Worldwide Sports News
Time/Place: 1:05 p.m., Joker Marchant Stadium – Lakeland, FL
SB Nation Site: Bluebird Banner
Media: Tigers Radio Network
Time/Place: 1:05 p.m., BayCare Ballpark – Clearwater, FL
SB Nation Site: The Good Phight
Media: MLB.TV
The St. Louis Cardinals continue their Spring Training schedule as they take on the New York Mets. According to MLB.com, Richard Fitts will start the game for St. Louis. This will be his first appearance in a game since he came to the Cardinals in the Sonny Gray trade early in the offseason.
After a three-day hiatus from our television screens, the Orioles are back on the air this afternoon with a MASN broadcast against the Rays. Trevor Rogers becomes the first O’s starter to make an encore appearance this spring after opening with two scoreless innings against the Yankees last Friday.
He’ll take on another AL East opponent today, though this Rays travel lineup bears little resemblance to the one they’ll use in the regular season. There are nearly no recognizable names in Tampa Bay’s order. The bottom of their lineup includes players like Tre’ Morgan, Raynel Delgado, Bradford Dill, and Tatem Levins. Those guys are so anonymous that I just made up one of those names and you don’t know which one!
The O’s, by contrast, have a lineup full of guys who will be on the Opening Day roster (aside from #9 hitter Weston Wilson, who is a long shot). Dylan Beavers will be making his first start in center field, something he’s done 70 times in his minor league career but never in the majors. Beavers isn’t considered a great defender in center, but if he can hold his own at the position, that would give the O’s some added flexibility in the outfield and allow Colton Cowser to get more rest. Today the Orioles are facing Brody Hopkins, one of the Rays’ top prospects.
Orioles lineup:
SS Gunnar Henderson
LF Taylor Ward
1B Pete Alonso
RF Tyler O’Neill
C Adley Rutschman
DH Ryan Mountcastle
2B Blaze Alexander
CF Dylan Beavers
3B Weston Wilson
LHP Trevor Rogers
MESA, Arizona — Wednesday notes…
Here are today’s particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Rockies lineup:
Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs. Other Cubs pitchers scheduled today: Cade Horton, Caleb Thielbar, Phil
Maton, Hunter Harvey, Luke Little and Jack Neely. It will be the first spring outing for Horton, Maton and Harvey.
Old friend José Quintana will start for the Rockies. Other Rockies pitchers scheduled today: Antonio Senzatela, Jaden Hill, Carson Palmquist and RJ Petit.
No TV or radio today.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Please visit our SB Nation Rockies site Purple Row. If you do go there to interact with Rockies fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
As we have done in the past, we’ll have a first pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time. For today, that will be 2 p.m. CT and 3:30 p.m. CT.
These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked ”Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher photos and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
First Pitch (CT):12:05
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN/Audacy App
Know Yo’ Foe: Over the Monster
| Twins | Red Sox |
| SP: Kody Funderburk | SP: Johan Oviedo |
| 1. Byron Buxton, CF | 1. Roman Anthony, DH |
| 2. Trevor Larnach, DH | 2. Cedanne Rafaela, CF |
| 3. Luke Keaschall, 2B | 3. Jarren Duran, RF |
| 4. Matt Wallner, RF | 4. Carlos Narvaez, C |
| 5. Ryan Jeffers, C | 5. Wilyer Abreu, LF |
| 6. Kody Clemens, 1B | 6. Nick Sogard, 3B |
| 7. Brooks Lee, SS | 7. Andruw Monasterio, SS |
| 8. Austin Martin, LF | 8. Nathan Hickey, 1B |
| 9. Gio Urshela, 3B | 9. Brendan Rodgers, 2B |
Offense, offense, and more offense — that’s been the name of the game for the South Siders this spring. The White Sox rolled into Wednesday’s action having smacked the most hits of any MLB team, sitting first in runs, doubles, and RBIs. So far, the Good Guys have prioritized contact over patience. While that aggression has kept the walk total at a modest 21, it’s also keeping the strikeouts down. At just 38 punchouts, they’re sitting in the bottom half of the league in K’s, ensuring they put the ball in play more often than not. It’s all added up to a team that currently sits atop the league in batting average, OPS, and slugging.
Leading that charge is catcher Edgar Quero, who’s slashing .667/.714/.833 and tops the squad with five RBIs. Quero, an offensive-first backstop, told CHSN’s Chuck Garfien last week that he spent his winter working on framing and defense, but we saw a bit of a lapse yesterday when he blew a rundown at third and threw it over Lenyn Sosa’s head. It’s exactly the kind of fundamental breakdown that has plagued this team for the last several years, and while Spring Training is for working out kinks, that’s the specific stuff that needs cleaning up.
Then there’s Swiss Army Knife Brooks Baldwin, who’s basically forcing his way onto the plane to Chicago at this point. Sporting a massive 1.143 SLG, he isn’t just making contact; he’s making noise. With that kind of production, Skipper Will Venable is going to have a hard time finding a reason not to pencil him into the 26-man roster come March.
As far as prospects are concerned, keep your eyes on William Bergolla. He’s 4-for-6 with two doubles and a bag. He doesn’t strike out, he plays solid middle infield and he’s got wheels. The 21-year-old came over in the Tanner Banks trade at the 2024 deadline. He’s the type of “high floor” contact hitter this lineup has desperately missed.
On the mound, it’s not all doom and gloom, though the contrast is noticeable. While the 3.43 ERA is solid enough for a top-five spot, the 1.52 WHIP shows the pitchers still shaking off some rust. However, the hurlers are at least missing bats, tied near the top of the pack with the Cubs at 49 strikeouts.
Today, we get the first Cactus League start for Davis Martin, the “glue guy” who is now the longest-tenured player on the team following the Luis Robert Jr. trade. Martin is coming off his first full year as a starter, having tossed 142 2/3 innings in 2025 with a 4.10 ERA. This season, we’re looking for his six-pitch mix to generate a few more “red” circles on the Statcast chart.
The Sox will face off against Nick Lodolo, who makes his spring debut for the Reds. Lodolo hasn’t quite hit those 7th-overall-pick expectations yet, but he’s coming off a strong 3.33 ERA season and features a heavy four-pitch arsenal. He has a pretty good curve and sinker that can really tie up hitters.
Here’s how the managers line up their teams this afternoon.
For your Chicago White Sox:
And for old friend Terry Francona’s Cincinnati Reds:
Now for the bad news: it’s a lean day for media coverage. The only way to follow the live action is through an MLB.TV or MLB+ subscription. If you’ve got one, you can tune into the Reds’ radio broadcast at 2:05 p.m. CST to see if the Sox bats can keep the heater going.
Today’s Jays’ game is not on TV, one of the few that aren’t on TV. The game is at Lakeland, Florida in the Tigers’ spring park, Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium which has to be up there on the list of longest ballpark names, as well as getting two sponsor names into it. It isn’t on MLB TV either. If you are really interested Sportsnet will carry a radio broadcast on their site (two minutes of thinking of subtle insults for anyone who would listen to a spring game on radio and I settle on interested. I have no imagination this morning). It has a 1:00 Eastern start time.
The Jay are sending a bunch of regulars to Lakeland. Google maps tells me that it is an hour and a quarter drive from Dunedin to Lakeland, which likely means it will be a 2 to 3 hour drive on the way back.
Today’s lineups:
It is too bad that we aren’t going get to watch it, I want every chance I can to see Kazuma Okamoto play third. I also like any chance to watch Jonatan Clase play center field.
We are going to get to see a lot of the prospects and the guys on the edge of making the Jays roster, later in spring training, because there are seven Jays going to the World Baseball Classic, as well as five minor leaguers. The Jays players will be spread across 11 WBC teams.
The players:
Minor leaguers (well, Yariel is a minor leaguer too:
The WBC starts on March 5th and runs til the 17th.
The Jays are bringing Trey Yesavage along slowly this spring. He won’t pitch in a spring game until next week. Trey threw a lot more innings last year than he had before and, not surprisingly, they want to be careful with him. Or at least as careful as you can be, while asking someone to throw a rock as hard as he possibly can, while making it spin as much has he possibly can.
I do often wonder how so many of them can make it through a season without injury.
As well, Ricky Tiedemann ‘experienced’ elbow soreness last year and will take a week off from throwing. MRI didn’t show any damage. A pitcher coming back from Tommy John will have some soreness, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. But it does show why there the team tries to grab up as many potential MLB pitchers as possible.
We weren’t expecting Tiedemann to break camp with the team or anything like that, even if there were to be a rash of injuries to our starting pitchers. I won’t worry unless they shut him down during the season.
Before spring training, I would have said said that Eloy Jiménez had almost no chance of making the Jays out of spring training. But, he’s looked terrific (in two games), he’s a right-handed bat and our outfield is fairly lefty heavy.
If he could play center, I’d say he had a good chance, because I’d rather have his bat than Myles Straw’s. But since he can’t, he’d have to beat out Davis Schneider and that would be tough. Schneider does have options left.
But would you rather have Eloy than Nathan Lukes? Lukes has an option year left. And we have Jesus Sanchez in front of him on the left-handed hitting corner outfielder depth chart. But then, Lukes can play center.
Jiménez can also play first base and will get some time there while Vlad is at the WBC.
Anyway, I’d have guessed Jiménez had about a 1% chance of making the team, before the start of spring, he must have a 30% chance now. Of course, he would have to make it through spring training without an injury and injuries have been his downfall.
After being shown Bo Bichette video of him booting some balls, early in spring training, I liked seeing this great play:
Joel Embiid returned from a prolonged four-game absence without looking like he missed a beat. He scored 27 points in 26 minutes as the Sixers rolled against a Pacers team whose injury report looked like a CVS receipt. We’ll see what he looks like against stiffer competition and when the games start piling up again, but it was an encouraging outing.
Tyrese Maxey also seems to have found his stride again. He dropped 39 this past Sunday in Minnesota and nearly recorded a triple-double in Indy. Most importantly — he got the entire four quarter off agains the Pacers. Rookie VJ Edgecombe is also looking like the All-Star break did him some good, averaging over 20 points a game over his last four.
After things appeared to be teetering a bit with four straight losses, the Sixers have won the last two. They still sixth in the East, but the Orlando Magic, who have been playing better, are tied in the loss column. The schedule doesn’t let up, as games against the Heat, Celtics and Spurs loom.
Hit me with your questions and comments below.
I also wanted to take everyone’s temperature on doing a sort of an AMA-style deal in The Feed. Basically I would sit in The Feed post for like an hour and get to as many questions as I can. If enough of you are into it, maybe we can make it a weekly thing.
Texas Rangers lineup for February 25, 2026 against the Cleveland Guardians.
We have another spring training game. Woo hoo!!!
The lineup:
Haggerty — 2B
Jansen — C
Helman — CF
Duran — SS
Wade — RF
Canha — LF
Bride — 1B
MacIver — DH
Martin — 3B
Nathan Eovaldi is the starter today.
The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions. Today, Graham Ruthven endeavors to answer three of them
The soccer news agenda hasn’t exactly been a picnic recently. Concerns over the hosting of World Cup matches in Mexico. Gianni Infantino cozying up to Donald Trump whenever he can. The fleecing of supporters planning to visit the US this summer. Is all this really worth it? But then there’s Bodø/Glimt.
Continue reading...
Everything felt heavy Tuesday night inside Crypto.com Arena. Not loud. Not electric. Just heavy.
The Lakers led the Magic for nearly 90 percent of the game. They built up multiple 12-point cushions. They shot over 48 percent from the field. Made more threes. Blocked more shots. On paper, it should have been a comfortable win.
Instead the paper will read 110-109 Magic. Another disappointing loss by the Lakers to a more physical team.
“I thought we played well enough to win tonight,” said Lakers head coach J.J. Redick. “We played hard enough to win.”
This wasn’t a loss to juggernauts like the Thunder or Spurs from the start of their homestand. This was an Orlando team hovering above .500 without Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner — two of their stars.
The Lakers were rested, they were at home. They were favored. This was supposed to be their bounce back game after an embarrassing loss to the Celtics with former legends putting them on blast.
Instead, it was another entry in the growing catalog of evidence that these Lakers are not contenders. They are pretenders wearing expensive clothes and jewelry.
“We need to be more consistent,” said Luka Doncic who finished with 22 points and 15 assists. “We should have won a couple more games [on this homestand].”
The Lakers had no answer for Paolo Banchero, who has struggled to regain his All-Star form this season. Nonetheless, he looked like an All-Star Tuesday night, bullying his way to 36 points like a man crashing a private party. He attacked a defense that continues to talk toughness but rarely delivers it.
Orlando outscored the Lakers 58-50 in the paint and out-rebounded them 47-39. They surrendered 12 offensive rebounds, including two on the game-winning putback by Wendell Carter Jr.
Magic win on a thrilling sequence!
— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2026
The biggest of @wendellcarter34's 12 boards and 20 points leads Orlando to its 6th win in 8 gameshttps://t.co/FhfOvkDuFspic.twitter.com/DSgFtR2CUU
“With their size and their strength you know it’s going to be a rock fight,” said Redick. “We lose points in the paint by eight in a one-point game. That’s the difference. We had more turnovers than them, and they had more offensive rebounds than us.”
If you’ve watched the Lakers over their eight-game homestand that saw them fall to 16-12 at home on the season, then you’ll notice a familiar pattern: jump out to an early lead, get outhustled and collapse in the second half.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Doncic started hot, but fizzled. He shot 8-for-24. He went 2-for-10 from three. He missed five free throws. His poor shooting from beyond the arc must have been in his head when he picked up his dribble and didn’t shoot on the game’s final play. Instead he passed to James who had to force an off balance fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer.
I’ll let you answer how that went.
The Lakers should have never lost this game. Not with three different closers on the court in James, Doncic, and Austin Reaves.
Every time Doncic had the ball in his hand late in the game his possessions devolved into isolation theater, everyone standing around waiting for brilliance instead of manufacturing advantage. The ball stopped moving. The oxygen thinned.
James was efficient — 8 for 13 for 21 points, including a dunk for the final Lakers points of the evening — but his five turnovers came at critical moments. The Magic scored 14 points off the Lakers 12 turnovers, Los Angeles only scored four. That’s basketball malpractice.
They led most of the night and yet it still felt like they were barely hanging on.
In early December, the Lakers were the second seed in the West. Now they sit 34-23, clinging to sixth, two games clear of the play-in undertow. They just finished an eight-game homestand and won four of them. Four. At home. In a conference that punishes hesitation.
Contenders slam the door. Pretenders admire the hinges.
The Lakers admired too much.
Orlando dictated terms on the glass and in the paint. The Lakers reacted instead of imposing their will. They played as if the game would simply tilt their way because it usually does for talented teams.
It doesn’t work that way in late February.
The Western Conference doesn’t care about potential. It cares about execution under pressure. And right now, this group tightens when the moment demands clarity.
Thursday in Phoenix looms large against a Suns team missing key stars. Another “should win.” Another trap disguised as opportunity. Win, and they give themselves breathing room. Lose, and the standings squeeze even tighter.
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Inside Crypto.com Arena, you could feel the doubt settling like dust in the rafters. Fans didn’t explode in anger. They exhaled in recognition. They’ve seen this movie before — double-digit lead, stalled offense, defensive lapses, one-possession heartbreak.
If the Lakers want to be taken seriously in May, then nights like this suggest they’re not even ready for March.
Talent alone does not make you a contender. Toughness does. Discipline does. Killer instinct does.
On Tuesday night, the Orlando Magic had all three.
The Lakers had none.
And that’s why they walked off their own floor pretending to be something they are not.
The Boston Celtics (38-19) wrap up a four-game road trip tonight at Ball Arena against the Denver Nuggets (36-22) in a battle of NBA heavyweights.
The Celtics have won each of the first three games on this West Coast road trip and four games in a row overall while the Nuggets have alternated wins and losses over their last six games.
Denver’s lack of consistency is in large part due to the absence of the injured Aaron Gordon (hamstring). Sunday night they lost in San Francisco to the Warriors, 128-117. The loss came in spite of another triple double from Nikola Jokic (35 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists).
Boston takes the court tonight after winning last night in Phoenix, 97-81. Jaylen Brown (knee) was out injured but Derrick White scored 22 and Sam Hauser was 4-10 from deepto pace the attack against a Suns’ team minus their starting backcourt of Dillon Brooks and Devin Booker.
With Brown’s availability in question for the Celtics, Denver’s ability to defend the perimeter will be that much more critical. No doubt they will rely on their efficiency from inside the arc and their rebounding in an attempt to counter Boston's 3-point heavy approach.
Lets take a closer look at the matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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The latest odds as of Wednesday courtesy of DraftKings:
This game opened Nuggets -3.5 with the Total set at 228.5.
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PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Cal Raleigh has already gone deep this spring, yet the switch-hitting Seattle Mariners catcher isn't focused on trying to hit 60 home runs again this season.
Raleigh, who had an MLB-leading 60 homers last year, hit a 427-foot homer against the Chicago White Sox in an exhibition game Tuesday. His first spring homer came in his third game.
“I think the elephant in the room is 60 home runs. That’s not something I’m setting out to do,” Raleigh told Seattle Sports this week. “To me, I’m just trying to be as consistent as possible, trying to do what I did last year.”
His 60 homers last season were the most for a player who was primarily a catcher, having started 119 games behind the plate and another 38 at designated hitter. The 29-year-old Raleigh, nicknamed “Big Dumper,” also had a career-high 125 RBIs and finished second in the American League MVP voting behind New York Yankees slugger and third-time winner Aaron Judge.
Judge and Raleigh are both set to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, which begins pool play next week. Judge set the AL record with 62 home runs in 2022.
They are among only seven players with a 60-homer season, and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa are the only ones to do so in consecutive seasons (1998 and 1999). McGwire and Sosa are the only players with multiple 60-homer seasons, and Sosa had a third in 2001.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
It’s Spring Training Game Thread time. Wooooo.
It’s the very “fun” matchup of Paul Skenes and Bryce Elder, but really, it’s an early Grapefruit League tuneup for both arms.
This game is one of the Spring Training games broadcast on Gray TV, and should be available via MLB.tv as well, regardless of where you are.
The Braves will start the regulars in a home game, as is their wont. The Pirates have kind of a half-and-half lineup as some of their starters are making the trip to North Port. The Braves will get their first look at Marcell Ozuna wearing Pittsburgh’s colors this afternoon.
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Yes, it’s on NESN at 1:05 PM.
It’s always fun when you get a first look at a new pitcher. It’s especially fun when that pitcher is a 6’6” beast of a man. And it’s even more fun when that beast of a man gets his size from his mother: “My mom is huge. I feel like I kind of got that from her. She’s like 5-11 I think but she’s like big and wide and huge legs. She’s a monster of (a) woman.”