Worldwide Sports News
SP: Nolan McLean
lineup to follow
First pitch: 1:05 PM EST
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM
Location: LECOM Park, Bradenton, FL
How to Listen: 93.7 The Fan, 100.1 FM, AM 1020 KDKA, Sports Net Pittsburgh app SNP 360, How to Watch: Sportsnet Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home today against the Minnesota Twins looking to grab a win.
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
BD community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!
The only coverage today is courtesy of the Boston Red Sox radio team
First pitch is at 1:05 at JetBlue Park
The Pittsburgh Penguins will play their first game in three weeks on Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils.
The Penguins went into the Olympic break on a high note after a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 5 and will try to carry that momentum into the stretch run of the 2025-26 season.
They will play a struggling Devils team that has lost four in a row and will be on the second half of a back-to-back. They fell to the Sabres 2-1 on Wednesday night and are now 11 points out of a playoff spot.
The Penguins and Devils have split their two meetings this season, with the Penguins winning the most recent one, 4-1, on Jan. 8. This will be the third of four games between the two teams this year.
Despite a tough season, the Devils still have some great talent, including Jack Hughes, who recently scored the golden goal for Team USA at the Winter Olympics. His goal gave Team USA its first Gold Medal in men's hockey since 1980.
Hughes has compiled 12 goals and 37 points in 37 games this season. Jesper Bratt has been solid again this season, racking up 13 goals and 42 points in 58 games. Nico Hischier also has 42 points in 58 games, 19 of which are goals.
This is a Devils team that still has Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer up front as well. Goaltender Jake Allen started on Wednesday, meaning Jacob Markstrom is in line to start on Thursday.
The Penguins' lines will look a tad different without Sidney Crosby in the lineup. Crosby will be out for a minimum of four weeks with a lower-body injury he suffered during the Winter Olympics.
Rickard Rakell will center the top line with Bryan Rust and Avery Hayes as his wingers.
Here's a look at the full projected lineup for Thursday's game:
Forwards
Hayes-Rakell-Rust
Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin
Mantha-Kindel-Brazeau
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Defensive pairs
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Girard-Letang
Shea-Clifton
Arturs Silovs will start in goal after he was the first goaltender off during the morning skate.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh. Fans can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X.'
Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
The Angels are stuck. Stuck with an aging Mike Trout, signed through 2030 with nearly $200 million left on his 12-year contract he signed in 2019. Stuck with paying out nearly $40 million on Anthony Rendon’s disaster of a free agent contract signed in 2020. Stuck with an owner who doesn’t even recognize that winning should be a priority for the franchise. Stuck with the consequences of short-sighted, win-now decisions over the last decade when the need for a complete tear down and rebuild was so obvious from the outside.
Los Angeles is essentially running things back this year, though at least the moves they made have the potential for some higher rewards if things break their way. Gambling on guys like Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah could have some solid payoffs if they’re healthy, though bringing in four high-leverage relievers with an average age of 36 is a lot less defensible. There are a handful of bright spots to cling to: Zach Neto is one of the best young shortstops in baseball and Jo Adell finally broke out in his sixth big league season. Still, just look at the table below and you’ll get a sense for how bleak things are for the Angels.
| Position | Angels Projected WAR | Mariners Projected WAR | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catcher | 1.5 | 6.1 | Mariners |
| First Base | 1.7 | 2.9 | Mariners |
| Second Base | 1.5 | 2.7 | Mariners |
| Shortstop | 4.4 | 2.8 | Angels |
| Third Base | 1.9 | 3.0 | Mariners |
| Left Field | 1.0 | 2.2 | Mariners |
| Center Field | 1.9 | 6.0 | Mariners |
| Right Field | 1.4 | 2.0 | Mariners |
| Designated Hitter | 1.3 | 1.6 | Mariners |
| Starting Pitching | 11.0 | 14.2 | Mariners |
| Relief Pitching | 1.9 | 3.4 | Mariners |
| Total | 29.7 | 46.8 | Mariners |
The only position the Angels have an advantage over the Mariners is at shortstop, where Neto projects to be third best in the American League at that position. Everywhere else is below league average and not in a “the sum is greater than it’s parts” kind of way. Nearly every part of this roster needs an overhaul, and if you read John’s summary of Los Angeles’ farm system, it’s pretty clear that future improvement isn’t present in the organization yet. It feels like you can boil down the Angels approach to roster building to “make it 2019 by science or magic,” which wouldn’t be so sad if you didn’t know that the last time they made a playoff appearance was 2015.
So here they are, caught in no man’s land, neither competing for even a Wild Card spot nor tearing things down to build for the future. Just existing in the cellar of the AL West. Stuck.
2026 FanGraphs Depth Charts projections: 72.5-89.5, 5th in AL West, 5.4% playoff odds
2026 PECOTA projections: 66.4-95.6, 5th in AL West, 0.5% playoff odds
As he stepped into the Rate Field batter’s box on March 27, 2025, Mike Trout took a deep breath and said to himself, “Fuck it. This one’s for me.” Knowing that his (still mystifyingly) beloved Angels were going nowhere, he spent the year chasing his lost ceiling, but it cost him something. To stay healthy, he spent 106 games at DH and the mere 22 games he played in the field came in right. To chase his old batting line, he sold out for power, whiffing and striking out at unprecedented rates.
So when he picked up a baseball for the first time over the offseason, he looked at it, tossed it in the air, caught it, and said to himself, “This time, for the real me.”
And that’s what we saw from wire to wire over 2026. Gone was the 2016-2023 version of himself that was trying to drag his team to the promised land. And gone was the 2024-2025 version of himself that was trying to etch his name more firmly into the record books. Returned again was the 2014-2015 version of Mike Trout who played simply for the love of the game. No longer playing like he was trying to prevent an injury, he just let himself go, leaving his status up to the baseball gods that once shined on him so brightly. And that turned out to be exactly the sacrifice they’d asked for.
Trout once again played with a preternatural ease and a too-simple-to-have-other-interests joie de vivre. At the plate, he hadn’t lost a step with his skills last year—the bat speed, the eye, the swing path, they were all still clearly there in the peripherals. He’d just made a bad change in approach. No longer selling out for power, he was able, ironically, to access more of it. And a vintage Mike Trout in the 2026 Angels lineup resulted in opponents intentionally walking him at a rate not seen in MLB since Barry Bonds. So he ended up hitting .288/.430/.575, the best hitter in baseball for the first time since 2019.
His speed was never coming back, but he’d clearly learned a thing or two about baserunning and pitcher tells across his 2,900 times on base, so he still stole 29 bases, just shy of a second 30-30 season.
He asked to get put back in centerfield, where he always belonged. He’d lost his range to the ravages of time, but no longer caring about whether he was going to be sore tomorrow, he made a few high-effort web-gem plays that made his youth, and our youth, flash before our eyes. When he robbed Julio of a home run at T-Mobile Park on September 25th, even the Mariners fans—in a forgiving mood after clinching a playoff spot the night before—gave him a standing ovation in tribute.
All told, his 9.1 fWAR took him past Wade Boggs, Al Kaline, Albert Pujols, Cap Anson, Cal Ripken Jr., Carl Yastrzemski, and Eddie Matthews to get to 22nd all-time.
The Angels finished 80-82. —ZAM
The real battle over the past six years hasn’t been him vs. Verlander, or Price, or Iwakuma, even. Not even the WBC matchup with Ohtani that’s been analyzed from every angle, replayed in YouTube videos and TikToks through tiny, tinny speakers. No, the battle he fights every day is older, Biblical: spirit vs. flesh. The sense memory of gliding across outfield grass, thick and springy beneath his feet as he chases after a ball, easily picking out the small white orb from the California sky. The reality of how his knee protests every sharp turn and slide, the fifteen minutes he puts in every morning rolling his back out, the lingering ache in his thumb that worsens in the rain. He always knows when it’s going to rain.
For so long, he’s kept watch in the garden. He’s been the steady heartbeat at the center of this lineup, attempted to keep his teammates alert, drag them kicking and screaming over the precipice of the playoffs. He’s been a faithful servant to this team, this fanbase, this city. It’s all he knows: faith and family, showing up for people, doing the right thing.
And in exchange, management brought in…some players who should have worked, actually. Talented guys who maybe just needed some new scenery, a little sunshine. Grayson Rodriguez, Alek Manoah, Vaughn Grissom, Matthew Lugo, Oswald Peraza – all promising players who went by the wayside somehow. Diamonds in the rough, some rougher than others. As a plan, it left a lot to be desired. But he’s learned how to live with not getting what he wants.
Initially, it’s great. Manoah, a burly bear of a man he likes quite a bit, declares the squad Misfit Island, a reference that he’s not sure most of the clubhouse understands but makes a good t-shirt anyway. He’s not sure when Mike Trout, the Mike Trout, became a misfit, an underdog, an afterthought, but he puts those thoughts out of his mind. Maybe, just this once, someone else can take over the watch.
It starts small — a delayed start to the season for Grayson, which stretches into a missed month, then two. Then the injuries come for the pitchers in the bullpen whose birthdates have an 8 as the third digit. Offensively, the health is better, but the strikeouts gradually stack up, alongside the losses. You don’t get the reward without the risk, but sometimes buying low just means you paid less, got less.
It happens at the end of April, towards the end of a Midwest road swing. Chicago is cold and miserable that spring, the streets still pockmarked by mounds of fossilized snow, the field soggy after weeks of heavy rain-snow mix. They’re on a good run early in the season, even not at full strength due to some injuries, and he’s getting to play right field – a compromise between himself and his new skipper, who still remembers him in his golden era, a not-misfit.
The ball jumps off Mongtomery’s bat with a crack but hangs up in the wind, suspended, before plummeting downwards like someone shot it out of the air. There’s no way he’ll get there in time. In his prime, he probably couldn’t have gotten there in time. But he has to try. He’s wired for loyalty, the flesh mortal but the spirit indomitable, ever-vigilant.
He feels it in his plant leg immediately, his foot sinking too deep in the spongy grass, the knee joint catching like an old lock; can picture the cartilage shearing back, but it’s too late, he’s already in motion, chasing, one last time, a quickly disappearing dream, an angel falling out of the sky. —KP
The numbers since the All-Star break are difficult to ignore.
Phoenix has not scored more than 100 points in regulation in four straight games: 94 against San Antonio, 96 against Orlando, 77 against Portland, and 81 tonight against Boston. In a league built on pace, space, and scoring, that stretch stands out for all the wrong reasons.
The Suns have lost 6 of their last 8 games. Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks aren’t returning anytime soon. And don’t forget Jordan Goodwin, who is also out and without a timetable. They have won games while being down a key piece or two all season long, but this time it feels different.
As Grayson Allen stated: “There is work to be done on that end of the floor.”
Injuries are part of the story, so no, we will not ignore that.
Booker and Brooks have been sidelined through essentially all of this stretch, and their absence reshapes the entire offensive ecosystem. Booker’s presence bends a defense before he even attacks. Help defenders shade in his direction. Weakside shooters gain airspace. Driving lanes feel wider. Brooks brings that force and edge that defenses can’t ignore. When both are unavailable, roles shift, and responsibility becomes more evenly distributed across the roster.
That context matters. It also exists alongside other issues that have surfaced over the past several games. It’s no coincidence that the Suns’ offense has fallen off a cliff without their top two scorers.
The overall shot quality has gradually eroded. Against Boston, possessions frequently stalled into late-clock attempts over length. The Celtics dictated tempo and forced Phoenix into contested jumpers after actions failed to generate an advantage. The 11-point third quarter was damning. This graphic below is damning.
At least they’re league average in free-throw shooting? Right? This is Bright Side of the Sun, afterall.
Portland presented a different challenge, yet the result was similar. The ball stuck and early actions fizzled. Possessions turned into isolation without rhythm. Orlando’s size crowded the paint and disrupted driving angles, and the Suns struggled to counter with purposeful cutting or quick reversals. Are we giving too much credit to the opponents here? Probably.
There is a rhythm component that has slipped. Paint touches have declined. Free-throw attempts have dipped. Assisted field goals have become less frequent, and those elements are often connected. When the ball moves side-to-side and attacks north-south, the defense rotates. When the ball stays on one side and the attack comes late, the defense settles in. This offense has gotten away from all the things that made them work earlier this season.
The tempo has lived in an uncomfortable middle ground. Phoenix has not consistently pushed off misses to manufacture easier points, and the half-court execution has not been crisp enough to thrive in slower possessions. That gray area can feel manageable when elite shot creation is available. It feels heavy when it is not. Right now, the slowed pace combined with rough, stagnant offensive possessions are stacking.
Rebounding has offered an opportunity, because there have been second chances. The conversion on those extra possessions, however, has not always followed. Resetting into another deliberate set can allow the defense to reorganize. The window for advantage closes quickly in today’s league. If you aren’t pushing in transition and your half-court offense is stalling, you are in deep trouble.
There is also the emotional weight of scoring droughts. Jalen Green’s return has thrown him into the wolves with Phoenix’s top two scoring options out as he gets his legs back under him. The efficiency has… not been there to say the least. Over his last three games, Green is shooting just 29.3% from the field.
When shots rim out early, confidence tightens. The extra pass becomes less instinctive. Open looks feel amplified because the team is searching for momentum. Against Boston, once the early attempts failed to drop, the pressure seemed to build possession by possession. It truly is a snowball effect that works against you.
Solutions exist, even within the current constraints. The ball movement HAS TO increase. Weakside activity, early-clock actions, and decisive cuts can create angles without requiring isolation heroball. Transition opportunities must be emphasized to generate easier looks before defenses are set. Making shots can be contagious, especially for role players. Teams go through slumps. It happens. Phoenix needs to find a way to snap out of it quickly, or things can get really ugly.
A clear role definition can stabilize lineups, so players operate with confidence rather than hesitation. Consistent rim pressure can produce free throws, which slow the game and steady an offense searching for footing.
The injuries remain real. Booker’s gravity and Brooks’ force change the geometry of the floor. At the same time, the Suns have defensive tools and connective pieces capable of helping the offense rediscover balance.
This stretch has revealed how delicate rhythm can be. It has also presented an opportunity. The coming games will show whether Phoenix can recalibrate, lean into structure and pace, and turn a difficult run into something instructive rather than defining.
Jordan Ott, it’s your time to shine.
The Houston Astros (1-2-1) host the New York Mets (2-2-1) in a split squad game today in Palm Beach, FL.
Tatsuya Imai makes his first appearance of the spring in this game. Imai was the Astros top free agent signing of the offseason and currently projects as their third starter while offering number 2 starter upside.
3B Carlos Correa and 1B Christian Walker will also make their spring debuts in this game.
Game Date/Time: Thursday, February 26, 12:10 p.m. CST
Location: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, Palm Beach, FL
TV: No Local Broadcast
Streaming: MLB.tv (audio only)
Radio: KBME 790 AM / 94.5 FM HD-2
(image courtesy of Brian McTaggart on X)
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The Utah Jazz are openly trying to lose as many games as possible, while the New Orleans Pelicans are trying to finish the season on a high note.
New Orleans is trending in the right direction, with wins in four of its last six games, and my Pelicans vs. Jazz predictions call for the visiting team to cover the spread as road favorites.
Here are my best free NBA picks for this Western Conference matchup on Thursday, February 26.
Pelicans vs Jazz best bet: Pelicans -4.5 (-115)
The Utah Jazz’s open tanking has gotten so brazen that the NBA is reportedly sending its own doctors to verify the results of Lauri Markkanen’s recent MRI.
Utah has already shut down Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic, and the missed-game counter for Markkanen and Keyonte George continues to climb.
Conversely, the New Orleans Pelicans traded their first-round pick to the Hawks for Derik Queen and have no incentive to tank. Dejounte Murray is back, and DeAndre Jordan still has some gas left in the tank. I’ll take the more motivated and healthier visitors to cover the spread.
The Jazz sport the NBA's worst defensive rating, and the Pelicans aren't much better with the fourth-worst mark. The Jazz have hit the Over in three straight, and the Pels have done so in three of four. Don't expect much defense in this one.
Murray made his season debut on Tuesday and posted a 13/2/3 line in just 25 minutes against the Warriors. His availability for a second straight game is encouraging for his health, and he could see additional playing time. Murray is in a favorable spot against a generous Jazz defense.
Queen is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game this season, and he's grabbed 7+ in 36 of 58 appearances. He's reached that mark in three straight, despite the return of Jordan and Murray.
The Utah Jazz have hit the Game Total Over in 28 of their last 40 games at home (+14.80 Units / 34% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Pelicans vs. Jazz.
| Location | Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT |
| Date | Thursday, February 26, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 9:00 p.m. ET |
| TV | Pelicans+, KJZZ 14 |
Not intended for use in MA.
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This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
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The Utah Jazz are openly trying to lose as many games as possible, while the New Orleans Pelicans are trying to finish the season on a high note.
New Orleans is trending in the right direction, with wins in four of its last six games, and my Pelicans vs. Jazz predictions call for the visiting team to cover the spread as road favorites.
Here are my best free NBA picks for this Western Conference matchup on Thursday, February 26.
Pelicans vs Jazz best bet: Pelicans -4.5 (-115)
The Utah Jazz’s open tanking has gotten so brazen that the NBA is reportedly sending its own doctors to verify the results of Lauri Markkanen’s recent MRI.
Utah has already shut down Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic, and the missed-game counter for Markkanen and Keyonte George continues to climb.
Conversely, the New Orleans Pelicans traded their first-round pick to the Hawks for Derik Queen and have no incentive to tank. Dejounte Murray is back, and DeAndre Jordan still has some gas left in the tank. I’ll take the more motivated and healthier visitors to cover the spread.
The Jazz sport the NBA's worst defensive rating, and the Pelicans aren't much better with the fourth-worst mark. The Jazz have hit the Over in three straight, and the Pels have done so in three of four. Don't expect much defense in this one.
Murray made his season debut on Tuesday and posted a 13/2/3 line in just 25 minutes against the Warriors. His availability for a second straight game is encouraging for his health, and he could see additional playing time. Murray is in a favorable spot against a generous Jazz defense.
Queen is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game this season, and he's grabbed 7+ in 36 of 58 appearances. He's reached that mark in three straight, despite the return of Jordan and Murray.
The Utah Jazz have hit the Game Total Over in 28 of their last 40 games at home (+14.80 Units / 34% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Pelicans vs. Jazz.
| Location | Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT |
| Date | Thursday, February 26, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 9:00 p.m. ET |
| TV | Pelicans+, KJZZ 14 |
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
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The Eastern Conference battle to avoid the play-in looks set to go right to the wire, and that ups the stakes for tonight’s clash between the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat, with both teams at the heart of that race.
Philly is just 5-5 in its last 10 games and still without the suspended Paul George, but Joel Embiid is expected to play here and my Heat vs. 76ers predictions side with the hosts against a Miami squad that’s struggled on the road.
Check out my NBA picks for this February 26 matchup.
Heat vs 76ers best bet: 76ers -2 (-110)
He’s not moving like peak Joel Embiid, but the former MVP can still get the job done.
The Philadelphia 76ers are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games with Embiid on the court, and I’ll lay the points tonight as long as the big fella (probable) is suiting up.
Philly has put together back-to-back wins after a mini skid, while the Miami Heat are 14-17 SU on their travels and had some alarming defensive lapses in a loss in Milwaukee on Tuesday.
In what could be a shootout, I’m trusting Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe to give the 76ers an edge.
Embiid and Maxey are going to get their buckets, so Edgecombe’s scoring feels like the X-factor here. He’s poured in 20+ points in three of his last four outings, and he’s averaging 16 PPG in February.
The Philly rookie has had a good week from beyond the arc, too. Edgecombe went 8-for-11 on 3-pointers in wins over the Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves, and he’s a lock for open looks as the 76ers’ third option.
The Heat lead the NBA in field goal attempts and allow the third-most 3-pointers per game, so that feels like a recipe for major action from downtown.
Andrew Wiggins has nailed this Over in five straight contests, Norman Powell is a rock-solid 40% career sniper from beyond the arc, and Maxey is jacking up almost nine 3-pointers a night this season.
The 76ers are 23-16 ATS against Eastern Conference opponents. Find more NBA betting trends for Heat vs. 76ers.
| Location | Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA |
| Date | Thursday, February 26, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| TV | FDSN Sun, NBC Sports Philadelphia |
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
1914
In the final game of their World Tour, the White Sox beat the New York Giants, 5-4, in 11 innings. The win came in front of the biggest crowd of the entire tour, between 20,000 and 35,000 spectators, at Stamford Bridge in London. Contrary to the headline above, Tommy Daly secured the win with a walk-off solo shot leading off the bottom of the 11th, ending the 46-game series at White Sox 24, Giants 20, with two ties.
1950
Short-time second-sacker for the White Sox Jack Brohamer was born, in Maywood, Calif.
Brohamer came to the White Sox during a flurry of Roland Hemond–Bill Veeck trades during the 1975 Winter Meetings. He had a relatively outstanding 1976 debut with the club, leading all position players and finishing third on the team with 2.6 WAR. He also became the only player in MLB history to homer in shorts, going deep against the Orioles on August 21.
Brohamer played a lesser role with the 1977 South Side Hit Men, but managed an amazing wind-down to his White Sox career, hitting for the cycle on September 24 — the third-to-last game he played in Chicago.
1991
Five years after his death, Bill Veeck was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
The two-time owner of the White Sox (also with ownership of St. Louis Browns, Cleveland and the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers) was the last of the “small-time” or “common-touch” owners now made obsolete by free agency.
He found quick success in both of his stints as White Sox owner. In 1959, he was finally handed the keys — the first non-Comiskey owner ever — just before Spring Training, and the White Sox went on to win the pennant. In 1977, just his second full season of his 1970s ownership of the club, Veeck’s novel “Rent-a-Player” scheme of picking up players on free agency salary drives paid off to the tune of 90 wins — considerably more than anyone anticipated for his rag-tag band.
Veeck was also, hands-down, the most novel, innovative and fun owner in baseball history. His promotions remain legend (fan managing, Martians landing, exploding scoreboards, a dozen or more ethnic nights, Eddie Gaedel activated for a game), likely never to be repeated in the game.
2018
In an early spring training game vs. Oakland at Camelback Ranch, promising third baseman Jake Burger ruptured his left Achilles tendon running out a ground ball in the third inning. The 2017 first round pick, only in camp early playing in Cactus League A-games as a courtesy often extended to top picks soon after their drafting, would miss the season.
Subsequent injuries to his Achilles (another tear) and foot (plantar fascitis), plus the 2020 pandemic that cancelled the minor league season, saw Burger sit on the sidelines for three years. He returned in 2021 and jump right to Triple-A after never having played higher than Low-A professionally — and Burger mashed.
Before a trade deadline deal to Miami in 2023, Burger was shaping up as an average MLB starter, with 1.7 WAR over 154 career White Sox games, buffeted by a .230/.291/.500 slash, 34 homers, and 81 RBIs.
Today we look at the Cubs’ left-handed flamethrower.
Luke Little, all 6’8”, 220 pounds of him, just needs to throw strikes. In three seasons as a part-time Chicago Cub, he’s thrown 35.1 innings. In those innings, he has struck out 44 batters. That’s really good. But he has walked 28. That’s really bad.
He’s 3-1 with a 2.80 ERA in 39 games. Most of those games were in his pretty good 2024 season. He was hurt some of 2025 and spent almost the entire remainder of the season in Iowa. In his 43 games there, he was 2-1 in 59.2 innings, earned two saves, was the opener twice, had a 2.87 ERA, struck out 75 and walked 34.
Lifetime, he has amassed 0.6 bWAR (0.2 fWAR). The 25-year-old still has a little time before he’s considered a suspect but he’s on that track unless he makes a great showing in the spring. Projections do have him making the roster and throwing 30-ish innings, with his BB/p shrinking to 3.9 in Baseball Reference’s book. Zips has him garnering positive WAR and throwing 57 innings.
That would be okay. He could join the short/setup group with those kind of walk numbers. Little throws HARD — he’s reached triple digits more than once and sits 96+. He doesn’t give up many long balls. The free passes will determine his financial future.
He could be a star in the league. The odds are against it at this late date, but we will await developments.
As the Olympic season wraps up, the Boston Bruins sit at 57 games played, and the Trade Deadline incoming at them at distressing speeds. The NHL season’s truncated schedule to make room for Team USA and Team Canada’s all-timer tournaments has now created a dead heat of a last two months that will test the Boston Bruins in ways they have only rarely been tested before.
Now, let’s check in with the Boston Bruins, and discuss what they need to do next in this blisteringly paced season.
The Boston Bruins are 32-20-6 in 57 games played, have 69 points in the standings, have scored 195 goals and let in 176 goals. Their home record is 17-8-3, their away record is 15-11-3, and at the end of the break they had a 6-3-0 record through their last ten games; their most recent one a controversial overtime loss to the Florida Panthers due to general Panthers behavior of the sort you’d imagine they get up to.
Their leading scorer is Morgan Geekie at 32 goals through 56 games played, and their leader in points is David Pastrnak with 71 points in 52 games.
In terms of offense, The Boston Bruins are 16th in the NHL in Corsi-For per 60 minutes; which is a measurement of shot attempts over the course of a 60 minute hockey game; this sits at 57.55. They are 19th in Fenwick-For per 60 minutes, which is a measurement of unblocked shot attempts over the course of a 60 minute hockey game. This sits at 40.97. They are 22nd in the NHL at Expected-Goals for per 60, which sits at 2.51, and is a measure of what we can call “shot quality”. They are 12th in the league at High Danger Goals-For per 60 minutes, which sits at 1.31.
From this, we can at least determine that while the Bruins do not have the puck very often and are letting the game come to them rather than the other way around, when they do have the puck, they usually score when they’re close to the net. This tracks based on what we can see about finishing data from HockeyViz.com.
Defensively, the Boston Bruins are quite a far cry from where they were years ago. They are 27th in the league at Corsi-against per sixty with 60.17. Fenwick-against per sixty is 24th in the league at 49.07, and they are 29th in Expected-Goals Against per 60 at 2.9. This suggests they are letting up a lot of shots, many of whom are pretty good ones at that.
Definitely gonna call that a “needs improvement”.
For a good six weeks last year, the Bruins became the Pasta and Geekie show as they began to rapidly overtake just about everybody else on the depth chart in terms of NHL Scoring. To the delight of fans, that hasn’t gone away; if anything it’s actually improved quite a bit.
Pastrnak has developed a much more rounded playmaking addition to his game game in response to what I am sure is someone making it abundantly clear to him that he is probably the most well rounded player left on the team, and he put his best effort forward into becoming more than just a really good slapshot from the circles, and the team is better off for it.
Meanwhile, Morgan Geekie, of all people, is playing like he’s going to be a Rocket Richard finalist. That’s going to happen. We’re all here to watch that now.
What part of this is playing with great talent, what part of this is the power play being good, what part of this is him shooting like crazy (currently sitting at 24%), it’s hard to assign credit where it’s due on his game, but make no mistake, he is a blast to watch here.
Part of what’s made the Bruins sudden return to being watchable is that, for the most part, the depth has actually started to come alive!
Lots of flowers go to Fraser Minten, as he was an inexpensive add last year who showed a lot of promise, and has truly flourished in his role on the third line, but he’s hardly the only one! Viktor Arvidsson looks like he belongs after a slow start! Hell, it looks like he’s finally found his scoring touch again! Pavel Zacha has once again found the ability to potentially end up a 20+ goalscorer again! Marat Khusnutdinov has been the perfect chaotic addition to Pasta and Lindholm’s line! Lindholm himself seems to have found twine a little more which helps his case a lot! And hey, even Casey Mittelstadt seems to be finding a scoring touch against the right teams.
This was a hallmark of Marco Sturm teams in the AHL in that yes, they do have obvious stars, but they do tend to have a crop of players who start following in those stars wake to carve some goals out for themselves, and in an NHL this deep across the board it never hurts to have anyone who’s willing to step up.
Even if the Bruins are not great, and sometimes they can lay an egg through at least 20 minutes of play…they are not out of it. Something in the locker room gets said, the team locks in, and the game changes. Not always for the better, but they do make something happen.
If there is one major positive that Marco Sturm has imparted upon these guys, that I think contributed to some early frustration within the team, is that they know they are never out of it, and relish the opportunity to be something special.
According to MoreHockeyStats.com, a fantastic resource for the kind of niche stat that this is; the Boston Bruins are 9th in the league in winning games in which they are behind by the third period. They’re in a multi-man tie for third if they’re only down a goal! Part of that of course is probably the power play; which is not just good, but actively great at 3rd in the entire league, but it does come down to effort. It makes for a genuinely fun watch even if they’re playing like garbage to start the game because yes; anyone can go be the hero if they want to be, and there are enough talented guys in the NHL now that it doesn’t just have to be Pasta or Geekie.
Given where we started with this team? I will take that one thousand times over. No contest.
So there’s two ways to look at this; the non analytics way and the analytics way. In the interest of fairness, I will address both.
From a more surface level side of things, just about every Center on the team is…fine. It’s a little weird that Mark Kastelic has the highest faceoff percentage of all
From an analytical side of things…
Well…It’s a good thing Sean Kuraly and Fraser Minten are having good seasons and Zacha is a fantastic power play guy, because this is kind of a rough place to be right now with your top six centers looking like this.
I’m not gonna hold Pavel Zacha’s draft acumen against him; he’s still a very good player and he’s third in goals on a team that has largely let two guys do all of the scoring for them, and even if he’s not exactly living entirely up to the level of ice time he gets through on-ice impact, results are there. They may be
Lindholm however…Lindholm I no longer feel any passion, fury or concern with. I know what he is, and he is not a 1st line center in the NHL. He might be a good 3rd C! That’d be a good spot for him at this point! But he’s not a 1st liner anymore and he is here for what feels like forever unless cooler heads prevail and the Bruins do something to get him outta here. It is by the grace of god that he gets to play with two players who can mask a lot of the busy nothing he does out there, and that should be cause for concern. This kind of thing becomes painfully apparent in the playoffs, and unless Lindholm has one last masterclass season in him, I think his usage on this team needs to be rethought immediately.
At the beginning of the season, we set what I think was a very reasonable goal for Lohrei to meet; just be A Guy this year.
Do not cause too much trouble and break even on defense this year. This was largely attainable for him; Lohrei’s ranginess, shot, and skating talent are undeniable qualities in his favor as a skater, particularly in a defense corps that still has a lot of trouble trying to leave the zone themselves. When he is at his best, you can absolutely see why the team wants him to remain an NHL skater and on their team.
He has however, largely failed to meet that lofty goal of “be boring”.
What is increasingly a problem for the Bruins is that his play recognition and game “sense” is routinely far behind the rest of his skillset, and it remains a major fault in his game that usually becomes his teammates’ problems in short order. Mason Lohrei has done something at least once in all of the contests he’s been a part of that drew attention to this particular flaw of his game, and usually dragged his defense partner into that boondoggle. It didn’t always end in a goal-against, but Lohrei’s consistent struggles to make good decisions with and without the puck inevitably end up dragging out defensive zone time for a team that already struggles with that.
Lohrei’s ability is constantly hampered by a decision-making that would have him out of the league were it not for the macrophilic tendencies of the organization trying to find something for him to do. This was a recurring problem with his defense partners in the past, and on some level the team tried to mitigate it by ensuring he had stoic partners who wouldn’t screw up nearly as badly, but it is absolutely unacceptable for a player they keep trying to dip into first pairing minutes.
Really, the worst part is that we know good performances for Lohrei are entirely possible and can happen. It is something he can be not just once every ten games but every game if he puts the effort forward and isn’t trying to force plays with the confidence of Icarus turning his wings sun-ward. Mason Lohrei is a good hockey player when he is focused! The problem is that focus seems to wander consistently, and that leads to trouble that people notice. Him getting benched and the team’s ability to at least stay ahead of opponents improving dramatically has only made it
Of course, he’s far from the only one.
I really cannot overstate how Lohrei’s large, flamboyant disaster shifts are just the loudest parts of a defense that is in dire need of anyone to recognize what they’re doing. If you are a fan who reconnected with the team back in the 2009-10 season, what you see on the ice feels spiritually incorrect… and yet, here we are, with a defense that is frankly pretty bad all around.
Lohrei’s issues are well known, but there’s a little bit of everything across this lineup when the defense is off it’s game: baffling decision-making with the puck, slow skating in just about every direction, criminal lack of play recognition leading to puck watching, whiffing on checks, over committing on checks, baubling the puck when you have it in the offensive zone…if I pointed at one name as the culprit, two more I didn’t would follow it up by doing the same things. It’s a unique problem that now follows this squad; Everybody’s struggling to get the puck out of their own end at the moment, and it will continue to be an issue until Marco Sturm adjusts something drastically with his staff, or there are adjustments made to the people putting that system into place on-ice.
And let’s not just leave it at the defensemen! Let us make it abundantly clear that the forwards are not helping much whatsoever in this defense and it does not matter who they are in the slightest! Pasta? Already not known for his defense but his impact has lessened, Kuraly? Pure offense guy now. Lindholm? Active liability. Jeannot? Nope. Mark Kastelic? Surely he’s good at this right? Not even close. Everybody shares some blame for this.
Are there positive points? Sure! Charlie McAvoy has once again found his game and while he may not be the most defensively sound player, he’s still getting the puck moving in the right direction! Nikita Zadorov has tried his damnedest into being a reasonable , and has slowly worked himself up into being a sort of ideal 2ndish-1stish pairing defender you can trust with most assignments! Jordan Harris has otherwise been a phenomenally talented player who seems to like playing close to home because he’s one of the very few Bruins defenders who is above water when it comes to possession, and frankly he is sorely missed! Hampus Lindholm when he wasn’t injured definitely seemed like he was a net positive!
But that’s not making up for the fact that this is a unit that needs an overhaul across the board, and it’s not going to
So here’s the thing: Both Joonas Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman have played some strong hockey for the Bruins this year. They have put together genuinely strong games coming into and more than likely out of the Olympic Break. They have also put up some spectacular clunkers that have forced the team to play outside of their comfort zone when they just don’t have it. But if there can be said to be a positive, then having one goaltender who is at the absolute least, slightly above 2025-26’s average SV% must be it.
Jeremy Swayman was due for a return to form. While fans were ready at the drop of a hat to find a reason to get rid of him the minute ink hit paper on his very big contract that he spent a lot of time out with, the reality is that the Bruins #1 goaltender was probably not his 24-25 disaster season; if only by reasoning that there were too many things playing against him; the team’s offense was spluttering, their ability to hold the puck was non-existent, and their defense was an utter nightmare. Now, he has goal support and the defense in front of him has progressed to merely bad, so at the very least we can say that his contract did not in fact sap him of all of his capacity to be a good goaltender.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his specific concerns.
I have dubbed this the “Swayman thing”, because calling an effort thing is wrong and calling it a quirk cheapens it’s impact on games, and here it is; he is usually due for at least two goals against. They’re going to make you slap your head in exasperation. They’re gonna be awful. And then he locks in; that third goal-against becomes a herculean task that requires sustained pressure and a real great shot to beat him that third time. Most of the time, Swayman gives the Bruins a chance to win with that thing. It’s a big part of what made him so valuable to the team in the first place. But in a season where the defense is so routinely awful, even he has his limits, and the thing goes from cute but annoying to actively aggravating. It’s hard to put the most blame on either the defense in front of him or Swayman himself, but it’s something that the team desperately needs to get control of. When he’s on, he’s great! But that can be changed at the drop of a hat.
Joonas Korpisalo has also seen a lot of improvement which started at “effectively unplayable unless you were actively looking for a shot at the Mathew Schaefer sweepstakes” and is now just barely under the League’s average SV% of .893. He’s even got a shutout to his name! The problem of course, is that if you’re putting up .893, the real issue is consistency, and even between him and Swayman, the rubber-band results are kind of hard to ignore. There are some games back to back that make you wonder if he’s finally turning a corner…and then boom, sub-.800 SV%.
All of this leaves the Bruins goaltenders in a weird spot. We know the defense is bad. We know that both of these guys surely can’t be as bad as their previous season, but just how much better when your eccentricities are single-handedly geared towards making your team look bad and you look worse even if long-term you can probably win with them if you support them? What happens if you genuinely improve the skaters in front of them and they just stay like this or get worse? Are you really in a position to try and fix it when you keep giving out talent to other teams at this position, even if they themselves may never do this again?
The goalies, like they always are, remain an enigma. A frustrating one.
It seems the big word for sports in 2025 and going into 2026 is “uncertainty”.
Go take a look at the standings. Really. Go look at them.
Vegas and Edmonton are in a heated battle for the Pacific with just about half their division. The Pittsburgh Penguins, those Pittsburgh Penguins, are in a dead heat to try and catch the Hurricanes. The Stanley Cup champions are down with New Jersey and NYR at the bottom of the eastern conference. The only bastion of normalcy this year has been the Central Division, and even then the Colorado Avalanche have begun faltering, allowing Minnesota and Dallas a chance to catch up.
Like we all expected, right?
Parity has at long last hit the NHL like a bomb and I regret to inform you that it has genuinely produced some pretty solid hockey. It has also produced at least three divisions that are absolutely rife with the inability to truly seize a spot in the wildcard, and it’s meant checking the standings has gone from a thing maybe two teams maximum do to something just about everybody does in rapid succession because they now change that fast. Sure, there are some true dorks who want to know who’s “really good” and all that, and I say “That’s what the playoffs are for” and “Didn’t you say you don’t care about made-up numbers?”, but right now I can say with delight that the NHL season is truly unpredictable now.
Does that mean I don’t think it can hurt Boston any? Oh my, no.
If anything, I think we can agree that Boston may be one of the most vulnerable teams in this rat race because they are only just in the playoffs at this point. Sure, 69 points looks pretty nice now, but are you gonna count on the Jackets beefing it enough to get some distance? You really think the Caps are gonna stay in this weird mushy middle period before one of those russians decides to go on a heater? You think the Islanders are gonna be third in the Metro forever? There are a lot of teams looking for space in this wildcard right now, and the only one I think who has a good shot right now of keeping it is the goddamn Buffalo Sabres of all teams. The Sabres! And I could be totally wrong about that because this season has had nothing but shocking swerves!
This position they’re in is one they need to put a good foundation under quickly or they’re gonna find out how fun it is to float a house.
The Bruins were probably not supposed to be here this year.
But give ‘em credit! They’re healthy-ish, the stars are meeting the moment most nights, they acquired players who found specific niches for themselves, and made some decent bets that have for the most part paid off. Being back in a wildcard spot after last year? That feels like you’re well ahead of schedule!
Yeah, funny thing about that. Sometimes you can get so ahead of yourself you forget the details. Like hit the train in front of you.
They still need to put a lot of work into meeting the Lightning, the Red Wings, and the Habs where they are right now. That will take time, and it will take extremely careful adjusting of the roster to get there. They still need to get younger, they definitely need to get faster, and they need to get deeper. Nothing less will do. The teams around them are already there. They need to play catch up and fast.
But…“The Juice” beckons.
This phrase; “The Juice”, haunts this team like a wraith.
Ever since Jim Montgomery correctly identified that he didn’t have nearly as good a team as he wanted using that phrase, and that coaching could only get you so far without this one phrase; a heady mix of talent and want-to that he tried his damnedest to get out of the roster…I really think he pissed off somebody above him in a way that feels distinctly personal. Just about every single decision made at the beginning of the year and offseason felt like it was in direct service to proving Montgomery wrong. In fairness? It has started to show some fruit!
But they do need more. This isn’t close to enough and I think the team is aware of that…but I do fear that somebody, can’t say who, couldn’t pick who they are out of a lineup, who gets to make decisions about this team, is still fuming about that comment. The rumors of Justin Faulk and Rasmus Ristolainen reek of that kind of nonsense; looking for a “fire” in the room where talent won’t be given a wick to light.
Spite can become poisonous if left too long in the bloodstream. I’m a little concerned it may force them to do something rash.
Well, let’s just say the taking stock period is either well underway or actively coming to a close. We have at least some idea of what this team is, and its issues are pretty clear.
Were it me in charge, I think the goal looks like this:
The season will go by faster than you think, and with this retool moving much faster than anticipated, we can only hope now that the Bruins are seeing this year with clear eyes, and see that the future has needs that must be met here in the present.
But until then? Let’s see how far we can take this.
The Dodgers take a trip east across the desert to face the San Francisco Giants on Friday in Scottsdale, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto making his final start before heading to play for Japan in the World Baseball Classic.
Yamamoto threw 30 pitches in his 1 2/3 innings last Saturday against the Angels in the Dodgers’ Cactus League opener. After a scoreless first inning, Yamamoto allowed three hits and two runs, one of them earned in the second inning.
This is the first of two meetings between the longtime rivals this spring. The Dodgers and Giants meet again on Wednesday, March 18 at Camelback Ranch.
The Dodgers are back at Camelback Ranch on Wednesday, playing the White Sox in a battle of co-tenants. The Dodgers are the home team in this one, where Max Muncy and Alex Call will see their first game action of 2026.
Miguel Rojas SS
Kyle Tucker DH
Will Smith C
Freddie Freeman 1B
Teoscar Hernández LF
Max Muncy 3B
Andy Pages CF
Alex Call RF
Hyeseong Kim 2B
Tyler Glasnow starts on the mound, his first game this spring.
Blake Treinen is set to make his 2026 Cactus League debut, pitching along with Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer, Ben Casparius, and Kyle Hurt, plus non-roster invitees Carson Hobbs and Jordan Weems.
Pitchers active from minor league camp are Cam Day (wearing number 90), Myles Caba (91), Kelvin Ramirez (93), and Nick Robertson (97).
Michael Siani and Ryan Ward are active on Thursday, as are non-roster invitees Ryan Fitzgerald, Keston Hiura, Zach Ehrhard, Josue De Paula, Kendall George, Zyhir Hope, Chris Newell, Noah Miller, and catchers Eliézer Alfonzo and Griffin Lockwood-Powell.
Also active from the minor league side are Elijah Hainline (05) and Yeiner Fernandez (89).