by creating a destination spot where your really good players don’t want to leave, and where players on other teams are longingly looking at, like, ‘Oh man, I want to play for them.’

“We are way better at it today than we were five years ago, but it is like a living organism that we have to continue to nurture. It is not something where we will ever take our foot off the gas and say, ‘OK, we’ve got it.’”

Nothing beats winning — or, for the cynical, high salaries. But, when the Dodgers go beyond the scoreboard and payroll to provide innovative biomechanical and nutritional analysis to their players; expand the home clubhouse twice in barely a decade and take special care of player families; and add a second chartered team flight so the players can take their own plane, players take notice.

“We’re on a quest to get better at everything we do,” Friedman said. “If you listen to some of our internal meetings, and you listen to us challenge each other to get better in different areas, you would think we finished in last place last year.

Read more:How the Dodgers will look to fill out a once-crowded starting rotation

“We take a very critical look at what we’re doing and what things we do better and what things we are not doing as well, and how to enhance those parts of our operation. That is our mindset: figuring out a way to continuously get better at everything we do.”

Kuriyama brought up an interview Friedman did three years ago, after Friedman visited Japan and marveled at how many fans gathered to watch Team Japan workouts in advance of the World Baseball Classic.

“It also struck me how many different team hats were there,” Friedman said. “You’d see a Dodgers, and a Cubs, and a Yankees, and a Red Sox. You saw a smattering of different teams. And that’s what got us thinking like, ‘Man, if we could actually convert more fans here into loving Dodger baseball, the benefits that come with that.’”

In the ensuing 20 months, the Dodgers signed Ohtani. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki have followed, as have back-to-back World Series championships and a burgeoning Japanese fan club.

“They are, absolutely, bar none, the most popular team,” Kuriyama said.

The Dodgers are the favorite MLB team of 59% of Japanese sports fans, according to a YouGov poll released this week. The New York Yankees rank second at 14%; no other team polled at even 10%.

According to the poll, 78% say Ohtani is one of their favorite MLB players, 79% say Ohtani has increased their interest in MLB since he signed with the Dodgers, and 87% say they have a positive impression of him.

Ohtani made an estimated $100 million last year in sponsorships and endorsements, including the promotion of a skin care product that the 64-year-old Kuriyama said he has tried. I asked Kuriyama how far he could walk in Japan without seeing an advertisement for Ohtani.

“Less than 10 steps,” he said.

Kuriyama held firm that Ohtani could prosper as both a pitcher and hitter at a time that opinion was far from universal. Now that Ohtani is the game’s best player, and an international superstar that transcends sports, Kuriyama must feel like a proud father.

“He was incredibly talented,” Kuriyama said. “So, rather than being a proud dad, I feel like, ‘Thank you for not injuring yourself, and thank you for putting the work and effort into being where you are today.’ I am actually a little relieved.”

I asked Kuriyama if there was anything Ohtani could do that he has not already done.

For one, Kuriyama said, the Cy Young Award.

Read more:'Opportunity is present.' Alex Freeland trying to take advantage of reps at second base

“He’s actually more talented than people think he is,” Kuriyama said. “I firmly believe that he is going to surprise many of you.”

He only — and, yes, Kuriyama used the word “only” — hit 55 home runs last season. Does Kuriyama believe Ohtani could reach the single-season MLB record of 73?

“Yeah,” Kuriyama said.

If Ohtani does that this year, the Dodgers might well become the first team in National League history to win three consecutive World Series championships. If the Dodgers do that, flooded with cash from Japan and all over the world, the interview Friedman does next spring might be with the Harvard Business School.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is officially underway and if you’re keeping track of things from an Atlanta Braves perspective, today is the day for you. It’s all going down today at high noon at loanDepot park in Miami, FL as Ronald Acuña Jr. and Venezuela get set to take on Ozzie Albies and Jurickson Profar Chadwick Tromp representing the Netherlands in the first game of Pool D in Miami. Andruw Jones will be in the dugout as the manager for the Netherlands, so there’s definitely going to be a Braves flavor to this particular ballgame.

It’ll surely be fun to see best pals Acuña and Albies turn into baseball enemies for a day and the good news for you is that we have information as to how you can watch. While the game may not be on a traditional TV channel like FOX, FS1 or FS2, the game will still be televised via streaming. You’ll have to catch this game on tubi (tubitv.com) if you want to see the international Braves stars in action during the WBC. If you can’t watch then you can listen on MLB Audio (via the MLB+ package which starts at $5.99 a month) or on Sirius XM if you’re subscribed to that as well.

Either way, you’re going to want to tune in for this one if you want to get your fix of Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies playing in meaningful baseball games about a month earlier than usual. No matter who you’re pulling for, Braves fans are going to come out on top in this one.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, March 6, 12:00 p.m. ET

Location: loanDepot park, Miami, FL

TV: None

Streaming: tubi

Radio: MLB Audio, Sirius XM

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. Welcome to March, as Opening Day is now just three weeks away!

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

I’m almost out of pitchers to write about, I swear. We’re moving on to the middle relievers. The guys who sometimes need to take it on the chin, who rarely get the credit they deserve, but oftentimes make or break close games.

The Red Sox’ starting rotation depth and quality should help keep this group fresher than they’ve been in the recent past. Right now, I think this group might be on the light side, but relievers spring up out of nowhere and are available at the drop of a hat, so a trade or the addition of a DFA’d arm from another team could add quality to the bullpen. Here’s a look at way too many pitchers who might get a chance for the Red Sox this year.

Justin Slaten

Justin Slaten’s 2025 was disappointing, in large part because he was unavailable for most of the middle part of the season. He posted a 4.24 ERA with an 18.2% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. Those numbers were a large step down from his rookie season, but the underlying stuff was just as good.

His fastball in particular was excellent. It has solid vertical movement and great velocity with big extension. In 2025, the swinging strike rate was among the best in the league at 15.6%, while the ideal contact rate was a great 31.3%. His cutter was a reliable strike-getter and also limited hard contact. Slaten struggled to put lefties away in 2025 due to leaving his curveball in the zone with two strikes too frequently, but better command should see the pitch return strikeouts. His sweeper was useful in putting away righties and should continue to be a weapon for him.

The issue for Slaten was getting out of trouble. His left-on-base rate of 55% was remarkably low and should rise to a normal rate over a full season. His 2024 rate was 71%, and there’s little reason to believe it shouldn’t normalize given his stuff. Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock are the top dogs in the Red Sox bullpen, but Slaten will be asked to handle high-leverage situations regularly.

Greg Weissert

Dear Alex Cora, I know navigating the middle innings can be difficult, particularly in a tight game. Hopefully, your rotation gives you six innings often enough that nobody in the pen needs to be overworked. I’m writing to you today to plead that you don’t give the ball to Greg Weissert every night. I know it’s tempting, but don’t do it.

Each of the last two seasons, Weissert has been near the top of the league in appearances through June, and then seen his performance tail off in the summer before reemerging at the end of the season. Weissert commands his fastball at the top of the zone, where it plays well due to its flat approach angle. Against righties, he uses a sinker and slider/sweeper to great effect. Lefties are a problem, with nothing else besides a fastball to get strikes with, though. He’s best used matching up with righties in a one-inning spot, and shouldn’t be asked to do much more.

Zack Kelly

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to quit Zack Kelly.

I’ll never give up on Zack Kelly

— Jake Roy (@Jake3Roy) June 21, 2025

I can’t be a one man standing ovation but if I could I would’ve for Zack Kelly

— Jake Roy (@Jake3Roy) August 26, 2024

See?

The stuff is just too good not to work. His four-seam averages 96 mph with seven feet of extension. The pitch has a flat approach angle, though I wonder if it’s a little “dead zoney”, because righties have been able to handle it. It was primarily a two-strike pitch and returned whiffs due to solid command, but the contact against it was hard. Early in counts, he used a sinker and a cutter that each earned strikes and limited damage. His sweeper also punched out hitters, but like the four-seam fastball was hit hard. Lefties got four-seams and cutters for strikes, with changeups deeper in counts. The slow ball strike rate was an abysmal 49% to lefties, and needs to see improvements to become a viable weapon.

Kelly’s approach against righties is sound, while he needs an “out-pitch” against lefties. Despite this, his OPS allowed was .831 against right-handed hitters and just .604 against lefties. I’ll chalk this up to bad luck. He struck out 29.3% of righties compared to 15.7% of lefties. His batting average on balls in play was over 0.400 against righties and is sure to come down to a more normal rate. His left on base percentage is also sure to come up, unless there are some underlying issues with the stretch that I’m not seeing. If you’re out on Kelly, I don’t blame you. After looking into the numbers, I’ll go the other way and predict that Kelly will be a key member of the Red Sox bullpen by the end of the season.

Ryan Watson

Ryan Watson was a Rule 5 draft pick, which gives him a solid chance to break camp with the team. He won’t be used in high-leverage spots, which means his job is to throw strikes. If he can throw strikes and handle low-leverage work, he’ll potentially be used in more meaningful spots later in the season. In the minors, he used a fastball, sinker, slider, and curveball. His four-seam hasn’t missed bats in the minors, but his low-release and above-average extension should allow the pitch to play at the top of the zone. His slider and curveball have each shown the ability to create whiffs as well. In his first spring training outing, he featured a low-90s cutter as well that has potential. The stuff doesn’t jump off the page, but he has weapons to attack both sides of the plate and provide an inning or two of relief at a time.

Kyle Keller

Of the non-roster invitees, Keller has the best chance to make the roster given the financial commitment. He’s in line to make $1.8 million if he breaks camp with the team. I don’t know a ton about Keller; he’s spent the last several seasons in Japan, most recently with the Yomiuri Giants. He has a fastball, cutter, curveball mix, with the four-seam making up the bulk of his arsenal. It comes in at 151.7 kilometers per hour, which sounds pretty fast, but is actually about 94 mph. His secondary pitches were used in a small sample, as far as I can tell, with middling results. He also walked three men in his second spring training outing, which you can’t afford to do as one of the lower-leverage arms in the bullpen. The Red Sox are willing to pay him if he makes the roster, so there’s clearly something they like, though.

Tayron Guerrero

Tayron Guerrero wasn’t a name I knew until Christopher Smith wrote about his journey to Boston, but now I’m all in. He’s a 6-foot-8 righty with massive velocity and command issues. He started playing baseball in 2007 after watching the Red Sox win the World Series, and was in the major leagues less than 10 years later. He hasn’t been able to stick with a big league team, bouncing around from organization to organization and spending time overseas, but his velocity gives him a chance to be special if he can find the zone. He’s using a four-seam and a two-seam that each get up to 100 mph, a splitter, and is working on a gyro-slider as a way to be in the strike zone more often. He’s on a minor league deal and is unlikely to make the opening day roster, but if he proves the ability to throw strikes, he could climb the bullpen trust tree and end up in high-leverage spots. Of the names at the bottom of this list, Guerrero has the highest ceiling.

Seth Martinez

Did you like John Schreiber? If so, you’re gonna love Seth Martinez. Martinez spent last season with the Marlins, primarily in Triple-A. Before that, he made 111 appearances for the Astros from 2021 to 2024, registering a 3.93 ERA over that time. He’s a side-armer with big extension who tops out about 90 mph, using a sinker, cutter, four-seam, sweeper, and changeup. His fastball is super flat, and in theory, should play at the top of the zone, while his sinker can work to jam righties. His sweeper and changeup have each shown bat-missing ability in the past, but his lack of velocity caps his ceiling and makes command paramount. He’s another non-roster invitee with an outside shot to make the team.

Noah Song

He exists! He’s thrown a few single innings in relief so far this spring, and his slider looks sharp. His fastball has high vertical movement, and his changeup shape is super interesting. *Insert Rick Reilly-style joke comparing the length of Noah Song’s story to a Grateful Dead song.* It’s probably a long shot at this point, but I could be convinced.

Vinny Nittoli

Aye! I’m relievin’ here! Nittoli is a non-roster invitee with some major league experience. He uses primarily a cutter that doesn’t actually cut, from a low arm angle. It’s not something I’ve seen before, which could be a classic case of survivorship bias, but it could also provide a look that hitters haven’t seen before. He uses a sinker, changeup, and sweeper as well. He’s kind of like Cooper Criswell, but more Italian-sounding.

Devin Sweet

Having different looks out of the bullpen is important. The Red Sox have an affinity for low-slot pitchers, while Devin Sweet is the opposite. He’s got a very high arm angle that creates a ton of vertical movement on his fastball. He also has a cool changeup shape that has a huge velocity and movement separation from that fastball. Early Spring Training hasn’t gone well for him, and he’s had problems throwing strikes, but there’s some real swing and miss stuff if he can harness it.

One of the more exciting parts of spring training in recent years has been the annual Spring Breakout series of games in which top prospects across all levels of each of the thirty organizations square off. This year, Mets prospects will face Rays prospects on Thursday, March 19 at 7:10 PM EDT at Clover Field in Port St. Lucie. And here’s the Mets’ roster pool for the event. The list will be whittled down to twenty-something players by the day of that game.

Pitchers

• Juan Arnaud, RHP
• Channing Austin, RHP
• Hoss Brewer, RHP
• Nicolas Carreño, LHP
• Saúl García, RHP
• Brendan Girton, RHP
• Cristofer Gómez, RHP
• R.J. Gordon, RHP
• Nathan Hall RHP
• Noah Hall, RHP
• Peter Kussow, RHP
• Ryan Lambert, RHP
• Camden Lohman, RHP
• Douglas Orellana, RHP, NR
• Jonathan Pintaro, RHP
• Dylan Ross, RHP
• Jonathan Santucci, LHP
• Ben Simon, RHP
• Zach Thornton, LHP
• Cam Tilly, RHP
• Will Watson, RHP
• Jack Wenninger, RHP

Catchers

• Daiverson Gutierrez, C
• Chris Suero, C/OF
• Julio Zayas, C

Infielders

• Yunior Amparo, UTIL
• Ryan Clifford, 1B/OF
• Randy Guzman, 1B/OF
• Yonatan Henríquez, UTIL
• Antonio Jimenez, SS
• Elian Pena, SS
• Jacob Reimer, 3B/1B
• D’Andre Smith, 2B
• Trey Snyder, SS
• Marco Vargas, INF
• Mitch Voit, 2B

Outfielders

• A.J. Ewing, OF/2B
• Edward Lantigua, OF
• Nick Morabito, OF
• Eli Serrano III, OF

In 18 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers,Clayton Kershaw put together a rather impressive career that likely will make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer, all while quickly becoming one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of his generation.

It's a lengthy list of accomplishments that includes three National League Cy Young Awards, three World Series rings and 11 All-Star Game selections. He is also just one of 20 pitchers in Major League Baseball history to reach the 3,000 career strikeout mark, a feat he accomplished in July of last year.

He now looks to add another accolade to his Hall of Fame plaque: World Baseball Classic champion with Team USA.

WBC POWER RANKINGS: Which teams have best odds to win?

"I'm so excited to be here and be with this group. ... I Amazon'd all my gear. I'm ready, dude," Kershaw jokingly said on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" on Monday, March 2. "I've been ready for a long time. I'm just so fired up to be on this team. And I told them, D-Ro (Mark DeRosa) and Andy Pettitte, our pitching guy, 'Whatever you guys want. I'll throw zero. I'll throw every game. It doesn't matter. I'm done after this. I'll do whatever you want.'"

But if Kershaw is retired from The Show, why is he playing in the WBC for Team USA?

Here's what to know about Kershaw:

Is Clayton Kershaw retired?

Yes, Kershaw is recently retired. The WBC is going to be the final competition that Kershaw will pitch in.

He announced his intention to retire after 18 seasons in Dodger Blue on Thursday, Sept. 18 at a news conference inside Dodger Stadium.

"I’m at peace with it and I think it’s the right time," Kershaw said. "It’s been a fun year and such a blast. I can’t think of a better season to go out, but we have a lot to accomplish."

Much like how Peyton Manning went off into the sunset after winning Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos, Kershaw had a Hollywood ending, as the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in extra innings of Game 7 of the World Series."It’s not a sad feeling. It really isn’t," Kershaw said following Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. "I will, forever, for the rest of my life, get to say, we won Game 7 of the World Series the last game I played. You can’t script it, you can’t write it up.

"Even if I was not throwing 88, I’d still be done. It’s just the perfect way to end it."

Is Clayton Kershaw playing in WBC?

Yes, the former Dodgers left-hander is competing in the WBC. It's the first time that Kershaw is playing for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, which is in its sixth iteration.

He is expected to come out of the bullpen for Team USA.

Clayton Kershaw is back on the mound 👀 pic.twitter.com/h5Cz7fZHm1

— MLB (@MLB) March 2, 2026

Why is Clayton Kershaw playing for Team USA in WBC?

In his appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on March 2, the three-time World Series champion called being in the WBC and wearing the Team USA jersey a "bucket list" thing for him as a ballplayer.

"I've tried to be on this team a few different times and it hadn't worked out for numerous reasons. But now that I finally get to do it and represent the USA and get to play baseball, it's an amazing thing," Kershaw said. "We were all watching the Winter Olympics and seeing the (men's and women's) hockey teams win and just to kind of see the nation support them and be behind them, it was amazing.

"To get to do that in a baseball uniform for Team USA is a bucket list thing for me. I'm so grateful to get to be on the team, and it's going to be a blast."

"It's so cool to represent my country and it's such an amazing thing..

I'm so grateful to be on this team and it's gonna be a blast" ~ @ClaytonKersh22#PMSLivepic.twitter.com/KVLB5iNnRb

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 2, 2026

Having the veteran southpaw on the roster was an important one for Team USA manager Mark DeRosa. His presence is perhaps even more important for Team USA heading into Pool C play in Houston, as back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is expected to make just one start before returning to the Grapefruit League with the Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean is dealing with an illness that stopped him from reporting to Team USA's camp in Arizona with everyone else.

"He was important to me," DeRosa said of Kershaw's roster spot, according to MLB.com. "The way the tournament is set up, if a starter was to falter and not be able to give you length … you needed kind of a break-glass-in-[case-of]-emergency kind of pitcher. There’s no one on an active roster that’s willing to come and sit here and maybe not get to pitch. When we put our heads together, he was one of the best to ever do it, the guys would want to be around him, learn from him, and in case of emergency, he’d be out there and kind of reset us.”

Clayton Kershaw stats 

• 223-96 career record in 2,855 ⅓ innings with a career 2.53 ERA
• 3,052 strikeouts
• 3-time World Series winner (2020, 2024, 2025)
• 2014 National League MVP
• 3-time NL Cy Young Winner (2011, 2013, 2014)
• 11-time NL All-Star

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Clayton Kershaw retired? Ex-Dodgers ace playing in WBC for Team USA