Category: Sports News

Grant Holmes took the mound against the Orioles, as the Braves stacked their lineup with most of their regular bats.

Holmes had a mixed day on the mound, as he issued 3 walks in 2.2 innings, something Grant has been prone to in his major league career, but striking out 3 and holding the Orioles scoreless during his time on the mound. He also drew a solid 7 whiffs over his 58 pitches. Tyler Kinley and Dylan Lee each worked scoreless innings in relief with a strikeout each and Kinley issuing a walk. Didier Fuentes came into the game in the sixth and opened some eyes hitting 98 with his fastball, and ultimately ending his first inning with a whiff on 98 above the zone. He did get some defensive help from Drake Baldwin, throwing out a runner attempting to steal second who had never been thrown out in his minor league career. Fuentes came back out for the seventh and was even more dominant, striking out the side and topping out at 98.8 MPH on his fastball. Fuentes drew an impressive 7 whiffs in his 25 pitches. James Karinchak continued his dominant spring, allowing a baserunner on a soft grounder that led to some confusion between Riley at third and Gil at shortstop, but striking out 3 in a scoreless eighth.

On the offensive side, the Braves were pretty quiet for the first half of the game. Michael Harris did draw a walk early in the game, as he continues to look more patient and discerning with pitches this spring than he has been so far in his career. The offense broke out in the sixth, as Drake and Olson started the inning with two hard hit outs and then Austin Riley and Mike Yastrzemski went back to back with two solo homers as those two have been hitting the ball well this spring.

Austin Riley – Atlanta Braves (3)* pic.twitter.com/S6MoeyOBPN

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 7, 2026

Hot prospect John Gil continued to demonstrate his advanced approach, drawing another walk in the eighth. The Orioles were able to tie things up at 2 runs on a bit of a weird sequence in the ninth, giving some Braves prospects a chance to walk things off in the ninth, but the youngsters were unable to muster a baserunner, leaving the game as a tie.

Overall, the Braves generally did what you want to see from a spring game. The bats mostly hit the ball well and the pitchers that are of any relevance looked anywhere from fine to great. We’ll be back tomorrow for another 1:05 PM ET start against the Rays.

The Milwaukee Brewers are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they’ll travel to take on the Los Angeles Angels for Brandon Woodruff’s spring debut.

Woodruff, the only pitcher to not appear this spring of the non-Quinn Priester variety (Priester’s availability to begin the season is in doubt as he deals with wrist discomfort), will get the start for the Crew. DL Hall, Trevor Megill, Grant Anderson, Easton McGee, and Drew Rom are also slated to pitch in this one.

The Brewer offense will take on Grayson Rodriguez, who was traded to Los Angeles from Baltimore this offseason. Sal Frelick bats leadoff and starts in center today, followed by Blake Perkins and Andrew Vaughn. Gary Sánchez bats cleanup as the catcher, with Luis Rengifo and Brandon Lockridge rounding out the middle of the order. Luke Adams bats seventh as the DH with Cooper Pratt and Jesús Made bringing up the back of the lineup.

The Angels are rolling with most of their starters, as a split-squad day means many of their reserves will be in Las Vegas taking on the A’s.

First pitch is slated for 2:10 p.m. CT on 620 WTMJ and the Brewers Radio Network.

BIG WOO

📻: WTMJ 620#ThisIsMyCrewpic.twitter.com/HO9P7656LC

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 7, 2026

Midday vs Milwaukee ☀️

📻: @AngelsRadioKLAA#LAASpring x @FBMSupplypic.twitter.com/cf7P1ZrODl

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) March 7, 2026

Just time for the barest of Gameday Threads this afternoon. Here’s our line-up, which saw a late change with Crisantes coming in to replace Torin. There were also some shuffling of other positions, like Vargas moving over to 3B and Fernandez covering short in place of Torin:

Lineup Update:

3B – Vargas
2B – Crisantes
C – Moreno
1B – Smith
SS – Fernandez
CF – Barrosa
LF – Vukovich
DH – Luis
RF – Conticello
SP – Drake

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 7, 2026

A busy day of World Baseball Classic baseball is already well under way. Michael Soroka started for Canada in their 8-2 win over Colombia. He went three innings, and allowed a run on four hits, with a walk and a pair of strikeouts. He was followed o the mound by Indigo Diaz, who posted a zero in the fourth, allowing one walk but striking out a pair. Jatoine Kelly started for the Netherlands, as they also won, 4-3 over Nicaragua. He pitched a pair of scoreless innings on one hit, one walk and three K’s. Druw Jones went 2-for-3 with a walk in that game too.

This game is on the radio, through Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Here’s your Guardians’ lineup for the day:

Kwan CF

Valera LF

Ramirez 3B

Arias SS

Manzardo DH

Hoskins 1B

Rocchio SS

Hedges C

Kayfus RF

Cecconi P

Today the Texas Rangers head over to Scottsdale, AZ for a Cactus League matchup against the San Francisco Giants.

Taking the mound for Texas will be LHP Jacob Latz in his latest audition for the fifth spot in the rotation. Opposing him will be LHP Carson Whisenhunt for San Francisco.

The Giants have a telecast which will also be on MLB Network out of market, otherwise you can listen via 105.3 The Fan or follow along on Gameday. First pitch from Scottsdale Stadium is scheduled for 2:05 pm CT.

Go Rangers!

The Washington Nationals added two experienced relievers on minor league deals right as camp was starting. Drew Smith and Cionel Perez have been quality big league relievers in the not too distant past, but have seen their stock fall due to injuries in the case of Smith and a dropoff in production for Perez. Now, they will look to bounce back on a team with plenty of bullpen spots up for grabs.

Each have made two scoreless appearances so far, and have looked good. Perez has been particularly sharp. After a rough year, it seems like Perez was in the lab this offseason. His fastball is in the mid to upper 90’s and his breaking ball has looked really sharp. He caught Ronald Acuna Jr. looking on a nasty slurve the other night.

Cionel Perez strikes out Ronald Acuna Jr pic.twitter.com/f1tXPdnTkO

— Kev (@klwoodjr) March 4, 2026

At this point, I would be very surprised if Perez did not make the team. From 2022 to 2024, Perez made at least 60 appearances each season and was a valuable member of the Orioles bullpen. At just 29 years old, there is a decent chance last year was just a blip on the radar.

Perez’s BABIP in 2025 was .391, which is just unsustainably high. The Nats infield might be somewhat problematic for the ground ball heavy lefty, but that batting average on balls in play number is inevitably going to come down. His career BABIP is .303, so I really think last year was a fluke in that regard. 

There are some pitchers, like MacKenzie Gore, who run high BABIP numbers because of the quality of contact they allow, but Perez is not like that. His expected batting average number was low at .213 and he does not allow many barrels. Perez’s ERA is inevitably going to come down, just by getting better batted ball luck.

One thing I am more worried about is his control. He has always allowed his fair share of walks, but that number spiked in 2025. His 16.4% walk rate is simply too high. Perez is going to walk people, but he needs to get that number closer to 10%, which is where he was before 2025.

If Perez does become a contributor, I think he will become a bit of a fan favorite. The amount of velocity he gets from a small frame is crazy. He also seems like a big personality. Perez has long flowing hair and can be quite fiery on the mound. He also had a funny tradition of catching home runs with his hat while sitting in the O’s bullpen. I wonder if he will bring that to DC.

Of course, Cionel Pérez caught Ramón Urías’ game-tying homer. 😅
pic.twitter.com/ieeVoa6MAR

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) August 26, 2024

The situation for Drew Smith is a bit less straightforward in my opinion. He has thrown the ball well so far, but I do not think he is a lock to make the team out of camp. I certainly think we will see him at some point, but I think he could benefit from some time in AAA.

Smith had not pitched since June of 2024 before this spring. He underwent Tommy John Surgery, the second one of his career. Coming back from a second TJ can be quite dicey. I would not be surprised to see the Nats give Smith some time to acclimate before throwing him in the big leagues.

The 32 year old was an effective reliever for the Mets from 2021 until his injury in 2024. He has missed a lot of time though, which is why he had to settle for a minor league deal. Smith is a strikeout artist who can really spin the ball though.

He has tossed two scoreless innings this spring, but his velocity has been down a tick. However, his fastball has always relied more on its shape than the pure velocity. The shape has been solid. He has been leaning heavily on his slider. The velocity of that pitch is down over 3 MPH, so I wonder if this is a different type of slider than what he was throwing before.

Non-roster invitee Drew Smith #Nationals made a favorable first impression, retiring the side and recording a strikeout during the bottom of the third. He threw 13 pitches (9 strikes – 69.2 Strike%) with one whiff. #sleeperalertpic.twitter.com/OXhQPXvPV5

— Closer Monkey (@CloserMonkey) March 3, 2026

Before picking up Smith and Perez, the Nats bullpen was painfully short on experience. These guys are not sure things, but they have been there and done that before. That is more than you can say for most of the other guys in the Nats ‘pen. They should also be very hungry to prove themselves.

If Spring Training is any indicator, these could be shrewd additions for Paul Toboni. You just never know with relievers though. At this time last year, I was hyping up Lucas Sims and Colin Poche, and we all know how that turned out. Hopefully these guys prove to be better than that, and help the Nats bullpen improve after they were the worst unit in baseball last year.

The White Sox hit the road to face a Mariners team that’s a whole lot better than its spring record, so they may be doing a whole lot of experimenting so far. The Sox can hope the experimenting continues, which is likely given all the players the Mariners have on international rosters at the moment. One problem with that: They’ll start out facing a member of the regular rotation, in Logan Gilbert.

Gilbert, who has given up one run in 4 2/3 innings in his first three spring starts, will face a White Sox lineup that has Luisangel Acuña at second base. This is the second time in a row Acuña has been in the infield, despite the fact he was acquired ostensibly to take over center field after Luis Robert, Jr. was traded for him. Maybe the Sox have figured out what the Rangers and Mets had determined before them — Acuña’s a very good infielder but a weak outfielder. If so, that will have repercussions, good or bad, for several other players.

The Sox aren’t going the usual route of beginning the game with a regular starter, instead beginning the parade with reliever Grant Taylor. Taylor has had a nice spring so far, giving up just two hits and no runs over three one-inning appearances while walking just one and striking out four. He faces a Mariners lineup badly depleted by the absence of 18 WBC players. Yep, 18.

First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. Central (for the last time, since Arizona change to DST). CHSN has deigned to carry this game, as has ESPN 1000.

The World Baseball Classic is in full swing now, but Spring Training soldiers on with those left behind. Sure, Harry Ford continued his weird dominance of the event while Shohei Ohtani continued to do very Shohei Ohtani things, and Oneil Cruz still hits a ball harder than anyone when he can make contact. Seth “Quarterrican” Lugo pitched four scoreless innings to lead Puerto Rico to victory, and Michael Wacha had a weird outing in relief for USA during their win over Brazil. But guys like Brandon Drury and Kevin Newman still want to find a way to play in MLB this year, so the games in the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues must go on.

Here’s today’s lineup; it continues to be uninspiring while seemingly half the team is scattered around the globe doing mercenary work for their ancestral homes.

Nothing against those guys I mentioned earlier, but when they join with Josh Rojas to form the heart of your order, it’s difficult to expect much of interest to happen.

Kris Bubic will take the mound for his second official appearance of spring. The stuff looked completely normal last time out, so the goal is just to see him continue to build up and not get hurt as we trudge toward Opening Day. Here are the guys on the roster who could pitch after him:

• Sanchez, Aaron RHP
• Way, Beck RHP
• Chamberlain, Christian LHP
• Cawyer, Zachary RHP
• Johnson, Brandon RHP
• Panzini, Shane RHP
• Olivárez, Helcris LHP
• Patteson, Hunter LHP

The odds are heavily against any of these pitchers making the Opening Day roster, though I did attempt to wishcast Olivárez onto the team in my latest roster prediction. But hey, if you don’t want to listen to this extremely Spring Training game, there is still plenty of WBC to watch! Team Italy is taking on Brazil as this post goes live, and Panama at Puerto Rico isn’t far off.

Don’t lose heart, Opening Day is less than three weeks away!

HOUSTON — Tarik Skubal’s teammates refuse to pressure him.

Team USA officials won’t interfere.

The fans have openly shared their sentiments, but Skubal is undeterred.

Barring a dramatic change of plans, Skubal’s first and only appearance in the 2026 World Baseball Classic for Team USA will be Saturday evening against Great Britain at Daikin Park in Houston.

He then plans to return back to the team hotel, pack his suitcase, and fly to Florida on Sunday to be back with his Detroit Tigers teammates at spring training in Lakeland.

If USA advances to the semifinals in Miami, as expected, Skubal plans to pitch one spring-training game for the Tigers, and then join Team USA in Miami – but only to be their highest-paid and most decorated cheerleader.

“It’s only a three-hour drive," Skubal said, “I can do that."

EXCLUSIVE: Tarik Skubal talks record contract, Tigers' title dreams

Certainly, Team USA officials would love Skubal to stay, and pitch in the semifinal or final, but that would require Skubal to alter his routine. He certainly isn’t going to pitch on short rest in the WBC, and he still needs to be ready for the Tigers’ season-opener March 26 at Petco Park in San Diego.

And, yes, he also has an astronomical payday waiting that will make him the richest starting pitcher in history, likely eclipsing $400 million – and perhaps close to $500 million.

Certainly, after just being with Team USA for a week of workouts and team bonding, Skubal concedes that he is smitten in his first WBC.

“These games are going to feel like playoff games or World Series games," Skubal said. “Those environments are what baseball is and that's where baseball is kind of going. That's why it is the best sport in the world because it is pretty international.

“When you look around at every pool, you look at all the different games going on around the world, those environments are always going to be pretty special. And that's what makes the game of baseball so beautiful."

The only real flaw of the WBC is the timing of the event. Players have been in camp for less than a month, and pitchers certainly aren’t ready to compete like it’s a postseason game.

“As far as the pitching standpoint," Skubal said, “timing is everything. If they can get the timing right to where it is not in a spring training ramp-up phase, I think that will reduce the risk of injuries for pitching, you know."

That's why why Skubal is leaving town, even though WBC fans have been openly critical about his one-and-done.

“The guys have been cool about it," Skubal said, “but I mean, obviously, like publicly, it’s a little bit different perception. But I think they understand what it means for me to be here. Obviously, I want to be in the room, you know, and that's cool for them to even take that aside and be like, 'it's awesome that you're here.'"

Players like three-time MVP Aaron Judge, captain of Team USA, has effusively praised Skubal for being on the team, condemning those who are critical over his limited role.

“He's got the two Cy Young awards, but this guy's about to make half a billion dollars here in the next offseason,’’ Judge said. “So, for him to put it all on the line for his country, and come out here and show up for us. ... You know, maybe it is just one game, but you know there's a risk with everything you do, and for him to take that risk and come out here and be with us, the boys love it."

Says Skubal: “I can’t wait to feel it. It's the first time I've ever been able to wear the USA jersey, and it's going to be special. My family and friends will get to enjoy that. It will be pretty special for everybody involved."

He still plans to pitch in the next WBC and would love to be in the 2028 Olympics, too.

“I'd love to come here and just have a game where I have 100 pitches and be ready to go," Skubal says. “So hopefully the Olympics, they get that at the All-Star break, and they get it right. That way we can send out the best lineup and arms, and they can be at max, full-go. And they don't have to worry about injuries."

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tarik Skubal contract and why USA WBC ace is only pitching once