Category: Baseball

Maybe you’re a regular at Detroit Tigers spring training camp. Maybe you’ve made the pilgrimage once, like myself. And maybe your best spring training memory came from a story or from watching Grapefruit League action on television.

I went down once, long before the whole Lakeland complex was completely renovated, before I even started writing about baseball. One of these years, I’ll get back to check it all out, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen this year.

Still, there are a lot of fun memories even just from the last 5-10 years. I look back fondly but also with sorrow at a certain Matt Manning appearance in 2020 spring camp before COVID sent everyone home. For a brief moment, there was the Tigers pitching prospect looking more built than ever before, firing 97-99 mph fastballs past Yankees hitters. Sadly, that was kind of a high point in his development, and we rarely saw that velocity ever again. My dreams of a second Noah Snydergaard lie in ruin.

My favorite recent memory though, was from that same 2020 camp, and also against the Yankees, when Miguel Cabrera took Gerrit Cole deep twice for two monstrous home runs in a Grapefruit League matchup. That felt like the last time we saw the real Miguel Cabrera before age finally took their toll. Sorry I’m in a bittersweet mood this weekend apparently.

Check these bombs out. The first one looked like it carried 470 feet downwind out to left center field. The second was off the batter’s eye in straightaway center.

So how about you? What memories come to mind when you think spring training and Lakeland?

Hey now. The players are in camp, except for a couple, who (as far as I know) are still having visa trouble. They’ll actually play a competitive game this week.

I don’t know about you, but I’m studio-tanned, restless, and ready-to-wear. I’m in the best shape of my life (round) except for my hand, which is going to take a month or so to heal, so playing guitar is out, typing is, um, interesting, and my wallet, which is soon to be $150 thinner when MLB.TV renews.

But those are small things. Baseball is back. I’m of the coterie that believes next year is toast so, from my perspective, there’s much more at stake and I shall be especially attentive. That makes the window of contention 2026 unless that toast lands butter-side-up, and I have little faith in Bruce Meyer and no faith whatsoever in Rob Manfred getting that done.

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): PCA, Bregman tout stacked Team USA. “I mean, how can you put together a better roster than what we’ve got?” Crow-Armstrong said.
• Bradford Doolittle (ESPN*): MLB 2026: Why your team didn’t do what you wanted this winter. “… for baseball fans, spring has sprung early.”
• Paul Niemiec (North Side Baseball*): Chicago Cubs non-roster invitees: Breaking down everyplayer invited to Spring Training. “Let’s see who else is in camp outside of the players you already know.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): How lefty Shota Imanaga and the Chicago Cubs are planning to tweak his arsenal for a bounce-back season. “I’m very excited for Shota to have an outstanding season,” manager Craig Counsell said.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Three relievers looking to bounce back as the Cubs look for their next surprise. “Part of the fun of spring training is trying to figure out which performances are real and which aren’t.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs get camp debuts from top pitching prospect … and Sir Charles! “NBA legend Barkley stops by while Wiggins hits the mound to kick off 1st Spring Training.“
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): What Pete Crow-Armstrong can learn from Cubs and Team USA teammate Alex Bregman. “Bregman joined the Cubs this offseason with a glowing reputation for his leadership skills.” Jordan Bastian has more*.

Food For Thought:

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles or clickbait, and insist on unimpeachable sources.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are going into the season with a lot of hype as Paul Skenes and Konnor Griffin highlight the team’s bright future.

ESPN is projecting that the Pirates should win close to 80 games this season, which would mark the team’s best record since the 2018 campaign.

“The starting rotation should rank in the top 10, a great building block for any rising team, and could crack elite status if Bubba Chandler takes a leap to become Robin to Paul Skenes’ Batman. The staff should strike out a lot of batters, which helps. Still, playoff teams tend to turn balls in play into outs, and the Pirates’ positional alignment seems to put too many regulars in tension with their ideal slot on the defensive spectrum,“ ESPN analyst Bradford Doolittle wrote.

“At the same time, projecting team defensive rankings is an inexact science, to say the least, so maybe skipper Don Kelly can make it work. A quick ascension by Konnor Griffin at shortstop would surely help.”

The Pirates have had seven consecutive losing seasons, two of which saw the team drop a hundred games or more. In 2020, had the season been 162 games like a normal campaign, the Pirates would have been well on pace for another hundred lost season.

The Pirates have gone through the trials and tribulations of this rebuild, and it looks like things could be improving for the franchise. Skenes is the tip of the iceberg, and several other players are coming to help improve the team around him. If they can live up to expectations, the Pirates should be much better in 2026.

This post is part of a series of daily questions that we’ll ask the community here at Amazin’ Avenue throughout the month of February. We hope you find the questions engaging and that our prompts can spark some fun conversations in the comments. We’ll see you there and plan to have staff chiming in, too.

After Carlos Beltrán, who will be the next player to enter the Hall of Fame in a Mets cap?

From his first day attending classes at Harvard-Westlake’s middle school campus, which includes seventh- and eighth-graders, Louis Lappe was being recognized as a celebrity.

“A few of the seventh graders I guess they know me kind of,” Lappe said humbly.

Not kind of.

“Every day, I hear them,” freshman teammate Nate Englander said. “'Are you Louis Lappe, the kid who hit the walk-off home run in the Little League World Series?' Every grade, seriously.”

THIS IS WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF!

A walk-off to win the #LLWS Championship 🙌 pic.twitter.com/aVZVvIKIwi

— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 27, 2023

It’s time for the Louis Lappe Show to hit the high school ranks. The national hero as a 12-year-old who led El Segundo to the Little League world championship in 2023 is now 15 and set to begin his first year of high school baseball. He'll be starting at third base for the Wolverines. He’s 6 feet 2 and is joined by two other top freshmen on Harvard-Westlake's varsity team, the 6-2 Englander, an outfielder-pitcher, and the 6-2 Mateo Mier, a pitcher.

This reminds scouts of the spring of 2021, when Bryce Rainer, Tommy Bridges and Duncan Marsten started on the Wolverines' varsity team as freshmen. Rainer became a first-round draft pick, Marsten is a standout pitcher at Wake Forest and Bridges went to Northwestern.

Englander still hasn’t forgiven Lappe for eliminating him and Sherman Oaks Little League in the 2023 regional playoffs.

“Obviously, it was difficult at the time,” Englander said. “We’re boys now. It’s amazing to reconnect. It’s going to be fun."

During fall and winter ball, Lappe displayed occasional power, similar to what he did as a 12-year-old that allowed him to hit five home runs at the 2023 Little League World Series, including his walk-off home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Venezuela.

He had a .445 batting average in winter ball, second only to Vanderbilt-bound senior James Tronstein.

It’s still going to be a transition season for Lappe.

“It’s a whole new game. A whole new chapter I have to get used to,” he said. “The main thing will be getting used to the speed of the game. It’s much faster than 14-, 15-year-old travel ball. Everyone runs faster, throws harder. When we get used to that, we'll be just fine.”

Harvard-Westlake freshmen Louis Lappe and Mateo Mier make the USA 15U baseball national team. pic.twitter.com/UuiDxvjjlQ

— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) August 8, 2025

Lappe and Mier won gold medals during the summer playing for the USA 15U national team.

Mier is going to be placed immediately on the mound as part of a three-man starting pitching rotation used by pitching coach Joe Guntz to deal with some of the best hitters in the Southland.

“I think it's more about finding your spot on the team,” Mier said. “It’s a team game. Travel ball is very self-centered. The challenge is learning how to pitch and not be a thrower. I feel coach Guntz is the right person to teach me that.”

All three look like they could be playing basketball or football with their physical statures. That will mark them early on as no ordinary freshmen.

“We’re in the Mission League, which is one of the most difficult and prestigious leagues in the country,” Englander said. “There’s a lot more talent, whether it’s guys throwing harder, hitting the ball farther."

The Mission League has had an influx of outstanding players from the class of 2029, including Jordan Leon at Sierra Canyon and Brody Brooks at Loyola.

"I think we’ll hold our own," Englander said. "We look the part. Hopefully we can play the part.”

Mark down Harvard-Westlake’s games against Loyola because the Cubs have four former El Segundo players on their team, including the manager, Danny Boehle. Imagine the trash talk that might be transpiring with Lappe on second base talking to Brooks, one of his best friends who plays shortstop.

“It will be fun to mess with them and also beat them,” Lappe said.

It’s going to be a memorable four years of high school baseball for Lappe and his fellow class of 2029 players.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Bryce Harper calls surprising offseason remark ‘wild' originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Bryce Harper isn’t searching for motivation.

But when he spoke Sunday in Clearwater for the first time publicly since Dave Dombrowski’s end-of-season comments about his “elite” status, it was clear the tone of that conversation still stuck with him.

“For me, it was wild, the whole situation of that happening,” Harper said.

Part of Harper’s reaction comes from the standard he felt was set when he started negotiating with the club in 2019.

“When we first met with this organization, it was, hey, you know, we’re always going to keep things in-house, and we expect you to do the same thing,” Harper said. “And so, when that didn’t happen, it kind of took me for a run a little bit.”

The dynamics have shifted since then. Dombrowski wasn’t overseeing baseball operations when Harper joined the team. He was with the Red Sox at the time. 

Harper’s 13-year deal has hardly been a disappointment and overall does not deserve a whole lot of criticism. Since coming to Philadelphia, Harper owns a .912 regular-season OPS and a 1.010 postseason OPS, along with three Silver Sluggers and an MVP.

The frustration is also rooted in what 2025 looked like. Harper didn’t dodge Dombrowski’s evaluation.

“Obviously, I didn’t have the year that I wanted,” he said. “Obviously, I didn’t have the postseason I wanted. My numbers weren’t where they needed to be. I know that.”

If there’s a single place the season stung, it’s October. In the NLDS against the Dodgers, Harper went 3-for-15 with one extra-base hit, good for a .600 OPS. It was the fewest extra-base hits he’s had in any postseason run with at least 10 at-bats and his toughest five-game-or-more series since his 19-year-old season in 2012.

And it wasn’t just Harper. Between Harper, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber, the trio slashed .208/.309/.375 in the series for a .684 OPS.

Harper’s focus now is less about statements and more about adjustment. Some of it is approach, some of it is what he’s being given.

“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of things that, you know, chasing pitches or chasing stuff out of the zone… not missing pitches over the plate,” Harper said. “I’ll hopefully see a couple more pitches in the zone this year.”

Harper’s chase rate backed up the point. His outside-the-zone swing percentage was 36 percent, his highest since 2022 (37.2). He saw 42.9 percent of pitches in the zone, about in line with last year, and he hasn’t seen 44-plus percent since 2022.

The 2022 and 2025 profiles weren’t identical, but they carry similarities. Harper tore his UCL in 2022 and still slashed .286/.364/.514. The .877 OPS that year and the way he was pitched in 2025 fit into a familiar theme: if pitchers don’t have to challenge him, they won’t. 

That’s where the lineup protection conversation comes back, especially with the cleanup spot still unsettled.

“I think it’s a huge impact in the four spot,” Harper said. “I think the numbers in the four spot weren’t very good last year either for our whole team. So… whoever is in that spot is going to have a big job to do.”

Whether it’s Schwarber, Alec Bohm, or Adolis García, that spot affects how teams choose to pitch Harper. And if he’s seeing fewer hittable pitches again, the Phillies will need to create offense through other avenues.

Before the regular season even begins, Harper will have another stage. He’s set to play in the World Baseball Classic, something he spoke about with obvious excitement.

“I can’t wait to represent your country. There’s nothing better… the feeling of putting USA on your chest and playing for something so much bigger than yourself,” Harper said. “And having Aaron Judge hit behind me is going to be a lot of fun as well.”

It also changes his calendar. Harper ramped up earlier than usual this offseason with the WBC ahead, and he noted an offseason regimen that included Extracorporeal Blood Oxygenation and Ozonation (EBOO). 

He described on Instagram in December that the process is where a portion of blood is drawn, filtered, and exposed to ozone before being returned to the bloodstream.

The goal is simple: stay on the field all year. Harper hasn’t played 150 games in a season since his first year with the Phillies, and disruptions can impact one’s readiness for the postseason.

That’s the part hovering over everything in Clearwater. Harper can post strong regular-season numbers again. The Phillies can win 90-plus games again. But if the stars fade when the games tighten, the ending stays the same.

Harper knows that. He doesn’t need to be pushed. He’s looking for the version of the Phillies that shows up when it matters most.st.

We’re back with another daily question on this unseasonably warm Sunday!

We asked a few weeks ago which prospect you’re most looking forward to seeing this spring, and on Friday, Dave covered a few dark horse roster candidates, which got me thinking: Which non-roster invite has the best chance of making the Brewers?

There are a whole lot of non-roster options this spring — 18 to be exact — but as Dave said on Friday, there’s always a surprise or two. I won’t cover all 18, and I won’t look at any of the three Dave mentioned, but I will at least bring up a few.

While there are several prospects and players you probably haven’t heard of in that group of 18, one a lot of people will remember is pitcher Peter Strzelecki. Strzelecki, who was added on a minor league deal with a spring invite earlier this week, pitched for the Crew in 2022 and 2023 before being sent to the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline. He made just one appearance with Arizona that year before making 10 appearances with Cleveland in 2024. He spent 2025 at Triple-A Indianapolis and Durham, the affiliates of Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, respectively, though with little success (9.41 ERA over 22 innings). We’ll see if he can turn it around in his return to the Crew.

Catcher Reese McGuire is another name to watch, though with this week’s addition of Gary Sánchez, his spot on the major league roster has become less clear. New addition Jett Williams is one of those prospects to watch, and he could compete for an infield/outfield depth spot, while outfielder Greg Jones has a slim path to the majors, as Milwaukee has several names ahead of him on the depth chart.

Who do you think has the best shot at making the team out of spring training?

Weigh in in the comments, and join us throughout the month as we keep these conversations rolling into spring training. Have a question you’d like to ask in a future BCB Daily Question? Drop one in the comments and we may use it later this month.

Well, that didn’t take long.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Nick Castellanos is now gainfully employed once again, this time signing with the Padres to play three positions. That’s what’s in.
• J.T. Realmuto “never felt like a Plan B” option as catcher ($). He continues fighting to make sure catchers are paid well.
• Aaron Nola is in the crosshairs this spring as a bounceback candidate. Here is why he should succeed in that quest.

MLB news:

• Castellanos wasn’t the only player that agreed to go to San Diego. The Padres inked a pair of starting pitchers to one year deals.
• The Astros and Blue Jays hooked up for another trade with Joey Loperfido going back to Houston and Jesus Sanchez going north of the border.
• Elroy Face passed away at the age of 97. He was a stalwart for the 1960’s Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The ESPN/MLBTV partnership is a little odd to parse out, so here is a handy guide to everything you need to know.

Hello, friends.

There are now 39 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. It’s only one day more until all position players are required to report to camp, and on Friday, the Grapefruit League schedule will begin for the O’s. We have made it to the week that has something resembling Major League Baseball, even if the real thing must wait a while longer.

The main thing I don’t like about spring training is that nothing good can happen. There can pretty much only be bad news. It doesn’t matter how good such-and-such guy looks or who is looking forward to doing what. The only thing that matters is that nobody important gets hurt between now and March 26. But all the guys are down in Sarasota and all of the beat writers are down there too, so assorted daily narratives come along anyway, like yesterday with Trevor Rogers looking good in simulated game throwing:

Sometimes guys look good in spring training and it doesn’t mean anything in the regular season. Sometimes guys look bad in spring training and it doesn’t mean anything in the regular season. Depending on how things go, sometimes it does feel like it means something, but on the outside, we have no way of knowing what really could connect to what will happen in 39 days and what won’t.

Still, for this kind of thing, my philosophy is that it’s better to have things that don’t matter where you need to remind yourself to pump the brakes on excitement rather than have it be where you have to make excuses for why it will be better when it matters. So, Rogers? Looking great. And since position players aren’t even required to have reported yet, we will just not worry about how hitters looked on Valentine’s Day.

In fringe of the roster news, the Orioles yesterday sent cash considerations to the Twins to acquire reliever Jackson Kowar. The 29-year-old Kowar had been in “DFA limbo” after the Twins cast him off; Kowar had already been waived by the Mariners early this offseason. He is out of minor league options after a 2025 season where he posted a 4.24 ERA in 15 games. Over four major league seasons, he’s appeared in 54 games and has an 8.21 ERA. He might just stink enough to be an O’s bullpen candidate.

The team transferred Colin Selby to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster. Selby was reported to have shoulder inflammation, so the team must think he’ll be out for a while for him to go on the 60-day.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Chris Bassitt just missed out on a title in Toronto. He wants to win it in Baltimore. (The Baltimore Banner)
One thing can always pierce right through my jaded defenses: Guys showing up and immediately talking about wanting to win a World Series here. I still remember Brett Phillips arriving and doing that. Why do I even remember that Brett Phillips existed, let alone that he was an Oriole for a short time? It’s a sickness. Anyway, let’s hope this goes better for Bassitt than with Tomoyuki Sugano saying similar stuff (minus the just missing out on a title) last spring.

Bassitt says Alonso ‘one of the big reasons why I came here’ (The Baltimore Sun)
I dream of the day when top-end starting pitchers are saying things like this as they sign with the Orioles. This offseason was not the one.

Albernaz says Bassitt will ‘fit in right away’ with Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)
The manager has not, as yet, tipped his hand about his plans for the starting rotation. Which he doesn’t really need to divulge for a month anyway until he sees if someone gets hurt between now and then.

New Orioles closer Helsley standing out with stuff, work ethic early in camp (Orioles.com)
This is another example of a story that only gets written because there’s nothing real to say. But hopefully it ends up meaning good things in the season!

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 2018, the Orioles announced the signing of free agent starting pitcher Andrew Cashner to a two-year contract. Cashner, who wasn’t even the latest-signing Orioles starting pitcher that year (with Alex Cobb to come later in camp,) put up a 5.28 ERA in 28 starts that season. Let’s hope the recently-announced Chris Bassitt signing goes much better.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1997 reliever Brian Williams, 1991-93 outfielder Luis Mercedes, and 1960-64 pitcher Chuck Estrada. Today is Estrada’s 88th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564), philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748), jeweler Charles Tiffany (1812), women’s suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony (1820), Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874), The Simpsons creator Matt Groening (1954), comedian/actor Chris Farley (1964), and rapper Megan Thee Stallion (1995).

On this day in history…

In 1493, while on his return journey to Europe, Christopher Columbus wrote an open letter of his discoveries on his voyage to the New World that was widely distributed after he returned to Portugal the following month.

In 1898, the USS Maine suffered an explosion while in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. The explosion and sinking of the ship, which killed 274 of the ship’s 354 crew, was almost certainly an accident, but some American officials and newspapers instead chose to blame Spain and the incident sparked the Spanish-American War.

In 1945, the third and final night of the fire-bombing of the city of Dresden took place. This combined effort by the Royal Air Force and US Army Air Force destroyed much of the city center and killed around 25,000 people.

A random Orioles trivia question

I received a little book of Orioles trivia for Christmas. I’ll post a question each time it’s my turn in this space until I either run out of questions or forget. The book has multiple choice answers, but I’m not giving you those because it would be too easy. Here’s today’s question:

Whose 68 career triples put him atop the Orioles franchise leaderboard?

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on February 15. Have a safe Sunday.

Preseason All-Star baseball team for the Southland.

PITCHER: Striker Pence, Corona Santiago, So.; Throws legitimate 101-mph fastballs for strikes.

PITCHER: Jared Grindlinger, Huntington Beach, Jr.; Whether pitching or hitting, Grindlinger stands at the top of 2027 class.

UTILITY: Jack Champlin, St. John Bosco, Sr.; UC Irvine commit was phenomenal during playoffs last season as a closer.

CATCHER: Carson Scheffer, Oaks Christian, Sr.; Oklahoma State commit has electric arm and power at the plate.

INFIELDER: Brody Schumaker, Santa Margarita, Sr.; TCU commit has speed, instincts and can bunt with the best.

INFIELDER: Dylan Seward, Norco, Jr.; Tennessee commit can hit and field with work ethic that is off the charts.

INFIELDER: Trey Ebel, Corona, Sr.; Texas A&M commit gets to move from second base to shortstop to show off his arm.

INFIELDER: James Clark, St. John Bosco, Sr.; Showed off his impressive skills for USA 18U national team.

INFIELDER: James Tronstein, Harvard-Westlake, Sr.; Vanderbilt commit moves to shortstop and hit above .500 in winter ball.

OUTFIELDER: Blake Bowen, JSerra, Sr.; Oregon State commit might be best pro prospect in Southern California.

OUTFIELDER: Jordan Ayala, Norco, So.; Throws fastballs in the 90s and also hits bombs.

OUTFIELDER: Anthony Murphy, Corona, Sr.; LSU commit is center fielder who chases down flyballs, hits home runs and can run.

Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section!

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On the one hand, a pitching duel — particularly with a pitch clock — is a high intensity, efficient affair. Breezy and compelling for those of us near a screen.

A slugfest, on the otherhand, begs the question, “are you not entertained?” And is that not why we watch?

Who is he and where did he come from?

The Red Sox, at last, have a young versatile infielder who gets on base at at least a replacement level … and they acquired Caleb Durbin! Kidding, kidding. But, another newcomer in the deal that sent David Hamilton, Shane Drohan and Kyle Harrison to Milwaukee is Andruw Monasterio. This is a deal that took some bloat in the pitching depth and turned it into a slight infield bloat, but perhaps some that was needed given last year’s eventual lack of infield depth and the repeated questions that plagued a lot of the positive moves from this offseason.

Monasterio, 28, a righty from Venazuela, made his debut in 2023 and, since then, has been a viable platoon option for a Brewers squad that has emerged as a competitor. He’s played games at all four infield positions as well as left field, though he primarily spends time at second and third.

Is he any good?

He’s exactly okay. Which is fine! It’s a big plus that the Red Sox brought in Caleb Durbin and have the services of a healthy Marcelo Mayer, as well as a recently signed Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, to start 2026. That’s not even counting some other options joining the roster like old friend Mickey Gasper, Quad-A locker room guy Vinny Capra, a returning Nick Sogard, Taiwanese WBC representative Tsung-Che Cheng, Brendan Rodgers, and…. oh yeah! Kristian Campbell. After the monstrosity that was the infield’s defensive performance last year, a lot of these transactions signal a desire for guys who don’t commit many errors. Monasterio committed just 1 error last year in 68 games, affirming the Red Sox’s commitment to better defensive stability. But his paltry power does little to boost him into a lineup that has some shortcomings in the home runs department in 2026. Further, his WAR has yet to rise above 1, and he also simply doesn’t draw walks at an acceptable level (8.6% in his career.) That’s simply not going to cut it for a regular job on a Major League roster — but Monasterio is still relatively young and 2025 also marked the first time his WrC+ was over 100 (at 111.) His OPS also topped out at .756. So there’s promise yet!

Tl;dr, just give me his 2025 stats.

68 G, 4 HR, 9 2B, 16 RBI, 32 K, 7 BB .270/.319/.437, 1 E

Show me a cool highlight.

He has ups!

What’s he doing in his picture up there?

Warming up in the Wild Card series. Monasterio actually was on a postseason roster in 2025! He didn’t actually play in any games, but he did play in one postseason game back in 2023.

What’s his role on the 2026 Red Sox?

There’s a reason David Hamilton was dealt the other way in this move for Caleb Durbin — the Brewers saw David Hamilton as a more viable option in the infield than Monasterio while also getting two rotation pieces that may have breakout years a la Quinn Priester. Still, Monasterio, who has options remaining, likely looks to spend the majority of the start of the season at Polar Park in Worcester. Again, that is fine! Last year’s woes with Marcelo Mayer getting injured were joined by calls that Mikey Romero was not far along enough in his development to be a key piece in Boston. He still may not be; the likes of Monasterio, Sogard, etc. make it so that the former first round pick is not rushed. Either way, it’s better to have guys with Major League experience at this level anyway for the best possible development for these prospects. It’s not the flashy portion of the Durbin deal, nor was the deal itself flashy, but this is the good type of depth to acquire.

Preseason projections are the name of the game in the early going of spring, as camp gets going but the games have yet to start. Barring some last-second news dropping, the AL East has their rosters lined up for another year of chasing one of the hardest crowns to claim in baseball. We’ve talked about their overall strengths a couple of days ago, but every contender aims to stockpile as much pitching as they can, and it’s worth its own breakdown.

The Yankees didn’t make many changes to their rotation, saving their tinkering for a bullpen that was far more volatile in 2025. Max Fried leads the charge again, but this time with Gerrit Cole set to lead beside him at last. Carlos Rodón builds the bridge to the younger part of the staff, where Cam Schlittler hopes to live up to some star potential and both Will Warren and Luis Gil hope to make a mark before Clarke Schmidt is ready to return. Ryan Weathers is the one new addition on board for 2026, brought in to help cover the innings workload while Cole and Rodón get their legs back under them. It’s a strong staff, one of the best in the league if the dice roll in their favor, but there’s a lot of uncertainty built into just how many of their arms are returning from significant injuries.

And, just as their competition has built some all-around competitive rosters, there are some strong staffs around the East specifically. Boston matched up particularly well against the Yankees with Garrett Crochet atop their rotation, and they’ve augmented themselves with Ranger Suárez and Sonny Gray to go alongside Kutter Crawford and Brayan Bello. That’s a rotation that carries a high floor, and should be a driving factor in whether Boston makes it back to the postseason.

Toronto were no slouches in free agency this year, signing Dylan Cease to be the new ace of their staff. While Cease had a down year in his final season as a Padre, his overall body of work has been elite and he got rewarded handsomely for it — now he’ll hurl alongside Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, and Shane Bieber. The Rays continue to pump out gems on the mound and last year was Drew Rasmussen’s time to shine, but they also have a high-risk, high-reward ace candidate in Shane McClanahan as well when healthy. The Orioles have the potential to contend this year, but their rotation looks the most questionable with Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish trying to prove that their fantastic stretch of play can last an entire season.

It’s a tough call to make on who bests who in a given series, but over the course of the season I’d expect the Yankees to slightly edge out Boston for the top rotation in the East, closely followed by Toronto before Tampa and Baltimore round it out. There’s always a need for pitching, however, so we’ll see if these rotations look similar enough to what they were now by the end of the year or if the trade deadline will inspire a transformation or two.

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It’ll be a quiet day on the site as we head into the weekend. Kevin celebrates the birthday of a Yankee that made a sizeable impact despite his short stay in pinstripes in Russell Martin, and then later on John has the social media spotlight to cap off the offseason and get us into spring mode at long last.

His smile is so unassuming, his stare so innocent, one has to wonder.

Does Yoshinobu Yamamoto understand he’s become a Dodgers legend?

“No,” he said Saturday, chuckling at the notion. “Nothing’s changed.”

Ah, but everything has changed, the formerly overpaid disappointment having transformed himself into arguably the most important player on baseball’s most important team.

Barely touching 5 feet 10, he looks tiny next to giant countryman Shohei Ohtani, with whom he’ll always be compared because they joined the Dodgers at the same time with equally historic contracts.

Quiet and contemplative, he seems dry next to the charming Ohtani. Employed only as a pitcher, he seems boring next to the goose-bump-inducing Ohtani.

Struggling at times during his first two regular seasons with the Dodgers while Ohtani was twice voted National League MVP, Yamamoto was originally overshadowed by the greatest player in history.

Until last October, when he became one of the greatest World Series pitchers in history.

Who can forget how he shut down the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2, shut them down again in Game 6, then shut them out in relief on zero days rest to get the win in the deciding Game 7.

It was crazy. It was historic. It was two allowed runs in 17 ⅔ innings with 15 strikeouts and two walks.

Put it another way: It was more compelling than Sandy Koufax’s three-hit shutout on two days rest to win the 1965 World Series over the Minnesota Twins.

It was Yamomania. It was Bulldog 2.0. But if you believe the guy on the mound, it barely made a ripple.

Read more:Why Dave Roberts expects Shohei Ohtani to be 'in the Cy Young conversation'

At Camelback Ranch on Saturday, in his first news conference since his World Series heroics, he shrugged and acted like those games were just a walk in the park — except, of course, he barely walked anybody in the park.

Someone asked, how did the World Series change him?

Um, it didn’t.

“I was able to get into the offseason with a great feeling and I was able to go into the offseason with more calmness,” he said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.

Someone else asked, did he have to alter his legendary workload in the offseason?

Er, no.

“As a matter of fact, the amount of work I did last year has not been affected in terms of preparation,” he said. “In November, I took off and then I began a gradual ramping up. It’s been like a normal offseason.”

Read more:Plaschke: Alex Vesia opens up about unimaginable loss: 'Life can change in an instant'

Then someone asked, has he watched anything from that World Series?

Actually, yes!

“Of course, that moment of the last out,” he said. “But when I reflect back on that series, there’s so many great plays they made. Also there’s the small play which was very important. So many great scenes.”

One of the best scenes was the one nobody saw, after Yamamoto had thrown 96 pitches in a Game 6 victory.

He was done. He told his personal trainer he was done. Dave Roberts told the media he was done.

But then, in his words, he got “tricked.”

According to a report by then-Times columnist Dylan Hernández, trainer Osamu Yada told Yamamoto, “Let’s see if you can throw in the bullpen tomorrow.”

The trainer figured Yamamoto’s mere presence as a potential reliever would inspire the Dodgers and worry the Blue Jays.

Yamamoto figured he was just going to the bullpen for show.

Oh, he put on a show, all right.

After he pitched 2⅔ scoreless innings to win the game and the World Series championship for the Dodgers, the gamesmanship had been transformed into greatness, and the con man had become a hero.

“For him to have the same stuff that he had the night before is really the greatest accomplishment I’ve ever seen on a baseball field,” said Dodgers baseball boss Andrew Friedman to reporters after the game.

Yamamoto explained afterward, “I didn’t think I would pitch. But I felt good when I practiced and the next thing I knew, I was on the mound in the game.”

And before he knew it, history.

“I really couldn’t believe it,” Yamamoto said. “I was so excited I couldn’t even recall what pitch I threw at the end.”

Read more:Plaschke: Start talking three-peat! Dave Roberts believes these Dodgers can be better than ever

Now, with the Dodgers chasing a third consecutive championship and Yamamoto involved in a daring race for a Cy Young Award — who will get there first, he or Ohtani? — a different sort of question must be asked.

How on earth can he pitch any better?

“That’s an internal personal question … as far as, can you repeat and continue to get better than what you’ve been,” Roberts said. “Certainly there’s a high bar, but there’s always room for improvement and I can’t find anything right now to be quite honest, but …”

Yamamoto needs to stay healthy. He made his major-league high 30 starts last year after making just 18 the previous year. He needs to do that again to support the other frail Dodgers starters.

Yamamoto also needs to take care of himself while playing for Japan in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Ohtani is not pitching, but Yamamoto is, and he doesn’t need to wreck his arm.

Finally, he needs to continue acting like the ace that he has become, from his uncomplaining leadership to his dazzling arsenal.

“Every time he takes the ball, he expects to win and we expect to win,” Roberts said.

That is the bottom line on Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s new reality. He was once Ohtani’s sidekick. He is now Ohtani’s partner.

Like it or not, his life has changed. Witness the crowd that screamed for him Saturday at Camelback Ranch like they always scream for Ohtani.

“More calmness?”

He’ll need it.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

PHOENIX — One was a 36-year-old career journeyman infielder from Venezuela who hadn’t produced a hit in more than a month.

The other a 26-year-old reliever with his fourth team in 11 months who wasn’t even on the playoff roster the first three rounds.

Who would have imagined that in a clubhouse full of All-Stars and future Hall of Famers, Miguel Rojas and Will Klein would be honest-to-goodness Los Angeles DodgersWorld Series heroes, still basking three months later from the most glorious moments of their careers?

Rojas, who hit perhaps the most unlikely home run in World Series history, will not only forever be remembered in Dodgers lore for not that ninth-inning Game 7 homer, but also saving the game with a spectacular defensive play in the bottom of the frame.

“I’ve watched that moment over and over so many times, but it’s still hard to believe it happened," Rojas tells USA TODAY Sports. “It’s just overwhelming. I’ve always wanted to have a moment in my career where I feel valuable, especially on the offensive side. And then when you do something like that, you know it’s going to be remembered for a long time.

“Probably forever."

Klein was working out in Arizona and wasn’t even on the Dodgers’ postseason roster until Alex Vesia left the team before the World Series to be with his wife after the loss of their newborn daughter. He was summoned in the 15^th inning of Game 3, and then pitched four shutout innings in the 6-5, 18-inning victory.

“It’s still crazy to think about," Klein says. “I mean, I was hearing from people I went to high school with and old teams. There were people I went to middle school and high school with that didn’t even know I was playing baseball. They saw me on TV, and started sending me random stuff."

'No one expected' Miguel Rojas home run

The Dodgers were down to their last two outs, trailing the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3, in the ninth inning of Game 7. Rojas, who hadn’t had a hit in an entire month, stepped to the plate facing Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman. Rojas worked the count to 3-and-2 when Hoffman tried to fool him with a slider. Rojas belted it over the left field wall and the screaming crowd at the Rogers Centre went dead silent.

The only sound you heard was the Dodger bench and scattered fans screaming in euphoria with Rojas barely able to feel his feet trotting around the bases.

“No one expected Miguel Rojas to hit that home run," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says. “No one."

Still, it looked like it might be all forgotten when the Blue Jays loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth. The Dodgers pulled the infield in, and Daulton Varsho hit a bouncer to the right side of Rojas. He snared the ball, but then slipped, and had his momentum carrying him towards second base. Rojas set, and fired home just in the nick of time to nail Isiah Kiner-Falefa at the plate and prevent the winning run.

Two innings later – and after Yoshinobu Yamamto’s 2 ⅔ shutout innings in relief on no days’ rest – the Dodgers were back-to-back World Series champions with Yamamoto winning the World Series MVP.

With the Dodgers all gathering for the first time since their World Series parade, everyone still is talking about Rojas and Klein's heroics.

“(Rojas) is one of the best teammates I ever had, and just one of the best people in baseball," says third baseman Max Muncy, who delivered an eighth-inning homer in Game 7 then made his own big defensive play. “So, for something like that to happen to him, after all of the work he out in and the mentality he had about certain situations, it was so well deserved.

“It was like how the game was rewarding him for how he handled his role last year."

Rojas, who didn’t even play the first five games of the World Series, and was informed only a text message from manager Dave Roberts that he was starting Game 6 in Toronto, never complained about his role. Sure, he wanted to play more, but once Mookie Betts shifted from right field to shortstop, he did everything possible to help Betts improve so dramatically defensively that Betts became a Gold Glove finalist.

And in one glorious moment, it was Rojas who went from an understudy to an Academy Award winning performance, getting congratulatory messages from the likes of Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, and the scout who signed him out of Venezuela.

“That’s why I felt so great after it happened, not just because I hit a home run that tied the game," Rojas says, “but seeing the reaction of the people that I really care about. It was so cool. And everybody in the media had something good to say about me.

“The biggest compliment for me is that a guy like me, in front of the whole team, Doc [Roberts] told them that the game honors me because I did things the right way. I’ll remember those words forever. That makes me feel like after the 20 years that I’ve been in professional baseball, I’ve been doing something good."

Rojas, who plans to retire after the season and stay with the Dodgers in player development with hopes one day of being a manager, still has strangers stopping him and thanking him for his home run. He has had more autograph requests during the winter than he’s had in his entire life.

Yet, the question no one asks is which play meant to  him, the game-tying home run or the game-saving play in the bottom of the ninth inning that forced the game into extra innings.

“The home run is going to be something that people will remember forever because you’re two outs away from being done," Rojas says. “But the play, I mean that’s the hardest play I ever made because it’s do-or-die to not only win the game but lose your season. If I don’t make the play, the home run and everything is kind of our of the window.

“So, it’s really tough to put it into context because if I don’t hit the home run, I don’t make the play, and then if I don’t make the play, the homer doesn’t count. I’m just so proud I was able to come through when it counted."

Will Klein: 'No one knows who I am'

Klein was working out at the Dodgers’ spring-training complex in Phoenix when he got the emergency call to join the team in Toronto. Klein, who had spent most of the season pitching in Triple-A, threw a grueling 72 pitches across four innings in Game 3, the most he had thrown since he was at Eastern Illinois, and became an overnight hero.

He was congratulated by legendary Dodger Sandy Koufax, who shook his hand after the game.

“I didn’t think most people," Klein says, “even knew who I was."

So now that he’s a World Series hero, do people recognize him now wherever he goes?

“I heard people say that everybody would know me now," Klein says, “but it hasn’t really changed. My wife and I went to Disneyland and Universal Studios, and maybe like two people recognized me. We’ll walk around Pasadena and LA, and no one knows who I am."

Besides, Klein says laughing, it’s not like he’s Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza of Indiana University. Klein, born and raised in Indiana, is a diehard Hoosiers fan and says he may have celebrated the school's football national championship harder than he did the Dodgers' World Series win.

“I mean, to be the losingest team ever in college football history before that, and then win it all," Klein says, “it’s something I’ll remember forever. I remember going to games when Wisconsin would beat us like 82 to 20, and losing to teams like North Texas and Ball State, so it’s been a long ride.

“I can’t even imagine how many kids are going to be born in Indiana now named Fernando."

While Rojas will be retiring after the 2026 season, Klein is hoping his World Series performance will kick-start his career. Hey, if you can throw four shutout innings in a World Series game, you’re sure not going to be fazed by a regular season relief appearance against the San Francisco Giants.

“It’s easy to look at it like that," Klein says, “but that doesn’t mean I’m going to automatically pitch well this year. I’ve still got to go out and put the work in each day, and use that confidence. But I can’t get lazy and think, 'Oh, I’m going to be great just because I did that in one game of the World Series.'"

It’s the same with the Dodgers, Roberts says. They had a bullseye on their back then, and they’ll have it now.

The Dodgers can’t simply throw $400 million worth of talent on the field each night and expect to automatically win. They have to move forward and focus on 2026 if they have a chance to make history, but still, no matter what transpires, those memories of that glorious 2025 World Series will live forever.

“Man, when I think about it," Roberts says, “it still blows my mind. Who would ever have thought that Miggy would hit that home run? Who could have ever thought that Will Klein was going to throw four scoreless innings in a World Series?

“But you have to have stuff like that go right for you."

No matter who steps up as the hero.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers' unlikely World Series heroes still have champions in awe