Category: Sports News

Shortly before the 2025 All-Star break, a combination of personal tragedy, injury, and on-field struggles had Colorado Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle on the back foot.

The Rockies’ most-valuable player in 2024 with 4.0 wins above replacement per Baseball Reference, Doyle ended the first half as baseball’s least valuable qualified player. Worth -2.0 rWAR as late as July 5th, both his bat and his glove suffered under the weight of poor performance.

The two-time Gold Glove winner out of Division II Shepherd University had been proclaimed the Rockies’ potential franchise center fielder before the season started. Before the trade deadline there were serious concerns about his future in Rockies purple.

“It was a bumpy year for me,” Doyle told Purple Row on Saturday, “and just being able to reset after those lows and get back to those highs was the biggest thing and finding ways to do that.”

Doyle indeed found the highs again in the second half. He turned things around both at the plate and on defense in the final 56 games of the season to finish with a positive wins-above-replacement score.

Looking much more like the Brenton Doyle of 2024, the center fielder looks to continue his “reset” and help the Rockies find their way forward in 2026 after an organizational overhaul.

“I just want to win some games,” Doyle explained of his goals for 2026. “Honestly, my personal goals are always going to intertwine with the team goals, and that’s to win more more games for this ball club.”

The Rockies finished 2025 with a brutal 43-119 record. Losing only 100 games would mark a substantial improvement for a rebuilding ball club looking to establish a solid foundation.

As part of the off-season program, manager Warren Schaeffer wanted some players—such as Kyle Karros and Ryan Ritter—to bulk up.

“Guys lose weight, especially here in altitude, and when a young player loses his weight, and he’s not accustomed to playing a long season with that toll on your body, it’s just not a good combination,” Schaeffer explained at the end of the 2025 campaign.

For Doyle, that’s already part of his regular routine. Patrolling the cavernous outfield at Coors Field is an exhausting job. Doyle lost over 20 pounds during his Gold Glove rookie season in 2023 and was reported to have lost over 10 pounds during the course of the 2025 season.

“I always try to work on my speed, putting on weight,” Doyle said. “I lose so much playing center field during the season. So [I worked on] packing on some good weight and just always trying to stay fast.”

During the off-season, Doyle also worked with his personal hitting instructor Kevin LaChance in Virginia. LaChance is a former minor league player and is currently a minor league hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. This coming season he will be the hitting coach for the High-A Great Lakes Loons.

Doyle has experimented with and adjusted his hitting mechanics since his rookie year, often in real time during the regular season. He credited mechanical adjustments made mid-season last year with helping him find his form at the plate again.

“It just eliminated the move I naturally make in my swing,” Doyle said. “And maybe that’s helped me get to some pitches (against right-handers) I was a tad bit late on in the past … It was something I did throughout my whole minor league career, and then last year I made a swing change. And then this year, I went back to what was more comfortable for me, and it’s been good.”

Doyle hit .282/.307/.462 through the last 56 games of the 2025 season with 11 doubles, eight home runs, nine stolen bases, and 27 RBIs. He felt confident enough to not make any additional major changes over the off-season.

“Nothing too major this year, just some very, very subtle changes,” Doyle said of his work with LaChance.

Now that spring training is fully underway, Doyle has praised the new coaching staff assembled by Schaeffer and new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta.

“It’s been awesome,” he said. “I’ve had some really good conversations with with them. We have a really good plan in place and and we’re all on the same page, which is awesome.”

A major part of that plan in place is a focus on fundamentals. This includes Doyle’s work with new first base outfield coach Doug Bernier alongside the rest of the outfield group.

“A lot of stuff we’ve been working on has been reaction stuff. So just making sure we’re making the right first quick step, [and that] moves are super efficient. That’s basically been the focus of the work so far.”

Doyle made his first appearance of the Cactus League on Saturday afternoon against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He started in center field and went 3-for-3 at the plate with two doubles and three RBIs.

“I just had a good game playing against the guys I was facing,” Doyle said after the game. “I [was trying] to stay as stubborn as possible up there at the plate, getting the pitches I wanted to swing at and put some good swings on everything I fired at.”

Brenton Doyle is one of just a handful of Rockies guaranteed a single starting spot for the upcoming season, but his future with the Rockies has yet to be set in stone. He could be extended as the franchise center fielder for the foreseeable future, or he could be traded at the deadline to clear way for younger players and help restock the farm.

Whichever path the 2026 season leads him down, his reset from a miserable start to 2025 will continue to be a critical part of the Rockies’ season.

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Karros’ goal? Becoming one of MLB’s top third baseman | MLB.com

After making his debut last season, prospect third baseman Kyle Karros is off to a solid start this spring. However, he isn’t aiming for just solid. Karros would like to continue the Rockies’ tradition of turning out superstar third baseman.

Slugging Rox prospect Condon impressing Schaeffer with versatility | MLB.com

Top prospect Charlie Condon made his Cactus League debut over the weekend in an unexpected way: by starting in right field for the first time in his professional career. Condon had two hits on the day and impressed skipper Warren Schaeffer with his preparation.

“I figured I wasn’t going to be playing only first base while I was here at camp,” said Condon, who also logged 11 games in left field and five at third base last season. “This offseason, I did some outfield work — drop-step stuff — just knowing that.”

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Anne Rogers writes that Vinnie Pasquantino knows he has to get off to a good start this year.

While the hamstring strain Pasquantino suffered at the end of Spring Training last year may have had an impact, he was more concerned about the swing decisions he was making during that month.

“It’s not about getting hits or results but more about what it looks like,” Pasquantino said. “That’s what I didn’t like about that month — why am I swinging on all these backfoot sliders? Why am I swinging at this? Why am I swinging at that? It was more about what I can do to clean up the decision-making earlier in the year. It seems to be that when it gets later in the year and we’ve seen so many pitches, that piece gets a little bit easier.”

She also writes about the roster battles in camp, such as the fifth starter spot in the rotation.

“That’s been one of my things that I think I haven’t utilized enough,” Kolek said. “And then just quality two-strike pitches, whether it’s spin to my glove side or changeups, just the ability to execute those at a higher level and have more competitive pitches over the plate and near the zone.”

While Noah Cameron is viewed as having the advantage for the fifth spot in the rotation, the Royals do want to give Kolek, Falter and Bergert, along with the other starters building up, a true chance at earning a spot. Falter is out of Minor League options, so he could find a spot in the bullpen. If Kolek and/or Bergert aren’t in the MLB rotation, the Royals probably want them starting in Triple-A to preserve the depth.

Bailey Falter has a different perspective now that he has become a father.

“Obviously I’d like to land one of those starting rotation roles,” Falter said. “But honestly, after having my son, it doesn’t matter to me. Whatever the team needs. If you want me in the bullpen, you want me to start, you want me to piggyback, it doesn’t matter. Whatever I need to do to help this team win the division, win the pennant, get to the postseason. Whatever the team needs, I’m cool with it.”

Jaylon Thompson writes how Lane Thomas is looking to get right with regular playing time.

“(I just want) to be consistent again,” he said. “I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries the last two years — in 2024 and 2025. Just want to be consistent on the field every day and, you know, be myself again.”

Thomas has an avenue to get consistent at-bats. The Royals like to utilize their entire roster and that gives him a chance to stick in the lineup.

The Royals were all hugs when they played Freddy Fermin and the Padres.

Team USA’s hockey win over Canada for the gold had the Royals talking hockey.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep writes what Kolek can do to make the rotation.

Preston Farr at EightOneSix gives his Royals minor league predictions.

Dan Laurila at Fangraphs quizzes Jeff Montgomery about his career.

Cleveland signs first baseman Rhys Hoskins to a minor league deal.

Twins pitcher Joe Ryan has lower back inflammation and will get an MRI.

The Cardinals sign infielder Ramon Urías to a one-year deal.

Boston is looking for left-handed relief depth.

The Dodgers claim outfielder Jack Suwinski off waivers from the Pirates.

Ronald Acuña Jr. will bat lead-off for the Braves this season.

Jorge Polanco wants to talk to Keith Hernandez about playing first base.

Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski dies at age 89.

A Yankees spring training game is marred by leaking sewage at the field.

A newly discovered T206 Honus Wagner card goes for $5 million at auction.

A look back at how the Seattle Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers.

Kiley McDaniel at ESPN ranks his top draft prospects.

Norway tops the Olympics medal count, but the US wins its most golds ever.

Indiana could be luring the Chicago Bears across the state line.

Americans spend less of their income on food than ever before, so why doesn’t it feel that way?

Why do small dogs shiver so much?

People are buying iPods again.

Your song of the day is James Brown with People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul.

Brycen Mautz is a hard player to place, because scouts don’t really seem to believe in him, believe that he has enough good pitches to start, and yet statistically speaking, it seems hard not to believe in him. In a hitter friendly league, he struck out over 28% of batters, didn’t walk many, and had a reasonable groundball rate. His only real flaw was he allowed a few extra homers over what you’d like, but I refer you back to the hitter friendly league. He’ll be 24 in AAA and on the doorstep of the majors. He’s also on the 40, so if he performs, we’ll probably see him in the majors this year. Here is the list right now:

1. JJ Wetherholt
2. Liam Doyle
3. Rainiel Rodriguez
4. Quinn Mathews
5. Jurrangelo Cjintje
6. Joshua Baez
7. Leonardo Bernal
8. Jimmy Crooks
9. Brandon Clarke
10. Tink Hence
11. Tekoah Roby
12. Tanner Franklin
13. Brycen Mautz

Comparable Player Poll

Today, we’re tackling two players who will be in Memphis in the upcoming season (well probably in one player’s case) and yet few expect to actually make much of a difference in 2026. Both have at one time been considered legit prospects and have fallen out of favor for different reasons. They differ in that one is an outfielder who can maybe play center and the other is a first basemen that can maybe play third.

Chase Davis had a 105 wRC+ in Springfield, although it came with an elevated K rate and not much power. Fangraphs gives him a 55 future grade on his defense so it is within the realm of possibility that he comes a defense-first player. But it’s defense in the minor leagues, so who knows. He will be 24

Blaze Jordan had a 167 wRC+ in AA on his third attempt at the level, getting promoted by June to AAA. While he played reasonably well initially, his numbers tanked as a Cardinal and he ended up with an 83 wRC+ in AAA for the season. He will not strike out nor walk very much, so the question is how much power he’ll have at next level. He will be 23.

VOTE HERE

New Add

If you had told me that I’d add Chen-Wei Lin into the polling on the 14th vote, I would have expected people to have been clamoring for him to be on the voting at least a little bit. But nobody has complained. I even put him in the comparable player poll, so it’s not like he was forgotten. Anyway, I thought it was about time for last year’s #11 prospect to be on the voting, despite somewhat of a down year.

Jesus Baez, IF – 21

Stats (High A): 416 PAs, .244/.327/.397, 10.3 BB%, 18.5 K%, .153 ISO, .270 BABIP, 116 wRC+, 121 DRC+

Scouting (FG): 30/45 Hit, 35/50 Game Power, 50/55 Raw Power, 40/40 Speed, 40/45 Fielding

The biggest weakness, near as I can tell, is that Baez is immature. He is also about to be 21-years-old. I’ll be very interesting to see how Baez pans out specifically because I kind of want to know how much weight to put on when a scout like Keith Law essentially goes after his character. It’s one sample, so I shouldn’t use his example for all prospects like him but nonetheless I really am not sure how to handle it.

Nathan Church, OF – 25

Stats (AA): 129 PAs, .336/.380/.563, 6.2 BB%, 7.8 K%, .227 ISO, .327 BABIP, 157 wRC+, 136 DRC+

AAA: 242 PAs, .335/.400/.521, 9.9 BB%, 10.3 K%, .186 ISO, .338 BABIP 144 wRC+, 132 DRC+

MLB: 65 PAs, .179/.254/.250, 4.6 BB%, 27.7 K%, .071 ISO, .237 BABIP, 46 wRC+, 78 DRC+

Scouting: 55/55 Hit, 35/35 Game Power, 40/40 Raw Power, 55/55 Speed, 45/45 Field

Will Nathan Church get the spring training boost after hitting a homer? If that exists, I imagine one plate appearance probably isn’t doing it. But it will be curious to see if spring training does in fact impact how people vote. Ignore the 45 fielding rating, that seems to be really outdated, can’t imagine they’ve seen Church field recently or… look at his numbers? I don’t know.

Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP – 19

Stats (CPX): 6 G, 20.2 IP, 31.6 K%, 9.2 BB%, 51.2 GB%, .205 BABIP, 0.44 ERA/2.41 FIP/3.29 xFIP

Low A: 13 GS, 51.1 IP, 27.8 K%, 9.4 BB%, 50 GB%, .326 BABIP, 2.98 ERA/2.50 FIP/3.14 xFIP

Scouting: 40/45 Fastball, 55/60 Slider, 30/50 Change, 35/50 Command

Roster Resource currently lists Fajardo in Low A, which I assume is because of his age. He certainly played well enough to get promoted though. But it also might just be because someone has to pitch in Low A. The amount of starting pitching prospects who could pitch in High A to begin the season is a greater number than can actually start in High A at the beginning. Or so I would think. I expect him there soon enough in any case and expect him to throw a lot of his innings at High A.

Ixan Henderson, 24 – LHP

Stats (AA): 25 GS, 132 IP, 25.2 K%, 9.6 BB%, 37.1 GB%, .278 BABIP, 2.59 ERA/3.16 FIP/4.00 xFIP/4.51 DRA

Scouting: 50/60 Fastball, 45/50 Slider, 30/40 Change, 40/45 Cutter, 40/50 Command

I’ve mentioned this before and I don’t know how accurate the scouting is, but I am surprised his pitch profile supports a potentially great reliever if this starting thing doesn’t work out. I viewed him from the outside as similar to a Max Racjcic, where he might be a long reliever, but it doesn’t seem like high leverage is in his future. But a 60 potential fastball with a 50 potential slider is a strong 1-2 punch, especially with command. And sometimes all you need is a strong 1-2 punch in the bullpen to be great.

Cooper Hjerpe, 25 – LHP

Didn’t pitch

Scouting: 55/55 Fastball, 55/60 Slider, 50/50 Change, 45/50 Cutter, 45/50 Command

I hesitate to say this about a pitcher drafted in 2022 who has a career professional high of 52 innings, but he had his Tommy John surgery in April of last year, so he should be able to pitch quite a bit this year. With a normal recovery, you’d think he would be able to match his career high in professional innings. He is on the 40 man roster, so a good recovery and we might see him this year. Totally makes sense why you wouldn’t trust this though.

Chen-Wei Lin, 24 – RHP

Stats (Low A): 12 GS, 38.2 IP, 27.2 K%, 17.2 BB%, 50 GB%, .283 BABIP, 4.89 ERA/3.69 FIP/4.17 xFIP

High A: 4 GS, 9.2 IP, 41.7 K%, 18.8 BB%, 50 GB%, .412 BABIP, 9.31 ERA/4.80 FIP/2.76 xFIP

What a crazy season. Limited by injuries – you’ll notice the innings per start is pretty low – he struggled with control all season. Walked a lot of guys. But he also struck out a lot of guys and I actually find it crazy that he struck out 20 of the 48 batters he faced in Springfield. Other things went wrong, but that’s a lot of strikeouts. I’d like his stats a lot more if he had thrown 5 innings per start.

Ryan Mitchell, 19 – OF

I do not have stats to share with you – I’m sure I can find high school stats, but they aren’t a lot of use on this kind of list. It doesn’t appear Fangraphs has given him scouting grades, I can’t find MLB Pipeline (and I don’t like how they give grades anyway, too high generally). I have access to Baseball Prospectus’ top 20, and while they don’t give Mitchell a scouting grade, I thought just sharing their blurb would suffice:

“Mitchell, a toolsy overslot second-rounder, didn’t play after the draft. For much of his high school career, he would rotate so early that he was more or less standing up when making contact, but his swing became one of the most fun to watch in the class. He dips down a bit and explodes from the lower half. There is some risk he won’t be able to get around against higher velocity fastballs, but his contact rates on the circuit were adequate, and there’s enough athleticism, present bat speed, and physical projection to expect some power. Defensively, he has good actions but could be forced to second base in pro ball. There aren’t any elite tools here, but he presents a pretty well-rounded infield profile and had an arrow up coming into the draft.”

Deniel Ortiz, 21 – 1B/3B

Stats (Low A): 320 PAs, .285/.406/.446, 15.3 BB%, 27.5 K%, .162 ISO, .386 BABIP, 145 wRC+, 119 DRC+

High A: 130 PAs, .336/.438/.500, 13.8 BB%, 22.3 K%, .164 ISO, .436 BABIP, 168 wRC+, 97 DRC+

We’ve been through this. Only so many ways I can say the same thing. Ortiz does not have scouting, because Fangraphs does not consider him a prospect. Which is slightly weird given how much he demolished the two leagues he was in. I would have to think if he has a similar 2026, that he would then get an actual scouting grade. But yeah, you really have to lean on the stats on this one.

Yairo Padilla, 19 – SS

Stats (CPX): 38 G, 148 PAs, .283/.396/.367, 12.2 BB%, 14.2 K%, .083 ISO, .340 BABIP, 119 wRC+

Scouting: 25/55 Hit, 20/55 Game Power, 40/60 Raw Power, 50/40 Speed, 30/40 Field

Presumably, Padilla will be spending the 2026 season in full-season Low A. That means he’ll be at Palm Beach, an incredibly hard place to have power. I would not not necessarily expect his potential power to show up and really any increase in power, however marginal, should be seen as a huge positive given the difficult run environment he will be entering. But yeah as things stand, it doesn’t seem like 2026 will answer the question on Padilla’s power and if it does, he’s going to be way higher on this list next season.

Tai Peete, OF – 20

Stats (High A): 529 PAs, .217/.288/.404, 8.7 BB%, 30.6 K%, .187 ISO, .282 BABIP, 79 wRC+, 79 DRC+

Scouting: 20/30 Hit, 30/50 Game Power, 50/60 Raw Power, 60/60 Speed, 45/55 Fielding

And here we have, we hope, a future Josh Baez. A player who cannot make any contact, but has still managed to maintain some pop. He differs from Baez because he spent last season in High A at age 19. Baez didn’t reach High A until he was 21. I think that gives some perspective on his poor offensive numbers and that he still has quite a bit of time to figure things out.

VOTE HERE

Good morning baseball fans!

As we approach the beginning of the season, we’re going to be doing some questions for y’all about your thoughts about the San Francisco Giants and baseball in general!

Today’s question: How worried are you about a work stoppage?

The current collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1st of this year, which means that we could be right back in another lockout in this upcoming offseason.

I am, by no means, an expert in this topic, though we do have some of those among the community, so I’m definitely looking forward to getting those perspectives from you all.

But I will say that I am quite worried about another work stoppage. It seems pretty much inevitable after the way the last one played out after the 2021 season, and the fact that the divide between the players and owners has only seemed to grow since then.

I think it’s quite likely to be another ugly mess. But there is still plenty of time for it to be avoided, if it possibly can be. So I’ll try to retain some optimism.

How worried are you about a work stoppage?

This post is part of a series of daily questions that we’ll ask the community here at Amazin’ Avenue throughout the month of February. We hope you find the questions engaging and that our prompts can spark some fun conversations in the comments. We’ll see you there and plan to have staff chiming in, too.

Which Mets player will have the biggest bounce back season in 2026?

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.

“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.

Today in baseball history:

• 1918 – Barney Dreyfuss of the Rules Committee launches a campaign to ban the spitter. He will succeed in 1919. (2)
• 1960 – Demolition of Ebbets Field begins. Lucy Monroe sings the National Anthem, and Roy Campanella is given an urn of dirt from behind home plate. (1,2)
• 1964 – The San Francisco Giants acquire P Masanori Murakami, 3B Tatsuhiko Tanaka, and C Hiroshi Takahashi on a player development deal with the Nankai Hawks, who own rights to all three. They are the first Japanese natives ever to play for American teams. All three are assigned to the Magic Valley Cowboys (Pioneer League). Although none of the three are considered top prospects, Murakami will confound everyone by reaching the major leagues by September after an outstanding season in the minors. (2)
• 1976 – Major League owners announce that spring training will not open until a new labor contract is agreed upon, thus decreeing a lockout. (1,2)
• 1988 – A committee of Chicago aldermen vote 7-2 to allow the Cubs to install lights and play up to 18 night games a year at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had feared losing the 1990 All-Star Game, as well as future postseason and World Series games, if lights were not installed. (1,2)
• 1990 – Despite the owners dropping their arbitration and minimum salary proposals, spring training camps remain closed. (2)
• 2000 – Chicago Cubs manager Don Baylor names four captains – first baseman Mark Grace, right fielder Sammy Sosa, pitcher Kevin Tapani and reliever Rick Aguilera. The quartet will be the Cubs’ first captains since the 1960s and early 1970s when Ron Santo held the position. (2)

Cubs Birthdays:Eric Yelding, Brian Duensing. Also notable: Sparky Anderson HOF.

Today in history:

• 1455 – Johannes Gutenberg prints his first Bible [estimated date] .
• 1540 – Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s expedition sets off from Mexico in search of the Seven Cities of Gold (Cibola).
• 1782 Engineer James Watt’s patent for a rotary motion for the steam engine (his sun-and-planet gear) is granted.
• 1847 – Battle of Buena Vista, Mexico; Zachary Taylor leads mostly volunteer troops against larger Mexican Army force; Mexico retreats, both sides claim victory.
• 1886 – The Times of London newspaper publishes the world’s first classified ad.
• 1896 – Tootsie Roll introduced by Leo Hirshfield.
• 1904 – US acquires control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million.
• 1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by American chemist Glenn T. Seaborg at Berkeley
• 1954 – First mass inoculation against polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine takes place at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Common sources:

• (1) — Today in Baseball History.
• (2) — Baseball Reference.
• (3) — Society for American Baseball Research.
• (4) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
• (5) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.
• (6) — Wikipedia.
• (7) — The British Museum
• (8) — For world history.

*pictured.

Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, in order to help correct the record.

As many people are now snowbound again thanks to a blizzard in the region, I’d invite you to partake in some of the latest news around the team.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Jose Alvarado was going to pitch for Venezuela in the WBC, but thanks to insurance issues, that will no longer happen.
• Don Mattingly was on the field for his Phillies bench coach debut on Saturday….facing off against his old employer in the Blue Jays ($).
• Is a lot of players going to play in the World Baseball Classic a bad thing for the Phillies? The debate continues.

MLB news:

• The Cardinals signed Ramon Urias to a one-year deal to help with some infield versatility. I think I smell a trade candidate.
• The new MLBPA leader in Bruce Meyer has a very important player in his corner for support: Tarik Skubal.
• Rhys Hoskins, recently the subject of some debate about coming back to Philadelphia, will instead try to make the Guardians’ 40-man roster.

Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! I hope you’re staying warm after yet another Sunday snowstorm. The difference between yesterday’s snow and the storm a few weeks ago is that, at least now we have spring training to distract us.

The good news is that there has been no more injury news to add to the list, if you don’t count Payton Eeles coming out of yesterday’s game after colliding with Enrique Bradfield, Jr. And no offense to Mr. Eeles, but I do not.

Yesterday, the Orioles and Tigers kissed their sisters with a 4-4 tie at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. The Orioles took a 4-3 lead into the ninth, but someone named Andrew Magno could not lock down the win.

There were pitchers you have heard of in yesterday’s game as well. Kyle Bradish made his first start of spring. It started well with a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 first inning. But things fell apart a bit in the second as he allowed three hits and walked a batter. Manager Craig Albernaz liked what he saw, as quoted in Roch Kubatko’s game story. Per Alby, “Sinker had some good movement on it, slider shape was really good. To me it was an encouraging first outing for KB.”

Bradish was followed by Brandon Young, who allowed a run on a home run to former Oriole Austin Slater. Relief pitchers on the 40-man roster, Cameron Foster and Anthony Nunez, pitched a scoreless inning each.

On offense, the Orioles got home runs from Pete Alonso and Heston Kjerstad. Kjerstad continues to impress this spring. If he can keep it up over the next month, might he even break camp with the team? As for Alonso, we were promised dingers and we are getting dingers! The Polar Bear has now homered in as many games as he has played as an Oriole. I am in favor of him keeping that up.

The Orioles are back home in Sarasota today to face the Atlanta Braves. Cade Povich is scheduled to start for the Orioles. If you want to watch this game, however, you are out of luck. There is no television or local radio broadcast. If you want to tune in, your only option is the Braves radio broadcast. I have to warn you, though. Listening to an away team’s radio feed during spring training is real sicko behavior.

Finally, today is Monday. That means there is a new episode of Good Morning, Birdland waiting for you! Tune in to hear Mark Brown’s thoughts on the current state of the Orioles.

Links

Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg on his elbow injury: It ‘wears on you mentally’ – The Baltimore Banner
It’s hard not to feel bad for Westburg. I didn’t know he had been feeling elbow pain for years.

Wondering whether Wolfram could be third lefty in relief – MASN Sports
Roch Kubatko takes a look at the possible bullpen makeup. Grant Wolfram was not a great in 21 games last year, but he may get another chance.

Conger brings playing, coaching experience to Orioles’ bullpen – Baltimore Baseball
Rich Dubroff catches up with the new bullpen coach, Hank Conger.

Why the Baltimore Orioles are having a Tupac Shakur bobblehead giveaway – The Athletic
The Orioles’ promotion department thinks this will be the most anticipated giveaway they have ever had. Even more than the Buck Showalter snow globe??

Frederick Keys announce a 2026 promotional schedule – The Frederick News-Post
The Orioles and Keys are reunited after several years apart.

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies, John Shelby (68) and Bobby Bonilla (63). Shelby played for the Orioles from his Major League debut in 1981 until he was traded to the Dodgers in May 1987. He was the first base coach for the Orioles from 2008-2010. Bonilla was traded to the Orioles by the Mets at the trade deadline in 1995 and played with them through the 1996 season.

On this day in 2016, news broke that the Orioles were signing Dexter Fowler to a three-year contract. Two days later, Fowler appeared at the Cubs spring training having signed a one-year deal with them. It was one of the more perplexing non-deals I can remember. It worked out well for Fowler, who had the best year of his career as the Cubs won the World Series. Hard not to imagine how much better the 2016 Orioles could have been with Fowler and his .393 OBP at the top of the lineup.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of last year's World Series, Ernie Clement smacked a fly ball off Yoshinobu Yamamoto into the left-center field gap with the bases loaded and the score tied.

As Andy Pages, just inserted into the game in center field, ran over left fielder Kiké Hernández to make the catch, Dodgers play-by-play announcer Stephen Nelson summed up the high drama unfolding in front him.

“Oh my gosh, we’re going to extra innings,” Nelson exclaimed on the Dodgers' radio broadcast. "A Yamamoto miracle in the ninth! Rogers Centre in stunned silence!"

A couple of innings later, Nelson found himself calling the final outs of his second consecutive World Series.

“Broken bat, ground ball. Betts has it, steps on the bag, the throw to first — double play! From backs against the wall to back-to-back, the Dodgers cement their dynasty!”

Nelson's calls have become a part of L.A.'s rich sports lore, which includes Vin Scully’s call of Kirk Gibson's game-winning home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series and Joe Davis’ call of Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series — a moment Nelson called as well on the radio side.

When asked about his place in history last week during spring training at Camelback Ranch, Nelson demurred.

“I don’t really let myself think about it,” Nelson said, underscored by laughter. “I don’t have a very high opinion on myself or my work.”

Nelson, who turns 37 next month, joined the Dodgers before the 2023 season to back up Davis on the club’s SportsNet LA broadcast package. Prior to that, the Southern California native hosted studio shows for the MLB and NHL Networks and did play-by-play work for both leagues.

“I kind of feel like I fell into a fire, and now I’m just trying to survive,” said Nelson, who began his fourth season with the Dodgers as their lead radio play-by-play announcer as Cactus League play got underway on Saturday against the Angels.

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A graduate of Marina High in Huntington Beach and Chapman University in Orange, Nelson readily understood the lineage of the booth, the standards that existed within the organization, even if he grew up rooting for the White Sox just like his father.

“All my cousins around the Southland… they all bleed Dodger blue,” he said. “I was coming home when I took this job in a couple of different senses.”

During his first year with the team, instead of being himself, he catered to what he felt the fans deserved from the person holding down the mic. His said his new position gave him a feeling of impostor syndrome. As his first season progressed, Nelson leaned on the color analysts he worked with like Eric Karros, and the rest of the SportsNet LA crew to help restore some self-confidence.

Nelson still feels like he’s new to the role of a play-by-play commentator. He compared his daily approach to the age-old athlete’s cliché of “just trying to get one percent better every day,” with the main goal being not ruining Dodger games for fans.

He started to get more comfortable with his job once he realized he doesn’t have to try to be Scully.

“Those are shoes that are impossible to fill,” Nelson said. “It’s actually made the job easier in a way, because I ain’t touching that bar.”

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As he prepares for the new season, Nelson visits the clubhouse during spring training, trying to get to know the new guys on the club and the prospects who are going to be the next wave. On top of that, the season previews put together by Rick Krajewski — “the doctor of research and stats,” as he calls him — help him paint the picture for the fans throughout the season.

Getting to call the last out on consecutive World Series wins, to be on the radios of people across L.A. during “the best game he’s ever seen,” and to call a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of a Game 7 in the World Series is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“This is a tremendous blessing,” Nelson said. “There are a thousand other broadcasters who are more experienced and certainly more talented and for whatever the reason, I’m here. And so I gotta earn that blessing.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.