Category: Baseball

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced this morning that outfielder Mike Tauchman has a meniscus tear in his knee and will require surgery. That certainly takes the 35-year-old out of the equation for the Mets’ final decisions about their Opening Day roster, but assuming he stays with the organization, it is the sort of surgery that should give him an opportunity to join the Mets’ roster at some point this season.

Coming off a very solid 2025 season with the White Sox, Tauchman signed a minor league deal with the Mets in mid-February. And in Grapefruit League play, he hit .241/.371/.448 with a home run, putting himself on track to get a spot on the Mets’ roster to start the season.

With Tauchman sidelined, though, the starting gig in right field should belong to top prospect Carson Benge, who very well might’ve made the team even if Taucham hadn’t gotten hurt. After looking very good in the upper levels of the minors last year, the 23-year-old has looked fantastic in spring training games. He’s hit .368/.442/.447 in those exhibition games and will be an exciting player to watch as the season gets underway.

I’m going to be flying all day, and I’m running around doing last-minute things, so writing something useful won’t happen.

So let’s have an OpenThread.

If you want a topic to start things off, the team has a bunch of decisions to make on the last few spots. Who gets the last one or two spots in the bullpen. Doesn’t Leo Jimenez get a spot, or do they DFA him? Would he clear waivers?

Eloy Jimenez? Does he get a spot over Davis Schneider? If he does, Leo has to get a spot. Eloy started the spring on fire, but didn’t carry it through to the end. But he hits the ball hard.

How many left-handed outfielders do we carry?

With Eric Lauer in the rotation, who is the long man? Do we need a long man? Are eight one-inning pitchers enough? Yariel Rodriguez is being paid a lot and can do 2-3 innings, and when one of the injured pitchers comes back, we know he can clear waivers.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided an update on veteran outfielder Mike Tauchman, who exited Saturday’s game with left knee soreness, and it wasn't good news for the outfielder or New York.

Tauchman suffered a meniscus tear that requires surgery, an MRI revealed.

"Unfortunately, he’s going to be down for a while," Mendoza told reporters on Sunday.

Mendoza said that the team will have a better understanding of the timeline for Tauchman's return after he has surgery.

"He started feeling discomfort yesterday, and he got to a point where he couldn’t do it [anymore]," Mendoza said. "... Trainers kind of knew right away when he came out, because we sent him for an MRI."

The 35-year-old Tauchman was pushing for a roster spot, hitting .241 this spring with one home run, six RBI, and an .819 OPS. He seemingly grimaced in pain while running down the first-base line on Saturday, and then later could not get back to make a play on a ball over his head in the outfield.

Tauchman was likely the biggest competition for top prospect Carson Benge in terms of the starting right field job come Opening Day. Benge has looked the part this spring, but Mendoza would not make any declarative statements on Sunday about Benge's potential place on the big league roster.

As far as other right field options, Mendoza said that M.J. Melendez is not considered an Opening Day option right now, as he'll start the year in Triple-A, but the team does like their internal options.

"We feel good with the options that we’ve got here," Mendoza said. "Obviously, we’ve got a lot of guys who are playing well, but we know injuries happen. It sucks for him and obviously the team, but we feel pretty good with the guys that we’ve got here."

Mike Tauchman is experiencing some discomfort as he plays right field today pic.twitter.com/UvMCMHaLJa

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 21, 2026

It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! Since the last time we came together, the World Baseball Classic came to a close, with Team USA shutting down the dominant D.R. lineup before being themselves shut down by the Venezuela pitching staff. Just as importantly, spring is now upon us, and that just means one thing: Opening Day is (almost) here! That’s right, this coming Wednesday, the New York Yankees will take the field against the San Francisco Giants to kickstart the 2026 season. So as we get ready for the big day, let’s check in on our favorite ballplayers, and see what they’ve been up to this week!

Final Photos from and about the Classic

The biggest news of the week, of course, was the World Baseball Classic. I will admit, I wasn’t able to snag everything — Jasson Domínguez, for example, posted about the Dominican Republic’s loss on his Instagram story even though he wasn’t there, which should help give you an idea just how much this tournament means to so many of these players. So this is just a small sample, from official accounts, Yankees players, beloved former Yankees, and other NYC athletes.

CC Chats WBC

Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher CC Sabathia loves chatting sports, and the World Baseball Classic was no different. As Team USA got ready to take on the Dominican Republic, he expressed his excitement for what would prove to be the best pitching matchup of the tournament, saying, “Skenes and this USA lineup vs. an All-Star DR squad in the WBC semis…can’t wait!!! ⚾️” (note: his original post has the USA and D.R. flag emojis, but they don’t copy into our system, and his non-Instagram posts can’t embed). At the end of that game, he expressed his excitement for his country’s victory, and then acknowledged the awfulness of the strike three call that ended the game.

Two days later, he was posting straight through the game once more. When Bryce Harper hit the dramatic two-run homer to tie the game, he channeled his inner Russell Crowe with, “BRYCE! Are you not entertained?!?!!?” Afterwards, he expressed his congratulations to the Venezuela squad, before ending his mini-coverage of the tournament with what he would do if he were in charge: “I’m all for canceling Spring Training for the WBC every year 😂🔥.”

The next day, he posted a photo dump on Instagram, filled with pictures from his time at the tournament.

The Cole Train gets started

This past Wednesday, Gerrit Cole took the mound. Yes, it’s only spring training, and yes, it was only one inning, but it’s a major step in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Spring Training Shenanigans

As spring training comes to a close, so does our daily dose of fun shenanigans from the Yankees and YES Network Instagram accounts. But that doesn’t mean we’re out of material just yet! This week, we have Carlos Lagrange, the pitcher everyone’s talking about this spring, answering questions from the YES Network — but only with wrong answers, giving us a bit of a look into the tall right-hander’s sense of humor.

Back from the WBC, Jazz Chisholm Jr. also chatted with the Network this week.

We also got to learn which music has been most commonly found on the Yankees’ iPods (hey, some of them are still old enough to use iPods), and — what I found rather interesting as a Latin teacher — where exactly a bunch of Yankees stand on a controversial linguistic question.

Good morning, folks…

After two disappointing seasons in a row, the Texas Rangers sought to reset their offensive philosophy this spring.

Jeff Wilson says that, as the team leaves Surprise, the vibes are good.

Veteran reliever Ryan Brasier opted out of his minor league contract yesterday, as he was not going to end up making the major league roster.

Kennedi Landry looks at the battle for the fifth starter spot, with the Jacob Latz v. Kumar Rocker decision coming down to the wire.

The DMN’s top 30 Rangers prospects countdown continues with write-ups on #4 prospect Josh Owens and #3 prospect A.J. Russell.

In non-Rangers news, Christopher Sanchez, the Philadelphia Phillies lefty who will be facing the Rangers on Opening Day, has agreed with the Phillies on a re-worked deal that adds a couple of years at $30 million guaranteed to his existing contract, as well as having the existing option years picked up.

David Laurila has his Sunday Notes column up at Fangraphs.

Spring training isn’t quite yet complete, but has changed scenery for the Dodgers, who are back home in Southern California to face the Angels for three games in the Freeway Series. Also this week, the real shebang gets underway with opening day and three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Here’s a look at the week ahead.

Beginning on Sunday, every game the rest of the way this season will be broadcast on Dodgers radio in English on AM 570 and in Spanish on KTNQ 1020 AM. For the schedule below, assume SportsNet LA for television unless noted otherwise (opening day this week on NBC, for instance).

Sunday, March 22

Dodgers at Angels, 5:07 p.m.

Monday, March 23

Dodgers vs. Angels, 6:10 p.m.

Tuesday, March 24

Dodgers vs. Angels, 5:10 p.m.

Wednesday, March 25

Off day (with a press conference to announce the partnership with Uniqlo)

Thursday, March 26

Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks, 5:30 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)

Friday, March 27

Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks, 7:10 p.m.

Saturday, March 28

Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks, 6:10 p.m.

With the Grapefruit League all wrapped up, I wanted to discuss a pair of the Nats biggest stars this spring. Brady House and Cade Cavalli are entering key seasons in their pro career. Both are starting their first full season as a big leaguer. This spring, both of them looked ready to roll.

I want to start with House, who was the only Nats hitter to truly stand out this spring. He had a tough introduction to the big leagues last season, posting a .574 OPS in 73 games. Most people figured House would struggle with plate discipline and strikeouts, but that he would run into some homers. We saw the struggles, but we did not see that signature power.

House only hit 4 homers and 11 doubles in 261 at bats last season. This spring has been a totally different story. He has hit 3 homers and 6 doubles in just 38 at bats. House made a statement in his first game of the spring with a pair of homers, and never looked back. He has been totally locked in this spring.

Hopefully that can carry over into the regular season because that would be a big boost to the Nats offense. Consistently hammering the ball like he has this spring is what House has to do to succeed. His approach will never be great, so he has to feast on the pitches he does get in the zone. This spring, even House’s outs have been loud.

If House can consistently drive the ball with authority, the rest of his game will come together. He is a good defender at third base, which could offset some of the potential offensive holes in his game. If he can hit 25 homers and a bunch of doubles, the approach and whiff concerns become less of a problem. It is no guarantee that this happens, but the spring was a good sign.

The other big star of the spring has been Cade Cavalli. Entering Spring Training, he was the favorite to be the Opening Day starter, and he locked up that honor with his performances. Cavalli tossed 14 scoreless innings this spring with 10 strikeouts and just two walks. He generated a ton of weak contact and kept the ball on the ground.

Cavalli has become a popular breakout pick, and for good reason. His stuff is dynamic and now he is finally 100% healthy. After undergoing Tommy John Surgery in early 2023, Cavalli had a tough road back. He had some setbacks, which led to him missing two whole seasons. However, he showed some major promise when he got called up to the big leagues in the second half of last season.

Now, Cavalli seems ready to take the next step and that will start in four days at Wrigley Field. Being the Opening Day starter with just 11 career starts feels crazy, but Cavalli is by far the most talented pitcher in the rotation. I would not be surprised if he outperformed the now departed MacKenzie Gore this season. He has the big sturdy frame to hold up for the whole season.

Cavalli’s stuff might be even better than Gore’s as well. He has a 4-seam and a sinker that are both in the mid to upper 90’s. They set the table for his power curveball and his new sweeper. Cavalli also has a really nice changeup he will show off every once in a while. There is also an occasional cutter he will mix in.

Overall, it is a very impressive arsenal. I think that new sweeper will be very helpful, especially against right handed hitters. Righties were actually Cavalli’s kryptonite last year, but the sweeper gives him a new weapon against them. 

Cavalli and House were picked in the first round in back to back years. It has been a long road for both, but if this spring is any indicator, they have arrived. Now, it will be time for them to prove themselves in the regular season. They are two of the Nats I will be following the closest this season. House and Cavalli are two true breakout candidates. I can’t wait to watch their 2026 seasons, and we only have to wait a few more days.

Randy Arozarena apologizes to Cal Raleigh over comments after WBC handshake snub originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Randy Arozarena has apologized to Seattle Mariners teammate Cal Raleigh after Arozarena cursed out the catcher for not returning a handshake at the World Baseball Classic.

“I understand that with Opening Day a few days away, I don’t want it to be a distraction. Cal and I have talked and I apologized for what I said after the game,” Arozarena said in a statement issued by the Mariners. “Nothing in the WBC takes away from the fact that we are brothers and teammates. He’s family, and we are both focused on helping the Mariners win the World Series.”

The incident between the two took place on March 9 when Arozarena reached down to greet Raleigh in his catcher’s squat at home plate, and Raleigh declined to offer his hand back in a game in which the Americans beat Mexico 5-3.

Arozarena, speaking to Mexican journalist Luis Gilbert in Spanish, said Raleigh “has to thank God that he has nice parents, well educated,” and added he recently hugged them during a friendly greeting at the team hotel.

He then used profane Cuban and Mexican slang to insult Raleigh before pivoting to English and saying Raleigh could shove his “good to see you” in his rear. Arozarena was born in Cuba but defected to Mexico to pursue an MLB career.

Soon after, Raleigh called Arozarena a baseball “brother,” while explaining there was no tension between the teammates.

“I love Randy, I do,” Raleigh said. “I hate that this is a thing. There’s no beef when we get back to Seattle. He’s my brother. We’re family.”

On Saturday night after their spring training game, Raleigh reiterated his feelings.

“We talked it out, and everything went great,” Raleigh said, according to MLB.com. “Randy knows that I love him, and he’s a brother, and it’s in the past and none of us are carrying this forward. We’re in a good spot.”

The Mariners open the season Thursday against the Cleveland Guardians.

Seattle is coming off a season in which it won the franchise’s first AL West title since 2001. Raleigh helped lead the way by becoming the seventh different player in major league history to hit 60 homers in a season.

Good morning and happy Sunday everybody! We’re only three sleeps away from meaningful Major League baseball and that means rosters are being finalized and difficult decisions are being made in front offices across the league, all to bring us closer to the baseball we so desperately desire. And all so we can spend Thursday night yelling at our screens. It’s soooo close. Just a little longer.

In Mariners news…

• The first Mariners commercial of 2026 is here! Dan Wilson stepping over a baby gate got me pretty good and someone for please get my man Bryce Miller a doughnut!
• The Mariners reassigned Colt Emerson to minor league camp yesterday, ending an impressive spring for the 20 year old prospect. Rhylan Thomas was optioned to Tacoma in the move as well, bringing the Mariners roster to 32.
• Randy Arozarena released a statement yesterday to finally put to rest the “drama” between him and Cal Raleigh. Cal followed up Randy’s statement with a similar sentiment, firmly placing the entire exchange in the past where it belongs.

Around the league…

• Konnor Griffin was reassigned to minor league camp yesterday, proving once again that you can lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to great baseball players, but you can’t make them put them on the roster.
• The Baltimore Orioles have made a similarly difficult roster decision, electing to demote Dean Kremer to minor league camp.
• While the Orioles finalized their starting rotation, the bullpen picture got less clear.

• Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly will start the 2026 season on the IL with persistent back trouble.
• Mariners legend Ty France will break camp on the Padres major league roster after an impressive spring.
• Mariners legend Dylan Moore signed a major league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies yesterday after he used his opt-out to force their hand.
• New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston will join Netflix’s Opening Day coverage on Wednesday night. Jameis certainly strikes me as an entertaining and charismatic character, however I’m not necessarily convinced that baseball needs more football, and vice versa.

Nick’s pick…

• Gonzaga’s men’s basketball team fell victim to Texas, the apparent Cinderella of this year’s March Madness tournament, and firmly cementing my bracket as nothing but toilet paper.

Randy Arozarena says he has apologized to his Seattle Mariners teammate Cal Raleigh after an incident at this month’s World Baseball Classic.

Arozarena was representing Mexico against Raleigh’s USA when the teams met at the WBC on 9 March. Raleigh ignored Arozarena’s offer of a handshake during an at-bat, a move that angered the outfielder. In a later interview, Arozarena said Raleigh could “fuck off” and “go to hell.” Raleigh downplayed the incident, saying “we’re good friends and we’ll continue to be good friends”.

Related: Other nations danced for joy at the World Baseball Classic. Team USA played toy soldiers

On Saturday, Arozarena issued a statement through the Mariners saying he had made amends with Raleigh.

“I understand that with Opening Day a few days away, I don’t want it to be a distraction,” Arozarena said. “Cal and I have talked and I apologized for what I said after the game. Nothing in the WBC takes away from the fact that we are brothers and teammates.”

Raleigh hit 60 home runs last season, a record for a catcher, as the Mariners won the AL West and fell just short of a World Series appearance. Mariners manager Joe Wilson said he wasn’t surprised at Arozarena’s apology.

“It’s just a special group,” Wilson told MLB.com. “They love each other, and yeah, it’s time. I think we’re all ready to get back to Seattle and get this thing started.”

The Mariners play their first game of the season on Thursday, against the Cleveland Guardians.

Tanner Bibee was throwing batting practice again yesterday, but Travis Bazzana homered twice and Jace Laviolette also homered for the Guardians:

Bo Naylor also had two hits including a homer.

What does it mean that Bibee is giving up double-digit hits every outing? I guess we will find out soon enough.

Logan Allen is headed to Columbus and Parker Messick is in the rotation. The Reds and Guardians play at 3:05PM ET. And, THIS THURSDAY BASEBALL IS REAL AGAIN GAAAAAH

Ty France celebrated the news that he made the Opening Day roster for the San Diego Padres by getting the start at second base when the Padres took on the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Saturday. San Diego lost the contest 6-1, but France finished his outing with a 1-for-3 performance. Randy Vasquez started on the mound for the Padres and worked through the first three innings without allowing a run. Over the final 2.1 innings of his outing the Brewers scored four runs on five hits, three of which were home runs, en route to the win. Mason Miller also surrendered two runs, one of which was earned, on two hits over 2/3 of an inning. The lone run in the game for San Diego came on a solo home run by Francisco Acuna in the top of the ninth inning.

The Padres host the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Peoria Sports Complex on Sunday at 6:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• Walker Buehler had the opportunity to sign with other teams on major league deals this offseason, but he chose to sign a minor league deal with the Padres and earn his way onto the team. He did just that with it being announced on Saturday that he made the Opening Day roster. Buehler is now one part of the rotation group that has the Friar Faithful concerned about the upcoming season.

• The San Diego Padres prospects lost their Spring Breakout game to the Chicago Cubs prospects, 7-5, but the story of the game for the San Diego organization was catcher Ethan Salas. The No. 2 prospect for the Padres went 2-for-3 and that included a monster home run to right field.

• Padres superstar right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. kicked off the spring season with consistent play but really stepped up his performance in the World Baseball Classic. Tatis has shown glimpses of living up to but understands there is more he can do to reach his full potential.

Baseball News:

• The Pittsburgh Pirates announced they sent their top prospect Konnor Griffin to minor league camp and he will not be a part of the Opening Day.

• Randal Grichuk has secured a place on the New York Yankees Opening Day roster, but Oswaldo Cabrera will open the season in the minor leagues.

• The Baltimore Orioles optioned Dean Kremer to the minor leagues and he will not be a part of the Opening Day roster for the Orioles.

• Justin Crawford and Dylan Moore have been advised by the Philadelphia Phillies they have made the roster for Opening Day.

This current Phillies era of being October regulars began in 2022, when they got in as the final NL Wild Card and then went on a run to the World Series before falling to the Astros. In the three years since, they’ve made the postseason every time and won the NL East in the last two seasons. However, they haven’t been able to match that postseason run in the years since, having lost in the NLDS in both of the last two seasons.

This season, they’ll go in on the shortlist of NL favorites again, although questions still remain. Can this be the year they return to the Fall Classic and even win it, or will the season end in frustration again?

Philadelphia Phillies
2025 Record: 96-66 (1st in NL East)
2026 FanGraphs Projection: 87-75 (3rd in NL East, 2nd NL Wild Card)

On the offensive side of things, the Phillies will run out a fairly similar lineup to last year. There are some differences, and there could’ve been even more, but they ended up re-signing Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto, meaning the core of what their lineup has been in recent years in still intact.

The biggest difference on that front is in right field. After a turbulent end to his Phillies’ career, Nick Castellanos was released by the team back before spring training got going. Earlier in the offseason, they signed former Rangers All-Star and 2023 World Series winner Adolis García, and he’ll likely handle most of the duties in right. Offensively, that change may be a bit of a wash, at least based on what he and Castellanos did last year. Defensively, though, it should be a big improvement. While he’s won a Gold Glove in right in the past, García doesn’t grade out as one of the best at that spot anymore, but Castellanos was one of the worst defensive right fielders around in recent years. It shouldn’t be hard to better that.

The main worry around their offense is just that everyone is a year older with another year of wear and tear on their bodies. Bryce Harper is still an excellent hitter, but not at the 170 wRC+ level that he was in his early years in Philly. Trea Turner is coming off the second best season of his career according to fWAR and there’s no guarantees that he can be good to that extent again. J.T. Realmuto still rates very good defensively, but was below average last year and is projected to be again this year. Odds are that not everyone will regress enough to make them miss the playoffs or anything, but if one or two do, they could fall behind in the NL East race.

The Phillies’ actual biggest loss of the offseason came in the rotation. Pitcher Ranger Suarez left in free agency, signing with the Red Sox. Even taking him out of it, the Phillies’ rotation was very good last year, but Suarez has consistently been a solid to very good pitcher since he became a full-time member of Philly’s rotation in 2022.

Some of their hopes in replace him land on prospect Andrew Painter. Since 2022, Painter has been pretty consistently rated in top 100 prospect lists, ranking has high as the top ten at points. The 2025 MiLB season was his first full one after missing most of 2023 and ‘24 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He didn’t post the best numbers in his 22 starts at Triple-A, but they’re hoping another year back from the surgery and his prospect pedigree will improve things. Even besides him, led by Cristopher Sánchez and the recently-extended Jesús Luzardo, the Phillies should have a strong rotation, which will also be bolstered by the return of Zack Wheeler, who missed time due to blood clots last year, at some point.

The bullpen will also be key for the Phillies this year. While several members of their 2025 bullpen put up good numbers, it was occasionally a turbulent year in that area for them. That led to them making a deal for Jhoan Duran at the trade deadline last year, and further adding to the mix by signing Brad Keller, on top of making a couple minor deals for backend guys. There’s certainly hope that the ‘pen will be a strength for them in ‘26.

The projections expect them to fall back to the pack in the division, but a lot of that is because they all seem to expect bounce back seasons from the Mets and especially the Braves. However, it wouldn’t remotely be a surprise to see the Phillies take the NL East again. For their sake though, they probably need another deep October run.

More Pinstripe Alley MLB team season previews can be found here.

No real surprises as Phillies set opening day roster originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Phillies opening day roster has come into focus, with little surprise.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced Sunday that rookies Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter had both made the club. 

Crawford, 22, will start in center field when the Phillies open the season Thursday against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park.

Painter, who will turn 23 on April 10, is slated to start the fifth game of the season March 31 against Washington.

Both Crawford and Painter were expected to make the club. They both firmed up their status with strong spring-training performances.

“They’ve had good camps, both of them,” Dombrowski said. “Crawford has done very well for himself. He’s played well in center field. He’s contributed from an offensive perspective. Again, he’ll hit ninth most of the time. You’ll have to suffer the ups and the downs, which happens with young guys, but we like him a lot. He’s meshed well. I think he brings a youthful enthusiasm, which is always great for a team, as does Painter. He can fly. He brings another dimension to our club with a legitimate base stealer. He’s earned his spot.

“Painter has also had a good camp. He just keeps building on what he has. His velocity has been good, very good actually, but more impressive has been his breaking stuff. We’re very happy with him. He’s earned it.”

Most of the roster intrigue coming into camp centered around the bullpen and the bench. There figured to be two openings in the bullpen. That grew to three when it was announced that Orion Kerkering would begin the season on the injured list as he continues to build arm strength after being slowed early in camp by a hamstring strain. Kerkering, who will pitch in a minor-league game Monday, could be ready to go in a couple of weeks. He will not be with the club for opening day.

Right-hander Zach Pop and lefties Kyle Backhus and Tim Mayza claimed the final three bullpen spots. Mayza came to camp on a minor-league deal. The veteran has recorded at least 50 appearances five times in his career, most of which was spent with Toronto. Pop was signed in the offseason as a free agent and the side-arming Backhus came over in a December trade with Arizona.

Reliever Zach McCambley, a Rule 5 pick, did not make the club. He will have a chance to return to the Miami Marlins.

Otto Kemp and Dylan Moore both won spots on the bench. The right-handed hitting Kemp could platoon in left field with Brandon Marsh. Edmundo Sosa remains the Phillies’ top player off the bench. He could platoon at second base with Bryson Stott.

Moore essentially gets the final spot on the bench because he can play all over the diamond. Outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, in camp on a minor-league deal, opened eyes, but the Phillies want him to play regularly and keep his bat sharp at Triple A.

Rafael Marchan will be the backup catcher for the second year in a row. He beat out Garrett Stubbs, who could end up with another big-league club in a trade or go back to Triple A as insurance. Stubbs’ situation could take several days to clear up.

If Stubbs does not remain in the organization, the Phillies’ catching depth will take a hit. Rene Pinto, who has 82 games of big-league experience, and Caleb Ricketts, who has not played above Double A, are next on the depth chart, Dombrowski said.

Ace pitcher Zack Wheeler will open on the injured list. He could be ready to go in a month. Wheeler will pitch in a minor-league game Monday. The Phillies’ Triple A pitching depth will include veteran Bryse Wilson, Jean Cabrera and Alan Rangel.

Barring something unforeseen, here is the 26-man roster the Phillies will file with Major League Baseball on Wednesday.

STARTING PITCHERS – Cristopher Sanchez (L), Aaron Nola, Jesus Luzardo (L), Taijuan Walker, Andrew Painter

BULLPEN – Jhoan Duran, Jose Alvarado (L), Brad Keller, Tanner Banks (L), Jonathan Bowlan, Kyle Backhus (L), Zach Pop, Tim Mayza (L)

CATCHERS – J.T. Realmuto, Rafael Marchan

DESIGNATED HITTER – Kyle Schwarber

INFIELDERS – Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, Trea Turner, Edmundo Sosa, Dylan Moore

OUTFIELDERS – Justin Crawford, Brandon Marsh, Adolis Garcia, Otto Kemp

INJURED LIST – Zack Wheeler, Orion Kerkering, Max Lazar

Yesterday, manager Alex Cora announced that Marcelo Mayer would be the starting second baseman for the 2026 Red Sox. Thus concludes one of the sillier spring training storylines we’ve seen in a long time. There was never really any baseball reason to suggest that either Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Andruw Monasterio would make more sense for the big league team than Mayer, even considering Mayer’s struggles at the plate in his first taste of the majors last year. But Cora says he “wanted to push him.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

As a domino move that corresponded with Mayer making the big league team, Krisitian Campbell was officially sent down to AAA. This isn’t surprising, though Cora did sound surprised by some of the things he saw from Campbell in Fort Myers. “The strikeouts were going up and the walks going down, and that’s not him. He’s a guy who controls the strike zone and doesn’t swing and miss. That didn’t happen during camp.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

I’m all for making Marcelo earn his spot in theory. But the problem with putting that theory into practice is that no serious and intelligent front office would ever base any meaningful decisions on spring training performances, marked as they are by small sample sizes and variable competition. Case in point: Garrett Crochet had another rough start yesterday to close out a pretty rough spring overall. But no one seems concerned, nor should they. To quote Crochet: “Whatever.” (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

Willson Contreras’s spring didn’t go exactly to plan either, as he ended up on the bench for Venezuela’s run to the World Baseball Classic championship. But it doesn’t sound like he minds one bit: “I think it’s the best experience of my life. I played in the World Series in ‘16, and it was big, but playing in the WBC for your country, for 37 million people, means a lot more to me. And I enjoyed every single second, every single part of it. I soaked that in, and it was the best.” (Hayden Bird, Boston.com)

Someone who did have a good spring, even if it won’t result in making a big league team, is D’Angelo Ortiz. Little Papi got his first spring hit. “Hopefully he was watching,” he said of his legendary father. “If he wasn’t watching, we’ve got a problem.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)