BALTIMORE, MD - JULY 29: A general view as Charlie Morton #50 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fourth inning in game one of a split doubleheader at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 29, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Last week, I asked you to think about how many games the Orioles will win this season. The majority of people who responded see the team ending up in a win range that will get them back into the postseason after missing out last year. For this week, the question is more specific. How far do you think that the Orioles will get?
Much to the ongoing disappointment of Orioles fans, the team has not won a postseason game in more than a decade now. Neither the 101-61 AL East champions from 2023 or the 91-71 wild card team from 2024 proved to have enough juice to snap this streak. Then last year’s ongoing failure happened and they didn’t even get a third bite at the apple. Sheesh.
The team already has some challenges to contend with before the 2026 season has even begun with early spring injuries to Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg. It’s still unclear when or even if Westburg will be able to play this year. There are also things that look to be going much better for the Orioles, with a starting rotation that’s heavily revamped compared to the mess of last season. If you believe in some bounce-backs and some strong years from younger players, it’s not hard to picture better things.
Vote in the survey above and let us know what you feel in the comments below. Results will be posted later in the week.
Feb 14, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Dustin May (3) pitches during spring training at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
As the St. Louis Cardinals make their way toward Busch Stadium for Opening Day Thursday, they make a stop in Springfield for a game against the minor league Cardinals at Hammons Field starting at 6:05pm. According to the Cardinals, it will be Dustin May pitching for the big league Cardinals while Brycen Mautz will start for the baby birds.
Mar 22, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green (4) goes in for a layup against Toronto Raptors forward Jonathan Mogbo (2) during the third quarter at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Anna Carrington-Imagn Images | Anna Carrington-Imagn Images
The Phoenix Suns are in the thick of the playoff race. They are teetering on that “play-in” line, with each win pulling them a bit closer to the top-6, but each loss tugging them back in the other direction. Unfortunately, of late, the losses are tugging them closer to the play-in.
If they took care of business in some very winnable games, we could be in an entirely different situation where we are breathing down the neck of the Rockets, Nuggets, and Timberwolves, all of whom are tied for the 4-6 seeds and a full four games ahead of Phoenix as things stand.
This is the reality of where we stand:
It feels like they’ve been stuck at the 7 seed forever, which, in typical NBA fashion, would be good for a tie for the 5th seed in the East with the Raptors. That’s the difference between conferences, as instead of fighting for home court advantage in the first round, they are now fighting for their playoff lives.
But as the saying goes, “if if was a fifth, we’d all be drunk.”
The Nuggets, Rockets, and Wolves are all 4.0 games ahead of Phoenix. The Suns play the Nuggets tomorrow, so there will be an opportunity to gain a full game and cut it down to three, but again, time is ticking.
The Lakers, whom the Suns thought securing the tiebreaker over (at the time) would be important, have distanced themselves from Phoenix quite a bit and are now completely out of reach at 46-25. They are currently on a 9-game win streak.
The Clippers, meanwhile, are hanging around. Phoenix looks to be a lock for the 7th seed, barring an unexpected streak in either direction.
Now, we have two questions.
Who do we want to face in the first round if they move into the top 6?
If we remain in the play-in, who do we want as the first-round matchup?
The answer to number one, to me, is the Los Angeles Lakers by a landslide compared to the alternatives. Yes, they still have Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves, and they are clicking right now. That defense can be exposed, and I like that matchup compared to getting a team like OKC or San Antonio in round one. The inevitable free-throw disparity would worry me, but overall, I’d take that as a 3-6 matchup if by some miracle the Suns can get hot one last time and pass one of those three teams.
The answer to the second question is all about avoiding the “other” LA team. The Clippers have a version of Kawhi Leonard that should scare people. Miss me with them in the play-in. He’s the type of star that can carry a team to a win in an environment like that, where the Blazers don’t have anyone at that level despite their strong play of late.
Oct 24, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) guards Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) in the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Order of Play-In preference:
Portland Trail Blazers
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Steph is still Steph, despite the injury and uncertainty in his status. I would also prefer to avoid him in a single-game elimination environment.
All signs are pointing towards a Suns-Clippers 7 vs. 8 matchup, especially with the Clippers’ light upcoming schedule, but you can’t count the Blazers out as they sit just a half-game back of Los Angeles right now. It’s going to be a wild few weeks to close things out.
Who do you want the Suns to face in the play-in? Let us know in the comments.
MESA, Ariz. — Carlos Lagrange received the news Thursday that he was being reassigned to Yankees minor league camp, but there was still a reward to come for a standout camp.
The club’s top pitching prospect boarded the cross-country charter with the team from Tampa on Sunday for a chance to make one more start against the Cubs on Monday afternoon. It was a small taste of big league life, giving the 22-year-old right-hander a glimpse of what is to come if and when he gets the call to the majors later this season.
Access the Yankees beat like never before
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.
“It leaves you wanting more,” Lagrange said through an interpreter. “It gives you hunger to keep on working harder to get to it.”
That reward, though, also came with some reality that was still the case even as he dominated lineups in the Grapefruit League earlier this spring: He is not yet a finished product. Facing the toughest lineup he has seen all spring — essentially the Opening Day Cubs lineup — Lagrange came back to earth for a day. His strike throwing was not as sharp as it was earlier in camp and it led to him getting tagged for eight runs on nine hits across 2 ²/₃ innings, raising his spring ERA from 0.66 to 4.96.
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Lagrange #84, throwing a warmup pitch before the start of the 2nd inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“It was tough, but it was pretty good, because I threw versus big league hitters,” Lagrange said. “There’s a big difference between big league hitters and minor league hitters. … It jumps out that they know how to look for a pitch and be ready to attack in different counts. Falling [behind] doesn’t help when you’re facing those guys.”
Of course, the results this time of year still do not matter, and the rough ending should not tarnish what was otherwise a terrific spring for Lagrange, showing the Yankees he may be closer to the big leagues than they thought entering camp, despite never having pitched above Double-A.
That will change later this week, as Lagrange is set to open the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, another test for him as he races toward the big leagues.
“I think it’s all been valuable [this spring],” manager Aaron Boone said. “But more than anything, he’s kept his head down as far as continuing to get better. That’s the biggest thing, just seeing what he did last year, feel like he’s grown over the winter and into spring training here. Real excited about where he’s at.”
After giving up a run in the first inning on a bloop single, Lagrange responded by striking out the side in the second — on a changeup to Dansby Swanson and on sliders to Matt Shaw and Dylan Carlson, generating some silly-looking swings. It reinforced that Lagrange has more than just a triple-digit fastball, as the secondary stuff is what may allow him to remain a starter long term.
“The off-speed’s what makes him special,” Boone said. “His fastball’s great. It’s 100, 102. But his secondaries are what make him potentially so good. What’s been exciting is just his consistency in this six weeks that we’ve seen of the strike throwing. So if he continues that, he’ll be impacting us before long.”
The Cubs came back around to punish Lagrange in the third, with Michael Busch (on a hanging slider) and Alex Bregman (on a 100 mph fastball above the zone) crushing back-to-back home runs.
But Monday’s experience can serve as an additional lesson for Lagrange to put in his back pocket as he heads for Triple-A. What he showed this spring caught the attention of everyone with the Yankees, from the front office to coaches to even established veterans like Gerrit Cole and Max Fried, who both said they had never seen anything like Lagrange’s consistent triple-digit velocity — Cole even calling it “silly.”
Now, as Lagrange heads out of sight, it is up to him to make sure he is not out of mind.
“I wanted to feel that I could compete, face guys and challenge guys and throw pitches in the strike zone and be aggressive attacking the zone,” Lagrange said of his spring overall. “I think I was able to do that. You get confidence from doing that and competing with those guys on the field. Really good experience for me.”
Isaac Newton knew long ago that momentum isn’t always upward. | Getty Images
The big, magic word for the White Sox this year is supposed to be “momentum.”
Momentum works both ways, folks.
To demonstrate without using video of a Russian dissident making the poor decision to stand by a an upper-story window, let us select this afternoon’s Cactus League finale.
The Sacramento or wherever they’re playing this year A’s tried as hard as they could to hand the game to the White Sox early. Starting pitcher Luis Morales walked the bases loaded in the first and then hung a sinker that Lenyn Sosa hammered for a three-run double. Reliever JJ Goss then gave up four runs in the fourth on a slew of hits, the key being a two-run double by Chase Meidroth.
Voila! White Sox up, 7-0! What could possibly go wrong, especially given the A’s pulled all their starters after two innings so they’d have plenty of time to pack for the flight home, inserting minor-leaguers?
Plenty, it turned out.
Anthony Kay, who had been having a good spring, didn’t exactly coast through the first three innings. But still, he had given up no runs until the small matters of a sac fly and then a grand slam by the mighty Drew Swift made it 7-5 after four. On one of those spring leave-the-game-but-come-back things, Kay then walked the first two batters in the fifth, both of whom scored when Morris Austin came in and couldn’t get much of anyone out. Morris then added two more runs on his own tab.
Make it 9-7, A’s, after five.
Sosa, who presumably would like to get some regular playing time when the games count, knocked in another run with a double in the sixth to make it 9-8. Grant Taylor, who has had a rough spring, gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth that turned out to be crucial, because a Darren Baker RBI single in the ninth could then only cut the A’s lead to 10-9.
If this game set momentum into the season for the White Sox, then look forward to lots of pure slop. Sox pitchers walked seven and hit three batters while giving up 12 hits. The batters were handed their own seven walks and went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position, but still left 12 on base.
Ah, well, the good news is that as awful as this game was, it doesn’t matter, just gives the White Sox a 15-16-1 spring record no one will remember even a few weeks from now. The bad news is, games that matter begin in Milwaukee Thursday afternoon, and nothing is pointing the momentum arrow upward.
Oh, yeah … normally we’d include some videos from the game. Turns out nobody shot any. Good decision.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 17: Spencer Arrighetti #41 of the Houston Astros throws a bullpen session during spring training workouts at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on February 17, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Houston Astros announced today that they have optioned SP Spencer Arrighetti to Triple-A Sugar Land.
This move would seem to indicate that Arrighetti will be the sixth starter for the team when they move to the expanded rotation in mid-April.
Having Arrighetti pitch in the starting rotation for the Space Cowboys will allow the Astros to keep him stretched out so that he is ready to go 90-100 pitches when he is recalled and they go to the 6-man rotation. They can also make sure he stays on schedule for when they intend to pitch him in the rotation.
Both of those would be much harder to do with him in the Astros bullpen.
The Astros begin a stretch of 13 straight games on April 10.
The final price for the most recent piece of Shohei Ohtani memorabilia didn’t just climb, it skyrocketed like a baseball leaving off the bat of the Dodgers two-way sensation.
The jersey he wore during the 2026 World Baseball Classic for Team Japan on March 6 at the Tokyo Dome—his home soil, his stage—sold for a staggering $1,500,010 via MLB auctions on Sunday night, the highest price ever paid for an Ohtani jersey.
That night against Chinese Taipei, Ohtani didn’t simply play. He detonated—launching a grand slam, driving in five runs, and turning a WBC game into something closer to a national celebration.
The jersey absorbed it all: the roar of the Tokyo fans, the flash of cameras, the weight of expectation in a country that sees him as both athlete and a god-like figure.
Collectors felt it too.
Over seven days, 298 bids poured in, each one chasing something bigger than ownership—chasing proximity to greatness.
By the time the hammer fell, the price had dwarfed his 2023 WBC jersey, which sold for just over $126,000.
Ironically, that 2023 WBC jersey was worn during the title game that saw Ohtani strike out his then-teammate Mike Trout to win the crown for Team Japan. To this day, it is still one of the most iconic moments in WBC history.
Japan’s 2026 run ended earlier than expected, bounced in the quarterfinals by eventual-champion Venezuela. The jersey becomes something else because of that—less a trophy, more a relic of brilliance in a fleeting moment early in the tournament.
His Logoman baseball card recently fetched $3 million. Another dual MVP card with Aaron Judge sold for $2.16 million. His historic 50-50 home run ball from the 2024 season sold for $4.39 million. His 2025 NLCS Game 4 Home Run: A ball from Ohtani’s historic 3-homer, 10-strikeout game in the 2025 NLCS sold for $270,000, and that was just one ball. Together, all three could have sold for over a million dollars.
Japan designated hitter Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a home run against Venezuela in the first inning during a quarterfinal game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Back in Los Angeles, the Dodgers open their season Thursday at Dodger Stadium. Ohtani will step into the batter’s box again, under brighter lights, chasing new moments and a three-peat.
Somewhere, tucked behind glass, a jersey waits—worth $1.5 million.
Still not as valuable as what will probably come next.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Tatsuya Imai #45 of the Houston Astros pitches during spring training workouts at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on February 20, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Houston Astros will play the first of two exhibition games against their Triple-A team, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys today.
RHP Tatsuya Imai will get the start tonight for the Astros in his final tune-up before the season opposite LHP Colton Gordon and the Space Cowboys.
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP Tatsuya Imai is back on the mound after last pitching in an intrasquad simulated game on March 17 at the Astros Spring Training complex in West Palm Beach, FL.
Imai has been stellar in his three official Spring Training appearances, working a combined 6.0 scoreless innings…in January, the Astros signed Imai to a three-year deal.
In 2025, he was an All Star for the Seibu Lions in the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB), where he went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA (35ER/163.2IP) in 24 games.
TONIGHT’S SPACE COWBOYS STARTER: LHP Colton Gordon, who was optioned to minor league camp on March 5, is coming off a productive rookie season with the Astros, in which he recorded a 5.34 ERA (51ER/86IP) in 20 games, including 14 starts.
Gordon entered the 2025 season as one of the Astros top pitching prospects and finished the 2025 season with the third most starts in the Astros rotation.
Among AL rookies in 2025, he ranked first in walks per nine innings (1.99) and first in strikeoutto-walk ratio (3.79).
YESTERDAY’S ROSTER MOVES: Prior to yesterday’s game, the Astros informed four players that they would not make the Astros Opening Day roster in IF/OF Cavan Biggio, RHP Peter Lambert, C Carlos Pérez and OF Taylor Trammell.
ASTROS RADIO: Tonight’s game can be heard on the radio on KTRH 740 AM with Space Cowboys broadcasters Garrett Green and Gerald Sanchez joined on air with Astros pre- and postgame analyst Brian Bogusevic. The trio will also call tomorrow night’s game before giving way to the popular duo of Robert Ford (play-by-play) and Steve Sparks (color) on Opening Day.
ON THE TUBE: Tonight’s game will not be televised, but the Astros will be back on the air tomorrow night on Space City Home Network. SCHN will also televise the Astros Opening Day matchup vs. LAA.
SAN ANTONIO, TX - OCTOBER 30: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs reacts after a basket against Simone Fontecchio #0 of the Miami Heat in second half at Frost Bank Center on October 30, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to the Game Thread. Veterans of the Game Thread know how we do things around here, but for all you newbies we have a few rules. Our community guidelines apply and basically say be cool, no personal attacks, don’t troll and don’t swear too much.
It’s the final stretch of the season, and your intrepid game thread writer has gone on vacation. While I’m on a boat in the middle of the ocean, you people get to watch the Spurs, and talk to each other in the game thread. No worries, I’ll be back before the playoffs. In the meantime: GO SPURS GO!!
[NOTE: while Mark is on vacation, the game prediction will be replaced by a random fact from the archives.]
Random Fact:
Dolphins believe that humans are stupid. They’re not wrong.
San Antonio Spurs at Miami Heat March 23, 2026 | 6:00 PM CT Streaming: NBA League Pass TV: FanDuel Sports Southwest Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments.
Mar 21, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) reacts after a basket against the Golden State Warriors in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images
It’s a good ol’ southern battle between the Atlanta Hawks (39-32) and the Memphis Grizzlies (24-46) tonight in State Farm Arena.
Jalen Johnson (left shoulder inflammation) has been ruled out of tonight’s contest for the second game in a row.
Starting lineup:
G CJ McCollum
G Nickeil Alexander-Walker
F Dyson Daniels
F Mouhamed Gueye
C Onyeka Okongwu
Please join in the comments below as you follow along.
Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen
Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
Start Time: 7:30 PM EDT
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)
Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)
Streaming: ESPN+, FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 30: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers controls the ball against Ausar Thompson #9 of the Detroit Pistons in the first half at Crypto.com Arena on December 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. 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 Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Coming off a buzzer-beating win to stretch their winning streak to nine games, the Detroit Pistons will be looking to be a buzzkill that stops the hottest team in the NBA in its tracks. That buzzer-beater came via former Piston Luke Kennard, who was eminently gettable at the trade deadline and is shooting 68% on twos and 46% since being traded to Los Angeles. Detroit was looking at a game where they might have dodged Luka Doncic, who got a 16th technical against Orlando, which would have triggered an automatic suspension, but the tech was later rescinded. Maybe he’ll get his suspension-clinching technical against Detroit tonight! As good as the Lakers are playing, they are beatable. If Detroit plays the highest level of defense they’re capable of, they can dictate the flow of the game. The Lakers are also susceptible to a few things the Pistons rely on — they turn the ball over a fair amount, they give up buckets in transition, and they allow their opponent to score a healthy dose of points in the paint. We’ll take as much of all of that as we can get.
Game Vitals
When: 7 p.m. ET Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan Watch: TV 20, FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Odds: Pistons +1.5
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 26: Manager Tony Vitello #23 of the San Francisco Giants greets a fan on the field before the spring training game during the lineup card exchange against the Colorado Rockies at Scottsdale Stadium on February 26, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The 2026 Major League Baseball season begins in about 48 hours and, for reasons still unbeknownst to me, the San Francisco Giants have drawn the opening assignment. A brand new season, full of brand new baseball, kicks off on Wednesday at Oracle Park, with the Giants hosting the New York Yankees, while the rest of the baseball world tunes in, eagerly awaiting their turn on Thursday (when the Giants get the alway-annoying Day 2 off day).
You know what to do. This isn’t your first rodeo, unless it is, in which case, hello and welcome, we hope you enjoy your first date with baseball.
But in case you’ve forgotten — last Opening Day was a year ago, according to my calendar — well, here’s a refresher. Here’s 10 things you need to do before yet another season of baseball begins.
1. Stock up on beer and snacks
The older I get, the more I find myself gravitating to baseball over other sports. I only recently realized one of the main reasons: what sport has such a strong relationship with food?
You can’t go to the ballpark and not get a large, cold, overpriced beer, unless you don’t like beer, in which case you can’t go to the ballpark and not get a large, cold, overpriced margarita, unless you don’t drink, in which case you can’t go to the ballpark and not get a large, cold, overpriced lemonade. Or a water, I guess.
Most of us don’t make it to the ballpark often, for which our tailbones are appreciative. But over the years, I’ve learned that the couch experience of baseball-watching is greatly amplified by ensuring that baseball foods are exactly that: baseball foods, not ballpark foods.
And if you don’t eat baseball foods on Opening Day, when will you?
So my fridge is full of beer and hot dogs, and my pantry’s got enough sunflower seeds to ensure that my sodium levels stay delightfully in the red. Please join me.
2. Read Alex Pavlovic’s book
There’s still time to get and read Alex Pavlovic’s book, at least if you live in the Bay Area. Most bookstores within 50 miles of the ballpark should carry The Franchise: San Francisco Giants: A Curated History of the Orange and Black, and it’s a quick read. You can go get it tonight, read it tomorrow, and be ready to go on Wednesday.
Don’t let the double-colon insisted by the publisher trick you into thinking Pavs wrote anything other than a stellar book. I’ll be honest: I’m normally not a fan of this popular style of sports book, where writers are tasked with distilling a team into 20-something medium-length chapters. But Pavlovic wrote the best one I’ve read yet. While most of the books in this ilk are overly-formulaic, and read like someone curated 25 of the author’s articles from over the years, that’s emphatically not the case with this one. Pavs put in the work with countless interviews, and the result is that the book is filled with information that isn’t available elsewhere, and stories that haven’t been told.
If you haven’t read it yet, read it. You’ll have a good time, you’ll remember some great times, and you’ll learn a whole lot.
3. Check your subscriptions
Yes, it’s true: the streaming era has fully reached baseball, with countless “exclusive” options branching from the sport like snakes from Medusa’s head. Opening Day, as you’ve surely heard, is on Netflix, making it easier than ever to watch Love is Blind during commercial breaks. Saturday’s game eschews the local broadcast as well, going straight to FOX. Sometime next month, you’ll have to subscribe to Apple TV to watch the Giants play the Baltimore Orioles … while you’re there, I suggest binging Severance, unless the state of the world is bringing you down, in which case I recommend Ted Lasso.
What you shouldn’t do, is what I have a knack for doing with my accounts: waiting until 30 seconds before game time to make sure you’re logged in, and missing the first inning as you try to use your phone to send a code to your computer to let you in on your TV.
Technology, baby. Life’s never been more convenient.
You don’t just need to log in to Netflix and whatever platform you use for NBC Sports Bay Area broadcasts. Now’s also the time to check your written subscriptions, so you can digest as much Giants baseball as you’d like. I’m begrudgingly reporting that Vox Media still won’t allow me to take your money, so McCovey Chronicles will remain free to you. But we only cover so much: if you want reports from behind the scenes and the locker room, you’ll need to subscribe to Susan Slusser and Shayna Rubin at the San Francisco Chronicle, or Andrew Baggarly and Grant Brisbee (who?) at The Athletic, or Justice delos Santos at the Mercury News, or Kerry Crowley at the SF Standard.
Want to follow the Minor Leagues closely? You’ll needRoger Munter’s newsletter, which is second-to-none in Giants prospecting … or Baseball America and/or Baseball Prospectus if you want to follow prospects beyond those in Sacramento, Richmond, Eugene, San Jose, Papago, and Boca Chica. And if you want in-depth analytics and breakdowns, you’ll surely run through your monthly dose of free articles at Fangraphs.
If you’ve got a lot of money to spend and want to ingest as much Giants content as possible, you could easily spend triple digits monthly on subscriptions. Each one is well worth it, though you’ll probably want to pick and choose.
Also, if you’ve got a lot of money to spend, shoot me an email. I just want to talk. Got some questions.
4. Catch up on old friends
Sure, the Giants are your team, but we always end up watching extra baseball. And the best baseball, other than Giants baseball, is old friends baseball. Which means now is the time to see where those old friends are, so you can follow them this year.
Kyle Harrison is starting the year in the Milwaukee Brewers’ rotation. Mike Yastrzemski had a first Spring Training with the Atlanta Braves that would make Barry Bonds drool (seriously: he hit .400/.526/.900). Mason Black pitched well for the Kansas City Royals, though he’s beginning the year in AAA. Marco Luciano has been knocked down to AA for the New York Yankees. Wilmer Flores is headed to Mexico.
There are many, many others. We all have the players we’ve grown attached to over the years, even though they ultimately left. So see how they’re doing and where they are, so you can follow them.
Speaking of which…
5. Pick a second team
Having a second team is a rite of passage in baseball. If you don’t have a second team, who are you going to watch at night when the Giants play during the day? Who are you going to watch on Thursday and Sunday, when the Giants inexplicably don’t play? How can you be expected to survive on 162 games instead of 324?
My second team is the Houston Astros, because love makes you do things you previously thought were inconceivable. But if I’m recommending a second team to you, might I suggest the Seattle Mariners? They’re a fellow west coast squad, making them easier to follow. They have one of the most joyful players in baseball in Julio Rodríguez. They have a brewing intrasquad feud from the World Baseball Classic. Their best player is an MVP candidate with a nickname formed entirely due to his fat ass. They’ll likely make three or more trades with the Giants over the next 12 months.
But we all must choose our own journey, so pick the second team that makes sense to you. There are no wrong answers.
Except the Los Angeles Dodgers. That is emphatically a wrong answer.
6. Make sure your hat fits
Look, this one is very simple. You might be watching Opening Day from your couch, but you still need your gear. Hats have a way of magically changing size. Sometimes your head does a bit of Bruce Bochy wizardry and gets bigger. Sometimes you cut your hair and your size shrinks.
You can’t watch the first game without your memorabilia. Make sure your hat fits. Make sure your shirt is at the front of your closet. Make sure your lucky underwear is clean. I shouldn’t have to explain this to you.
7. Catch up on your lingo
Baseball has become a great sport for math nerds and linguistic nerds alike. There are acronyms and initialisms and phrases galore. If the future follows the recent past, you’ll hear some, like OPS (on-base plus slugging) and WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), on the broadcast. You’ll hear a lot more, like FIP (fielding independent pitching), IVB (induced vertical break), and WAR (wins above replacement), on the radio and the podcasts. You’ll get deeper still, with things like wRC+ (weighted runs created plus), xwOBA (expected weighted on base average), and TOOTBLAN (thrown out on the bases like a nincompoop) in these articles, and with the ever-present FYMM (f*** you, Max Muncy) in the comment section. You’ll venture into territory I can’t even prepare you for if you geek out at Fangraphs.
No time like the present to get caught up on your lingo. Unless you don’t want to, in which case a well timed YOU SUCK when sitting in the bleachers still works wonders.
8. Familiarize yourself with the roster
Spring Training is a joyous time, but everyone utilizes it differently. Obsessing over the minutiae of the roster isn’t for everyone. There are plenty of you reading this who don’t have a great idea as to who will be on the Opening Day roster, and that’s completely fine. We all fan differently. Again: there’s no wrong way. Except rooting for the Dodgers.
Fangraphs has a great tool called RosterResource that you can look through to get a feel for the team’s depth chart, and familiarize yourself with the names you’ll see on Wednesday … and in April, May, and June. Get to know your guys: they’re about to break your heart, after all.
9. Make some bold predictions
Now is the time for bold predictions: we’re late enough into spring that they carry meaning, but early enough that they can easily be forgotten. Which means you can go wild. Making bold predictions in late March is like buying scratch-off tickets with someone else’s credit card: you get to enjoy the spoils of victory should things break your way, with no cost for the far-more-numerous defeats.
Head to the comment section, or to social media, or call your friends, and tell them your bold predictions for the season. If you predict that Patrick Bailey hits 20 home runs, the Giants win the World Series, and Casey Schmitt reinvents himself as an All-Star closer, you’ll look like a genius if PB somehow puts 20 balls over the fence, and no one will remember anything you said if the Giants win 70 games and Schmitt continues along as an infielder.
All glory, no accountability. Have at it.
10. Go toss a baseball around
This reads like the baseball equivalent of telling you to touch grass, but I really mean it. If you’ve got a ball, a mitt, and a friend, family member, or neighbor, go toss a ball around. Stand in the sun. Smell the grass. Take some Advil when your shoulder flares up after throwing 20 heaters at 45 mph. You’re not as young as you used to be. Don’t worry; I’m not either.
Michael Jordan, NBA Hall of Famer and co-owner of 23XI Racing, congratulates Tyler Reddick, center, after a NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday at Darlington Raceway. (Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
Hours after Kevin Durant knocked him out of the top five on the NBA's all-time scoring list , Jordan was all smiles as he walked to Victory Lane to greet Tyler Reddick after the driver's win Sunday at Darlington Raceway.
Reddick — who drives for 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by Jordan and veteran driver Denny Hamlin — joined NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott as the only Cup Series drivers to win four of the first six races in a season.
To do so, Reddick had to overcome a malfunctioning battery and a large deficit in the final 50 laps. Afterward, Jordan jumped the track's safety barrier to greet Reddick and his team with some hard high fives and enthusiastic cheers.
Walk to Victory Lane with Michael Jordan and celebrate Tyler Reddick’s Darlington win! pic.twitter.com/Yf9qVeflHI
“I think the key to him winning was just keeping his head,” Jordan said after the race. “We just had to get the car right, and I think he did an unbelievable job. I just wanted everything to be good, because once he gets back out there, then I feel like his competitive juices are going to carry him all the way to the end. He earned it all week, and I’m real proud of the team.”
Earlier this year, Reddick became the first NASCAR driver to start the season with three consecutive wins. He stands atop Cup Series standings, leading second-place Ryan Blaney of Team Penske by 95 points. Reddick's 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace is currently in third place.
One night earlier, Durant scored 27 points in the Houston Rockets' 123-122 victory over the Miami Heat to overtake Jordan for fifth place on the NBA's all-time leading scorer list. In his 18th season, Durant has 32,294 points — two more than Jordan, who played 13 seasons for the Chicago Bulls and two for the Washington Wizards. Durant and the Rockets play the Bulls in Chicago on Monday.
Jordan has yet to comment publicly on the matter, but Durant had plenty of praise for the man considered by many to be basketball's GOAT on Saturday during his postgame news conference.
“I’ve been inspired by all of these players that I’m either coming close to or passing up, and MJ is in a world of his own," Durant added. "He’s in a galaxy of his own as somebody that I look up to, respect and who basically shaped the game for me.”
Durant also pointed out that Jordan would have scored many more points had he not taken multiple seasons off during the span of his playing career.
"He left a few, I want to say, thousand or so points on the table, too, with the amount of games he missed," Durant said. "... He scored points quickly, man. So he set the bar high, and it’s pretty cool to reach that bar."
Mar 23, 2026; Mesa, Arizona, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) tries to stay cool against the Chicago Cubs in the second inning at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
With the Yankees already heading out west for the opening series of the regular season against the Giants, they decided to make a little pit stop along the way. On Monday, the Yankees were in Arizona to end their spring season, stopping for a pair of games against the Cubs.
As for the opener of those two games, well, at least this one didn’t count (and wasn’t televised). Starting pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange and pretty much everyone else the Yankees threw on the mound had a less-than-stellar day, as Chicago piled on the runs. The final tally ended up being a 15-6 Yankees loss.
The game actually started on a decent note, as the Yankees scored first. In the top of the first inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-out single to score Paul Goldschmidt, who had led off the game with a walk. In the bottom of the first, Lagrange allowed two singles to the first two Cubs hitters, but then got Alex Bregman to ground into a double play. While he was on the verge of escaping, Lagrange then allowed a walk to Ian Happ and then another single to Carson Kelly to tie things up. That started a very long day for the Yankees’ pitching staff.
The Cubs really got to Lagrange a couple innings later. After Nico Hoerner led off the inning with a single, Michael Busch and Bregman hit back-to-back homers. Following another hit from Kelly, Lagrange was replaced by Will Brian. Before Brian eventually got out of the inning, he allowed a three-run shot of his own to Matt Shaw.
As it’s still essentially spring training and things are a bit looser, the Yankees did bring back Lagrange for the fourth inning, but Chicago picked up another couple runs, which ended up on his final statline.
Lagrange’s final line ended up being eight runs allowed on nine hits and two walks in 2.2 innings. He did strike out four batters, and his overall spring was impressive enough that we’ll write this off as a bad day against a good MLB lineup. There’s a reason why he’s not yet a finished product, for as tantalizing as his stuff can be at his best.
After giving up 10 unanswered runs, the Yankees finally go one back in the fifth. With Paul Goldschmidt on third after a double and an Aaron Judge single, Cody Bellinger got one in the air, allowing Goldschmidt to tag up and score.
This was just not a day for the Yankees pitchers in general. In the sixth, Cade Winquest and Yerry De los Santos combined to allow another five runs in the sixth. The Cubs didn’t even kick the extra point, they went for two and got to 15 runs on the day.
One good thing did happen before the end of the game, though. Spencer Jones hit his fifth and sixth home runs of the spring, coming off a pair of MLB relievers in Phil Maton and Jacob Webb. Jones did help lead a brief rally in the ninth, but that did come up way short.
Eventually, Kervin Castro and Osvaldo Bido came in and put in some good efforts, making the day not a complete waste on the pitching front. The good news about the pitching situation is that no one of importance right now — Lagrange is obviously somewhat important, just not to the MLB team yet — pitched in this won. The likes of Winquest and De los Santos could end up on the roster, but they’re not going to be relied on for big innings at the moment.
The Yankees will wrap up their 2026 spring slate tomorrow with another game against the Cubs in Arizona. Gerrit Cole is scheduled to get the start in that one, with first pitch coming at 3:05 pm ET.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MARCH 09: Pitcher Aaron Ashby #26 of the Milwaukee Brewers throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix on March 09, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Real baseball is so close that it’s back in our home ballpark. The big league Brewers are back in Milwaukee, set to take part in the first of two final tune-ups against the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field (the big one).
As far as newsy items today, the Brewers confirmed who will start in each of their first six games, giving us a clear picture of what the rotation will look like to begin the season. Before today, the question still remained whether Kyle Harrison, who has been dealing with a blister, or Brandon Woodruff, who is being treated cautiously after finishing last season with a lat injury, would be healthy enough to start the season with the team. Today, we got that answer: yes, Harrison and Woodruff are scheduled to start the fourth and fifth games of the season, respectively. They’ll follow Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, and Brandon Sproat, who will start the games in the White Sox series to open the year.
Also, yesterday’s announced optioning of Shane Drohan and Robert Gasser and the impending injured-list designations for Quinn Priester, Rob Zastryzny, Craig Yoho, and Akil Baddoo mean that the Brewers’ Opening Day roster is essentially finalized, barring an unexpected injury between now and Thursday afternoon. (It has happened before! Knock on the nearest wooden object.) A quick rundown, with more analysis later this week:
Catchers: William Contreras and Gary Sánchez
Infielders: Andrew Vaughn, Jake Bauers, Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, Luis Rengifo, David Hamilton
Outfielders/DH: Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio, Brandon Lockridge, Garrett Mitchell, Christian Yelich
Relievers: Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, Jared Koenig, Ángel Zerpa, DL Hall, Grant Anderson, Easton McGee
As for tonight’s game, the Brewers are fielding a strong lineup — not unexpected, given that I assume most of the minor leaguers stayed behind or traveled elsewhere — a lefty-heavy group which could be a preview of the lineup they’ll use Thursday against Chicago’s Shane Smith. (If that’s the case, it looks like we might be in for more platooning between Ortiz and Hamilton than we may have expected.)
Defensively, though, there’s one curious note that I would not expect to see on Thursday, and that’s Christian Yelich in left field and Jackson Chourio as the designated hitter.
On the mound, it looks to be a big “final tune-up” day for a bunch of the guys in the Brewers’ bullpen: Aaron Ashby is scheduled to start, but all of McGee, Hall, Anderson, Koenig, Uribe, Zerpa, and Megill are listed as scheduled to pitch after Ashby. For those keeping track at home, that’s all eight of the roster’s projected relievers.
Brady Singer will start on the mound for Cincinnati. Speaking of odd DH decisions, Ke’Bryan Hayes — one of the league’s best defensive players and worst hitters — is the designated hitter for the Reds tonight. It might be in Milwaukee, but it’s still spring training.
First pitch at 6:40 p.m. No TV tonight, unfortunately; catch the game on the radio.
