Category: Baseball

Jonathan Pintaro went undrafted out of high school and spent five seasons at Shorter University, D2 school in the Gulf South Conference located in Rome, Georgia, without being selected by a Major League Baseball team. The 24-year-old still had the passion for baseball and refused to let his dream die, signing with the Glacier Range Riders of the Pioneer League for the 2023 season. Still, he had no takers. With his dream holding on by a thread, he decided to return to Glacier Range for the 2024 season. He made three appearances, all starts, posting a 4.40 ERA in 14.0 innings, with 13 hits allowed, 1 walk 1, and 23 strikeouts, and finally found a suitor. On June 3, 2024, the New York Mets officially signed Pintaro to a minor league contract.

The right-hander was assigned to the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones and pitched in Coney Island for two months, making 7 starts and 9 total appearances with a 2.50 ERA in 36.0 innings, allowing 28 hits, walking 14, and striking out 35. He was promoted to the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies in late July and was just as effective in the two months he was there, making 7 starts and posting a 3.18 ERA in 34.0 innings with 26 hits allowed, 10 walks, and 34 strikeouts. He was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse for his final start of the season, throwing four scoreless innings there, and posted a 2.68 ERA in 74.0 innings on the season in totality, allowing 58 hits, walking 28, and striking out 75.

Following the conclusion of the season, the Mets sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where he allowed 4 earned runs in 10.1 innings, good for a 3.48 ERA, with 9 hits allowed, 6 walks, and 10 strikeouts.

He began the 2025 season with Binghamton and once again put up solid results. In 42.1 innings over eleven starts, the right-hander posted a 3.40 ERA with 32 hits allowed, 15 walks, and 57 strikeouts. On June 24, Pintaro was promoted to Triple-A, and a day later, the New York Mets selecting his contract, showing that perseverance does pay off; almost a year to the day prior, he had been pitching in Kalispell, Montana in front of roughly 2,000 people; now, he would be pitching in front of almost twenty times that amount in the capital of the world.

It was expected that Pintaro would pitch out of the Mets’ bullpen and the big 6’3”, 235-pound right-handed did exactly that; he appeared in a single game against the Atlanta Braves on June 25, coming out of the bullpen in the ninth inning of a 7-1 lead, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks in 0.2 innings. He was optioned back down to Triple-A Syracuse and remained there for the remainder of the season, posting a 5.27 ERA in 39.2 innings over 17 games, five of which were starts.

Pintaro did not exactly impress in his brief MLB cup-of-coffee, nor did he put up particularly good numbers with the Syracuse Mets for the rest of the season, but as the Mets identified when they signed him out of the Pioneer League in 2024, the right-hander has the stuff to get MLB outs when he has his stuff working. The right-hander throws fastballs nearly 75% of the time, mixing in a high-spin cutter, a mid-90s fastball, and a low-90s sinker. He supplements those pitches with a mid-to-high-80s changeup that gives him a north-south option and a low-to-mid-80s sweeping slider that gives him a horizontal option.

Already on the 40-man roster with remaining options, Pintaro has an outside shot of making the major league bullpen if he is really impressive during spring training, but odds are, he will be optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to begin the year and will be one of a handful of internal starting or bullpen options the team can activate with when and if the need arises.

An outstanding hitter who started his career as a pitcher is involved in a trade between the Yankees and Red Sox. While this statement could be used to outline the career of the legendary Babe Ruth, it also rings true for the not-nearly-as-renowned Lefty O’Doul — a talented player in his own right and the next individual in our Birthday Series.

Francis Joseph “Lefty”O’Doul
Born: March 4, 1897 (San Francisco, CA)
Died: December 7, 1969 (San Francisco, CA)
Yankees Tenure: 1919-20, 1922

The San Francisco Giants are such a storied franchise in baseball that for those born around the turn of the century and even a bit older, it’s difficult to imagine a version of MLB without a team in the Bay Area. That being said, before the Dodgers and Giants moved to California in the late-1950s, there was still quality baseball played out in San Francisco. Few people could attest to that quite in such rich fashion as Lefty O’Doul, a late-blooming, MLB star and a legend of the San Francisco Seals, the Pacific Coast League team for which he played and managed.

Hardcore MLB trivia enthusiasts might know O’Doul as the record holder for most runs allowed in a single relief appearance, but his career went far beyond that curious bit of minutiae. If you’re curious about that specific game, back when he pitched for the Red Sox in 1923, O’Doul gave up an absurd 16 runs against Cleveland—only three of them earned due to a plethora of errors, which, of course, didn’t take the sting off that much.

Following his career in chronological order, O’Doul started out as a pitcher for the aforementioned Seals of the PCL and moved to the Des Moines Boosters, where he caught the eye of Yankee as a 20-year-old pitcher. O’Doul made the Yankees team in 1919 and spent a couple of seasons with the team, receiving minimal opportunities as a relief pitcher, failing to reach even 10 innings pitched in the two seasons. New York won 95 games in 1920 but still fell three short of Cleveland in the race for the American League pennant. In 24.2 innings for the Yanks from 1919-22, he had a 3.65 ERA and looked the part of a pitcher at the plate at .243/.282/.297 with a 55 OPS+.

New York made its first World Series in 1921 while O’Doul was farmed back to the Seals, and he appeared in eight games for the team that repeated as American League champs in ’22 (falling to the Giants in an all-Polo Grounds Wolrd Series in both years). O’Doul wasn’t around for the end of the latter year either, as he was shipped off to Boston in September of ’22 as the player-to-be-named-later of a July package deal that had seen the Yankees acquire Joe Dugan and Elmer Smith. In Boston, O’Doul struggled heavily the following year, allowing a 1.887 WHIP in a little over 50 innings pitched, playing for a team that finished 61-92-2.

Struggling to cope with the demands of pitching, O’Doul went back to the Pacific Coast League to try his hand at hitting. He hadn’t hit much in the majors for Boston, but in 1921 with the Seals, he’d caught eyes with a .338 average and a .529 slugging percentage in 75 games. Over a four-year stretch beginning in 1924 with the Salt Lake City Bees, he made a complete mockery of PCL pitching, never finishing the year with a batting average lower than .338, accruing over 2,500 PA across those four seasons in the California sun with Salt Lake City, Hollywood, and San Francisco. O’Doul hit .392 in ’24 and .378 in ’27, finishing runner-up for the batting crown in both seasons (the former by mere percentage points). Those superb averages and a 33-homer campaign in ’27 were a sign of things to come for O’Doul.

Picked up by the Giants after those outstanding numbers with the Seals in 1927, O’Doul hit the ground running in the bigs, managing a .319 average in a little under 400 plate appearances. Perhaps still a bit unsure of what exactly they had in this 31-year-old who had reinvented his career as a hitter, the Giants flipped O’Doul to the Phillies for Freddy Leach in a straight-up swap after 1928, one they’d come to regret.

O’Doul broke out as one of the game’s top players in 1929, finishing as the NL MVP runner-up and coming within an inch of hitting .400. O’Doul’s .398 average wasn’t all made of singles either; in fact, far from it. The San Francisco native hit 33 home runs and only missed out on the MVP award due to the magnificent efforts of the great Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby, who played for a far superior Cubs team that managed to make it all the way to the Fall Classic, a particularly meaningful distinction during that period. But O’Doul won the NL batting title and also led the Senior Circuit with a .465 OBP and the majors with a staggering 254 hits. That was just three knocks shy of George Sisler’s MLB record 257 in 1920 and remains third in MLB history behind only Sisler and 2004 Ichiro (262).

O’Doul took a couple of steps back, but remained a great player in 1930. As his team got worse, Philadelphia flipped him to the Brooklyn Robins, where he’d spend the next two-plus seasons, further cementing his legacy as a great hitter, including a top-three MVP finish in 1932, when he won his second and final batting title at .368.

As if in a twist of fate, O’Doul would get moved once again, this time back to Giants in June 1933. Hall of Fame Giants skipper John McGraw had retired the previous year, but he was enlisted to manage the first-ever NL All-Star team on July 6, 1933 at Comiskey Park, and he named O’Doul to the inaugural roster. (He grounded out as a pinch-hitter.) At age-36, O’Doul also got to play in his first Fall Classic that fall, and he singled to drive in two runs during his only at-bat as the Giants beat the Washington Senators in five to win the World Series.

O’Doul retired as a productive hitter in 1934, finishing that year with a .908 OPS in 197 PA. The left-hander walked away with an outstanding .349 career big-league batting average and .945 OPS in over 3,000 at-bats, having debuted as a full-time hitter in the majors after turning 30. It still stands as one of the more remarkable career comebacks in MLB history (with his career providing part of the inspiration for Roy Hobbs in “The Natural,” alongside Eddie Waitkus). Outside of the controversial Shoeless Joe Jackson, O’Doul has the highest average of any big-league regular not already enshrined in Cooperstown. He appeared on 10 different ballots from 1948-62 and again on Veterans Committee ballots in 2007 and 2022, most recently coming seven votes shy of induction in ’22.

Upon his retirement, O’Doul moved back to the Bay Area, where he managed the San Francisco Seals in the Pacific League for nearly two decades. There, he led his hometown team to six Pacific Coast League championships, including four in a row between 1943-46.

During his successful period at the helm of the Seals, O’Doul developed perhaps his most notable Yankee connection, working with a young center fielder by the name of Joe DiMaggio. The future “Yankee Clipper” had already agreed to join New York for 1936, but his final season with the Seals corresponded with O’Doul’s first as their skipper, and he hit an O’Doul-esque .398.

While the lack of a larger sample ultimately prevented O’Doul from joining Cooperstown, he was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame (the Lefty O’Doul Bridge near Oracle Park is named in his memory), the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame, and in 2002, the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. On top of his fascinating career on the field, O’Doul, who served in the United States Army, played a key role in helping baseball grow in Japan with several tours throughout the country to help promote the sport. O’Doul helped name their oldest and most successful pro team, the Yomiuri Giants, upon their founding in 1934. The club that would one day star the likes of Sadaharu Oh and Hideki Matsui retain the MLB Giants’ orange, black, and white colors to this day.

O’Doul’s first trip to Japan was back in 1931 as part of a group that included Lou Gehrig and Lefty Grove, and he returned at least 10 times for extended visits throughout the rest of his life — including a meaningful trip in 1949 to help thaw relations between Japan and the U.S. following the all-around devastation of World War II.

O’Doul lived long enough to see his Giants come to him, as the New York club moved west in 1958 to become the San Francisco Giants. They played their first two seasons in his old stomping grounds of Seals Stadium, and O’Doul led his last exhibition tour in 1960 when he brought the Giants to Japan. At the end of the decade, he passed away due to a stroke at age 72. He’s a somewhat-forgotten name today in New York baseball circles, but the ripple effects he had on baseball in San Francisco and Japan will last forever.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

The Cincinnati Reds have put together an enviable breadth of starting pitching heading into the 2026 Major League Baseball season. That’s a nebulous, bland, blanket statement on its surface, but it’s also very much emblematic of the fact that almost none of the cadre of starting-caliber arms they have down there is the same, or even in the same situation.

They’ve got a bona fide ace in Hunter Greene, the lone one amongst the group operating on a long-term contract extension. They’ve got Brady Singer, a veterans innings-eater, who is in his final year of team control with free agency looming.

They’ve got a flamethrowing rookie with Cy Young upside in Chase Burns, and a mix-match command maestro in rookie Rhett Lowder – who’s own stuff is good enough to chase awards, too. They’ve got lefties in Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo and Brandon Williamson to match the might of their RHPs. They’ve got guys coming off lost seasons who’ll need to deal with innings limits, and guys like Lodolo and Greene still looking to complete full seasons to add that badge of honor (an incredibly lucrative badge of honor) to their already growing resumes.

It’s also unique in that it’s a group composed completely of players who were already within the organization last year, with nary a new starting pitcher brought in to camp on a big league deal among them. Even with Nick Martinez, who left for free agency following the 2025 season, they lost a guy who spent a ton of the end of the season pitching as a reliever despite his prowess as a starter, so their rotation options have been lined up for 2026 long before 2026 ever arrived.

The one obvious question that we don’t necessarily know about this group, though, is who becomes their workhorse.

Last season, it was Singer who topped the IP leaderboard for the club at 169.2, a number that marked the fourth straight season in which he’d topped 150 IP for his respective clubs. That edged out both Abbott (166.1) and Lodolo (165.2) for the team lead, with each of those numbers marking career-bests for the lefties. Greene, meanwhile, has the best stuff on the team (and perhaps in the game) with the best surface stats, too, but injuries once again limited him during the 2025 campaign and he fired just 107.2 innings.

If the mantra is truly have your best pitchers pitch the most, then it’s pretty obvious the Reds would love it if Greene ended up leading the team in IP this year. However, since he’s only topped 150 IP once (at 150.1 IP in 2024) and threw just 107 IP last year, I doubt the Reds are itching to see him chase 200 IP this season from a long-term (and playoff) perspective. Innings limits for each of Lowder and Williamson coming off injury will 100% be in play, while the team is going to be cautious with Burns due to his 2025 forearm issue and lack of overall IP experience, too.

Singer, a perfectly cromulent mid-rotation starter for just about any rotation in the bigs (including this one), may well end up being leaned on more to take innings off others this year and wind up leading the team in innings once again – all despite being perhaps the fifth or seventh most ‘talented’ arm on the roster. Lodolo or Abbott could power their way to 32+ starts and set new career marks, too, something that would inch both closer to being considered legitimate top-of-the-rotation starters nearing lucrative paydays.

It’s a discussion with no crystal ball, clearly. Who do you think ends up leading the 2026 Reds in IP?

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided some updates prior to Wednesday's game against Team Israel...

McLean good to go for sim game

Nolan McLean's vertigo-like symptoms are gone, and the right-hander is officially set to throw in a sim game on the backfields in Port St. Lucie on Wednesday. 

McLean is expected to throw about four innings and 50-55 pitches. 

If he's able to get through that without any issues, he'll likely join Team USA in the coming days and make his scheduled start in their pool play finale against Italy on March 10. 

The 24-year-old is also penciled in as USA's starter for the WBC Championship if they were to make it that far. 

McLean expects to make just two appearances of around 60 pitches during the tournament. 

Robert's next step

McLean won't be the only big-name Met partaking in that sim game on the backfields, as Luis Robert Jr. is officially set to play four innings in center, as well. 

This will be Robert's first game action as a Met this spring training. 

The 28-year-old has gotten plenty of swings in the cages and during live BP sessions, but the Mets are easing him in to game action in an effort to keep him healthy heading into the year. 

He'll be playing in these sim games on alternate days until he's ready to jump into Grapefruit League action. 

Minter's up and moving around

The Mets have been encouraged by how A.J. Minter has looked in his early bullpen sessions, and he's officially ready to take the next step in his spring training build-up. 

Minter is set to face hitters in live BP for the first time since undergoing season-ending lat surgery last May. 

The southpaw still remains without a timeline for a return, but best-case scenario, the team is hoping he'll be back in the mix around late April or early May.

Whenever he does return, it'll certainly be a huge boost for this group. 

Minter was spectacular before going down to injury last year, allowing just two runs and striking out 14 over his first 13 appearances in orange and blue. 

Morning, all!

Shawn McFarland continues his prospect countdown with left handed pitcher Dalton Pence at number 22 right handed pitcher Izack Tiger at number 21.

There has been a lot of turnover in the Ranger bullpen, but Chris Young says that the best bullpens in baseball have a lot of moving parts.

Evan Grant has his most recent roster projection as we move inexorably towards Opening Day.

Former Ranger prospect Jurickson Profar is facing a lengthy suspension after testing positive for PED’s a second time.

Skip Schumaker was impressed by Winston Santos’ grit after a comebacker fractured Santos’ left hand but he finished his simulated inning.

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

We’re back with another Brewers Reacts Survey as we’re now nearly two weeks into spring training! In this edition of the survey, we’re asking fans which position player they’d most like to see make the roster.

Now, before we look at the options, let’s quickly run down who should make the roster.

1. William Contreras (C)
2. Gary Sánchez (C)
3. Andrew Vaughn (1B)
4. Jake Bauers (1B)
5. Brice Turang (2B)
6. Joey Ortiz (SS)
7. Luis Rengifo (3B)
8. David Hamilton (UTIL)
9. Jackson Chourio (OF)
10. Sal Frelick (OF)
11. Garrett Mitchell (OF)
12. Christian Yelich (DH/OF)

Assuming all of those names are safe (barring the seemingly inevitable injury), that leaves one roster spot up in the air. There are probably five realistic candidates, but I didn’t include Jett Williams simply because he isn’t on the 40-man roster. That leaves us with the four candidates below.

1. Akil Baddoo (OF)
2. Tyler Black (1B/OF)
3. Brandon Lockridge (OF)
4. Blake Perkins (OF)

Baddoo, 27, was a second-round pick out of high school by the Twins in 2016 and made his MLB debut with the Tigers in 2021. His best season was that rookie year, when he totaled 2.1 bWAR across 124 games, hitting .259/.330/.436 (112 OPS+) with 13 homers and 55 RBIs. Over the last four years, however, he played in 223 games and totaled just 0.7 bWAR, with 15 homers and 49 RBIs. He did have some success at Triple-A in 2025, though, hitting .281/.385/.483 with 15 homers and 48 RBIs across 103 games. It remains to be seen if he’s just a AAAA-type player, a la Keston Hiura. He’s had a strong start to his spring, hitting .455/.462/.818 with a homer, three RBIs, and three runs across four games.

Black, 25, was a supplemental pick (No. 33 overall) by the Crew in 2021 out of Wright State University. He rose through the minors at a pretty average pace, hitting Triple-A Nashville in 2024. Across 102 games with the Sounds that year, he hit .258/.374/.429 with 14 homers, 67 RBIs, and 20 steals. He took a slight step back in the minors in 2025, hitting .243/.369/.360 with just four homers, 34 RBIs, and 22 steals across 61 games at Triple-A. He’s had brief MLB cameos in each of the last two seasons, totaling 23 games with 57 at-bats, hitting .211/.357/.263 with three RBIs, five runs, and three steals. The main reason he’s on this list, though, is his hot start to spring training — across four games, Black hit .667/.692/1.250 with a homer, a triple, two doubles, eight RBIs, four runs, and three steals before departing for Team Canada during the World Baseball Classic.

Lockridge, who turns 29 next weekend, was a fifth-round pick by the Yankees out of Troy in 2018. He made his MLB debut with the Padres in 2024 and has appeared in 79 games between San Diego and Milwaukee the last two seasons, hitting .226/.268/.308 with a homer, 12 RBIs, 21 runs, and 12 steals. Not known for his power, Lockridge got out to a powerful start this spring, slugging a pair of homers in the Brewers’ first couple of games. Across four games this spring, he’s hitting .545/.643/1.182 with six hits, including those two homers, with two RBIs, six runs, and a steal.

Another veteran, Perkins, 29, was a second-round pick out of high school by the Nationals in 2015, though he didn’t catch on anywhere until finding a home with the Brewers. He made his MLB debut with Milwaukee in 2023, and across three seasons with the Brewers, he’s hit .232/.314/.339 with 13 homers, 82 RBIs, 107 runs, and 35 steals over 242 games while providing above-average defense. Perkins has also had a solid start to his spring, hitting .375/.500/.500 with three hits, including a double, to go with two RBIs and two runs scored over three games.

Given that all of these players have options remaining — Baddoo and Black each have one, Lockridge and Perkins each have two — the question is really where the Brewers see the most value for this team on opening day. Who do you think the Brewers should include as the 13th man when opening day rolls around later this month? Weigh in on our poll below, and stay tuned for results later in the week!

For the past two seasons, MLB has featured a “Spring Breakout” series during Spring Training where every team assembles a team of their best prospects from throughout their farm system. Then these teams of prospects each play one exhibition game against a squad from a rival team in the Cactus or Grapefruit League. These games have been a great way to showcase baseball’s next generation of talent. The games are all televised locally and some of them end up on the MLB Network or streaming platforms. All games are also streamed for free on MLB dot com.

This year, the Cubs will take on the Padres at Sloan Park at 8:05 p.m. CT on March 21. The game will be broadcast both on Marquee Sports Networkand the Padres sports channel as well as streaming for free. Tomorrow, March 5, the rosters for every Spring Breakout Series team will be announced on the MLB Network at 11 a.m. CT. Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds will host the hour-long announcement program.

But that’s just for this year. The bigger news is that in 2027 and 2028, the Spring Breakout series will become two single-elimination tournaments, with one team being crowned the winner of the Cactus League and one the winner of the Grapefruit League Spring Breakout tournament. These two tournaments will take place from March 19 through the 22nd at various Spring Training venues in Arizona and Florida.

On the one hand, this is a great idea to showcase the next generation of talent in baseball and give fans something to be invested in during a slow part of the Spring. It will even give fans of two teams a little bragging rights.

On the other hand, this is clearly insurance by MLB to have something to show next March to the fans if major leaguers are still locked out in a labor dispute. Prospects not on the 40-man roster will not be locked out, so they will still be playing in Spring Training and available for the tournament no matter what is going on with the major leaguers.

So this tournament can be two things at once. It’s both a great idea and an ominous omen about baseball next year.

In any case, let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that and that the Spring Breakout Tournaments in 2027 and 2028 just become an added attraction for baseball fans before the season starts in years that there is no World Baseball Classic.

Spring training is in full swing as the Detroit Tigers prepare for their 2026 campaign, locked and reloaded for another run to the playoffs, and hopefully, a World Series ring. Sure, the team is just 2-6 so far, but these games do not matter… yet.

A great deal of the optimism heading into the season rests on the shoulders of the pitching staff, which features the best left-handed pitcher in all of baseball, Tarik Skubal, along with a robust supporting cast that includes newly added Framber Valdez and a reunion with future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. The bullpen also got a boost by bringing back Kyle Finnegan and adding Kenley Jansen, who ranks fourth all-time in saves.

Which brings us to today’s question: “Who will be the Tigers’ best pitcher not named Tarik Skubal this year?” While the aforementioned four players are certainly prime candidates, there are other options, such as Casey Mize, who still has some headroom for growth, or perhaps Jack Flaherty can rediscover his 2024 form; maybe Keider Montero finally makes the jump to the next level.

Or maybe it is none of the above.

So, Tigers fans, who do you think will be the standout hurler for the Ole English D in 2026? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Diamondbacks News

Alek Thomas, Jordan Lawlar Among Standouts in Diamondbacks’ Loss to Mexico
Alek Thomas played for the opposition in the tilt as Team Mexico downed the Diamondbacks 6-3 on Tuesday. Zac Gallen needed only 22 pitchers to clear two innings with only one hit allowed.

Diamondbacks’ Waldschmidt Making Push for Opening Day Roster
The slugging left fielder is trying to take advantage of the opportunity given to him thanks to the WBC and various team injuries.

Other Baseball News

Making Hasty Judgments About Mark DeRosa’s Lineup
No longer a managing rookie, Mark DeRosa returns as Team USA’s manager after finishing runner-up with the team in 2023.

Teammate Connections During WBC Pool Play
What potential teammate-on-teammate connections will WBC pool play bring?

Jurickson Profar Suspended for 162 Games
Atlanta’s Jurickson Profar has been suspended for 162 games following a positive test for “exogenous testosterone and its metabolites.” This is Profar’s second failed PED test, which will also likely end his MLB career. Profar has also been scratched from the WBC roster.

Phillies’ Rojas to Appeal 80-Game PED Suspension
Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas is contesting a possible 80-game suspension by Major League Baseball following an alleged failed test for a performance-enhancing substance, according to multiple reports.

Scherzer’s Daughter Wrote Letter to Blue Jays Asking for a Reunion
The hand-written missive was featured by Scherzer’s spouse after the future Hall of Famer inked a one-year deal to return to Toronto.

Top-15 Relievers in Baseball Right Now
The Mariners, Brewers, and Padres stand out in this list, accounting for six of the fifteen arms featured.

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

Texas Rangers lineup for March 4, 2026 against the Brazil WBC team.

The WBC years means teams getting the occasional spring training matchups against the WBC squads from various countries. Today, Brazil is coming to Surprise to play the Texas Rangers. Not the whole country, to be clear. I don’t think the whole country would fit.

Offseason trade addition Brandon Nimmo is making his first appearance in a game for the Texas Rangers, and Jacob deGrom is making his first start of the spring.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Carter — CF

Burger — 1B

Smith — 2B

Jansen — C

Canha — LF

Wade — 3B

Duran — SS

Zavala — DH

2:05 p.m. Central start time.

2025 was a bad year for the Colorado Rockies that included many mid-season shakeups.

On Mother’s Day, we saw long-time manager Bud Black and bench coach Mike Redmond relieved of their duties and Warren Schaeffer promoted to interim manager. (I remember the date because I was at Disneyland when the news broke.) It was something I’d advocated for before, but suddenly, we got to see how “The Schaeffer Way” would look in real time at the major league level. It was in less-than-ideal circumstances, but I do believe we saw Schaeffer take the sinking Titanic and turn it into Jack Sparrow’s dingy floating into Port Royal.

Entering 2026, Schaeffer has been given the reins full-time and is taking the opportunity to make this team his own after merely keeping them afloat in 2025.

So far, from everything we’ve seen, it’s been a marked departure from the Bud Black years. Every practice is detailed and scheduled, and there are opportunities for players and coaches to learn from each other — not just players learning from coaches. Batting cage time is also built into the schedule rather than being expected to happen on players’ own time, and they’re even starting the day later so players can get more sleep. It’s a very clear change from the previous regime, but we still have yet to see how this “Schaeffer Way” will translate over a 162-game season.

The Manager

If there are two words to describe Warren Schaeffer, they’re probably “communicator” and “relationship builder.” 

Throughout his tenure in the Rockies organization, Schaeffer has built a reputation on being an excellent communicator fosters relationships with everybody – players, coaches, media, you name it. And that’s one of the first things people notice about him.

“He remembers your kids’ names and your wife’s name,” said new hitting coach Brett Pill. “Obviously, that’s huge with Schaeff, and one of the reasons why I’m fired up to be on his staff.”

The players concur with the decision to give Schaeffer the full-time position. 

“First and foremost, bringing Schaeff back was huge for us,” said outfielder Mickey Moniak. “I think just what he brings to a clubhouse day in and day out and what he brings to this organization… I think he’s the right guy for the job and the right guy to lead us.”

And PBO Paul DePodesta stands by his decision to retain Schaeffer, despite a complete overhaul in just about every other area of the organization.

“One of the first orders of business when I came on was to hire a manager, but we had an interim one in place in Warren,” DePodesta told MLB Network on Saturday. “I dug as much as I could around the organization – people who were still with the organization, also people who had been there previously – and everyone raved about him! So I thought, ‘OK, this is a real candidate.’ 

“And then as I got to spend more and more hours within the first couple weeks on the job it just became obvious,” he continued. “He literally checked every box we were looking for. I mean, great passion, great relationships with the players, terrific work ethic, wanted to be a great partner with us. So for all of those reasons, I just thought he was the obvious pick.”

And that work ethic can be traced all the way back to Schaeffer’s time with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers.

“I played with him in Double-A,” said former Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado. “I was young at the time. I was a pain in the butt at that time. But we got along great because he loved that I worked. And he was a big worker, too. He took ground balls everyday. And the one thing about Schaeff – there were times where he wasn’t starting in those games, but he was still working every day and never complained. He showed up to work.”

Schaeffer may have hung up his spikes in 2013, but he turned to coaching and never looked back – climbing the ladder from Low-A Asheville all the way up to the majors. Much of that has to do with his communication and relationship building abilities.

And not only is Schaeffer a good communicator himself, but he has built a staff of good communicators and teachers who are ready to build up the Rockies from the studs. 

On Sunday, I asked Schaeffer to describe each member of his coaching staff in one word, and here’s what he had to say about them:

Dugout Coaches

Bench Coach, Jeff Pickler: “Prepared”

Assistant Bench Coach, Ron Gideon: “Wise”

Jeff Pickler, 50, joined the Rockies from the Cincinnati Reds after spending 2019-2024 in the same role. Prior to that, he spent time with the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, San DIego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks. He also spent one year as an assistant coach for the University of Arizona Wildcats. Most notably, he worked with GM Josh Byrnes during his time with the Diamondbacks, Padres and Dodgers. 

Ron Gideon has been with the Rockies since 1996. He spent time as a manager at every level except for Triple-A and MLB, but was promoted to a major league role in 2017. He became the first base coach before the 2019 season, and was moved to assistant bench coach this offseason. Gideon, 62, is the longest-tenured coach on the staff, as well as the oldest.

Hitting Coaches

Hitting Coach, Brett Pill: “Relentless”

Assistant Hitting Coach, Jordan Pacheco: “Smooth”

Brett Pill and Jordan Pacheco couldn’t be more different. 

Pacheco, 40, was drafted in the ninth round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Rockies and made his MLB debut with them four years later. He played 3.5 years in Colorado before being DFA’d in 2014 and being claimed by the Diamondbacks. He played 1.5 years in the desert before finishing his playing career in Cincinnati. He attempted multiple comebacks, but never made another MLB roster. However, he then returned to the Rockies in 2021 with – you guessed it – Warren Schaeffer.

“I’ve known [Pacheco] for a very, very long time,” Schaeffer said. “He’s one of my close friends, and he is great at what he does. There’s nobody more positive in a dugout than him, and hitting is so hard that you need a special person in there with positivity.

“And he’s able to teach everything. The players flock to him. That’s how you can tell good hitting coaches – if the players are around them and on TV you can see it on the camera in the dugout, the players are around ‘Checo’ all the time.”

Meanwhile, Pill, 41, came to the Rockies alongside Byrnes after spending four seasons with the Tulsa Drillers (now the Double-A Dodgers). He is brand new to the organization, but brings a lot of good ideas.

“He’s fantastic,” Schaeffer said. “He has a really, really solid background, He’s just been fantastic so far in there in terms of his preparation and what he’s working on with the guys.”

And Schaeffer noticed the important thing about having two coaches from very different backgrounds.

“Probably the most important thing of it all is [Pill] and Pacheco are already one,” he said. “Things get tricky when one guy’s saying one thing and one guy’s saying the other thing. But those two are rock solid with each other, and it’s gonna be a fun ride.”

(You can read more about Pill’s approach to the Rockies here.)

Pitching Coaches

Pitching Coach, Alon Leichman: “Unique”

Assistant Pitching Coach, Gabe Ribas: “Polished”

Bullpen Coach, Matt Buschmann: “Funny”

Alon Leichman, 36, certainly does have a unique reputation. The thing that follows him around is that he likes to call pitches from the dugout, which is something he did for the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds before he came to the Rockies. So far, the players have been gravitating to his presence.

“Today, I threw with Alon because he wanted to work on my sweeper and cutter,” said Zach Agnos on February 15. “So it was good, and he got to see it firsthand. We had a good talk, and he’s kind of building up some confidence in us, which is good too. He just kept being like, ‘You’re nasty, bro, you’re nasty. Trust [yourself].’ He’s like, ‘You’re nasty!’ So it’s cool to hear. It’s always nice to hear – I believe it – but it never hurts to hear.”

Agnos also mentioned working with the new coaches has been “the most fun [he’s] had playing catch.”

Ryan Feltner is also on board with pitches being called from the dugout.

“I think [Alon] has a lot of good information that he can go off of,” Feltner said on February 14. “And if he wants to call the pitches when I’m pitching, I would love that. I think for me, it clears up a lot of mental space. It’s just another thing that I don’t have to deal with, and I can just focus on pitching.”

After spending five years as the director of pitching with the Detroit Tigers, Ribas, 45, now joins the Rockies. Before Detroit, he also spent time with – you guessed it – the Dodgers. He worked extensively with their pitching development programs. 

Matt Buschmann, 41, has served in various player development and pitching coach roles with the Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants. (I’ll have more on Buschmann later this week.)

Field Coaches

First Base/Outfield Coach, Doug Bernier: “Energetic”

Third Base Coach, Andy González: “Machine”

Bernier, 45, is another returner to Schaeffer’s staff. He previously served as a scout, as well as a Major League data and game-planning coordinator from 2020-2021 and in player development as defensive coordinator from 2022-2023. He oversaw infield and outfield instruction, and seems to be doing the same this year.

You can see Bernier in action here:

And here:

González, 44, also returns to the Rockies staff after serving as assistant hitting coach and interim third base coach in 2025.

Catching Coaches

Bullpen Catcher & Assistant to Baseball Operations, Kyle Cunningham: “Controversial”

Catching Coach & Bullpen Catcher, Chris Rabago: “Sneaky”

Cunningham, 31, and Rabago, 32, are both returning from the 2025 season. Rabago is designated as the catching instructor in 2026, while Cunningham will work more with game planning and advanced scouting like he did in 2025. 

Closing Thoughts

I could keep writing about each coach, and I’m still getting to know all of them (keep an eye out for more articles!). But from everything I’ve gathered in and around the Rockies clubhouse, the vibes really are immaculate. From the music in the hallways to the focus on the most basic of basics… Camp Schaeffer is in full swing and they’re really focusing on the entire human playing baseball.

As the old saying goes, “they don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care” and that rings true for this coaching staff. Warren Schaeffer built a culture of trust and learning as manager, and that has rippled down to every coach they hired. Hopefully that will translate to more wins on the field over the next few years, but so far, the returns are promising.

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

Happy Wednesday A’s fans.

Following a slow start to spring training, the Athletics have started to gain momentum as spring training enters its second week. The team’s offense has erupted, while its pitching has stabilized as players continue tinkering with their approaches in preparation for Opening Day later this month. Everyone from regulars to top prospects to even non-roster invitees has performed well over the past couple of days to help the team start a preseason winning streak.

Yesterday, Aaron Civale took the mound for the first time in an A’s uniform. He looked a little shaky against Brazil’s woeful World Baseball Classic (WBC) squad, but that is to be expected for a guy making his spring debut. As long as he keeps the A’s in the game and does not implode during his starts this season, then that signing will not be a negative investment. However, if he gets shelled every outing and the A’s once again get held back from playoff contention due to team-wide pitching struggles, then A’s fans and members of the media will point to this offseason saying the team should have acquired more pitching help.

While spring training continues for another couple of weeks, real baseball starts this week. The WBC, which has pulled players from every MLB camp to represent the 20 national teams competing in this year’s tournament, begins today with Chinese Taipei taking on Australia. A’s pitching prospects Chen Zhong-AoZhuang and Wei En Lin are on the Taipei squad, both hoping to pitch well for their country on the world stage. Lin is someone A’s officials and prospect evaluators think highly of, so a strong performance by the young left-hander in the WBC could further boost his stock.

The A’s also will be well-represented on Team Puerto Rico thanks to Darell Hernáiz and Carlos Cortes as well as Team Canada (Denzel Clarke) and Team Dominican Republic (Elvis Alvarado and Luis Severino). The A’s will be short-handed in camp for the next couple of weeks due to these players competing for their countries. However, that means more chances to impress for young players, some of whom like Henry Bolte and Leo De Vries have already flashed their promising skillsets in camp’s early going.

Who do you want to win the WBC? Out of all the A’s players participating, who is under the most pressure to play well and who are you most excited to watch?

A’s Coverage

• Athletics Community Prospect List: Kade Morris Rounds Out Top-20
• A’s have best ABS challenge success rates so far this spring
• Still Need To Put The “Fun” In Fundamentals
• A’s matchup with Padres a homecoming for No. 1 prospect De Vries
• Young, talented Athletics need veterans to show the way
• Athletics coaching staff enthusiastic about Bolte’s pathway to Majors
• Medina eager to get back on track after nearly 2-year absence
• A’s to follow casinos’ playbook on how to treat Las Vegas season ticket holders
• Price to Watch A’s Baseball in Las Vegas this year revealed
• Where Does Tommy White Fit in the A’s Mix at Third Base?
• Only a little polish needed before Jump could be ready for The Show
• Butler ramps up recovery efforts, eyes mid-Spring Training return
• Why are A’s using personal seat licenses for Las Vegas stadium?
• Circa Las Vegas bringing in A’s legend for baseball opening day festitivies
• A’s spending on $2B Vegas stadium passes $300m mark, is Fisher’s folly really happening?
• Bob Melvin opens up: A Giants firing, an A’s hiring, and what comes next
• Can The A’s Young Core Turn Defense Into a Strength?
• Pesky Drawback Of “Closer By Committee” (It Never Really Works)
• “Relievers Are Volatile”… But Why?
• Are The Final Two Rotation Spots Really Up For Grabs?

MLB News and Interest:

• World Baseball Classic preview: Top stars, predictions & more for every pool
• Braves’ Profar tests positive again, banned 162 games by MLB
• Reports: Phillies’ Rojas to fight possible 80-game drug ban
• Royals sign Starling Marte to a one-year, $1M deal
• Here are the new 2026 team Top 30 Prospects lists
• Mark DeRosa sets USA rotation for WBC with Logan Webb starting G1
• Tigers Announce Launch Of Detroit SportsNet
• Padres sign Verdugo to Minors deal, bolster outfield depth
• Is Salt Lake City emerging as a leader contender for MLB expansion?
• Ex-MLB pitcher from San Francisco sentenced for murder
• Fairbanks is Marlins’ new go-to for pop culture recs
• Way-too-early predications for 2026 All-Star Game starters
• Injuries: Lindor, Yanks, Twins, Kelly, Woodruff, Basallo
• U.S. denies visas for 8 in Cuba’s WBC delegation
• What does Scherzer’s return mean for Jays’ packed rotation?
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

How big of an impact will Leo De Vries have on the A’s this season?

The A’s are continuing to heavily promote Las Vegas in anticipation of their relocation in a couple of years. I wonder how A’s fans in Sacramento feel about this?

Now's the time!

Vegas Six-Game Ticket Packs are officially on sale: https://t.co/HqyurfXjGq 😄

Inventory is limited, grab yours before they are gone! pic.twitter.com/fYnxxbAXh3

— Athletics (@Athletics) March 3, 2026

A’s outfielder Carlos Cortes is making the most of the opportunity to play for Team Puerto Rico in the WBC. He may not have made the team if tournament insurance policies had not blocked multiple Puerto Rican players from joining this team.

Nick Morabito was drafted by the Mets in the qualified offer free agent compensation round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C. At the time, he was considered a definite follow by regional scouts and evaluators, but his overall profile and post-draft evaluations made many question whether the Mets were wise in selecting him and signing him for a cool million dollars, nearly $125,000 over the MLB-assigned slot value for the 75th overall pick. Here we are, four years later, and Morabito is at the finish line, with an MLB debut in sight.

Splitting the season between the FCL Mets and the St. Lucie Mets in 2023, Morabito hit .306/.421/.407 in 57 games with 9 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, 21 stolen bases, and 34 walks to 49 strikeouts. Splitting the 2024 season between, the St. Lucie Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones, he hit .312/.403/.398 with 17 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, 59 stolen bases, and 60 walks to 98 strikeouts. This past season, he spent the entire year with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and hit .273/.348/.385 in 118 games with 27 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, 49 stolen bases, and 47 walks to 115 strikeouts. Since turning pro, he is a cumulative .291/.381/.389 hitter who has averaged roughly 42 stolen bases a season. Why is Morabito not considered a significant prospect, why was he ranked the Mets’ 15th top prospect instead of 1-5?

The speedy outfielder does his damage in a way that would fit in with the Deadball Era. He can put a jolt into the ball, but almost everything is on the ground; in 2025, he posted a 53.9% groundball rate, and he averaged a 51.5% rate in the prior two seasons combined. Furthermore, he does not pull the ball nearly enough, posting a 42.9% pull rate, 21.9% up-the-middle rate, and a 35.2% opposite field rate and similar spray patterns in his prior two seasons. By and large, when Morabito makes contact, he is shooting groundballs ball back up the middle or slashing them to the opposite field. That might’ve been a viable strategy for Charlie “Piano Legs” Hickman or “Baby Doll” Jacobson or John “the Terrible Swede” Anderson or “Choke ‘em” Charlie Herzog, but in today’s day and age? Not so much. Further complicating matters are his increasing strikeout rate, declining contact rate, and a handful of other metrics.

Morabito has a high floor, at the very least, thanks to his defense and speed. While not elite per se, the outfielder plays a very good centerfield. His arm is fringe-average for the position, but his glove is sure and any mistakes that he makes reading the ball off the bat can be corrected with “brute speed”. And speaking of speed, as the late Terrence Gore highlighted, there will always be place on a team for a speedster when the time is right: Gore has more World Series championship rings than he does career WAR (0.1 rWAR/0.7 fWAR).

Morabito was placed on the 40-man roster this past November to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, but barring showing up to spring training a completely different hitter, it is unlikely that the outfielder breaks camp with the Mets. Having appeared in 118 games in Double-A Binghamton last season, he likely starts 2026 assigned to the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. While coming north with the Mets out of spring training is unlikely, I would not rule out Morabito making his major league debut at some point during the year if the stars align in his favor.