GLENDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 19: Josue de Paula #95 of the Los Angeles Dodgers poses for a photo during Los Angeles Dodgers Photo Day at Camelback Ranch on February 19, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Josue De Paula is the highest-ranked Dodgers prospect on average and a consensus top-25 prospect in the sport heading into 2026. After playing the last week of last season with Double-A Tulsa, De Paula is one step closer to the majors and won’t turn 21 until May.
“Like really stressing the importance of defense,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “Really, it’s one thing to stress it, it’s another to have deliberate work and being consistent with it.”
Friedman believes his time in major-league camp will be instructive.
“I think he’s seeing that (consistency) with some of our guys, and you really don’t know what that means until you see it and experience it. So we’ve challenged him with that.”
Andrew Friedman feels the concerns surrounding Kyle Tucker's passion for the game were unfairly voiced.
"Some guys will talk trash about it [his approach] if it doesn't line up with what they do instead of appreciating the individualized aspect." pic.twitter.com/finSg36RXP
Corner outfielder and first baseman Ryan Ward and left-handed pitcher Ronan Kopp were both added to the 40-man roster in November. Sonja Chen talked to the new Dodgers for MLB.com.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 23: A general view of play between the Bay FC and the Washington Spirit at Oracle Park on August 23, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/NWSL via Getty Images) | NWSL via Getty Images
Good morning baseball fans!
As we approach the beginning of the season, we’re going to be doing some questions for y’all about your thoughts about the San Francisco Giants and baseball in general!
Today’s question: Who do you think the fanbase tends to overrate?
Personally, I have no business answering this question. That would be extremely hypocritical. Although the favorite players of my youth tended to be franchise icons (Barry Bonds and Tim Lincecum for examples) I also tend to root for underdogs (or perceived underdogs) so I am absolutely guilty of overrating players that I like.
I’m also aware that I am guilty of letting nostalgia color my opinion of players long after their prime and I hate to see them leave. So I’m pretty sure I am the one being judged by this question. And I’m okay with that.
SARASOTA, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Pete Alonso (25) of the Baltimore Orioles flips his bat after hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning during a spring training game against the New York Yankees on February 20, 2026 at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Good morning Birdland,
After a long, chilly winter (that is still going on), the Orioles got back on the diamond down in Sarasota to play an actual game. It didn’t count for anything other than vibes, but we will take the vibes in late February with snow on the way.
If you are like me and your work or school day got filled up, you probably didn’t see the game, which got started in the early afternoon. But fear not, because you didn’t actually miss too much.
The Orioles collected eight hits on offense, but went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Midseason form, baby! But the headline will undoubtedly be Pete Alonso’s debut home run. The new first baseman slugged a sixth-inning home run to score himself and Jeremiah Jackson, who had singled earlier in the inning.
Meanwhile, the Orioles pitching was dynamite. Six hurlers combined to toss a nine-inning shutout. Trevor Rogers struck out three over two innings. Trey Gibson went three innings to close out the game and earn the save. And the four potential bullpen arms in between (Keegan Akin, Rico Garcia, Grant Wolfram, and José Espada) all threw one hitless frame each.
They were not facing the Yankees “A squad” here. There was no Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton, but some notable names were sprinkled in. And you can only face who is right in front of you.
Tough to give the team anything but full marks for their first actual game of the Grapefruit League season! They won. No one else got hurt. 10/10
They will be right back on the field today. Dean Kremer is on the bump (for an inning or two, anyway) to face the Pittsburgh Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. It sounds like Chayce McDermott will also appear. The game will be on MASN, and we will have a game thread for you on this very site right at first pitch.
Links
Orioles Claim Bryan Ramos | MLB Trade Rumors He’s back! This is the second time this month that the Orioles have claimed Ramos. This time they get him from the Cardinals. For the time being, he is on the 40-man roster, the room for which was made when Félix Bautista was transitioned to the 60-day IL. Will he stick around this time? Maybe. They might actually need him now that Jordan Westburg is on the shelf through April.
Without Jordan Westburg, Orioles lean on infield depth and believe in Coby Mayo | The Baltimore Banner Speaking of which…it’s a good thing that Coby Mayo wasn’t traded this offseason. Who knows if he will pan out, but the upside of Mayo is a better option than several other avenues they could have taken instead. His presence at third base at least gives the O’s a shot of fielding an above-average player at the position.
Adam Jones on 2026 Orioles: ‘The vibes are great’ | Baltimore Baseball Jones is in camp as a guest instructor this week. Those “honors” are really starting to make me feel old. Each year it’s another guy that was good for the Orioles when I was in high school and college. That’s not how this is supposed to me! They should be significantly older than me!
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
Tom Shopay turns 81 today. He spent parts of five seasons with the Orioles from 1971-72 and then again from ‘75-77.
1947 – The “instate camera,” the Polaroid Land Camera, is demonstrated by Edwin Land for the first time at a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
1948 – NASCAR is incorporated
1995 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a baloon.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 10: Pitching Coach Alon Leichman #77 of the Colorado Rockies talks to pitcher Antonio Senzatela #49 about pitching grips at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 10, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Kyle Cooper/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Two veteran pitchers with the Colorado Rockies are gearing up for spring training as full-squad workouts began this week. Both are under contract 2026 with a club option for 2027; both are right-handed; and both will be competing in this year’s highly-anticipated edition of the World Baseball Classic.
Michael Lorenzen and Antonio Senzatela also provide a study in contrasts.
Michael Lorenzen
The Rockies brought in the 34-year-old Michael Lorenzen on a one-year, $8 million contract with a $9 million club option for 2027.
Lorenzen has become something of a journeyman after playing with the Cincinnati Reds for seven seasons to start his career. In the last four seasons, he has suited up for five different teams and made multiple post-season appearances. The Rockies will be his seventh team in 12 Major League seasons. He has posted generally good—if unremarkable—numbers throughout his career and has worked both from the rotation and the bullpen depending on team need.
He represents a significant change in standard operating procedure for the Rockies, who had not signed a free agent pitcher for more than $5 million since 2015.
“Michael actively wanted to pitch here. He’s done a lot of different things in his career – he was an outfielder, he’s been a reliever, he’s been a starting pitcher. I don’t think he’s afraid of anything.”
Colorado actively courted Lorenzen for his extensive arsenal of pitches—which could potentially reach as many as eight different offerings—with the hopes of finding an answer to the longstanding mystery of pitching at Coors Field.
Lorenzen returned their interest for the opportunity to learn and to be a “problem solver” for the Rockies, and for Lorenzen, that also means solving the problems of his teammates.
“That’s all I want to do. I want to improve myself, and then I want to help the guys around me improve,” Lorenzen told Purple Row in Scottsdale. “That’s through my experience and the wisdom that I’ve gained through years of failure and success, and being able to help guys out through that. That’s what I’m looking forward to — to be able to see guys grow around me and establish who they are in this league. That excites me.”
In the coming weeks, Lorenzen will depart Rockies camp and report for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. The veteran discussed looking forward to the fun environment, and to also swing a bat again—something he did regularly before Major League Baseball adopted the universal designated hitter.
“It’s fun. It’ll be great to just play in in that environment. Guys say it feels like the playoffs. So I’m excited about that, to be able to start for the team,” Lorenzen said. “One of the one of the deals was that I was going to be a two-way player in the WBC. That’s how I [ended up] playing for Team Italy.”
Playing for Team Italy also represents more opportunities to learn, especially with former Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino as one of his teammates.
“When I saw that he was pitching for Team Italy, even before, he was one of the first guys that came to mind of how he was successful here, how his sweeper played. I’ll pick his brain.”
Lorenzen will likely start the season following the World Baseball Classic as part of the Rockies’ starting rotation. Although he wants to help the Rockies conquer Coors Field, a bad season from him can be brushed off. He would be far from the first pitcher to come up short in that regard. A new landing spot wouldn’t be too hard to find.
Antonio Senzatela
31-year-old Antonio Senzatela is entering the 2026 season on the final year of a five-year, $50 million deal signed in 2021 after finishing four of his first five MLB seasons with a sub-5.00 ERA and establishing himself as a regular in the Rockies’ rotation. He is set to make $12 million this season with a $14 million club option for 2027.
The duration of the contract hasn’t gone as planned for Senzatela. During the first year of the deal, he tore his ACL mid-season. The injury caused him to miss the 2023 World Baseball Classic and the start of the regular season. When he returned to the active roster, he made just two starts before Tommy John surgery shut him down for the rest of the year and most of 2024—where he made just three starts at the end of the season. Things only got worse in 2025, where he struggled and eventually lost his spot in the rotation to be relegated to mop-up duty in the bullpen.
Senzatela has never had an extensive arsenal. After coming up through the Rockies farm system and his first few big league seasons, he really only had one pitch: his four-seam fastball. In 2025, Senzatela threw his fastball 1,316 times in 130 innings of work, just barely under 1,000 more times than he threw his secondary slider.
Now in the final year of his contract with the only team he has ever known, Senzatela is focused on his own growth and development this spring. Rather than be a “problem solver,” he has to find solutions to problems of his own.
“I worked on all my pitches and my body and everything,” he told Purple Row. “I worked on the shape of my fastball, tried to make a new slider. I talked to everybody and it feels great. They have really good information to release to us, and I think that will be great for us.”
Senzatela will be departing Rockies camp to join his native Team Venezuela for the World Baseball Classic, an opportunity he missed in 2023 due to his ACL injury.
“I’m super excited,” he said. “I can’t wait to wear that uniform, put the Venezuela on my chest. It’s gonna be huge for me. It’s gonna be huge for my family, for all my friends.
“It’s the country I was born in. It’s the country I pray for.”
Joining Senzatela on Team Venezuela is his fellow countryman, former teammate, and close friend Germán Márquez.
Márquez found himself in a similar situation to Senzatela last season, recovering from Tommy John surgery and struggling on the mound in the final year of his contract. This off-season he tested the waters of free agency for the first time and signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the San Diego Padres with a mutual option for 2027.
“It’s really, really cool,” Senzatela said on reuniting with Márquez. “We’re still in touch. We’re still talking, we’re still friends, and, man, it’s really nice to have him out there too, so we can keep talking and keep playing together.”
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said during the off-season that Senzatela would remain in the bullpen. However, Senzatela will now have an outside chance at earning his rotation spot back this spring thanks to the work he has put in over the offseason. Presently, however, his chances seem small with the Rockies having brought in two other veteran starters, Tomoyuki Sugano and José Quintana.
“I think I’m just coming in here to throw the ball the best I can and just let [the coaches] make the decision,” Senzatela said. “I’ll be happy in the starting rotation, but everything depends on them. I just want to keep going and have the ball.”
For Senzatela, the impact this spring and season may have is far more profound. Another bad season means the Rockies are even less likely to pick up his expensive 2027 option, and trading him at the deadline would be difficult. He would enter free agency for the first time in his career with his value at an all-time low.
Closing Thoughts
The circumstances this year for Antonio Senzatela and Michael Lorenzen are very different, as are the ways they view the upcoming season, their status entering spring training, and even the way they view the World Baseball Classic. One is working to help the Rockies find their own future while the other is fighting for their own baseball life and future.
However, when you pull the camera back and view the picture as a whole, the tales of Antonio Senzatela and Michael Lorenzen are representative of the new-look Colorado Rockies and of their upcoming season. Their interwoven stories are those of learning, development, open minds, and, ultimately, transition and change.
PCA has snazzy new digs. Life goes on. The players are in the best shape of their lives and will get back after it today against the Rangers. This game is on Marquee/MLB.TV, 1:05 pm local time.
The Cubs set off on the path toward the 2026 regular season on the wrong foot and will have to adjust their steps. I’m going to blame it on the cold as I spent the game wrapped in a blanket, though that hardly explains Porter Hodge’s work on that Friday afternoon in Mesa.
Grant Kipp got the Cubs out of that inning at last, but by then the combination of Taillon and Hodge had allowed six runs, two of which scored on a ringing double that Seiya Suzuki mighta coulda had. PCA probably would have spit on it.
The number of players on the WBC rosters will mean lots of play by irregulars. Suzuki did treat everyone to a center-field blast, and Chas McCormick barreled the ball a couple of times, but there was little in the way of offense on this windy day in the valley.
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MESA, AZ - NOVEMBER 09: Kevin McGonigle #9 of the Detroit Tigers takes batting practice prior to the 2025 Arizona Fall League Fall Stars game between the American League Fall Stars and the National League Fall Stars at Sloan Park on November 9, 2025 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
On Saturday, we get to watch the Detroit Tigers play a baseball game for the first time since their ALDS loss to the Mariners. A lot has happened in the interim, and it’s great to be back.
Truth be told, how to watch Tigers baseball is still up in the air as Grapefruit League action begins on Saturday. Today, the Detroit Tigers matchup on the road against the Yankees at 1:05 p.m. will be free on MLB.tv with their home broadcast team from the YES Network. The Tigers radio broadcast should still be available on all the usual Tigers Radio Network affiliates. We’ll have a gamethread up as usual.
Longer term, how we’ll be watching the Tigers is a little more complicated question to answer.
With the Detroit Tigers taking their broadcasts into their own hands in partnership with MLB this season, the rough outline is clear. A Tigers TV package will be available through MLB.tv and will give in-market fans full streaming access to the Tigers. The broadcasts will be produced with MLB, and still helmed by Jason Benetti and Dan Dickerson, respectively, with Andy Dirks and Dan Petry returning as analysts.
Right now, the broadcast packages at MLB.tv list most of the teams now going direct through MLB’s site for streaming, but Tigers TV wasn’t listed as of Friday night. The decision to part ways with FanDuel Sports Network was pretty recent, and while teams have been preparing contingencies for a long time, we may have to wait a while for a full rollout of the streaming package.
The Tigers return home Sunday and Monday against the Orioles and Twins, and those two openers in Lakeland will be radio broadcast only. Pretty standard stuff for most of spring training. We’ll see if more games are televised this year or not. The next one set to be a Tigers TV game is Wednesday the 25th in a matchup against the Phillies on a split-squad day.
The part of this that will take more time to sort out than Tigers TV, is licensing the broadcasts to cable networks or platforms in the region. We’ll have to wait for further announcements regarding cable providers who will ultimately be partnering with the Tigers and MLB directly now to air the games.
Early in spring training, it’s natural for the overreactions to run a little hot. It’s really best not to read much into performance in the early going especially. It’ll just be great to watch a baseball game.
No doubt, someone’s velocity will be notably down and people will panic in the coming days. Someone else will look incredible and we’ll get too hype. These are spring traditions. Last year, Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling were hurt immediately once exhibition season began, which is a great reminder that the only real goal of spring camp is to get stretched out and built up to game speed without getting hurt. Other than Reese Olson’s unfortunate shoulder surgery, the Tigers injury report is pretty light in camp so far, so let’s keep it that way.
The only starting player still working his way back from something is Dillon Dingler, who had his elbow cleaned out during the offseason, and is still building up his arm strength in a throwing progression. Trey Sweeney is currently out with a shoulder strain, but he was obviously a longshot for the Opening Day roster. A few of their minor league pitchers are still rehabbing something, but overall that’s a pretty good place to start compared to a lot of other teams.
#Tigers medical update: Trey Sweeney suffered a right shoulder strain.
A.J. Hinch: "It came up during drills on the backfields, so we had him seen by a doctor. We're going to pause his throwing. He's still going to do some other defensive things while the soreness calms down." pic.twitter.com/dRifpbWzPr
Keider Montero gets the first start of the year, and his is a pretty interesting case going into the first day of Grapefruit League play. The 25-year-old has been a very helpful depth piece for the Tigers rotation the past two years, but hasn’t made a convincing enough case as a starter yet. On the other hand, he pitched well late in 2025, obviously has the stuff to be a pretty good pitcher, and finished the year in pretty stirring fashion as he tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings in the postseason. With only one option remaining, and Monteroprobably sitting 8th on the starting depth chart, it feels like he’s likely to start the season in the bullpen.
The Tigers really like the idea of multi-inning relievers these days and it’s easy to see why. Once a pitcher is warm and in the game, you’d prefer to push them two innings and have more rest days in between outings, as opposed to pitching a lot of guys for one inning many times in a given week. If the staff stays healthy, they might end up with Montero, Drew Anderson, Troy Melton, Brant Hurter, and Tyler Holton all as guys very comfortable going multiple innings.
Maybe you don’t even bother keeping someone “stretched out” anymore. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to squander Montero or Melton’s arm in Triple-A just to have them stretched out if the tradeoff is a lesser option in the Tigers bullpen instead. Anderson has a major league free agent deal and can’t be optioned. So maybe just cover any minor injury or missed start with bullpen days. Until there’s some longer term attrition in the rotation, perhaps they don’t need to worry about having someone ready to go five innings on a moment’s notice. Just use your pen full of depth starters to handle things, while keeping Will Vest, Kenley Jansen, and Kyle Finnegan in the high leverage spots.
This is all just idle talk of course. Spring training tends to decide in its own way what your pitching staff looks like and what your options are by the time Opening Day arrives. Hopefully they have more options than they know what to do with, but that’s a rare level of abundance in pitching. We’ll just see if Montero can parlay his seasoning of the past two years into more consistent performance in whatever role he lands in.
The Tigers have confirmed that infielder Hao-Yu Lee and outfielder Jahmai Jones will play at some point in Saturday’s game as well. Jake Rogers will DH, and another player worth watching, C/1B Eduardo Valencia, is scheduled to be behind the dish. The 25-year-old Valencia kind of came out of nowhere last season with a massive year in Toledo, but his catching remains the weak side of his game. Saturday will be the first look at Valencia’s defense for most fans.
Kevin McGonigle, shortstop
Of course, here finally is the featured attraction in Saturday’s starting lineup. The really fun thing to watch is Kevin McGonigle starting at shortstop for the Detroit Tigers. He’ll be playing between veteran mentors in Javier Báez at third base, and Gleyber Torres at second. Hinch is getting McGonigle right into the thick of the action.
A.J. Hinch and everyone else knows that McGonigle has some question marks about his development defensively. And a driven player like Kevin McGonigle is 100 percent planning on winning the starting shortstop job out of camp. He’s not thinking about service time. So it feels a bit pointed by Hinch to put him out there on day one. It’s probably going to take a lot to convince the Tigers front office to take him north immediately, but no doubt Hinch is happy to throw him in there, get past any jitters early on, and give him every opportunity to make his case this spring. Whatever his timetable, the experience should be good for the 21-year-old, currently ranked the second best prospect in baseball according to most national rankings.
McGonigle played some third base in the Arizona Fall League, and the Tigers even had Alan Trammell out there coaching him for both positions. After missing time with injuries in 2024 and 2025, the point of the Fall League was probably defensive reps as much as anything to do with his bat.
Everyone believes he’s going to rake, but his defensive ability is the bigger question mark. His arm is modest for a shortstop, and throws deep in the hole are never going to be his forte. On the plus side, he has the speed and hands to be solid there and he’s still only a few years removed from high school. There’s reason to expect him to refine his actions and turn himself into something close to an average shortstop. That would be just fine, assuming he hits as expected, and he could shift off the position to second or third when a better option presents himself.
The top prospects will all be followed closely this spring, and it’s going to be fun to see how they do, but McGonigle vs. the shortstop position will be its own little roster battle to watch play out. It’s not as though Trey Sweeney, Zach McKinstry, or Báez are plus defensive shortstops either. The bar isn’t that high for McGonigle to make it clear he’s their best option.
The Tigers know they need as much Kevin McGonigle as they can get this season without pushing him too hard too fast. The tension between those two ideas will color everything the Tigers top prospect does this spring. Hinch is prepping him for the scrutiny. For his part, McGonigle is a thoughtful young player and his own toughest critic. He seems well positioned to deal with the burden of expectations. He just may need time against good upper level minor league pitching until he’s ready to hit the ground running in the big leagues. At some point this season, he’ll be undeniable. For now, the opportunity to prove he’s ready gets underway on Saturday.
Tigers Baseball is back and we couldn’t be happier.
Kevin McGonigle will start Saturday’s spring training opener at shortstop, perhaps his first of many with the Tigers.@Local4News spoke to Detroit’s top prospect to hear about the journey, what he’s learned from vets and legend Alan Trammell, and why he believes he’s ready now. pic.twitter.com/NJf9bLuRJZ
Feb 20, 2026; Sarasota, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Elmer Rodriguez (76) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles during spring training at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
The first game of spring means baseball season is officially back, and the Yankees began their 2026 tune-up with an exhibition game in Sarasota against the Baltimore Orioles. They lost 2-0, with the only offense in the game coming from a two-run blast off the bat of Pete Alonso. The Orioles’ new first baseman hit the towering shot off of non-roster invitee Bradley Hanner in the bottom of the sixth and carried Baltimore to victory. It was a silent showing for the Yankees offense, and arguably the biggest story of the day for the Bombers was Elmer Rodríguez.
The Yankees handed the ball to their No. 3 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) and he was able to pitch three scoreless innings with one strikeout, three hits allowed, and no walks in his spring training debut. Rodríguez’s line is more impressive than it looks given that the Orioles lineup looked almost identical to what we will likely see from them on Opening Day, missing just Taylor Ward and Dylan Beavers.
Rodríguez, who spent all of 2025 in High-A and Double-A (with a couple starts in Triple-A at the very end of the season), was tasked with facing Gunnar Henderson, Pete Alonso, Adley Rutschman, Samuel Basallo, Colton Cowser, and more. It started off well, as he retired Henderson, Alonso, and Basallo in order in the first. Rodríguez began the outing with a 97-mph sinker, and induced a groundball from Henderson on the fifth pitch of the at-bat. He needed just two pitches to retire Alonso, dotting a sinker on the inside corner to begin the at-bat and then getting Alonso to chase a slider away and roll over to second base. His only strikeout of the afternoon came against Basallo, who chased a high sinker to end the inning.
Rodríguez began the second by falling behind in the count 2-0 against Tyler O’Neill and allowing a single to left field. He threw a strike on each corner against Cowser, then induced a ground ball on a 1-2 curve for a force out at second. A single from Rutschman put runners on the corners, but a changeup away to Heston Kjerstad turned into an inning-ending double play.
His third and final inning began with two more groundouts from Coby Mayo and Jeremiah Jackson. Gunnar Henderson jumped on a first-pitch sinker misplaced right down the middle, and Alonso stung a sinker towards the gap that was run down on an excellent play by center fielder Kenedy Corona. Rodríguez ended his outing with 42 pitches, 30 of them for strikes.
The spring training outing also means public Statcast data for Rodríguez is now available, and the results back up what we know about him so far. He’s not a pitcher who will blow hitters away with electric stuff, but he possesses a deep arsenal and a mature ability to locate and sequences his pitches well beyond his years. Different models began publishing reports on Rodríguez’s outing shortly after it ended, notably from TJStats and Pitch Profiler, both of whom put Stuff+ grades in the mid-to-low 90s (meaning slightly-below average) on all of his pitches, with the former putting a 101 grade on his slider and the latter putting a 102 grade on his curveball.
This type of profile provides Rodríguez with a rock-solid base for a starting pitcher while also leaving room for him to grow. The below-average stuff grades are a bit concerning at first glance, but as evidenced by pitchers like Trevor Rogers (who Rodríguez coincidentally faced off against in today’s game), there are pathways to success without the sort of electric stuff we’re used to seeing from ace pitchers. Rogers pitched 109 innings in 2025 with a jaw-dropping 1.81 ERA, despite a mediocre 24.3-percent strikeout rate and just a 92 Stuff+ grade (per FanGraphs). He looked very similar today as he did last year, and held the Yankees scoreless through two innings with three strikeouts. Rodríguez could look at today’s counterpart as a model for success.
As far as the eye test, Rodríguez’s start was impressive. His sinker was topping out at 97 mph, and he threw a few devastating 88-90 mph changeups (which appear to have fooled a few of the models that classified them as sinkers, which could potentially be throwing off his model for those pitches). He only induced five whiffs, but he was getting MLB hitters to chase all three of his off speed pitches and ended the day with a 70-percent groundball rate.
Last year was a breakout season for Rodríguez, who pitched 150 innings across three levels and posted a 2.58 ERA between them. He had a 29-percent strikeout rate on the season, so one of the final steps for the minor-league development team will be finding a way to make his ability to miss bats translate at the highest level. He will almost certainly start the season in Triple-A, and is very likely to make his MLB debut in 2026. The Yankees’ starting rotation is deep enough that they should be able to take their time with Rodríguez (barring catastrophe), but he should be knocking around the door by summertime. He climbed all the way to the top of the organization’s farm system last season, and he’ll look to complete his journey in 2026.
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 3: Josh Hart #3 and Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks looks on during the game against the Houston Rockets on February 3, 2025 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
In Thursday’s loss to Detroit, every Knicks (35*-21) drive into the paint looked like a LaMelo Ball driver’s ed video. Tonight, they hope for better results when they host the Houston Rockets (34-20) at the Mecca.
This nationally televised tilt is a match-up of two third-place teams. The Knicks have gone 7-3 in their last ten games, while the Rockets have gone 6-4. When they last squared off, wayyy back on February 3, 2025, the Knicks beat Ho-Town 124-118. In that one, Jalen Brunson led New York with 42 points, while Amen Thompson paced Houston with 25 points.
The Rockets hold a defensive rating of 112.8, fifth in the league. Their offensive rating is 118, seventh overall. They average 114.6 points per game, which is just on the cusp of the league’s third tier. Ime Udoka’s club leads the league in rebounds at 48.6 per game and offensive rebounds at 15.8, but ranks 28th in pace and assists, and 29th in three-point attempts. (FWIW, Detroit attempted just 30 from downtown on Thursday, but made 40% of them—because defense.)
All-Star internet troll Kevin Durant averages 25.8 points per game and shoots 40% from three in his umpteenth season. Alperen Şengün averages 20.7 points and 9.4 rebounds. Thompson, whose twin Ausar helped to bruise up the Knicks on Thursday, averages 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds. Jabari Smith, Jr. averages 15.2 points and shoots 36% from three, and sophomore Reed Sheppard averages 12.7 points and makes 39% from three.
Their starting five is expected to feature Thompson, Tari Eason (12.2 PPG), Smith, Şengün, and Durant. Steven Adams and Fred VanVleet are sidelined for the season with surgeries. Aside from Miles McBride, the Knicks have a clean injury report.
Prediction
ESPN gives New York a 60% chance to win. Okie dokie. Unfortunately, the Knicks have as many personalities as KD has burner accounts—you never know which version of the team to expect, given their fluctuations of energy, effort, and discipline from night to night. Sure, a win against a top team might mitigate some of the malaise we feel after watching the Pistons (playing without key players) completely outmatch New York again. But another loss feels inevitable, no? We just saw one tall, physically imposing team manhandle the Knicks. Now here comes another. From what and where can we draw optimism?
Best case scenario, New York wins with authority, regains our confidence, and has a smooth flight to Chicago for tomorrow’s tilt with the Bulls. Worst case scenario? Imagine that and pull it back a few notches—that’s our prediction. Knicks lose by less than ten.
Game Details
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026 Time: 8:30 PM ET Place: Madison Square Garden, NYC TV: ABC Follow: @ptknicksblog and bsky
Mar 17, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
The Dallas Mavericks and their star point guard Kyrie Irving recently made it official – Irving would be out for the remainder of the season, looking for a fresh start in 2026-2027. While talking with fellow Mavs Moneyball contributor David Trink about what we could expect from Irving upon his return, I stated “I’m irrationally confident Kyrie is going to come back very much the same [as his pre-injury form].” Although David didn’t quite share my inflated enthusiasm, we both thought the point/counterpoint was worthy of exploration.
To be clear, I freely acknowledge my belief is at least in part every bit as truly “irrational” as I said – I am not a doctor, nor do I have true insight on the severity of the injury or how the surgery went. That said, there are a few truths which inform my stance: There have been zero reports of any type of setback whatsoever; Irving is notoriously committed to his craft and has shared rehab videos via social media for months now; he is regularly seen on the practice floor (though not in five-on-five situations) putting in work; his return will come seven months after the high-end recovery period for an ACL injury, greatly maximizing his overall rehab. Irving’s intent to return when he is 150% better will only be aided by the extended time off.
While one may argue these rationales are anecdotal, there is proof-positive evidence that a given player has every reasonable expectation of a return to form. Here is a look at other NBA players that experienced an ACL injury, only to immediately return to their pre-injury level of play.
Zach Lavine
Pre-injury per game stats 2016-2017: 18.9 PTS / 3.4 REB / 3.0 AST
Post-injury per game stats 2018-2019: 23.7 PTS / 4.3 REB / 4.5 AST
Lavine was only 22-years old when he tore his left ACL, prematurely ending his 2016-2017 season. He returned the following year, but only played in 24 games, with significant absences book-ending that season. Using 2018-2019 as his true return shows he improved across the board. Lavine had youth on his side and his game was still developing, so some of the improvements are expected, but his ACL has not impacted him again to this point and his best years were post-injury.
Kawhi Leonard
Pre-injury per game stats 2020-2021: 24.8 PTS / 6.5 REB / 5.2 AST
Post-injury per game stats 2022-2023: 23.8 PTS / 6.5 REB / 3.9 AST
Leonard suffered his ACL injury at the age of 30 (technically just days shy), which cost him the remainder of that year’s Playoffs and entirety of the 2021-2022 season. His first season back saw him average a single point per game fewer than the season in which he was injured, the exact same rebounds per game, and a bit of a drop off in assists per game (though 2020-2021 was an outlier in its own right, as his career high in assists and the only season he averaged five or more).
Jamal Murray
Pre-injury per game stats 2020-2021: 21.2 PTS / 4.0 REB / 4.8 AST
Post-injury per game stats 2022-2023: 20.0 PTS / 4.0 REB / 6.2 AST
Murray suffered an ACL injury when he was 24 years old during the 2020-2021 NBA season. The injury caused him to miss the entirety of 2021-2022. Upon his return, Murray performed as though he did not miss a beat. He played in 65 total games that season and saw no appreciable change to his output, except for his assists, which actually increased by about 30%. The year he returned was also the year his Denver Nuggets won the NBA Championship.
Klay Thompson
Pre-injury per game stats 2018-2019: 21.5 PTS / 3.8 REB / 2.4 AST
Post-injury per game stats 2022-2023: 21.9 PTS / 4.1 REB / 2.4 AST
At 29 years old, Thompson suffered an ACL tear that cost him the following season in its entirety. Before he could spool back up, he then suffered an Achilles injury that kept him out yet another year-plus. Despite missing two-and-a-half seasons following two significant injuries, Thompson’s first full season back saw him play in 69 games with nearly identical stats as he put up before the injuries.
Closing thoughts
In fairness to the above examples, Irving is the oldest of the players discussed. However, I wanted to provide some range of examples in the assessment, including a player who experienced a near-unprecedented sequence of injuries to afford us a solid range. In all cases, the players were as good or better than they were pre-injury. For what it’s worth, a 30-year-old Kevin Durant suffered an Achilles injury (widely considered much more severe than an ACL injury) that cost him a season, and he too returned to almost identical form upon his return.
Modern treatments and rehab regimens are truly next level for high caliber athletes like those in the NBA. There you have the basis for my hopeful sense that when Irving takes the court again, it takes him no time to return to the player we knew prior to his ACL injury.
I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 13: Connelly Early #71 of the Boston Red Sox reacts with Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox during a workout at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 13, 2026 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s pitching preview time, ladies and gentlemen. Over the next several days, I’ll be writing 10,000 words or so about everyone you might see pitching for the Red Sox to start the season. I’ve put the team’s starting options into tiers because that’s how my brain works. Don’t think of them as rankings, but rather buckets based on some similarities I see.
This is where I remind you that these tiers aren’t rankings, but groupings of similar players. Payton Tolle or Connelly Early could end up starting game two or three of a playoff series for the Red Sox and I wouldn’t be overly surprised. With too many options for too few spots, at least one of these two likely starts the season in Worcester.
Payton Tolle
2025 in a sentence: Tolle’s debut set the world on fire, but the rest of his season failed to live up to those heights.
Unless you’re brand new to Red Sox baseball and are truly using this piece to get up to speed on the roster, you probably already have thoughts about Payton Tolle. Everyone who’s followed the offseason knows that Tolle has a great fastball, and nothing else. In his second start, the Arizona Diamondbacks knew that he had nothing else, waited for fastballs, and hit the snot out of them.
Two things can be true at the same time: Tolle has an excellent fastball, and Tolle can’t throw his fastball 65% of the time. While the pitch is outstanding – 97 mph with a flat approach angle and 7.5 feet of extension – it was hit because opponents knew he had to throw it.
In 2024, Garrett Crochet put together a solid season using 54% four-seams and 28% cutters. He mixed in other pitches as well, but the two fastballs accounted for most of his arsenal. You can succeed with just two pitches, but you have to be able to locate them. Crochet spotted his cutter inside to righties and away from lefties consistently. Tolle’s cutter heatmap looked more like a Rorschach test than a game plan. Against righties in particular, Tolle’s cutters found the middle of the plate far too often. If he wants to live with two pitches, he has to locate them well.
Based on Tolle’s quotes this offseason, he doesn’t seem content trying to live with two pitches. He’s mentioned improving his changeup on more than one occasion and said he was throwing a curveball as well. I’ve told everyone willing to listen that he should add a sinker to his mix, and he appeared to be toying with that based on some Trackman live batting practice outputs.
Tolle set the bar for himself impossibly high with his debut against the Pirates. He rose to the majors so quickly that it’s easy to forget that 2025 was his first professional season. He didn’t even have a Wikipedia page at the time he was called up. If Oviedo is a sculpture waiting on the finishing touches, Tolle is a ball of clay that was just harvested from a riverbank or wherever they get clay. Do you harvest clay? Collect it? Is clay even the most common sculpting material? I don’t know. I’m a baseball nerd, not an art geek. Regardless, Tolle can go a million different directions with his arsenal and still has plenty of time to figure it out. The sky’s the limit for the rookie.
2025 in a sentence: Early came out of nowhere and really impressed in a short cameo down the stretch.
Connelly Early started a do-or-die playoff game for the Red Sox last season. I didn’t even include him in last year’s starting pitching preview. I was a nervous wreck before the game, but prime Pedro could have been on the mound, and I still would have been nervous because there’s something wrong with me. The point is, Early was far from the source of my stress, which speaks to how rapid his ascent was.
Early’s debut was equally as impressive as Tolle’s, but it took place in Sacramento at 10 pm EST on a Tuesday, so responsible people were in bed. I was watching and went to bed with my expectations for Early shattered as he struck out 11 over five innings. A week later, he faced the same lineup in Fenway Park and allowed one run over 5.1 innings with a different plan of attack. In his first start, he didn’t throw a single sinker to a right-handed hitter. In the rematch, it accounted for 25% of his arsenal. That level of pitchability from a 23-year-old was surprising, to say the least.
Early faced 22 lefties over his four regular-season starts, surrendering hits to three, walking one, and striking out 13. He also hit one batter. He used a pretty standard approach, throwing sinkers inside and breaking balls away. His sweeper was particularly devastating to lefties, generating ten whiffs on 20 pitches. If there’s a knock on Early against lefties, it’s that he left his four-seam fastball over the plate too frequently. At 94 mph with seven feet of extension and a flat approach angle, he has some room for error, but good hitters will punish these mistakes should they persist.
Righties had more success, hitting .259 and striking out 28.1% of the time as opposed to the 59.1% lefties did, but they still only managed one extra-base hit against the lefty. Early used his four-seam against righties 33% of the time, and it was effective. The 61% strike rate was on the low side for a primary offering, but the 12.5% swinging strike rate and 25% ideal contact rate were each excellent. He was also able to spot first-pitch sliders on the glove side for early strikes. Ahead of righties, he turned to his curveball and changeup. Each pitch generated chases at a high rate, but it was the curveball that got more whiffs. His changeup was the pitch evaluators were most impressed by, but the out-of-zone contact rate was high at 76.5%. The pitch shows great velocity and movement separation from his fastball, so I’d expect that number to fall in a larger sample. A lefty with big extension, a good changeup, and multiple breaking balls he can throw in and out of the zone is basically the ideal pitcher. It’s only a four-game sample, with two games against the A’s, but it’s hard to be anything but excited about Early.
While all of the numbers are impressive, and Early passed the eye test, I do want to pump the brakes a little bit. The lefty has struck out hitters at every level, but he’s also walked them. He walked only four of the 79 hitters he faced in the majors (5.1%), but his much longer minor league career walk rate is 9.1%. The stuff is there, and his command looked refined in his late-season cameo, but don’t be surprised if there are some growing pains in year two.
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 20: Kon Knueppel #7 of the Charlotte Hornets shoots the ball over Dean Wade #32 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half of the basketball game at Spectrum Center on February 20, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Former Blue Devil Kon Knueppel passed Donovan Mitchell for the second-most threes made by a rookie in an NBA season with 185. Coincidentally, the three that pushed him past Donovan was made…over Donovan.
Keegan Murray holds the record with 206, set in 2023.
Charlotte has 25 regular season games left and Knueppel is averaging 3.4 threes per game. If he keeps that pace, he’ll shatter that record with 272-273 made threes.
He’s also averaging 18.8 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 43.2% on three-point attempts. The only players in NBA history to average at least 15 points and five rebounds per game while shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range were Larry Bird and Paul Pierce, which puts Knueppel in some pretty elite company – and he’s just a rookie!
GOODYEAR, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 19: Chase DeLauter #24 of the Cleveland Guardians poses for a portrait during photo day at Goodyear Ballpark on February 19, 2026 in Goodyear, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We all know that Spring Training results don’t matter, but which players are you most interested in following until Opening Day?
Is it Chase DeLauter and his messianic outfield bat?
Is it Daniel Espino and his inspiring comeback story?
Is it Travis Bazzana and his attempt to justify the Guardians choosing him 1.1?
Is it one of the six starting pitchers competing for a role in the Opening Day rotation?
Is it Peyton Pallette and his Rule 5 selection?
Is it Stuart Fairchild, the Guardians one offseason outfield addition?
Is it David Fry coming back from getting TJ and then getting hit in the face?
Or, is it someone else? Let us know in the comments below!
1998, Flushing, NY, USA; FILE PHOTO; New York Mets pitcher John Franco in action on the mound at Shea Stadium during the 1998 season. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-Imagn Images
This post is part of a series of daily questions that we’ll ask the community here at Amazin’ Avenue throughout the month of February. We hope you find the questions engaging and that our prompts can spark some fun conversations in the comments. We’ll see you there and plan to have staff chiming in, too.
How do you feel about Steve Cohen not wanting a captain on the Mets?
We’re all coming around on the Brooklyn Nets’ 2025 NBA Draft, so widely mocked that the Phoenix Suns didn’t mind gasping at it on social media. The Nets themselves are probably feeling better about their draft too, if you believe last summer’s rumors that Brooklyn tried to trade one or two of their five first-round picks, but couldn’t find a suitor. Since then, Egor Demin hasn’t missed a three, and there have been flashes from the others too.
I know I feel a bit better about it, though it hasn’t been all smooth sailing. On January 23rd, I posted this: “32 rookies have taken 50+ two-pointers. Bottom three in 2P%: Danny Wolf, Egor Dëmin, Nolan Traore.”
For good measure, Wolf had the lowest 2P% among any NBA player 6’11” or taller, and Traore was tied for the lowest 2P% in the league. The case against the Flatbush Five was still very easy to make, and it wasn’t that they had redundantskillsets. That analysis was always lame.
Rather, Brooklyn drafted guys that struggled with either physicality, explosiveness, or both, and the one plus-athlete they did draft almost never handled the ball. That was a tough pill to swallow, particularly after watching the incredible physicality of last year’s playoffs. It’s a motor league.
It's a motor league.
-Speed and Distance -Depth for maintain 48min physical energy. -Sum of all ball-pressure by hand for detering pass/drive. -Bumping capability of both ends.
But two-thirds of the way through this season, none of Brooklyn’s selections look particularly egregious. I’m still concerned about their high-end outcomes — how much ball-handling will Egor Dëmin provide in a playoff setting? how much can Danny Wolf compensate for a lack of vertical pop around the rim? — but we’re not talking about high-end outcomes just yet.
Not every member of Brooklyn’s 2025 NBA Draft class will become a valuable rotation player. Some may never crack a playoff rotation. But all of them still have a chance. All of them have shown something to put faith in.
Egor Dëmin
This is most true for Egor Dëmin and his 3-point shooting. At BYU, he shot 27.3% from deep on 10 3PA per 100 possessions. Through 48 games in Brooklyn, he’s shooting 38.8% from deep on nearly 13 3PA per 100 possessions. This just doesn’t happen. It doesn’t make sense.
Yes, his stroke always looked better than those numbers did, and yes, he played through a knee injury at BYU, and yes, his pre-NCAA shooting numbers were better. It’s still unfathomable. Given his pre-draft profile, Dëmin may be in the midst of the most miraculous 3-point shooting season a rookie has ever put forth.
Get to know Dëmin, though, and it makes sense. The baby-faced Russian teenager will talk your ear off about his cat, or about English words he’s struggling to pronounce, or why roasting marshmallows around the campfire at BYU beats tapping the keg anywhere else, everything except his unprecedented shooting turnaround. Only then will Dëmin revert to a cliché, shrug his shoulders, and cite the work he’s put in. He really isn’t surprised by this.
It’s enough to warm a cynic’s cold heart, to believe that this cherubic sniper will take over the NBA with overwhelming levels of being dope, having fun, smiling, etc…
No rookie has changed their perception more than Dëmin through 50-something games. Sure, he makes a cool extra pass here and there and an intriguing kick-out with the snap of a wrist, but my man was getting Josh Giddey comparisons last summer. He is not a jumbo-handler, nor a primary ball-handler with excellent vision. Dëmin is a catch-and-shoot threat with everything else to work on, and while his worst games — when the shots don’t fall — are indeed worrisome, Nets fans don’t have to panic too much about that yet.
Look at this, man…
tough night vs OKC but Egor's shooting season is crazy
thinks about going to get the handoff, split-second decision to C&S instead, cashes it pic.twitter.com/xAE46P9XnM
Every live-game rep is valuable. And you can trust Dëmin, universally praised for his work ethic and attention to detail, to make the most of them. But in terms of analysis, we don’t need to see much more from him this season. Are there really going to be ball-handling/driving improvements before he spends much more time in the weight room over the next couple years?
At 6’9”, his block/steal/deflection rates are all average, giving him something of a defensive floor. He often guards opponents’ low-usage wings — against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, he started on Dean Wade.
I find his processing/playmaking to be most intriguing. The common refrain, for now, is that we don’t get to see his high-level passing much because he can’t get downhill, and while that’s partly true, it’s also an oversimplification. Dëmin has tossed some dimes as a spot-up guy, taking advantages of defenses rotating over to him — he loves looking off help defenders — but I think he’s also missed high-level opportunities. Ziaire Williams should probably have a layup here…
Dëmin has tossed just 54 rim assists in 1205 minutes, per PBP Stats, or one every 22.3 minutes. That matches, almost exactly … Cam Thomas. There’s no doubt Dëmin is a willing passer, particularly hungry to make kick-outs, but I’m most curious to see how his playmaking progress over the next season or two.
The Brooklyn Nets drafted a weird player at #8 overall, but that’s not an inherent negative. Egor Dëmin is a certified sniper and a powerfully optimistic young man. He scares the hell out of me sometimes, given how reliant he is on spot-up threes, but I’m rocking with him.
Nolan Traore
Nolan!! He was so bad early on. Teenage point guards are rarely productive, but it seemed like Traore was two years away from being two years away. On January 23rd, he was shooting 33.3% inside the arc. As I mentioned up top, that was tied with the minuscule Rob Dillingham for the worst mark in the league. Turns out my reverse jinx worked.
That night, he had the finest game of his career to date, putting up 21 points in that double OT loss to the Boston Celtics. With the necessary caveat that the stretch run before All-Star Weekend marks the true dog days of the NBA, Traore hasn’t looked back since.
The French teenager is 40-of-75 from two since January 23rd; he’s now shooting 44.4% on the season. At this rate, he could clear 50% by daylight savings time. What the hell happened?
First, Jordi Fernández gave him some tough love after a big loss to the Washington Wizards: “I need him to use his superpowers and touch the paint. It felt like he got caught shooting the unders. And a lot of times they’re going to go under because that’s what they want you to do. And if you keep shooting it, missing them, you know, sometimes if you keep doing the same thing and seeing the same results, I think that’s the definition of insanity … I’m okay with a pull-up three, [but] I don’t love it because he hasn’t shown that he can make it consistently.”
And here’s what that adjustment looks like for Traore…
Fernández is right: Per Synergy Sports, Traore is scoring just 0.79 points per off-the-dribble jumper, a 26th percentile mark league-wide. (Compare that to his 1.03 points per catch-and-shoot jumper, 38th percentile league-wide.)
But when Traore is using a screen, then a re-screen, then finding an angle to attack, you see his prodigious speed in action. Of course, he looks so much more comfortable than he did at season’s beginning, putting defenders in jail and getting to two feet to pivot around. His assist-to-turnover ratio is nearing 2:1, and those jump-stops in the lane are a big reason why.
Other than patience and poise, the big key for Traore is how far he can probe into the lane with a live-dribble. That was the most worrisome part of his prospect profile to me — here was a speedy, penetrating guard whose handle was suspect in tight spaces. Traore has done a much better job lately extending his dribble, though old habits still rear their ugly head from time to time. You can see the difference in these two plays:
Is Traore bendy/crafty enough to excel with his skinny frame? We’ll see. But this past month of play has been thrilling. Perhaps he’s not two years away from being two years away.
Drake Powell
I don’t really have a ton to say about Drake Powell because he doesn’t really do a ton on the court. He’s fallen below 15% usage, though that shouldn’t be a shock for a first-round pick with one of the lowest usage-rates of all time in his pre-draft year.
That by itself isn’t particularly worrying, though after some early season performances like his 15/3/3 game against the New York Knicks, where he moonlighted as lead ball-handler for the second unit, I thought we’d avoid Kris Dunn-level offensive responsibility. I mean, the flashes are there, including his 47% conversion rate on mid-range shots, per Cleaning the Glass…
Alas, the handle/processing is pretty far away from being able to shoulder any real offensive burden. Oh well.
I’m more concerned about Powell’s catch-and-shoot deficiencies: After scoring 1.18 points per shot on catch-and-shoot jumpers at UNC, he’s down to 0.87 points per possession (16th percentile) in the pros. Small sample, rookie year, I get it. But if defenses don’t feel the need to close out to Powell, it gets a little spooky.
Not to pile on, but the defensive creation hasn’t been there either. Low block/steal rates, and he’s tied with Danny Wolf and Michael Porter Jr. in deflections per minute, toward the bottom of the team. The rebounding numbers are low, too. So right now, the question is simply: What does Drake Powell do?
I don’t know yet. He probably needs to put on some real muscle this summer and next, but before then, Powell can keep taking advantage of Brooklyn’s increased pace. The Nets are no longer one of the slowest, fastbreak-avoidant teams in the league, and that should grant Powell more opportunity to explore.
Thanks to his archetype, raw athleticism, and flashes of on-ball defense, coaches and front offices will keep giving him the benefit of the doubt. That includes Jordi Fernández. But over the final third of this season, I’d like to see one consistent skill from Powell, whatever that may be.
Danny Wolf
Danny Wolf is no longer shooting the lowest 2-point% of any player 6’11” or taller, minimum 50 attempts. Hooray! (That’s because, since January 23rd, Christian Koloko and Hansen Yang have qualified. Wolf hasn’t passed anybody.)
Wolf had a couple strong games against a couple really bad teams before All-Star Weekend, where Fernández put the ball in his hands a bit more. He opened up about the experience: “The last month, two months, it’s a lot of learning. I was playing off the ball, and for me, it’s just like, I felt a little bit too sped up. But there’s gonna be games where that’s my role. And then when coach does give me the ball and trusts me with it, it’s on me to make the right play. I think for me, it was just — I know I’m a work in progress, especially off the ball.”
Wolf will have to make 3-point shots; only time will tell if he’s capable. But now that he’s not shooting 50% from three anymore, like he was when he burst onto the scene, it’s been pretty rough going on offense. Some of it certainly is being too sped up — you can see it when he tries to dribble through a crowd — but so much of it is a lack of vertical pop.
He gets fouled here, but at 6’11” with a full head of steam and taking off from the restricted area, you gotta try and dunk this or something…
So yeah, I’m pretty worried about his scoring profile. Not much else to say there.
That being said, Wolf’s defense in isolation has been a pleasant surprise of his rookie year. Anytime a (non-Jimmy Butler) player tries to size him up, it typically does more to stunt the offense rather than truly expose Wolf. Considering his above-average block/rebound numbers in a beefy front-court next to Day’Ron Sharpe, I’d say that end of the floor has been a positive in his rookie year.
Elsewhere, his assist:turnover ratio is also nearing 2:1, and as we saw at Michigan, many of his best passes go to Day’Ron Sharpe or Nic Claxton as pick-and-roll lobs or dump-offs around the rim. Given his 3-point heavy shot diet and particular passing strengths, I think it’s safe to say the Nets have a position in mind for him going forward.
Over the final third of the season, I’d love to see Wolf either sweep his arms through the lane and draw some more fouls á la Noah Clowney, use more deceleration driving to the rim, or get to two feet and create more kick-out opportunities.
Alas, Danny Wolf has to score to reach his high-end outcome. That’s his sell. Bully little guys and embarrass the oafs. The defensive flashes and occasional spot-up three (though he needs to improve his %s there) are cool, but let’s hope to see some more reliable finishing over this final third of the season.
Ben Saraf
Ben Saraf may be the true dud of the bunch, but it’s too early to be sure. He was picked #26 overall, and has struggled with both Long Island in the G League and with the Brooklyn Nets. However, he did just go for 18/6/8 in Long Island’s most recent game.
Saraf is shooting just 25% from deep with the big league club, and the stroke doesn’t look great either, though he’s in the mid-30s with Long Island. Either way, it’s an incredibly small sample that’s tough to draw conclusions from, but of all Brooklyn’s rookies, Saraf is the one who desperately needs to show some shooting improvement next season, if not right now.
He’s simply lacking confidence, especially when he’s up with Brooklyn. Perhaps this G League stint will do him well, as it did Traore before him, but right now, he’s not showcasing his strengths. Saraf’s drives are wayward; he was never the most explosive athlete, but he had more counters than this…
Where’s the behind-the-back, the spin, the jump-stop and pivot? Watch a couple highlights of Saraf as a prospect, and you’ll know it’s in there somewhere. He might not be an NBA-level scorer — Saraf is shooting just 38.7% from the floor in the G League, despite nailing some threes — but he’s gotta die trying.
Hey, eight assists per 100 possessions ain’t so bad.
Alright, maybe I’m not as high on this rookie class as I thought I was.
It’s still early, though. And Egor Dëmin has stones no spreadsheet can quantify; just look at the end of that Orlando Magic game. And Nolan Traore is improving, while Drake Powell just threw down a huge dunk…
Since I harped on his 2-point scoring here, Danny Wolf will probably just 10-of-10 next game out, same for Saraf.
The Flatbush Five are entering the home stretch of their rookie season. They may not save the Brooklyn Nets in one fell swoop, but such a drastic rebuild was never going to be easy. Plus, you can’t discount how they might improve playing next to the blue-chip talent the Nets hope to add in the 2026 NBA Draft…but it’s too early to talk about that.
For now, Egor Dëmin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf are all just trying to make it work. Their next opportunity to show out comes on Sunday afternoon as the Brooklyn Nets face the Atlanta Hawks with tip-off scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Feb 11, 2026; Clearwater, FL, USA;Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) runs a drill during spring training during spring training at BareCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Today is the day. There will be actual baseball on our TV screens (if you’re lucky enough) and we can commiserate together on what the team’s 47th ranked relief prospect looks like in the 8th inning of a spring training game.
