Category: Sports News

Yesterday was an off day for the WBC, so instead of our daily recap we’ll take this opportunity to look ahead to the quarterfinal round that begins tonight and continues tomorrow. The tournament now advances to a single elimination format, with two sides of a bracket that will narrow eight teams down to two.

Friday

There will be two games tonight, with the first being Korea vs. Dominican Republic at 6:30. The D.R. has been an offensive powerhouse as expected, bulldozing their way through Pool D. They have scored the most runs (41), hit the most home runs (13), and collected the second most overall hits (40). Their absolutely loaded lineup has been led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr., as that pair has combined to hit .480 with four home runs and 16 RBIs. The Phillies own Cristopher Sánchez has been named the starter for tonight’s game.

Korea meanwhile was the runner-up to Japan in Pool C, going 2-2 with a pair of wins against Czechia and Australia and a pair of losses against Japan and Chinese Taipei. Bo Gyeong Moon opened the tournament with a grand slam in the first inning of Korea’s first game against Czechia and hasn’t slowed down there. The first baseman is hitting .538 with two home runs and a tournament best 11 RBIs.

The second game tonight will be the United States against Canada. The U.S. and its manager Mark DeRosa got bailed out from a possible humiliating exit thanks to Italy, as they were still able to make it out of Pool B despite their previous loss to Italy. Their offense has been just about as advertised in most categories, as they’re first in hits (41) and second to the D.R. in total runs (40). However, one area that’s been lacking is power, as their seven home runs are fifth most and are nearly half of the D.R. (13) and Italy (12). The U.S. can still lean on its pitching though even if the loss of Tarik Skubal has made it just a little thinner, as they will send Logan Webb to the mound tonight for his second start of the tournament.

Canada has advanced to the quarterfinal round for the first time in its history, winning Pool A with a 3-1 record. Their pitching staff has pitched well, allowing the third fewest runs (10) in the tournament, and their hitting has been able to manufacture enough offense to overcome just two total home runs and the second fewest runs total (21) of the eight remaining teams. Michael Soroka will take the ball against the U.S. in his second start following three innings of one-run ball that earned him the win against Columbia.

Saturday

On the other side of the bracket that starts Saturday, we have the upstart Italy taking on Puerto Rico at 3:00. Italy has been the surprise of the tournament, as their upset of the U.S. being one of the biggest wins so far. Their offense has been impressive with 12 home runs and 32 runs scored. Phillies prospect Dante Nori has had a strong tournament, hitting .500 with two homers and a team-leading six hits and five RBIs. Aaron Nola’s five shutout innings against Mexico was one of the best pitching performances so far and was the saving grace of his Phillies teammates Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brad Keller on Team U.S.A.

Puerto Rico, despite having one of their weaker teams in recent memory, was still able to advance to the quarterfinal round as the runner up to Canada in Pool A. Their pitching has carried them, as their 1.22 ERA is the best in the WBC and their 40 strikeouts are fourth most. Their offense hasn’t impressed with just 10 runs scored, but they have been able to get clutch hits when needed, capped off by arguably the most dramatic moment of the WBC so far with Darrell Hernaiz’s walk-off homer against Panama.

Defending champions Japan will look to continue their march back to the finals with their quarterfinal game against Venezuela. Japan has predictably been a juggernaut, outscoring their opponents 34-9 and pitching two shutouts. They’re third in home runs (8) and total runs offensively while their pitching staff is second in ERA (2.12) and strikeouts (49). Shohei Ohtani has of course done Shohei Ohtani things, as the reigning WBC MVP is 5-9 with two home runs including a grand slam for six total RBIs in just three games played. World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start on Saturday in his second appearance this WBC. He threw 2.2 scoreless in his only other appearance against Chinese Taipei.

Venezuela will look to knockoff the reigning champs with their own well-balanced roster. Their lineup that includes Ronald Acuña Jr., Luis Arráez, Jackson Chourio, and Eugenio Suárez among others ranks seventh in runs scored (26) while their pitching staff that includes Ranger Suárez and Eduardo Rodriguez is fifth in ERA (2.75). Suárez has already been named the starter against Yamamoto. Ranger is also making his second appearance after allowing one run in three innings in the opener against the Netherlands.

The prep pitcher theme continues at number 18 with right-hander Owen Hall. At least the now 20-year-old Hall got on the mound last spring for a few games before going down with a stress reaction in his right shoulder. Considering how things have gone with their prep pitchers from the draft, the Tigers didn’t hesitate to shut him down and put him through an extended rehab program and then strength and conditioning to get him better prepared for full season ball in 2026. He’s throwing in camp this spring, and plenty of eyes will be on his progress this season.

Hall was the Tigers second round pick in the 2024 draft out of Edmond North HS in Oklahoma. The right-hander impressed on the summer circuit between his junior and senior years, where he was topping out at 96-97 mph already. He then put together a monster campaign featuring 75 strikeouts to just 13 walks, and a 1.65 ERA as a senior. He was a featured starter in the All-American All-Star game during All-Star week that summer.The Tigers paid him $1.75 million as the 10th pick in the second round to pass on his commitment to Vanderbilt.

He didn’t pitch after the draft, which is standard procedure for the Tigers, particularly with high schoolers. However, in the leadup to spring camp in 2025 videos from his training at the Pitching WRX facility in Oklahoma City, where Hall trained with Jackson Jobe, emerged showing really outstanding metrics on his stuff and velocity up to 98 mph with pretty good extension, spin, and movement on his fastball and slider. There was plenty of excitement in camp as he neared his pro debut. Unfortunately, his shoulder started barking pretty quickly and the Tigers shut him down for the year after only four short starts for the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Hall stands 6’3” with a lean build and long levers. He’d clearly added some muscle in his first offseason as a professional and presumably is already bigger than his listed 185 pounds. Apart from the raw stuff on display, Hall’s repeatable delivery and good extension down the mound all projected well for his development. He has a pretty long arm stroke, but is able to keep his release point relatively low despite his vertical forearm position into release, in part because he gets down the mound well and really sinks into his left leg. As he builds those legs up, his ability to resist and generate more of his velo from his legs will improve. The relatively low release helps the riding action on the fourseamer play up, and his ability to stay behind it helps him spin the heck out of it. At its best Hall has a really explosive fastball that gets on hitters quickly even when sitting 93-94 mph, as he did in his brief Lakeland work.

He did top out at 96.2 mph with the Flying Tigers while showcasing the whopping spin rates, posting numerous fourseamers over 2500 rpms. His IVB numbers sat between 17-18 inches of ride, and he also showed himself capable of mixing in a sinker with a lot more run to jam right-handed hitters. It was only a brief look at him, but the ability to use both with advanced command for his age was a very positive sign prior to the shoulder trouble. He also showcased his mid-80’s slider, which features nasty two-plane break and should be a plus pitch for him. Hall also had a pretty advanced changeup in high school with a lot of late movement, though he still needed to work to kill some velocity on it without giving the game away. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to pitch enough to give us many looks at that pitch with the Flying Tigers.

Hall is reportedly throwing in camp, so for now at least, the Tigers have gotten him through the shoulder issues through their caution. Reports from camp say they’ve managed to build him up in the gym in the interim. Of all the prep pitchers they’ve drafted, Hall remains the most exciting of the bunch and the one who already has the makings of a starter’s arsenal and delivery. The Tigers will still want to be fairly careful with his workload in what will be his first full pro season, knock on wood, but with a fair amount of work under his belt over the last two offseasons, he’s one to keep a close eye on and probably the most likely to break out in 2026.

If there’s one team that Yankees fans will keep up with every season (outside of the men in pinstripes), it’s their biggest rival: the Boston Red Sox. Regardless of the race in the American League East, the rivalry between the Sox and the Yankees is one that continues to heat up every time the two take the field against one another and get closer in the standings.

Last season, the Red Sox were competitive with both the Yankees and the Blue Jays for the top of the AL East, ultimately settling for a Wild Card spot that still marked their first playoff berth in four years and just their second since winning it all in 2018. Led by an up-and-down effort from the lineup and some excellent performances from the mound, the Red Sox will look to make up the ground they were missing in 2025 this time around.

2025 record: 89-73 (3rd, AL East)
2026 FanGraphs projection: 85-77 (3rd, AL East)

Led by now-longtime manager Alex Cora the Red Sox have had a busy offseason of moves that have even extended into the start of spring training. The biggest news out of Beantown, and one that came as a bit of a surprise to those within the organization. was the loss of Alex Bregman, who—in addition to being a clubhouse leader—finished the season with a 125 wRC+ and 3.5 fWAR, the third-highest on the team last season. However, with his loss comes plenty of additions, both to a rotation that needed some insurance and a lineup that could always use another bat to help “recreate Bregman in the aggregate.”

The biggest statement came shortly after Bregman came to terms with the Cubs, as Boston responded by signing starter Ranger Suárez to a five-year, $130 million contract. The southpaw finished last season with a 12-8 record, 3.20 ERA, and 151 strikeouts in 157.1 innings pitched for the Philadelphia Phillie, and figures to team up with ace Garrett Crochet to form a fearsome one-two punch. And to continue bolstering their rotation, they traded for Cardinals lefty Sonny Gray (a familiar name to Yankees fans) and Pirates righty Johan Oviedo to round out their top five, alongside playoff Game 2 starter Brayan Bello. Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford could also be rotation options when they are deemed healthy enough as well, as Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins were dealt as part of their offseason moves. The bullpen is still led by erstwhile Yankeses closer Aroldis Chapman, who had a career season at age 37, winning AL Reliever of the Year, pitching 61.1 innings, and finishing with a 1.17 ERA (the lowest of his career), a 2.53 xFIP, a 12.5 K/9, and a 2.6 fWAR — the second-highest among anyone on the pitching staff.

And the most recent news for the pitching staff broke as of March 12th, as the Red Sox signed free-agent left-handed pitcher Danny Coulombe, who finished the year with a 2.30 ERA in 43.2 innings. However, it was a tale of two different teams, as he finished his time with the Twins with a 1.16 ERA in 31 innings pitched. Then in 15 games and 12.0 innings pitched with the Rangers after he was traded there, Coulombe finished the year with a 5.25 ERA and 12 strikeouts. So, for the second season in a row, he will get a fresh start.

Of course, we can’t not talk about Crochet for just a moment. After finishing second in the AL Cy Young Award race behind Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, the big lefty is looking to finish the campaign on top of the pitching world. He finished last season with a 2.59 ERA, 2.64 xFIP, and a 5.8 fWAR, not just the highest of anyone on the pitching staff by over double the points, but also the most of anyone on the Red Sox last season. All of that occurred in 205.1 innings pitched, easily the highest count of his career, beating his previous best of 146 with the White Sox in 2024. Add in a stellar Wild Card Series start in the Bronx, and it all made for an outstanding debut in Boston. Extended for six years and $170 million shortly after Opening Day 2025, Crochet will be a thorn in the Yankees’ side for quite awhile.

When looking at the lineup, there isn’t much that needed to be changed outside of making up for the lost bat of Bregman. But the Red Sox did just that by trading for first baseman Willson Contreras, who finished last season in St. Louis with a 124 wRC+ and a 2.8 fWAR, not quite what Bregman produced defensively but also good enough with the bat to make up for it. In mid-February, they also swung a trade with Milwaukee to add two key infielders: former Yankees farmhand Caleb Durbin, who finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting, and Andruw Monasterio, who had a 110 OPS+ in 68 games. Look for Durbin to take the majority of reps at third base in Bregman’s absence.

Along with the addition of Contreras, the Red Sox have plenty of weapons throughout their lineup. Jarren Duran was the leader in fWAR for the hitters at 3.9, but Ceddanne Rafaela was just behind him at 3.8. In fact, the Red Sox had four hitters reach the 3.0 mark last season (including Bregman) and eight reach the 2.0 mark, including Rafael Devers, who finished eighth but was of course traded to the Giants in mid-June.

The player to watch amongst those who finished with 2.0 fWAR or above is Roman Anthony, who reached the mark in just 71 games. The moment he stepped on a big league diamond, the rookie made his presence felt and has continued lighting up opposing pitching whenever he was penciled into the lineup. Like Crochet, he impressed enough to earn a midseason extension, for eight years and $130 million. At just 21 years old, there is so much in store for him both in the field and at the plate for the Red Sox.

With the pitching additions the Sox made, along with their strong lineup up and down, there will be plenty of battles at the top of the AL East as 2026 moves forward.

More Pinstripe Alley MLB team season previews can be found here.

We did this with the starters on Wednesday. We looked at six key numbers that can help us both explain why some pitchers succeed and some fail and hopefully help us predict progression or regression. Reliever numbers in particular are ver volatile. When you condense 180 innings into 50 or 60, you are going to have some pretty wild swings back and forth in certain numbers.

Last time, we noted that BABIP, left on base percentage, and home runs per fly ball tend to be a little more volatile than the other numbers. So, we key in on chase rate, hard hit rate, and contact rate as generally more stable and maybe more predictive in whether a pitcher will be good, average, or bad. As I have each and every time, I am listing our numbers below and their league averages for your perusal.

• Chase rate: This is the percentage of balls a player swings at outside of the zone. The league average normally lives around 30 percent, but we will be looking at three year intervals and we should notice trends more than where a player is in relationship to the league average.

• Hard hit percentage: This is simply the percentage of balls that a player hits hard. Hard hit balls become hits and extra base hits more often than softer contact. Typically 35 percent is around the league average in this category.

• BABIP: This is batting average on balls in play. Home runs are obviously excluded since they are not in play. The league average tends to hover around .300 but it will largely depend on hard hit percentages and breakdowns between groundballs, flyballs, and line drives.

• Contact percentage: This is the percentage of swings that turn into contact. Typically 75 percent is around league average.
• HR/FB percentage: This is the percentage of flyballs that result in home runs. Ten percent is typically around the league average.
• LOB%: It is pretty self-explanatory. It is the number of runners that get stranded on base. The league average tends to be around 70 percent. Of course, there is some debate as to whether pitchers control that or not.

Bryan Abreu

Abreu raises some questions that need answering from those of us that crunch numbers. Can pitchers control how many runners they strand? Abreu has consistently stranded well above the league average, so maybe he is just more adept at doing it. Maybe it has something to do with low contact rates. Maybe there is a clutch gene that these numbers just can’t touch. Still, if we remove that number entirely we see what Abreu’s superpower is. He misses bats and does so at a very high rate.

The difficulty with Abreu is that some of the other numbers point to regression. Hard hit rates have steadily gotten higher and BABIP has gotten higher with it. He also might have lucked out a little with home runs last season. Add that all up and he probably regresses some this season. The contact rates will step keep him effective overall though.

Enyel de los Santos

de los Santos is the definition of an average pitcher. He is also a perfect example of how an average pitcher can look really good in short bursts. That was the case in 2023 when he was with Cleveland. de los Santos will start on the injured list, but I am guessing he will figure into the bullpen somehow. Like with most middle relievers, you are praying to the baseball gods for good batted ball luck.

Josh Hader

The main difference between Hader and Abreu is the chase rate. Hader gets guys to chase that slider more often than Abreu gets chase on his. Otherwise, they are similar pitchers. They limit contact and depend on high stranded rates and low BABIP rates to thrive. Hader will begin the season on the injured list, but hopefully should miss the minimum amount of time and resume his role as the team’s closer. There is little reason to expect anything other than what he has done in recent seasons.

Bryan King

Monty Python did “Life of Brian” where an ordinary guy was mistaken for the savior. King has the look of an ordinary guy that did extraordinary things last season largely due to an astronomically high left on base rate. Add in a little lower BABIP than normal and you can see where this is going. Predicting more of the same from King would be tantamount to “magical thinking.” He has fairly average rates otherwise, so expecting average is probably in the cards. Average relievers have value, but they probably shouldn’t be pitching after the seventh inning in close games.

Peter Lambert

Lambert pitched overseas last season, so some of the numbers are missing and some of these are minor league numbers. He is a high octane arm that might provide some quality innings if given the opportunity. He has been sparkling so far in camp, so he has a decent chance to make the team. If you think in terms of Kaleb Ort then you are probably on the right wavelength. The Astros have made a living off of these guys and he might be another that serves them well until he reverts back into a pumpkin.

Roddery Munoz

Munoz’s spring has been a fascinating microcosm in the life of a relief pitcher. His first few outings were rocky and so his overall numbers probably don’t look great. Still, they don’t reflect how well he has pitched and given that he is a Rule V pick, he probably still has a leg up on a bullpen slot. How good can he be? Like most of these other guys, he will be a slave to batted ball luck. The results show he missed more bats last season. Maybe he found something and if so then he could be a good one.

Steven Okert

The Astros rely more heavily on these BABIP warriors than most other teams and therefore their season to season results are more volatile. That can partially explain why they seem to get off to slow starts. It takes Joe Espada (or Dusty Baker before him) several weeks to figure out who the hot hand will be. Last season it was Okert, King, and Bennett Sousa. This year it will likely be some other guys. Okert looks okay according to the numbers, but he’s not special and likely will revert back to average.

Bennett Sousa

Depending on health, Sousa mght have been more of a find than King and Okert. He gets much higher chase rates and has a lot more swing and miss from opposing batters. That is generally more sustainable than what King and Okert are doing. So, getting him back could be a key to making the bullpen a little longer. The danger here is that the track record is obviously shorter which leaves you to wonder if hitters will figure him out eventually.

Kai-Wei Teng

In the movie “Major League” manager Lou Brown utters, “I know he hasn’t done much against this guy, but I got a hunch he’s due.” Sometimes, analysis can be just that simple. Teng has been a victim of bad batted ball luck for three years now. Maybe they have a hunch he is due. The BABIP is higher than it should be and the left on base is lower than it should be. Put those back at league norms with the lower contact rates and softer contact and you have yourself something. I wouldn’t put together a bullpen this way, but taking an occasional flier on someone like this never hurts.

Naturally, some of the starters we saw last time will find their way in the pen. I did leave out one or two names that we might see just based on space. However, these nine guys should be the bulk of their bullpen for the coming season. What do you think? Who are you high on?

Who is he and where does he come from?

He’s Danny Coulombe and he comes from Scottsdale, Arizona, where he attended one of those powerhouse warm-weather high schools that somehow produces more baseball players in a decade than most New England schools produce in a century. Paul Konerko, Ike Davis, and Brian Bannister are all alumni of Coulombe’s Chaparral High School, as is the actress Busy Phillips, the Bella Twins of WWE, and Stephanie Meyer, vampire romance millionaire.

But Coulombe’s journey to the Notable Alumni tab of his high school’s Wikipedia page was an arduous one. In fact, fifteen years ago he almost gave up on baseball altogether. This was after a disastrous freshman season at USC, where he only made four appearances, and an even worse sophomore campaign at a Phoenix-area community college, where he injured his shoulder in the first inning of first start and was lost for the year.

Coulombe considered calling it quits, but made one more transfer, this time to Texas Tech, where he not only made it through his opening day start, but threw the bulk of the workload in a combined two-hitter. Coulombe was injured again after just 21 innings and underwent Tommy John surgery. But the Dodgers liked what they saw in his small sample size and to took him in the 25th round of the 2012 MLB Draft. Coulombe made his big league debut two years later and subsequently put together an 11-year career as a left-handed reliever, primarily with the A’s and Twins. The Red Sox signed him yesterday to a one-year, $1 million deal.

Is he any good?

In 40 appearances for the Twins last year, Coulombe put up an eye-popping 371 ERA+, making him one of the most dominant relievers in the game for most of the season (Aroldis Chapman’s ERA+ last year was just 351, for comparison’s sake). He is the dictionary definition of a crafty lefty: a guy who strikes out a ton of batters and limits walks (when healthy, his strikeout and walk rates are both consistently well above average), and does it all with a fastball that averages just a touch over 90 MPH, making him one of the baseball’s softest tossers.

Given the success he’s had, you’re probably wondering why the Red Sox were able to sign him for just a million bucks. Well, the first thing to consider is that Coulombe has never been able to shake the injuries that started dogging him back in college. From 2022 through 2025, Coulombe averaged just 39 games a season, missing time due to injuries to his hips, bicep, elbow, forearm, and shoulder. That’s a lot of body parts! Moreover, Coulumbe was traded from the Twins to the Rangers at the deadline last year, and was absolutely horrible in Arlington, giving up 11 hits and an ugly 9 walks in just 12 innings.

Entering his age-36 season, Coulombe is very much in the Eddie Harris phase of his career, getting by on guile and guts and hoping his body holds up for another season or two.

Tl;dr, just give me his 2025 stats.

With the Twins: 31.0 IP, 1.16 ERA, 31 K, 21 H, 9 BB, 0 HR

With the Rangers: 12.0 IP, 5.25 ERA, 12 K, 11 H, 9 BB, 3 HR

Show me a cool highlight.

Here’s his 2025 highlight reel. Check out how frustrated these hitters are. When he’s right, Coulombe is the type of pitcher who leads to a lot of broken bats — not from making contact with his pitches, but from making contact with the dugout walls.

What’s he doing in his picture up there?

He appears to be attempting a cartwheel before delivering a pitch. That’s definitely against the rules, but it’s also the type of move that Bugs Bunny might pull out while twirling yet another perfect game, which only burnishes Coulombe’s crafty lefty credentials even more.

What’s his role on the 2026 Red Sox?

Well, as Jacob Roy pointed out just yesterday in his horribly-timed preview of the Red Sox left-handed relievers, the Sox were seriously lacking in depth in that part of the roster, with Jovani Moran being the leading candidate to be the first lefty arm out of the bullpen. Coulombe will immediately step into that role. How long he stays there will be determined by his health and whether he can fix whatever went wrong for him last year in Texas.

The Dodgers slow rolled Blake Snell’s throwing program this offseason, and as a result, he has yet to log a single inning of spring action.

Snell finally threw his first bullpen session one month removed from both pitchers and catchers reporting to camp, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.com, but he wasn’t throwing at maximum effort during that 15-pitch session. The likelihood of him getting some innings under his belt this spring is virtually non-existent, and he is guaranteed to be out for the opening series of the regular season against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Snell remarked that it would “be sick” if he is able to make his 2026 debut by late April, but for both Snell and the Dodgers alike, patience is still the most important virtue surrounding his progress as the team looks to get a healthier version of the two-time Cy Young award winner.

“I think it’s a good step in the right direction,” Roberts said, “in the sense of getting on the slope, on the mound. … This is not a max-effort bullpen. So yeah, he’s on the mound, which is great, but until he’s kind of going full steam ahead, then we really don’t know what we’ve got.”

Snell spoke with Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA following his bullpen session, noting that he only topped out at 89 miles per hour but acknowledged that it felt effortless.

“I was very excited to throw off the mound again and pitch. I’d been looking forward to this for a while… I was still limited to what I could throw. I was throwing 87 to 89 [miles per hour], but felt effortless, easy, good command of the ball, so I’m happy with that.”

Links

All the pomp and circumstance that came with the Dodgers two consecutive championships have come and gone, as the number one priority for the team is to become the first MLB team to three-peat in 26 years. Kiké Hernández, who played a pivotal role in both World Series runs, spoke with the media on Thursday about the mindset of going for a third consecutive title.

“We’re just trying to win this year. We already won the last two years, and that doesn’t do anything for us other than put a target on our backs. We’re trying to win this year, and if we win this year then it just so happens to be three years in a row.”

Friday will mark the final time that Clayton Kershaw will play competitive baseball, as Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com tweets that Team USA manager Mark DeRosa will replace Kershaw with Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan following Friday’s game against Team Canada.

Meet the Mets

Sean Manaea wasn’t at his best against the Cardinals yesterday, and the Mets’ lineup only scored when Jorge Polanco hit a solo home run in the team’s spring training loss.

Manaea’s fastball velocity is down. Carlos Mendoza says he’s not concerned about it.

The Mets are planning to retire number 15 for Carlos Beltrán this summer.

Clay Holmes has returned from his brief stint with the US team in the WBC because he wasn’t guaranteed enough playing time to continue ramping up for the regular season.

Luis Robert Jr. made his spring debut yesterday, and the Mets plan to keep him on the field this year by giving him regular days off.

Bobby Ojeda won the Munson award last night.

Nolan McLean is one of the US team’s options for the start in the WBC final on March 17 if the team makes it that far.

Laura Albanese looks at five Mets players other than Franciso Lindor and Juan Soto who could be x-factors for the team this season.

Around the National League East

Grant Holmes dazzled in a spring training appearance for the Braves yesterday.

The Good Phight writes about Aaron Nola’s outing in Italy’s big win over Mexico in the WBC.

Here are some bold predictions about the 2026 Marlins.

Federal Baseball looks at what Brad Lord’s role will be with the 2026 Nationals.

Around Major League Baseball

An Aaaron Judge card from 2013 recently sold for $5.2 million.

Mark DeRosa acknowledged that Italy bailed the United States out with their big win over Mexico after he and the rest of the US team failed to understand the rules about advancing to the quarter-final round.

Speaking of the US team, Clayton Kershaw will be removed from the roster after the quarter-final game against Canada tonight. The team is also adding three relievers now that the pool play stage is over.

Here’s how Brian Cashman blocks out the noise.

Jeff Gold looks at how the WBC managers ranked in their careers as players.

José Berríos was scratched from his spring training start against the Phillies yesterday, and a recent MRI revealed inflammation in his elbow.

Like Clay Holmes, Matt Boyd is leaving the US team so he can continue preparing for the season as a starter with the Cubs.

Jayson Stark has ideas about changing the timing of the WBC and spoke to Tarik Skubal on the subject.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Allison McCague shared the second installment of one of our favorite things about spring training: the King of Spring Training competition.

Brian Salvatore previewed Marcus Semien’s 2026 season.

This Date in Mets History

Happy birthday, Johan Santana! The only pitcher in Mets history to throw a complete game no-hitter turns 47 today.

Good morning. We’re still mostly World Baseball Classic here.

• The big news is still the controversy over Team USA’s manager Mark DeRosa and his handling of the game against Italy. DeRosa tried to defend himself from charges that he didn’t know the situation, but then he got more facts wrong later. Jack Baer with the story.
• Ken Rosenthal seems dubious of DeRosa’s defense, but he writes that Team USA has gotten a second chance and DeRosa needs to stop treating it like an exhibition. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Team USA made three substitutions after pool play, with Will Vest, Tyler Rogers and Tim Hill joining the team.
• DeRosa also announced that Twins ace Joe Ryan will join Team USA if they beat Canada in the quarterfinals.
• Jake Mintz loved the Dominican Republic/Venezuela game, calling it a celebration of Latin American baseball.
• Matt Martell has a recap of the Dominican/Venezuela game for those of us who missed it watching Italy put Team USA into the elimination rounds.
• Buster Olney profiles Junior Caminero, believing his terrific WBC tournament is just a preview of what the budding superstar will do in the near future.
• Brian Murphy and Thomas Harrington have the top highlights from pool play in the WBC.
• What we’ve learned so far in the WBC. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Johnny Flores Jr. ranks the next four WBC games by watchability. (The Athletic free reg. req.)
• Over in Japan, they’re worried that putting all the games on Netflix is hurting the tournament’s popularity. (The Athletic free reg. req.)
• Michael Clair profiles Dane Dunning, who feels the heritage of his American father and Korean mother equally Dunning’s kids got to meet their Korean grandmother for the first time as well.
• Jayson Stark offers his plan to “fix” the World Baseball Classic. (The Athletic sub. req.) It seems like we get these articles every tournament. His plan is the same one that always gets suggested—hold the knockout rounds in July during All-Star Week.
• Maria Torres looks back at the brawl between Canada and Mexico in the 2013 WBC and how it led to changes that have strengthened Canadian baseball. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Yadier Molina hopes that his time managing Puerto Rico will lead to him managing a major league team. Anthony Castrovince with the story. Is Yadi the only person on the planet who doesn’t know that he’s going to manage the Cardinals as soon as they fire Oli Marmol?
• Stepping away from the WBC for a moment, the Reds got bad news as Hunter Greene is expected to be out until July after an operation to remove bone chips in his right elbow. Honestly, I thought that was good news as it mean he didn’t need Tommy John again. But yeah, Reds fans were hoping for better than that.
• Astros closer Josh Hader will start the year on the injured list with biceps inflammation.
• Diamondback Corbin Carroll has started swinging a bat again after hamate surgery. Steve Gilbert reports Carroll is using an axe-handle bat for now.
• R.J. Anderson has ten players returning from injury-filled 2025 seasons.
• Mets left-hander Sean Manaea says he’s not concerned about the drop in velocity this spring. Matt Sullivan with the story.
• Rhett Bollinger checks in on Angels camp and has five takeaways.
• Ryan Blake traces the decline in the Angels to the decline of Mike Trout from superstar to just good.
• Paul Casella looks at how great Pirates top prospect Konnor Griffin has been in Spring Training and what the Pirates still need to see out of him. Sounds like an excuse to game another year of service time out of Griffin.
• Ben Clemens examines how much longer can Aaron Judge be the best hitter in baseball.
• Kiley McDaniel has one breakout player for every MLB team.
• Dan Szymborski has one thing that could go wrong for every projected playoff team. Unsurpringly for the Cubs, it’s starting pitching.
• Bradford Doolittle categorizes every team by both how much they improved over the winter and how many moves they made.
• Matt Snyder ranks the top starting pitchers in the game as to how close they are to being an “ace.”
• Returning to the WBC, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh says there’s “no beef” between him and teammate Randy Arozarena.
• Maybe. But finally, Patrick Dubuque went and got Jane Austen to write about the incident between Raleigh and Arozarena. Never knew Jane was a baseball fan, but it’s good to see her writing again 209 years after she died. Other great writers would use that as an excuse.