Newest San Diego Padre Alex Verdugo (Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images) | Getty Images
According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Diego Padres and Alex Verdugo have agreed on a minor-league deal. The terms do not include an invitation to the big-league camp. Instead, Verdugo will report to the minor league facility in Peoria, Ariz.
The 29-year-old outfielder was released by the Atlanta Braves last season after appearing in just 56 games. During his brief tenure, he struggled at the plate, batting .239 with 12 RBI and no home runs. It was very disappointing for both sides, as Verdugo had a promising start to his 2025 campaign. He hit .322 over his first 14 games with the Braves.
Verdugo was drafted out of Sahuaro High School in Tucson, Ariz. by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft. He made his major league debut in September 2017. The Dodgers dealt him to the Boston Red Sox as part of the package in the Mookie Betts blockbuster trade.
Verdugo had his career-best offensive production in Boston. He hit .308 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The left-handed hitter hit a career-high 13 home runs in 2021, which he duplicated in his lone season (2024) with the New York Yankees. In 2022, Verdugo drove in 74 RBI in 152 games with the Sox.
In nine major league seasons, he has a career .270 batting average with 70 home runs and 328 RBI in 856 games. The Padres will be his fifth major league organization.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 27: Ramon Laureano #5 of the San Diego Padres gets ready in the batters box against the Colorado Rockies during a spring training game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 27, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Diego Padres scored a run in the top of the first inning in their meeting with the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Park in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Sunday, but it all went down hill after the top half of the inning.
The Giants responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning off Padres starter German Marquez who was making his first start as a member of the organization. Marquez was not bad, but he got some bad luck. A ball kicked off the glove of Ty France at third base and soft fly balls were able to find the grass just beyond the outstretched glove of a San Diego infielder or outfielder.
Marquez finished two innings and allowed three runs on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks allowed. San Francisco was able to get to Marco Gonzales who allowed two runs over three innings, Ethan Routzahn who allowed a run in his one inning of work and Stephen Yeager who allowed three runs over 0.2 of inning, giving them a 9-1 win.
San Diego did not have the same success at the plate. The Padres had a hit in the first, second and fifth innings and had two hits in the sixth inning. Jose Miranda doubled in the fifth and Ramon Laureano tripled in the sixth, which were the only extra-base hits of the game. Laureano was stranded at third after France was hit by a pitch and Sung-Mun Song struck out to end the inning.
The Padres return to action against the Athletics at the Peoria Sports Complex on Monday at 12:10 p.m.
The Dodgers' Jackson Ferris delivers a first-inning pitch against the San Diego Padres last week in Peoria, Ariz. (Norm Hall / Getty Images)
The way the Dodgers have spent money in recent years, one area that often gets overlooked is their ability to draft, trade for and develop prospects.
The Dodgers boast five prospects in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 rankings, tied for third-most among teams. The group includes four outfielders — Josue De Paula (No. 15), Zyhir Hope (No. 27), Eduardo Quintero (No. 30) and Mike Sirota (No. 60) — in the top 60. Two of those prospects, De Paula and Quintero, were international signings, and the other two, Hope and Sirota, were acquired via trade.
Sirota came over in last year’s trade that sent Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds. A year earlier, the club acquired Hope and promising young pitcher Jackson Ferris from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for infielder Michael Busch and right-hander Yency Almonte, who recently returned to the Dodgers on a minor league contract.
Ferris, who pitched 1-2/3 scoreless innings in his second Cactus League start Saturday in the Dodgers’ 7-6 split-squad loss to the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium, noticed the contrast going from the Cubs to the Dodgers.
“It was different,” Ferris said last month at his locker at Camelback Ranch. “It was honestly a breath of fresh air. Getting to know these coaches, they just understand exactly what they wanted for me and how they were going to go about it.
“It was cool to see how different things were. The Cubs [are] a great organization, good minor league system and everything, it was crazy to see how different the Cubs are from the Dodgers. The Dodgers are just as good, if not better, at everything in the minor leagues and in the big leagues.”
Ferris arrived at Cubs minor league camp in early January 2024, ready to get to work. A few days later, he was surprised when the team told him he had been traded.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it after only throwing like 55-ish innings in my first year and doing well,” Ferris said. “So, I didn’t really know how to react. The Cubs coaches were talking highly of the Dodgers coaches, so then I was pretty excited.”
Ferris credits the Dodgers for being more detail-oriented than the Cubs and helping him improve as a pitcher.
“It was my first year of pro ball, so maybe it was just like being a high schooler, I didn’t necessarily get a whole lot of coaching,” Ferris said of his time with the Cubs. “I’d say it was more like, ‘Go out there and let’s just see how you do in your first year.’ Whereas whenever I came here, they studied my throw, everything and it was like, ‘Here, we think these drills are going to help you,’ and we just kind of took off in our first year of being here.”
That season, Ferris posted a 3.20 ERA across 34 starts between high-A Great Lakes and double-A Tulsa, earning minor league pitcher of the year honors from the organization. Last year, Ferris logged a 3.86 ERA across 26 games and 126 innings at double-A Tulsa.
This year Ferris could be knocking on the door of a big-league promotion. He’s impressed through his first two Cactus League starts, with just four baserunners and no runs over 2-2/3 innings, while working with a versatile five-pitch mix that features a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a “bullet slider,” a straight changeup and a 12-to-6 curveball.
“I like Jackson,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said recently. “I like the player. He’s a good kid. A lot of talent. I think for me, it’s just trying to harness his arsenal. It’s a good fastball. He needs to continue to get ahead, be able to put hitters away with the secondary pitches, be efficient with his pitches per inning, but I like Jackson.”
Mookie Betts makes Cactus League debut
Shortstop Mookie Betts played in his first spring training game Sunday, reaching on a fielder's choice and grounding out in two at-bats while scoring a run in the Dodgers' 4-3 win over the Angels at Camelback Ranch.
"I know I had an 0-for-2, but I got two good swings," Betts said after he was lifted from the game. "I was prepared, I was ready to go. Couldn't ask for anything more than what I've been doing."
Left-hander Alex Vesia pitched a scoreless fourth inning, striking out the side. Vesia has struck out five of the nine batters he has faced across three appearances this spring.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 23: Pitcher Logan Gilbert #36 of the Seattle Mariners throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch on February 23, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Mariners lost today’s game against the Rangers, 9-4, and are now 3-6 in spring training, which will happen when half your roster is off at the WBC. But despite the absence of regulars, today’s game offered plenty of intrigue for those who know where to look.
Before he left for Team USA, Cal Raleigh extracted a promise from the beat writers that they would text him updates on what his pitchers were up to when not under Cal’s steely gaze. Logan Gilbert – perhaps responding to Cal’s unprompted heckle of him yesterday about his own spring training debut – immediately decided to test out the babysitter of Andrew Knizner behind the plate. His first two pitches of the game whistled in at 96 mph before he promptly followed that up with a cutter, one of two pitches (the other being the sinker) that he likes to play with during spring training and then leave in Peoria, at Cal’s insistence. It probably should have gone for an easy out, but Logan, enjoying his personal Rumspringa of being away from the watchful eyes of his regular catcher, decided he would try to field his position. It, uh, did not go well.
“It went really well in my mind,” said Gilbert mournfully postgame. “I thought I got it there. I was like. Oh. I’ve got this.”
[Narrator: he did not, in fact, Got This.]
“MAN DOWN!” cackled Luis Castillo from across the clubhouse while Gilbert was talking.
(An inning later, Gilbert also made a halfhearted attempt at another grounder that rolled past him, but smartly let it go for Cole Young – whose defense looks much improved this spring – to hoover up for him. Perhaps Cal made a mid-inning phone call to the dugout.)
That wasn’t Gilbert’s lone time straying from Cal Raleigh’s light. He flashed all his usual pitches, sitting 96 on his four-seamer and dutifully mixing in his slider, splitter, and curveball, but he also threw two sinkers and six of the cutters, including the one he would have gotten the out on to Osuna, one for a swinging strikeout on Kyle Higashioka, and one for a flyout to Josh Smith. So will the cutter finally make its way to T-Mobile Park?
Probably not, says Gilbert, Cal or no Cal, although not for lack of effort. “I’ve been trying for six years.”
The only damage against Gilbert was a solo home run, when Rangers prospect Cam Cauley ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Gilbert, a solid choice, given that Gilbert threw nine of ten first-pitch strikes today.Working with a 50-pitch cap, Gilbert was able to get through the lineup one time plus one batter, seeing Alejandro Osuna twice.
Gilbert’s outing on the mound impressed his manager.
“I thought Logan was really good today,” said Dan Wilson postgame. “I thought he came out with a different mindset today, used all his stuff, was ahead in the count, and we just saw an intensity today that was something we haven’t seen in a little bit.”
He was less impressed by Gilbert’s fielding.
“He’s gonna hear about that one for a while, I think, from the bench,” said Wilson wryly.
The positives weren’t only on the pitching side, either. The game got off to a good start for the Mariners thanks to Cole Young. In the game preview I said Young drew a tough left-on-left matchup today, facing Rangers starter Jacob Latz. I was corrected by staffer Zach Mason, who accurately observed that it cannot be a tough matchup when one of the participants is bad at their job. Nevertheless, this was no cheapie, going 442 feet at 106 miles off the bat, as Young continues to piece together a solid spring.
Also encouraging: that home run scored Victor Robles, who was on base with just his second hit of the spring. Robles figures to get some more playing time while his outfield-mates are with their WBC teams, so hopefully this is the second of many to come.
Following Logan was the spring debut of Ryan Sloan, and if you were wondering why so many prospect-knowers have been saying Sloan is “untouchable” in Seattle’s system when trade discussions were heated, this outing probably answered that for you. Sloan was absolutely dominant in a 12-pitch, 1-2-3 inning where he got eight swings, only two of which the Rangers trio of Higashioka, Smith, and Ezekiel Duran – so not exactly spring training cannon fodder – were able to touch. He opened up against Higashioka with a four-seamer that came in at 98.9 mph and didn’t let up from there, firing a hard slider before going back to the heater at 97 for a soft-contact flyout. He then took apart Josh Smith on a three-pitch strikeout that included a hard (91.7 mph) changeup Smith whiffed over and a generous strike three call on a heater (again at 98.9) that was a touch above the zone. Sloan finished his day by throwing a 94 mph cutter for a first-pitch ball that Duran was ruled not to have swung at (it sure looked like a swing) before eventually getting him to ground out softly on a slider.
Sloan’s outing had everything you could want: big velocity, filthy secondaries, weak contact, ugly swing-and-miss. This is why that word “untouchable” was thrown around in pre-season. There’s just only so many freshly-minted 20-year-olds who haven’t reached Double-A yet who can make a big-league hitter look this bad.
Speaking of bad, the rest of the game. Maybe just go back and watch Gilbert and Sloan’s innings again rather than watch the rest of this game, which devolved into the Rangers stacking up a seven-run sixth inning. I was in the clubhouse talking to Sloan while it happened, so I choose not to recognize it. The Mariners’ younger players fought for a pair of extra runs in the bottom of the eighth, stacking three walks against Rangers reliever Robby Ahlstrom before Spencer Packard connected for a two-run single, but the damage was done, and the Mariners lost, 9-4.
However, even in a game of bad results, there are good processes to celebrate. The Mariners hitters didn’t do much offensively, but they struck out just one more time (6) than they walked (5). Gilbert’s outing was a familiar reminder of the dominant pitcher he is; Sloan’s was a glimpse of the dominant pitcher he might very well be. Cole Young continued to build on what’s been a solid spring for him and reminded everyone that he might usually be a contact merchant, but he can still put a charge into a lousy pitch (sorry for all the strays, Jacob Latz). And even Troy Taylor, who has had a rough spring so far coming off a disappointing 2025, had one of his best outings in a long while, giving up a leadoff hit on a first-pitch fastball but coming back to strike out the next three hitters, punctuating his last K with a nasty sweeper.
It’s a reminder that baseball careers are built slowly, a little at a time, and the end result one day doesn’t necessarily determine an overall arc. It was the youngest member of the team today, Ryan Sloan, who reflected on the trap that good results can be:
“When you’re going through periods of success, it’s so easy to kind of get away from what you know works, just because results are good, process is good, and it just makes it really easy to get away from it. I’ve never felt like it’s so easy to get away from my routine, just because things have been going well. So I came up with the motto, just get better today. I just think, one day at a time, just do what I know works, get better today, and continue to do that week in and week out.“
Despite the final line, many Mariners did get better today, in big ways and small ways and ways that aren’t even in this recap. And in spring training, that’s all you can ask for.
Kevin Mannell pitches at Auburn | Nebraska Athletics
For the second game in a row, Nebraska pitching wrapped a big beautiful gift with a bright red bow for the Auburn Tigers in the form of 12 walks and three hit batters. You. Can’t. Win. Games. When. You. Walk. Batters. Until the Cornhusker pitching staff internalizes this fundamental aspect of the game, there are going to be more ugly games for fans to sit through.
Gavin Blachowicz got his third Sunday start of the season, but did not have the same command of his pitches that he had in his previous two outings. Bristol Carter led off the Tiger first inning with a double and scored two batters later on an Eric Guevara single to put Auburn up 1-0 after one.
Blachowicz got a taste of Auburn hitting in the bottom of the second inning with Chris Rembert leading off with a single and Logan Gregorio reaching on a fielder’s choice, and then both runners advancing on a crucial Jett Buck throwing error. Auburn ended up scoring an earned run on a sacrifice fly ball, and then three unearned runs on a Chase Fralick home run. This was the fifth four run inning of the series for the Tigers and they held a commanding 5-0 lead.
Tiger starter Alex Petrovic was effective in his first three innings against the Big Red, though the boys from Lincoln did put the lead-off man on twice, and had two on with no outs in their second. The Cornhuskers we able to get back into the game in the fourth after Case Sanderson singled, Joshua Overbeek walked, and Dylan Carey was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Cole Kitchens hit a shot to the shortstop that he misplayed, scoring Sanderson. Then Devin Nunez hit a deep fly ball to score Overbeek. However, the rally was silenced as catcher Trey Fikes looked at strike three. Auburn added a run in their half of the fourth to make the score 6-2 Tigers after four complete innings.
Offensively, this was a game of wasted opportunities. In six of nine innings the Cornhuskers put the lead-off batter on, yet they only scored twice. Six times they had at least two runners on base and only scored three runs. To rub salt into the wound, with two on and two out in the top of the 8th inning, Jeter Worthley faced a full count and was called out on a pitch-clock violation.
Kevin Mannell came in to relieve Blachowicz to start the third. The Mississippi State transfer had his best appearance of the season going four innings with five strikeouts and steadying the ship, though he did give up one run. Despite that, the four innings was huge because of the shortage of arms in the bullpen today.
The seventh inning exposed the Nebraska bullpen as three pitchers appeared, Braxton Stewart, Auden Pankonin, and Grant Cleavinger. Auburn scored two runs on one hit, three walks and a hit batter. After seven innings, the Tigers were up 8-2 over the Cornhuskers.
Joshua Overbeek scored his second run of the game, and Nebraska’s final run of the game, in the top of the eighth inning. He singled and beat a throw to third on a Dylan Carey double. Max Buettenback drove him in on a sacrifice fly.
The eighth inning could not have been uglier for Nebraska pitching. Freshman Jace Ziola started it off with a walk, hit batter and a walk. With bases loaded, another freshman, Cooper Grace came in and went walk, walk, walk. In came senior Caleb Clark who induced a ground ball double play, but then went walk, walk, and ground out to first base. Four runs, no hits, no errors, seven walks, and one hit batter. Final score: Auburn 12, Nebraska 3.
Ironically, Nebraska out-hit Auburn today, eight to seven. By the same token, Auburn issue six free passes to Nebraska’s 15.
Nebraska did get back into it in the middle innings, and with Kevin Mannell slowing down Auburn scoring, Nebraska was a couple of hits away from making it an interesting game. That was not to be and the Cornhuskers dropped the series to Auburn.
The home opener is scheduled for Tuesday at Haymarket Park against Omaha. South Dakota State then comes to town for one game on Wednesday. It most likely will not be 74-degrees with a bright blue sky like it was today in Alabama, but it’s baseball!
Notes
· Dylan Carey’s single in the second inning was his 200th hit in his Cornhusker career, he is the 28th Husker to reach that mark
· Six times during the weekend series Auburn put up four runs.
· On the weekend, Nebraska pitching surrendered 25 walks and hit eight batters. You can believe that Coach Rob Childress will address that with his staff this upcoming week.
· With the entire bullpen seeing action this weekend, it will be interesting to see who is called on to start Tuesday and Wednesday. One would think that Ryan Harrahill will get one of the starts, and maybe Colin Nowaczyk will be given a chance to get back on track after his recent struggles.
· The big question mark with pitching is whether Cooper Katskee will start a midweek game, or will the coaching look to get him into the routine to start next Sunday, which he was tabbed to do at the start of the season.
Feb 18, 2026; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb (62) warms up during a Spring Training workout at Scottsdale Stadium Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
The San Francisco Giants improved to 7-2 in Cactus League play with a 9-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
Logan Webb’s second start of Spring, and last before he joins Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, went without any major hiccups. The veteran allowed one run on two hits and a hit batter while breaking the seal on the third inning for San Francisco’s starters. 38 pitches was all he needed to record nine outs and establish his quartet of pitch offerings.
A high-and-tight sinker to lead-off man Jase Bowen got the afternoon off on the wrong foot, and a hanging sweeper to Ty France aided San Diego’s first run, but at no point did Webb seem to be grappling for comfort or control. The necessary tweaks were made for the breaking ball. He filled up the zone, painted corners, tallying 10 called strikes and five whiffs on 17 swings (29%).
The only other hit Webb allowed was a leadoff bloop in shallow left that Willy Adames should’ve caught. The defense got better after that. Patrick Bailey requested a reexamination of a misunderstood cutter, earning Webb his third backwards-K of the day. Matt Chapman subdued a hard-hit one-hopper before starting an inning-ending double play. Some loud contact ultimately didn’t leave the infield in the 3rd to end Webb’s afternoon.
J.T. Brubaker handed in two scoreless innings with his hard-slider collecting a trio of swinging strike-threes. Tristan Beck faced the most stress of any arm in the 6th. A single, triple and hit batter didn’t add up to a Padre run thanks to backstop Daniel Susac nabbing the speedy Bryce Johnson attempting to steal second, and Beck getting infielder Sung-Mun Song swinging with an elevated four-seamer.
Though most of San Diego’s main offensive threats didn’t make the trip from Peoria, the Giants arms put in a solid display of no-nonsense pitching.
For the bats, it was all sorts of nonsense. The good kind. Up and down the order, starting and second-string, the bats put on a display of loud contact, balls in play, opposite field approaches.
The lineup recorded 14 hits against 5 strikeouts. They went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position, while seven different hitters collected an RBI. Willy Adames and Grant McCray both stole a base, and multiple hit-and-runs were executed successfully. Small ball!
Casey Schmitt went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a 105 MPH lineout to center. Matt Chapman and his infield replacement, Oslevis Basabe, both doubled, and Basabe also singled an eye-fastball fastball in the 8th.
Victor Bericoto, the hottest bat in camp, pinch hit for McCray in the 6th and promptly socked a 111 MPH RBI single to left. He’d rip another two frames later. The minor league outfielder is now 7-for-13 in 6 games, and his nine RBIs are tied for most in all of Spring Training so far.
All in all, the San Francisco offense is buzzing. Their 68 runs and 104 hits in 9 games are third most in the league (most teams have played at least 10 games as well), while their .323 average and .387 OBP are high marks, and their .887 team OPS is tied for second.
The teams populating the tops of the statistical rankings along with our Giants? The Diamondbacks…the White Sox…the Rockies. Yeah, that’s a pretty dubious bunch and a good reminder that we just witnessed a week-and-a-half of weird, heavily-caveated baseball. As much as it feels good to bask in this kind of hitting, don’t let the desert sun fool you. The heat will play its tricks.
Alex Bregman returned the honor off Anthony Kay in the bottom of the first.
Both of the first-inning homers were kind of cheap, not getting to 100 mph off the bat. But Braden Montgomery got one out of the park in a hurry in the second.
Austin Hays couldn’t quite match that velocity in the third, but he topped the distance honors with a 425-foot shot in the third. And Lenyn Sosa tried to match Hays later that inning, but fell 10 feet short.
Sosa also had a double later. Perhaps this would be a good day to check around on possible trades for him, Mr. Getz.
(Braden added a triple, leading off the sixth inning. Please don’t trade him.)
That was it for homers, but the Sox added a run in the fourth on a Brooks Baldwin single, wild pitch and Jacob Gonzalez single, then decided scoring in four straight innings was enough for one day, especially given the Cubs showed no inclination to do any more scoring of their own. Thus the 5-1 score after four became the 5-1 score after nine.
On the defensive side, Tanner Murray made a great play going into foul territory from third for the first out the Sox got in the game, and everything else was routine. (And Murray’s D made up for being the only player with more than one AB who didn’t have a hit.)
Pitching-wise, Anthony Kay had an inauspicious 2 2/3 inning performance as the starter, giving up Bregman’s run and two more hits and two walks. The other seven pitchers did fine, although Jordan Hicks only got out of the fourth cleanly after two hits thanks to snagging a smashed liner back to the box and doubling a runner off of first.
As an added benefit to the game, the only TV was the Cubs network, so it was a pleasure not to have to listen to John Schriffen. The Cubs announcers were quite generous in their evaluations of the Sox.
The win runs the White Sox record to 7-4 … too bad they don’t count, right? White Sox who are not headed to the WBC back in action tomorrow against the Giants.
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Jordan Lawlar (10) attempts to grab a ball off a bounce on a base hit by the Cleveland Guardians at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale on March 1, 2026. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Record 6-4. Change on 2025: +1.5. 5-inning record: 2-7-1.
Another day, another come from behind victory. This one was at least slightly earlier. Arizona trailed 6-2 in the middle of the fifth, but put up a four-spot there to level the game. They then added three more the next time they were up to make the fourth time they have taken the lead in the sixth inning or later. This helped them come back from a shaky outing by Michael Soroka. He allowed two hits and a run in the first, before the wheels fell off with one out in the second. Five consecutive Guardians reached, on a homer, triple and three walks, before Soroka was lifted. His final line: three runs on four hits and three walks in just 1.2 innings, with one strikeout.
The rest of the pitching was pretty good, save a three-run fifth charged to Kohl Drake, who allowed three hits and two walks in his 1.2 innings, with one K. There were scoreless frames, of varying quality, from Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel, Shawn Dubin, Drey Jameson and Spencer Giesting (the last ended the game on an ABS reversed strike three – ABS was 2-1 today). Jameson was the only one of those to face the minimum. The offense was on point, with 15 hits and five walks. Three of those were by Ryan Waldschmidt, who is hitting .316 with a .982 OPS. Kristian Robinson also had three hits, and Pavin Smith haters are in shambles, his two hits – off lefties, with exit velos > 107 mph – taking his average to .294, and a .941 OPS.
Ildemaro Vargas also had a pair of knocks (.412 BA) and Jordan Lawlar drew two walks. He has six of those, twice as many as any other Arizona hitter, and tied for the lead across all of spring training. All told, the Diamondbacks now have a collective .887 OPS in spring, behind only the Rockies (.893), who seem to be under the impression Scottsdale is a suburb of Denver. However, that is propelled by the late-inning comebacks noted, so it’s fair to imagine we are probably not facing the opposition’s best pitchers. After the sixth inning, Arizona is hitting .333/.421/.627 for an OPS of 1.048 – 148 points better than anyone else.
Day off for the D-backs tomorrow, before an interesting exhibition game at Salt River Fields on Tuesday, with the opposition being Team Mexico.
William Schmidt turned down millions of dollars from Major League Baseball heading into the 2024 draft, but if he keeps pitching like he has of late, he’ll almost certainly recoup that money when he does decide to go pro.
Thanks to a career-best 7.1 shutout innings, Schmidt pitched LSU (11-1) to a tight 3-0 win over Dartmouth Sunday afternoon at The Box. Jaden Noot was credited with his first save of the season after Mavrick Rizy couldn’t quite get to the finish line in his relief appearance.
As has been the case all weekend long, the LSU bats were cold. Things got off to a promising start when Jake Brown launched his fifth home run of the season in the first inning, but the Tigers would only manage three more hits the rest of the way.
You really need to tip your cap to Dartmouth starter Eddie Albert, who aside from that one pitch to Brown was every bit as good as Schmidt. Albert’s final line was seven innings, two runs—one earned—with three hits and one walk eight strikeouts.
One run may has well have been 100 runs with the way Schmidt was pitching today: 7.1 innings, 4 hits, 9 strikeouts and, most importantly, no walks. Schmidt pitched four perfect innings before giving up a leadoff single in the fifth.
“William was outstanding today and he’s getting better as we go,” Jay Johnson said after the game. “I’m really proud of how he’s developing, how he’s competing; he’s throwing strikes and leading the team to wins three Sundays in a row. I don’t think any other team in the country can run out that kind of pitcher on a Sunday.”
If Schmidt was LSU’s best player today, then their second best player was, to quote Ed Orgeron, Mr. Ray Baker aka “The Sun.” Dartmouth outfielders lost a couple of fly balls in the fourth inning, and LSU used the miscues to score its second run. The run was set up by Steven Milam getting two bases off a ball that bounced out of Dartmouth centerfielder Nico Banez’s glove, and then he came home thanks to left fielder Chris Miller losing a ball. Though for whatever reason, Milam was credited with a double but Dardar’s play was considered a two-base error. Sure, why not.
LSU’s third run also came by way of a Dartmouth error. Derek Curiel reached on an error and then came all the way home from first off of a Jake Brown eighth-inning double.
Schmidt got into the eighth inning for the first time in his career and his fast ball was still sitting 94 MPH. His day ended, however, when he plunked Dartmouth first basemen Milo Suarez and was lifted for Dax Dathe. Dathe, however, was yanked after just two pitches, the second of which hit Dartmouth shortstop Alejandro Puig. Johnson then went to Mavrick Rizy and Rizy got two massive strikeouts to end the threat.
Rizy was well on his way to earning his first career save, but couldn’t get that 27th out. Rizy issued a one-out walk to catcher AJ DeMastrie, threw a couple of wild pitches that allowed DeMastrie to reach third, and made matters worse with a four-pitch walk to Chris Miller that brought the tying run to the plate.
Johnson turned to Jaden Noot, who got a swinging K on a full count to end the game and give the Tigers its 11th win of the season.
William Schmidt came to LSU with all the potential in the world and he’s starting to realize it these past two outings. Between today against Dartmouth and last weekend’s start against UCF, Schmidt has thrown a combined 12.1 innings, allowed just seven hits and has an absurd 16 strikeouts against just one walk and zero runs allowed. The Tigers have a potential first round pick pitching on Sundays and he’s only getting better. Life for LSU Baseball fans is pretty sweet under Jay Johnson’s watch.
LSU will wrap up its four-day round-robin series with its second game against Northeastern tomorrow night (6:30 P.M.) and that game may be streamed online via SEC Network+. Hopefully LSU remembers to bring its bats tomorrow night.
JUPITER, Fla. — St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol signed a two-year contract extension through at least the 2028 season, the Cardinals announced Sunday.
The deal includes a club option for 2029, the club said.
“As I’ve gotten to know Oli, I’ve seen someone who cares about this organization and knows what has made the Cardinals special over time, and who understands that for us to get where we need to go, we must compete relentlessly to set new standards in everything that we do,” Cardinals president Chaim Bloom said in a statement. “He is invested in the progress of our young core and is unafraid to challenge himself and to help those around him grow.”
The 39-year-old Marmol has led the Cardinals for the past four seasons, taking them to the National League wild-card round in his first season as manager. But he has failed to return to the playoffs the last three years, and St. Louis was just 78-84 last season.
Yet the Cardinals have long considered the past couple of seasons as an opportunity to reset with Bloom taking over for longtime executive John Mozeliak and a roster in need of a refresh. So it makes sense to provide some stability with Marmol, the third-longest tenured manager in the NL behind the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts and the Diamondbacks’ Torey Lovullo.
Marmol has been with the Cardinals since 2007, when he was still in his playing days. He spent five seasons as a manager in the minors before joining the coaching staff in 2017, and he was elevated to the St. Louis manager on October 25, 2021.
Marmol is 324-323 in four seasons with the Cardinals.
Ben Hess throws a pitch during the Yankees' March 1 spring game against the Phillies.
Observations from Yankees spring training Sunday:
Hess, sir!
Ben Hess, one of the top Yankees pitching prospects, tossed two scoreless innings of relief, including setting down Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm.
Ben Hess throws a pitch during the Yankees’ March 1 spring game against the Phillies. Getty Images
Crash test
Ben Rice gave Aaron Boone a scare when he went crashing into the short wall by the rolled-up tarp down the first base line trying to run down a pop-up.
Fortunately for the Yankees, Rice was no worse for wear.
Caught my eye
Anywhere the Yankees put George Lombard Jr. on the infield, he has delivered a highlight-reel play over the first 10 games this spring.
After doing so at shortstop and third base last week, the prospect played second base Sunday and made a strong play on a chopper past the mound, throwing on the run to first, where Rice provided a scoop for the out.
Monday’s schedule
The Yankees will have their first off-day of camp before returning to action Tuesday against Panama at Steinbrenner Field, with Max Fried and Giancarlo Stanton set to make their spring debuts.
MESA, Arizona — The Cubs’ 5-1 loss to the White Sox on another very hot afternoon was painfully reminiscent of some Shōta Imanaga starts last year.
Imanaga threw 47 pitches in 2.2 innings. Three of those pitches left the yard, solo homers by Edgar Quero, Austin Hays and Braden M0ntgomery, two of whom will likely be starting players for the White Sox this year and the third, one of their top prospects.
But should we really be concerned about three homers in a Spring Training game in a hitters’ environment where the temperature reached into the 90s? Let’s look at each of the homers.
That was … I dunno, chopped out of the ballpark? That has to be three inches above the strike zone. I don’t think that ball is a home run at Wrigley Field with the wind blowing in. On a hot day in Mesa? Sure.
Bregman, like Quero, got a high fastball and did not miss it:
Lenyn Sosa also homered for the White Sox, off minor leaguer Zane Mills. The fifth Sox run came off Hunter Harvey in the fourth, and after that scoring was done for the afternoon. Caleb Thielbar, Luke Little and Corbin Martin threw scoreless innings, and Grant Kipp, who might be at Triple-A Iowa this year, put six Sox minor leaguers down in order in the eighth and ninth.
Bregman also doubled and walked in what’s likely his final game for the Cubs for a couple of weeks, as he heads to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Pete Crow-Armstrong, also headed for Team USA, singled twice in three at-bats.
It was another very hot day in Mesa (Bluesky link):
Attendance watch: A full house of 15,270 attended Sunday’s game. That makes the season total for six dates 71,309, or 11,885 per date.
After the game the Cubs announced they had claimed Ben Cowles on waivers from the Blue Jays. I don’t know exactly what’s going on with Cowles; the Cubs keep waiving him and re-claiming him. To make room on the 40-man roster for Cowles, Shelby Miller was placed on the 60-day injured list.
Monday, the Cubs head to the west Valley to play the Reds at Goodyear. Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs, and then he, too, heads to the WBC to play for Team Canada. Brady Singer will go for Cincinnati. Game time Monday is 2:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will again be via Marquee Sports Network, and also on Reds TV. No radio on Monday.
After a live bullpen session on Sunday before the Mets faced off against the Houston Astros at Clover Park, Kodai Senga’s next step appears to be headed for a real game.
Speaking to the media following a 4-3 win, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters that Senga’s next outing “will be in our game.” He followed that up by saying that will probably be on Saturday when New York plays the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla.
For what it’s worth, Senga had a couple of strikeouts on the backfields against Mets hitters on Sunday. And after such a promising season was hampered by injury last season, Senga will surely be excited to get back on track and find his footing once again.
How much Senga will be able to give the Mets in 2026 remains to be seen, but Saturday’s outing could show some insight. At the very least it’s a step in the right direction for the talented right-hander.
Meanwhile, Christian Scott has also been getting his work in as he continues his return from Tommy John surgery in September 2024 that cost him the entire 2025 season.
The youngster who debuted in May 2024 threw a live bullpen on Saturday in which he went two innings, per Mendoza.
“[He’s] continuing with his progression, feeling really good too,” the skipper said. “Velo is there.”
Mendoza wasn’t able to confirm that Scott would be ready for Opening Day, saying he would have to check, but he did say that the right-hander “continues to progress accordingly.”
In nine starts after his promotion, Scott had a 4.56 ERA (1.20 WHIP) with 39 strikeouts in 47.1 innings. Still just 26 years old and once a top prospect in New York’s system, Scott remains a part of the Mets’ plans this season and beyond.
Mets left fielder Tyrone Taylor (15) rounds second base after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Houston Astros at Clover Park.
Observations from Mets spring training on Sunday:
Two For Taylor
Tyrone Taylor, whose role on the team is unclear with Luis Robert Jr. penciled in as the center fielder and Carson Benge vying for the right field spot, hit his second homer of the spring and can provide solid defense in the outfield.
Mets left fielder Tyrone Taylor (15) rounds second base after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Houston Astros at Clover Park. Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Walk this Way
Right-hander Jack Wenninger, the organization’s No. 11 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, walked five batters in 1 ²/₃ innings.
He allowed two runs to the Astros in the 4-3 win.
Caught My Eye
Benge went hitless but still had the hardest-hit ball of the afternoon — a 110 mph grounder in the first inning.
And he displayed a strong arm in the third on a fly ball to medium right field by Isaac Paredes, as he fired home to force Nick Allen to scramble back to third.
Monday’s Schedule
The Mets have the day off, returning to action Tuesday at Clover Park against Team Nicaragua in preparation for the WBC.
