Category: Sports News

Before leaving for his third World Baseball Classic, Paul Goldschmidt offered a simple, personal reason for participating.

“It’s maybe the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball.’’

And maybe there’ll be a magic moment for the veteran Yankees’ first baseman, in the twilight of a fine career, on a talent-loaded Team USA – favored to win the gold.

As play begins, 13 Yankees are scattered about WBC rosters, the largest pinstriped collection since the tournament began in 2006.

Austin Wells: Faster start?

Perhaps the WBC can be a launch pad for Wells.

Offensively last year, Wells got off to a slow start and didn’t build on 2024, his first full MLB season.

At the plate, “I expect a lot more out of him. As does he,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said recently, referencing Wells’ .219 average and .712 OPS in 126 games.

Playing in his first WBC, Wells is catching for Team Dominican Republic, honoring his mother’s heritage.

And as Goldschmidt said recently, WBC play “can help you prepare for the regular season,’’ by facing better competition in a playoff-type setting – a different ramp-up than the exhibition schedule.

“You can’t simulate these really meaningful (WBC) games,’’ said Goldschmidt. “I think that’s beneficial.’’

Elmer Rodriguez: Breakout star?

Rodriguez and fellow right-hander Carlos Lagrange are the most exciting pitching prospects in Yankees camp.

Now, Rodriguez has an opportunity to showcase his talent for Team Puerto Rico, in what MLB.com called the tournament’s most balanced of the four WBC pools.

Rodriguez is scheduled to start Puerto Rico’s second game of pool play, against Panama (with Yankees infielder Jose Caballero on the roster).

Canada, Cuba and Colombia are also in Pool A.

In the WBC leadup, Rodriguez tossed three scoreless innings Tuesday against his old organization; last year, the Yanks sent catcher Carlos Narvaez to the Boston Red Sox for E-Rod.

With a four-pitch arsenal, led by his fastball and slider, Rodriguez – who reached Triple-A by the end of last year – could impact the Yankees’ pitching staff at some point in 2026.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.: World stage advantage?

Yes, this looks like a brief WBC stay for the Yankees’ second baseman.

Chisholm is one of six players from the Bahamas on Team Great Britain, residing in Pool B with Team USA and Team Mexico.

The lefty-hitting Chisholm is Great Britain’s greatest player by far. And despite the tough draw, he’ll get a personal chance to display his talent and plus-personality before entering a key 2026 season.

This is Chisholm’s free agent walk year, and he’s already discussed following up his 30-homer, 30-steal season with a 50-50 campaign – with a substantial payday to follow.

If he stays healthy for the full season, anything’s possible. However it shakes out, Chisholm’s important year begins here.

Yankees relievers: Highlight innings?

For a while now, it’s felt like most of the National League Central is just a step behind. In four of the last five seasons, the Milwaukee Brewers have walked away division champions, oftentimes by some distance. The only exception in the span was the St. Louis Cardinals, back in 2022. However, since that 2022 season, when the Cardinals posted a 93-69 record (and went two-and-out in the Wild Card Series to the Phillies), it has been a rather large fall from grace for the Redbirds.

Now, after a long (and active) offseason that saw the departure of a handful of veterans, St. Louis is looking to begin stacking up on young players and continuing to develop their young players already on the roster under Chaim Bloom.

St. Louis Cardinals

2025 record: 78-84 (4th, NL Central)
2026 FanGraphs projection: 75-87 (5th, NL Central)

The Cardinals, despite having some big names last season, weren’t able to make any major waves in the NL Central. And instead of keeping them around, the organization decided to move forward in a different direction with former Red Sox head honcho Chaim Bloom officially taking over for the departing John Mozeliak after a one-year apprenticeship behind the scenes in the front office.

Nolan Arenado was traded back to the NL West and the sunny state of Arizona with the Diamondbacks. Willson Contreras was traded to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Hunter Dobbins and prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita. Former Yankees pitcher Sonny Gray also joined Contreras on the Sox, being traded in November for pitching prospect Richard Fitts, prospect Brandon Clarke, and cash.

Another notable departure from the roster include second baseman Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team deal that also included the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cardinals sent theutility man to the northwest for right-handed pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, outfield prospects Tai Peete and Colton Ledbetter, and two 2026 Competitive Balance Round B draft picks.

These departures signal a new direction for a Cardinals team and franchise that is used to being in the driver’s seat in the NL Central. After a few seasons of treading water somewhat aimlessly, the club appears to have chosen a definitive direction. With these changes both at the helm of the franchise and with the names on the field comes a new crop of players that will begin to make their mark in a Cardinals uniform as soon as this coming season.

The biggest names to watch for the Cardinals include their most prominent free agent signing Dustin May, who came on with a one-year, $12.5 million deal to help lead the rotation and prove himself after a tough season split between the Dodgers and Red Sox. He could prove to be a useful trade chip for a retooling squad if he can bounce back. Elsewhere, there’s a host of young players that will take the reins, including JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn.

Last year with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, Wetherholt slashed .314/.416/.562 for an OPS of .978, and his play in 62 games at Double-A was just as good, if not better. His power helped him make waves in the minor leagues, and with his current spring training performance, smashing a 422-foot homer with an exit velocity of 105.4 mph against the New York Mets, according to our sister site, Viva El Birdos. If there was a player to watch for coming up, Wetherholt is the guy.

Winn is more established, with a solid body of work at the major league level. His last two seasons at the plate have been around average, but his defense is spectacular, and his wicked arm from shortstop helped him make an impression early both nationally and within the Cardinals organization.

The rest of the young talent on this roster is more of the post-hype variety. Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, and Alec Burleson were all Top 100 prospects once upon a time, but none has been able to put things together at the major league level. On the pitching side, St. Louis will hope that young starters Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy can build on respectable 2025 campaigns.

While St. Louis is in a tough spot for now, they’re geared toward bigger and better things with the young talent they have on hand and are in the process of acquiring. They might have to go through some more growing pains in the interim, though.

More Pinstripe Alley MLB team season previews can be found here.

With the 2025 Texas Rangers season having come to an end, we shall be, over the course of the offseason, taking a look at every player who appeared in a major league game for the Texas Rangers in 2025.

Today we are looking at relief pitcher Chris Martin.

Chris Martin is very tall.

Martin is listed at 6’8”. Per B-R, there are only 72 pitchers in major league history who were 6’8 or taller. Given that there have been roughly 10,000 or so pitchers in MLB history, that’s a remarkably small number.

Weird fact…until 1939, there was no pitcher listed at 6’8” or taller in MLB history. But in 1939, two such pitchers debuted — Mike Navmick, listed at 6’8”, and Johnny Gee, listed at 6’9”. Neither pitcher was particularly successful — they combined for 96 career games, most of which came during WWII, when teams were hard up for players — but they were very tall and they pitched in the majors.

There was no one else of that height until the 6’8” Gene Conley, who debuted in 1952 and had a fairly successful career, which included three All Star appearances.

J.R. Richard was next, debuting in 1971. Richard pitched his entire career — which was tragically cut short due to a stroke in the middle of the 1980 season — with the Houston Astros, and was one of the best pitchers in baseball for the last several seasons of his career. Richard’s size was one of his defining characteristics, with contemporary stories about him calling him “imposing” or “towering” or something similar.

Pitchers Of Unusual Height* became more common beginning in the early-80s, with the number mushrooming in the 21st century — 55 of the 72 MLB pitchers listed at at least 6’8” debuted after Y2K. 21 of them have debuted in the past five years. Exactly one-quarter of all pitchers in MLB history listed as at least 6’8” pitched in the majors in the 2025 season.

* Yes, this is a play on the Rodents Of Unusual Size from The Princess Bride. I wanted to say Pitchers Of Unusual Size, but that appellation could refer to Rich Garces, or Terry Forster, or others who of that ilk. So in the interest of clarity and precision I’m saying Pitchers Of Unusual Height.

The increase over the years may be because society as a whole has grown taller on average. It may be because pitchers are fudging their listed height more. It may be because teams are making a point of seeking out taller pitchers than they have in the past.

I do wonder if the success of the six foot ten inch Randy Johnson led teams to be more open about the possibility of Pitchers Of Unusual Height having major league success. When The Big Unit debuted, he was the tallest pitcher in MLB history, and only the ninth pitcher to be listed at 6’8” or taller. While he was a highly touted prospect, there were also concerns about his height potentially being a hindrance to him.

Here is the BA write-up of Johnson prior to the 1988 season, when he was 24 years old and the #1 ranked prospect on BA’s Montreal Expos list:

Johnson’s fastball registers on the (slow) Ray Gun at 95 mph and his size puts him about a foot closer to the plate than most pitchers when he releases the ball. Johnson also throws a hard slider but needs to develop an offspeed pitch. He limited Double-A hitters to a .204 batting average, which is minuscule for a starting pitcher. Being 6-foot-10 makes it difficult to maintain a consistent delivery. Johnson has improved, though a 130-pitch limit last season kept him from working a complete game. Control problems were blamed for his second-half slump, when he lost seven of his last 11 decisions and his ERA rose from 2.51 to 3.73. Some scouts say Johnson’s future is in short relief, though the Expos are not ready to consider that option.

That write-up is fascinating for a variety of reasons — a draconian 130 pitch limit! — but of particular relevance to our discussion is the mention of Johnson having a hard time repeating his delivery due to his size. Long levers are seen as being harder to control, leading to more difficulty in maintaining consistent mechanics and repeating your delivery, and repeating your delivery is key to having quality command.

On the flip side, a tall pitcher is going to release the ball higher off the ground than a shorter pitcher, which means a steeper downward angle of approach to the plate, which makes it harder for the hitter to make contact. In addition, a tall pitcher is generally going to be able to release the ball closer to the plate, which makes the ball seem faster to the hitter. So there are inherent advantages in being a Pitcher Of Unusual Height, though it requires the pitcher to overcome the command hurdle.

That said, there has only been one Big Unit, who finished his career as a first ballot Hall of Famer with 103.5 bWAR. J.R. Richard has the second highest career bWAR of the POUHs, at 21.5. Only seven other POUHs have at least 10 career bWAR — Doug Fister, Chris Young, Gene Conley, Jeff Nelson, Dellin Betances, Tyler Glasnow, and Brandon McCarthy. Bailey Ober is 10th all time, followed by Chris Martin, who has 7.7 career bWAR.

Yes, there are five players who pitched for the Rangers — Fister, Young, Nelson, McCarthy, and Martin — in that list. The Bottom 61 bWAR POUHs have just two former Rangers — the above-mentioned Smithson, who was traded, along with John Butcher, to the Minnesota Twins for Gary Ward after one-plus seasons in the bigs, and LSB favorite and legendary ophiophilist Kam Loe.

So Chris Martin, Arlington native, and graduate of Arlington High School (though not, sadly, Arlington Martin), is one of the best POUHs of all time. Not bad for a guy who had to go to Japan at the age of 30 to get his career back on track.

Making him even more unique is that he has defied the “tall pitchers struggle with command” conventional wisdom — his defining characteristic, particularly since his return from Japan, is that he throws strikes. His 1.2 BB/9 walk rate is the best of any player 6’8” or taller who has thrown more than 1 major league inning. The next lowest rate belongs to Eric Hillman, at 1.7 BB/9, almost 50% higher than Martin’s rate.

And to be clear, Martin’s ability to avoid free passes is elite relative to MLB as a whole, not just POUHs. His Statcast page is consistently very red when it comes to walk rate. 264 pitchers have thrown at least 350 innings since the start of the 2018 season. Martin’s 1.1 BB/9 over that span is 1st out of 264.

Martin was good when he was healthy in 2025, but had numerous physical issues, including back to back appearances in May which saw him leave after throwing one pitch in the first outing and leave without throwing a pitch in the second outing. Still, despite three injured list stints, Martin made 49 appearances, threw 42.1 innings, and put up a 2.98 ERA.

It was reported prior to last season that this would be Martin’s swan song, that he was retiring after the 2025 season and wanted to pitch his last season with his hometown team. He ended up deciding to return for 2026, and is back with the Rangers for this year. He will turn 40 in June, and if he keeps throwing strikes, and if the twine and chewing gum can hold his body together, he seems likely to be one of the Rangers’ best relievers yet again.

Previously:

Gerson Garabito

Tyler Mahle

Kyle Higashioka

Adolis Garcia

Luis Curvelo

Alejandro Osuna

Blaine Crim

Jake Burger

Jacob Webb

Nick Ahmed

Jon Gray

Carl Edwards Jr.

Josh Jung

Leody Taveras

Dustin Harris

Marc Church

Luke Jackson

Danny Coulombe

Wyatt Langford

Dylan Moore

Michael Helman

Evan Carter

Cole Winn

Rowdy Tellez

Dane Dunning

Marcus Semien

Billy McKinney

Jose Corniell

Jonah Heim

Cody Freeman

Sam Haggerty

Jacob deGrom

Merrill Kelly

Caleb Boushley

Justin Foscue

Nathan Eovaldi

In 2025, a lot of ink was spilled on Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, and understandably so. McLean started the season with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, posted a 1.37 ERA in 26.1 innings with them, then a 2.78 ERA in 87.1 innings with the Syracuse Mets, and then dazzled the baseball world with a 2.44 ERA in 48.0 innings at the major league level. Jonah Tong also started the season with Binghamton and posted a 1.76 ERA in 102.0 with them, then was promoted to Syracuse and did not allow a run in 11.2 innings, and then limped to the end of the season by posting a 7.71 ERA in 18.2 major league innings. A lot of people don’t realize this, but Jack Wenninger kept pace with both of them. Making 26 games for the Rumble Ponies, the right-hander posted a 2.92 ERA in 135.2 innings, allowing 114 hits, walking 42, and striking out 147 batters- tied for second most in the Mets minor league system in 2016 with R.J. Gordon.

Wenninger was drafted in the 6th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the 186th player selected overall. At the time, he was an unheralded right-hander and one of a large group of day two pitchers that included Kade Morris, Wyatt Hudepohl, Austin Troesser, Zach Thornton, and Noah Hall (and Nolan McLean, though he was still a two-way player at the time and not a full-time pitcher). Unlike that other group of pitchers (once again excluding McLean), Wenninger has rocketed up past his peers, landing at 10 on Amazin’ Avenue’s 2026 Top 25 Prospects list.

As an amateur, and prior to the 2025 season, the right-hander got by using a low-90s fastball, an above-average split changeup, and a fringy slider, cutter, and curveball. This past season, Wenninger added a little bit of velocity to his fastball, refined his cutter and slider- morphing the two into a sharper gyro slider- and began using a different curveball grip to give the pitch more bite. Both breaking balls are now average offerings, supplementing an average fastball and an above-average changeup. Tying his overall pitching abilities together, the right-hander is able to reliably command all four.

Where Wenninger fits into the Mets’ pitching puzzle in the immediate future is unclear. While the pitching rotation as it stands now certainly has plenty of volatility in terms of health and performance, Wenninger is so far down in the depth chart that he is likely a non-factor in 2026 unless something catastrophic happens with the starting rotation. A non-roster invitee to spring training, in addition to having to clear a spot on the 40-man roster to activate him, youngsters with MLB experience such as Tobias Myers, Jonah Tong, Christian Scott are likely ahead of Wenninger in the depth chart, with veterans such as Justin Hagenman and Jonathan Pintaro in contention for spot starts as well. As with any pitcher, he could be shifted into the bullpen, but a spot on the 40-man and active roster would need to be made for him. Regardless of his performance, Wenninger likely has his ticket stamped for Triple-A Syracuse to begin the season.

The Cincinnati Reds will open their 2026 season on March 26th in Great American Ball Park with the Boston Red Sox in town. Cincinnati’s Cactus League slate at their home in Goodyear, Arizona will begin this Saturday, February 21st, with the Cleveland Guardians both their home complex compatriots and opponents for the day.

With competitive baseball firmly on the horizon, here was Red Reporter’s first stab at how the 26-man roster would look when regular season ball commences just five weeks from now. Since then, though, we’ve obviously seen some major news, deals, etc. that will impact how this entire thing shakes out.

There will surely be many, many more twists and turns between now and Opening Day, but here’s our second guess at what the roster will look like when it gets here.

Starting Rotation

LHP Andrew Abbott

LHP Nick Lodolo

RHP Brady Singer

RHP Chase Burns

RHP Rhett Lowder

Notes: Wednesday’s news that Hunter Greene is dealing with concerning stiffness in his surgically repaired elbow sent shockwaves through Reds camp, through Red Reporter Headquarters, and through the entire baseball world. Now, there’s still plenty of optimism that Greene’s MRI and second opinion will show that he only needs weeks – not months – on the shelf, something this club has dealt with in every season of his career to this point, but regardless of the severity the odds of him being ready for Opening Day seem incredibly long.

So, that makes both Burns and Lowder – both of whom have looked great in camp – near locks for the starting rotation come Opening Day.

Bullpen

RHP Emilio Pagán

RHP Tony Santillan

RHP Graham Ashcraft

LHP Brock Burke

LHP Caleb Ferguson

RHP Pierce Johnson

RHP Connor Phillips

LHP Sam Moll

Notes: Wednesday evening’s trade of Tyler Callihan to Pittsburgh for reliever Kyle Nicolas throws an interesting wrench into this mix, though Nicolas still has an option remaining. I do believe he’ll be very much in the running for a spot on the OD roster, though, with Moll the likeliest to miss out if that’s the case – and Moll is out of options, so he’d need to clear waivers to stick around the organization at all.

The other wild card here is Brandon Williamson. Even though he’s been used as a starter in 118 of his 121 career games since turning pro, the innings management the Reds will employ with both Burns and Lowder in the rotation over the course of the year means they could well choose to carry a long man in the bullpen to mitigate that a bit, and Williamson – who’ll be on an innings limit of his own after missing 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery – could well profile as that guy for a time to begin the year.

For now, though Moll holds onto the job thanks to his lack of options giving him that administrative edge.

Position Players

C Tyler Stephenson

C Jose Trevino

1B Nathaniel Lowe

DH/IF Eugenio Suárez

IF Sal Stewart

IF Matt McLain

IF Elly De La Cruz

3B Ke’Bryan Hayes

IF/OF Spencer Steer

OF TJ Friedl

OF Noelvi Marte

OF JJ Bleday

OF Dane Myers

Notes: The lone change here is moving Bleday onto the OD roster and dropping Will Benson, who has an option remaining, off of it. The reality here is that Bleday, Benson, and Lowe are battling for two spots on the roster, and only Bleday and Benson have the ability to be optioned to AAA and kept within the organization. So, I think that gives Lowe the inside track to making the OD bench since the Reds would prefer he stay in the org for long term depth purposes and keeping Bleday and Benson over him would send him back to the free agent market.

If Lowe doesn’t hit over the first few weeks of the season that would become moot with a DFA and promotion of Benson back to the active roster in a LHH role, with where Spencer Steer plays being tweaked to more 1B/DH duties than LF duties in that alignment. Again, the OD roster is not always a reflection of where the roster will be in June, for example, and this series of decisions positions the Reds for the best combination of good enough on Opening Day and maintaining the most depth for the 162 game long haul.

Last year was a true breakthrough season for Cole Henry. After years of battling major injuries, including Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, the former second round pick made the big leagues as a reliever. Despite the solid season, Henry has seemingly overhauled his pitch mix entering year 2. I think his cutter will prove to be a massive weapon this season.

While Henry technically threw five pitches last season, he was primarily a 4-seam fastball and sweeper pitcher. Both of those pitches have strong characteristics, but with nothing in between those pitches, it could be easy to tell what was coming. I think that is part of the reason hitters rarely chased against Henry. He needed to find a bridge pitch between the fastball and the sweeper.

For most of his career, Henry has been reliant on his dynamic fastball and a slower breaking ball. Last year, that breaking ball was classified as a curveball, but this offseason that was changed to a sweeper. Whatever you want to call it, Henry has always relied on those two pitches. Even when he was a starter before all the injuries, those were the highlights of his mix. 

However, he did not have an effective pitch in the velocity range between the fastball and sweeper. It looks like that is what he spent his offseason focusing on because Cole Henry has really been leaning on a refined cutter this spring. He has thrown the pitch at least 20% of the time in all of his spring outings so far, and I really like it as a compliment to his other two pitches.

Last year, Henry threw a cutter just under 4% of the time. However, it was not effective and he did not trust the pitch. This year he is throwing it way more and it looks a little bit different. The pitch is 2 MPH harder than it was last while having more of a true cutter shape. He must have found a new grip or something because the shape is completely different to the cutter he was throwing last year.

This change makes Henry a true three pitch guy who can throw any of those offerings at any time. I love this tweak because it makes him much less predictable. Armed with this new cutter, I think Henry has a chance to get save opportunities at some point this season. Clayton Beeter’s stuff may be louder, but his feel for the zone comes and goes. Henry has command issues at times, but has more strike-throwing than Beeter.

I would not be surprised if this tweak was driven by the new front office and coaching staff. Henry actually talked about some of the changes the front office made on the radio yesterday. They had him study his own game using data in a way he had not done before. 

With this new information, Henry must have decided that he needed a pitch between the fastball and the sweeper. I think that is a smart decision that could make Henry a much better pitcher. He was already solid last year, but there is another level for him to reach. Having another healthy offseason under his belt will be helpful as well.

Even before this tweak to his arsenal, Henry was an intriguing reliever. His low arm slot and dynamic fastball shape made him a favorite for some analysts. There is a list I saw that included Henry when discussing underrated relievers heading into the season. 

Now with this new change, he could be even better. Henry tossed a 1-2-3 inning against Venezuela last night and has looked very sharp so far this spring. There is a chance that he could open the season as the closer if he keeps this up. Clayton Beeter is probably the favorite for that role, but there is a real shortage of proven options at the back end of the Nats bullpen.

Now heading into his second year and armed with a new weapon, this could be a big year for Cole Henry. I really do think the cutter solves a lot of his biggest problems. The other thing he is going to have to improve is his command. He walked over 13% of hitters last year and had a real problem with hit batters.

I actually think the cutter could help improve that as well. It gives him a pitch he can throw in the zone and get weak contact with. The cutter could also make his fastball and sweeper tougher to prepare for as well. It just gives hitters a whole new look and I love the addition. I think Cole Henry could be in for a big 2026 season.

The Texas Rangers have signed veteran outfielder/DH Andrew McCutchen to a minor league deal, per Evan Grant.

The Rangers have had a need for a righthanded bat who can platoon with Joc Pederson at DH all offseason, and the only real move they have made to potentially address that was adding Mark Canha on a minor league deal.

McCutchen, 39, has a much stronger pedigree and recent track record than Canha. The 2013 National League MVP has spent the majority of his career with Pittsburgh, including each of the past three seasons. He has gotten the bulk of his playing time at DH since the 2022 season, though he has made the occasional appearance at a corner outfield spot.

McCutchen slashed just .239/.333/.367 last year, but did put up a .267/.353/.389 slash line against lefties. He is also known as a positive clubhouse presence, and has the potential to offer some veteran leadership should he make the team.