Baseball News
Texas Rangers lineup for March 10, 2026 against the Chicago Cubs.
Another day, another spring training game. We have a lineup that has a lot of regulars in it. Jacob deGrom is the starting pitcher.
The lineup:
Nimmo — RF
Langford — CF
Seager — SS
Burger — 1B
Pederson — DH
McCutchen — LF
Jansen — C
Smith — 2B
Duran — 3B
3:05 p.m. Central start time.
This morning I had the privilege of going into the Nationals locker room during their media availability time. I had the chance to talk to a few pitchers and they updated me on how their spring’s were going. It was very cool to be in there and the players gave thoughtful answers.
The first person I talked to was Brad Lord, who is entering a big season. Before he became a big leaguer, Lord famously worked at Home Depot in the offseason. While he does not have to do that anymore, he told me that not much has changed in his offseason routine. Lord told me that he had “The same throwing program and buildup time”. Luckily for him, he can now do that without shifts at Home Depot.
According to Lord, these throwing programs and workout routines are all done in communication with the team. That is something I thought to be the case, but it is cool to have that confirmed by a big leaguer.
While there was a ton of change in the organization, the new regime did not make any major changes to his arsenal. He told me that he has a slightly different changeup grip, but this offseason was about “fine-tuning” his arsenal rather than making any radical changes. Sometimes pitchers don’t need to make radical changes, and that seems to be the team’s belief about Lord.
One person I was surprised to see in the locker room was Zack Littell. While he has not officially signed with the team yet, he is in the building. I had the chance to chat with him for a little bit, and he gave some really thoughtful answers. Once his signing is officially official, I can show you those quotes.
While Brad Lord made some smaller tweaks, Jake Irvin made some bigger changes. He said he has been “working on a lot of different things with the new staff”. Irvin also mentioned how it has been fun to see how the new staff member’s minds work.
The biggest change he made was adding a sweeper. Irvin also talked about how he is “working to get the velo up”. Getting that velocity back to where it was in 2024 would be a game changer for Irvin. He lost over a tick on his fastball last season. In his first spring start his velocity was down even more. However, it was back to 2025 levels in his second start.
Irvin hopes there is more in the tank as he continues to build up this spring. He said that his velocity was continuing to trend in the right direction during his bullpen on the backfields the other day. Irvin thinks that his new sweeper adds a different dimension to his arsenal.
One interesting thing he told me was that he hopes to “Use my whole arsenal together to make swing decisions harder”. I really liked that quote and thought it showed a high level of pitching IQ. All of a pitcher’s pitches need to play off of each other in a way that makes each pitch better. Irvin is aware of that and it is something he wants to do in 2026.
The last pitcher I talked to was Drew Smith. He signed with the team on a Minor League deal, but the veteran has a good chance of making the team. Before undergoing Tommy John Surgery in the summer of 2024, he was a mainstay in the Mets bullpen.
Now, at 32 years old, he is a veteran in a young clubhouse. He admitted that this is not what he is used to, adding, “In New York it was more of a veteran group, and this group is definitely young, which is actually nice. I have never been considered an older guy, but here I am”. Smith also mentioned that the energy and vibes were good, which is something you would usually associate with a younger group.
On an individual level, it is clear that Smith is not totally satisfied, despite a pair of scoreless outings this spring. He is trying to get back to his pre-surgery level, but does not think he is there yet.
One thing he brought up a couple times is that he is “moving a little too slowly for my liking”. That is not a saying I had heard before, but it makes sense. As a pitcher you need to be explosive, and Smith feels like he is not all the way back yet. His velocity is down about a tick, but given all the time he has missed, that is not surprising.
Smith told me he hopes to make four to five more appearances this spring and stressed that in-game action will help him get back up to speed. I actually wrote about Smith the other day, and mentioned how he may need a little bit of time in AAA to ramp up properly.
With these quotes, I definitely think he could use some time to get his feet wet again in professional baseball. He has missed a year and a half, so some rust is only natural. However, Smith’s stuff is really good, and he has shown that this spring, even if he is not totally himself yet. Smith is going to play a role in the Nats bullpen, though it might not be on Opening Day.
He seems like a good veteran to have around, and I think he has plenty of gas left in the tank. Smith also mentioned he has been working on a couple new pitches. His slider has been much slower than it was pre-surgery, so I would not be surprised if that slider is actually a couple different shapes.
It was very cool to get his access, and the players were great. I am down in West Palm Beach for the next few days, so if you have any questions you think I should ask, comment down below.
When the Atlanta Braves were at their most dominant a few seasons ago, a lot of that success had to do with the fact that their infield was basically a machine. No matter where you looked in the lineup, it was tough to find an out when all of these guys were in there and clicking at the same time. Fortunately, most of that infield is still here but as time has marched on, questions have emerged.
Chief among those questions is whether or not we’ll ever see guys like Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson and Austin Riley reach the lofty heights of production that they achieved during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Will Ha-Seong Kim return to form as well once he returns from injury? Where does Maurico Dubón fit in all of this once the Braves have their ideal lineup ready to go? How effective will the depth be and can the depth be trusted if the injury bug rears its ugly head once again? This is a group where success is just as likely as failure, which makes this crew a fascinating unit to talk and think about.
Assuming things stay the same as they were ever since his arrival ahead of the 2022 season, first base for the Atlanta Braves will once again be The Matt Olson Show. He put on a great show in 2025 and if he can deliver a repeat performance then that’ll be a pleasant development. Dating back to 2019, Olson has either had a “good season” or a “great season” without really chaining together two great seasons in a row.
For what it’s worth, most of the projection models are suggesting that Olson will in fact follow the pattern and put up simply a “good season” this time around — ZiPS is currently projecting that he’ll hit .250/.342/.468 with a .348 wOBA and 124 wRC+. Again, that’s a perfectly fine season for Olson to have but it’s also not anything that would have the eyes popping out of your head like a Looney Tunes character or anything like that.
There is a question as to whether or not new manager Walt Weiss will choose to follow in his predecessor’s steps and let Olson play all 162 if he fully desires or if he’ll try to encourage Olson to get some rest days in. If that’s the case, then that means that Dominic Smith (assuming he makes the squad) could see some time at first base for the Braves this season. The defense would certainly take a bit of a downturn with Smith at first base but he’s coming off of a season where he produced 111 wRC+ over 63 games while playing for the Giants, so hopefully he’d be able to produce a bit whenever called upon. If all goes well, he won’t be called upon that often since Olson is still likely to play the vast majority of games with a rest only coming on occasion instead of being a regular thing.
Similarly to Matt Olson, if Ozzie Albies has his way then he’ll be playing every day. If he remains healthy then the main question will then become if the version of Ozzie that we’re going to see is closer to the one who was performing like a star in 2023 and 2021 or if we’re going to see the version that’s been scuffling about for the past couple of seasons.
While it’s tough to extrapolate World Baseball Classic performances to the Major League Baseball regular season, one thing that was very encouraging about Ozzie’s historic walk-off blast was the fact that he hit it from the left-hand side. If that’s going on then hopefully the wrist issues that played a role in his struggles last season are now long behind him and we’ll be back to seeing Ozzie playing at a pretty high level. That would require some over-performance according to the projections but at the same time, if Ozzie starts doing some real damage from the left side of the plate then that’ll answer a lot of questions when it comes to his immediate future during this upcoming season.
When it comes to the leather, Ozzie Albies hasn’t been known for his defense for a few seasons now. If he’s also in the lineup every day like he and Olson want to be, then that’ll just be something the Braves have to live with. If he’s taking some games off then one thing that could provide some solace is that the defense that’ll be provided by any of the players behind him on the depth chart should be better.
Brett Wisely is certainly not here for his bat so if he can serve as a reliable stand-in with solid defense then the Braves should be happy with what he can provide. Maurico Dubón can also play a very capable second base as well so I’d imagine that he’ll be a perfect candidate to give Ozzie a day of rest once Ha-Seong Kim comes back and gets settled at shortstop. Once again, if Ozzie stays healthy then the Braves are going to just roll with whatever he gives them unless it’s a complete disaster.
Speaking of Dubón and Kim, This is one spot where Atlanta’s depth will already be put to the test. Due to Ha-Seong Kim’s icy mishap during the winter, Dubón is now set to be the starting shortstop until Kim is healthy again. While Dubón should be decent for the Braves at SS, this also isn’t exactly ideal since Dubón would be much better utilized as a utility guy who can fill in at any spot on the diamond whenever needed instead of being an everyday player. Dubón will have to continue playing some good-to-great defense (he’s coming off of an absolute banger of a 20 OAA season in 2025) while he serves as the starting shortstop for Atlanta because it’s highly unlikely that he’s going to be doing any type of big bopping with the bat and seems like a shoo-in for the ninth spot in the order.
Once Kim does eventually return to the lineup, it is very clear that the Braves are banking on Kim returning to the form that he showed in his last fully healthy season in 2023. That was when he produced a wRC+ of 110 for the Padres alongside a .330 wOBA. Atlanta will be happy if he can get that wOBA back into the .300s in 2026 and they’ll be over the moon if it’s anywhere near .330 again. Kim when healthy is also a very solid defender as well — again, his 2023 season saw him put up 9 OAA and if he can return to anything even approaching that then things will be going well for Kim in Atlanta.
While Kim is gone, we should be seeing a fair amount of Jorge Mateo at shortstop as well. Mateo is a burner on the basepaths and that should make this coaching staff pretty happy to have him around since it’s been public knowledge that the Braves are certainly looking to get better as a baserunning team going forward. With that being said, his defense hasn’t really been something to get excited about since 2023 and you aren’t going to get a lot of pop out of his bat, either. If Dubón can stay healthy then Mateo will likely be utilized as a pinch-runner but if the injury bug strikes Dubón then Mateo will be pressed into action and we’ll just have to hope for the best from the former Orioles utilityman.
I wrote about it earlier during spring training and it bears repeating: The Braves need Austin Riley to return to star status if they’re going to have any real aspirations of being serious contenders in 2026. When the Braves were at their best during this current era, Austin Riley was playing a major part in that success. Injuries derailed a lot of Atlanta’s dreams of success for the past couple of seasons and Riley got swept up in that mess as well.
So it’s definitely lovely to hear that Riley is reportedly feeling good and ready to contribute for the upcoming season. As of right now, ZiPS is currently projecting for Riley to be a 120 wRC+ hitter alongside .344 wOBA and a .262/.325/.477 slash line. If he can combine that with some good defense then his production should be something that is approaching the Halcyon days of when Riley was performing like an elite third baseman. If the defense is not there then he’s still got a long way to go since he finished with a wRC+ as high as 144 during that particular run.
No matter what, Riley will have to be healthy (and produce) if the Braves are going to get it done this season since there isn’t a lot behind Riley in case things go sideways again. Nacho Alvarez Jr. is still just 22 but it’s tough to foresee him suddenly turning into a dangerous hitter going forward. His dinger during the WBC was encouraging enough but it is still one of those things where you’d have to squint to believe any scenario that results in Nacho being a feared hitter. Dubón and Mateo may also receive some time here if Riley’s not in there every day and this could also be where we see a Kyle Farmer sighting as well. Both corners of Atlanta’s infield are going to heavily depend on their current starters to stay healthy and produce if the Braves are going to return to where they want to be this season.
Again, I really hate to harp on the whole “health” thing but with a group of guys who are used to playing every day, that is absolutely the key here. I’m not going to go as far as to say that this group of players staying healthy will result in another 100-win season but I will say that the Braves will need this starting core to stay on the field if they’re going to be in the Postseason conversation again.
The depth is better than it was last season and it’ll already be put to the test since Ha-Seong Kim may not be around until May at the earliest. Mauricio Dubón is a good addition to the squad but we likely won’t see him reach his full potential until he’s back to being utilized as a utilityman instead of an everyday player. As long as Dubón can keep the boat afloat at shortstop and the other three starting infielders can get clicking then this particular part of the team should be fine. That’s a big ol’ “should,” though.
Margo’s photos from one of the baseball games against UIC take the stage this week! The Tigers swept the Flames in the four-game series at home. The first two games were won by one run each and the last two were shutouts. Here are the photos of the week!
Fun fact about me: I grew up a huge fan of Cardinals baseball despite being from the heart of Wrigleyville. My high school is also just across the highway from UIC, so it was really cool to see these two teams play each other. As my favorite players retired I stopped following St. Louis as closely, but I still have a love for watching baseball. Getting photos of the pitcher pitching and the batter batting are pretty easy things to do considering they’re repetitive actions, but fielding is a bit more difficult because you have to be in just the right position at just the right time to get good photos. I love that in the first photo we can see second baseman Eric Maisonet watching the ball before it gets to his glove while UIC’s Vidal Colon slides headfirst into second and I love the second photo for showing the tag, although it was too late.
Like I mentioned earlier, it’s guaranteed that you’re able to get a photo of the pitcher pitching during a baseball game. That being said, just because a photo is “guaranteed” doesn’t mean it’s always done well, but I think this one is. There’s a lot of different angles you can get with pitcher photos because they’ll always be in the same spot, but side profiles like this one Margo got of Josh McDevitt warming up pregame really appeal to me. I like that she chose to shoot this from this side because we’re able to see his glove, face, jersey and arm without anything being blocked like it would be if she had tried to get this same shot from the opposite side.
Same idea with this photo; it’s easy to get photos of the batter but not always easy to make them good, or in this case to be already focusing on the batter as he bunts (unless you know enough about baseball strategy to know when a bunt is likely to happen). Because swings are more common than bunts, a photo like this stands out more to me than the average swinging photo, sometimes regardless of whether or not the batter makes contact unless it’s a big play that has a strong impact on the game.
Here we have another photo of Maisonet, this time with him presumably throwing the ball to the pitcher after the end of a play. It may not be the most lively or exciting photo, but I appreciate the fact that Margo decided to take this photo at all because it’s technically a “quieter” moment. I also love Maisonet’s expression, his eyes tracking the ball and the way his fingers twist from the throw.
Somewhat similar to the first photos, here we have a photo of first baseman Tyler Macon receiving a throw to try to pick off the runner at first. I like this photo even more than the earlier ones because we can see Macon watching as the ball reaches his glove and the runner diving for first base in the background, in addition to the word “Tigers” being framed in the background. It’s a really nice composition and Margo had a great angle for this play!
For our last photo, we have this shot of Cameron Benson celebrating toward the Tigers’ dugout after advancing to second base. Without an extremely long lens, this is about as tight as we can go on baseball players to get their reactions. Honestly, as much as I want to see more of Benson’s face here, I really think the wider shot showing his full body provides some important context to the image that gives it just a bit more interest.
Margo will be covering some more baseball as well as softball this weekend so be sure to keep an eye out for that! Come back next week for some more outtakes from the semester’s coverage so far!
The Mets optioned right-handed pitcher Jonah Tong to Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday morning.
There are 63 players remaining in big league camp.
Tong made two starts for the Mets this spring (one in Grapefruit League play and one against Team Nicaragua), while featuring his cutter -- a new pitch in his arsenal. He pitched well in his one Grapefruit League start until allowing a three-run home run on his final pitch of the outing.
This was an expected move for the Mets, as Tong was the odd man out in a fully healthy rotation that will feature Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, and David Peterson.
Tong also likely needs more innings in the minors, as his five-game stint with the Mets at the tail end of last season resulted in a 7.71 ERA.
The right-hander is using that five-game stint as a learning experience, which could prove useful if and when Tong is called up to make an impact in the majors in 2026.
"Baseball is a complicated game," Tong said. "It’s my favorite, obviously, but it can be a roller coaster. I think the main thing that I want to take into it from what I learned last year is just how to stay neutral in all of it.
"Because at the end of the day, you’re gonna have days where you’re going to absolutely carve, and other days you’re going to get your teeth kicked in. And being able to stay the same person through it all is probably the most important thing."
Ryan Perry Rolison was born in Jackson, TN 28 years ago. The 6’2” left-hander toiled for Colorado for four years before joining the Cubs, making little impact in the Major Leagues prior to coming to Chicago.
The data from three innings of Spring Training ball don’t point to his continuing any further north than Des Moines in the near future — he’s given up a home run and six earned runs so far. He’ll likely get more mound time but the signs are not auspicious at present.
This is in line with his career so far. He was a first-round pick (#22), too, by the Rockies in 2018. The Cubs are the third team to acquire Rolison over the winter, as he was previously acquired from Atlanta by the White Sox.
Rolison pitched 42.1 innings for the Rockies in 2025. His 7.02 ERA attests to his habit of throwing the gopher ball. He allowed 11 long flies in those 42.1 innings.
He has a good arm but I’m not sure what the Cubs expect from him. His numbers are alarmingly bad. He gives up a ton of hits, walks more men than most pitchers.
It wouldn’t be a complete surprise if he was DFA’d. But Iowa needs pitching, too. He has the four pitches — fastball, slider, curve, change, and his mid-90s FB velocity is not so bad. But something clearly is ‘off’.
This past Saturday was Andrew Painter’s second start of the spring and if you looked at a box score, you’d be rather happy with the results. Three innings pitched in which he gave up no runs, even against a depleted Blue Jays lineup, is cause for optimism that corners are being turned in his development. However, scour the various pitch modeling “experts” that exist and you’d come away with a different point of view of what he pitched like.
Even with the results that showed Painter didn’t excel with under the hood metrics, he still did not allow a run, the ultimate goal of pitching. Yet pair that with his first spring start and you’ll start to see a pattern forming.
Postgame, Painter talked about his outing and noted that his fastball command was not there during his start, nor were many of his pitches.
“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Painter said. “Four-pitch walk to start, kind of go into a hole, but you’ve got to go out there and compete and get yourself out of it. I thought I made some good pitches. I thought the spin was good. I would love to get the changeup going a little bit, but you’ve got to take what you’re given that day and work with it.”
It’s part of his maturation as a starting pitcher in the major leagues, that he would be able to go through situations like that and be able to come out on the other side with a decent outing. For a spring start, that’s both encouraging and concerning at the same time. Going back to those pitch modeling “experts”, both posts that are given talk about Painter’s lacking good fastball “shape”, something that could be a death knell for some pitchers. This is where, despite his putting up another shortened start of 0’s on the board, there is an underlying concern with his season might unfold. But what exactly are they talking about when it comes to Painter’s “fastball shape”? Let’s explore.
The first thing to understand is that when people are talking about said shape, they’re focusing more on the four seam fastball. Induced vertical break (IVB) is a fastball’s vertical movement, only without gravity, “rising” as it approaches the plate even though we know that the concept of gravity will not allow that. Pitches with good IVB are going to arrive at home plate from the vantage point of looking like it is not moving downwards as it is supposed to and induces more swings either underneath or on the bottom half of the ball, leading to whiffs or easily caught fly balls. Fastballs that have an IVB of 16 inches would be something we would consider average, so anything above is great, anything below is going to be an issue. That may not seem like a lot, but as the old axiom goes, baseball is a game of inches. One of Andrew Painter’s biggest strengths as a prospect was that he was able to combine upper tier fastball velocity with above average IVB to create an elite fastball that he could use in the upper quadrants of the strike zone, meaning he missed barrels and bats.
Post-Tommy John surgery, that pitch and the form that it was in is now missing. Seeing these pitch model experts talk about fastball shape concern with Painter might be startling at first, but it’s nothing new that it’s current shape is something that is now a bug in his pitching profile’s ointment. Matt Winkelman noted this in his write up this offseason:
The problems start with Painter’s four seam fastball. Once an elite pitch before the injury, it was a liability by the end of the season. Predictably for a pitcher ramping back up from not pitching for two years, he gradually lost a little bit of velocity month over month. His arm slot also changed, and it led to less vertical movement. Since Painter’s height is never going to give him good attack angle on the pitch, the loss of movement led to it being very hittable in the strike zone.
It’s also something that Jarrett Seidler noted when doing his writeups on the Phillies’ system for Baseball Prospectus:
His fastball shape is just straight up worse; he’s lost nearly an inch and a half of vert while his release traits have been all over the place, and ultimately got more generic as the season went along. He doesn’t spot the pitch nearly as well as he used to or scrape triple digits as much, and the pre-surgery vs. post-surgery differences in whiff generation are drastic. Based solely on 2025, he looks like a sinker-primary candidate, and the old reports of a guy with a 70 four-seamer don’t match up.
Again, these are reports one does not want to see when discussing the team’s top pitching prospect and likely candidate for a rotation spot in 2026. Both of them talk about Painter’s changes from when he was actually pitching, but without some numbers to look at and compare ourselves, it can be difficult to just accept as gospel. So, it’s best to compare apples to apples and look at Painter pre- and post-surgery.
Using Robert Orr’s amazing work, we can compare Painter’s fastball shape from when he pitched in Clearwater in 2022, when we have available Statcast data for him, and the majority of his season in 2025 in Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
| Metrics | 2022 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| IVB (in.) | 16.9 | 15.5 |
| HB (in.) | -3.8 | -5.5 |
| VAA | 5.12 | 5.35 |
| Velocity (mph) | 96.9 | 96.9 |
| SwStr (%) | 22 | 8.6 |
This is what we call confirmation of the scouting reports. While the maintaining of velocity, or at least his getting back to his pre-surgery levels is great, there are two things that jump out. The first is the loss of the ability to induce swinging strikes with the pitch. Even with a fastball that averages in the upper nineties, touching 100+, even Triple-A hitters are going to be able to square it up if it is flat. This leads to the aforementioned concerns both from the scouting reports and the data from which they are partially based: the loss of vertical movement is very real and very much an issue. Without getting that ride on his fastball that he used to such success when he started pitching professionally, he’s going to start seeing major league hitters take that pitch and do more damage with it.
Now, when using that earlier data point of 15 inches of IVB being average, this may not seem like a big deal. After, with that starting point in mind, the IVB on Painter’s fastball seems like something that we would consider to be decent. Yet let’s consider some major league data. Using Baseball Savant, we can do a league-wide search for pitches that have Painter’s current velocity and shape from the spring and see how batters fared against them in 2025. So, let’s set the parameters: fastball velocity between 95 and 97 miles per hour with vertical movement that is between 15 and 17 inches.
The average wOBA against that type of pitch in 2025: .379.
Were Painter to be able to add even a few tenths of an inch of induced vertical break, changing the search to between 17 and 18 inches, maintaining the same velocity, the average wOBA against that type of pitch is much more palatable: .317.
To put it into player terms, that’s the difference between the batter being Juan Soto and Trevor Larnach.
Another thing that was pointed out to me by Matt Winkelman was the loss of cut on his fastball as well. We were discussing this topic and he noted that at it’s best, Painter’s four seam fastball has cutting action to it as well as near elite IVB. Both of those things went backwards, hence the concern for what that fastball shape is looking like these past two starts. He also noted that at times, Statcast is thrown for a loop by classifying his sinker as a four-seam as well, causing some of the data to be a bit wonky, but I wonder if that happened enough to influence the numbers that much.
The lack of induced vertical break on his four-seam fastball, or at least the drop in Painter’s data, and loss of the natural cut he was leaning towards having is going to be an issue for him once he finally does ascend to the major leagues. A fastball with these characteristics is akin to the one that needs above average to elite secondaries to let him get away with it and Painter simply is not there yet. We can douse some of this panic by understanding that we basing all of this concern on two spring starts, lest people get too overly worried. The team was focusing a lot this offseason on making sure that Painter’s arm slot was getting back to where it was, which may have led to some of the issues he had with his fastball in 2025. If that gets “fixed”, and by the sounds of it, it has, the team can then move on to the next part of concern that surrounds his fastball and see if they can get that pitch to jump a little bit more. Because as the numbers show, if his fastball continues on with its current shape and form, he’s going to have to rely either more on his sinker (which isn’t really that much better) or his secondaries to consistently get major league hitters out.
Not exactly the news one wants to hear about their top pitching prospect.
If you’re a hardcore baseball fan in the 21st century, then you probably frequently find yourself in the position of being a baseball defender.
Baseball doesn’t actually need defending. It’s one of the world’s great global games and is enjoyed in various forms by hundreds of millions of people every year. It’s going to outlive all of us, I promise. But because of baseball’s historical and cultural position in America, it is constantly subjected to a weird kind of forensic analysis that isn’t usually applied to other sports: is it dying?1 Is it too slow?2 Do the zoomers watch it?3 Are baseball players even athletes?4 Is it somehow a bad thing that one of its teams is good and rich and popular?5 The questions get asked and the baseball defenders are forced to answer them.
I have played the role of baseball defender for most of my life. And I probably will continue to do so. I love baseball and I have a penchant for arguing; it’s only natural that these two things are going to collide like a third baseman and left fielder under a pop-up. But, after watching the taut Cuba-Puerto Rico game last night and physically feeling the joy coursing through my veins while watching Alfredo Despaigne chug his way into second base with a double, I’ve decided there’s one baseball fight I’m going to drop: I’m going to stop arguing with people who tell me that baseball players are fat.
As a fan of David Ortiz, I’ve found myself in this argument a lot. And, to be clear, I still maintain what I’ve always maintained: that the vast majority of baseball players (non-Pablo Sandoval division) commonly thought of as “fat” do not actually fit that word as it is typically used. I have spent years explaining to people that the baseball uniform itself makes the players look far more rotund than they actually are. If you saw David Ortiz walk by you in street clothes, you wouldn’t say “Hey, look at that fat guy.” You would say “Holy shit, the bull from Ferdinand learned how to walk upright. And also spends a lot of money on sunglasses.“
But I’m done with that now. Because what I accepted last night is that, even if they may not actually be fat compared to the rest of us, there are, of course, many baseball players who are fatter than literally any player in the NBA or Premier League. And not only is that perfectly fine, it’s actually a great thing.
Sports reflect society. And we are one fat ass society, folks. Our food is garbage, we automate every kind of physical labor we can, and we’ve physically built most of the American landscape in way that not only discourages walking, but makes it actively dangerous to do so. Who needs a nice, pleasant twenty-five minute commute on the sidewalk when we can instead move from our house stuck in some hellscape of suburban sprawl to our jobs in some hellscape of an office park without taking more than a hundred steps in a row at any given time?
We are fat and we’re getting fatter. Pixar’s Wall-E no longer looks like satire. But we’re still capable of doing some amazing things. And it is cool as hell that Alfredo Despaigne, despite being 39-years-old and possessing the body of a suburban dad who wears a shirt at the beach, is still capable of doing this to 98 MPH heat at the top of the zone:
Sports, at their best, are celebrations of what it means to be human. And it is a wonderful thing that baseball has room for a wider variety of humans (literally) than any other sport. Alfredo Despaigne isn’t a great athlete despite his body. He’s a great athlete with his body. And baseball is better for it.
Keep on chugging, Alfredo — all the way around the bases.
The answers to the questions posed above: (1) No. (2) It is slow, but we need more slow things in our lives right now. (3) I have no idea. They never leave their apartments so I can’t ask them. (4) If this is what people actually cared about, then track and field would be a lot more popular than it is. (5) Obviously not for anyone who thinks about the salary cap debate for more than five seconds.
The United States won a showdown with Mexico on Monday night, and Puerto Rico clinched a berth in the quarterfinals, highlighting Dodgers-related action at the World Baseball Classic.
Neither Will Smith nor Clayton Kershaw played on Monday, but Team USA beat Mexico 5-3 to improve to 3-0 in Pool B in Houston. The U.S. hasn’t yet clinched a quarterfinal spot just yet, but can win the pool on Tuesday against Italy, which is 2-0 thus far.
There still exists a possibility for a three-way tie at 3-1 between Team USA, Italy, and Mexico. In that scenario (Italy beats USA Tuesday, Mexico beats Italy on Wednesday), the next tiebreaker is based on defensive runs allowed, and how Korea advanced in a three-way tie at 2-2 in Pool C in Tokyo:
The tied teams shall be ranked in the standings according to the lowest quotient of fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in the games in that round between the teams tied.
We’ll delve into the tiebreaker scenarios later, if Team USA loses Tuesday to Italy. But for now they are 3-0.
Puerto Rico clinched a spot in the quarterfinals on Monday with a .. win over Cuba, and is now 3-0 in Pool A in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Edwin Díaz pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts to earn the save.
In two games thus far in the WBC, Díaz has pitched two scoreless innings with one hit allowed, and five strikeouts in his seven batters faced.
Puerto Rico plays Canada on Tuesday and can clinch Pool A with a win. If Puerto Rico wins Pool A, they will play the Pool B runner-up on Friday in Houston. If Puerto Rico finishes second in Pool A, they play the Pool B winner on Saturday.
Japan finished off Pool C at 4-0 with a 9-0 win over Czechia on Tuesday morning. Because Japan already clinched the pool in three games, Shohei Ohtani did not play in this game, though he did warm up the right fielder during the game, and gave a baseball to a fan.
Ohtani in his three WBC games so far had five hits, including two home runs and a double, in nine at-bats, plus four strikeouts, hitting .556/.692/1.333.
Thus far, five of the eight quarterfinal teams are known. Japan won Pool C, and Korea was the Pool C runner-up, and Puerto Rico is in. Pool D will be decided on Wednesday, with 3-0 Dominican Republic facing 3-0 Venezuela. Both teams have already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals.
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
If nothing else changes with the health of their starting pitchers between now and the start of the regular season, the Orioles have six experienced major league starters ready to go: Chris Bassitt, Shane Baz, Kyle Bradish, Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, and Trevor Rogers. Basic math tells us that’s one more starter than the five-man rotation that’s been standard in baseball for decades now.
Every one of those six guys has enough of a major league track record that it would be a surprise to see them shunted into the bullpen, or even the minors for those who can still be sent there. Bradish and Rogers certainly aren’t going anywhere based on recent performance. Bassitt and Eflin are on $10+ million contracts. The Orioles traded four prospects for Baz. Then there’s Kremer, who isn’t the most high-ceiling of this bunch but has a perfectly fine set of career numbers.
This week’s survey is a simple question: Do you think the Orioles should go for a six-man rotation with this group?
Over a full season, a six-man rotation means every starting pitcher would end up with 27 starts rather than the 32-33 starts that pitchers in a five-man rotation typically get. On one hand, it’s not good for the Orioles if they’re diluting the number of games for Bradish and Rogers to potentially dominate. On the other hand, given that those guys aren’t guaranteed good health, it’s not a bad way to limit their innings and give a little extra rest.
The only price paid by a six-man rotation is there’s one fewer pitcher in the bullpen, and it’s not like the Orioles have so many great relief options that the idea of trimming one of them is unappealing.
Results will be posted later in the week.
Coming off a pair of 84 wRC+ seasons in 2024 and 2025, Luis Robert Jr. was traded by the White Sox to the Mets in late January. The oft-injured 28-year-old Cuban center fielder had been with Chicago since playing rookie ball in 2017.
At his very best in 2023, Robert was a force to be reckoned with. Known for excellent defense, he hit .264/.315/.542 with 38 home runs, 20 stolen bases, and a 129 wRC+ that year, and most importantly, he made 595 plate appearances and played 145 games. Both of those playing time numbers are by far his single-season bests, and that relative durability saw him finish that season with 4.9 fWAR.
Over the past two years, however, Robert averaged just 105 games played. Combined with the aforementioned struggles at the plate, he was worth just 1.8 fWAR in total over that span.
The Mets have been playing things very slow with their players who’ve dealt with injuries in recent years thus far in spring training, and if you were hoping to get a glimpse of what Robert might look like, well, you’ll have to wait at least a couple more days. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has said that he hopes Robert will get into a major league spring training game after the team’s off day on Wednesday. And Opening Day is just two weeks from this Thursday.
As for projections, the systems published at FanGraphs have Robert at roughly league average with the bat heading into the season, and that would be an upgrade from what he’s done over the past two years. All of them see him playing somewhere between 117 and 131 games, and he’s projected to be roughly a two-to-three win player.
Having cycled through lots of defense-first center fielders over the past few seasons, the Mets have their most expensive question mark of a defense-first center fielder yet with Robert penciled in as their Opening Day starter at the position. If the team’s approach to easing him into the season with a shortened spring training keeps him on the field, Robert should provide stability, as his defense is enough to carry him and make him a valuable player.
As has been the case with all of our coverage surrounding young starting pitchers for the Yankees, their importance to the club early in the year would be hard to overstate. With each of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt on the shelf to begin the season, depth in the rotation will be vital, with several young arms being asked to step up in their absence and perhaps beyond.
Ryan Weathers, a 26-year-old lefty who was acquired in a deal this offseason, will almost certainly be one of them. He has yet to post a full season as a starter in the majors, but as Peter outlined shortly after the trade, he has impressive raw tools, which have drawn plenty of eyes this spring. What his role will be come September or October could be anyone’s guess, but for now, he will likely be leaned on for some legitimate work to begin the year.
2025 Stats (with Marlins): 8 starts, 38.1 IP, 2-2, 3.99 ERA (111 ERA+), 4.60 FIP, 4.03 xFIP, 22.3% K%, 7.2% BB%, 1.64 HR/9, 1.28 WHIP, 0.2 fWAR
2026 FanGraphs Depth Charts projections: 37 appearances (19 starts), 118 IP, 7-7, 4.14 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 22.0% K%, 8.5% BB%, 1.18 HR/9, 1.29 WHIP, 1.2 fWAR
The much-celebrated son of 1996 Yankees World Series champion reliever David Weathers, Ryan was originally drafted with the seventh overall pick by the Padres back in 2018 out of a Tennessee high school, and quickly ascended through the minor leagues. So quickly, in fact, that he achieved the rare feat of making his MLB debut during the postseason, in the 2020 NLDS.
Weathers made 30 appearances in his first regular season stint in ‘21, in what we’ll call an unimpressive run. Eighteen of those games were starts, and his 94.2 innings of work are still the most he’s seen in any season in the big leagues, despite his troubling ERA and FIP marks well above five.
Weathers only pitched once during the 2022 season, and when given a bigger opportunity a year later (15 games, 12 starts), the lefty was even worse, posting an ERA approaching seven and walking more than 10 percent of opposing batters. He was traded mid-year to the Marlins during that season, and although it wasn’t immediate, his time in Miami would be much more fruitful.
After arriving in South Florida, Weathers did all the right things: he walked far fewer guys, and struck out more. The impacts to his surface-level production were obvious. Over the last two combined seasons, 24 starts for Weathers, he has maintained a much more manageable 3.74 ERA while striking out 22 percent of batters with walk rates well below what he was putting up in San Diego. All things considered, the Yankees acquired the lefty in an upswing, and hope to cash in on the skills that helped him be drafted early in the first round.
In just his two outings to this point in the spring, we have seen the two sides that Weathers has to offer. In his first, the 26-year-old was terrific in 3.2 scoreless innings against the Nationals, when he allowed just one hit, avoided any walks, and struck out five.
In his second, against the Mets, he allowed five earned runs on seven hits over the course of just two innings. There were good moments, but his simply gave up too much hard contact in his brief outing. Spring is obviously for tune-ups, primarily, but the less of that Weathers that the Yankees see, the better.
The talent is fairly clear, as his plus-velocity fastball can get him places, as long as the control stays in check. Although Weathers’ time in The Show has been mostly troublesome, he has been better of late, and if the Yankees are able to unlock something in his 4-5 pitch mix, it would not be surprising to see him making starts for much of the season. Until he’s able to prove that, and that he can handle a starter’s workload, he remains one of the most glaring question marks in the Yankees projected rotation, and on their roster as a whole.
See more of the Yankees Previews series here.
Happy Tuesday! The Mariners fell just short in a 1-2 walkoff loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday, but starter Bryan Woo impressed through four innings with three hits, no walks, and four strikeouts. The Mariners will face the Kansas City Royals at 1:10 PM this afternoon as RHP Cooper Criswell takes the mound.
With another exciting day of World Baseball Classic play, commenter Sam206 posted a great question in yesterday’s Moose Tracks comments that deserves a larger discussion: “How do you guys feel about Julio’s performance in the WBC so far? Optimistic for him to have a faster start this season? Or is it just a good WBC performance against inconsistent national team pitching?”
Last weekend, my youngest son did something that amazed me so much that I decided to write this column.
In our kitchen, we have this block calendar—it has two numbered block that you can use to count down to some event. It has options for months, weeks, and days, too. We don’t always use it, but we will when it’s getting close to summer vacation, Christmas, or a vacation.
While I’m working on dinner, the youngest—he’s six—comes in and starts messing with it. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hmmm?”
“Hey, Dad, look.”
I look. He has the calendar to 95 weeks until break.
“Oh, cool,” I said, shifting back to cooking.
“Did you see?”
“Yep. What’s in 95 weeks?”
“Christmas.”
“Ha. Okay, buddy.”
We have an Amazon Echo in our kitchen, so I asked Alexa, “What’s the date 95 weeks from today?”
Wouldn’t you know it—December 25, 2027.
I said, “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” while my son gloated and laughed. Deservedly so, albeit maniacal.
In that spirit, I’ve decided to take my shot at some oddly specific predictions, but of course, this is a Kansas City Royals blog, sir and madam, so I’m incorporating them.
Now, unlike Child #2, I put some thought into my predictions. This little project took much longer than anticipated. I looked at stats, projections, the schedule, etc., and not just for the Royals. I created my own little world of which I will only provide a snippet. Trust me: consuming the whole thing wouldn’t be healthy. There’s a point to that story about Pandora.
But these predictions are safe to share. These are my 26 oddly specific predictions for the 2026 Kansas City Royals.
Something that Colorado Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said at Rockies Fest has stayed with me. I’m paraphrasing, but he told fans to expect to see players in spring training games playing positions they have not generally been associated with.
We’ve discussed this notion of “optionality” quite a bit. (See here and here.) And we’ve seen it in action this year as Ryan Ritter leaves the dirt for the grassy plain of left field.
As a fan, I’m all for it.
One needn’t watch many Dodger games to understand the value of players like Mookie Betts and Max Muncy who comfortably move to whatever hole needs plugging in any given game.
As a writer at Purple Row, however, it creates a quandary.
You see, “The State of the Position” is a series that evaluates positional preparedness and depth based on the players in those positions. After all, the Rockies have traditionally been a fairly “position-locked” organization. A player became a positional specialist and spent their career at that spot.
But the DePodesta/Byrnes Rockies are becoming a considerably more fluid bunch, which means I’m put in the position of speculating where I think a player will play and how good I think he’ll be there.
I’m happy to give it give it the old college try, but bear in mind that just as the Rockies are rebuilding, some of the pieces we write at Purple Row will require some rethinking until the plan becomes clearer.
Despite all my meandering in the previous section, the four primary outfielders seem clear:
Doyle’s elite defense is unquestioned. Look, Rawlings doesn’t give Gold Gloves out to just anyone, and Doyle has two of them on his mantle at home. It’s clear that 2025 was not the year he wanted, due both to injuries and personal matters. But those breath-taking Doyle robberies never get old.
McCarthy, then, will assume Beck’s spot in left — manager Warren Schaeffer has been clear about this. Due to his speed and athleticism, McCarthy is suited to covering the ground out there, and in every interview, he’s made clear that he’s confident of his ability to be effective at Coors.
That said, Beck’s defense remains a work in progress. The athleticism is unquestioned, but he’s still learning the job. He told me late last season that he worked with the Rockies body mechanics person on his defense, and it was helpful. How it plays in 2026 remains to be seen, but he’s probably got the starting job in left.
That leaves Mickey Moniak as the fourth outfielder. Moniak’s miserable defense received attention last season, and he will probably see fewer defensive innings than he did last year. But he should be viewed as the fourth outfielder.
Or should he?
Here’s where things get complicated.
The Rockies have a number of players who could easily spend significant time in the outfield:
How much time will they spend in the outfield? We have no idea. Frankly, Schaeffer probably has no idea. Rather, these players should be seen as outfield options who can fit in — think of it as Garanimals roster construction — should the need arrive.
We know that Freeman has struggled in the outfield. Actually, he’s struggled in RF. He said last season that playing center is much easier because of the angles. Willi Castro is a very capable outfielder, though he’s never done that at Coors Field. And Ryan Ritter’s outfield skill remains to be seen, as does whether Johnston breaks camp with the Rockies.
But it’s easy to see — already — how much more versatile these outfield options are.
Remember back on August 25, 2021, when the Rockies ran out of outfielders and played Kyle Freeland in the outfield in the 10th inning of a game against the Chicago Cubs?
Yeah, that’s not happening again.
The Rockies outfield smorgasbord has been a topic of conversation for a while. This year should see some of those questions answered. For example, Yanquiel Fernández is no longer with the Rockies.
Now to the players who appear to be on the cusp:
Veen, Condon, Carrigg, and Thomas appear closest to MLB ready.
But even then, Condon and Carrigg come as versatile players with positional optionality. Is Condon in the outfield or at first? Is Carrigg the Rockies version of Mookie Betts? There’s too much we don’t know — in a good way.
One thing worth noting, however, is that this year is probably it for former first-round draft pick Benny Montgomery, who has yet to get to Triple-A Albuquerque and has struggled to stay healthy. If he’s not on the field and making progress, he may be seeing his last days with the Rockies.
This year’s outfield promises to be especially interesting as fans search for the answers to a number of questions: Which players will move between the infield and the outfield? Will Schaeffer’s emphasis on using data and body mechanics translate to improved defense? Will Brenton Doyle be back in his 2024 form — and will he finish the season with the Rockies given all the rumors about other teams being interesting in him.
(Early prediction: I do not think we will see him in purple come August.)
But the exciting thing is that if Doyle is, in fact, traded, there are other players prepared to slide into center — or any number of positions.
The outfield is a position of depth for the Rockies. Now we wait to see how the new configurations work.
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