A TV camera at a 2023 Spring Training game at Scottsdale Stadium | | Allan Henry - Imagn Images
As you certainly know, the Cubs are televising very few games this spring.
The good news, such as it is, is that going forward there are just two spring games remaining that will have no TV or radio coverage — Tuesday, March 10 at the Rangers, and Wednesday, March 11 vs. the Royals at Sloan Park. Of the other 17 remaining games (including the minor league Spring Breakout game), 10 will be televised, 15 will have a radio broadcast, and eight will have both.
For a generation of baseball fans who have grown up expecting their team’s games to be broadcast on TV and radio, this obviously isn’t an acceptable state, even for Spring Training games. The Cubs and Marquee Sports Network got Cubs fans used to seeing nearly every spring game over the last five years, and so not having them this year has been kind of a shock.
The Cubs aren’t the only team that has cut back on spring TV. The Angels, for example, aren’t televising any of their Spring Training games. That’s largely because Angels TV broadcasts were part of the FanDuel Sports Networks, which collapsed this past offseason, with nine teams involved. The Angels didn’t get their TV broadcasts for the regular season organized until late February, and I suppose given that, it’s understandable that they didn’t do spring games.
The Brewers were in a similar situation, retaining their TV rights and creating “Brewers TV,” which will carry their regular-season games. You saw one of their broadcasts Wednesday, when the Cubs played them and Marquee carried that broadcast. Going forward, though, only five other Brewers spring games will be on TV, and two of those are the Spring Breakout games and one other is on MLB Network.
I’m not writing this to give the Cubs or MLB teams an excuse. They’ve created an expectation that their fans will be able to see all their games on TV. The last Cubs regular-season game that was not televised at all was more than 30 years ago, Monday, July 25, 1994. That was because MLB had created the “Baseball Network,” which carried a national game on Mondays and if your team wasn’t involved in those games, they were blacked out.
But that’s not the world we live in now. Fans want to see their team. MLB and its teams should consider Spring Training games as a “loss leader” of sorts. Yes, it’s relatively expensive to staff spring games with a camera crew and announcers, and there aren’t that many viewers on weekday afternoons in February and March.
Nevertheless, I believe MLB teams — part of an industry that had over $12 billion in revenue last year! — could afford some sort of simple bare-bones broadcast, something, anything that would get fans to tune in.
Thursday’s game at Sloan Park wasn’t televised — anywhere. But as you can see, there were two live cameras at Sloan Park, yes, not with camera operators and with what folks in the TV biz call “natural sound.” It’s not easy to follow the action that way.
But you know… people would watch that! There’s a graphic, as you can see, which shows the score, the count and the outs. Why couldn’t the Cubs just stream that? Absolutely people would watch — they could even sell between-inning ads on that feed to defray any streaming costs.
That’s what I would do. I don’t think Cubs management or MLB moguls realize how much their fans want to consume their Spring Training product. They should make it as accessible as possible.
Tonight, at least, there will be TV and radio coverage of the Cubs game vs. the Padres. It’ll be the Padres TV crew, available through MLB.TV and on MLB Network — no blackouts. There’s also a radio broadcast with the Padres radio announcers. That all starts at 8 p.m. CT.
And soon enough, the 2026 regular season will begin and every Cubs game (and every other MLB game) will be on TV and radio. MLB and its teams need to figure out a way to get every Spring Training game on TV and radio to fans who really do want to watch and listen.
TALKING STICK, AZ - OCTOBER 07: Luis Perales #91 of the Salt River Rafters pitches during the game between the Glendale Desert Dogs and the Salt River Rafters at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 in Talking Stick, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Luis Perales made his Nationals Spring Training debut in the 4th inning versus the New York Mets yesterday, recording a scoreless inning with one walk allowed. He allowed 3 hard hit balls, but none found grass, with 2 flyouts and a lineout to center allowed.
During his 24-pitch outing, Perales threw 33% fastballs and 67% cutters, another example of the anti-fastball revolution the Nationals pitching staff has embarked upon under the new regime. Interestingly enough, MLB recorded Perales as throwing 16 cutters during his outing, but others, such as Thomas Nestico of TJStats on X, tracked him as throwing 12 sliders and 4 cutters, with the sliders having just a little more break and a little less velocity. Nevertheless, Perales’ arsenal looked very impressive in the short outing.
Luis Perales made his Nationals debut!
It's no surprise that Washington was interested in Perales from the Red Sox this winter. His fastball sat at 100 MPH with elite ride which pairs with a strong pair of cutters and sliders. There is some relief risk, but the stuff is nasty! pic.twitter.com/ljj3LlPia2
While all 3 pitches looked sharp, the one that stands out the most is his 4-seam fastball, which he sat 99.6 MPH with and ran up to 100.5 MPH in his outing. Triple-digit fastballs aren’t exactly rare in today’s game, but what is is the movement he gets on the pitch. Perales’ fastball averaged 18.1 inches of vertical break in his outing yesterday, ranking in the top 60 in that category among all pitchers in the majors. Of pitchers who average at least 99 MPH on their heater, like Perales, only Brewers closer Trevor Megill had more IVB on average with his fastball.
It’s no wonder with the velocity and movement that Perales’ 4-seam has that his stuff+ rating on the pitch was a whopping 124, meaning it is 24% better than the average 4-seam fastball in baseball. Not only that, but according to Thomas Nestico’s stuff+ rankings on fastballs, Perales’ heater would have been the highest rated fastball in the bigs in 2025, eclipsing the aforementioned Megill at 119, Mason Miller at 118, and Ryan Helsley, Chase Burns, and Aroldis Chapman at 117. Pretty good company for your fastball to be in.
The fastball is ridiculously good, but the slider is extremely impressive as well, sitting low 90s with tight spin. It graded out with a 116 stuff+ according to Nestico’s formula, which would’ve ranked in the top 10 in the majors in 2025, just under Mason Miller’s slider and just above Jacob deGrom’s.
There are still issues to iron out for Perales, such as command issues and adding another pitch to his arsenal, but the stuff to be a high-end starter, or an elite reliever at least, is all there. The other key for him will be continued health, as he builds back further and further from his Tommy John Surgery. He will likely start the season in Rochester, where I am excited to see how he progresses throughout the year.
LAKELAND, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 17: Justin Verlander #35 of the Detroit Tigers poses for a photo during the Detroit Tigers Photo Day at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on February 17, 2026 in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This wasn’t something most of us ever thought we’d see again. When long-time ace and future Hall of Famer, Justin Verlander, was traded away on August 31, 2017, an eventual reunion seemed a lot more likely. With the Tigers going into rebuild mode, the hope at the time was that they might re-renter a competitive cycle again by 2021-2022 as Verlander neared 40 years old. With his track record that didn’t seem too far fetched, but if you’d told most of us he would return in 2026 at age 43, well that would’ve been very hard to believe back in 2017. Instead, through his miraculous longevity and the Tigers finally getting it going over the past two seasons, a most improbable reunion at 43 years old is about to begin on Friday.
Verlander is slated to make his spring debut at Publix Field against the Boston Red Sox and a good young pitching prospect in lefty Connelly Early at 1:05 p.m. ET today. Annoyingly, the game won’t be broadcast other than on radio, but you can expect quite a welcome from the crowd as Verlander takes the mound in a Tigers’ jersey for the first time in eight and a half years.
It’s been interesting how spring camp has unfolded for him. Verlander threw a long bullpen session with media in attendance early in camp, but has otherwise laid low, leaving the limelight to Tarik Skubal and the Tigers’ top prospects in camp. Reports have indicated him topping out at 95 mph, which is exactly what the Tigers want to see, so all systems appear to be go for him heading into his first start. Still, it wouldn’t be surprisingly to see him cruising at less than full velocity the first time out either.
Veteran pitchers often need less time in camp to ramp up and stretch out, but this is still a pretty late debut. Verlander has been doing this for 20 years, and there aren’t many precedents for this kind of longevity, so presumably the Tigers have basically let him map out his own plan for spring camp. We wouldn’t expect him to throw more than two innings in his first start, but without having seen him on the mound already, it’s impossible to know quite where his timeline is as he builds up to the regular season. There are only three weeks left of camp, and he’ll need to be up to 80 or so pitches by the time the regular season starts, so it’s probably up to him to set his pitch counts at a progression that will have him ready on time.
While it’s going to be great to see him out there again, It’s worth holding a note of caution and keeping expectations in check. Verlander pitched really well in August and September last year. After some nagging injuries early in the season, the velocity returned after he was able to string together a bunch of starts in succession. He was sitting 94-95 mph consistently after being more in the 93-94 mph range earlier in the season. At times down the stretch he was reaching back for 97 and even 98 at one point when he wanted it. We might not see him really turn it loose to that level for a few more weeks at least.
So this is all pretty exciting, but we have to remember that he’s 43 years old and hasn’t put together a 3 WAR season since 2023. We all have hopes of late period Nolan Ryan, or something like Kenny Rogers leading the Tigers’ rotation to the World Series back in ‘06, but we shouldn’t be too greedy here either. Verlander is here to eat innings and be a steady presence after the big dogs, Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez, who will lead the rotation on the mound.
The spectre of an aging Hall of Famer, the greatest pitcher in franchise history, struggling to a 5+ ERA with diminished stuff and racked by injury, is presumably part of the reason the Tigers weren’t keen on signing for him last offseason. Scott Harris does not want to be the guy who has to potentially end Verlander’s career by cutting him during the season. There’s a lot of psychological weight in Verlander’s presence, but of course it goes both ways in this final stage of his storied career. We can’t necessarily assume he’s going to have a good, healthy season at this point in the story.
If Justin Verlander can give the Tigers 150 innings with an ERA under 4.50, that would be a win. They shouldn’t need more than that and expecting too much more is asking for trouble. Putting on a Tigers’ uniform again isn’t going to roll back the clock. There’s nothing wrong with hoping for a dream season. There will be something wrong if Verlander is just solid depth in a starting role and it isn’t enough for some fans.
Right now, it just feels incredibly fitting to have Justin Verlander a Tiger again. He no longer has to lead the way, but his presence on a team with postseason aspirations certainly means a lot of most of us. Let’s just enjoy the ride as long as it lasts.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 17: Bryce Miller #50 of the Seattle Mariners pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning in game five of the American League Championship Series at T-Mobile Park on October 17, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello friends and happy Friday!
The Mariners took a generational spring training drubbing at the hands of the Padres yesterday, losing 27-6. It’s a bad day to be a reliever on the fringes of the big league roster.
Thanks to Meet at the Mitt podcast listener Josh for providing this helpful link: WBC for Me, which enables you find when and where Mariners are going to be playing in WBC games.
If star Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray ever decides he’s done making boatloads of cash in the NFL, the A’s want it to be known they’re open to giving him another shot at professional baseball.
During 2025 spring training, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner has said some positive things about New Jersey native Justin Hagenman. Hefner was impressed with some additional velocity that his pitches had and his ability to command them, but he ultimately did not make the big league club. The right-hander began the 2025 season in Triple-A Syracuse but was recalled to the Mets in mid-April. The 28-year-old made his MLB debut on April 16, pitching 3.1 innings against the Minnesota Twins, allowing a run on three hits and no walks while striking out 4. Hagenman would spend the rest of the season bouncing up and down from Triple-A Syracuse to Queens and back again, pitching a handful of middle relief innings here and there. The team had intended on using Hagenman as a starter to begin their late-June series against the Philadelphia Phillies in Philly, giving him a chance to pitch in a major league uniform in front of his friends and family, but his services were needed the night before, removing him from consideration from the start. The organization made it right, having Hagenman start at home on July 4th against the Yankees.
All in all, Justin Hagenman appeared in 9 games, making one start, and posted a 4.56 ERA in 23.2 innings, allowing 24 hits, walking 2, and striking out 23. In Syracuse, he appeared in 21 games and made 13 starts, posting a 5.58 ERA in 69.1 innings, with 76 hits allowed, 13 walks, and 73 strikeouts.
When Hagenman is on, he does have strikeout stuff, which is why he was initially signed to a split MLB/MiLB contract in November 2024 and has been on the 40-man roster ever since. His cutter had a 25.7% Whiff rate, his sinker a 32.4% rate, his changeup a 13.6% rate, and his slider a 34.1% rate. He gave up a lot of hard contact with the first two offerings, and a lot of soft contact with the third, but therein lies the difficulty of being a fringe Triple-A/MLB player.
Hagenman was far down the starting pitching depth chart in 2025, and with the rotation not just fully healthy, but improved as compared to this time last season, it is unlikely that he makes any starts. Relief innings are the most likely avenue for the right-hander to appear in major league games in 2026, but like the starting rotation, the bullpen too has been improved. With the addition of more established relievers and less room for “bullpen churn”, Hagenman will really need to impress during spring training to potentially head north with the team when camp finishes up. He has options left on his contract, which may potentially hurt him in a bid to make the Opening Day roster if he does not particularly stand out, but almost guarantees that at some point in the season, he will see MLB playing time.
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 12: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks on during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Friday, September 12, 2025 in Washington, District of Columbia. (Photo by Alyssa Howell/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 06: Shohei Ohtani #16 of Team Japan tosses his bat back to the dugout after hitting a grand slam home run in the second inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game presented by dip between Team Japan and Team Chinese Taipei at Tokyo Dome on Friday, March 6, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Shohei Ohtani had three hits, including a grand slam and double to drive in five runs and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in Japan’s 13-0 drubbing of Chinese Taipei on Friday morning to open pool play in the World Baseball Classic.
Ohtani doubled to open the game in the first, then hit a grand slam and an RBI single in a 10-run second inning that put the opener to bed for Japan, the favorite to come out of Pool C in Tokyo.
After a perfect first inning, Yamamoto walked the leadoff batter in the second but immediately erased him on a double play. He got a groundout to open the third, followed by a throwing error by third baseman Kazuma Okamoto. That meant the strikeout by Yamamoto that followed didn’t end the third but rather was the second out.
He then walked the next two batters on 12 pitches to load the bases and was replaced on the mound by Shoma Fujihara, who earned a strikeout to escape the inning.
In all, Yamamoto threw 55 pitches in 2 2/3 innings in his third start this spring. He threw three innings and 52 pitches for the Dodgers last Friday against the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale before leaving to join Japan.
Japan’s next game is Saturday morning at 2 a.m. PT against Korea, who is also 1-0 in Pool C. That game will be televised by FS1.
Peoria, AZ - February 23: Freddy Fermin #54 of the San Diego Padres bats during a spring training game against the Milwaukee Brewers on February 23, 2026 in Peoria, AZ. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
Walker Buehler made his first start as a member of the San Diego Padres organization against the Seattle Mariners at the Peoria Sports Complex on Thursday. That was supposed to be the lead story of the game as Buehler, JP Sears and Triston McKenzie, who are all battling for the final spot in the San Diego rotation pitched in the game. Instead, the Padres offense exploded with 27 runs and 28 hits in a 27-6 drubbing of the Mariners.
The entire lineup contributed to the end result with one of the top offensive performances coming from Freddy Fermin. The catcher recorded a single, a double and a home run. He also had six RBI and three runs scored. Sung-Mun Song hit his first home run as a Padres with a 430-foot blast. Other San Diego players to homer in the game were Jake Cronenworth, Jackson Merrill, Miguel Andijar, Tirso Ornelas, Bryce Johnson and Nick Schnell.
Buehler completed three innings in his Padres debut. He allowed two runs on two hits and recorded four strikeouts and allowed one walk. Sears also completed three innings and allowed two runs on two hits with three strikeouts, three walks and two home runs allowed. McKenzie completed 1.2 innings and allowed a run on four hits with two strikeouts three walks and one home run allowed.
With his breakout performance against the Mariners, Fermin who joined the Padres at the 2025 trade deadline, appears ready to be the primary catcher for San Diego handling all the duties and responsibilities that entails heading into the 2026 season.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 12: Ryan Helsley #21 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches live during practice at Ed Smith Stadium on February 12, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Baltimore Orioles/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The last time the Orioles were in need of a closer in free agency before this past offseason, they signed Craig Kimbrel, who was once quite good but had his most recent season before that end in a memorable disaster. It didn’t work out. Needing a closer heading into 2026, the Orioles signed Ryan Helsley, who was once quite good but had his most recent season end in a memorable disaster. Maybe it’ll go better this time around.
One thing working in Helsley’s favor is that he’s not as old as Kimbrel was. This is his age 31 season and up to this point he’s maintained a fastball in the 99mph range. The Orioles signed him for $14 million this year and the same amount next year, although if he’s good, he can opt out of the contract. This kind of contract structure didn’t pay off for the Orioles when they signed Tyler O’Neill before last season. Maybe it’ll go better this time around.
Here’s what two of the big projection systems see on average from Helsley this season:
Neither system expects a return to the elite results Helsley was getting in the 2022-24 range. That’s not too surprising. Although a lot of attention is paid to his repeated meltdown games after being traded to the Mets, Helsley wasn’t that same elite guy prior to being traded by the Cardinals either. He had an ERA of exactly 3, with batters hitting him better than they’d ever done before.
If Helsley is around the above projected results, he’ll get some clutch saves where you were sure the Orioles were going to lose, and he’ll have some blown saves that make you wish Mike Elias signed someone better. With the chaos in the bullpen behind him, the Orioles could sure use some ninth inning stability.
What are you expecting from Helsley this year? Do you think he’ll still be around for 2027?
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a grand slam in Japan's 2026 WBC opener Friday against Chinese Taipei at the Tokyo Dome. (Gene Wang / Capture At Media via Getty Images)
The last time Shohei Ohtani was seen wearing a World Baseball Classic uniform with "Japan" across his chest, he was striking out Mike Trout of the United States on a ninth-inning, full-count slider to give his country a victory in the championship game three years ago.
So much has happened in Ohtani's life between then and now. He has a wife and a daughter, a new interpreter, a new Major League team, two World Series championships and three more Most Valuable Player awards.
Yet unforgettable WBC memories continue. This time, he delivered from the batter's box instead of the pitcher's mound.
In the second inning of Japan's WBC opener against Chinese Taipei on Friday at the Tokyo Dome, Ohtani smacked a hanging curve a few feet over the right-field wall for a grand slam, triggering an offensive onslaught that resulted in a 13-0 victory.
"I thought it might land as an out, so above all, I really wanted to get the first run on the board," Ohtani told reporters afterward.
Ohtani led off the game with a double and singled in his second at-bat of the second inning, when Japan put up a WBC-record 10 runs. He added a run-scoring single in the third inning, giving him five runs batted in.
In 2023, Ohtani hit and pitched Japan to the WBC title, batting .435 with eight RBIs and allowing only two earned runs in 9 2/3 innings on the mound. This year, he will only bat, saving his pitching for the Dodgers, who begin their quest for a third consecutive World Series title in three weeks.
Japan's starting pitcher Friday was a decorated Dodger nevertheless. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, MVP of the 2025 World Series, threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings, walking three and striking out two while giving up no hits.
His command wasn't pinpoint — he threw 53 pitches, 33 for strikes — but it is still spring training, even though the atmosphere was electric for Japanese players competing in front of a crowd of 42,314 that included actor Timothy Chalamet and superstar Bad Bunny.
"I know there will be some tough battles ahead, but if the fans and the team can unite and everyone can help build the excitement together, it will really encourage us," Ohtani said.
As we pass through the diamond, I should note that I have been playing a little footloose and fancy free with the outfield distinctions. In point of fact, just about every outfielder outside of Yordan Alvarez is capable of playing all three spots and most of them likely will play multiple positions. So, who I choose to put where largely depends on where we might expect them to play, but also as a way to space it out so we get the same number of guys in each lab.
For our purposes here, we are looking at Jake Meyers and Zach Cole, but we should acknowledge that Joey Loperfido and Cam Smith could also see time in center. Like we did, I will include a player not on the Astros (or currently in MLB) as a frame of reference for Zach Cole. We are not necessarily predicting that he will have this player’s career, but I’m sure we would be in for it if he did.
Chase rate: This is the percentage of balls a player swings at outside of the zone. The league average normally lives around 30 percent, but we will be looking at three year intervals and we should notice trends more than where a player is in relationship to the league average.
Hard hit percentage: This is simply the percentage of balls that a player hits hard. Hard hit balls become hits and extra base hits more often than softer contact. Typically 35 percent is around the league average in this category.
BABIP: This is batting average on balls in play. Home runs are obviously excluded since they are not in play. The league average tends to hover around .300 but it will largely depend on hard hit percentages and breakdowns between groundballs, flyballs, and line drives.
Contact percentage: This is the percentage of swings that turn into contact. Typically 75 percent is around league average.
HR/FB percentage: This is the percentage of flyballs that result in home runs. Ten percent is typically around the league average.
Jake Meyers
Chase
Hardhit
BABIP
Contact
HR/FB
2023
26.6
27.9
.283
74.1
11.2
2024
30.3
37.0
.263
74.2
9.8
2025
23.7
38.9
.353
81.1
3.8
Aggregate
26.9
34.6
.300
76.5
8.3
There were a number of people (me included) who were critical of the Astros hitting coaches the last few years, but it has to be noted that not everyone got worse under those guys. Meyers made real gains in his chase rate, hard hit rate, and contact rate last season. At least some of that is likely to carry over into this season. So, in all likelihood, Meyers is a better offensive player in 2026 than he was in 2023 and 2024. However, he might not be quite as good he was last season.
That is largely because of the out of context BABIP. Even with gains in hard contact, that kind of jump is not sustainable. At best, he might live between .310 and .320 in that category and that is assuming a return to career norms in home runs per flyball. If you give him positive regression in that category then he might be roughly on par with last season overall.
However, the likelihood is a hitter that lives around .250 or .260 with decent speed numbers and okay power numbers. So, that could end up being something in the neighborhood of .250/.300/.380. Couple that with very good defensive metrics and you have an above average regular overall, but in all likelihood you will not see 2025 Meyers again.
Zach Cole
Chase
Hardhit
BABIP
Contact
HR/FB
2023
—-
—-
.366
64.3
20.4
2024
—-
—-
.336
67.2
14.9
2025
20.0
44.1
.418
64.9
31.1
Aggregate
20.0
44.1
.373
65.5
22.1
These are all minor league numbers for Cole. Cole has four of the five tools in spades. If we add plate discipline as a tool then he has five of the six tools in spades. Unfortunately, that sixth tool might be the most important one. Like Matthews and Dezenzo before him, there is just a ton of swing and miss in his game. Players have succeeded at the big league level while missing the hit tool, but they are fewer and further between. The question will be if he can make enough gains in contact to give those other tools enough room to breathe.
As we noted above, there is a player that Cole has been compared to that we can profile here. Joey Gallo is no longer playing in the big leagues, but he had some big seasons with the Rangers before washing out. In short, the lack of contact eventually caught up with him, but he might be the apex of what Cole can accomplish at the big league level. Between 2017 and 2019, Gallo hit more than 100 home runs. Cole has more speed than Gallo, so he could be even more. Just look at the numbers and see what you notice.
Chase
Hardhit
BABIP
Contact
HR/FB
2017
26.5
53.0
.250
59.0
30.1
2018
27.6
49.5
.249
61.7
27.6
2019
22.6
52.7
.368
59.7
37.3
Career
24.2
49.1
.254
60.6
25.8
The career numbers showed he tapered off a little in hard hit and pure power after those three initial seasons. Simply put, you cannot survive long with a contact rate like that. I do not have a minor league to major league decoder ring, but most players do not make more contact at the big league level initially. So, Gallo seems like a reasonably comp for Cole.
Gallo reached a career high of 4.4 FWAR in 2021, so I think most people would be pleasantly surprised if the Astros got that out of Cole. Keep in mind, he adds a speed element that Gallo did not. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have quite the power rate or hard hit rate that Gallo did. Perhaps he makes a bit more contact and ends up approximating the numbers above overall. The question will be whether Astros fans want to stomach the swing and miss in order to tap into the impressive power and speed. What do you think?
SARASOTA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 13: Zach Eflin #24 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches during practice at Ed Smith Stadium on February 13, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Baltimore Orioles/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For most of 2025, Zach Eflin was just not himself. The effort was undeniable. But something was badly, visibly wrong. In 14 starts, he went 6–5 with a 5.93 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP, and a K:BB ratio of 50:13 across just 71⅓ innings. He made three separate trips to the injured list before finally undergoing lumbar microdiscectomy surgery in August — a procedure that removes part of a herniated disc pressing on spinal nerves. When Eflin hit the market in free agency, the thought might have crossed your mind that he wouldn’t be back.
Well, good thing Mike Elias kept his agent’s number. On Thursday, in Eflin’s first spring training appearance of 2026, the righty offered a bracing reminder of what he can be when everything is working — and what the Orioles paid $10 million this winter to get back.
Against his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays, Eflin spun two-plus scoreless innings with three strikeouts, lighting up the radar gun and flaunting a command that looked nothing like the labored pitcher who gritted through 2025. He worked with six different pitches — sinker, sweeper, curveball, four-seamer, cutter, changeup — and got six whiffs in fourteen swings. Most excitingly, his sinker and fastball touched 94 MPH, several miles better than last season.
It’s just one spring start, I know. But the velocity, the pitch mix, the swinging strikes — it all points toward a pitcher who has been genuinely fixed, not merely managed.
Eflin agrees. His 2025 numbers were ugly in ways that the box score couldn’t fully capture, especially the four IL trips. Speaking in December, Eflin revealed that back problems had haunted him on and off for ten years in his pro career, but 2025 was when the pain turned debilitating, convincing him to finally go in for surgery to “clean it up.” Now, he reports feeling like he has a “brand-new back.”
This is good news for all of us. With Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, and Shane Baz ahead of Eflin in the rotation, the Orioles aren’t depending on an Eflin resurgence, but seeing him approach his ceiling would be a wonderful thing. That would look something like 2023, a season when Eflin was arguably the most underrated starting pitcher in the American League as a member of Tampa Bay’s staff. That year, he made 31 starts, went 16–8, posted a 3.50 ERA, struck out 186 batters over 177⅔ innings, finishing sixth in AL Cy Young voting. His 1.02 WHIP ranked second in the entire American League, behind only Gerrit Cole. The Rays went 23–8 in his starts — a team winning percentage that, per historical records, tied David Price’s 2014 season for the best in franchise history in a starting pitcher’s qualified starts.
That is a genuine ace-adjacent performance. Not a fluke, not a warm stretch — a full-season demonstration of what a healthy Eflin looks like.
Eflin will never be a strikeout-rate marvel. He’s a contact pitcher who works with heavy sinkers and lateral break, generating soft contact and keeping the ball in the park. When his stuff plays at full strength, he profiles as a legitimate number-two or number-three starter capable of eating 175–180 innings with an ERA in the mid-threes. That is, in the current pitching landscape, genuinely valuable. The Orioles, who ranked near the bottom of the AL in rotation ERA last season, need that stabilizing presence badly.
The case for Eflin bouncing back rests on a straightforward premise: the problem was structural, and the structure has been repaired. A lumbar microdiscectomy isn’t a band-aid; it removes the source of nerve compression. Eflin himself says the chronic pain is gone in a way it hadn’t been in years. The early evidence from the mound — the velocity restored, the arm angle presumably returning toward its 2023 level, the whiff-generating breaking ball — suggests the surgery worked.
Baltimore re-signed him to a prove-it deal worth $10 million with a mutual option that could extend to $30 million total. The incentive structure is perfectly aligned. Eflin has everything to prove and, finally, a back that will let him prove it.
TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 06: Martin Muík #49 of Team Czechia prepares to bat in the first inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game presented by dip between Team Australia and Team Czech Republic at Tokyo Dome on Friday, March 6, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The vagaries of scheduling made yesterday a day chock full of Czechia baseball action… but unfortunately, it went pretty terribly for them.
The early-morning (at least here on the East Coast of the United States) contest saw Czechia get absolutely clobbered by Korea. Starter Daniel Padysak didn’t even escape the first inning — two walks and a single loaded the bases, and then Bo Gyeong Moon unloaded them with a grand slam. The game got kind of closer (6-3) when Terrin Vavra (I think the only guy on Team Czechia with MLB experience) hit a three-run homer in the fifth, but Korea’s onslaught continued and the game ended with a 11-4 tally. Korea hit four homers in total, including two by Astros infielder Shay Whitcomb. Overall, it was about as unbalanced as you’d probably expect when glancing at the matchup: Czechia pitchers had a combined 6/5 K/BB ratio to go with those four homers; Korea’s pitching slate had a 12/3 K/BB ratio.
There was a very quick turnaround of only about 14 hours before Czechia had to get on the horse again, this time against Australia. This game didn’t go much better for them. Though they did take an early lead on a sac fly, White Sox infielder Curtis Mead bashed a three-run homer off starter Tomas Ondra, and that was basically the game. (Southern Thunder added a couple of more runs in the ninth, including an Alex Hall homer.) The game was heavy on balls in play, as there were only a combined ten strikeouts across the two teams.
Czechia is now in pretty unfortunate territory, since the remaining pool-mates they haven’t played include Japan.
Speaking of haven’t played, Friday’s slate is massive:
Japan-Taiwan (spoiler alert, Japan already won 13-0)
Cuba-Panama
Netherlands-Venezuela (aka, the Braves Best Buds Cup)
Mexico-Great Britain
Puerto Rico-Colombia
Nicaragua-Dominican Republic
USA-Brazil
Taiwan-Czechia (yes, a short turnaround for Taiwan this time)
Which of those matchups are you most looking forward to? It’s probably the Braves Best Buds Cup, but maybe you really want to see Team USA or the Dominican Republic smash their underdog bracketmates instead.
The remaining games start at 11 am ET and progress basically all through the day, so there’s a lot of WBC action if you’re so inclined.
Oct 7, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) throws a runner out in the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game three of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
On May 3, 2025, Anthony Volpe’s luck took a turn for the worse. That day, he hurt his left shoulder while diving for a ball in the performance of his defensive duties. He felt a pop that turned out to be a torn labrum, re-aggravating the injury in September and managing the discomfort while playing.
Volpe received cortisone shots in June and September. After putting up a 115 wRC+ since the first day of the season until May 3rd, he finished with a highly disappointing 83 mark for the year, adding 19 homers and 18 stolen bases. Even his defense, which earned him a Gold Glove in 2023, suffered in the process. He underwent surgery to repair his torn labrum in October and is likely to miss the entire first month of the season at the very least. Can he become an offensive threat in 2026, or is his time in the Bronx coming to an end?
While saying that Volpe’s presence in the Yankees’ future plans is in jeopardy if he doesn’t perform would be premature, it’s clear that he will have a lot to prove this year when he returns, and it might not be entirely fair to expect immediate results after such a major surgery. And if he fails to bounce back, the Bombers might start seeking other alternatives; that’s the truth. The Bronx rarely waits for anyone.
The reality is that, injury or not, the former first-rounder is running out of time. He has failed to return even league-average offensive production in any of his three seasons in The Show, as his career-high wRC+ was 87 in 2024. His excellent defense used to make up for the lack of offensive consistency and on-base ability, but that also evaporated last year, presumably affected by the bum shoulder.
José Caballero prepares to enter the 2026 campaign as the shortstop, having focused his offseason training on improving his bat speed. On the other hand, Volpe started his hitting program by taking dry swings in mid-February. He is significantly behind his counterpart, but right on schedule according to the team’s estimates. Volpe will likely need a lot of at-bats to even approach his top form. The question here is how long the Yankees are willing to wait for him to regain full health or even approach a point at which he can fully trust his shoulder.
A healthy version of Volpe is a much better defender than what he showed last year, but we are not so sure if it’s a big upgrade offensively over his 2025 self. He is still young, though, and has a lot of room to grow and improve. He is, after all, just 24, younger than some of the highest-profile prospects in the game. Volpe does contribute some power and speed, but it will all come down to contact and plate discipline. There are some encouraging signs, though.
For a hitter who ranked in the 76th percentile in chase rate per Baseball Savant, he should be able to rank higher than the 36th percentile in walk rate. He is also in the 64th percentile in barrel rate. With some work, a sound gameplan, and a bit of luck, Volpe can take off if he’s fully healthy. Labrum surgery is no joke, though: ask Miguel Andújar, who needed five years to have an above-average offensive season over a significant sample after going under the knife in 2019.
That’s not to say that Volpe is necessarily doomed just because Andújar had a hard time returning to top form, but it’s a perfect example of how things can go south with labrum tears. It’s impossible to remove his current health status from any 2026 analysis. As a counterpoint to Andújar, there is Fernando Tatis Jr.: after undergoing labrum surgery in 2022, his performance diminished for one year (111 wRC+ in 2023 after three campaigns over 150) before settling in the 130 range in 2024 and 2025. Volpe clearly doesn’t have the sky-high ceiling that Tatis does, but he exists as a data point for pure injury recovery nonetheless.
The shoulder issues aren’t a death sentence for Volpe. However, combined with the urgency of playing for the Yankees, their perennial need for immediate results, and three disappointing seasons with the bat, they could definitely complicate things in 2026 and beyond.
We got into Jupiter Wednesday 2/25 and stayed through Monday 3/2. Here is a rundown of various discoveries and observations outside of the game reports. This will be a fair amount of surface level observations. I will follow up with a couple more in-depth articles where it appears more attention is deserving. Ask questions, and I will put a little more detail, in comments, where the questions come up.
Getting out of the blocks
Turns out I know a guy (Doc) who set me up to get press credentials with the Cardinals in advance of my visit.
I think the connections were a bit circuitous (he knew a guy, who knew a guy, etc.), but it worked out in the end. They gave me press badges, one for each day (see example above), access to the back fields, the press box and the media room (where Oli does his pre- and post-game interviews). Thank you Doc!
They were reluctant to give me clubhouse access, understandably since they don’t know me, and as a blogger I’m a bit different. They figured out in their research that I’m more a big picture guy anyway, so their reluctance was not an imposition. Overall, they were very gracious and accommodating. Hopefully they saw it as a positive thing and perhaps another avenue to reach a portion of the fanbase.
The media room was populated by the usual suspects. Feinsand. Goold. Guerrero. Jones. A few others I didn’t recognize but will try to get introductions as the week goes on. I’m a closet introvert, so that is not my favorite part, but still a group that obviously likes to talk baseball. Never a bad thing.
In the press room, they pass out a schedule of who is in which group and which group is on which field doing which drill. They certainly keep them moving. Lots of small print. Sometimes in the details there is a story lurking.
The construction
I’ll touch on this lightly since there has already been lots put out about the improvements at RDS. Mostly things that might be helpful to people heading down later this month. There is lots of new square footage added for player development work. Their new hitting building is enormous. I got to see the Trajekt machine in operation as Walker was prepping for the Astros game. It is very realistic. That part of the complex is a no fans area right now.
Access to the quads (backfields 2-5) is temporarily (for fans) re-routed through the Marlins side, using the Marlins entrance to their quads. It is a bit of a trek. FYI, they closed up that access at noon. I don’t know if that will continue deeper into spring. Fields 1 and 6 were largely inaccessible to fans. It appears due to the hangover in construction work (there are certainly punch list items and clean-up to be done yet), so I’m hopeful access to the fields the MLBers work out on will be restored for fans by next spring.
The camp – day#1
With the orientation I got and getting settled, I didn’t get a lot of time on the back fields on the first day.
The MLB players were almost all working out inside the stadium. I did not go watch. Fans can buy early entrance to RDS on home games and see the MLBers take BP. I focused on the back fields. All the MiLBers are in, so the camp itself is in the neighborhood of 240 players! 40-man roster, plus 28-ish NRIs, plus 165 MiLB roster guys plus a few more development guys. Lots to watch. Not many names on back of MiLB jerseys yet, so hard to discern who is who. The groups are telling. As are the uniform numbers and names (or lack of).
If you wonder how exactly they fit 165 two-digit numbers on MiLB unis, there are lots of guys with duplicate numbers.
I looked but didn’t see Raniel Rodriguez on the back fields. I guessed he might be in the stadium working with the MLBers, but not sure. He was not listed anywhere on the schedule, on either the MiLB or MLB sides. Lots going on. It is quite a logistical challenge.
I watched Deniel Ortiz take BP. Nice stroke. Nice sound coming off the bat. Mautz and McGreevy threw bullpens today. Honeyman was out there. Perhaps he is past the injury woes that plagued him.
The camp – day#2
Couple of guys on the rehab track got BP sessions in. Saw B. Holiday with P. Graham. Graham threw some breaking balls, so he must be further along. Watched Ethan Young throw in live BP. Seems to have a pretty live sinker. No tech on his field, so I didn’t see the Trackman read outs on it. You get VEB bucks if you can answer the trivia question of “Who is Ethan Young?”
Watched May throw a sim game, opposed by Bradt. The tech readings seemed pretty strong for early spring. Velo 96-98, horizontal break on his breaking pitch got up to -27”. His change had good fade, too. Herrera was his catcher. They had runners on most of the time (so May was out of the stretch most of the time). They worked Ivan in the running game pretty hard. Bradt had good stuff, too. Consistent 96 with sharp slider. Command is a work in progress, particularly with pitches on the inner half. An uncomfortable AB for the hitters. Walker, Scott, Moore, Prieto were the hitters.
MLB has a reference card on ABS. A good read. One thing I did not know. If a manager wants to challenge the results of a play AND there is a challenge on the ball/strike call, the ball/strike must come first. They can’t ask for an ABS challenge after a ruling on a play in the field that results challenge.
Today, I discovered an additional info sheet in the RDS pressbox that listed “minor league extras” for today’s game. Sure enough, I find Raniel Rodriguez on it. He doesn’t appear anywhere else in the lists. He seems like the rare guy we had in High School football who was a freshman but worked out with Varsity.
On the business side, I hear a lot of comments that the crowds aren’t what they used to be. To-date, the Cardinals are well ahead of the Grapefruit League average attendance, with almost 4,000 per game, versus ~3,200 on the road. Today’s 4,600 will boost that. Fair number of Mets fans here, though.
The camp – day#3
Saturday. Marlin’s home game, so I head down to the Marlin’s clubhouse to get a Marlin’s authorized press box credential. The Marlins had sent me an email with some very specific instructions, all of which were incorrect, so there was a bit of a run-around there. They got it all figured out in good time. I’m getting my steps in!
Lots going on today. Watched a Cinjtje bullpen. Lots to like. Dobbins had a “live BP”. He looked comfortable. Oli talked in the pre-game that they are keeping him in the backfields just for protection because there are still things (like covering first) that they don’t want him doing yet. The pitching side is coming along, although they are intentionally bringing him along more slowly.
The MLB group (29 non-pitchers if anyone is counting) went through an “execution game” where they set up situations and awarded points for hitters taking (and executing the correct approach). Ex. 1st and 3rd, 1 out, infield back. What do they want out of that hitter? And then if the infielders creep in just before the pitched, does the hitter recognize and switch to the new, correct approach? One point if he does. Competitors being competitors, they took it seriously and argued pretty much everything. Lots of hooting and hollering. Spring fun. More on that tomorrow.
Got a peek in at a bullpen by Franklin, while trying to watch Doyle and Fajardo in live BP against Levenson, Mendlinger, Madris, Peete, Gazdar and Ledbetter.
Fitts and Zimmerman threw bullpens, as well. I see on the schedule that Lin was to throw off the NewtForce mound (which is inside the MiLB batting cage building). I have inquired about what this is, exactly. On Franklin, I’ve seen some pundits suggest he might be the steal of the 2025 draft, or something like that. Watching him throw BP, I can see why someone might say that.
Camp day#4
Today is not a total quiet day, but close. The MiLBers have the full day off, so the back fields are closed down. Some scrimmage action on the MLB side for guys not playing today. A bit of a dreary morning, giving away to clearing skies and cooling into the 70’s.
The press conference announcing Oli’s extension took center stage. Quite a few players attended and applauded. Some will poo-poo culture and chemistry. I get it. Performance and wins count. That said, trying to incorporate winning habits requires some degree of culture that is not tolerant of mediocrity, incomplete effort or lack of attention to details. I get that, too. In the firefighting world I live and work in, minor failures in execution can get people hurt.
Oli described this morning that they expect players to take pride at being really good at the mundane things (I had used PFP as an example). In my view, one guy at the top doesn’t set that tone alone, it’s got to be throughout the org. Coaches, top players, etc. He talked about the fun the players had in the execution game yesterday as another example. One team won 17-16 in a very spirited competition with lots of hooting and hollering. Brotherly love, we used to call it. Inside all of that, you could hear whispers of the culture … when Brant Brown awarded an execution point for a guy who tried to hit a groundball in a GB situation (runner on third, fielders back, 1 out). The young hitter actually hit a laser about 3 feet off the ground that was caught. Burleson was quick to observe that everyone had the right intent, the point was to execute perfectly. Sort of out of Yoda’s Master Jedi playbook. “Either do, or do not. There is no try”. I’d put Pages, Nootbaar and Burleson as the vocal leaders of this group. Oli says they are all close knit. He described it as it seems to be because they are in the same boat and realize they will be together for a while.
Camp Day#5
Last day. Will wander the backfields as a fan only. Using only my eyes. I won’t be at the game today and will stay out of the press room. I need to get some more pics. Do our readers like the kind of pics I’m putting in here? I’m no photographer.
This catcher appears set to start at High-A. I don’t think he will end there.
As compared to the last couple of years, you can definitely see/hear/feel the presence of more coaches, trainers and technicians. Perceptibly more instruction in Spanish this year as well. Both, I thought, were pretty noticeable.
More players were wearing “wearable” tech. The visible ones were all not pitchers. Catapault wearable technology as shown below…
Watched what I expect to be the AA rotation do some PFP type drills. Noted Doyle and Lin in this group. Will Cinjtje be here, too, or AAA?
I watched Won-Bin Cho hit for a bit. Man, there are a lot of left-handed hitters in these parts. He is starting to fill out. I am very curious about him. This will be a big year for him.
One last thought. Today, I wandered through the Marlins side just to get a sense of how the other half lives. I thought the differences were noticeable. Maybe even almost stark. Across 6 fields, all I saw were a handful of guys taking BP under the mobile cages. Since the trek in and out is lengthy, this was more than just a point-in-time view. Didn’t see a single Trackman device, iPad, or anything like that. No tech guys running around setting up cameras. Just coaches throwing BP pitches from behind the L screen. Not even many guys out shagging balls or working on fielding skills. In the end, it seemed like the Marlins side had a tech and organizational feel more akin to high school than the Cardinals side. Interesting how different the approaches are.
That a rundown of what my eyes took in. More detail next week.
