Category: Baseball

How collective bargaining uncertainty factors into Phillies extending Luzardo originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. — There is a possibility, while unlikely, that there won’t be baseball in 2027.

Will there be a salary cap?

A salary floor?

Both?

Right now, there is not a clear picture of what’s coming in Major League Baseball — or when. The disagreement surrounds payrolls across the game.

The Phillies carry the fourth-highest luxury tax payroll in the league at just under $312 million, and it’s unclear how grandfathered money might factor into a potential salary cap structure.

So they got ahead of the chaos.

On Sunday, the Phillies and Jesús Luzardo agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension covering the 2027 through 2031 seasons. He will make $11 million this season in his third and final arbitration year.

Luzardo is just 28 and won’t turn 29 until September. Age is a central reason the Phillies felt urgency. If he goes out and posts another 32-start campaign with a sub-3.50 ERA, he could have commanded north of $30 million annually on the open market.

The collective bargaining agreement is the backdrop to everything here. The current agreement expires after 2026, and a work stoppage — lockout, strike, or otherwise — would push the next season to 2028. If that happens, Luzardo would be knocking on 30 when the next season began.

That’s exactly the age most free-agent starting pitchers, especially left-handers, hit the open market. The window to sign him at a relative discount was now, not next winter.

If a salary cap is implemented and the Phillies are up against it, they would not have been as strong a suitor. Locking him up now eliminated that risk.

There would have been significant competition for Luzardo regardless. A cap-and-floor system — the structure most likely to bridge the gap between players and owners — would have forced smaller-market teams to spend up, making him an even hotter commodity.

The foundation for this deal was laid long before Monday. When Dave Dombrowski acquired Luzardo from Miami in December 2024, trading top-five infield prospect Starlyn Caba and outfielder Emaarion Boyd, the southpaw was coming off a season-ending back injury with an ERA north of six. It was a calculated bet on talent and upside.

A healthy 2025 validated it. Luzardo made a team-leading 32 starts for the second time in his career, went 15-7 with a 3.92 ERA, threw a career-high 183 2/3 innings and struck out 216. He finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting.

His season wasn’t without turbulence. A stretch of pitch-tipping produced back-to-back disastrous starts — 20 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Remove those outings and he pitched to a 3.03 ERA in 30 starts.

Once the issue was identified and corrected, Luzardo closed the year with a 2.84 ERA over his final 11 starts. That version of the pitcher is what the Phillies are buying.

The Luzardo deal also further validates the decision to pass on Ranger Suárez in free agency this past winter. Suárez landed five years and $130 million with Boston, yet has never made 30 starts in a season or eclipsed 160 innings. Luzardo has cleared 175 innings twice and made 32 starts in each of those campaigns.

The Phillies chose the more durable pitcher at $5 million more total. That’s a reasonable trade-off.

The financial picture works, too. Nick Castellanos ($19.2 million) and Taijuan Walker ($18 million) come off the books after this season, freeing up roughly $37 million. The $16 million annual increase in Luzardo’s value will be easier to absorb in that context.

What has allowed the Phillies to keep investing in starting pitching year after year?

In part, one of the sharper trades and extensions in recent memory. Cristopher Sánchez was acquired from Tampa Bay in 2019 for prospect Curtis Mead, who has appeared in just 152 big-league games and hit .238.

Sánchez’s hot start to 2024 earned him a four-year, $22.5 million extension buying out his final pre-arbitration year and three arbitration seasons at just over $5 million annually, with club options for 2029 ($14 million) and 2030 ($15 million). A bargain for a Cy Young-caliber pitcher that created the room to keep spending.

Looking ahead, Wheeler’s deal expires after the 2027 season, the end of his three-year, $120 million. With Luzardo now signed through 2031, he joins Trea Turner and Bryce Harper as the three players under contract that far out.

The roster construction beyond Wheeler’s departure will look very different, and the next CBA — which will likely span longer than the 2021 agreement — will shape how that money is distributed.

The next domino worth watching is closer Jhoan Duran, one year away from his own contract year. A work stoppage could delay those conversations or accelerate them. The Phillies may choose to act sooner rather than later.

For now, the Luzardo extension is the statement. If he continues to take the ball every five days and pitches to his ceiling, this deal could age as one of the more cost-efficient contracts on the books for a club that has never shied away from spending.

There’s a great unknown hanging over the sport heading into 2027. One thing is certain, though. Jesús Luzardo will be in red pinstripes.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: To no one’s surprise, Max Fried will be taking the baton first for the Yankee rotation in 2026. The team officially announced that Fried will be the Opening Day starter on March 25th against the Giants, setting up their ace from the 2025 season to start things off. Fried didn’t get the honor last year because of how close to the start of the year Gerrit Cole’s injury occurred (Carlos Rodón got the ball instead), but after stepping up in place of the clubhouse leader there was no question that he’d get the nod this time around.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): Around these parts we’ve been giving rave reviews of how well Ben Rice did last year while being sure to mention that he got ridiculously unlucky at the plate at the same time, and Rice himself feels compelled to check the stats every once in a while to look at how silly his Baseball Savant page looks. The difference was a lot more difficult to swallow two years ago though, when Rice debuted and looked like a solid enough player already whose results unfortunately were terrible. Rice lays out how he battled through that frustrating rookie season and transformed his results, as well as the strides he’s looking to take this season which could push him from the fringes of stardom to a household name in the league.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: Carlos Rodón has progressed to the next stage of his rehab, facing live hitters and notching the velocity on his fastball back into the 92-94 mph range. Rodón likely isn’t going to make it into any spring training games this year, but there’s a chance that he could build up to an exhibition game just before the Yankees break camp in Arizona ahead of Opening Day. Still, while the left-hander might not be back with the major league team before May this is altogether a solid recovery for a pitcher who’s had his fair share of surgeries at this point. Here’s hoping the rest of the process stays smooth.

NY Post | Joseph Staszewski: Spencer Jones got off to a hot start in this year’s spring, but logistics were always going to get in his way before he could book a ticket to San Francisco with the rest of the big leaguers. Jones was officially optioned down to Triple-A to start the year, alongside starter Elmer Rodríguez, where he was expected to begin thanks to the Yankees boasting an outfield consisting of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Trent Grisham. Jones will have plenty of eyes on him still as scouts look to see whether he can continue his prodigious power streak while toning down on the strikeouts, but whether he’ll get a shot to showcase that for the Yankees or another organization remains to be seen.

As an aside on Rodríguez, he may be ticketed for Triple-A, but in a big start for Puerto Rico against Cuba last night, he demonstrated a small sample of why the Yankees like him so much, throwing three innings of scoreless, one-hit ball (albeit while walking three).

SB Nation | Samantha Bradfield: There’s a lot of star power on the Team USA roster this year, but the locker room has been a boon for everyone involved it seems. Players have rave reviews for getting to experience these All-Star-esque rosters and pick people’s brains, and of course the Captain of the team is front and center in that experience. Judge called it a “once-in-a-lifetime experience,” with players like Clayton Kershaw, Kyle Schwarber, and Paul Goldschmidt chiming in to agree.

National Baseball Hall of Fame: Bill White was awarded the Buck O’Neil Award on Monday, honoring his “extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball’s positive impact on society.” A former World Series champion first baseman with the Cardinals, a trailblazer, and a six-time All-Star, White transferred over to the broadcasting booth following his retirement, and formed an iconic booth alongside Yankees legend Phil Rizzuto for 18 seasons. He was later named president of the National League, back when the two leagues had separate heads. White’s call of Bucky Dent’s famous home run against Boston in the 1978 AL one-game playoff is an iconic one, and one that rings through the history of the game to this day.

Observations from Yankees spring training on Monday:

Rice is cooking

Ben Rice flashed a nice glove at first base, robbing Enmanuel Valdez of a base hit with a diving catch to his right in the third inning. 

Not again

Jake Bird, who struggled badly after being acquired at last year’s trade deadline from Colorado, gave up two more runs to the Pirates. 

Caught my eye

Giancarlo Stanton smashed a 424-foot homer to left-center.

The shot was measured at 109 mph and was his first of the spring.

But can he open a bag of Doritos? 

Tuesday’s schedule

Luis Gil gets the start against the Phillies at 1:05 p.m. in Clearwater, Fla., as the right-hander tries to regain the form he displayed as American League Rookie of the Year in 2024. 

Observations from Mets spring training on Monday:

Big D 

Devin Williams pitched a perfect fifth inning with two strikeouts in the 9-0 exhibition victory over the Marlins at Clover Park.

It was a second straight scoreless outing for the right-hander after surrendering a homer on his first pitch of the Grapefruit League. 

Too much air

Catcher Ben Rortvedt overthrew second base attempting to nail Connor Norby stealing in the sixth inning. Norby reached third base on the error. 

Caught my eye

Zach Thornton, a loaner from minor league camp, pitched three scoreless innings as the starter.

The lefty allowed two hits and one walk and struck out three. 

Tuesday’as schedule

David Peterson will face the Cardinals in Port St. Lucie.

TAMPA — Monday was a promising day for the Yankees rotation. Max Fried earned an honor and Carlos Rodón took a step. 

Fried will be the Opening Day starter, manager Aaron Boone said, for the first time in his brief Yankees tenure and fourth time in his career. Fried became the club’s ace last season once Gerrit Cole went down, but Cole’s surgery occurred mid-camp and at a point in which Fried was not lined up for the opener. That 2025 nod eventually went to Rodón. 

Fried put together an All-Star season in his first campaign in The Bronx and is the leader of the still-Cole-less group, so Boone’s acknowledgment that Fried would be on the mound March 25 in San Francisco arrived with no frills. 

Fried was on the mound Monday and looking sharper than his first spring start. After struggling with his control last week against Team Panama, when he walked three in three-plus innings, Fried allowed one run on two hits and no walks in four innings in the 5-3 loss to the Pirates. 

“Way better, more consistent,” Fried said from Steinbrenner Field, where he built up to 67 pitches. “Was able to execute what I wanted to do.” 

The afternoon was encouraging for the Yankees rotation, too, Rodón facing hitters for the first time since October elbow surgery. 

Could he make his season debut next month? 

“I don’t know what’s in play,” Rodón said. 

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Boone said, “but he’s on a pretty good time[line].” 

Perhaps late April, perhaps May, but regardless there is optimism concerning Rodón, who checked off a significant box.

The lefty threw 20 pitches to minor leaguers and mixed in all of his pitches, watching his top velocity escalate from 92 mph in his bullpen sessions to 94 mph while facing actual humans. 

“I wasn’t trying to throw hard, and it came out at an easy, smooth pace,” said Rodón, who Boone said was “pretty sharp” for his first live batting practice. 

There will be several more live batting practice sessions, and Boone hoped that Rodón would appear in a Grapefruit League game before the regular season begins.

Rodón himself thought he would not appear in a game before his teammates leave for Arizona on March 23. He was not sure about a firm timetable but was happy with how his arm is feeling after the procedure to shave a bone spur and remove loose bodies. 

“Kind of like riding a bike,” Rodón said. “… Working on a few things. Don’t put too much stock into it, it’s just the first one. But it was good, good enough. Looking forward to going again.” 

Sunday morning brought news that one of the final key players left in free agency had signed. The Washington Nationals have reportedly signed starter Zack Littell to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2027. 

At the beginning of the offseason, Littell was projected to earn a two-year contract worth roughly $24 million. So why the big change? And why didn’t the San Diego Padres bother to bid against the Nationals for his services?

A journeying swingman

Throughout his career, Littell was mostly a reliever. He performed to varying degrees of success, but it was mostly inconsistent from season to season. 

His best years came in 2019 and 2021 with the Minnesota Twins where he posted a 2.68 ERA and 2.92 ERA, respectively. But each of those seasons were bookended by a 6.20 ERA in 2018, 9.95 in 2020, and 5.08 in 2022.

Because of his struggles, Littell wasn’t converted to a starter until after being picked up by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023. He started 14 games for the club and put up a solid 3.93 ERA. The Rays held onto him in 2024 before trading him at the 2025 deadline to the Cincinnati Reds.

Across 32 starts in ‘25 between Tampa Bay and Cincinnati, Littell authored a 3.81 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP, shining as a middle-of-the-rotation starter before entering free agency. 

Why the hesitancy to sign?

After such a high valuation from the majority of contract projections on Littell, it’s possible that his agents were waiting out the market for a better offer that never came. 

It’s unclear yet what the Nationals are paying Littell but that number will likely become public once the team announces the signing. The report of his signing remains unconfirmed.

Given that, it’s surprising the Padres didn’t swoop in to sign him. Earlier this offseason, San Diego was rumored to be checking in on Littell (though those discussions obviously did not come to fruition). Seemingly, the price wasn’t right to outbid Washington.

It will hopefully make more sense once the dollar figure of Littell’s contract is announced. But for a team still in need of reliable pitching, it’s surprising general manager A.J. Preller wasn’t in on the 30-year-old’s services. 

HOUSTON — The joint was completely packed, fans roamed outside trying to get a sneak peek inside, with music blaring and the crowd ready to party into the night.

Well, a 6-foot-7 dude bigger than any bouncer, not only got past the red-white-and-green velvet ropes, but sucked the life out of the party until it was almost last call.

Simply, Aaron Judge stole the show Monday evening at Daikin Park.

The sellout crowd of 41,678 watched him hit and throw to lead USA to a 5-3 victory over Mexico, and all but guarantee the Americans a berth in the quarterfinals..

Judge’s heroics began in the third when Mexico threatened USA starter Paul Skenes for the only time in his four-inning outing. Mexico had Joey Ortiz on first base after second baseman Brice Turang’s error, and Jarren Duran hit a hard liner to right field.

While Ortiz raced towards third base, Judge snagged the ball on one hop, and threw a 92-mph laser to third baseman Alex Bregman, who tagged Ortiz for the inning-ending out.

Judge barely had time to acknowledge the cheers from his teammates when he stepped to the plate with Bryce Harper on first base. He belted a 2-and-1 slider from reliever Jesus Cruz the opposite way into the right-field seats.

Judge started his home run trot, pointed and gestured towards the USA bench, circling the bases. The blast kick-started the USA offense, and by the time the inning ended, the Americans had a 5-0 lead after 21-year-old Roman Anthony’s three-run homer, the youngest player to homer for USA in the WBC.

It turned out that USA would need every bit of that offensive outburst with Mexico refusing to go away. Duran of the Boston Red Sox hit two home runs to provide late-game drama. They threatened again in the ninth on Joey Maneses’ leadoff single, but Garrett Whitlock closed out the game with three consecutive strikeouts.

The Air Force Academy duo of Skenes and Griffin Jax kept Mexico’s offense in check during their two stints, delighting the Air Force baseball team, who was invited to stay an extra day in Texas after playing Baylor over the weekend. Skenes and Griffin gave them a night to remember.

Skenes, who spent two years at the academy before transferring to LSU, gave up just one hit in four shutout innings, striking out seven batters. The former cadet was so fired up that he threw 21 pitches registering at least 97-mph on the radar gun the first two innings. And Jax, the first Air Force Academy graduate to reach the major leagues, shut down Mexico’s last rally in the eighth by coming in and inducing Alejandro Kirk into an inning-ending double play.

“I had special conversations with both of them," USA manager Mark DeRosa said. “Obviously, their process is a little bit different than the rest of the guys in the room, living that military background and going to school and attending Air Force.

“I know every guy in that room is proud to represent the United States of America. But the conversations with them were a little bit different, as far as wanting to represent every serviceman and woman who protects our freedom on a nightly basis. They're thinking is a little bit different."

The star outfielder for the Atlanta Braves continued to do his home country proud in the World Baseball Classic. Ronald Acuña Jr. delivered another good performance for Venezuela as his performance essentially pushed them over the top in a win that primes them for a massive clash against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.

As usual, Acuña led off for Venezuela in this one and as usual (when he’s healthy and feeling confident), he wreaked havoc upon the basepaths once he did reach. He got on with a walk, stole second base and then made it to third base on the play after catcher Ronald Rivera sent a wayward throw into the outfield. Jackson Chourio brought Acuña home on a sacrifice fly and that put a capper on a tone-setter of a trip around the basepaths for Acuña to start things off.

Acuña returned to the dish in the third inning and by that point, Nicaragua starter Danilo Bermudez had sat down eight Venezuela batters in a row. He was unable to make it nine because he served up a hanger in the middle of the zone for Acuña and the leadoff man for Venezuela and the Braves made no mistake with it. He crushed into the seats in right-center (a familiar sight for baseball fans in Miami) for a solo shot that put some breathing room in between Venezuela and Nicaragua. Venezuela had two baserunners and two runs at that point and both were thanks to Ronald Acuña Jr.

He wasn’t done there, either. Once the fifth inning rolled around, Acuña actually came to the plate with runners on base and two outs on the board. Duque Hebbert tried to fool him with a changeup but instead, Acuña smacked it into left-center field for another RBI in order to make it 3-0 Venezuela. For the kids keeping track at home, every run that Venezuela had scored at that point had Acuña involved with it in some way, shape or form. It’s the type of performance that us fans here in Braves Country are used to seeing and now he was doing it for his home country on the world stage.

Acuña added another single in seventh inning to make it a 3-for-3 day at the plate with a walk, a stolen base, two runs scored, two RBI and a home run as well. Again, baseball fans in Miami are very likely used to seeing this type of performance from Acuña and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of that once the Braves make it down there to South Florida for a regular season contest.

Acuña’s performance helped power Venezuela to a comfortable win over Nicaragua. They didn’t need to win the game since earlier results had ensured that they’d be leaving the group but now they’ve ensured that their matchup against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday will be a showdown to decide who wins Pool D. The building formerly known as Marlins Park is going to be packed to the rafters for that one and it’ll be very exciting to see how Acuña and the rest of this Venezuela squad fares against one of the real tournament favorites with quarterfinal seeding on the line.

It’ll all get started at 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday night on Fox Sports 1, in case you’re interested in tuning in to see these two mammoths clash.

Whatever you think of the World Baseball Classic, it provides a stage for some of the top players in the world to shine. Sometimes you get a 17-year-old kid inducing Aaron Judge to hit into a double play, and sometimes you get one of the best players in the world making ridiculous plays.

We saw the latter tonight when Bobby Witt Jr. pulled off an acrobatic feat against Mexico. World Series star Alejandro Kirk laced a liner to deep short that looked like a sure hit. Bobby dove and speared the ball on one hop, then fired a one-hopper from his knees to first base to record the out.

But he wasn’t done! An inning later, Nick Gonzales sent a grounder to deep short. Bobby didn’t even have to dive for this one, he made it look easy firing that laser to first to get the out.

Even the star across the parking lot was impressed.

We all knew Bobby was a Gold Glover in Kansas City, but it’s cool the world gets to see it too.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Carson Benge is excelling in his first major league camp with the Mets, but whether that translates into a spot on the Opening Day roster is still in question.

“I don’t think we have made that decision yet,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said Monday.

Benge, the team’s top position player prospect, entered play with an .846 OPS in the Grapefruit League.

He bolstered his case with an RBI triple in his first plate appearance against the Marlins on this night.

“Carson is having a nice camp,” Stearns said. “Similar to all our guys he’s worked really hard — I think we have had a real work-intensive camp across the field and Carson has participated in that.

“In the games we’ve seen what we would have expected. He’s taken very competitive at-bats. He’s a tough out. I think he’s played a nice right field … he’s a really good player and we’ll have a difficult decision as we get toward the end of camp.”

Mike Tauchman and MJ Melendez are among the other players in camp in the right field mix.

Francisco Lindor remains in position to potentially begin the season with the team, according to Stearns, as he rehabs from hamate bone surgery in his left hand.

Stearns said he would expect Lindor to appear in Grapefruit League games before the Mets break camp, but conversations have not occurred to set a plan.

Brandon Waddell is “getting better,” according to manager Carlos Mendoza, after he was scratched from his Monday start because of shoulder fatigue.

The left-hander won’t need imaging on the shoulder and will continue throwing, according to Mendoza.

Outfielder Nick Morabito and pitcher Jonathan Pintaro were optioned to Triple-A.

Pitcher Jack Wenninger was reassigned to minor league camp.

The Mets have 64 players remaining in major league camp.

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

The World Baseball Classic is in full swing, and the Rockies have a number of players on a variety of rosters. Some have performed well while others have struggled… but that’s baseball!

Tonight, we’d like to know your thoughts on the WBC so far. Who has performed well, and who do you think will win? Let us know!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Look. It’s spring training. I’m not going to get too wound up in the final score. There was some really good tonight and some really blah tonight. On the positive side of the ledger, just-announced Opening Day starter Max Fried looked like an ace on the mound, mixing his repertoire and flummoxing Pirates hitters. Meanwhile, Giancarlo Stanton was doing his usual, smashing baseballs at preternatural speeds.

Less positively, “let’s get Rockies relievers for our bullpen” is looking like a sketchy proposition, with a couple former Coloradans struggling versus Pittsburgh hitters in a 5-3 loss. But at the end of the day, Fried looked great, Stanton’s swinging a big stick, and the club got out of tonight healthy. That’s its own kind of win in my book.

Fried picked up right where he left off against Panama last week. Three Pirates came to the dish in the opening stanza, including super-prospect Konnor Griffin. All sat right back down. Fried punctuated the inning with a swinging strikeout of former first overall pick Henry Davis, the first of six on the night.

Former Houston Astro José Urquidy took the mound for Pittsburgh and, unfortunately, matched Fried. I hold grudges, so out of sheer spite, I would have liked to hang 10 runs on Urquidy in the first.

Fried ran his scoreless spring streak to five innings when he stepped back on the mound in the second. Two more strikeouts highlighted the frame, led by an ABS overturn that sent former Baby Bomber Rafael Flores, Jr. back to the Pirates dugout with his bat on his shoulder.

Big G got the Yankees on board in the home second. And it was Vintage Stanton. Giancarlo absolutely murdered an Urquidy offering: 109.5 mph off the bat, 424 feet to left center field. Watch and enjoy:

Sadly, the Pirates managed a base hit in the top of the third. No spring training no-no for Maximum Fried and the Yankees. I guess the good news was, as Todd Frazier pointed out in the YES booth, it gave Fried a chance to pitch out of the stretch after having been exclusively in the windup for the first two innings.

Veteran infielder Paul DeJong, leading off the Yankee third, followed in Stanton’s footsteps. He got a fastball out over the plate from Urquidy and drove it to left field. The only question was whether it would stay fair. It did, and it was 2-0, New York. Later in the inning, with Trent Grisham standing on second and two out, Cody Bellinger took Urquidy to deep right-center field. That double scored Grish and extended the lead to three runs.

With his pitch count in outstanding shape (40 pitches through three), Fried came back out for the fourth. Two more whiffs and a groundball sent him back to the dugout with about 10 pitches left in his bag – skipper Aaron Boone revealed in-game the goal was to have Fried throw 65.

The Pirates got on the board with Fried at the end of his rope in the fifth. On Fried’s 62nd pitch of the night, Endy Rodriguez got ahold of a mistake and hit it just far enough to send one up and out to left field. Boone left him out to face the next hitter, but once Fried’s pitch count hit 67, Boone bounded out of the dugout to come get his ace.

All told, it was an excellent outing from Fried, who threw seven different pitches on his way to striking out six Buccos while handing out nary a free pass.

Jake Bird was the next man up for the Yanks. Following the disastrous beginning to his Yankees tenure after the club acquired him from Colorado last summer, all positive signs from Bird are encouraged. Unfortunately, there were not many of those tonight. Bird handed out another walk. Along with a catcher’s interference, that loaded the bases for Griffin. Bird then missed over the plate with a 1-2 sweeper that Pittsburgh’s next great star promptly drove into left field, scoring two runs, tying the game, and ending Bird’s outing.

Another former Rockie followed Bird into the game. Angel Chivilli inherited runners on second and third with two out. It was dicey at points but ultimately, he was more successful than his predecessor and got the Yankees out of the inning. He was not so lucky in the sixth. A pair of singles and some good situational baseball allowed the Pirates to eke a fourth run across and take the lead. To Chivilli’s credit though, he limited the damage and got back to the dugout only down one.

The Yankee bats had been quiet since Urquidy departed. But in the bottom of the sixth, Stanton crushed another baseball. This one was merely a single to left field, but it was a 115.3-mph single to left. There is only one Giancarlo Stanton.

Osvaldo Bido, who the Yankees claimed off waivers from the Angels in early February, came in for the seventh and looked good, striking out a pair of Pirates hitters in a scoreless frame.

Southpaw Kyle Carr, the Yanks’ 13th-ranked prospect, came in to pitch the eighth. Unfortunately, some control problems led to a pair of two-out walks. And everyone knows those often come around to haunt the pitcher who hands them out. Shawn Ross doubled in the fifth Pirates run of the game.

Some shoddy Pittsburgh defense in the home eighth gave the Yankees a window to come back. After a one-out walk, Pirates reliever Yohan Ramirez threw a ball into center field trying to get an ill-advised force out at second base. Instead, the Yanks had runners on the corners. Alas, that was as close as they’d get. Carr tossed a clean ninth for the Bombers but the bats were—as they’d been all night since Urquidy left—unable to make a dent in the Pirates. Yankees lost, 5-3.

At least Aaron Judge had a very nice day for Team USA.

Join us tomorrow as the Yankees hit the road to play Philadelphia. Luis Gil gets the start for New York against Tanner Banks. First pitch is 1:05 pm EDT.

Box Score

PORT ST. LUCIE — Before arriving to camp for his annual visit as a Mets guest instructor, David Wright received a message from the team’s new third baseman saying he wanted to meet him. 

On Monday, Wright found Bo Bichette and began that relationship with a 30-minute conversation. 

“He was asking some great baseball questions and some great questions just about the city of New York in general,” Wright told SNY. “I have become a big Bo Bichette fan, so I am excited to see what he can do this year.” 

Bichette, who arrived to the Mets on a three-year contract worth $126 million in January, is shifting from shortstop to third base, as one of multiple new players learning a new position. 

Following a winter in which the front office reshaped the roster, the former Mets captain is learning new names, aside from Bichette. 

Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Edwin Díaz have departed and the new arrivals also include Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr. and Devin Williams. 

“I really love spring training energy, especially with the new group of guys that the Mets have,” Wright said. “Now you get to meet some of these guys for the first time and it just seems there’s energy and enthusiasm in that locker room. I like being a small part of that.” 

Team owner Steve Cohen has said there won’t be an official Mets captain as long as he owns the club. Wright, who held the title for five seasons, said the number of veterans in the clubhouse may preclude the need for an official captain. 

“Knowing Francisco [Lindor] for the last few years, knowing Juan [Soto] for the last few years, when you have a handful or a group of leaders in there, that is just as good if not better than having a single leader,” Wright said. 

“Times change. It makes sense when you have the veteran group that they have in here, that group can get together with these young guys, these top prospects, and say, ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to kind of do it.’ I think that’s what made the team successful, the success that we had when I played, that let these young players know that ‘Starting now, this is how we play the game. This is how we carry ourselves.’”

TAMPA — The Yankees signed Randal Grichuk because of his ability to hit left-handed pitching. 

But with the 34-year-old not getting into camp until recently — and with just over two weeks before the start of the regular season — they just want to get the veteran as many plate appearances as possible. 

That’s why Grichuk was in the lineup Monday night with right-hander José Urquidy on the mound for the Pirates at Steinbrenner Field — and why Aaron Boone didn’t wait for a lefty starter for him to go up against. 

“At this point, we’re pretty deep into camp and may not have that luxury,” Boone said of saving the righty-swinging Grichuk for lefties. 

Grichuk won’t play Tuesday’s day game in Clearwater, Fla. against the Phillies and time — and at-bats — are of the essence. 

“Right now, especially with his experience, it’s about building up innings and reps,” Boone said. “If it comes [versus] lefties, that’s great.” 

With Grichuk seemingly likely on the Opening Day roster instead of the switch-hitting Jasson Domínguez, who has struggled against lefties from the right side, appears ticketed for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. 

That would leave a four-man bench of Grichuk, J.C. Escarra, Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario. 

Boone is also confident that Grichuk will be valuable in the outfield, where he’s had plenty of experience over the years. 

“I think he can really handle left-handed pitching and we can help him in the outfield,’’ Boone said. “He’s a natural outfielder, a former center fielder and fundamentally very good. We might be able to help a little bit with some range things.” 

What the Yankees really need Grichuk to do, though, as Boone said, is “really hammer” lefties. 

They’re hoping for a return to his 2024 form, when Grichuk had a .913 OPS in 184 plate appearances against lefties with the Diamondbacks — and an .801 OPS against righties — before those numbers dropped to .703 versus lefties and .623 against righties last season split between Arizona and Kansas City. 

He’s confident he can get back to solid performance, in particular because many of his underlying numbers last year were better than his stats would indicate. 

And he continues to embrace the part-time role. 

As Grichuk noted, many players in that situation might complain about not getting regular at-bats, which makes it harder for them to get into a rhythm. 

“I kind of flipped the script, basically, and said ‘No one feels sorry for me,’” Grichuk said. “I’ve got to do it. That’s my role. I just changed the mindset. It doesn’t matter if it’s X amount of days without an at-bat. You’ve got to do your job and go to battle.” 

— Additional reporting by Mark W. Sanchez 

The Mets blanked the Marlins 9-0 this evening thanks to a pair of four-run innings in the first and sixth.

• Lefty Zach Thornton looked sharp, tossing three scoreless innings with three strikeouts to get things started for the Mets.
• He was provided with plenty of run support, as the Mets put up a four-run first inning in which Tyrone Taylor and Ryan Clifford each contributed RBI doubles.
• The Mets added a run in the second on an RBI triple by Carson Benge. Benge also had a two-RBI single in the sixth, taking a 3-2 pitch the other way with the bases loaded. The Mets put up another crooked number in that frame to extend their lead to 9-0.
• Devin Williams’ airbender was working, as he fanned two in a hitless inning of work in the fifth.
• The Marlins loaded the bases a couple of times, but failed to score. Craig Kimbrel, Ofreidy Gómez, Matt Turner, Channing Austin, and Brian Metoyer each pitched a scoreless inning.

The Mets will be back at it tomorrow at Clover Park, facing off against the Cardinals at 1:10pm EDT.