With Opening Day less than a week away, you almost wish Spring Training ended with this – – the Spring Breakout game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Here, we’ll see a grip of guys with a lot of promise square up against the product of what MLB.com is calling the #1 ranked farm system in all of baseball.
On that list, the A’s came in at #18. Not terribly great and a little surprising, given how much young talent the team seems to have. It’s also been a Spring Training highlighted by the performance of some of these players listed in the starting lineup
Yes, all eyes will be on Leo De Vries and starting pitcher Jamie Arnold. But me personally? I’m anxious to see how the young Breyson Guedez performs. He initially caught my eye when he took Michael King deep a week or so ago. His swing reminds me of Terrence Long and he’s only 18! So much potential there.
Sure, Tommy “Tanks” White has become the Glen Powell of the A’s farm system, though that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be giving two-way player Shotaro Morii a little love too. He’ll be starting at second base and possibly throwing a few frames? We’ll see. The A’s are carrying a lot of arms I’d like see heave, such as Gage Jump and Braden Nett. I’m curious to how they’ll roll these guys out over nine innings against the Brewers.
Fun day at the yard! This’ll be the last Spring Breakout game before tournament play kicks in next spring. Last year saw the A’s beat up on the San Diego Padres in a game that featured Nick Kurtz, Luis Morales, Max Muncy, Denzel Clarke, and Colby Thomas!
Besides Leo De Vries (because of course) who is a player you’re not only excited to see play today but also hope will be wearing the green and gold in the big ‘26?
NEW YORK (AP) — Lionel Messi scored the equalizer off a free kick in the second half before helping to set up Micael dos Santos' winner and Inter Miami came from behind to beat New York City FC 3-2 at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.
Inter Miami (3-1-1) pulls into a second-place tie in the Eastern Conference by handing NYCFC (3-1-1) its first loss.
Gonzalo Luján scored his first career goal — unassisted off a rebound in the 4th minute to give Inter Miami an early lead. The 21-year-old defender has started in 23 of his 30 career appearances.
Nicolás Fernández continued his red-hot start with his fifth goal, scoring off a free kick in the 17th minute to pull NYCFC even. Fernández has eight goals in 16 career appearances since last season.
Agustín Ojeda scored — with assists from Maxi Moralez and Kevin O'Toole — to give NYCFC a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute. It was Ojeda's second goal this season and his fifth in 61 career matches. Moralez already has four assists this season.
The advantage lasted for two minutes until Messi drilled a left-footed free kick that ricocheted its way past Matt Freese for his fourth goal this season. It was Messi's 54th goal in his 58th MLS appearance. The Argentine legend has scored 901 goals in his illustrious international and club career.
Messi's corner kick in the 74th minute helped set up a header by Micael and Inter Miami took a 3-2 lead. Noah Allen and David Ayala assisted on Micael's first goal with his new team.
Dayne St. Claire turned away three shots on goal for Inter Miami in his first season with the defending MLS Cup champions. He has surrendered eight goals in his four starts.
Matt Freese had five saves for NYCFC.
Messi had shots bounce off the post and crossbar in the first half.
NYCFC leads the series 7-4-4, but Miami has gone 3-0-4 in the last seven matchups.
GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 12: Nick Lodolo #40 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch on Thursday, March 12, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Julia Jacome/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Cincinnati Reds lefty starter Nick Lodolo has repeatedly dealt with blister issues on his left index finger, and left index finger blisters are pretty problematic when you are a lefty starter. On Sunday in his final start of Cactus League play before Thursday’s Opening Day in Cincinnati, Lodolo was forced to exit after facing only two batters when a blister issue popped up once again.
He started out walking Steven Kwan, decidedly not strutting his stuff. He then yielded a two-run homer to Angel Martinez before the Reds training staff was summoned to the mound. It was at that point that the decision was made to get Lodolo out of there, which is not exactly the best tune-up for the season’s start just a handful of days away.
The hope, of course, is that pulling him this early into his work will have kept the issue from getting too serious, much the same way the scenario with Brady Singer has fortunately played out. That said, the Reds had already made plans to carry six starting pitchers with Brandon Williamson, Chase Burns, and Rhett Lowder all theoretically shoehorning into just two starts a turn, so there is at least some baked-in depth should there be any issues with Lodolo a) being ready for his Game Two start or b) not being stretched out enough to go deep into his Game Two start.
Obviously, no blister is a damning issue, but it’s impossible not to notice just how often this keeps happening to Cincinnati’s stud lefty. Let’s just hope they caught this particular iteration early.
The assistant coach Bruno Saltor believes Tottenham will avoid relegation because of their performances against Liverpool, the second leg of their Champions League tie against Atlético Madrid and the first half of their defeat by Nottingham Forest. Stepping in for the interim head coach Igor Tudor, who couldn't attend his press duties because of a family issue, Saltor said: 'Every small detail is going against us and it's about turning that around.'
Feb 24, 2026; North Port, Florida, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (40) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers during spring training at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
It’s a good thing that it’s still spring training and not the regular season because this was the type of performance that would’ve resulted in a very rough outing for Reynaldo López had it come in a game that counted. Instead, it’s something to think about with the regular season on the horizon as López struggled and ended up getting pulled in the fifth inning of this spring training contest.
This figured to be a stern test for López anyways with the Twins posting something that looks very similar to what their Opening Day lineup could look like laster this week. Still, I’d like to imagine that everybody associated with and rooting for the Braves would’ve preferred if López looked a lot better today.
The first three innings of this outing actually went very smoothly for Reynaldo López — he retired the side in order in the first and second innings (a double-play ball helped him get out of the second) and avoided trouble from a one-out single in the third inning. The fourth inning is when things started to get a little shaky, as López got the inning started off by walking Byron Buxton and then giving up a single to Matt Wallner. Another double play ball got López out of this situation but by now it was clear that López’s velocity was going to be sitting below 90-mph on his heater.
By the time the fifth inning had rolled around, the Twins decided that it was time to tee off. López kept a few pitches hanging enticingly in the strike zone during this frame and the Twins capitalized each time. The first resulted in a Royce Lewis double, the second was a single from Austin Martin and then the third and biggest mistake got crushed by Luke Keaschall for a three-run shot that put the Twins in front.
The 80-mph slider was the last pitch that López threw in this one as he finished with 4.2 innings under his belt, along with four earned runs on five hits and two walks. López only finished with one strikeout once he was done, which was his strikeout of Buxton all the way back in the first inning. His velocity also left something to be desired as well, as he was actually sitting at 89-mph with the four-seamer and the velocity on all of his other pitches was way down as well.
Obviously the hope is that he was trying to ease into the regular season and you could make an argument that that this was the case since his velocity was higher in his most recent start before this one. Granted, his four-seamer was still below his usual average of 95-mph back on March 17 but it still looked more lively back then than it did today. Still, it’s pretty concerning that López did struggle in both of his final two starts before the regular season. We could end up laughing about this if he bounces back once the games begin to count but it’s still not great to see when you’re coming off of a season-ending shoulder injury from the season before!
hard for me to believe this is completely meaningless data for a guy's last spring training start pic.twitter.com/ZlTfdaRlw0
As far as the bats for the Braves go, the first inning was the peak for Atlanta. The Braves scored their first two runs via some good ol’ fashioned A-B-C baseball: Brett Wisely got on with a leadoff walk, Jorge Mateo laid down a sacrifice bunt and ended up making it on base and into scoring position thanks to a throwing error and then Drake Baldwin brought them both in with a bouncer through the middle to initially put the Braves in the lead. Dominic Smith proceeded to cash in Baldwin’s run with an RBI single of his own to make it a three-run first inning.
Drake Baldwin and Dominic Smith both added hits to their tally later on and that was about as good as it got for the Braves from the first inning onwards. Taj Bradley settled down a bit once he got his second chance (he got pulled from the mess during the first inning and returned for the second frame) and the Braves just didn’t get a lot done in terms of production against the Twins and their pitching staff past the first inning.
The big story of the day was Reynaldo López’s underwhelming performance, though. I do remember saying earlier during spring training that if Spencer Strider’s velocity was low in the latter portions of camp like it was to start out then it was perfectly fine to start worrying. Strider doesn’t appear to have that issue but López certainly does and again, the main hope is that he was simply trying not to overexert himself with the regular season around the corner. If it’s like that once things are serious, watch out.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Tom Barlow scored short-handed for the equalizer in the 80th minute and Kévin Denkey followed with the winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time, rallying FC Cincinnati to a 4-3 victory over CF Montreal on Sunday.
Barlow tied it 3-3 when he scored three minutes after subbing in to the match. It was his first MLS goal with his new team. Denkey scored for the second time this season — also unassisted — after notching 15 goals in 29 appearances last season — his first in the league.
Cincinnati (2-3-0) was forced to play a man down after Miles Robinson's red card in the 60th minute.
Newcomer Wiki Carmona used assists from Prince Owusu and Bode Hidalgo in the 6th minute to score for the third time in three matches and give Montreal a 1-0 lead.
Ender Echenique tied it in the 40th minute for Cincinnati with his first goal this season. The 21-year-old scored once in eight appearances last season. Defender Alvas Powell and Matt Miazga had assists. Powell picked up his first assist of the campaign and became the fifth player to make 150 appearances for the club.
Montreal took a 2-1 lead into halftime when Owusu scored in the 45th minute. Carmona and Iván Jaime had assists. It was the third goal this season for Owusu and his 25th in 79 career appearances.
Cincinnati knotted the score again in the 52nd minute on Ayoub Jabbari's first career goal in his 10th appearance. Echenique had his first assist and second overall, while Pavel Bucha notched his first — and 13th in 70 appearances.
Evan Louro totaled four saves in his first start this season for Cincinnati and his sixth career start since 2024.
Thomas Gillier, 21, finished with four saves for Montreal (1-4-0) in his 13th career start.
Cincinnati improves to 8-4-2 all-time versus Montreal and its eight victories in the series is its most against any club.
Up next
Montreal: Visits the New England Revolution on April 4.
Cincinnati: Visits the New York Red Bulls on April 4.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 1,000th career NHL goal combining the regular season and playoffs, but the league-leading Colorado Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in overtime on Sunday.
Ovechkin's goal, his 26th of the season, came from his traditional spot on the power play and tied the score with 5:43 left in regulation. He extended his career record to 923, nearly a year since passing Wayne Gretzky for the most in league history.
Gretzky has NHL 1,016 goals: 894 in the regular season and 122 in the playoffs, the latter being a record the “Great One” still holds.
U.S. Olympic gold medal winner Brock Nelson scored 82 seconds into 3-on-3 OT off a pass from Martin Necas, his 32nd goal of the season. Gabriel Landeskog and Nicolas Roy scored earlier for the Avalanche, who have won back-to-back games and on Friday became the first team this season to clinch a playoff spot.
Justin Sourdif also scored for the Capitals, whose two-game winning streak came to an end. It was Sourdif's 14th goal of his first season with Washington following a late-June trade from back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida.
Colorado's Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced to earn his 20th win of the season. Logan Thompson made 21 saves in the loss for Washington, which has three teams between it and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Capitals forward Ethen Frank suffered a lower-body injury in the first period, crashing into the net following a shove from Devon Toews. Frank skated off under his own power, went directly to the locker room and did not return.
Up next
Avalanche: Continue their four-game road trip at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
Capitals: Kick off a three-game road swing at the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night
The Pittsburgh Penguins have already gotten a lot of value out of the first round in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, as 11th overall pick Ben Kindel has been an unexpected yet integral part of the NHL team's success this season.
And it appears that another one of their three first-round selections last summer is knocking on the door, too.
On Sunday, the Penguins signed 22nd overall pick Bill Zonnon to a three-year, entry-level contract. The contract begins in the 2026-27 and will run thorugh the 2028-29 season, as Zonnon will be ineligible for participation in junior hockey next season and will join the Penguins' organization.
Zonnon, 19, dealt with two separate injuries in his fourth QMJHL season, this one with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada - one right from the gate in training camp and beyond and one later in the season. In 35 games, he put up 13 goals and 46 points to go along with a plus-24.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound center plays a hard two-way game, using his hockey IQ, physicality, forechecking, and playmaking acumen to his advantage. His team will face the Victoriaville Tigres - junior team of Penguins' goaltending prospect Gabriel D'Aigle, who also just signed his entry-level contract on Saturday - in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs.
Judge's first game back as a Yankee after almost three weeks with Team USA was this past Friday's 3-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles, in which he struck out three time in as many at-bats. Saturday's 3-1 loss at the Detroit Tigers saw Judge sit, and the day off fared well for his Sunday return.
His 1-for-2 afternoon featured a leadoff home run in the fifth inning against Aaron Nola -- Judge's first long ball since returning to New York from the WBC -- where Judge sent Nola's 2-2 pitch, an 85 mph changeup, down the left-field line and into the second deck.
Players of Judge's caliber should not miss a beat. After he returned to the tune of Friday's 0-for-3 performance, his Sunday bounce back -- a third-inning walk included -- is a welcome sign for the Yankees with three days until Opening Day.
Will Warren saved his best for last. He allowed one hit -- Kyle Schwarber's leadoff double -- in five shutout innings, retiring 15 straight Phillies while striking out six.
Warren threw 44 strikes on 62 pitches. He ends his spring with a 1.42 ERA in 25.1 IP over six starts, striking out 16 and walking three.
Ryan McMahon was a bright spot at the plate. His 2-for-3 day featured a third-inning leadoff single an RBI knock with two outs in the fourth, scoring Giancarlo Stanton and putting the Yankees up 1-0.
In the outfield, Jasson Domínguez and Amed Rosario each had a defensive lapse. Domínguez, who will start the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, did not do himself any favors with his 0-for-2 performance after he replaced Judge's lineup spot. Domínguez's misread on a deep fly ball to left field went down as an error and was a reminder of the struggles and inconsistencies that he has faced at the position.
Rosario's right-field whiff should not be discounted, though he made the most of his mistake with an RBI single to polish off the Yankees' 6-2 lead with two outs in the eighth inning.
Who's the MVP?
Warren, who put the exclamation point on an impressive spring training and seems primed for this season.
The Yankees head to Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz., for the first of their final two spring training games against the Chicago Cubs -- 3:05 p.m. starts Monday and Tuesday -- before they open the regular season with Wednesday's 8:05 matchup at the San Francisco Giants.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gabriel Vilardi tied his career high with his 27th goal of the season and won the game in a shootout, captain Adam Lowry ended his lengthy scoring drought and the Winnipeg Jets ended their three-game losing streak by beating the New York Rangers 3-2 on Sunday.
Vilardi and Kyle Connor scored in the shootout to spoil the NHL debut of Rangers goaltending prospect Dylan Garand. The 23-year-old impressed by stopping 35 of the 37 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and was arguably one of the best players on the ice.
Garand’s biggest save came midway through the second period when he denied Connor on a shorthanded 2-on-0 breakaway. He was fortunate minutes later when Cole Perfetti’s shot from in tight clanked off the crossbar and out.
Lowry scored on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Perfetti and Lowry 13 minutes in that Garand had little chance of preventing. Lowry’s goal was his first since Jan. 13, which was 25 games ago.
Jets backup Eric Comrie made 27 saves in regulation and overtime, then two more in the shootout.
The Rangers lost for a 24th time in 33 home games despite the play of Garand and a power-play goal from Mika Zibanejad. Skating in his 999th regular-season game in the league, Zibanejad reached the 30-goal mark for the first time since 2022-23 and third time in his career.
The soon-to-be 33-year-old from Sweden has scored in three consecutive games and is now tied with Adam Graves for the fourth-most goals in franchise history with 280. Tye Kartye, a late-February waiver pickup from Seattle, also scored for New York, which has lost four in a row and is last in the Eastern Conference.
Up next
Jets: Return home to face the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
Rangers: Igor Shesterkin is expected to start Monday night at home against the Ottawa Senators.
Although the San Diego Padres Prospects lost a 7-5 game against the Chicago Cubs Prospects at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. on Saturday, there were multiple notable and positive signs to come from the contest. With a farm system currently ranked at or near the bottom according to multiple evaluators, the Padres fielded a team filled with young players. The starting lineup had catcher Ethan Salas (19), shortstop Jorge Quintana (19), catcher Ty Harvey (20), outfielder Kale Fountain (20) as well as pitchers Kruz Schoolcraft (18) and Taiwanese righty Lan-Hong Su (18) all playing against mostly more advanced prospects for the Cubs.
The starter for the Padres, Luis Gutierrez pitched a scoreless inning and was followed by Miguel Mendez, Schoolcraft, Kannon Kemp, Kash Mayfield, Jaxon Dalena, Johan Moreno, Lan-Hong Su and Garrett Hawkins. All pitched an inning except Dalena, who allowed four runs and four hits over 0.2 innings and was replaced by Moreno for the last out.
Su, the young righty from Taiwan, had the most impressive performance. Signed in October of 2025 during the International Signing Period, Su made his Padres debut in this game. Pitching the seventh inning, Su threw four-seam fastballs between 96-98 mph and also featured a curveball and a changeup. He got two strikeouts over his 10 pitches thrown and most of his pitches were strikes. He is slated to begin the season at Low-A Lake Elsinore and will rise quickly if he pitches this well.
The left-hander Mayfield pitched the fifth inning on nine pitches with two fly-outs and a single allowed. The fastball for starter Gutierrez reached a new velocity of 97 mph during his one inning pitched.
On the position player side, Salas put on a show. Starting at catcher, he experienced the ABS system but not in a positive way. Challenging two calls behind the plate, Salas lost both challenges in the first three innings and the Padres played the rest of the game without that option.
But otherwise, it was a standout performance from the young catcher. Salas had a loud out at 108.5 mph, a single and a three-run home run that left the yard at 104.9 mph. He worked a long plate appearance for a walk, scored a run, had a stolen base after his single and threw out two runners attempting to steal second base. If he wanted to announce his return with authority, he did a good job.
Fountain, 6-foot-5 and 230-pounds, played the 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He also had hamstring issues last season which limited his playing time. He was drafted in 2024 as a corner infielder but played this game in right field and is being transitioned to a corner outfielder this spring. Fountain has tremendous power potential, as he showed in the game. He launched a home run deep onto the center field berm at 109.1 mph and it traveled 455 feet. He also had a 110.3 mph single while going 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.
Spring Training will be coming to an end this week for the players headed to Triple-A El Paso as their season begins March 27. The other minor league teams will finish their spring games and travel to their locations for early April starts.
There will be a preview coming later this week and the rosters for the respective teams should be coming out over the next week-and-a-half with El Paso this week.
Expect the Padres to continue to push their young and talented prospects with Salas starting in Double-A San Antonio. As individual players perform well, there will likely be promotions to the next level and there are several prospects who could meet that criteria.
TEMPE, ARIZONA - MARCH 15: TJ Rumfield #64 of the Colorado Rockies bats during the first inning of the spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium on March 15, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Jeremy Chen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On Sunday morning, the Colorado Rockies announced the following position players will break camp with the team:
Mickey Moniak (OF)
Jake McCarthy (OF)
Brenton Doyle (OF)
Jordan Beck (OF)
Kyle Karros (3B)
TJ Rumfield (1B)
Brett Sullivan (C)
Edouard Julien (INF)
Willi Castro (UTIL)
Ryan Ritter (UTIL)
Ezequiel Tovar (SS)
Hunter Goodman (C)
Additionally, the rotation is set as such:
Kyle Freeland (LHP)
Michael Lorenzen (RHP)
José Quintana (LHP)
Tomoyuki Sugano (RHP)
Ryan Feltner (RHP)
The most interesting note was that RHP Chase Dollander will begin the season with the Rockies, but he will start off in the bullpen.
On Feltner, Schaeffer had this to say:
“Looking at this spring is a part of it. When Feltner did get ahead, he was our best pitcher in camp [while] ahead. It was just a matter of getting him there, and there’s been a commitment to that. We also liked Feltner’s track record of success in the big leagues.”
Schaeffer explained the Rockies thinking in moving Dollander to the bullpen:
“We want Chase to develop at the big-league level, too, and feel like facing big-league hitters on a consistent basis is going to lead to his development better than it would in Triple-A at this point.”
That said, they don’t necessarily see Dollander in the bullpen as long-term.
“We see Chase Dollander as an eventual frontline rotation guy,” Schaeffer continued. “The path there right now – the best path for him in our minds – is to be a length guy in the bullpen. That’s where we’re going to start the season. We’re going to evaluate and move forward as we go, but we believe we’ve got something really good with Feltner as the fifth guy and Dollander in the bullpen.”
Here’s what Schaeffer had to say about the other moves:
Brett Sullivan over Braxton Fulford
“Brett Sullivan had a very, very good camp. He swings left-handed, and swung the bat well, but also just the overall game with the interactions with the pitchers plus the offensive camp led to go with Sullivan.”
He noted that Fulford had a good camp as well but felt it would be best for him to get daily at-bats in Albuquerque.
Additionally, Schaeffer said that Sullivan will not see a lot of DH at-bats as a left-hander.
“It’s really hard to roll with two catchers in the game at one time, and we’re going to do it a lot with ‘Goody’ DH-ing, so to do it the other way around doesn’t make much sense for us.”
TJ Rumfield
“The overall quality of his at-bats on a consistent regular basis showed us who he is and lined up with what he’s done in the past in Triple-A for the Yankees. But seeing it on an everyday basis was impressive. The way he controls the zone, the way he gets a swing off, the damage he can do, the walks he can take… just on a consistent basis, the quality of the at-bats. And he played well defensively, and I think just his overall game – he’s a high-level player.”
Kyle Karros
“It was obvious [that he was ready]. Then the wherewithal that we all have that he has not had a ton of minor league seasoning. That was talked to him about before camp started, and that this wasn’t a lock for him. He had to go do his thing. We were going to watch him, and it became blatantly obvious that he’s ready to play third base in the big leagues on both sides of the ball.”
Willi Castro
“Expect all year for Willi to have a different role. His role is to play a lot – you saw him play first base. There’s definitely right-handed at-bats for him at first base. It’s great that he’s a utility player that can play everywhere and switch hit. I mean, you talk about value, that’s huge for our team. And that value wouldn’t mean anything if he wasn’t willing to do everything – like, legitimately willing to do everything – for the team. He’s a super guy, a team guy, and so you’re going to see him in a lot of different places. But Kyle Karros is here to play third base the majority [of the time], so I think it’s safe to say you’ll see a lot of second base out of Castro.”
Ryan Ritter
“I loved his ability to come into camp and compete for a job, and add new things to it – which is not an easy thing to do at all – and be really good at it. He played left field at a high level, in my opinion, from first jumping out there and he’ll only get better. I’m really impressed with what ‘Ritt’ did. There was some really, really high competition there with him – Chad Stevens, really good player; Nicky Lopez, really good player. So for ‘Ritt’ to go win that battle was a big deal.”
Edouard Julien
“You’re going to see Eddie Julien against right-handers a lot. I like guys that get on base and he does it a lot. So there’s DH at-bats there, there’s second base, there’s some first base for him. So he’s going to be a big part of this team.”
On the general depth of the roster
“I like it. I hope that you see that. The splits are way better, versus right and versus left. Our team is going to be lined up with better matchups overall. We had to option some really good ballplayers today, and I feel for them because they all played really well. Honestly, there were a lot of position players in this camp that played well, so it made a lot of decisions difficult, but it does lend to our depth. I like our 13 guys plus I like the guys in Triple-A. I like what we’ve got. It seems to be a really good starting point for us. And they’re meshing as a team, and I’m excited to see what they’ve got.”
Closing Thoughts
In addition to setting half of the roster, the Rockies also announced the following moves:
The Colorado Rockies announced today the following transactions:
-C Braxton Fulford optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. -INF Nicky Lopez reassigned to Minor League camp. -LHP Parker Mushinski reassigned to Minor League camp. -INF/OF Chad Stevens reassigned to Minor League camp.…
— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) March 22, 2026
The Rockies made some expected and unexpected moves today. Which ones were the most surprising to you?
The bullpen will be announced tomorrow. Who do you think will make it?
Defense, we should try it. | NHLI via Getty Images
The Islanders put themselves in a rough spot after their three-game Canada swing featured a win against an also-ran mixed with regulation losses to two teams that could very easily keep them out of the playoffs.
They enter tonight one point out of the wild card and two points behind tonight’s opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have surged up the standings like some kind of Buffalo since firing Dean Evason and replacing him with longtime good guy Rick Bowness.
Like the Sabres, the Blue Jackets are for real, and the non-mirage emergence of both over the last few months has added two major competitors for the few Eastern playoff spots that are up for grabs.
Takeaways: “The other night it was too many battles that were lost,” Anders Lee said. “Tonight it was more they made plays through us, and we had a couple missed assignments.” [Isles]
Gross: The Isles’ playoff chances, they are slipping. [Newsday]
Previewing tonight: Columbus is on an 18-2-4 run, has won four in a row, has not lost in regulation in its last 10. [Isles]
The Skinny: “Matthew Schaefer is the first Islander defenseman to score eight power play goals since Mark Streit had nine in 2009-10.” [NHL]
Patrick Roy was noncommittal about how — or if — the goalie duties would be divvied up this weekend, and that was before Ilya Sorokin gave up six and David Rittich stepped in for some brief relief. But post-game, he conceded that Sorokin was pulled in part to let him regroup and rest to start tonight. [THN | Post]
Elsewhere
Last night’s NHL scores were all bad, bad things. I guess at least the Bruins and Red Wings kept it to a two-point game with Detroit getting the regulation loss.
The role of goalie coach has evolved over the years, from “we should maybe get a guy to pop in here once in a while” to the regular fixture it is now. [NHL]
Terrible, tragic news as beloved Minnesota hockey writer Jessi Pierce died in a house fire with her three young kids. [Michael Russo on Twitter]
Leon Draisaitl’s injury status is now “hopes to return at some point in the playoffs.” [NHL]
Alex Ovechkin scored last night and (…oh, suddenly now we’re including all-time playoff numbers because 1,000 makes a nice round number in our base-10 system?) [Sportsnet]
Goaltender Dylan Garand #33 of the New York Rangers defends the net during the second period against the Jets on March 22, 2026.
It was Kids Day at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, but for the Rangers, it’s been All About The Kids for months.
Goalie Dylan Garand was informed after the AHL Wolf Pack’s game Wednesday that he would make his NHL debut in four days against the Jets at Madison Square Garden, which filled the Blueshirts lineup with at least one rookie at every position in their 3-2 shootout loss to Winnipeg on Sunday.
It was certainly a first game to remember for Garand.
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The workload — 35 saves on 37 shots — resembled more of a cannon ball into the deep end than dipping his toe.
His first ever shootout opponent? Perennial 30-goal scorer Kyle Connor.
The second? Gabriel Vilardi, who already scored a power-play goal on him earlier in the game.
“That was awesome,” Garand said after both Jets skaters capitalized in the shootout to hand him his first NHL loss. “It was pretty surreal. I really just tried to be present and take it all in. It was everything you could ever hope and dream of. It sucks to not get the win for the guys, but it was a dream come true.”
Goaltender Dylan Garand #33 of the New York Rangers defends the net during the second period against the Jets on March 22, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Garand held his own in a matchup between the 2024 and 2025 Presidents’ Trophy winners, who both face-planted in their subsequent seasons.
Looking steady between the pipes and only conceding goals he couldn’t do much about, Garand even stonewalled Connor on a short-handed breakaway in the second period to keep the Rangers within one goal at the time.
The 23-year-old netminder had been waiting for this since he made his AHL debut with the Wolf Pack on Feb. 21, 2021.
It took just under five and a half years, since the Rangers drafted him 103rd overall in 2020, for Garand to get his moment. There were certainly times, like now with Jonathan Quick banged up, when the organization could’ve looked to Garand but opted to go with the more experienced goaltender in their system.
Even earlier this season, the Rangers recalled Spencer Martin — signed out of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League in November — instead of Garand. It’s been a particularly difficult season in Hartford, which likely played a role in the decision to bring up Martin.
With the playoffs out of reach and the Letter 2.0 out in the open, however, the Rangers decided the time for Garand was now.
Tye Kartye #24 of the Rangers celebrates after he scores during the second period against the Jets on March 22, 2026. Getty Images
“I’ve been waiting to make my NHL debut my whole life,” Garand said. “When they tell you you’re actually going to play, it’s pretty cool. It’s kind of like, ‘OK, this is it. Here we go.’ I feel like I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, and I felt pretty ready for it. It was a lot of days [since I found out], but it was nice that they gave me lots of heads up.
“Took care of my family’s flights and hotels and stuff like that, which was pretty stressful the first couple days. I had five [people at MSG]: My mom, my dad, my stepmom and then my goalie coach back from Kamloops and his daughter.”
The Rangers were able to answer each Jets goal with one of their own throughout regulation.
Winnipeg regained the lead on Vilardi’s power-play goal at the 6:43 mark of the second period, but the Rangers answered with one of their own to even the score 2-2.
Mika Zibanejad blasted a one-timer from his sweet spot in the circle, which tied the Swede with Adam Graves for the fourth-most goals in franchise history with 280. The Rangers survived the final 20 minutes of regulation, partially thanks to the 11 saves Garand made.
“It was terrific,” Sullivan said of Garand’s debut. “I thought he looked really solid. Calm demeanor in there, tracking pucks well, rebound control was great. He made some big saves for us. I thought he had a really strong game.”
MIAMI, FL - MARCH 16: Michael Lorenzen #24 of Team Italy walks back to the dugout during the 2026 World Baseball Classic WBC game presented by Capital One between Team Venezuela and Team Italy at loanDepot park on Monday, March 16, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Yesterday the Colorado Rockies organization took two losses. First, a 5-6 defeat for the major league squad at the hands of the Kansas City Royals despite a scoreless four inning start from Kyle Freeland, and a two double performance from Troy Johnston. Later in the day, the Rockies top prospects came together to be beaten 10-3 by their counterparts on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Today the Sacramento Athletics will visit Salt River Fields to take on the Rockies.
On the mound for the A’s will be veteran left hander Jeffrey Springs. His career so far having been defined by injuries, Springs’ ability to take the ball 32 times and pitch 171 innings last year was a welcome accomplishment.
While his velocity is nothing to write home about, Springs features a changeup that is a genuine put-away pitch against righties (41.3% whiff rate in ‘25) and a solid slider that he uses equally against batters on both sides of the plate.
Opposing him will be Michael Lorenzen making his first start for the Rockies since an impressive run with team Italy in the WBC.
While his spring training appearances leave something to be desired, across his two appearances in the tournament he logged 7.1 innings with a 3.68 ERA. That included earning the win against a stacked team USA lineup in pool play. He’ll look to keep those strong performances going against a good A’s lineup in what will be his final start before the regular season.
