Category: Baseball

SoxFest Live kicked off Friday night at the Ramova Theatre as the baseball offseason wraps up and pitchers and catchers prepare to report for Spring Training. The White Sox had a decent rebound season last year while sporting a very young team in 2025 and coming off a historically horrific 2024. However, the vibes were high all night on the South Side, as fans feel more optimistic about the organization’s future.

Of course, the part of the night that drove the most buzz was the announcement of the 2026 promo items, and trust me, they are SHARP.

Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Kyle Teel all opened a gift bag on stage that featured their own bobbleheads, including a catcher’s duo bobblehead with Teel and his counterpart, Edgar Quero. While all of them are awesome, in my opinion, the real star of the show is the Bobby Jenks and A.J. Pierzynski bobblehead as they celebrate winning the 2005 World Series. A perfect tribute to the glue of the championship-winning team and to Bobby, who was lost way too soon last year.

Home opening weekend is full of fun giveaways, including the Bobby and A.J. bobble, an Opening Day t-shirt featuring Munetaka Murakami, a few jackets, and plenty of City Connect swag. I know I initially talked some smack about the new City Connect jerseys’ lack of creativity, but they do make some pretty epic gear. And let’s not forget the Mexican heritage items because every year these games are beyond fun with a sellout crowd, and the Los White Sox jersey is always a hit.

When chatting with several season ticket holders, the consensus is that they have more faith in the front office over the last year, and there is heightened positivity around the Rebuild 2.0 that GM Chris Getz has been forced to undertake. Many players seem to share the same sentiment, as every player we were able to speak with said they were “excited to get back together with the guys, and get back to playing and working on being consistent.”

There were 10 South Siders in the building on Friday night. The legendary Gene Honda began the evening by introducing everyone, with his smooth, iconic voice easily hyping up the crowd as if it were a Saturday night game at the Rate, and he’s announcing the starting lineup. A sort of frightening starting lineup considering there were just four position players and six pitchers, but perhaps Davis Martin or Shane Smith is a secret weapon at the plate, though I’m not sure I want to find out.

First up was the broadcast team, with in-game reporters Brooke Fletcher and Connor McKnight, followed by the TV and radio crew, featuring Chuck Garfein, Len Kasper, and John Schriffen. Getz and manager Will Venable repped the front office and coaching staff, followed by two minor league prospects who joined this year: infielder Sam Antonacci and righthander Tanner McDougal.

Last up were the major leaguers — the stars of the show. Grant Taylor, Anthony Kay, Davis Martin, and Shane Smith represented the South Side pitching staff. Kay joined the team for the first time this offseason, signing out of the NPB in Japan, and is thrilled to be meeting some of the guys and looking forward to Spring Training and another chance in MLB.

Last but certainly not least: infielders Vargas, Meidroth, and Montgomery, and catcher Teel, who recently committed to playing for Italy in the World Baseball Classic this March. There was, however, one player who was unable to attend, but Munetaka Murakami was there in spirit and shared a message to fans, earning a roar from the crowd upon hearing “Go White Sox!”

Fans were also able to ask questions to Getz and Venable in a segment called “Pardon the Pitch Clock”, which gave them four minutes to answer some questions from the crowd. The five categories before a final “lightning round” were: the 2026 outlook, offseason acquisitions and roster philosophy, players to watch, new initiatives and innovations, and clubhouse culture and leadership. This year was probably much easier to manage, considering they aren’t coming off of the worst season ever, but the positivity and buy-in from Getz and Venable seem to reinforce the fans’ hope for the future of the team.

Props to the White Sox for putting on a great event for the first day, and a big thank you to the players for being so welcoming and willing to talk with us and answer questions. We’ll be back with more coverage throughout the rest of the event!

One Mets star won’t be participating in the World Baseball Classic after all.

Francisco Lindor will not represent Team Puerto Rico this spring because of an elbow procedure he underwent in October and “insurance constraints” of the international tournament, according to a statement from the MLB Players Association.

Lindor underwent debridement surgery to clean up his right elbow, and the Mets said in the fall that he would be ready for the start of spring training, a sentiment reiterated by the MLBPA.

“Francisco is obviously disappointed that he will be unable to participate,” the players’ association statement read. “However, because of WBC insurance constraints, he is ineligible to play in WBC games.

“He will participate fully in all spring training activities.”

Lindor was the captain of the Puerto Rican squad in 2023 and was picked last spring to reprise that role in 2026.

He paced the team’s offense last time around with a .450 average, collecting a triple and five RBIs. Puerto Rico went 3-1 in the opening round but fell to Mexico in the quarterfinals.

It’s not clear who will replace Lindor as captain.

The debridement procedure marked Lindor’s third offseason surgery with the Mets after he had a bone spur removed from his right elbow in 2023 and an appendectomy the year before.

The Mets are expected to have some representation in the WBC, even with Lindor sitting this one out. Right-handed pitchers Clay Holmes and Nolan McLean have confirmed they will be on Team USA’s staff.

Outfielder Juan Soto, who played for the Dominican Republic last tournament, said in May that he hoped to represent his country again but did not confirm his commitment.

Newly acquired third baseman Bo Bichette, fresh off signing a three-year deal worth $126 million with the Amazin’s, reportedly mulled an opportunity to play for Team Brazil but will not participate, according to ESPN Brasil.

All 20 rosters will be announced on Thursday during a live show on MLB Network at 7 p.m. ET.

MLB.com | Sweeny Murti: Two-time Yankees reliever David Robertson has announced his retirement at the age of 40 after 17 big league seasons. It marks the end of an era, as Robertson was the last remaining active player in MLB from the Yankees 2009 World Series winning roster. The Yankees drafted Robertson in 2006, and he played seven seasons in his first stint in the Bronx. After two-and-a-half years with the White Sox, the Yankees brought Robertson back near the 2017 trade deadline as part of a deal that also brought Todd Frazier and Tommy Kahnle to the Bronx. Robertson played six more seasons after departing the Yankees for a second time in 2018, and you can read a full tribute to his time in pinstripes here. Congratulations, D-Rob, on a fantastic career and best of luck with your future endeavors!

MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: Earlier this week, we reported on the Yankees’ interest in a reunion with Paul Goldschmidt, and it appears the Yankees have stepped up their engagement with his representatives. Goldschmidt slashed .274/.328/.403 with ten home runs and a 103 wRC+ in 146 games with the Yankees after signing a one-year, $12.5 million deal last offseason. Goldschmidt was far more productive against lefties (169 wRC+) and could be brought back as the short side of a first base platoon with Ben Rice. However, he’s entering his age-38 season, and would futher clog up a bench that already includes J.C. Escarra and Amed Rosario.

Goldschmidt isn’t the only player the Yankees have checked in with this week. They are rumored to have interest in swingman Nick Martinez, who could help cover in the rotation at the start of the season before transitioning to the bullpen as their injured starters get healthy. They’ve also been linked to reliever Michael Kopech, who won a World Series with the Dodgers two years ago before missing most of 2025 to injury. As for outfield depth, there are rumors of a reunion with Austin Slater and interest in Randal Grichuk.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: Brian Cashman believes that his new-look bullpen can emerge as a strength of the team in 2026. He acknowledged the subtractions of Devin Williams and Luke Weaver to the Mets in free agency, but held firm in his belief that they have the people in place to fill those voids. He cited Rule 5 draftee Cade Winquest and trade acquisition Angel Chivilli as a pair of examples of the guys who could step up, as well as younger pitchers they have developed including Carlos Lagrange and Brent Headrick.

SNY | Phillip Martinez: With the Yankees running it back with their 2025 outfield, Aaron Boone admitted that the outlook for Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones has changed. Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham are back in the fold, reducing the number of opportunities available to the Yankees’ pair of former top prospects. Rumors of the Yankees dangling either Domínguez or Jones in pursuit of pitching grew after Bellinger re-upped, though many of the top starting pitching trade candidates have already been dealt.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): Kirschner answers a handful of questions in his end-of-the-month mailbag, and Domínguez’s future features heavily, with Kirschner predicting that the Yankees will retain him as an option off the bench rather that trade him away. He also touches on the $42.5 million the Yankees will be paying Bellinger in each of the next two seasons and why the team did not allocate that money to a different player (mostly, Bellinger’s fit on the roster). Kirschner backs the front office’s decision to run it back with last year’s offense given the unit had the highest wRC+ (119) in MLB in 2025, though he also admits that it is impossible to know what version of Anthony Volpe the Yankees are going to get once he returns from his shoulder surgery rehab.

After signing with the Astros ahead of the 2019 season, it didn’t take long for former All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley to hear about his new organization’s top prospect.

“They were comparing this kid to Ted Williams,” Brantley recalled. “And I was like, ‘Well, that’s kind of special.’ I want to see this.”

The kid, Brantley would soon learn, was named Kyle Tucker.

And the comparison, he still marvels at now, was shockingly apt.

“It made me laugh at first, because he does a lot of things that are unorthodox,” Brantley said. “But when you actually break down his swing, he gets into such great positions.”

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Long before he became a touted young talent, then a four-time All-Star slugger, then a blockbuster $240 million signing with the Dodgers this offseason, Tucker’s baseball career began in the backyard of his Tampa-area home — where childhood games of stick and Wiffle ball with his older brother, Preston, first helped mold one of the most complete hitters in Major League Baseball today.

The origin story is simple. Growing up, Tucker would emulate Preston (who was six years his elder, and destined for his own MLB career) in their backyard games. Because Preston hit right-handed, Tucker would mirror him from the left side of the plate. And because Preston had a similarly unusual swing, Tucker’s mechanics naturally followed suit.

Some days, the boys would pitch a small ball of cork to each other, letting natural instinct take over as they whacked at it with the handle of a broomstick. Other times, they used a standard-issue Wiffle ball set, learning how to adjust to the serpentine movement of the perforated plastic sphere.

“All they had time to do was just use their hands,” said Dennis Braun, Tucker’s high school coach at Plant High in Tampa. “That’s how they learned how to hit.”

For Tucker, the result was a swing with seemingly flawed fundamentals.

He’d step up to the plate with the wrong foot. His hands would drop low as he started to attack the ball. His bat path had an atypically sweepy motion. He would drop his back knee and almost scissor his legs as he made contact and completed his follow-through.

Years of practice, however, had taught him how to sync it all together; giving him the ability to hit for power, adjust to breaking pitches and most importantly keep his hands inside the ball consistently on every pitch.

“You can’t teach somebody to do it,” Braun said. “But I told him, ‘Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t hit that way, because I think it’s a thing.’ ”

All along, the comparisons to Williams — who earned the moniker of “the greatest hitter who ever lived” with an eerily similar swing — steadily grew.

When Tucker was a high school freshman, one of Braun’s assistant coaches, former Yankees catcher John Ramos, first bestowed him with the “Ted Williams” nickname.

“I said, ‘Wait a minute,’ ” Braun recalled with a laugh, “the kid’s got nowhere to go but down.’ ”

As Tucker became a top draft prospect in the 2015 class, eventually going fifth overall to the Astros (who also had Preston in their organization), scouts began drawing parallels in their reports, too.

“I’m not one of those guys who thinks anybody’s gonna be a first-rounder when they show up as a freshman,” Braun said. “But as we went along each year, he got bigger and bigger. By the time he got to his senior year, the amount of people that were out here watching BP was in the hundreds.”

In 2018, a few months before making his highly anticipated MLB debut as a 21-year-old, Tucker was even enlisted to impersonate Williams in a PBS documentary about the late Hall of Famer, donning a 1950s-era uniform as filmmakers captured slow-motion shots of his swing.

“He’s tweaked it a little bit over the years,” Tucker’s mom, Lisa, said. “But if it’s gotten you to where you’re at, it’s like, ‘Why change?’ ”

That was also Brantley’s initial impression after meeting Tucker for the first time and watching him swing up close.

“It doesn’t always look as pretty as a normal swing would,” Brantley said. “But if you really break down the science of the swing, and see where his hands get to, his foot is at the time of contact, and the position at contact, it is very special.”

And over the last five years, Tucker has used the swing to make his own name in the majors.

In 2020, he cemented himself as an everyday player for a contending Astros team, flashing plus outfield defense and an ability to steal bases to go along with offensive production. In 2021, he received MVP votes after batting a career-best .294 with 30 home runs. In 2022, he earned what would become the first of four consecutive All-Star selections. And now, he has established himself as one of the most consistent players in the sport, one of only four big-leaguers to post at least 4.5 wins above replacement every year since 2021, per Baseball Reference.

For that, Tucker has given much credit to Brantley.

When the veteran first arrived in Houston, he made a point of taking Tucker under his wing, becoming his catch partner, his hitting cage confidant, and his locker-mate in the clubhouse.

During spring training, he’d challenge Tucker to beat him to the facility in the mornings. “I’d usually get to the field around 7 a.m.” Brantley joked. “And Tuck’s not a morning guy.” Yet, Tucker would be there, ready to warm-up in the gym and get to work early on the field.

Brantley retired from the majors at the end of the 2023 season. Tucker left Houston a year later, getting traded to the Cubs in his final season before free agency. But the two remain close. So much so, Tucker said he will wear Brantley’s old jersey number, 23, with the Dodgers as a nod to his former teammate.

To Brantley, that was a “very special” gesture. However, he emphasized that Tucker’s success has been all his own doing — going back to the superstar’s five-tool skillset, a deep “passion” for the game that goes overlooked by his outwardly quiet demeanor, and of course the Ted Williams-esque swing that remains universally admired and largely unchanged.

“He just settled into his own, and took the world by storm,” Brantley said. “As he should have, because he was such a big prospect. But he panned out because of the hard work he put in.”

Look at Leo Balcazar running away with the vote for spot #13 in this year’s edition of the Community Prospect Rankings!

Perhaps that’s an indictment of which prospects I included in this particular round of voting. Or, perhaps it’s an indication that you fine voters here at Red Reporter are awfully high on Balcazar’s prospects as, well, a prospect once again.

There was a time when that was something of a no-brainer. He mauled Dominican Summer League play with an .882 OPS in 2021 at just 17 years of age, and he backed it up the following year with an equally impressive .886 OPS in Arizona Complex League play in his first season in the states. Then, in a 19 game sample to begin the 2023 season with Class-A Daytona in the pitching-friendly Florida State League, he roared out of the gate with an .897 OPS only to tear his ACL and miss the remainder of the year.

When he returned in 2024, he was a shell of his former self. He’d been an athletic shortstop whose quickness helped make up for an average arm, but his quickness had been sapped. His work at the plate slumped, too, and suddenly there was wonder whether he’d be able to work his way back.

2025 was a much more positive step in the right direction. He posted a modest .720 OPS as he reached AA Chattanooga, but the athleticism began to return – as did some of the excellent exit velocities off his bat. He finished the year with a positive showing in 24 Arizona Fall League games, and he still won’t even turn 22 until this summer.

There’s beginning to be some buzz again about Balcazar, and I think it’s warranted, even if he’s destined to stick at 2B long term.

He’s the #13 prospect in this year’s CPR!

I hope everybody has a lovely start to their weekend. Please stay warm and safe out there if you’re in the path of the second winter storm in as many weekends! Here’s a random clip for you:

After a long career that started with the Yankees and included a late stop with the Mets, David Robertson has thrown his final pitch. 

The 40-year-old reliever announced his retirement Friday following 17 seasons and 881 games in the big leagues, during which he won a World Series with the Yankees in 2009, posted a 2.93 ERA and recorded 179 saves.

“I’ve decided it’s time for me to hang up my spikes and retire from the game I’ve loved for as long as I can remember,” Robertson wrote in a statement posted to social media. “Baseball has given me more than I ever dreamed possible over the last 19 seasons. From winning a World Series, to pitching in an All-Star game, to representing the United States and bringing home a World Baseball Classic Gold and an Olympic silver.

“I’ve had the privilege of playing alongside amazing teammates, learning from outstanding coaches, and being welcomed into organizations that felt like family. To the trainers, clubhouse staff, front offices, and everyone behind the scenes, thank you for all that you do. And to the fans who supported me, thank you, your passion fueled me every single day.”

The Alabama native said he was looking forward to being home with his family and focusing on their farms.

In parts of nine seasons in The Bronx — including a return there in 2017 following a midseason trade from the White Sox — Robertson appeared in 501 games.

He made the All-Star team in 2011 while recording a 1.08 ERA in 70 games, and later succeeded Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera as the Yankees closer in 2014.

Robertson pitched for the Mets in 2023, posting a 2.05 ERA in 40 games before they dealt him to the Marlins in a trade deadline sell-off. 

Hey! A signing that helps the Phillies shore up their infield depth, but maybe doesn’t move the needle much.

Insurance in case Otto Kemp doesn’t work out, Moore could be a good option for the team as a bench bat.

Early forecasts from the stat nerds aren’t bullish on the Yankees’ American League East chances. 

FanGraphs released its first ZiPS projections earlier this week, and it’s not looking pretty for the Bronx Bombers if no more moves are coming this offseason. 

The Yankees are projected to have 87 wins in 2026, the second-fewest in the division behind the Blue Jays (90), Red Sox (90) and Orioles (88). 

Only the Rays (75) are being pegged for fewer victories. 

That number would be the Yankees’ fewest over a full season since 2023, when they went 82-80 and missed the postseason, and second-fewest over the last decade. 

Fangraphs is giving them just an 18.9 percent chance to win the division and a 41.4 percent chance at grabbing one of the three AL wild-card spots. 

The underwhelming win estimate comes after a relatively quiet offseason for the Bombers. 

The Yankees re-signed Cody Bellinger to a five-year, $162.5 million deal and brought back Trent Grisham after he accepted the qualifying offer, but did little else to improve the lineup. 

Left-hander Ryan Weathers, acquired in a trade from the Marlins, will provide rotation depth, though being able to stay on the field has been a question for most of his career. The starting staff has plenty of other questions elsewhere, with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt all coming off surgeries and returning at various points post-Opening Day. 

In the bullpen, the Yankees lost Devin Williams and Luke Weaver in free agency to the Mets. 

Earlier this week, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman expressed confidence in his team’s roster. 

“I’ve been openly willing to challenge anybody that we don’t have a championship caliber roster [and] team,’’ Cashman said. “And it’s our job to try to make it better along the way.”

Earlier today, former Yankees reliever David Robertson took to his social media platforms to officially announce his retirement from baseball. At 40 years old entering what would have been his age-41 season, this news hardly comes as a surprise, especially considering how the past few years went for the former Olympian. Still though, for anyone that’s familiar with me, this news is devastating.

Robertson was first drafted by the Yankees in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB draft and worked his way through the minors before eventually making his MLB debut in 2008. In 2009 is when he truly made his mark during that playoff run when he pitched out of a bases-loaded-nobody-out jam in the 11th inning of the ALDS against the Twins. I remember telling someone then “this guy’s going to be good.” And my love affair had begun.

Since that playoff run, I was D-Rob’s #1 fan and maintain that title to this day. His best season came two years later in 2011 when he finished with a 1.08 ERA, earned his only All-Star nod, and received down ballot Cy Young and MVP votes. He was the heir apparent to Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer ever, and he served that role well for one year before Brian Cashman ruined my life. He finished his first stint with the Yankees with a 2.81 ERA across 402 games before joining the White Sox in the South Side of Chicago in his first dalliance with free agency.

He spent two and a half seasons there before Brian Cashman made attempted to make amends with me personally and brought him back for the 2017 playoff push and run. That postseason we saw something truly remarkable out of Robertson when he came in and pitched 3.1 scoreless innings as the Yankees clawed their way back to steal victory out of Luis Severino’s hands in the one-and-done Wild Card game. His second stint in the Bronx ended after the 2018 season when Brian Cashman once again ruined my life.

His first stint with the Phillies would also be quickly forgotten as injury forced his two-year deal come down to just seven games in 2019 before he was shutdown and unable to return to the mound until 2021, missing the COVID-shortened 2020 season completely. However, he had an opportunity to suit up for Team USA at the Olympics, where he appeared in three games and helped the US Team earn the Silver Medal after losing to Japan in the finals.

His Olympics stint and overall resume was enough to earn him a flyer from the Rays to help bolster their bullpen for their own playoff push and run. Unfortunately, that Rays stint did not go great for him, but he was able to secure a free agent contract for his second stint in the city of Chicago, just this time he’d pitch for the Cubs. They eventually traded him to the Phillies for his second stint there and since then he’d bounce around to the Mets, Marlins, and Rangers until ultimately signing a midseason contract with the Phillies in 2025, which we now know would end up being his final season as a major leaguer.

The tail end of his career will likely soil some memories of him, but he really should be remembered fondly for a truly impressive career. It’s not often that someone gets drafted with the pedigree of a reliever and actually makes it to have a 15-year career. Not only that, but he’s a World Series champion, a World Baseball Classic gold medalist, and an Olympic silver medalist. He finishes his career with a 2.93 ERA, an ERA+ of 143, 179 saves, and 1176 strikeouts across 881 games. He’s not going to be a Hall of Famer (though he’d have my vote….which is only partially why I don’t have a vote), but he’s the pinnacle of what a truly good and stable relief pitcher should be.

Sure there were some bumps, but overall more good than bad and again a 15-year career as solely a relief pitcher is something truly remarkable in my books. That’s the most volatile position in the game and for him to have done that for as long as he did should be remembered fondly. I wrote his entry into PSA’s Top 100 Yankees series as well, and every year I’d show back up to plead my case to Brian Cashman to either sign him in free agency or trade for him at the deadline. This is why, even though I don’t show up often around here anymore, I jumped at the chance to write his retirement post. He helped me fall in love with the game when I was just getting into it, and he’s why relief pitchers are my favorite players and why I’ve been obsessed with them.

Thank you, D-Rob, for letting this one baseball fan fall in love with you. I’ll cherish the memories of wearing my socks high during those playoff runs you were part of, and sometimes even channeling your spirit for the ones you weren’t a part of as well. I’ll miss my annual tradition Congratulations on an amazing career and I wish you nothing but the best in retirement and on your next venture.

I knew this day would come, but I still think back to just commenting about D-Rob in the old PSA comments section before I even joined the staff year. Age comes for us all, I guess. But today we wear our socks high with pride for this Yankee that was, tomorrow, we hang them up even higher.

A trio of Red Sox fans has filed a class-action lawsuit against the team for alleged “junk fees” and “drip pricing” on ticket purchases. 

A suit filed in Massachusetts earlier this month accuses the franchise of false advertising to “bait-and-switch” ticket buyers for games and events at Fenway Park from 2022 to at least 2024. 

“Specifically, the Red Sox would advertise illusorily low prices for their tickets,” the lawsuit alleges. “When purchasers attempted to buy those tickets, however, the Red Sox would add mandatory fees at the last minute, such as ‘Per-Ticket Fees’ and ‘Order Fees,’ that could increase the cost of a purchase by as much as 150 percent.

“In other words, the Red Sox’s advertised tickets were not actually available for purchase at the advertised prices.”

The plaintiffs allege the practice has cost purchasers millions of dollars. 

“The Red Sox’s use of drip pricing and junk fees was both unfair and deceptive,” the lawsuit states. “It was also illegal under the consumer protection laws of Massachusetts and other states.”

The Red Sox gave a short statement to WCVB Channel 5 in Boston, stating, “While we don’t comment on pending litigation, we have always complied with applicable state and federal laws.”

Boston is one of three Major League Baseball teams to be dealt a similar lawsuit in the past few months. 

In September, the Nationals were accused in federal court of cheating “customers out of millions of dollars” through junk fees. 

The Giants were handed a similar lawsuit earlier this week. 

“Rather than disclosing the full cost of purchasing tickets upfront, the Giants tacked on last-minute “Service” fees, “Convenience” fees, “Handling and Convenience” fees, and “Order” processing fees that increased the cost of the purchase, exceeding the price initially advertised to the consumer, often by more than $50 per transaction,” the lawsuit against the San Francisco franchise read. 

The Mariners’ starting pitching depth took a hit today, as the Mariners announced starter Logan Evans had UCL reconstruction surgery with the internal brace procedure. The surgery was performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Texas.

Evans, 24, made his debut last year and pitched in 16 games for the Mariners, accruing 81.1 innings. He started 15 of those 16 games, filling in for a Mariners rotation that suffered a spate of injuries. While Evans didn’t pitch in the playoff run, his contributions down the stretch helped the Mariners patch together a workable rotation while the regular starters healed, allowing the team to go on a deep playoff run.

The highlight of Evans’ season was a May 27th start against Washington where he went eight innings, the longest start by any Mariners pitcher all season. He surrendered just one run over those eight innings, a solo home run to James Wood. That game was also remarkable because the Nationals ran out an Oops! All Lefties! lineup against the righty Evans, who became the first Mariners pitcher in decades to face an all-lefty lineup.

Evans did spend some time on the IL this past season with right elbow inflammation, missing a month starting in mid-August after being diagnosed with VEO, or “pitcher’s elbow.” However, imaging at the time did not show structural damage. Evans first felt the pain on an August 14th start against Baltimore; he was moved to the IL and underwent a treatment plan of rest and cortisone injections. Evans returned to the club late in the season and threw three innings in a game on September 27th against the Dodgers, but was left off the playoff roster as the team progressed into October.

The timeline for recovery for an internal brace procedure is closer to 12 months than the 18 months of traditional Tommy John surgery, so if all goes well in recovery Evans could return as soon as spring training 2027. That doesn’t ease the sting of losing him for this year, though; Ryan just did Evans’s 40 in 40, dissecting the curious nature of Evans the first time vs. second time through the order, and what adjustments could be made to bridge the two performances. Now we will have to wait an extra year to find out the answer to that question.

The Mariners have done an admirable job building depth so far this season, with the addition of Cooper Criswell as well as some stalwart minor-league signings like Dane Dunning and Randy Dobnak. But Evans was a known quantity and proven performer, and the loss stings. This shifts pressure to Emerson Hancock to continue figuring it out at the big-league level, and also turns up the temperature somewhat on top prospect Kade Anderson, who is yet to throw a professional pitch but is almost certain to be a quick mover once he does. In the meantime, we wish Logan Evans well in his recovery, and hope to be back to two Big Logans soon.