Category: Sports News

Today, the Kansas City Royals absolutely pounded a Colorado Rockies squad that issued 15 walks. (You read that correctly.)

For more details on the game, click here.

Here are Michael Lorenzen’s comments on the day, which he saw as an important learning experience:

In addition, Ryan Feltner weighed in:

That said, please enjoy this Jordan Beck home run:

And don’t overlook Charlie Condon’s third homer:

That’s baseball.

The Rockies will face the Cleveland Guardians tomorrow afternoon at 1:05.

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With most of the expected big hitters out of the lineup after yesterday’s split-squad games, some other sources made Tanner Bibee’s first inning of the spring a miserable one. For him.

No. 2 hitter Sam Antonacci started things off for the White Sox when he got a 2-0 cutter that had too much of the plate.

Antonacci knew that was gone from the start, all 107.1 mph, 416´worth. That shot was followed by Miguel Vargas and LaMonte Wade Jr. doubles, with Wade later scoring on a wild pitch for a 3-0 Sox lead.

Bibee settled down for two scoreless innings after that, but Shane Smith showed his weak first start had just been working out the kinks as he kept the Guardians off the board until one run in the third, although a sweet play by William Bergolla Jr. at short kept the damage from being worse.

Lousy Cleveland defense (see, other teams have that, too) helped the Sox to two more runs in the fifth, with Bergolla and Antonacci scoring after walking and getting hit by a pitch, the first of two HBPs for Antonacci in the game. Bergolla also had an RBI single in the sixth, making it 6-1, and Antonacci scored in the seventh for a 7-1 lead. Both players are making management decisions on which middle infielders to keep when camp breaks ever more difficult.

Three Sox relievers cruised their way to the seventh, when Tyler Davis decided the game was too much of a yawner and coughed up three runs on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the seventh. Cleveland added one more in the eighth and had the tying run at the plate, but Adysin Coffey got a three-pitch K to end the threat. Shane Murphy then had an easy ninth for the save.

The Sox only had seven hits for their seven runs as they ran their spring record to 6-4, but six walks and those two HBPs, along with bad Guardian fielding decisions, helped things out.

Next up is a rematch with the Cubs, first pitch at 2:05 p.m. Central tomorrow. It will be on ESPN 1000, but you won’t get to watch the game unless you’re on of those turncoats who get Cubs TV.

Record 5-4. Change on 2025: +0.5. 5-inning record: 2-7.

Whenever a pitcher is leaving the mound with a trainer after having hit two batters and walked a third, while showing sharply lower velocity… Yeah, it’s never a good thing. Such was the situation this afternoon in Tempe for Brandyn Garcia. His fifth inning appearance was sharply curtailed, and the worst was feared. Not least because, if he went down, the only left-handed reliever left on the D-backs’ 40-man roster would be Philip Abner, and the non-roster invitees wouldn’t help much either [there’s only three, and Yu-Min Lin is already reassigned] However, it appears to have been just a stomach bug for Garcia, rather than looming Tommy John surgery. Phew.

While we make our way back from the SnakePit Fainting Couch, the D-backs notched their third consecutive win, though as has become a habit this year, it required a late comeback. A five-run eighth inning proved key, with a three-run homer by Yassel Soler the big hit. Later in the inning, Wallace Clark drove in the final run with a single. I think that might be the first hit ever in a D-backs jersey by a player born in the United Kingdom, Clark being a native of London. Arizona’s other runs came on a two-run homer by Luken Baker in the fourth inning, and a Jorge Barrosa triple the next frame. Soler also walked in addition to his home-run: Baker and Aramis Garcia each had two hits.

Mitch Bratt’s start started well, with a 1-2-3 first, but he ended up lifted in the second after allowing two runs, and also gave up a homer in the third inning, after returning. His final line: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The D-backs ended up using ten pitchers again. The other runs came off Paul Sewald – good to see him in mid-season form already – and Jonathan Loasiga, making his Arizona debut. Bryce Jarvis got the save with a clean ninth, and Abner also appeared, loading the bases but escaping without damage thanks to a pair of strikeouts. A good day for home-plate umpire Jonathan Parra: three ABS challenges, but all confirmed his call.

Tomorrow, it’s back to Salt River Fields where the Guardians will be visiting. Michael Soroka gets his second start, with a 1:10 pm first pitch. Several members of the A-bullpen are scheduled to work behind Soroka.

PORT ST. LUCIE — In the wake of the hamate injury that has sidelined Francisco Lindor for the spring, there have been more opportunities at shortstop.

While the 29-year-old career minor leaguer Jackson Cluff is expected to be minor league depth, he made perhaps the best play of the spring Friday in Jupiter, Fla., when he went deep into the hole on a grounder and fired a strong throw to first to get the out. 

It’s unclear how Cluff could find a path to Queens this season, but he isn’t ruling it out after an unusual professional journey that’s so far taken him to Triple-A, but not the majors. 

Cluff, a practicing Mormon, played at BYU and following his freshman year, he took two years off from school — and baseball — to go on a mission for the church. 

So while players his age were continuing their baseball careers, Cluff was instead taking part in the voluntary mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

“You don’t have to do it, but for people who grow up and are active in the faith, it’s an expectation if you’re asked,’’ Cluff said. “My dad did it and my little brother is on a mission right now. Most people do it.” 

After being unsure prior to BYU, Cluff said he became confident in his choice. 

“I decided it was something I wanted to do and put my career on pause for two years,’’ Cluff said. “Everyone was very supportive, saying, ‘You need to do what you want to do.’ ” 

Cluff ended up spending his two years in Atlanta, not exactly the far-flung places others have gone. 

“You should have seen the look on my face when I found out where I was going,’’ Cluff said. “My dad went to Norway and learned Norwegian. My father-in-law went to Japan. I had teammates go to Mexico and Brazil. But I went to Atlanta and it was awesome.’’ 

As part of his work, Cluff focused on proselytizing and community service. 

“We knock on doors and walk around town,’’ Cluff said. “You get on a bus in Atlanta and talk to people.” 

When the two years were up, Cluff returned to BYU, this time as a 22-year-old sophomore. 

“I wanted to play one more year and it was really important to have a good season because I wanted to play professionally,’’ Cluff said. “Most college players are getting drafted as a 21-year-old junior.” 

Cluff responded with a solid season and called it a “no-brainer” to sign with the Nationals when they took him in the sixth round of the 2019 amateur draft. 

“I told every team, ‘If you pick me, I’ll go,’ ” Cluff said. 

Then, Cluff’s first full professional season was wiped out by COVID-19, before working his way up to Triple-A in 2024, where he spent all of last season. 

His goal this year is to “help this team win games at the big league level at some point this season.” 

Cluff said he knows the infield depth with the Mets will make that difficult, and despite his slow road through the minors, he’s only appreciative of his experiences. 

“The only time my religion comes up in the clubhouse is when people ask if I really took two years off,’’ Cluff said. “I don’t have any regrets. How the mission impacted me personally and helped my faith and perspective on life is much more important than baseball. It’s given me so much direction.” 

And as for his pursuit of his major league dream, Cluff said, “As long as I have a jersey on my back, anything is possible.”

The Mets' spring training plan of stretching Tobias Myers out as a starter continued on Saturday afternoon as the right-hander toed the rubber in the top of the first inning against the Washington Nationals for the first time in camp and ended his outing after three innings of one-run ball.

Myers allowed two hits, both in the third inning, walked one and struck out four while throwing 46 pitches (34 strikes). Through two appearances, Myers has a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 innings.

But it wasn't the results that Myers was most pleased with after the game; it was how he felt during and after the game that Myers was most pleased with.

"It felt good, definitely felt good," he said. "Body felt like it was under control, like I’m not trying to do too much out there, so I feel like when I’m in that mindset and kind of letting everything kind of take care of itself, I keep myself in a better spot than trying to go out there and do a little too much. That’s my key takeaway from today – felt under control and body felt great."

New York acquired Myers from the Milwaukee Brewers in the same deal that brought over Freddy Peralta and after proving to be a Swiss army knife in two seasons with the Brewers, the Mets are hoping the right-hander can do a little bit of everything for them this season. Saturday's start was another chance at showcasing that.

It also gave Myers and Francisco Alvarez a chance to connect in a game for the first time after Myers threw to prospect Kevin Parada in his spring training debut on Monday. While it was the first time the duo played together in a game, it was not the first time Myers had thrown to Alvarez.

"It was great. I actually got to throw to Francisco two weeks before camp started," Myers said. "He was down in South Florida, I was living down there in the offseason so me him, Freddy, couple [other] guys met up and were able to get some work in before camp started. 

"It’s really, really cool – especially this morning – like being able to communicate all morning what we wanna do. Alvy’s full of energy, he’s fun back there. I mean he’s obviously really good at framing pitches because we had like five or six overturned back there, so he’s making them all look like strikes."

While spring training offers the chance for new pitchers and catchers like Myers and Alvarez to familiarize themselves with each other, it's also the time for pitchers to work on new pitches and grips or perfect old ones. It's no different for Myers, who has added a slider to his repertoire this spring to go along with a splitter that he unveiled last season.

"The splitter is fairly new," Myers said. "Last year I started throwing it middle of the season, so trying to fine-tune that pitch and make sure it’s in a good spot when camp breaks. Same pitch, same grip [for my] slider. I’m just spiking it a little bit, so not much different there. We’re just kinda looking for a little bit more depth to get some more swing and miss, so that’s coming along pretty well. It’s been only two weeks throwing it, so it’s been pretty decent."

Whatever role the Mets end up needing out of Myers this season, he'll need his array of pitches to get outs like he did on Saturday. The next step for the 27-year-old, relayed to him by Carlos Mendoza and David Stearns, is to build up his pitch count to 60-65 pitches before re-evaluating the situation.

But no matter how New York uses Myers, he's excited for the opportunity and keeps the same mindset.

"I’m comfortable on the mound, so I feel like if you start a game, if you’re relieving, you’re closing, you still got to get three outs or whatever the case may be so for me I just try to keep that mentality and keep everything simple," he said.

Myers also trusts everybody in charge and knows they have his best interests at heart.

"I like to pride myself on [being] a coachable pitcher, so I like to put my trust in my coaches," he said. "It’s something I did [in Milwaukee] for sure, being a younger guy and kinda getting thrown into like the starting rotation over there.

"Here, very similar. I know everybody here is very, very smart. I know these guys have a great track record and it’s pretty easy to tell when you talk to them and talk to other guys that communicate with those guys, so for me it’s like put my trust in those guys and let them guide me."

The bats of the Cincinnati Reds have been alive for most of Cactus League play in the early going, and that was very much still the case on Saturday. The Reds went on the road and beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-7 in their own ballpark, even doing so while television cameras were broadcasting their action for the first time in seemingly a millenium.

The Good

Matt McLain got the party started in the Top of the 1st with his first dinger of the spring, a solo shot that was part of an overall excellent 2 for 3 day that included a pair of runs scored. Elly De La Cruz smacked another double – every single one of his hits this spring, so far, has been of the extra-base variety – and Sal Stewart singled, stole a base, played 3B, and scored a run.

Michael Chavis – in camp as a non-roster guy – socked a homer, Dane Myers drove in a trio on a two-hit day as he angles to be a right-handed hitting option all across the outfield, and Blake Dunn drove in a trio and scored a run as he angles to be a right-handed hitting option all across the outfield.

Down in the bullpen, big offseason additions Pierce Johnson and Caleb Ferguson both fired scoreless frames, even though neither was completely clean.

The Bad

Lyon Richardson surrendered another run, something he’s done in every one of his appearances so far this spring. But because baseball is weirdly beautiful, he also picked up the win on the day.

Wins! Still a stat in 2026, for whatever reason!

At the plate, Christian Encarnacion-Strand made his own spring debut after dealing with hamstring issues, but was limited to just DH duties and went 0 for 3 with a K. I really, really hope there’s a CES redemption story somewhere in the near future, but I’m beginning to think that ship may well have sailed.

The Ugly

Hunter Greene made his spring debut and got shelled immediately.

He did not retire a single batter in the Bottom of the 1st before being pulled, though thanks to the fun rules of spring training play he returned to the mound for the Bottom of the 2nd to get in more work. His second frame was markedly better, but he was ultimately responsible for 4 ER on 5 H and a walk while fanning nobody.

The good news, though, is that he looked fine. His heater hit triple digits repeatedly, he just wasn’t putting hitters away in vintage mid-season form. Nothing looked like a problem, per se – just a lot of rust and getting his feet wet in an exhibition that didn’t mean a thing in the win column.

What’s Next

Cincinnati’s central Arizona road trip will continue on Sunday, this time at Hohokam Stadium over in Mesa against the Athletics. Andrew Abbott will toe the rubber, with first pitch set for 3:05 PM ET.

No, there’s no TV coverage of it. It’ll be on 700 WLW for your ears, though.

Don’t call it a debut. Since his family didn’t come to see this, Kade Anderson says his first game action as a member of the Mariners’ organization doesn’t count as a debut. But whatever noun you use to describe it, the adjective is “impressive.”

Using a fluid, repeatable delivery, Anderson sat 94-95 with his fastball, freezing up hitters while his slider looked sharp in the zone and induced whiffs outside it, all setting up a changeup that got some Matt Brash-esque swings and misses.

Anderson struck out the very first batter he saw on three pitches. Whiff on a fastball, whiff on a changeup, freeze on a fastball. The victim? Xander Bogaerts, hardly a guy off the backfields. Interrupted by an infield base hit that should have been an out and a full-count walk, Anderson completed the inning by striking out the side. That first inning featured 18 pitches, 13 for strikes, with seven whiffs on ten swings and a 100% first-pitch strike rate.

He came back out for the second, which opened with back-to-back hits. Since both of those runners scored after Anderson was pulled, his final line won’t jump off the page, but Anderson showed every bit of the potential that’s had us salivating since he fell to the Mariners with the third pick of last summer’s Draft.

Cal Raleigh was effusive: “Very impressive. So he can locate the ball, he can command it, he can throw off-speed in the zone for strikes. There’s not…I mean there’s going to be a learning curve, for sure, he was just a little picky around the zone, but for the most part I thought he threw the ball great, especially for the first time out.” (In an extremely Cal move, he used the opportunity to take a potshot at his bro to provide additional context on Anderson’s performance, “I think Logan gave up 10 runs in his first spring training game.”)

Perhaps because he didn’t consider it a debut, Anderson says he wasn’t nervous. “I think you’d be surprised. It’s just another game for me. And when you have that mindset, it makes it much easier on yourself, you don’t get as many nerves.” In the comments, please rank the BS on a scale of 1-10. I’m leaning toward a 4.

Unfortunately for those in attendance, as Anderson got pulled, someone called Houston Roth, who I have definitely heard of before, quickly let all the air out of the room that Anderson had just filled, letting the Padres score a decisive five runs.

But the game got interesting again as Emerson Hancock came out for the third and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, showing the extra velo he’d flashed in his relief appearances last summer. The Mariners plan to begin the season with Hancock as a depth starter, so whether he can hold that extra velo will be a key question. He kept it in his second inning of work, wherein he struck out the side in order, but lost it a bit in an attempt at a third inning. Even so, he was 94-96 in that third inning of work, which, while not 97s of his first inning, is still a couple ticks above where he’s been before.

More promising to me is his slider. He’s got an interesting history with the pitch. In 2023, he was averaging 87 with it, but only getting 30 inches of break. He made an adjustment that offseason and swapped some velo for movement, making it a much better whiff-generator in 2024 and 2025. But what he’s shown so far this spring has been a marriage of the 2023 velo with the 2024-2025 movement. It’s a promising development for a guy whose fastball is coming in harder, and whose sweeper was getting all the praise from Jerry Dipoto on the broadcast. To be sure, I’ve been burned too many times by Emerson Hancock seeming to improve, but Emerson Hancock seems to have improved.

Other Notes

• In the battle for the fourth infield spot, Ryan Bliss had a bad day in the field, missing his landing on one play and showing his noodle arm in another, resulting in two infield base hits that could have been outs. He made up for it a bit with a walk at the plate. Colt Emerson was 0 for 2.
• Luke Raley accounted for the Mariners’ sole run today with his first dinger of the spring, which went to the deep part of the park.
• I would make fun of a new entry in the Randy Arozarena defensive canon, but it’s his birthday, so he gets a pass.
• Cal Raleigh had an unremarkable day except that he’s the first man to play nine full innings this spring, prepping his body for the WBC, which he departs for this afternoon.
• The first Sun Hat Award of 2026 (the award for a noteable contribution to a game I recap) goes to Hancock.