Category: Sports News

The Mets defeated the Astros by a score of 6-2 tonight in West Palm Beach.

• Kodai Senga started for the Mets and went four scoreless innings, allowing just one walk and three hits against four strikeouts. He threw 41 of his 63 pitches for strikes. His swiftest fastball clocked in at 97.1 MPH.
• The Mets ran out essentially their Opening Day lineup and scored early and often against the Astros. Marcus Semien drove in the first and sixth runs of the evening on sacrifice flies. Luis Robert Jr. played two on a pair of doubles, and Brett Baty drove in a run on a double of his own. This, along with a bases loaded walk, led to six runs in the first five innings.
• Bo Bichette went 2-2 with a walk in three plate appearances. Jorge Polanco went 1-2 with two walks.
• In the ‘holding our breath’ department, Francisco Alvarez left the game in top of the fourth inning and was replaced by Jose Aular. It is unknown at this time as to why Alvarez was pulled from the game. Aular walked in his first two at-bats.
• Luis García pitched the fifth for the Mets and ran into a little trouble, allowing a run to score on a throwing error, a walk, and a single.
• Craig Kimbrel faced two batters in the sixth, striking out both. When he returned for the seventh, he struck out the first batter to face him, but then gave up a triple to Nick Allen. Although he was pulled from the game in favor of Brett Banks, Allen scored and the run was charged to Kimbrel.
• Austin Warren and Dicky Lovelady each tossed an inning of scoreless ball.

The Mets play the Cardinals tomorrow at 1:10pm at Clover Park. The game will air on SNY.

There’s nothing like a hot summer night at Dodger Stadium. 

The sun slowly melts away behind the San Gabriel Mountains, the cotton candy skies full of pink, orange and blue are so cinematic it feels like it was hand-painted just for Dodgers fans. 

Inhale and the aroma of hot dogs, popcorn and garlic fries tickles the nostrils like a memory. And if you’re like most fans, somewhere between first pitch and the seventh-inning stretch, all dietary discipline and restraint disappears.

According to a recent study by The Lines, Dodgers fans aren’t just watching baseball — they’re devouring it. Literally.

On average, Dodgers fans consume an extra 1,140 calories per game day, one of the highest marks in Major League Baseball. That’s the equivalent of two Dodger dogs, a basket of garlic fries and a couple of cold beers. 

And fans do it often. 

Dodgers fans surveyed said they watch 3 ½ games per week, which means this isn’t an occasional splurge, it’s more like a ritual. Granted, fans said they consume more calories when they are at Chavez Ravine than they do watching from home or at a sports bar. 

Over the course of a 162-game season, that caloric surge stacks into something heavier — roughly 29.2 pounds of potential weight gain. Add October, where the games tighten and the nerves spike, and suddenly that number pushes past 30.

Baseball, it turns out, isn’t just a pastime in Los Angeles. It’s a full-body experience.

League-wide, fans average an extra 753 calories per game. But Dodgers fans live louder than most fans. Only Rangers fans consume more extra calories per game than Dodgers fans with 1,265, because everything is bigger in Texas, even the waistlines. 

Here in California, Padres fans are not far behind with 1,015 extra calories consumed. But the Friar faithful also watch more games per week than any other fan base at 4.1 games, meaning they have a potential weight gain of 31.1 pounds during the regular season alone. 

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

Angels fans, perhaps worn down by their team’s 11-year playoff drought, report just 340 extra calories per game and watch the fewest number of games per week at 2.6. 

Giants fans fall somewhere in between. At Oracle Park, fans consume an extra 843 calories on game day. Respectable but still more than the league average. 

But Dodgers fans? They lean in.

Because being a Dodgers fan has never been about moderation. It’s about moments and celebrating with a Dodger dog and a Michelada with the loyal fans around you that bleed blue.  

And if that communion comes with an extra thousand calories?

So be it.

The Astros will open the 2026 season in exactly one week. At this point in most springs, there might be two or three roster spots still up for grabs, but this year’s 26-man roster feels much murkier. Here is my third and final stab at projecting who will be in uniform next week when the Astros host the Los Angeles Angels.

Starting pitchers: Hunter Brown, Christian Javier, Tatsuya Imai, Mike Burrows, Spencer Arrighetti, Lance McCullers Jr

Also considered: None

It’s been a very good spring for this group, outside of Arrighetti’s first outing. All six are healthy, and all six are throwing the ball well. Even the pitchers outside this group have looked good whenever they’ve taken the ball, so this rotation has the makings of being both very strong and very deep.

Bullpen: Bryan Abreu, Bryan King, Steven Okert, AJ Blubaugh, Ryan Weiss, Enyel De Los Santos, Kai-Wei Teng

Also considered: Roddery Muñoz, Peter Lambert

Bennett Sousa suffered an oblique injury, so he’ll join Josh Hader on the IL to start the season. I’m still working under the assumption that De Los Santos will be ready for Opening Day after suffering an ankle injury, but he has yet to appear in a spring training game.

Muñoz has not allowed an earned run in his last seven outings after giving up two in his debut. He has 14 strikeouts over 8.1 innings and must remain on the active roster all season after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft over the winter.

A former second-round pick, Lambert has impressed after a season in Japan, and The Athletic reported that he can opt out of his minor league deal at the end of spring training. He’s put himself in position to make someone’s Opening Day roster if he doesn’t make the Astros’.

Catchers: Yainer Diaz, Christian Vázquez

Also considered: Cèsar Salazar

The Astros wasted no time getting Vázquez into a game after he joined the club following Puerto Rico’s elimination from the WBC. I think he was signed to open the season as Díaz’s backup, but that plan carries some risk. Salazar is out of options, so the Astros would have to expose him to waivers if they send him down.

Infielders: Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Jeremy Peña, Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes, Nick Allen

Also considered: Brice Matthews, Zach Dezenzo

We still don’t know if Peña, who fractured a finger during a WBC tune-up game, will be available for Opening Day. However, the Astros haven’t ruled it out, which suggests that even if he can’t go next Thursday, he wouldn’t miss enough time to require an IL stint.

Outfielders/DH: Yordan Alvarez Jake Meyers, Cam Smith, Joey Loperfido, Taylor Trammell

Also considered: Zach Cole , Zach Dezenzo

I’ve had Cole on the Opening Day roster in each of my first two projections, but he’s up to 17 strikeouts in 42 plate appearances—north of 40%. His results on balls in play haven’t been much better, so a little time in Sugar Land might do him some good.

Dezenzo’s elbow injury likely takes him out of the running for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez was pinch-hit for early in Thursday's spring training game against the Astros.

Alvarez struck out in his only at-bat and caught starter Kodai Senga for three innings, but when his turn at the plate came up in the fourth with the bases loaded and two outs, manager Carlos Mendoza had catcher Jose Aular pinch-hit and the youngster walked in a run to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.

After the game, Mendoza said that Alvarez's back tightened up and they took him out as a precaution. 

"Back started to get tight and it was just precautionary," Mendoza said. "Trainers took a look at him and seems to be doing ok. He said that if this was the regular season, he could keep playing. As of right now, he’s day-to-day. He’s not scheduled to play tomorrow. We’ll see where we’re at for the following day."

Entering Thursday's game, Alvarez was having a very strong spring. After his one AB against the Astros, Alvarez was 8-for-22 (.364) with three doubles, one home run and four RBI in 10 games. 

In a teeny tiny bit of a shocker, the San Francisco Giants have optioned top prospect Bryce Eldridge to Triple-A Sacramento, according to Maria Guardado via social media. Joining him are IF/OF Tyler Fitzgerald and OF Grant McCray, bringing a lot of the roster decision questions towards a swift answer. It looks like the team is prepared to feature a heavy right-handed lineup and depth chart to kickoff the season.

Through April, they’re up against the following potential starting left-handed pitchers: Max Fried (Yankees), David Petersen and/or Sean Manaea (Mets), Cristopher Sanchez and/or Jesus Luzardo (Phillies), Trevor Rogers (Orioles), Andrew Abbott and/or Nick Lodolo (Reds), Foster Griffin (Nationals), and Braxton Garrett (Marlins). A tough bunch, to be sure, but not a majority of the starters the team will face that would necessitate an extreme alignment of the roster.

I say “teeny tiny bit of a shocker” because, although Eldridge leads the team in plate appearances (49) for this Cactus League season and is slugging a solid .450, he does lead the team in strikeouts (19) by a healthy margin and he’s hitting just .225, and he was just 3-for-his-last-18 with 1 extra base hit before the option. For a team that’s oversteering back towards batting average being the primary factor in valuing a hitter, that’s too ugly to ignore. In spite of Jerar Encarnacion’s .283 on base percentage and 0 walks, he’s hitting .289 and slugging .467. Luis Matos is at .268 (*and* a .348 OBP) with a .463 slug and just 3 strikeouts (against 1 walk).

If both Encarnacion and Matos do what they’ve done for most of their major league careers (get injured and be overwhelmed by major league pitching, respectively), then you can imagine how poorly this is likely to go — on the other hand, they’ve certainly earned the roster spot while the prospect with options has done exactly what an intriguing prospect should do: play well enough to stay in consideration. It just wasn’t enough to bump a player with a bit more of a track record. But still, this transaction is on the shocker (again, “teeny tiny”), as a lot of prognosticators and fans figured that Eldridge’s talent was such that he could finish his development at the major league level and is one of the organization’s biggest power threats even with the swing and miss.

The Giants could still add him back to the roster within the first two weeks of the season to qualify for the Prospect Promotion Incentive, so that’s something to keep an eye on. A reminder about what the PPI is:

MLB clubs can earn a Draft pick after the first round if a PPI-eligible player accrues one year of service as a rookie and then factors into a major award. That means he either has to win his league’s Rookie of the Year award or place in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting prior to qualifying for arbitration.

For those who’ve been following the team very closely during the spring, this is not really a surprise, though, nor is (my once beloved) Tyler Fitzgerald (.189 with 14 K and 0 BB in 37 AB!) winding up back in Triple-A for what certainly seems like the tail end of his time with the Giants (barring a miracle). It’s the Grant McCray of it all. Here’s a left-handed outfielder with speed who can glove the heck out of all three outfield positions. He’s also drawn 8 walks against just 6 strikeouts in 38 PA and is 3-for-5 in stolen base attempts. Surely, the team could’ve used a player like that as the 12th or 13th player on the depth chart? Instead, it looks like Will Brennan will take that spot thanks to an 11-for-33 spring, giving him a triple slash of .333/.405/.424. Brennan is a career .267/.307/.373, but you can see how a 90 wRC+ guy is a safer bet than the likely lower than 90 wRC+ for Grant McCray.

This sixth round of camp cuts drops the group to 42. Still a lot of players to clear out before the team heads back to the Bay for the Wednesday night opener (for which tickets are still available!).

Kodai Senga continued his strong spring, and Luis Robert Jr. and Marcus Semien led the way offensively as the Mets defeated the Houston Astros, 6-2, in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Thursday night.

The Mets are now 12-9 in Grapefruit League play with a week to go before Opening Day.

Here are the takeaways...

-Senga wasn't as dominant as his last spring start, but he showed a lot of resiliency, stranding runners and not allowing his lack of pinpoint command to get to him.

He allowed a baserunner in his first three innings, including a runner on second with one out, but got Christian Walker to ground out and Yainer Diaz to strike out to get out of the jam in the second inning. In the fourth, Cam Smith doubled with one out but was stranded when Senga got Zach Cole to pop up and Walker out on strikes.

Senga was done after four scoreless innings (63 pitches, 41 strikes), allowing three hits and one walk while striking out four. He's now thrown seven consecutive scoreless innings and has 11 strikeouts in 9.2 innings pitched.

Most encouraging was that he topped out at 97.3 mph on Thursday and has reached 99 mph this spring.

-The Mets had their A-squad on the field and scratched across a run in the second thanks to aRobert double and Semien sac fly, which was set up by a Brett Baty flyout. Baty started in right field on Thursday.

In the fourth, they had another chance to put up some runs after Bo Bichette led off with a single and Jorge Polanco walked. Robert popped up, but Baty picked him up with a double that plated Bichette. Polanco was late breaking from first, so he didn't score, but the Mets would get a run anyway. After Semien struck out, and Mark Vientos walked to load the bases, catcher Jose Aular walked to push across a run.

Aular pinch-hit for Francisco Alvarez, who was supposed to catch the entire game but got pulled after just one at-bat in three innings.

-The Mets blew open the game in the fifth. Juan Soto and Bichette led off with back-to-back walks, and then Polanco dumped a single to load the bases. Robert fought back from down 0-2 to even the count and then doubled in two runs to give the Mets a 5-0 lead. Semien followed a Baty walk with a sac fly to drive in the team's third run of the inning. The threat of more was extinguished after Vientos grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

-Francisco Lindor, in just his third spring game, went hitless but played seven innings at shortstop without issue.

-Here's how the Mets' starters fared:

• Lindor: 0-4, BB
• Soto: 0-2, R, BB
• Bichette: 2-2, 2 R, BB
• Polanco: 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB
• Robert Jr.: 2-4, 2 RBI, R
• Baty: 1-3, RBI, BB
• Semien: 0-1, 2 RBI, BB
• Vientos: 0-3, BB
• Alvarez: 0-1

-For the Mets bullpen on this day, Craig Kimbrel got some work in, hoping to crack the Opening Day roster. He struck out the two batters he faced (on just 12 pitches) in the sixth and came back out for the seventh. He struck out the leadoff hitter before allowing a triple -- a hit that right fielder AJ Salgado tried to make a diving catch on, but had it get past him. Kimbrel was pulled after the hit, and the next pitcher allowed a single and the future Hall of Fame closer's run to score.

Highlights

Luis Robert Jr. drops in a double pic.twitter.com/hsdh0QbF7q

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 19, 2026

Kodai Senga snags the grounder! pic.twitter.com/jM9jaOD0RM

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 19, 2026

Brett Baty rips a long RBI double to drive in Bo Bichette! pic.twitter.com/rm3g8kW5ka

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 19, 2026

A 2-run double for Luis Robert Jr. brings home Juan Soto and Bo Bichette to make it 5-0 Mets! pic.twitter.com/cg9IaYYPSc

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 19, 2026

Kodai Senga's four strikeouts today vs. the Astros pic.twitter.com/QMzUb5PyGc

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 19, 2026

Craig Kimbrel strikes out a pair in the 6th pic.twitter.com/hOu0tGzkhf

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 20, 2026

What's next

The Mets continue their spring training slate by hosting the Cardinals at PSL on Friday afternoon, starting at 1:10 p.m. on SNY.

Today the Texas Rangers have hopped the bus for a trip over to Phoenix, AZ to have a Cactus League quarrel against the Milwaukee Brewers.

LHP Jacob Latz will take the mound for Texas as the battle for the final spot in the rotation — of which Latz remains a competitor — nears a conclusion. Milwaukee will counter with RHP Brandon Woodruff.

You can listen to the game via 105.3 The Fan or follow along on Gameday. First pitch from American Family Fields of Phoenix is scheduled for 8:10 pm CT.

Go Rangers!

And, for the nightcap, here’s your major league spring training lineup for the Guardians:

A night game – and this one was actually scheduled this way, rather than being pushed back to the night to avoid the heat! Can’t say I blame anyone though. A high of 103 F today is just… wrong for mid-March, and it’s only a couple of degrees cooler than that now. Forecast high of 105 F tomorrow. Dear lord. I’m starting the countdown to the annual declaration by Mrs. SnakePit that she can’t take it any more, and we need to move. Don’t think we’ve ever previously had that discussion before Opening Day. Speaking of which, a week from now, things will be under way in games that matter…

Under the lights in Glendale. pic.twitter.com/iJLLWGRPwt

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 19, 2026

Definitely an A-bullpen kinda day, with all the scheduled pitchers after Michael Soroka being ones with a non-zero chance of making the Opening Day roster. Specifically: RHP Kevin Ginkel, RHP Ryan Thompson, LHP Brandyn Garcia, RHP Jonathan Loaisiga and RHP Andrew Hoffmann. Garcia might be the one on thinnest ice, after a pair of spectacularly bad outings. Eleven batters faced, two outs – three hits, four walks and two hit batters. One more appearance like that and there’ll almost be no way back for him, considering there are only a handful of spring games left.

No broadcast apparently for this one, so you are on your own. Recappage should follow, but I’ll be on my phone, so it may be short and/or misspelled.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Bryce Eldridge didn’t make the Giants’ Opening Day roster.

The club’s top prospect was optioned to Triple-A on Thursday along with two other cuts that left 42 players still in major-league camp with San Francisco.

Eldridge, 21, was considered a serious option for the Opening Day roster despite his age and lack of experience due to his advanced approach at the plate and raw power.

However, the 6-foot-7 slugger entered the spring with questions about his defensive abilities at first base, a position he only picked up after the Giants drafted him 16th overall in 2023.

Look no further than Eldridge’s playing time this spring for how seriously the Giants were considering breaking camp with him. Only two players logged more at-bats.

Eldridge made some of the hardest contact of anyone in the Cactus League but struck out in 19 of his 49 plate appearances (38.7%). He ended spring batting .225 (9 for 40) in 19 games with one homer, one triple and four doubles but admitted to not feeling comfortable in the box toward the end of camp.

“For him overall to look dangerous and comfortable at the same time is something that we’re all analyzing from over here probably even more so than the result,” manager Tony Vitello said Thursday afternoon before the decision had been made public. “I think he has found that at times. It’s a matter of it being consistent. Part of that just comes from reps.”

Eldridge wasn’t likely to get many defensive reps at the big-league level with Rafael Devers expected to handle first base. He will get an opportunity to get everyday reps in the field and at the plate to start the season with Triple-A Sacramento.

The Giants, meanwhile, will be able to time Eldridge’s call-up when he is feeling better at the plate. In the meantime, the roster move opens the door for players such as Luis Matos and Jerar Encarnacion, who have put together strong springs but are out of options.

Eldridge has played 84 games above Double-A, including 10 at the major-league level at the end of last season. He recorded three hits in 28 at-bats and is still seeking his first big-league home run.

In three minor-league seasons, Eldridge has 56 home runs, a .275 batting average and an .861 OPS. It didn’t take long for the hype train to leave the station after he began posting elite exit velocities in complex-league games shortly after being drafted as an 18-year-old high schooler. Eldridge emerged as one of the top prospects in all of baseball in 2024 as he climbed through four minor-league levels.

Now the consensus top prospect in the Giants‘ farm system, Eldridge was rated the No. 25 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline and No. 18 in Baseball America’s Top 100 entering this spring.

Move over, Tiger King. The newest Netflix star is the home run king.

Barry Bonds is in the building.

The Home Run King, 7x NL MVP, Single Season Home Run Leader and Giants legend joins the crew for MLB Opening Night: Yankees vs. Giants.

LIVE on Netflix March 25 with special coverage beginning at 7PM ET | 4PM PT. pic.twitter.com/XT12G00up2

— netflix⁷ (@netflix) March 19, 2026

Netflix announced Thursday that Barry Bonds would be a special guest studio analyst for their telecast of the season opener between the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees Wed., March 25. Bonds will join Albert Pujols and Anthony Rizzo as part of the pregame and postgame shows, a panel that combined for 1,768 home runs. Much like chicks, Netflix digs the long ball.

Bonds won’t be the only legendary Giants outfielder who will be part of the broadcast. Hunter Pence will be in the booth, alongside Matt Vasgersian and Hall of Fame pitcher CC Sabathia, giving each of the teams an alumni voice in color commentary.

Netflix had teased the announcement of Bonds, originally only announcing that a “Special Guest” would join the broadcast. However, John Shea reported that the streaming giant would be filling McCovey Cove with 73 red kayaks bearing the Netflix logo in honor of the 25th anniversary of Bonds’ record-breaking 73-homer season in 2001. So there was a strong chance the secret unannounced studio guy would indeed be Bonds.

In fact, who were the other possibilities? Brandon Belt would have only agreed to join the crew if he could be the studio captain. Huey Lewis specializes in national anthems, not baseball analysis. Tim Lincecum is shy. Barry Zito would bring an acoustic guitar. Brandon Crawford would only get on board if the Cheese Steak Shop was a sponsor. Gavin Newsom would blow Netflix’s entire hair and makeup budget. Aubrey Huff might be banned from even having a Netflix account, much less appearing on a Netflix show.

If it goes well, we’d like to humbly suggest some more SF Giants Netflix programming”

“Lou Seal In Paris”

The cuddly seal with the amorphous body moves to Paris in order to school European mascots in American-style clownery and his signature “belly bump” move. Lou struggles with driving his golf cart on the correct side of the road, wins over a squad of soccer hooligans and finds love with his downstairs neighbor, a Cirque du Soleil acrobat who is also an otter.

“Jake Paul vs. Hunter Strickland”

Hunter Strickland loves starting fights. Jake Paul loves scheduling fights. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound former Giants closer has a size advantage over Paul, but Paul has more experience. As for punchable faces, they’re about even. However, Michael Morse and Jeff Samardzija are not allowed to intervene!

“The Blanco Lotus”

See what happens and who gets murdered at a luxury hotel in Venezuela run by former Giants outfielder Gregor Blanco, his twin brother Gregory Blanco, and his little brother, Gregson Blanco. Unlike that other Lotus show, these three brothers won’t have any inappropriate contact with each other.

“Bay Bridgerton”

Tony Vitello struggles to learn etiquette in the complicated society of major league baseball, all while dealing with malicious gossip published by “Lord Whistledown” (Joe Maddon).

“Squib Game”

Luis Arraez competes in an intense, life-or-death game show where players face a series of dangerous challenges that mainly require putting a baseball in play, no matter how softly. If his BABIP drops too low, the Giants offense dies.

“Danny Ozark”

Giants manager Danny Ozark has to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel, all while trying to keep the 1984 Giants out of last place in the National League West. Starring J.K. Simmons as Ozark and Pete Rose, Jr. as Pete Rose, Sr.

Congratulations to Mr. Bonds! Let’s hope Hall of Fame voters aren’t all watching Paramount Plus instead.

We got a night game folks! The Athletics are set to play host to their division rivals the Seattle Mariners tonight in one of the final games of spring, a sold-out crowd that is ready to see our A’s take the win. With about a week to go before Opening Day things are going to start getting really ramped up here over the next few games. A’s fans should be seeing plenty of the regulars getting their at-bats in, the pitchers getting their final tune-ups, and the bullpen arms making their final cases for a ticket to Toronto. Should be an intense week and one that’ll also feature the Athletics’ Breakout game on Sunday afternoon. Gear up and prepare for the last exhibition contests before games begin to count.

The A’s have veteran right-hander Aaron Civale taking the ball for the club in what’ll be just his third appearance this spring. The 30-year-old veteran of seven big league seasons likely didn’t need much time to ramp up and be ready for Opening Day though. His first outing saw him allow a pair of runs on 60 pitches. His most recent appearance didn’t yield great results (six runs on nine hits) but he did get all the way up to 75 pitches. That’s probably been his biggest goal since arriving to the A’s at the last possible moment but it seems he’s going to be stretched out enough to take his spot in the Opening Day rotation, which has all been assured to him by the team. We’ll be hoping to see him produce better results tonight but as long as he gets his pitches in everything should be smooth sailing for the righty until the regular season. From there however we’ll need to start seeing results.

Here’s the Athletics’ lineup for tonight’s contest:

Today's lineup vs. Seattle – March 19, 2026 at Hohokam Stadium pic.twitter.com/Ufbzqfdn9x

— A's Communications (@AthleticsPR) March 19, 2026

No surprise that manager Mark Kotsay is trotting out most of the regulars tonight. In fact, dare I say that this looks like the probably Opening Day lineup? I don’t want to start an argument about Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers’ spots in the lineup. No matter how you feel about it, the Athletics are going to prioritize getting them the most at bats possible this coming year. We’ll see if it lasts for six months but this is how the A’s will likely stack up next week in Toronto against their right-handed ace Dylan Cease.

We have Lawrence Butler back in the lineup but not manning right. While he’s been behind the rest of his teammates during camp as he completes his rehab for a torn patellar tendon, Butler’s been getting in his at-bats in controlled settings and finally made it into a game earlier this week. He’s yet to fully get right field under his belt much during camp, which is the final step in his rehab. He’s DH’ing tonight so that’s a positive, but the hope is that we see him out on the outfield grass a few more times before games start to really count.

The Mariners kept their cards close to the chest all afternoon, only announcing their starter a couple hours before first pitch. Seattle will counter Civale with right-hander Randy Dobnak. The 31-year-old is with the M’s on a minor league deal after spending the previous five years with the Minnesota Twins. He’s unlikely to make their Opening Day roster but could be an option for them later in the season if Seattle’s vaunted rotation suffers any injuries. Shouldn’t be too hard of an assignment for the A’s starting nine tonight but you never know!

And here’s how the M’s lineup breaks down for tonight’s game:

An evening with the Mariners. pic.twitter.com/8KR7pKsXvg

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) March 19, 2026

While the A’s are sending out their expected regular starting lineup the Mariners have more replacements than everyday guys in today’s starting nine. Civale needs to be careful with first baseman Josh Naylor but other than him he should try to be aggressive against Mariners batters this evening.

The A’s are 12-14 during camp and with five games left there’s still time to finish at or above .500. I know, meaningless, but still would be nice to break camp with a winning record. Let’s go A’s!