Category: Baseball

Opening Day is just five days away for the San Francisco Giants, and the camp cuts are coming as fast and furious as my favorite modern movie franchise. The big news came on Thursday, when the Giants optioned top prospect Bryce Eldridge to AAA Sacramento, along with Grant McCray and Tyler Fitzgerald. That ended the camp-long question of whether or not Eldridge would make the roster for March 25’s Netflix special.

But more news came on Friday, when the Giants made their seventh round of camp cuts. This time, rather than optioning a trio of rostered players, the Giants reassigned a trio of non-roster invitees to Minor League camp: outfielder Victor Bericoto, right-hander Gregory Santos, and infielder Osleivis Basabe.

The biggest name here is Bericoto, who had an absolute breakout of a performance in his first Spring Training, which resulted in being named the 2026 Barney Nugent Award winner shortly before being reassigned. Bittersweet day!

Bericoto, a right-handed hitter who signed with the Giants in the same international period as Luis Matos and Marco Luciano (and who re-signed on a Minor League contract this past offseason after reaching free agency), was positively dynamic in Cactus League play, while manning both left and right field. In 19 games he hit a blistering 18-38 with a team-best three home runs as well as three doubles, while sporting a 1.264 OPS and a 221 wRC+. He also posted some of the most impressive exit velocities on the team, while striking out just seven times.

To the naked eye, then, it might seem like the Giants are making an error by reassigning him instead of giving him a spot on the Opening Day roster, especially since the players in the running for the fourth outfield spot — Matos, Will Brennan, Drew Gilbert, and Jared Oliva — aren’t exactly tearing holes in the box scores. But Bericoto, who recently turned 24, was never seriously in play for an Opening Day assignment. Spring Training numbers should always be taken with a grain of salt, and as exceptional as his were, it bears noting that he drew just one walk, rocked a hilariously unsustainable .517 BABIP, and did the bulk of his damage against fellow Minor Leaguers and NRIs. Most importantly, Bericoto has just 11 games in AAA to his name (during which time he hit just .196/.196/.283) so, despite his performance, he’s in need of some further development.

Still and all, he opened eyes, and certainly impressed his teammates, coaches, and front office. Given how unproven that aforementioned quartet is — plus McCray and Jerar Encarnación — there will almost certainly be a roster spot for Bericoto in a few months if he hits well with AAA Sacramento.

While Bericoto was the most notable name given his spring, the most surprising of the three cuts was Santos. I’ve spent the offseason telling anyone who will listen that I think Santos — who was signed and developed by the Giants before being cut three years ago, and re-signed to a Minor League deal this past offseason — will end up being the team’s best reliever this year. I’m sticking with that, though it will take him a little while to get there, apparently.

Santos struggled with command this spring, walking five batters — while striking out just two — in 3.1 innings, leading to a 5.40 ERA and a 7.87 FIP. That shouldn’t be incredibly surprising, given that there’s rust to wash off: injuries have limited him to just 26.2 innings between both the Majors and the Minors over the last two seasons combined. The bright side is, when he finds his rhythm, command shouldn’t be a big concern: the 26-year old walked just 2.3 batters per nine innings during his breakout season with the Chicago White Sox in 2023, which is an astonishingly low number for a player who regularly clips triple digits with his fastball.

Given the lack of heat that the Giants have in the bullpen after trading Camilo Doval and seeing Randy Rodríguez suffer an injury — and given that fastball velocity is the primary barrier for entry in MLB bullpens these days — it feels like a matter of when, not if Santos will be a high-leverage reliever for this team.

As for Basabe, he had a great camp, but never really had a chance of making the team. The 25-year old right-handed hitter played his usual excellent defense across the infield, while really showing out with the bat, as he hit 12-31 with two triples, four doubles, and one walk, for a 1.051 OPS and a 167 wRC+. With Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss entrenched as the backup infielders — and Fitzgerald on the 40-man roster — the usually light-hitting Basabe (who is Matos’ cousin) was always ticketed for depth in Sacramento. But he played well enough that the organization will likely be quite comfortable bringing him up should injuries create a need.

The Giants are now down to 39 players in Major League camp: 34 rostered players, and five non-roster invitees (pitchers Michael Fulmer, Caleb Kilian, and Joey Lucchesi; catcher Eric Haase; and outfielder Oliva). They’ll have to trim 13 more names between now and Wednesday.

TAMPA – Try as he might to feign immunity to the noise,Aaron Judgeheard the questions about why the United States team he captained in the World Baseball Classic looked like it wasn’t having any fun. He admitted that friends and family wondered the same things the rest of the baseball world did when they saw the stoic Americans juxtaposed with the unmitigated joy of the Dominicans and Venezuelans: Why were the Americans so, well, boring?

“Everybody is different. Every culture is different. I loved everything that Mexico was doing, what Great Britain was doing, the DR, how they celebrated the game…that was amazing,” Judge said. “If they’re going to say we don’t have the passion – my passion is grinding in this cage when nobody is watching, grinding in the backyard as a six-year-old when I’d be in the backyard with my dad. That’s where our passion came from as kids. If I don’t show it outwardly like that, it doesn’t mean I don’t love the game.”

Judge said he felt certain that “every one of those guys” in the U.S. clubhouse would say they had never had more fun playing baseball than they did during the tournament. He said he saw players he had never seen show emotion unleash more than they ever showed during the major league season. But he also said he doesn’t feel there is much point in arguing.

“What am I going to do?” he said. “I can’t change their opinions.”

Few players in baseball show as dogged a commitment to a business-like demeanor as Judge, and in fairness, it seems to have served him well. He emerged as the Yankees' leader long before he qualified as a veteran. He accumulated enough respect around the league to be named captain of an American team loaded with viable leadership options. Perhaps it is no coincidence that both teams seemed to mirror his approach: Act like you’ve been there before. Winning is the only goal. Neither, or the expectations levied on both teams, allow much room for whimsy.

So perhaps it is not surprising that when asked if he would like to see more whimsy – dancing, bat flips, flair – in Major League Baseball, Judge looked down and paused, finally answering after several seconds of calculation.

“I think it’s just tough to do for 162 games. I think it’s just a lot of energy. A lot of…I don’t know,” Judge said. “I love how the game is, but definitely I would love more energy, more flair, stuff like that. I think it’s great for the fans. It’s great for the fans. It’s great for all the young kids watching the game who love seeing their favorite player do stuff like that.”

“That’s a good question,” he added, a notable addendum for a player who rarely says anything more than he must. “It was cool for that, but I don’t know.”

He was similarly as careful when asked how playing in the WBC final against Venezuela compared to playing in the World Series – a noticeable retreat from his comments during the tournament, suggesting the WBC crowd was “bigger and better” than the ones at the 2024 World Series.

“It’s different when you’ve got a band out in right field, a band out in left field, different chants, you don’t usually see that,” Judge said. “World Series games, a lot of the passionate fans, they can’t afford the tickets sometimes.”

Judge returned his focus to the World Series when he returned to Yankees camp Thursday. He will serve as the designated hitter in the Yankees’ game against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. As WBC participants go, Judge likely saw his spring disrupted least: He played every day. He got regular at-bats and full games’ worth of defensive build-up. And he will get a few more games of at-bats before the Yankees’ opener in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Still, he said he thinks conversations about potentially moving the WBC to the middle of the season should continue.

“There were so many restrictions, even with us. There were certain guys that couldn't pitch because of this, had to pitch on these days,” Judge said. “I think now, if you get into where everybody is built up, everybody has no restrictions, you get out there and just play -- I think it would be better for the game."

Judge said he would love to play for Team USA again, whether in the 2028 Olympics if MLB comes to an agreement to let players go, or in future WBC events. In the meantime, he said he is encouraged by where his Yankees are to start the season – and sees the return of so many familiar faces as an opportunity to improve on last year’s league-leading win total.

“I think it comes down to just details. That’s one thing we’ve talked about a lot. Fine-tune the details, figure out as a team how we can be better,” Judge said. “We’ve had stretches the last few years in July, August, when we’re puttering and you guys are asking some tough questions about what’s going on. I think if we can figure that out, we’ll be in a good spot.”

The Yankees optioned outfielder Jasson Domínguez to Triple-A as the club made a flurry of roster moves ahead of Friday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Domínguez faced an uphill battle to win a spot in the Yanks outfield after Cody Bellinger re-signed in free agency, and with the organization looking to get him regular at-bats to help him along in his development, starting the season in the minors seemed an inevitable conclusion for the 23-year-old.

Domínguez had 13 hits, including three home runs, in his 40 at-bats this spring, good for a .325/.378/.600 slash line. He added three steals on the basepaths.

The Yanks also optioned right-handed relievers Kervin Castro and Yerry de los Santos to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Castro, 27, was in the bullpen conversation to make the roster on Opening Day, but it sounds like his spot might go to Rule-5 Draft pick Cade Winquest.

Catchers Ali Sanchez and Payton Henry and outfielder Kenedy Corona were reassigned to minor league camp, as well.

The Yanks open up the regular season on Wednesday in San Francisco.

The Captain is back! Aaron Judge has returned to Yankees camp after taking Team USA agonizingly close to winning the WBC, ultimately falling to Venezuela in the final. He rejoins in time for one of their final five spring tune-ups, the Yankees rolling out something close to their Opening Day lineup tonight against the Orioles.

Luis Gil makes his sixth start of what has been an up-and-down spring for the 27-year-old rotation hopeful. He looked decent enough in his first four outings, allowing four runs (three earned) in 11.1 innings (2.38 ERA), albeit while still not looking like his 2024 self in terms of stuff. He then got shelled for seven runs on three home runs in three innings last time out against the Tigers. He and Ryan Weathers have looked the shakiest of the Yankees’ starters this spring, though the team recently locked Weathers into the rotation to start the year. In 11 starts after returning from a lat injury last year, Gil went 4-1 with a 3.32 ERA (123 ERA+), 4.63 FIP, and 41 strikeouts in 57 innings.

Zach Eflin re-signed with the Orioles in December after missing the final two months of last season due to lower back surgery. He had a 5.93 ERA prior to the procedure and looked a shadow of the Rays righty who quickly excelled for the Orioles post-deadline in 2024. Things were going well for him last Sunday against the Yankees, with a pair of strikeouts in each of the first two scoreless frames, but rain brought a premature end to that game shortly thereafter.

I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot of today’s Yankees lineup to start the regular season with most if not all of their starters in. Giancarlo Stanton has been tearing the cover off the baseball this spring and can hopefully carry that momentum into the start of the season. Ryan McMahon continues to get reps at short meaning Oswaldo Cabrera starts at third, while the only change from the projected Opening Day lineup (aside from José Caballero at the six with McMahon at third) sees J.C. Escarra replace Austin Wells behind the plate this evening.

The Orioles lineup meanwhile is missing several of its regulars, Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg out with injury and Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman on the bench. Offseason acquisitions Taylor Ward and Pete Alonso bat leadoff and third, respectively. Top prospects Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo have been raking this spring and look to have forced their way into the Opening Day lineup conversation.

How to watch

Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field — Tampa, FL

First pitch: 6:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: Gotham Sports App

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660 AM, WBAL 1090 AM

Online stream: Gotham Sports App

For updates, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Friday Night Lights. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/LGylL2mVPW

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 20, 2026

Friday night squad! pic.twitter.com/ZUS10JaHgz

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 20, 2026

Orioles fans, you’re getting a double dose of O’s baseball tonight. And it’s not a doubleheader or a split-squad game with a break in between; these two games will be happening simultaneously. You can watch one on MASN while listening to the other on the radio, if you think you can handle such Orioles overstimulation.

The 6:05 game, airing on MASN, is the annual Spring Breakout that pits a team of Orioles prospects against those of another club, in this case the Red Sox. And it’s a pretty exciting lineup if you’re an O’s prospect follower:

CF Enrique Bradfield Jr.
LF Nate George
1B Ike Irish
DH Wehiwa Aloy
RF Reed Trimble
2B Aron Estrada
C Creed Willems
3B Colin Yeaman
SS Griff O’Ferrall

RHP Trey Gibson

That’s a lineup that includes six of the Orioles’ top 10 MLB Pipeline prospects (George, Gibson, Irish, Aloy, Estrada, Bradfield). And 10 other prospects in the Orioles’ top 30 are also on the roster and could appear later in the game.

And don’t forget the Orioles’ top two prospects, Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers, who will be playing in the Birds’ Grapefruit League game tonight. That one starts at 6:35 and will be on WBAL Radio (and a Yankees TV broadcast on YES, if you have access). A few of the Orioles’ regulars have the night off, including Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, but guys like Pete Alonso, Taylor Ward, and Coby Mayo are in the lineup.

Zach Eflin makes the start after his Sunday outing ended after two innings due to rain. He’s facing more or less the primary Yankees starting lineup — including Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton — so this’ll be his toughest test of spring training. It remains to be seen whether the O’s will include Eflin on the Opening Day roster or put him on the injured list to continue building up.

Orioles lineup:

LF Taylor Ward
C Samuel Basallo
1B Pete Alonso
3B Coby Mayo
CF Dylan Beavers
RF Leody Taveras
DH Bryan Ramos
2B Luis Vázquez
SS José Barrero

RHP Zach Eflin

The Milwaukee Brewers continue to push through the final few days of Cactus League play as they take on the Diamondbacks. This game was originally scheduled for the afternoon, but given the sweltering 100+ degree heat in Arizona right now, both teams agreed to move first pitch to 8:10 PM CT when the temperature should be a little cooler.

The Brewers will have Jacob Misiorowski on the mound making his final start of Cactus League play. Misiorowski has just been named the Opening Day starter for the Crew as Brandon Woodruff won’t quite be ready for the first game of the season. Following Misiorowski will be Logan Henderson, who was optioned to Triple-A yesterday. On the mound for Arizona will be Zac Gallen.

In the lineup for the Brewers will be most of the regular starters. They’ve made most of their position player cuts and the top minor leaguers are all in the Spring Breakout game today. Jackson Chourio and William Contreras are back in the lineup after returning victorious from the WBC. Christian Yelich, Jake Bauers, and Sal Frelick follow them.

One last tune-up for Jacob Misiorowski. The game can be heard as a webcast on Brewers.com

Miz gets his last start before Opening Day

📻: https://t.co/Nvy2XgSTzH#ThisIsMyCrewpic.twitter.com/SQ7sUNggW0

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 20, 2026

Look who's leading off 👀 pic.twitter.com/3kZHnxcRN8

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 20, 2026

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Major League Baseball has announced that Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, the two Cleveland Guardians pitchers at the center of a pitch-fixing scandal, have been placed on unpaid leave.

The players have been on paid leave since July.

Key Takeaways

• MLB has placed Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz on unpaid leave.
  
  
• Both players were previously on paid leave and face federal charges tied to alleged pitch fixing.
  
  
• Prosecutors allege the pitchers accepted bribes to influence bets, with the trial set to begin at some point later this year.

“As the legal proceedings involving Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz continue to move forward, MLB and the MLBPA have agreed that both players will remain on non-disciplinary leave from the Club without pay until further notice,” MLB said in a statement released Friday. 

Clase, 28, and Ortiz, 27, did not pitch the second half of last season and were indicted on federal charges in early November. Trial is set for May 5, but is anticipated to be delayed until the fall. 

“This agreement is not an admission of any wrongdoing by Clase or Ortiz,” read the statement. “MLB has been closely monitoring the matter since alerting federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and will have no further comment until its investigation has been completed.”

The accusations

The pitchers were charged with manipulating performances in multiple games, with Clase accused of fixing at least 48 MLB games over two seasons, which included postseason games, a February ESPN report unveiled.

Both are accused of having received thousands of dollars in bribes to help a pair of anonymous gamblers in the Dominican Republic win nearly $500,000 in bets, with the bets centering around microbetting lines on factors such as pitch velocity or whether they would be a strike. 

Ortiz, through his attorney, claims to have played a much smaller part in comparison to Clase, with the hopes that his case would be viewed separately given the “markedly different levels of culpability.”

“With 26 months of alleged criminal conduct by Mr. Clase – including suspect pitches during 48 games, dozens of communications with (a bettor), cash transfers and coordination of illegal wagers, (Ortiz could receive an unfair trial).”

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

We got a night game again and seven days from now, we’ll be gearing up to see the Atlanta Braves playing in a game that actually counts. As far as tonight goes, there’s still a few more tune-ups to go before we can get rocking and rolling again.

Ronald Acuña Jr. is officially back in the lineup after his title-winning excursion into the World Baseball Classic. Naturally he’ll be hitting leadoff and the lineup following him resembles something extremely close to what we’ll likely see on Opening Day at Truist Park.

Here is that lineup for the Braves, by the way. Bryce Elder was initially scheduled to start this one but now José Suarez is listed as the starter. I’m sure we’ll learn more later about whether or not Elder will be coming in later of if he got his work done on the back fields:

Today's starters ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/2dgZNyXXtZ

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 20, 2026

Here’s how the Pirates are lining up for this one:

Today's lineup in North Port. pic.twitter.com/i8H8aMVaHS

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 20, 2026

First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET and you’ll be able to catch it on Braves Vision, so this might be a good time to go sign up for Braves.TV if you haven’t already. Even if you haven’t, the game will also be on Gray TV so check your local listings. If all else fails (or you just want the old-school option) then tune in to 103.7 FM in the Atlanta area for the radio feed.

The Mets made three roster moves following Friday afternoon's Grapefruit League game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Right-hander Austin Warren was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, and righties Kevin Herget and Robert Stock have been reassigned to minor league camp.

Warren, 30, was claimed off waivers before last year and appeared in five games with the Mets last season, allowing one run on five hits over 9.1 innings with nine strikeouts and four walks. He is on the 40-man roster.

Herget, 34, made six appearances with the Mets last season, allowing five runs (four earned) in 12 innings. He re-signed on a minor-league deal in December.

Stock, 36, pitched in 19 games (15 starts) last year for Triple-A Worcester (Boston Red Sox organization) and carried a 3.92 ERA for his 85 innings of work. Like Herget, he is in his second stint with the Mets and signed a minor league deal late last year.

With those moves, the Mets are down to 39 players at big league camp.

New York has three games left to play in spring training, including a split-squad game on Saturday. 

After breaking camp, the Mets will open the regular season in Queens against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, March 26.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Atlanta Braves, March 20, 2026, 6:05 p.m. ET

Location: CoolToday Park, Venice, FL

How to Listen: KDKA-FM 93.7

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The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road against the Atlanta Braves, where they will try and pick up another win in Spring Training.

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Introduction

This short article finishes my effort to articulate some of the observations I made during my visit to Spring Training, 2026. I saved what I think is the best for last.

Sidebar: Where I work out, one of the guys that runs the place is an avid Cardinal fan. So I have someone to talk ball with each day. He keeps MiLB.tv on one of the screens in the weight room and for whatever reason, they’ve been playing Memphis 2025 games the last few weeks. So, I’ve had opportunity to watch, pitch-by-pitch, last year’s Memphis rotation. Weiss. Taylor. Bedell. Cornwall. Et. al. Oh, my! What a struggle they encountered. This article is written in that context.

Short Topic of the Day

The pitching, particularly of the starting variety.

Each spring, I work to get a look at the key pitchers in the organization as they ply their trade. My first hope is just that they are throwing free and easy. And participating in activities such as PFP. Health is such a key determinant. I don’t worry a lot about command or velocity unless it is way off norms. It’s too early to expect sharpness, and particularly on the MiLB side, pretty much all pitchers struggle with command. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be MiLB. Someone would remove the “i”.

In past years in camp, it could be hard to track down pitchers because it seemed so hit-and-miss without knowing who was going to throw, or where or when. Who I saw was pretty random. Be there all the time and hope was the strategy for getting good coverage. Plus, over the years, the Cardinals have progressively made it more difficult for fans to access and watch the areas pitchers work in. I intend to follow up on why, but I suspect there are multiple reasons behind this. Particularly early in the spring, there aren’t many fans to accommodate, and I did wonder if some of them were scouts for other teams. Why give them a free look?

This year brought some improvement as the press credentials improved my access but also allowed me insight into who, what and where of scheduling, so I could target and time my visits to different camp locations. They run a tight ship, so you could pretty well count on if someone was scheduled to pitch at 12:12p, they were going to pitch right around 12:12p. Much better than random visits and hoping to get a look. Information is key!

For the most part, the news was good in that it was mostly lacking in negative surprises. Pitchers on the recovery trail were as expected. Dobbins appears to be farthest along. Hjerpe and Roby have a way to go, timewise. Hjerpe is throwing. A good sign. I don’t expect Roby to pitch competitively this year. AFL, maybe. Dutkanych IV was a surprise in the rehab group. Henderson showing up with a sore forearm was disappointing. I’ve tended to suspect forearm strains can be pre-cursors to UCL injuries, but we will see. Let’s hope not for his sake. Most everyone else was good to go.

What I really noticed was the overall quality of the pitching organizationally. To me, pitching depth has been a concern as far back as 2020, maybe even longer. Even the playoff seasons of 2021 and 2022 required infusions of pitching at the deadline and my recollection is that need was obvious at the outset of those seasons.

As I watched the games and/or walked through the MLB bullpen area and watched, I could see seven or even more guys who can legitimately compete for a rotation spot at the MLB level right now. Not just “guys” or “arms” to fill a spot but actually guys we as fans would actually like to see throw. May, Liberatore, McGreevy, Pallante, Fitts, Leahy and I will include Dobbins. Although he may not be ready day 1, he is far enough along where you can see the stuff. The knee is his limitation right now, not the arm.

Then as I walk the backfields, I can see a AAA rotation that incorporates last year’s stellar AA rotation plus Mathews, who looked sharper. This should be a vast improvement over last year’s AAA rotation. These are the backstop guys, the depth for the MLB rotation. But with quite a bit more upside than was present in prior years. While none are guaranteed success, it has the feel of a group that will have an answer when the MLB rotation inevitably needs a boost as the season progresses.

Then, that AA rotation? Wow. Just wow! Cinjtje. Lin. Doyle. Likely with Rincon and Saladin filling it out, but there are some other guys that might have something to say about that. There is some serious juice here. I’m not projecting success or failure for any individual pitcher here either, but I don’t think it takes much squinting to see some potential quality.

Down below? Guys like Franklin, Sequera and Fajardo (and some others) begin to reveal just how deep this system is, across all timelines. Side note: Don’t sleep on Sequera. He might be my pick to break-out this year. To say nothing of the rehabbing pitchers that have their own pedigree – Holiday, Graham, Dutkanych IV, Findlay. That is seven guys High-A or below that are worthy prospects, not just organizational filler. There are others, too. I just haven’t seen them yet.

My personal measuring stick of how far this system has come? I watched Tink Hence work off a major league mound in a game (a great thing all by itself) and realized that this kid, with his stuff, is part of a much larger group and no longer “the one” that MUST succeed. I’m a big fan of his, in case you can’t tell. I hope we see him in StL this season.

I got a look at the Spring Breakout Roster. It has 20 prospect pitchers. I could see 16-18 of those guys pitching in the MLB. Some years, I have trouble seeing half that many making it that far. This is a deep group, covering a range of potential upside. Not just a bunch of back-end starters.

Oli asked (rhetorically, it turned out) “What is the strength of this team?”. He answered his own question with “Pitching”. I couldn’t disagree. If you are rebuilding a house, getting a strong foundation seems like a really good place to start. I’m no pitching guru, but I walked away impressed. Seriously. And I’m not easy to impress.

Since someone is bound to ask, I’ll get to the one prospect that gave me some pause. Liam Doyle. I’m still trying to gather my thoughts on this one. It seems apparent that there are some development needs there. I need to see more.

I have trouble separating my own limited observations from what/how I see the Cardinals handling him. To me, their actions say a lot. Eighty some guys in the organization got MLB numbers, he did not. You will notice that of the many pitchers that have gotten on the MLB mound in Spring Training games, he is not one of them. I don’t believe he has had an MLB bullpen, either. None of this screams fast track. All of it seems to reflect decisions made before camp, so it’s not like he showed up out of shape or anything like that. As I look at his peers, that puts him behind a number of them. Enough that him being in the rotation at the start of 2027 (much less being ROY) seems … optimistic. At least until we see more.

Probably the greatest intrigue that remains (at the time of writing this) is whether the Cardinals go with some form of six-man rotation. It’s not clear they’ve decided, but so far I’d say health and Fitts’ performance has begun swinging the decision. The way it maps out, his schedule aligns with split-squad days on the 9th, 14th and 19th (Prospect Day, if they want to have someone pitch on a backfield that day), so they could carry him on the MLB roster right up to the end of camp and get him starts. The big club won’t really need said 6th starter until April 15. As things play out right now (no guarantee), that day would be a May start and that is where they may want to insert a sixth starter (Fitts). My guess is he makes a start on March 19, stays in Jupiter and throws a back-field game around the 25th, then opens for Memphis around March 1, which looks like it would put him on schedule to start April 15, either with StL or Memphis (assuming a 6-man rotation in Memphis). Weather, health and/or performance could all conspire to foil that plan.

It’s hard to discern if they will really go with a full-on six-man rotation. It seems more likely that they roll with a modified six-man rotation, like last year. In this case, it wouldn’t shock me if Fitts joins the rotation, but ultimately Leahy is the guy that rotates back and forth between the rotation and bullpen, both as a way to manage his innings and a belief that he is probably best equipped to do this.

One thing is for certain, we will see. In this area, it is a land of opportunity and should be fun to watch unfold.

We’ve got some more news pertaining to Opening Day (which is officially a week away from today — excited yet?). Earlier today, we got word that Chris Sale would be the Opening Day starter for the Atlanta Braves in 2026 and now there’s a bit more clarity as to where you can watch the Braves take on the Royals — on TV, at least.

The Braves have announced that the season opener on March 28 will be simulcast on Gray TV affiliates across the Southeast. Here’s some more information from the press release, including some information on what will be happening in the stadium as part of the pregame festivities:

First pitch at Truist Park is set for 7:15 p.m. ET. Viewers can watch on BravesVision and on Gray Media’s network of local television stations throughout Braves Country. Fans can find local over-the-air channel listings at bravesongray.com.

BravesVision, the multimedia platform owned and operated by the Atlanta Braves, will serve as the team’s official local television home for the 2026 season. Fans across the organization’s six-state territory will have multiple options to watch Braves games without blackouts, including through video service providers and streaming on Braves.TV. For more information on how to watch, visit braves.com/watch.

The home opener will feature pregame festivities celebrating 60 years of Braves baseball in Atlanta. At 4 p.m., fans can take part in the Braves Walk as the team circles The Battery Atlanta, starting on the first-base side and ending at the Chop House Gate before heading inside for batting practice. The pregame ceremony will include a tribute video, appearances by franchise legends, and a ceremonial first pitch.

There’s still no concrete word on what the cable television situation will be for the Braves so I don’t have any information for you when it comes to which number you need to punch into your remote in order to find the Braves. The only thing we know for certain is that if you get Braves.TV, you’ll be good and if you live in an area that has a Gray TV affiliate then you’re good as well.

We’ll have more information on the TV situation as it comes in but for now, that’s what we know.

Blue Jays 2 Twins 1

The Jays got a bunch of hits (10) but only 2 runs, so they are in mid-season form. And they got good pitching. They loaded the bases in the first, with the help of a couple of errors, with no outs but managed not to score. I did say mid-season form.

Max Scherzer still hasn’t given up a run this spring, going 5 innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks with 3 strikeouts. With all the injuries to starting pitchers, at the top of the season, I’m glad they signed him. He got the win.

Other pitchers:

• Joe Mantiply: 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 k. 3.00 ERA on the spring.
• Chase Lee: 1.2 innings, 1 hit. 0.00 ERA on the spring.
• Lazaro Estrada: 1.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned, 1 k. 4.76 ERA. He got the save.

Hitters, starters:

• Myles Straw: 1 for 4, k. .206.
• Nathan Lukes: 2 for 3, .333.
• Jesús Sánchez: 1 for 3. .244. He hit a deep fly that was just foul in the first. He tried to lobby the umpires into thinking it was right over the foul pole.
• Davis Schneider: 2 for 4. .139.
• Tyler Heineman: 1 for 3, RBI. .300. Hit into a double play in the first to end the inning.
• Leo Jiménez: 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. .217. I would have liked him to hit better this spring, since he’s on the bubble for a roster spot.
• Sean Keys: 0 for 2, walk. .195.
• Arjun Nimmala: 1 for 3, k. .250.
• Josh Kasevich: 2 for 3, RBI. .306. He’s had a very nice spring.

Others:

• Carter Cunningham: 0 for 1, k. .206. The great thing about spring training is there are always names you haven’t heard.
• RJ Schreck: 0 for 1. .143.
• Rafael Lantigua: 0 for 1. .355.
• C.J. Stubbs: Walk. .273.
• Charles McAdoo: 0 for 1. .194. He started spring really great.
• Josh Rivera: 0 for 1. .211.
• Jace Bohrofen: 0 for 1.
• Je’Von Ward: 0 for 1.

Tomorrow the Jays play the Pirates in Bradenton, Florida and there is a spring breakout game, Jays Prospects vs. Phillies Prospects. And then Sunday is the last spring game.

We don’t have any pictures from today’s game yet, so I’m cheating, using one from yesterday’s game.

The Mets mounted a late rally but fell short, dropping their game to the Cardinals by a 4-3 score on Friday afternoon at Clover Park. The Mets were blanked through seven, managing just two hits, before scoring three in the eighth. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome an early four-run deficit.

• Tobias Myers got the nod and pitched two innings of one-run ball. He allowed a solo home run to Ramón Urías in the first inning but did not allow any other hits. He struck out two and walked one.
• Luke Weaver pitched a scoreless third inning, working around a two-out single while striking out one to keep his spring ERA at 0.00.
• Speaking of spotless ERAs, Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless fourth to keep his ERA at zero on the spring. He navigated two hits while striking out one.
• Earlier today, the Mets optioned Austin Warren to the minors which, as Anthony DiComo pointed out, “further strengthening left-hander Bryan Hudson’s position for that final bullpen spot”. Hudson did himself no favors today, allowing three earned runs on one hit and two walks in the fifth inning. The big blow was a Iván Herrera two-run home run, which led to Carlos Mendoza removing Hudson from the game (he would then go back to Hudson to start the inning, removing him after he recorded the first out of that inning).
• On offense, the Mets managed just two hits in the first seven innings—a Vidal Bruján fifth-inning single and a Carson Benge sixth-inning single. The Mets finally broke through in the eighth against Gerson Moreno. Cristian Pache walked to lead off, followed by an Antonio Jimenez walk. Tyrone Taylor was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out, and Ben Rortvedt drove home the team’s first run on a sac fly. After a Corey Collins walk, St. Louis substituted Austin Love into the game to pitch, and he allowed a two-run double to D’Andre Smith. That would be New York’s final hit of the game.
• Benge continued his strong spring with a hit and a walk as he started in right field for the Mets. His average now stands at .412 and his OPS at .987 for the spring. Joel Sherman, for what it’s worth, says that Benge has made the club, but the Mets have not officially announced it yet.
• Mark Vientos took another 0-fer as he went hitless in three at-bats while serving as the DH.

A group of Texas Rangers prospects take on a group of Kansas City Royals prospects in this year’s Spring Breakout contest where the Rangers farmhands will be the home team at Surprise Stadium.

Here’s a look at which prospects Texas has available today, including their MLB Pipeline rankings:

PITCHERS (8)
Ismael Agreda, RHP, No. 28
Wilian Bormie, RHP, NR
Gavin Collyer, RHP, No. 30
Aidan Curry, RHP, NR
Joey Danielson, RHP, NR
Eric Loomis, RHP, NR
Dalton Pence, LHP, No. 12
Josh Trentadue, LHP, No. 23

TWO-WAY PLAYERS (2)
Seong-Jun Kim, SS/RHP, No. 15
Josh Owens, SS/RHP, No. 6

CATCHERS (3)
Julian Brock, C, NR
Malcolm Moore, C, No. 18
Josh Springer, C, NR

INFIELDERS (7)
Yolfran Castillo, SS/3B, No. 8
Antonis Macias, UTIL, NR
Gleider Figuereo, 3B, NR
Pablo Guerrero, 1B, NR
Curley Martha, INF, NR
Elorky Rodriguez, 2B/OF, No. 16
Jack Wheeler, 3B, No. 19

OUTFIELDERS (7)
Dylan Dreiling, OF, No. 10
Anthony Gutierrez, OF, No. 29
Paxton Kling, OF, No. 21
Maxton Martin, OF, No. 24
Braylin Morel, OF, NR
Paulino Santana, OF, No. 22
Marcos Torres, OF, NR

You can the game on the Rangers Sports Network or follow along on Gameday. First pitch from Surprise Stadium is scheduled for 3:05 pm CT.

Go young Rangers!