Category: Sports News

On Saturday the Rockies lost… but they also won. In split squad action they were beat by the Milwaukee Brewers primarily due to a rough four run appearance from Victor Vodnik. At the same time, they bested the Cubs 4-3 after a scoreless three inning start from Kyle Freeland and a walk-off two run homer by Braxton Fulford.

Today the Rockies will come back together as a single full squad to take on the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

On the mound for the Halos is twenty two year old righthander Austin Gordon. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, Gordon struggled to limit runs (5.44 ERA over 84.1 innings) in his first year at High-A with the Tri City Dust Devils.

His 10.14 k/9 and 2.88 bb/9 paint a bit of a rosier picture of his first season as a professional, and he has only allowed two runs in six innings so far this spring. Still, Gordon currently projects as a potential back of the rotation starter with solid command and will need to start displaying a true put-away pitch to surpass that.

The Rockies will be countering with a Gordon of their own. Tanner Gordon (no relation) has been working this spring to add a two seam fastball to his repertoire but you wouldn’t know he was workshopping something new and unfinished just by looking at his results. So far this spring the Rockies’ Gordon has pitched seven innings of one run ball over three appearances while striking out eight and only allowing one walk.

That strong performance means that Gordon is still very much in the mix for a spot in the opening day rotation so todays results, alongside seeing how his new pitch progresses, have potential implications for the start of the season.

First Pitch: 2:10 pm MDT

TV: None

Radio: 850 KOA

MLB Gameday: Live Box Score

Lineups:

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San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks, March 15, 2026, 1:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick – Scottsdale, AZ

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.

• Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
• Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
• Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads

GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!

If you’re interested in a little amuse bouche before tonight’s semi-final WBC game between the DR and US, the Mariners are playing an exhibition game against the Cincinnati reds this afternoon. George Kirby gets his third Cactus League start, where he’ll hope to round into cleaner form. Keep an eye on him between pitches to see how often he’s calling the game for himself, an innovation Kate dug into last week.

Facing off against him will be old friend Brandon Williamson, who was the headliner in the Mariners’ 2022 trade for Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker. Things haven’t gone great for him since the trade. He struggled with command problems, then sacrificed his whiffs to compensate. Then he got a bad case of the injury bug, with shoulder soreness and then TJ limiting him to just 30.2 total innings in 2024 and a goose egg in 2025. He’s looking to bounce back with a move to the bullpen, and his first seven innings this spring have been spectacular.

Lineups

Randy Arozarena makes his first appearance since his totally uneventful with no news around him whatsoever turn in the WBC. Refsnyder gets another start, and Luke Raley will get a chance to face a southpaw. “Taylor” at first base is Carson Taylor, who the Mariners picked up in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

Quite a few regulars in Cincinnati’s lineup today, including Noelvi Marte, the centerpiece of the trade that brought Luis Castillo to Seattle. I also forgot Ke’Bryan Hayes had been traded to the Reds, which forced Marte to the outfield.

News From Camp

Michael Arroyo, Michael Rucker, and Ryan Sloan have been reassigned to minor league camp.

Game Info

First pitch: 1:10 PT
TV: No television broadcast today.
Radio: Old Reliable

One of only three countries to win the World Baseball Classic – along with Japan (three times) and Team USA (one) – the Dominican Republic has a stacked roster for the 2026 tournament including one of the greatest lineups ever assembled.

The Dominicans won the 2013 WBC and have romped through the first five games of this tournament, going undefeated with 51 runs and 14 home runs in the process. Fernando Tatis Jr. (7-for-16, 2 HR, 11 RBIs) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (7-for-14, 2 HR, 8 RBI) have led the DR's power surge with Juan Soto, Austin Wells and Oneil Cruz also slugging two homers so far.

Team USA starter Paul Skenes will have his hands full in Sunday's semifinal with the Dominican lineup that also includes All-Stars in Ketel Marte, Julio Rodriguez and Manny Machado.

Here's a look at the full Dominican Republic roster:

Dominican Republic roster for 2026 WBC

Infielders

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B)
• Manny Machado (3B)
• Ketel Marte (2B)
• Geraldo Perdomo (SS)
• Erik González (SS/UTIL) — Injury replacement for Jeremy Peña
• Junior Caminero (3B/DH)
• Carlos Santana (1B)
• Amed Rosario (UTIL)

Outfielders

• Juan Soto (LF/RF)
• Julio Rodríguez (CF)
• Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF)
• Oneil Cruz (CF/UTIL)
• Johan Rojas (CF)

Pitchers

• Sandy Alcántara (RHP)
• Cristopher Sánchez (LHP)
• Luis Severino (RHP)
• Brayan Bello (RHP)
• Carlos Estévez (RHP)
• Camilo Doval (RHP)
• Abner Uribe (RHP)
• Seranthony Domínguez (RHP)
• Gregory Soto (LHP)
• Wandy Peralta (LHP)
• Albert Abreu (RHP)
• Elvis Alvarado (RHP)
• Huascar Brazobán (RHP)
• Dennis Santana (RHP)
• Edwin Uceta (RHP)

Catchers

• Austin Wells
• Agustín Ramírez

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Alexis Diaz has cleared waivers and been outrighted to AAA Round Rock, the team announced today. The team also announced that catcher Willie MacIver has been optioned to AAA Round Rock and pitcher Jose Corniell has been optioned to AA Frisco. In addition, Jonah Bride, Cam Cauley and Gavin Collyer have all been re-assigned to the minor league camp.

Not really anything terribly surprising from this sequence of moves. Diaz, who was signed this offseason as a free agent, was designated for assignment two days ago when the Rangers needed a roster spot for Jalen Beeks. Diaz was very bad this spring after being very bad in 2025, and no team was apparently interested in devoting a 40 man roster spot to him. He will try to get things back on track at Round Rock once the AAA season starts.

Neither Corniell nor MacIver were candidates to be on the Opening Day roster, barring injury. Corniell, who returned from Tommy John surgery in the second half of 2025, is looking to pick up where he left off after a strong finish to the 2025 campaign, and show that he’s a viable option during the 2026 season should the Rangers need to call someone up to help out in the rotation. MacIver is the third catcher on the 40 man roster for a team that is only carrying two catchers on the active roster.

None of Bride, Cauley and Collyer were expected to be in the mix for a spot on the Opening Day roster when camp began. Collyer, who was re-signed by the Rangers after becoming a minor league free agent this past offseason, got good reviews this spring, to the point he was being mentioned as a possible bullpen candidate. Cauley, meanwhile, turned heads and impressed manager Skip Schumaker.

Texas Rangers lineup for March 15, 2026 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Rangers have a spring road game lineup against the Dodgers today. Trey Supak is getting the start.

The lineup:

Pederson — 1B

McCutchen — LF

Haggerty — 2B

Canha — RF

Osuna — CF

Wade — SS

Foscue — DH

Bride — 3B

MacIver — C

3:05 p.m. Central start time.

The Dodgers’ final Monday of the Arizona portion of their spring training will have them hosting the Milwaukee Brewers at Camelback Ranch.

Tyler Glasnow gets the start for the Dodgers, remaining in line for an opening-series start. He tossed 4 1/3 innings his last time out, last Tuesday.

Chad Patrick, who finished seventh in National League Rookie of the Year voting last year, starts for Milwaukee.

Monday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Brewers
• Ballpark: Camelback Ranch
• Time: 1:05 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570

MESA, Arizona — Sunday notes…

• FORMER CUBS IN DODGERS CAMP: Kyle Tucker. That’s it.
• CUBS vs. DODGERS: Today’s game is expected to draw a Sloan Park sellout of nearly 16,000 fans. The forecast high temperature is 90, before temps are expected to soar over 100 degrees beginning Wednesday.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Dodgers lineup:

Jameson Taillon, just back from the WBC, will start for the Cubs. The other Cubs pitchers scheduled today were not available at posting time.

Emmett Sheehan will start for the Dodgers. Other Dodgers pitchers scheduled today: Will Klein, Kyle Hirt and Antoine Kelly. As noted above, the Dodgers are a split squad today.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. There will be a radio broadcast on WSCR The Score.

MLB.com Gameday

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

Please visit our SB Nation Dodgers site True Blue LA. If you do go there to interact with Dodgers fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

As we have done in the past, we’ll have a first pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time. For today, that will be 3 p.m. CT and 4:35 p.m. CT.

These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked ”Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher photos and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

With the best record and run differential in the Cactus League for the second Spring Training in a row, it makes a lot of sense that the San Francisco Giants fans are feeling pretty good about the team heading into the regular season. For the moment, let’s ignore what actually happened after last Spring Training’s triumph and stay on that positivity to examine the latest results of SB Nation Reacts poll. The question was straightforward: Where will the Giants finish in the NL West?

That’s a really strong poll, with just 40% of respondents believing the team won’t be vying for the division title or a Wild Card spot (thanks to those fans who took the time to cast a troll vote predicting they’d be worse than the Colorado Rockies). Yes, I’m perhaps prognosticating too negatively suggest that a third place finish won’t push the Giants into the postseason for the first time since 2021, but that seems pretty reasonable given a non-NL West field that will almost certainly include the Mets, Atlanta, Phillies, Brewers, Cubs, and possibly the Reds. There might be room for just one other team in the NL West to make the postseason or realistically scrap it out.

That’s if you believe San Diego and Arizona are too weak to be serious competitors (and, if you’re thinking about another division, the Reds) both within the division and that field. That might wind up being the case, but it’s still a massive prognostication that, to me, outweighs projecting a Wild Card field that might only include one NL West team. Yes, absolutely, the Giants could wind up being the second-best team in the division, but San Diego’s range of projections is so wide that while they could wind up in the 80 to 82 win range, they could also get to 88 or 90. The conventional wisdom all offseason has been that the Giants will be chasing the Padres in 2026. The consensus with the Diamondbacks is that they’ll almost certainly trail the Giants, suggesting a third place team at best (unless those trolls who cast the fifth place finish votes wind up being correct).

But that’s enough about the playoffs. That’s a six months from now problem. Today, it’s about basking in the positivity. If I were to have predicted the results of this prediction poll, I would’ve come pretty close to getting it right. The Giants are playing great and they’ve got just enough “new” in the mix to make the last three months of last season not only a distant memory, but in no way predictive for 2026. It certainly feels like there has been positive developments with the development section of the roster and that’s before you start thinking about Logan Webb, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, Heliot Ramos, and Jung Hoo Lee.

Indeed, this poll demonstrates that Giants fans have looked at the bullpen and concluded, “You know what? Keaton Winn will be 7th inning guy when the team breaks camp. Gregory Santos is the Prodigal Son who will setup Ryan Walker who will be a top tier closer despite how last season went. Buster Posey’s spaghetti-at-the-wall bullpen makes all the sense in the world.” They’ve seen the first six weeks of the schedule — which goes Yankees, Padres, at Mets, Phillies, at Orioles, at Reds (then at Nationals), Dodgers, Marlins, at Rays, Padres, Pirates, and Dodgers again — and have concluded, “Hey, they go 22-22 and they’re in great shape the rest of the way.”

A bad Spring Training record would not have engendered such optimism.

While there are probably fans who place a bet on the Giants winning the World Series every year no matter the odds, the Giants do appear to be a group with a lot more going on for it than wishcasting or “there’s always next year.” This is the second straight Spring Training where this basic roster core and executive group has looked competitive once assembled on a baseball field. Bob Melvin’s ancient staff of been there, done thats didn’t have any answers when that Spring Training success translated to regular season success but then floundered and you can bet that Tony Vitello and his coaching group won’t rest on “letting guys figure things out” if things go as terribly midseason as they did in 2025. The team’s makeup has changed with few changes to the team itself.

This week’s SB Nation Reacts report had two more questions included with the team-specific questions and came about because of the suspensions for Max Kepler and Jurickson Profar, who both tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in their system.

45% of MLB fans who voted in the SB Nation Reacts MLB polls this past week aren’t worried at all about PED usage in the sport. Only about 1/3 of fans see PEDs as, currently, a major problem and it’s a bit concerning that it’s so high. A major problem? I have a big smile on my face for the 20% result for “Only if it hurts my team.” Sometimes, that degree of lizard brained honesty is refreshing.

My lizard brain perceives the 35% thinking it’s a major problem as those who think the Dodgers are cheating and that the root of all evil is either the Dodgers or Yankees, because fans of a teams that usually stink must think that teams that try and win a lot must be the result of sorcery or some devil’s bargain. While it’s true that the Dodgers are The First Evil, the cause of all death and disaster in the universe, the histrionic segment of the US population that believes the key to “fixing” Major League Baseball is by constraining the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets via the annihilation of the players’ collective bargaining power is no friend of mine or genuine fan of the sport. They’re tribalists who are channeling blood lust through team sport. I don’t find relief in inflicting pain on others, but I might be in the minority on that. But there will always be a group of people who want to hurt a stranger as much as they can imagine. And on that note, the second national poll question:

The majority of fans who voted are basically fine with the current punishment system, but a not-insignificant group of 41% wants more. I wonder how many of the “I only care if it affects my team” wanted harsher punishments. If my lived experience as an American is instructive at all, there’s probably a lot of overlap.

Of course, another suspension could be a big story for the labor negotiations, as the owners — and fans — have a list of grievances against the players they think will be compelling enough to impose a dumb stupid salary cap and a pathetic salary floor. We’re not there yet, though, and back to the point of this post: we’re not at the point where we can forget how well the Giants are doing right now.

Yes, zero negative and zero positive outcomes during Spring Training are predictive or matter, but it’s fun when the Giants win. That they’ve so rarely won over the past decade when the games have counted can’t get in the way of how they look today.

The New York Mets' early-spring nightmare has ended: Francisco Lindor is back in the lineup.

Lindor underwent surgery Feb. 11 to repair a stress fracture in his left hamate bone, a procedure that figured to jeopardize his availability for opening day. Yet Lindor is leading off and starting at shortstop against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, March 15, a full 11 days before the Mets are scheduled to open the season at home against Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Lindor, the 32-year-old five-time All-Star, steadily worked through a rehab progression as spring training unfolded and appeared in three minor league games in the past week.

"He's ready to go," manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters in Port St. Lucie, Florida. "It's time for him to start playing for us after checking all the boxes and racking up good days."