Category: Baseball

Last time we spoke, we wanted to hear from you, the reader, about spring training. As we all know, the roster gets crunched in the spring, crushing dreams, occasionally ending careers, and dashing the hopes of young prospects everywhere. We all know how it goes. One of the items we discussed was who stands to gain the most from spring training. See the results below: 

Of course, this is more of a moot point now because Williamson has since been traded, but what can you do, right? For those of you who voted for Williamson, I respect your commitment and hope to see him break out; maybe he can do that for the Rays, ideally not against the Mariners. 

Of course, that still leaves us with our second-place winner, Cole Young. The opportunity is certainly there for Young, and the overwhelming thing I hear from people here at LL and out on the streets (conversations with my brother) is that the spot is his if he’s willing to reach out and take it. While I think this downplays the presence of Ryan Bliss, I agree that Young is the best positioned to be the starting second baseman on Opening Day. 

We also wanted to hear from you on which players needed to make a big step forward this year, and the results were more contentious: 

In particular, the conversation in the comments centered on Canzone. Seems people are disagreeing on how much time Canzone should get to really show he’s ready to be a roster mainstay. While Canzone has shown flashes at times, how many at-bats are you willing to cede to maybe see him do something great with the ball? I know where I stand. I’m willing to see how it plays out in spring, but I’m more than ready to see the end of the Canzone experience. 

This week, we have the WBC around the corner and spring training, but I’m more interested in talking about the WBC, especially with so many Mariners participating this year. The question comes to mind, what Mariners will do best at the World Baseball Classic? 

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Mariners fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Unfortunately, the polls are limited on space, but feel free to shout out your favs in the comments. Personally, I think Julio is going to tear it up; plus, I’m hopeful that a hot WBC could lead to a hot April. Historically, Julio has been a bit of a slow starter, so seeing him get the early-season jitters out with the Dominican Republic and then tear it up for the Mariners would be incredible. But let us know your thoughts in the poll and the comments below!

In 2026, the Nats are not likely to make a ton of progress at the MLB level, at least when it comes to wins and losses. However, we should see Paul Toboni’s new plan lead to quick results at the minor league level. The Nats have several breakout candidates in their system. One of them is 19 year old RHP Landon Harmon, and I wanted to chat about him today.

Harmon was selected in the third round of the 2025 draft, but was given a $2.5 million signing bonus. That is way above slot value, and shows the Nats valued Harmon like an early second round talent. The industry also viewed him that way, with MLB Pipeline ranking Harmon as number 48 prospect in his class. 

After getting drafted last year, Harmon did not appear in any professional games, which is very common for high school pitchers. That means this will truly be his first pro season. Heading into this year, he has a lot of buzz behind his name. Fangraphs mentioned him as a guy who could be a top 100 prospect a year from now. MLB Pipeline also ranked him in the top 10 of the Nats system.

Now that we know the level of hype he has, let’s dive into what makes the Mississippi high school righty such an intriguing arm. His bread and butter is his fastball, which consistently gets plus grades. Pipeline has it as a 65 grade pitch and BA put a 70 on his heater. That makes it easily a plus pitch, with plus-plus upside.

The heater has everything you want. Harmon throws very hard, sitting in the mid-90’s. However, he can run that heater up to 98 or 99 MPH when he wants to reach back. When you look at his slender 6’5 frame, there is also more velocity to dream on. He could be a pitcher who touches triple digits one day.

However, it is more than just the velocity that makes Harmon’s fastball great. The pitch also has explosive life and comes from a flat approach angle. This makes his heater look even quicker than it is. It also has a bit of cutting action at the end as a little cherry on top. He was able to blow the fastball by even good high school hitters like Ethan Holliday at showcase events.

The heater gives him a strong foundation to build on, but there are also some interesting breaking ball shapes here. He throws both a sweeper and a harder slider. Neither are outstanding right now, but they both have above average potential. The fact he already has the ability to spin multiple different breaking ball shapes is also a positive indicator. It indicates a feel for spin and an ability to experiment. 

The changeup is admittedly a work in progress right now. He did not need to use it much as a high schooler because he could overwhelm hitters with his fastball and sliders. When he did throw it, the pitch was not anything special. However, at 19 years old, Harmon has plenty of time to find an off-speed pitch.

You can teach that, but you cannot teach Harmon’s size and fastball quality. Those building blocks make him a strong candidate to be a top 100 prospect in a year. They have some differences, but Harmon reminds me of Travis Sykora after he got drafted. Both have outstanding stuff and a better feel for pitching than most kids their age. 

Sykora obviously had a massive year in 2024, becoming a top 100 prospect. He was on his way to being one of the premier pitching prospects in the game before having to go under the knife in 2025. Harmon could be on a similar trajectory given his talent level.

There is already footage of Harmon at Spring Training throwing a bullpen. I do think it is a bit notable that we have seen him, but not guys like Miguel Sime or Coy James yet. It may mean the Nats are more comfortable letting Harmon be seen by the public due to feeling he is more advanced. 

Another indicator to see what the Nats think of Harmon is how they assign him. If they send him straight to Low-A, that means they have a high level of confidence in him to produce right away. If they think he is a bit raw, they will have him make starts in the FCL. 

Harmon should spend most of the season in Low-A, but he might get a taste of High-A if he dominates with the Fred Nats. I think that is in the cards due to the quality of his stuff. He is also a guy who should be helped by the Nats new development team. Harmon is a big ball of clay for those pitching gurus to work with. Hopefully, they can turn him into a high end prospect.

The 2026 season is in the foreground, rapidly approaching. That means our coverage here at The Good Phight is also going to ramp up. We’re excited for the season ahead, ready to bring you more of the news, analysis and opinion writing that you’ve come to know. We’re also looking to expand to our staff of writers as well. While we have a substantial stable of excellent writers, we’re hoping to add one more person to the group to help provide more content.

What we’re looking for?

The new writer will be expected to complete at least 2-3 articles per week, depending on your agreed contract. The focus that we are looking to add is specific: we’re looking to expand our prospect coverage. Weekly reports, specific player profiles, deeper dives into all parts of the team’s player development system – this is what we are looking to add. While doing other articles about the major league team would always be welcome, the main focus of this position is expected to be on the Phillies’ minor league system, so priority will be given to those who are able to do so critically, analytically and fairly.

What else does the position entail?

There might also be occasions when we ask you to help with daily links (Rise and Phight), gamethreads and game recaps. It would all depend on what is needed and when.

Any writer who is accepted should:

• Be knowledgeable about the Phillies and will follow the Phillies closely.
• Follow Phillies media closely.
• Be able to concisely summarize text.
• Be well-versed in analytics and know how to use them to enhance articles.
• Be able to comment on text in an engaging manner.
• Be able to communicate regularly with the TGP team via Slack.
• Be a self-starter who can work with minimal direction.
• Possess solid communication skills.
• Be comfortable working in a virtual environment.

Is this position paid?

Yes! This is a stipend position, the amount of which is dependent on the agreed on number of writing pieces you would be expected to produce.

How to apply

Please fill out this form. We are a data focused site that uses Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Reference, Fangraphs, Baseball Savant, etc. to inform our ideas, so familiarity with those sites and content is a plus, but not necessarily a requirement.

In order to be considered, part of the above form will be submitting a writing sample as either a Google Doc or a PDF file. If you do not have any writing samples, you can submit something based on one of these two topics:

Topic 1: The Phillies’ player development system seems to be ranked anywhere in the mid- to low-teens in terms of national system rankings. In 500-700 words, where might that direction head after the 2026 season based on the state of the current system? Which players are crucial to help the team maintain their current position? Where does the team need to improve at to fare better in these rankings?

Topic 2: In fewer than 400 words, give a player profile of any minor league player in the team’s current system that is not one of Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter or Aidan Miller.

Please note: the application process will be closed on February 28, 2026 at 12:00 pm. From that point, we will be reviewing all applications and writing samples over the next few weeks. We will respond back to you in a timely manner. If you have any questions about the application process, feel free to contact me directly.

Today we are looking at the talented but enigmatic right-hander.

Ben Brown has had several lives as a Chicago Cub. He’s worked as a starter and a reliever, has ridden the Iowa bus often. His talent is undeniable, but he just doesn’t get people out as consistently as he or the Cubs would like. There are times when he’s dominant, and there are times when he gives up runs in bunches, and the latter happens way too often.

The word is that he has a couple of new pitches and is being looked at as a starter.

“I developed a sinker and changeup this offseason,” Brown said.— Sharma{$}

26-year-old Ben sports a career 0.7 bWAR (2.4 fWAR). He’s at this point a suspect rather than a prospect but his electric stuff is still tantalizing and he’ll get one last shot. He started 15 games in 2025, with middling results. His 5-8 record and 5.74 ERA indicate his success, as do his 1.439 WHIP and 1.5 HR/9.

He’ll have to do better.

The Mets are adding more depth to their pitching staff, signing right-handed pitcher Bryce Conley to a minor league deal, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. 

Conley, 31, has a 4.53 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over seven big league seasons, jumping back and forth between starting and relieving.

He worked mainly as a starter last season in the Nationals' system across 118.2 innings in Double-A and Triple-A.

Regardless of what role the Mets choose for him, Conley would seem to be ticketed for the minors to start the season.

The Mets are deciding whether to open the year with a five- or six-man starting rotation, which will be dictated in part by health.

Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, Sean Manaea, David Peterson, and Kodai Senga are the six main starters, with Christian Scott and Jonah Tong also in the mix.

Tobias Myers, who can start and relieve, is stretching out as a starter. His role is to be determined, but Carlos Mendozasaid on Wednesday that he will be on the team if healthy.

When it comes to the bullpen competition, there are four locks, health-dependent: Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley,and Luis Garcia.

Craig Kimbrel is in camp on a minor league deal, and it stands to reason that he'll have an inside track to make the team if his stuff looks good.

Other competitors for a spot in the bullpen include Bryan Hudson, Huascar Brazoban, Adbert Alzolay, Dylan Ross, Ryan Lambert, and Jonathan Pintaro.

Last week, Royals Review Editor-in-ChLast week, Royals Review Editor-in-Chief Max Rieper asked us to highlight a minor leaguer to watch this spring. I immediately volunteered to write about a guy with a fantastic name who has been racing through the Royals’ system: Carson Roccaforte.

Roccaforte was drafted by KC in the 2023 Competitive Balance B round, 66th overall. He comes from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, where he slashed .325/.409/.550 in three seasons. He’s not known for his power, but he still popped 10 home runs in 2024 at High-A Quad Cities and 18 more last year between Quad Cities and Northwest Arkansas.

What stands out to me about Roccaforte is how he didn’t miss a beat after his promotion. He slashed .237/.364/.466/.830 (136 wRC+) for Quad Cities, then slashed .290/.387/.475/.862 for NWA (141 wRC+). Those numbers put him between Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen in terms of how well he hit in NWA. There’s some caution – he sported a .410 BABIP. But he has a lot of speed (he stole 43 bases between both teams last year) and he does a very good job of pulling the ball without overdoing it, so it’s reasonable to expect him to carry a somewhat high BABIP, even if that’s still a bit too high. He was also nearly a year younger than his competition at AA, which is one of the best signs of potential among minor league players.

He brings a ton of plate discipline with a solid walk rate while avoiding strikeouts. Probably part of the reason he doesn’t show more power is that he has a very short swing, which allows him to make sure he gets the bat on the ball, but might be the reason for his somewhat low bat speed.

That said, we have some statistics from the Arizona Fall League that show he doesn’t chase, but does an excellent job of getting the barrel on the ball. While he was there, he slashed .279/.393/.485/.878 and whacked two home runs and eight doubles in only 18 games.

He’s likely to start the year by returning to Northwest Arkansas, but with Jac Caglianone heading to the World Baseball Classic, he might have a chance to get some more playing time in Spring Training than normal. If he has a very good spring, he might have a shot to start the year in Omaha, where the Royals are known to have a somewhat weak outfield group.

It’s almost impossible to envision Roccaforte breaking camp with the big league club, but he can play all three outfield positions – he won the Royals’ Minor League Defensive Player of the Year award while playing center in 2024. If he continues to rake as he did last year, all it would take is an injury or some ineffectiveness from any of the Royals’ current group of outfielders to see him make his debut sometime around midseason or later.

Even if he doesn’t debut for KC this season, he should find himself in a prime position to compete for a roster spot at the beginning of 2027, perhaps to take over from Kyle Isbel ahead of his age-30 season. The ceiling isn’t nearly as high as that of Jac Caglianone, of course, but if he can continue to improve his hitting, he could be something of a faster Luis Arráez with better defense at a more premium defensive position. And I think we’d all enjoy watching that guy patrol centerfield for years to come.

Mets owner Steve Cohen made waves at spring training on Monday when he declared that the team will never name a captain while he's the owner.

"As long as I'm owning the team, there will never be a team captain," Cohen said. "That was my decision. My view is, the locker room is unique and let the locker room sort it out, year-in, year-out. There will never be a captain. I've felt that way all along."

There was a belief last season thatFrancisco Lindor would eventually be named team captain -- a possibility that was discussed by both Lindor and manager Carlos Mendoza in 2025.

Speaking on Thursday, Lindor weighed in on Cohen's decision. 

"I respect it," Lindor told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. "This is definitely a Steve, front office type decision. I respect it. At the end of the day … being named captain or not, I’m still going to act the same. This is not something that’s going to make me somebody different. So I respect it. I’m glad he put everything to bed, so that way we can stop talking about this. And move on."

Lindor added:

"It’s not where they want to go. I respect it, I understand it and I’m on board.

"It’s just one of those where it’s like, I’m going to focus on baseball. I feel like we’ve got leaders [without] captains and all that stuff. The clubhouse is the clubhouse. Let’s just play baseball, and let’s focus on winning."

Before their recent offseason overhaul, the Mets' clubhouse had a handful of position players who had been there for a significant period of time.

That included Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso.

Nimmo, who debuted in 2016 and was a mainstay in Queens for 10 seasons, was traded to the Rangers this offseason for Marcus Semien.

Alonso, who debuted in 2019 and became the team's all-time home run leader last season, left as a free agent to sign a five-year deal with the Orioles.

The risk is real when it comes to other players being miffed by one guy being named captain -- whoever that captain is. It's also a figurehead kind of title, so it's hard to argue with Cohen's reasoning behind not naming anyone while allowing the clubhouse to function as a unit.

In addition to Lindor, the big names in New York's clubhouse in 2026 will include the returning Juan Soto as well as newcomers Semien, Bo Bichette, and Jorge Polanco.

Since the team's inception in 1962, the Mets have had just four captains.

Keith Hernandez was named captain in 1987, becoming the first one in team history.

In 1988, Gary Carter was named a co-captain and shared the title with Hernandez.

Both Hernandez and Carter left the Mets after 1989, and the next captain was John Franco, who served in the role from 2001 to 2004.

David Wright, the most recent captain, held the role from 2013 to 2018.

There are currently just two team captains in baseball -- Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Salvador Perez of the Royals.

Howie Rose won’t be hitting the road this season unless the Mets make the playoffs.

The longtime radio voice of the Mets will call 84 games this season, he told Newsday — all 81 home games and the three-game series against the Yankees in The Bronx.

The 72-year-old, who worked 100 games in 2025, would call every playoff game, though, should the Mets qualify. Beyond that, nothing is guaranteed.

“I’m going to work this whole season,” Rose told the outlet. “And whether or not I work next season is not a matter of whimsy or anything like that. I’ll know. When I decide to say it — and it could be at any time — it could be in a couple of years. Who knows?”

Rose, who previously was the Mets’ TV play-by-player, has been part of their radio booth since 2004. He currently calls games with Keith Raad, while pre-and-postgame host Patrick McCarthy fills in when needed.

Rose’s schedule had been reduced in recent years in part due to bladder cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2021. His bladder and prostate were removed and a “neobladder” was created from the intestines.

Calling games is still enjoyable for Rose, but everything that goes into it before and after has become a “grind.”

“If you could parachute me into the booth at 7 o’clock every night and parachute me back home when the game is over without dealing with traffic and preparation and everything else, then I’d go on indefinitely,” Rose told Newsday. “But there’s a lot of factors as you get older — your health, certainly the greatest of it. The other things that, I suppose, contribute to an ultimate decision is do I want to continue leaving my wife home at night all the time? Do I want to continue working at night? Do I want to continue finding the energy to prep properly for a game? Those are the things I evaluate.”

Rose will be on the call Saturday for the Mets’ spring opener against the Marlins in Port St. Lucie.

The start of spring training is usually the time of year where we start to hear copious reports about [insert any baseball player you want here] being in The Best Shape of His Life heading into camp. Ronald Acuña Jr. may fall into this category after he was spotted hitting batting practice bombs at the start of spring training and exclaiming loudly that “I’M HEALTHY!” afterwards. There’s no other message to take from this post other than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is currently in The Best Shape of His Life.

While the topic of this particular article may not be in the best shape of his life, the Braves would certainly benefit from having him healthy once again and you might even say that it’s crucial that he stays healthy going forward. That man is Austin Riley, who has spent the past two seasons scuffling a bit and seeing his campaign get cut short due to injury. Just when Riley was starting to really get rolling in 2024, he got hit on the wrist with a heater and that was it for his season. A sports hernia essentially derailed anything that Riley had going on in 2025.

Of course, one player is not going to derail any given season. We got a clear example of that up close and personal in 2021 when this team won the World Series without Ronald Acuña Jr. playing any games in the second half or Postseason. With that being said, it’s a stone cold fact that this team absolutely needs to have Austin Riley doing well at the hot corner and the bottom line is that if this team is going to accomplish what it wants to, they need Riley to be healthy and productive.

Fortunately, it feels like Riley is feeling good coming into this season. Braves beat writer Mark Bowman wrote an article on Riley recently and while every single baseball team and player has reason to feel optimistic at this time of year, it sure seems like Atlanta’s star third baseman has very good reason to feel optimistic.

The sports hernia surgery performed this past summer didn’t limit Riley this offseason. So, there’s reason the two-time All-Star is confident he can get back to where he was when he finished top seven in National League MVP balloting three straight seasons (2021-23).

“The sports hernia, I’m not even thinking about it,” Riley said. “The hand, I’m not even thinking about it. So, having a whole offseason getting to do what I’ve done in the past is huge.”

Again, it’s probably not a coincidence that this team (and the lineup in particular) is better when Austin Riley is productive. Riley put up five consecutive 5 fWAR seasons from 2021 through 2023 — the Braves won the World Series in 2021, they won 101 games in 2022 and then won 104 games in 2023. During Riley’s injury plagued 2024 and 2025 campaigns, the team limped into the Wild Card round in 2024 and missed the Postseason entirely in 2025. Again, one man doesn’t make or break a team’s fortunes in the ultimate team sport that is baseball but it’s clear that Riley is going to play a very big part in any level of success that the Braves hope to have going forward.

The good news is that there seems to be some evidence that a healthy Austin Riley should live up to the lofty expectations that are expected of him. MLB.com also recently posted a list of every team’s projected leader in WAR for the upcoming season and while Ronald Acuña Jr. is the obvious favorite to lead the Braves in WAR going forward, there figures to be a furious fight for second place in that category and he leader of that pack might be Austin Riley. FanGraphs Depth Charts is projecting that Acuña will finish with 5.4 WAR as a batter but then Austin Riley is right behind him at a projected 3.6 WAR.

In fact, Riley’s being projected to hit .261/.324/.470 with .340 wOBA. While that’s slightly below his career numbers of .270/.334/.492 with .352 wOBA, it’s also better than the .258/.316/.445 slash line (with .328 wOBA) that he produced over the course of the past two seasons. In fact, his 2024 numbers (.256/.322/.461, .338 wOBA, 116 wRC+) weren’t terrible and were actually trending upwards until he got hit on the wrist.

Even in 2025, he was doing pretty well right up until his abdomen started acting up on him as he had hit .274/.324/.441 with a .330 wOBA and 111 wRC+ over 408 plate appearances. While all of these numbers are still lower than what he was putting up during his peak performance, it’s productive enough to help make sure that this is a tough lineup to deal with with a healthy Austin Riley in it.

Alex Anthopoulos is also on record saying that he believes that the offense as a whole bouncing back may be a more important influence on any of Atlanta’s future success going forward, so obviously that would include a healthy Austin Riley in any formula that leads to the Braves doing well as a lineup going forward. There may be some questions about health and consistency but a lot of this lineup has the track record behind them to believe that a bounce back could absolutely be possible.

Austin Riley is absolutely a prime candidate to bounce back and if he does then the Braves should be in very good shape going forward. Riley might not be the straw that stirs the drink but the Braves absolutely need a healthy and productive Riley to come through for them if they want to perform well as a team going forward. We’ll see what happens but for now, it’s fun to imagine Riley going out there and raking like usual while shattering all types of proverbial glass.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The New York Mets will play their first Grapefruit League game of 2026 on Saturday afternoon at Clover Park.

Brandon Waddell will be on the mound for the spring opener and some notable names will be noticeably absent.

But there have been some clues about what could potentially come down the line for the Mets before the upcoming season. There are some intriguing names, noteworthy injuries and position battles to watch.

Here are three way-too-early predictions for the 2026 season about two weeks into spring training:

Veteran reliever Yency Almonte is back with the Dodgers on a minor league contract, rejoining a team he pitched for in both 2022 and 2023.

Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic reported the signing, and earlier Thursday morning Almonte himself posted a picture on Instagram of him holding a Dodgers cap in front of his locker at Camelback Ranch.

Almonte has battled injuries over the past four seasons, including right shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum in July 2024 while with the Cubs. He didn’t pitch in the majors in 2025, spending the entire season on the 60-day injured list. He did last year pitch 15 games in the minors on rehab between High-A South Bend and Double-A Knoxville, posting a 1.86 ERA in 19 1/3 innings, with 17 strikeouts and 10 walks.

In his first foray with the Dodgers, Almonte also signed a minor league deal in 2022. He reached the majors in May and posted a 1.02 ERA and 2.89 xERA in 33 games, with 33 strikeouts and 10 walks in 35 1/3 innings and missed seven weeks with right elbow tightness. He struggled in 2023, with a 5.06 ERA and 4.38 xERA in 49 games in a year that was cut short by a right knee sprain.

Traded to the Cubs in the Michael Busch deal, Almonte in 2024 had a 3.45 ERA and 3.29 xERA in 17 games with 20 strikeouts and eight walks in 15 2/3 innings before succumbing to his shoulder injury.

Almonte, who turns 32 in June, has a 4.44 career ERA in 213 games, all relief appearances for the Rockies, Dodgers, and Cubs over seven major league seasons, with 215 strikeouts and 95 walks in 223 innings.

As teams reported for spring training, the injury news around the league came in fast and furiously last week. From pitchers who dealt with arm injuries in 2025 and did not have them repaired in the offseason — like Pablo Lopez, Blake Snell, Shane Bieber, and Josh Hader, being eased into the preseason — to a trio of hitters in Corbin Carroll, Francisco Lindor, and Jackson Holliday needing surgery on their hamate bones. Anthony Santander missed over four months a year ago and is just now getting surgery on his shoulder, likely to miss most of 2026 as well. Blue Jays fans should be allowed to file a lawsuit for such behavior. 

The lone Red Sox injury of note last week was not to a full-time starting player but is notable nonetheless. Romy Gonzalez is behind schedule in spring training with shoulder inflammation, but “hopes to be ready for Opening Day,” according to Christopher Smith’s article for Mass Live last week. The more alarming details in this piece are that Gonzalez sustained this injury in the September 19-21 series at Tampa Bay last season. He had a setback in early January and then received a PRP injection later in the month. 

As a general rule, much like with the pitchers listed above, if you end the season with an injury and then arrive at camp the next season with the same injury still bothering you, that’s probably not going to end well. Locally, a recent example would be pitcher Kutter Crawford. In a story that was, coincidentally, posted on February 15th of last year, we learned that Crawford had pitched through a knee injury for 90% of the 2024 season, did not get it repaired in the offseason, and that his “status for the start of the season is iffy.” Innocent wording of that nature — just like “Opening Day is in question,” or “a bit behind the other players” — seems to be copied and pasted into all articles this time of year. It rarely ends well. Crawford did not pitch for Boston in 2025. 

Over the past two weeks, the Red Sox notably signed Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a head-scratching $6 million contract for 2026, as well as bringing back three versatile infielders in a trade with the Brewers. Additionally, the team claimed another versatile infielder, Tsung-Che Cheng, off waivers from the Washington Nationals and added him to the 40-man roster, and added second baseman Brendan Rodgers on a minor-league deal. That is a whole lot of ordinary infielders that have been added to the organization in recent weeks. One might even describe it as a plethora of ordinary infielders. “Would you say that we have a plethora of ordinary infielders, Brez?”

This quantity over quality of approach didn’t make much sense until the Gonzalez news came down a week ago, and is a result of waiting until late in the offseason to address clear deficiencies in the lineup. When noted lefty-killer Rob Refsnyder signed with the Mariners in December for $6.25M, it was hard to fault the team for letting him go with all of the outfielders on the roster and the likelihood of Kristian Campbell also shifting to the outfield.

But with Refsnyder gone, if the team is also without Gonzalez for part, or all, of the season, that is a definite concern against left-handed pitching. Gonzalez, Refsnyder, Rafael Devers, and Alex Bregman were the top four hitters in OPS for the Red Sox a year ago against lefties. Without them, someone is going to have to step up. It should also be noted that Gonzalez is the only other player on the expected Opening Day roster with any experience playing first base except for Willson Contreras. And Gonzalez wasn’t just good against southpaws a year ago, he hit the ball hard against most everybody.

Here is a listing of the 13 players currently projected on Roster Resource to make the Opening Day roster, alongside their stats versus left-handed pitching in 2025, sorted by wRC+. I also included Kristian Campbell, who figures to play a key role on the team this season, and could be a replacement for Gonzalez if he misses time. 

For reference, Refsnyder slashed .302/.399/.560 (.959 OPS) with a 159 wRC+ against lefties in 138 plate appearances. After Romy, the top player in the list above, there isn’t much to hang on to. Roman Anthony will continue to improve, but he struck out 39% of the time. Kristian Campbell walked plenty against lefties, but hit just .207 compared to a .227 average against righties. Ceddanne Rafaela posted a .220 batting average. Jarren Duran was at .211. Alex Cora has already noted that Abreu will get more chances to face lefties, but he had a .230 mark a year ago and has a .205 career average against them. The right-handed hitting Kiner-Falefa, in case you wondered if he was brought in to help in this department, walked 1.6% of the time (!!) and had a .536 OPS against lefties, compared to a .668 OPS against right-handers. Marcelo Mayer was barely allowed to face them, but hit .154 in 26 at-bats. 

A few days ago, when asked about Romy’s progress, Cora described it as “a tough offseason” for Gonzalez and that he is “frustrated” as they wait for the PRP injection to kick in. 

For two-plus years now, many of us on this website have noted the lack of lefty-righty balance in both the major league team and with the looming prospects who are now up in the big leagues. Very little has changed in that sense, and now there’s a new weakness — a lack of power in the lineup after the departure of Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers — that has emerged over the past eight months. It will be interesting to see if anyone on the current roster, such as Abreu, Duran, and Mayer, is able to step up against southpaws this season. Or perhaps it will be a name we aren’t even focusing on at this time, from that plethora of infielders that Craig Breslow has acquired so far this month. 

Despite the possibility they could boast the best starting staff in the division by the All-Star break, the Yankees rotation will have a different composition on Opening Day. They will have to lean on their less-heralded arms to weather the early-season absences of Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón as the pair rehab from their respective elbow surgeries. As things stand, their rotation projects as Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Ryan Weathers, rounded out by 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil.

2025 Stats: 11 starts, 57 IP, 4-1, 3.32 ERA (123 ERA+), 4.63 FIP, 5.65 xFIP, 16.8% K%, 13.5% BB%, 0.79 HR/9, 1.40 WHIP, 0.6 fWAR

2026 ZiPS Projections: 19 starts, 93.2 IP, 5-6, 4.61 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 23.3% K%, 11.8% BB%, 1.25 HR/9, 1.34 WHIP, 1.0 fWAR

Fresh off his RoY win, the Yankees refused to include Gil in a rumored trade for Kyle Tucker before the latter was dealt to the Cubs. Should Gil take the next step in his development at the major league level, one could have dreamed of him establishing a ceiling as a frontline starter. Instead, a lat strain robbed him of the first four months of the season, and warning flags popped up in bunches once he returned to play.

The surface-level stats looked encouraging — in nine of his last ten starts he allowed two or fewer runs across at least five innings in each outing to finish the year with a 3.32 ERA. However, looking under the hood revealed a host of problems. He placed among the four worst starters with at least 50 innings pitched in walk rate, K-BB%, xFIP, and SIERA after losing almost 1.5 mph off his average fastball velocity, leading to plummeting strikeout and chase rates. He gave up a ton of pulled fly balls accompanied by career worsts in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate, both of which underlie alarming jumps in expected slugging and expected FIP.

Not to be too harsh, but all of the lingering hope and hype surrounding Gil boils down to a seven-start stretch from the beginning of May through the first week of June in 2024. Without that five-week span, Gil would not have the AL Rookie of the Year award on his mantel, and his career ERA balloons from 3.50 to 4.15 and FIP from 4.25 to 4.70. Obviously, that is not the way baseball works, but it is still revealing how much weight a relatively short stretch exerts when you have a major league sample size of 242 career innings.

To his credit, Gil remained confident in his abilities when queried about the drop in fastball velocity, asserting that it was an area of maturation to pace himself through a start rather than throw max effort on each hitter (and his fastest pitch at 99 mph proves he can still reach back for velo when he needs it). However, Gil has likely reached his ceiling until he can find consistent command with all three pitches. His 12.7-percent career walk rate is second worst among starters with at least 240 innings pitched since Gil’s debut in 2021. He would suffer starts where he lost the feel for two out of three pitches. Being reduced to throwing just his heater or just his changeup batter after batter caused his strikeout, whiff, and chase rates to crater to career-lows — you just are not going to fool the opposition throwing the same pitch over and over.

All this being said, there are two ways to view Gil’s 2026 season. From the broader team perspective, the Yankees really only need Gil to deputize in rotation until Cole and Rodón are ready to go. Indeed, ZiPS projects him as exactly that type of fringy fifth starter. Though almost all projection systems expect his ERA to increase by about a run, each model predicts his strikeout rate to recover accompanied by a career-low walk rate, perhaps banking that a clean bill of health and a full spring training can put his command in a better spot entering the season.

From the individual focused standpoint, it’s a more worrying outlook for Gil. Once one of the crown jewels of the Yankees’ pitching development, Gil is already finding himself leapfrogged by the prospects graduating below him. His prospects as a long-term starter for the Yankees are dimming in the face of the emergence of Schlittler and Warren and the looming graduations of Elmer Rodríguez and (further down the road) Carlos Lagrange to the majors. Volatility does not project well for a starter, and Gil could be ticketed for a move to the bullpen where at least his high-octane stuff can play up in short spurts.

Thus, Gil finds himself at a crossroads entering the 2026 season. His lack of appreciable development since debuting and the recent trend of disappearing strikeouts severely limit his floor and ceiling as a starter. The urgency is accelerated by the crop of starting pitchers on the cusp of the majors threatening to push Gil out of the future rotation pictures, making the upcoming campaign a make-or-break season for the 27-year-old.

See more of the Yankees Previews series here.

Jared Sundstrom’s surface numbers from the 2025 season do not scream “Top Twenty Prospect” by any stretch of the imagination. A large-bodied outfielder that strikes out nearly 30% of the time and bats right handed isn’t exactly a hot commodity, so what gives? What makes Sundstrom different?

For starters, the tools Sundstrom brings to the table are still very much present. He’s got massive power with fast hands and belts the ball when he makes contact, a necessary trait for a player that’s likely a corner outfielder in the long run. The power comes with swing-and-miss, but he’s been a steady producer throughout his career, making enough contact to get quality results. Plus, with a bounding stride, massive arm, and quick twitch, Sundstrom is a major asset both in the field and on the basepaths; he can play all three outfield positions and went 35/39 in stolen base attempts last season.

Though his season slashline and counting totals look poor at first glance, some major context is necessary to truly understand why his numbers dipped so starkly. Sundstrom epitomizes the player that is destroyed by the confines of Dickey-Stephens Park, home stadium of the Mariners’ Double-A affiliate, and his home/road splits prove it. When playing on the road, Sundstrom slashed .237/.314/.432 with peripherals in line with his career totals. These numbers would reflect a player who made the jump to Double-A and held his own. His home numbers, however, tell a different story. Slashing .198/.276/.307, Sundstrom saw his right-handed power zapped by the windy, cavernous confines of DSP and subsequently had his “back of the baseball card” numbers for the 2025 season destroyed. Encouragingly, Sundstrom’s peripherals were nearly exactly the same on the road as they were at home, strongly pointing to the notion that the ballpark is playing a major role in his struggles.

Sundstrom is far from a flawless prospect, but his talent far eclipses the numbers he produced last season. It’s a boom-or-bust kind of profile that can be tough to evaluate in the low minors, but his performance in Double-A was rather encouraging and reflected a player who’s got the skills to compete in the upper minors. With speed, defensive skills, and gaudy power, Sundstrom has the look of a future big leaguer. Whether it’s a fourth outfielder, bench bat, or starting right fielder isn’t clear at this point in time, but there’s enough here to reason he’s going to end up making it work. Look for him to start the 2026 season in Tacoma and reap the benefits of the bountiful offensive environment that is the PCL.

Phillies' new-look bullpen shines against big bats originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Phillies’ revamped bullpen was the talk of spring training on Thursday.

Brad Keller, Jonathan Bowlan and Kyle Backhus each threw live sessions against the Phillies’ best hitters, a group that included Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber.

The new arms were impressive.

Keller retired Harper and Schwarber on routine fly balls in the first session of the afternoon. Bowlan then struck out Turner and Schwarber in consecutive at-bats. Backhus kept everyone off balance with his funky sidearm delivery from the left side.

Adding Keller, Bowlan and Backhus to a returning nucleus of Jhoan Duran, Orion Kerkering, Jose Alvarado and Tanner Banks makes for a potentially dominant collection of relievers.

“It’s probably the best group of arms that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Rob Thomson said following Thursday’s workout.

The manager was especially impressed with how Bowlan and Backhus fared against the club’s veteran bats.

“They were really good,” Thomson said. “Bowlan was outstanding. He has a great arm, but he can really spin it too and he was throwing strikes. Backhus is a completely different look for people, that really low sidearm slot with velocity and sink. He filled up the strikes zone with sliders. He’s really difficult on lefthanded hitters.”

The Phillies acquired Bowlan from the Royals in the offseason trade that sent Matt Strahm to Kansas City. Bowlan, a 28-year old righthander with three years of major league experience, posted a 3.86 ERA in 33 relief appearances and one start for the Royals last season.

Backhus came to Philadelphia via a separate offseason trade in which the Phillies sent minor league outfield prospect Avery Owusu-Asiedu to the Diamondbacks. Backhus, a 28-year old lefty, had a 4.62 ERA in 32 relief appearances for Arizona last season as a rookie.   

Keller is the most notable bullpen addition. He received a two-year, $22 million free agent contract after posting a 2.07 ERA in 68 appearances for the Cubs in 2025. The 30-year old righthander is a converted starter who shined in his first full season in a relief role.

Keller has been welcomed with open arms in his new clubhouse.   

“Everything has been awesome,” Keller said. “All the guys here have been great. It’s been amazing. Everyone is super laid-back, which is awesome. Coming into a camp with a lot of veteran guys helps out a ton. I’m just getting my feet underneath me and ready for the season.”

 Keller echoed Thomson’s sentiments about the potential of the Phillies bullpen.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “Obviously we have a lot of dogs down there, a lot of guys who throw hard. I’m just trying to fit right in, go out there and do my job, put up a zero and pass it to the next guy. I’m excited just to be a part of it.”