Mar 18, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Lagrange (84) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the fifth inning during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
With Opening Day inching closer and closer, the Yankees are gradually dealing with some roster question marks, the latest of moves involving Angel Chivilli and Carlos Lagrange. The former was optioned to Triple-A while the latter was sent to minor-league camp.
Specializing in finding hidden gems with which to build their bullpen in recent seasons, the Yankees acquired Angel Chivilli from the Rockies via trade this offseason. The young right-hander who is coming off an atrocious 2025 campaign got knocked around enough in spring training to begin the year in the minors. On a positive note, he did strike out 10 batters in 6.2 innings of work, so something to keep an eye on. Chivilli was always going to be a bit of a relief project, so he’ll have time to polish his craft at Triple-A rather than potentially costing games in the process.
Despite impressing in spring, Lagrange, who’s never pitched above Double-A, was always likely to require more seasoning in the minors. The 22-year-old allowed just one run across 9.2 innings in three appearances, one of them a start. Lagrange’s last appearance was an incredibly exciting one, holding the Red Sox scoreless through four innings, sitting 99+ mph on his heater, and generating 11 whiffs on 29 swings. His presence and impact on the major-league team seem to be only a matter of time.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 13: Hayden Birdsong #60 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during Spring Training at Scottsdale Stadium on February 13, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Excitement is building for the San Francisco Giants, as Opening Day creeps ever closer … we’re just six days away, now. But unfortunately, the news on Thursday is anything but exciting: a few hours before the Giants play one of their final Cactus League games and their Spring Breakout contest, the Giants announced that right-handed pitcher Hayden Birdsong will undergo Tommy John surgery.
That seemed likely ever since the Giants revealed that Birdsong was sidelined with a UCL injury. Birdsong and the staff were openly weighing surgery against a lengthy rehab treatment, and opted for a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister. From there, the decision for surgery was made, and Meister will perform Tommy John on the team’s young starter next week.
It’s a huge blow for Birdsong, who was hoping to rebound from his brutal second half of 2025, and has as much talent as any pitcher in the Giants organization. And it’s quite a hit for a Giants team that is desperately hoping some of their young starting pitchers will step up and be able to fill in when the rotation needs it, while also bolstering the bullpen. They still have Trevor McDonald, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, and Carson Seymour, but after designating Mason Black for assignment, trading Kai-Wei Teng, and now losing Birdsong to injury, that depth has taken quite a hit.
On the bright side, Tommy John surgery is not the death sentence it once was for pitchers. These days, nearly every hard-throwing pitcher has to have TJ at least once in their career, and the vast majority return to pitch at their previous levels. If Birdsong needs reason to feel optimistic, he need just talk to the two pitchers at the top of the team’s rotation, Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. They’ve both been through it, and emerged with excellence on the other side.
But it will take a while. The surgery means that Birdsong won’t pitch at all this season, and is likely to miss the first few months of the 2027 season, as well. Given that his spot on the active roster is no sure thing, and that it could take him a while of rehab appearances to shake off the rust, it wouldn’t be surprising if Birdsong doesn’t pitch in the Majors again until 2028.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 14: Yordan Alvarez (44) of the Houston Astros bats during a spring training game against the New York Mets on March 14, 2026 at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Houston Astros (10-11-3) host the New York Mets (11-9-2) in Grapefruit League play.
RHP Peter Lambert (1-0) will make his second start and fifth appearance of the Spring tonight as he takes on Mets RHP Kodai Senga.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: RHP Peter Lambert gets his second start and fifth overall appearance of the Spring tonight. He has been solid this Spring, allowing just one run in 9.0 innings of work for a 1.00 ERA.
Lambert, who was signed as a minor league free agent in the offseason, spent the 2025 season playing in Japan for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of the NPB. In 23 appearances (22 GS) for the Swallows, he posted a 3.98 ERA (55ER/124.1IP).
Prior to his season in Japan, Lambert had been in the Rockies organization since being selected in the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft. While with the Rockies, he spent parts of four different seasons in the Major Leagues with stints in 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024. On June 6, 2019, Lambert had a record-setting ML debut, tallying nine K’s to set a franchise record for strikeouts in a debut.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 31: Kodai Senga #34 of the New York Mets in action against the Miami Marlins during the game at Citi Field on August 31, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Vincent Carchietta/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Mets lineup
Francisco Lindor – SS Juan Soto – LF Bo Bichette – 3B Jorge Polanco – 1B Luis Robert – CF Brett Baty – RF Marcus Semien – 2B Mark Vientos – DH Francisco Alvarez – C
SP: Kodai Senga – RHP
Astros lineup
Jose Altuve – 2B Isaac Paredes – 1B Yordan Alvarez – LF Carlos Correa – SS Cam Smith – RF Zach Cole – CF Christian Walker – DH Yainer Diaz – C Shay Whitcomb – 3B
SP: Peter Lambert – RHP
Broadcast info
First pitch: 6:05 PM EDT TV: Not this time Radio: Sorry, no
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: Coby Mayo #16 of the Baltimore Orioles tags out Nick Gonzales #39 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 11, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the field against the Baltimore Orioles looking to grab a win in Spring Training.
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Ryan Johansen has announced he is retiring from the NHL and professional hockey at the age of 33. Drafted in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft fourth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Johansen would go on to play over 900 games in the NHL, scoring 202 goals, 376 assists, and 578 points.
Johansen’s last season in the NHL was with the Colorado Avalanche in 2023-24, where, in 63 games, he scored 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points, six of which were power-play points, while averaging over 13 minutes of ice time per game.
His time with the Avalanche was not one to remember much fondly, as the team desperately needed a second-line center after Nazem Kadri left for the Calgary Flames, and J.T. Compher left as well.
He just came off a down season, scoring 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points in 55 games with the Nashville Predators, a significant drop from his 2021-22 season, when he scored 26 goals and 37 assists for 63 points.
A change in scenery was supposed to do good for Johansen, joining an Avalanche team coming off a Stanley Cup, despite losing some players to free agency and only having to move off Alex Galchenyuk in exchange. However, it did come with his hefty $8 million cap hit, but if he could bounce back more offensively and remain strong defensively, it could fill a massive hole as the cap could continue to rise, and the team could focus on other areas to improve.
Though his time with the Avalanche wouldn’t last long, as he was traded mid-way through the season to the Philadelphia Flyers in a package that saw Sean Walker and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Avalanche in exchange for Johansen and a 2025 first-round pick.
It was a cap dump the Avalanche had to make; the production wasn't there, and his defensive game couldn't keep up with the cap hit he brought along, though getting Sean Walker was a great addition.
It got messy for Johansen with the Flyers as they tried to move him down to the AHL. After a “material breach,” the Flyers opted to terminate his contract, but that only opened up a whole can of worms among him, the NHLPA, and the organization for trying to get his contract off the books.
Center Ryan Johansen, who played eight seasons with the Nashville Predators from 2015 to 2023, announced his retirement on Thursday.
During his time in Nashville, Johansen tallied 362 points (110 goals and 252 assists) in 533 games played and 48 points (17 goals and 31 assists) in 61 playoff games, helping the Predators reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history in 2017.
Over his NHL career, Johansen played in 905 games, recording 578 points (202 goals and 376 assists) with three teams: Columbus, Nashville and Colorado.
His Predators' point and assist totals both rank sixth all-time. Johansen also owns the record for fastest goal scored in franchise history, tied with David Legwand at 11 seconds.
Johansen played in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game and earned All-Star MVP honors, tallying two goals and two assists. That season, with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Johansen had a career-best 71 points in 82 games.
He was drafted fourth overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Johansen spent four and a half seasons in the Blue Jackets organization before he was traded during the 2015-16 season for defenseman Seth Jones.
Johansen was traded by the Predators to the Colorado Avalanche following the 2022-23 season for the rights to Alex Galchenyuk. He played 63 games in Colorado before he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers ahead of the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline and then placed on waivers.
He'd remain on the Flyers roster due to an unreported injury when he was acquired. Johansen was then placed on unconditional waivers following a breach of contract in the 2024 offseason.
Johansen had not played a game since the 2023-24 season.
John McGinn and Leon Bailey scored the goals that eased Villa into the quarters
2 min: … but that was a fast start by Villa, and they’ve clearly been told to get right into Lille during the early exchanges. They’re first to everything at the moment. Small sample size, admittedly.
1 min: Abraham gets lively quickly. He steals the ball off a snoozing Bouaddi and feeds McGinn down the inside-left channel. McGinn attempts something spectacular from distance. It doesn’t come off, dribbling harmlessly wide right.
Forest made their first European quarter-final in 30 years, wining 2-1 on the night and 3-0 on penalties to set up a last-eight meeting with either Porto or Stuttgart
Question: what is the exact thing the Premier League – and wider world of football – does not need?
The Mets are still going into Opening Day with the plan for Bichette to be the everyday third baseman, but he will get some time at shortstop this weekend.
Mendoza said the plan is for Bichette to play Friday afternoon's game at short, which could hint at some roster decisions the club has to make.
“Just kinda get him a game there, that’s his position,” Mendoza said. “But as we get closer to decision-making, right? I think it was important for Bo to get some reps there in case we do go that route, where he could potentially be our back-up shortstop.”
Earlier on Thursday, the club announced Ronny Mauricio was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, meaning the Mets will likely not carry an extra shortstop on the roster with Francisco Lindor set to start the season on time after coming back from hand surgery earlier this spring.
Mendoza credited Bichette for his willingness, after Lindor’s injury, to make himself available to whatever role may be asked of him.
“Not knowing the expectations and the timetable [of Lindor’s return], he was very open to say, ‘Hey, I know third base is going to be the priority, but I can always go back and play short, I can play second, whatever the team needs,” the skipper said. “It goes to show you that he’s willing to do whatever we’re asking him to do.
“That’s why we’re giving him a game [at shortstop] tomorrow.”
And speaking of Opening Day, Friday's lineup of Lindor, Juan Soto, Bichette, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr., Brett Baty, Marcus Semien, Mark Vientos, and FranciscoAlvarez might be as close to the one the manager sends out next Thursday against Pittsburgh.
Mendoza said “there’s a good chance” a lot of those same players get the nod, adding, “It’s pretty close.”
Back from his start in the WBC Final, the young right-hander is set to throw on Monday at Mets camp, which would line him up to pitch the second game of the regular season on Saturday.
Mendoza called it a “great experience” for the 24-year-old to get some high-intensity innings in the WBC.
“I thought he was really good that day,” the manager said of McLean’s 4.2-inning outing against Venezuela. “I’m glad that we saw the 98, 99 [mph] early in camp, because if not, I was gonna be jumping off the couch when I was watching it.
“But just how he handled the whole environment. An unbelievable experience for him that is going to continue to set him up for success. Coming back now, a full year here, hopefully gonna keep him healthy… I was proud of him, as well.”
Senga, who is making the start in Friday night’s game, will hang back in Port St. Lucie after the Mets break camp to get an additional bit of work in before re-joining the Mets on Opening Day and making his regular-season debut, Mendoza said.
The skipper added that they are still "in the beginning of having those discussions" about setting up the rotation beyond Freddy Peralta starting on Opening Day, but they "have an idea."
The New York Islanders officially announced on Thursday that they intend to move their AHL affilaite, the Bridgeport Islanders, to Hamilton, Ontario, following the 2025-26 season.
The
The team will be set to play in the newly renovated TD Coliseum, which just underwent a $300 million renovation and seats 18,000 fans. The hope is to attract more talent to the Islanders organization, as the team will play in a more promising hockey environment, which Bridgeport could not compete with.
Hamilton offers a much better venue and a stronger hockey market.
The move will have to wait for approval from the AHL board of governors.
Here's the release:
"On behalf of the entire New York Islanders organization, I want to extend our deepest thanks to the City of Bridgeport and the incredibly loyal fans who have supported this team for the past 25 years," said Kelly Cheeseman, President of Business Operations for the Islanders and UBS Arena. "From the early days of the Sound Tigers to our time as the Bridgeport Islanders, this community has been the heart of our AHL operations. We are grateful for the memories, the partnerships, and the passion the fans in Connecticut have shown our players and staff."
"We are excited to make Hamilton our primary affiliate in the American Hockey League," said Mathieu Darche, General Manager and Executive Vice President of the Islanders. "The support the city has shown our organization throughout this transition has been incredible. We look forward to having our top young talent play in front of such a strong fanbase inside the newly renovated, world-class TD Coliseum and we are committed to establishing ourselves in the community to engage a new generation of hockey fans."
Feb 27, 2026; Jupiter, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter JJ Wetherholt (77) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the New York Mets during the fourth inning at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
The St. Louis Cardinals Spring Breakout Game will feature JJ Wetherholt, Rainiel Rodriguez and Liam Doyle on the mound as they take on the Washington Nationals starting at 3:30pm. The game should be available through MLB.tv.
TAMPA, FL - MARCH 18: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 of the New York Yankees throws the ball to fans during the game against the Boston Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 18, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A lot of the attention in the sporting world — including occasionally that of your humble author — was elsewhere on Thursday afternoon, with the start of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. However, even with the World Baseball Classic having come to a close, there’s still plenty of spring training action left to go before the regular season gets going.
For the Yankees on Thursday, we got double the action. The Yankees were in split-squad mode today, as they took on a pair of AL East foes. Half of the team hosted the Orioles, while the other half made the trip to take on the Blue Jays. For much of the day, it seemed like both games were headed for Yankees’ losses, but a late rally in the home game gave them a split for the day.
Yankees 5, Orioles 4
Despite a couple RBI — including a homer — from Giancarlo Stanton, it appeared as though the Yankees were going down in this one. However, a ninth inning rally allowed the Yankees to tie the game and then win it, ensuring that they would split Thursday’s games.
Running out the stronger of the two lineups, the home Yankees’ team struck early against the Orioles. With Trent Grisham on third after leading off with a single, and then moving over thanks to a Jazz Chisholm Jr. walk and a balk, Giancarlo Stanton got one in the air and deep enough for Grisham to tag up and score.
Baltimore struck back to overtake the Yankees over the next couple innings. In the second, a two-run homer from Colby Mayo gave the O’s the lead, and a Adley Rutschman single tacked on another run the following inning.
The Yankees eventually got one of those runs back in the sixth, courtesy of Stanton. He continued his impressive spring with a trademark “how the hell did that get out?” blast to get the Yankees back within a run.
Max Fried got the start for the Yankees in this one, and wasn’t his sharpest self. He ended up going five innings, but allowed three runs on five hits and four walks. Holding Baltimore to three runs despite the rest of those numbers is solid, at least.
The teams later traded runs in the eighth, which left the Yankees still down a run going into the ninth. There, prospect Garrett Martin hit a game-tying home run. After that, Roderick Arias drew a walk, with Coby Morales then singling him to third. That brought Ali Sánchez to the plate, and he flied out deep enough to center for Arias to score, giving the Yankees a walk-off win after doing not much for most of the game.
The other half of the Yankees hit the road to take on a strong Blue Jays’ lineup. Said strong lineup had absolutely no issue with the Yankees, pounding them both offensively and pitching-wise in an 11-0 win.
In Dunedin, the Blue Jays quickly got on the board. In the second at-bat in the bottom of the first, Daulton Varsho homered off Ryan Weathers to give Toronto the early lead. Then in the third, some Jays’ regulars added on. With George Springer and Varsho already on after hits, Vladmir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger each added RBI single to put them further in front.
Then in the fourth, the Blue Jays fully put things away. Springer took Weathers deep for a grand slam, knocking the pitcher out of the game. It was another less than stellar day for Weathers. In 3+ innings, he allowed seven runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out five, but his ERA for the spring now sits at over 11.
However even after Weathers, the Yankees’ bullpen didn’t exactly perform either. While he did finish off the fourth inning, Kervin Castro started the fifth and failed to record an out before Cade Winquest replaced him. Winquest then allowed a couple more hits, including a Andrés Giménez homer, and added in a wild pitch for good measure. Toronto put up another four spot, going up by double digits in the process.
Meanwhile, other than Amed Rosario, no guaranteed regular position players made the trip to Dunedin. Rosario himself had two hits, but the rest of the lineup combined for just one more, as the Blue Jays truly crushed the Yankees in this one.
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA - MARCH 15, 2024: Yohandy Morales #35 of the Washington Nationals warms up prior to a spring training Spring Breakout game against the New York Mets at Clover Park on March 15, 2024 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
One of my favorite events of Spring Training is the Spring Breakout game. It is a great chance for fans to see some of their team’s top prospects. The Spring Breakout game is here and the Nationals have an impressive lineup. Both the Nats and the Cardinals have much improved farm systems.
The Nats lineup is headlined by first overall pick Eli Willits, who is leading off and playing shortstop. Willits is such a polished player for being just 18 years old, and we will get to see him today. Gavin Fien, the headliner of the MacKenzie Gore trade will be hitting behind him. We will also get a look at Seaver King. One prospect who has impressed this spring is Ronny Cruz, and he will be playing third base. Hard-throwing righty Davian Garcia will be on the mound, but we should see plenty of pitchers.
— Nationals Player Development (@Nats_PlayerDev) March 19, 2026
JJ Wetherholt is a strong candidate to open the season in the MLB, but he will be in the Cardinals Spring Breakout lineup. Teenaged catcher Rainiel Rodriguez is another player to watch on the Cardinals side. Joshua Baez is also a top 100 guy after a breakout year in 2025. Liam Doyle, who was the fifth overall pick last year will be on the mound for the Cardinals.
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) March 19, 2026
Game Info:
Stadium: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium
Time: 4:30 PM EST
TV: MLB Video
Radio: N/A
As I said up top, I really do love this event. It is a great way to showcase young talent. This is also an opportunity for prospects to make a statement heading into their seasons. That gets me fired up. Follow along down below and let’s go Nats prospects!
Erie SeaWolves starting pitcher Andrew Sears throws during an Eastern League playoff baseball game against the Altoona Curve at UPMC Park in Erie on Sept. 18, 2025. | GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
While the Tigers’ rotation is currently set, and they appear to have starting depth both among their relief corps and at the Triple-A, they don’t have much in the way of actual starting pitching prospects to help them this year. The most advanced of the bunch are left-handers Jake Miller and our 11th ranked prospect, lefty Andrew Sears. Miller is working his way back from offseason hip surgery. Sears is another somewhat underrated college draft pick who has refined his game and is now set to tackle Triple-A with a chance to make an impact sometime this season.
The 23-year-old is another example of the Tigers extensive scouting in the northeast, an area some teams neglect as it isn’t generally a major hotbed for pro talent. They spent their sixth round pick in 2023 on Sears, drafting him out of Connecticut and signing him for $167,500, just slightly over the minimum bonus. That was money well spent as Sears has really broken out over the past two seasons.
On draft day, Sears was a low-90’s crafty lefty type with solid secondary pitches and good control. Over the past two years, he’s built velocity and he’s also really sharpened his slider and changeups into weapons.
Sears started out with a solid campaign for the Lakeland Flying Tigers in his 2024 full season debut. At those levels, the number of lefties who are refined enough to locate their fastball and show solid secondaries isn’t that great, and advanced southpaws tend to do well. The bigger tests come when they start facing more experienced hitters in High-A and at the Double-A level, and that was what Sears had to tackle in 2025. He handled that test pretty well while showing improved stuff with all three of his main offerings.
With the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps in 2025, Sears gave a deep pitching staff with numerous older minor leaguers some real presence. He works quickly and with a lot of intensity, rarely stepping off the mound for even a moment. He gets the ball back, stares in while sometimes muttering what we’ll term “encouragement” to himself for a beat, rocks and fires. As soon as the catcher throws it back he’s on the rubber again, staring in and waiting on hitters to dig back into the batter’s box. He’s an intense competitor and the psycho vibes and quick pace are pretty fun to watch.
Sears works from a low three-quarters slot with a fastball mix that touches 96-97 mph but is more typically 93-94. He gets plenty of life on the fourseamer and from a low release point he has a good angle to the top of the zone to get whiffs and weak contact in the air. He’ll use plenty of sinkers too, with the horizontal break augmented by good, late sink, but he’s not necessarily a ground ball pitcher and tends to get a pretty even mix of contact, though most of the contact in the air is really weak and he pops guys up pretty routinely. He’s pretty adept at working both sides of the plate and likes to jam right-handers inside, though he’ll sometimes tail fastballs back over the middle of the plate or hang his secondaries where they can launch them.
Sears struck out 27.2 percent of hitters with the Whitecaps, with a decent walk rate of 8.4 percent. His home run rate was fine at 0.87 HR/9, but a little higher than you’d like at that level. Still, he posted a 2.95 ERA with a 3.70 FIP in his first look at the High-A level, and since he was a little on the young side on draft day, it was only his age 22 season. Altogether it was a pretty nice success, though a short look at the Double-A level saw him hit a little more, as you’d expect. Overall, he threw 111 innings between the two levels, a nice progression in workload, with a combined 3.49/3.61 FIP.
His best weapon is a sweeping slider in the mid-80’s with good two plane movement. Sears is already pretty consistent with it, with the best ones showing plus and drawing a lot of whiffs. He has some feel for adding depth or sweep depending on the count and the hitter, and is adept at stealing strikes at the bottom of the zone with it too. His other pitch that flashes above average is a good circle changeup with nice velocity separation and a lot of late depth. He’ll still lose command of it at times and when he does it turns into a meatball without much depth, but there was less and less of that over the course of his 2025 campaign. When Sears is strafing the edges with sinkers and then playing the changeup off it effectively he is pretty tough to deal with. He can also mix in a curveball and a cutter at times, though he streamlined his pitch mix mainly to fastball, slider, changeup last year.
At this point, Sears has the stuff to be a major league starter. There just isn’t a ton of margin for error in his command. The fastball combo is pretty average, though a little better when he’s at the top of his velocity band. However, when he’s commanding his mix well he is very tough to deal with. He sets up on the third base side, and generates some deception with his crossfire delivery and low arm slot. It’s a classic, funky lefty delivery, but it does make it tricky to repeat and Sears’ velocity tends to rise and fall with how locked in his delivery is from start to start. When he makes mistakes out over the plate with the fastball, the raw stuff is usually enough to avoid them getting barrelled up, but that won’t be the case in the upper minors. When Sears is throwing first pitch strikes, locating reasonably well, and staying out of hitters’ hot zones, they’re in a bad place against him.
The lack of a dominant fastball or precision command is probably going to keep Sears from tracking like a future mid-rotation arm. Instead, he still profiles best as a spot starter/swingman type. However, he could be really valuable in that role. He handles right-handers well, and if his fastball command is a little sharper in the years ahead, a future full-time role as a depth starter isn’t out of the question. He holds runners well and shows what used to be called moxie in tough situations, continuing to attack the strike zone with a lot of aggression. In short, he has all the traits of a versatile lefty swingman, but with enough gas to throw it by good lower level hitters as well.
The Double-A jump isn’t quite the major separator it was a few years ago, but for left-handed pitchers it’s still a major hurdle in particular. Lower level hitters just haven’t seen many good lefties and there tend to be more easy outs in lineups for a good southpaw until the better A-ball hitters funnel up to Double-A. We haven’t seen him in major league camp, but there’s no report of a major injury either, so we’ll assume he’s dealing with something minor for now. Sears will start the season in Erie when he’s ready, and if his command ticks up a little more he should reach Triple-A with a chance to help the Tigers out later on in the summer. His real ETA is 2027, but if the Tigers decide they need his versatility in the bullpen he could certainly move more rapidly.
