Category: Sports News

There’s now less than two weeks to go until Opening Day, and things are definitely beginning to come into focus. We’ve lost our Opening Day starter, with Merrill Kelly’s nervous back ruling him out for that role. However, he started today’s game. Let’s start off with that section of the roster in more detail, shall we?

Starting rotation

1. Zac Gallen ($22m)
2. Brandon Pfaadt ($3.4m)
3. Ryne Nelson ($3m)
4. Eduardo Rodriguez ($21m)
5. Michael Soroka ($7.5m)

No changes in personnel here, but a move of Soroka back from the bullpen is in order, due to the Kelly situation hinted at above. It’s uncertain when Merrill will be considered adequately stretched out in order to return to the rotation: that should become closer as we move towards Opening Day. It may not require a stay on the 10-day injured list, but I suspect it will. The D-backs do not need a fifth starter until their ninth game on Saturday April 4. This is due to the (weird) off-day the first Sunday of the season. However, if the team IL Kelly on Opening Day, and backdate this the maximum permitted three days he wouldn’t be able to come off until April 7.

Alternatively, they could keep the rotation on point, and use Soroka for spot starts on March 31st and April 5th. Or not IL Kelly at all: there’s a case to be made that four innings of Kelly is better than no innings at all. Or, if you’re feeling less charitable, better than four innings of Soroka. That pair could just piggy-back when needed for a start or, at worst, two. We’ll likely know more as we see how long Kelly pitches in his upcoming Cactus League outings, which would be March 18 and 23, if he maintains a normal five-day rotation. It’s all uncertain for now.

Gallen has been anointed as Opening Day starter, his fourth consecutive year in the role. Though both this year and last, he backed into the role after the original candidate was unable to fulfill the responsibilities of the position. After him, Jack has mapped out the most likely order. Pfaadt, for example, has been pitching the day after Gallen this spring, so it make sense he’ll follow him once the regular season starts. Things thereafter do become a little more flexible, and the World Baseball Classic also affected things, with uncertainty around Eduardo Rodriguez

Bullpen

• Ryan Thompson ($3.95m)
• Kevin Ginkel ($2.725m)
• Taylor Clarke ($1.55m)
• Kade Stroud
• Paul Sewald ($1.5m)
• Jonathan Loáisiga
• Brandyn Garcia
• Andrew Hoffmann

Moving Soroka into the rotation opens a spot in the bullpen. Albeit probably a relatively short-term one. but it’s not a major issue, since the like of Stroud, Garcia and Hoffman all have minor league options available, when Soroka goes back to long relief. I’m no longer convinced that Drey Jameson will crack the roster. While his velo has been up, he has had his struggles this spring (an 8.44 ERA, on eight hits and five walks over 5.1 IP). Oddly, it seems like the team has been stretching him out a little, with his more recent spring outing lasting thirty pitches. He only reached that figure in one of his 19 appearances last year. May be significant, may not.

Garcia is still my pick for the left-handers spot, but had a bit of a blow-up yesterday, to put it mildly. Until then both he and Philip Abner had put up decent numbers in spring. Abner has allowed one run over six innings, on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Garcia had given up no runs over 4 IP, with a K:BB of 5:1. But Thursday’s rough outing (BB, HBP, 1B, HBP, BB – 26 pitches without recording an out) was definitely a concern, and his ERA went from zero to 11.25. The pessimist in me is predicting an elbow specialist in his future, naturally. Even if that isn’t the case, the door is certainly still open for Abner.

It’s possible the team could go with both, if Torey Lovullo wants two lefties. But I like the chances of Hoffmann, who has had an excellent spring. He has allowed one run over 4.2 innings on four hits, with a K:BB of 7:1. If he sustains that over the remaining couple of weeks, he could fill the final spot. It would, however, perhaps be between him and Stroud for who gets the short-stay token, and goes down to Reno when it is time for Merrill Kelly to rejoin the rotation, pushing Soroka down.

Starting line-up

• Catcher: Gabriel Moreno ($2.55m)
• First base: Carlos Santana ($2m)
• Second base: Ketel Marte ($15m)
• Shortstop: Geraldo Perdomo ($6.25m)
• Third-base: Nolan Arenado ($5m)
• Left field: Alek Thomas ($1.96m)
• Center field: Jordan Lawlar
• Right field: Corbin Carroll (10.635m)
• Designated hitter: Pavin Smith ($2.25m)

The good news about Carroll has certainly made a tricky situation in the outfield a lot more bearable. He didn’t just make it back in time for Opening Day, he did so with two weeks to spare. That should give him plenty of time to get ramped up, and there are backfield opportunities should more at-bats be needed. Lawlar has also played encouragingly well this spring. He has a .323 average and 1.174 OPS going into play this afternoon, while not embarrassing himself in center [despite the near miss the other day]. We haven’t seem much of Thomas, due to the WBC, but with Mexico now eliminated, he should be back in camp.

This has all removed the need for Ryan Waldschmidt to be rushed out of the majors for Opening Day. While we may still see him in 2026, service time elements – not just direct years, but a desire to avoid potential Super 2 status – will become a factor. While he played well enough, I’m fine with letting him mature in Reno for a bit. His time will come, and it may not be far off. Elsewhere on the diamond, things are progressing as expected. Nobody has got hurt, and nobody has done much in terms of performance – either to play their way out of a starting spot or into one.

Bench

• James McCann ($2.75m)
• Tim Tawa
• Jorge Barrosa
• Ildemaro Vargas

The supposed deal for a utility player discussed last time still has been notable by its absence, but the need still seems to be there. However, every day which passes makes it seem more likely the team is going to be comfortable going with the quartet above, or something close to it. I’m a lot happier with Barrosa as a fourth outfielder than I was when it seemed like he might become an everyday left-fielder. With him being out of options, it will get a little tricky when Lourdes Gurriel comes back and a spot needs to be found. What happens may depend on how Lawlar fares in center: he does still have a minor-league option left, if needed.

Meanwhile, Vargas comes into play today batting .345, though has yet to take a walk. I suspect that batting average is not sustainable, but he really isn’t going to be on the roster for his bat. What Vargas does have, is over 100 MLB innings at each infield position, as well as in left-field, so he offers a lot of positional flexibility and experience. Between him, Tawa and Barrosa (plus, in a pitch, Pavin Smith can play the outfield – albeit for some loose definition of “play”), I feel like the D-backs have adequate coverage around the diamond.

Payroll

• Estimated 2026 Payroll: $195M
• Estimated Final 2025 Payroll: $188M

No change here since last time, so that’s nice.

MIAMI, Florida — World Baseball Classic pool play wrapped up on Wednesday night with one of the most exciting games of the tournament to date as the Dominican Republic beat Venezuela 7-5 in Miami. There were a lot of great moments like this epic Fernando Tatis Jr. blast:

Juan Soto, also playing for the Dominican Republic, described it as the perfect bat flip. I must say I agree, honestly the whole show from bat flip to the slow, exaggerated trot around the bases was a 10/10 no notes type of performance. Don’t believe me, take a look at the reaction in Santo Domingo:

It’s going to be exceedingly difficult for anyone to top the caliber of play the Dominicans are bringing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic, but I have to believe the Contrerii playing for Venezuela, the Boricua led by Yadi Molina who will be making their debut in Houston tonight, and Japan, anchored by Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki and the one and only Shohei Ohtani will give it a go as they make their debut against Venezuela in Miami on Saturday.

It’s going to be a blast.

As much as my heart is shattered that Mexico missed the elimination rounds, I can’t take anything away from the incredible showing Italy and their espresso machine have put on so far this tournament. You can see the whole bracket below:

So with that, below are my hot takes on what is now a win or go home tournament. It’s gonna be lit, y’all. You can see how the crew at ESPN ranked the teams remaining in the tournament here.

David and Goliath: Korea vs. Dominican Republic

On paper this is a mismatch with a stacked Dominican team featuring a Latino murderers row of hitters that would strike fear in the hearts of the 1927 Yankees. Tatis & Soto are joined by Junior Caminero, Manny Machado, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Oneil Cruz,  Julio Rodríguez y mas. Just look at this swagger:

Oh, did I mention they can pitch? They can pitch. Former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara heads up a pitching roster that includes Red Sox starter Brayan Bello and at least four guys with MLB closing experience in Dennis Santana, Seranthony Domínguez, Camilo Doval, Carlos Estévez, Gregory Soto and Abner Uribe. Don’t fall behind against La República Dominicana.

But the beauty of a single elimination baseball tournament is that on any given day anyone can win, just ask Mark DeRosa and Team USA. Korea qualified for the elimination rounds for the first time in four tournaments. Former MLB pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu will toe the rubber for Korea tonight in Miami.

The Kings in the North: Canada vs. USA

Later tonight in Houston, a scrappy Canadian team will hope to repeat Italy’s performance and stun a stacked US team that ranks second in the ESPN power rankings. The Canadians are coming off a surprise win against team Puerto Rico in San Juan (admittedly, on a night where Puerto Rico’s manager Molina was resting many of his regulars after clinching a spot in the elimination rounds). The Americans are coming off a surprise loss against team Italy in Houston (admittedly on a night where USA manager Mark DeRosa maybe thought he clinched when he hadn’t but says he knew he hadn’t?).

Pete Crow-Armstrong was the star in a losing effort against Italy, but has generally been backing up Twins centerfielder Byron Buxton. Lineups are not out yet, but keep an eye out to see if PCA is in the game or on the bench.

The Canadians will have Giants ace Logan Webb on the mound while the Americans will counter with former Cub Michael Soroka. Keep an eye on left field where former Cub Owen Caissie has been starting for Canada.

Not gonna miss their shot: Puerto Rico vs. Italy

The middle of the bracket features two teams with MLB regulars and a few lineup flaws. Puerto Rico is without some of their heaviest hitters, but had a strong second place finish in San Juan. They’ll look for a strong outing from staring pitcher Seth Lugo, who’ll likely partner with defensive catcher extraordinaire Martín Maldonado behind the plate. Manager Yadi (mi favorito Yadi) will look for strong offensive performances from Nolan Arenado, Heliot Ramos and walkoff hero Darrel Hernaiz:

The Italians will hope their espresso-powered vibes and young electric bats like Jac Caglionne, Vinnie Pasquantino and Jakob Marsee, along with former Cubs Jon Berti and Miles Mastrobuoni, can score enough runs to make up for their lack of deep pitching. They’ll send Sam Aldegheri or Michael Lorenzan to the mound Saturday afternoon in Houston.

A League of Their Own: Japan vs. Venezuela

Japan will send the greatest baseball player on the planet, Shohei Ohtani, and Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki to anchor their offense with pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Yusei Kikuchi into their debut in Miami hoping to start yet one more run to the World Baseball Classic Championship. There will be incredible cheers, there will be vibes. There will be Ohtani:

Ohtani may be a unicorn but these are evenly matched teams with Venezuela countering Yamamoto with the pitching prowess of Ranger Suárez, backed up by a fierce offense featuring Ronald Acuña Jr., catching legend Salvador Perez and my favorite Contreras brothers for the nightcap on Saturday in Miami.

It’s a fascinating matchup with both teams offering star-studded MLB rosters, including All Star pitching.

There will be a game thread for tonight’s two games here at 5 p.m. CT.

Mets star Francisco Lindor is taking another positive step in his recovery from left hamate bone surgery.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday that Lindor will take live batting practice for the first time since the SS had surgery on Feb. 11. He added that Lindor will face LHP A.J. Minter during the live BP session later in the day.

"Lindor is going through his workout today," Mendoza said. "He'll face Minter, I think he's got a live BP and I think he'll face him. So yeah, normal day for him, full workout."

Mendoza added that he's unsure if Lindor will play in an upcoming Grapefruit League game, but is confident he'll be ready to go for Opening Day on March 26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.

"Everything is trending toward him playing shortstop for us on Opening Day," Mendoza said.

Lindor played defense only in his first minor league game on the backfields on Monday, and said he felt "really good" after getting in some game-action. He's also been taking swings in the batting cages as he works his way back, Mendoza said on Thursday.

"Yeah, I share his confidence for sure," Lindor said Monday. "Our training staff is really good. They’ve been doing everything possible. … They’re getting me right day in and day out, so I trust them, I trust the process. 

"They’ve been through this a lot of times, and when they say I’ll be ready for Opening Day, I believe them. I’m very optimistic. Hopefully everything here goes the right way and we’ll see where we’re at."

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Kansas City Royals fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Earlier this week, we asked Royals fans who they wanted to be the Opening Day left fielder with a bevy of options after the guy most of us have assumed would be the guy heading into Spring Training. It turns out, Royals fans haven’t changed their minds.

Isaac Collins – who probably will be the Opening Day left fielder – got 57% of the vote. On retrospect, I guess that’s a pretty obvious call. Royals fans are smart enough not to put too much stock into Spring Training stats, and if Isaac Collins can’t be the guy, the Royals will be starting the year behind the eight ball in the outfield for at least the third season in a row.

What’s perhaps more interesting is how the rest of the results came in. I can understand Lane Thomas is probably better suited to center field instead of Kyle Isbel against the projected starter, a tough lefty in Chris Sale. But Starling Marte could still really hit last year, and while his defense didn’t rate well, the Royals really need a solid bat more than a glove out there. But Royals fans preferred the field of “someone else” rather than Marte. Who are you all putting out there instead of him? Nick Loftin has had a really nice spring, so maybe he would make some sense. I still think I’d take Marte, though.

Regardless, Collins is who Royals fans want and almost certainly who they’ll get. Only two weeks to go to find out if it’s going to work!

These survey results are sponsored by FanDuel.

We have a split squad double header this afternoon as the Athletics will once again break the team up 50/50 to go take on two different squads. First one half will stay back to play host of the San Diego Padres, while the other half is set to hit the road across town and visit the Milwaukee Brewers. Who doesn’t love two-for-one days during spring?

A’s vs. Padres

First dealing with the Padres, the Athletics have veteran right-hander Aaron Civale set to get the ball for what will be just his second appearance of camp. The last-minute signee was all but guaranteed a rotation job by the team when he joined up and nothing has dispelled that notion of yet. He looked alright in his first action last time out, reaching 60 pitches across 3 2/3 frames while allowing just a pair of runs. The A’s are hoping for the 30-year-old to be a veteran innings-eater for a young squad. Expect for him to reach or surpass that 60-pitch mark he hit in his first start this spring.

Here’s how the A’s lineup versus the Padres looks this afternoon:

First baseman Nick Kurtz is back atop the lineup and A’s fans are seemingly going to have to make their own inner peace with Mark Kotsay’s decision to have him lead off. We’ll likely be seeing lots of balls fly out of the park this coming season from the lefty slugger’s bat, but there will likely be lots of solo shots instead of two and three-run bombs.

The coaches heavily favored the Padres matchup for their starters, with all but the final two spots in the batting order full of regulars. Behind Kurtz is another slugger in Shea Langeliers, followed by two more in Tyler Soderstrom and Brent Rooker. The on-base guys, Jeff McNeil and Jacob Wilson, will meanwhile be in the middle of today’s lineup. Are the A’s somehow ahead of the curve when they switch their typical middle-of-the-lineup hitters with their on-base machines?

This lineup will be going against Padres righty Michael King, one of their best pitchers. He’s already pitched three times this spring as he ramps up for a possible Opening Day assignment for San Diego.

Here’s how the Padres stack up:

While the A’s have most of their starters going the Pads are going the opposite way. Shouldn’t be too difficult a matchup for Civale and the Athletics this afternoon.

A’s at Brewers

Meanwhile the other half travels to the Brewers’ complex hoping to do their job on this two-win opportunity kind of afternoon. Taking the ball for the Athletics will be lefty prospect Gage Jump. There’s a bit of chatter going around that Jump could be an earlier-than-expected option for the A’s this year, and he’s done nothing to dispel that notion with a great spring so far. Another big outing for the 22-year-old could further his goal of getting to the big leagues sooner than later, with an outside shot at Opening Day.

Here’s the A’s batting order for the second game today:

Of course, with most of the starters in the other game there won’t be any facing off against the Brewers Crew today. We will get a Zack Gelof sighting as he handles DH duties today. Colby Thomas and Andy Ibanez seem like safe-ish bets to break camp with the club but have both struggles this spring, so a big game today would go a long ways for both of them.

Then we’ll also see a pair of top prospects as we’ll see Leo De Vries and Tommy White bat back-to-back in the middle of the order. A sneak peak of a possible future, perhaps?

And here’s Milwaukee’s starting nine for this afternoon:

An interesting opponent on the mound this afternoon as lefty Kyle Harrison gets the ball for the Brewers. He’s yet to reach his potential that was expected of him coming up through the Giants system a few years ago and he’s now trying to establish himself in Milwaukee after a failed stint in Boston. He’s looked solid during camp and with the Brewers battling some injuries, there’s a chance Harrison breaks camp with them in some capacity. He’s going to be going into today’s start with something to lose, which doesn’t bode well for the Athletics’ B-Lineup.

Two weeks to Opening Day. A chance for two wins today! Let’s go A’s!

The Atlanta Braves took on the New York Yankees faced off in Northport for a spring training in which Didier Fuentes took the mound in hopes of proving he is ready for a rotation spot.

The game started off with a bang for the Braves. Didier Fuentes looked like seasoned veteran with a 1-2-3 inning while picking two strikeouts, one of which was to former MVP Cody Bellinger. Then, Mauricio Dubón seems to be getting hot with a HR. Mark Bowman said it best:

The Braves continued to roll in the first, scoring four total runs thanks to Ozzie hitting a double, Austin Riley getting a single, a Mike Yastrzemski HBP, Jonah Heim single, and Kyle Farmer single. Of note, Albies may end up hitting second this season against lefties. Before last season he had one of the best splits in MLB against LHP with a wRC+ of 136 or higher in six different seasons to include two seasons above 174. However he struggled by his standards last season with only a 91. All in all, the Braves were able to put up seven runs on fourteen hits.

Didier Fuentes was on fire this game. Through his first eight hitters, he struck out five of them and was perfect through three innings. He consistently hit 97 MPH and reached 98.6 MPH on his fastball, and his sweeper looked absolutely filthy. Unfortunately, we only got to see his 3.0 innings because he was replaced by Dylan Dodd after only pitching forty-two pitches.

Pitcher List gave us an in-depth look of his outing, showing that he may have been a bit lucky based on his location and stuff, but he did get seven whiffs.

The Braves late inning guys came in the game and looked solid. Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, and Aaron Bummer all combined for 3..1 perfect innings before Bummer was replaced by Frey who gave up a single in the eighth with two outs. Between Fuentes and the three aforementioned pitchers, they combined for 7.1 innings of perfect ball. The only real blemish for Braves pitching was Dylan Dodd giving up a double and single in an inning where he too looked decent with two strikeouts.

The story of this game was that this may have been the best overall output in terms of an entire game from Braves pitching from players who that have a shot of potentially making the MLB roster at some point this season. They had thirteen strikeouts while only allowing two hits and zero walks in 7.1 innings. This includes the numbers from Fuentes because he does have a shot of appearing at some point.

The scoreboard does not show the true dominance because Ian Mejia, who came in to pitch the ninth, gave up five earned runs without retiring a single batter.

In the game thread post, it was mentioned that Kyle Farmer was a player to keep an eye on because he may make the Opening Day roster to start games against LHP. Farmer went 3-3 today, boosting his spring average to .481 and OPS to 1.130. José Azocar continued to fight hard for a spot as well, picking up two hits and raising his average to .393 and his OPS to .950.

The Braves will face the Red Sox at North Port where Bryce Elder is scheduled to start, looking to cement a spot in the rotation. It will be hard for him to top what Fuentes did today.

Ryan Weathers allowed four runs in the first inning and the Yankees' offense produced next to nothing until the ninth inning 7-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Friday in North Port, Fla.

Here are the takeaways... 

- Weathers, whom the Yanks acquired in January for five players, is looking to crack the rotation, but didn’t get the start he wanted as his second pitch was smoked for a 393-foot home run to left field off Mauricio Doubón's bat. The lefty's 97 mph heater went right into the inside corner, and Doubon turned on it easily.

Weathers then allowed a double down the right-field line when a 1-2 changeup up in the zone got poked the other way by Ozzie Albies. He came around to score on Austin Riley’s one-out single up the middle against a drawn-in infield. After plunking lefty-hitting Mike Yastrzemski in the back, Weathers allowed back-to-back RBI singles, the first to left by Jonah Heim and the second to right by Kyle Farmer. A couple of loud outs kept it to just a four-run inning with the Braves sending nine men to the plate.

The 26-year-old bounced back with a 1-2-3 second with a pair of strikeouts and a double-play in the third, but then the first two men reached on singles in the fourth. Weathers then got back-to-back strikeouts to close his day.

His final line: 3.2 innings, seven hits, four runs, four strikeouts, and one HBP on 67 pitches (48 strikes).

- Atlanta starter Didier Fuentes, the hard-throwing No. 3 prospect in the Braves’ system, had no such issues navigating his 42-pitch start. He tallied five strikeouts without allowing a base runner over his three innings, getting Trent Grisham at a sweeper below the zone, Cody Bellinger swinging through a 99 mph heater off the plate, Ryan McMahon swinging at a sweeper off the plate, Oswaldo Cabrera whiffing on a sweeper down-and-in, and Ernesto Martinez Jr. looking at a fastball at the knees.

- Yovanny Cruz, a 26-year-old minor leaguer, showed off some good stuff in the 1-2-3 fifth, getting two strikeouts as he pumped in nine pitches of 100 mph or faster out of 15 total.

- Max Schuemann got the Yanks' first hit with one out in the fourth with a double on a bloop into no-man's land down the right field line. He finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.

- Bellinger ripped an RBI single up the middle off lefty Dylan Dodd in his second at-bat. He finished 1-for-3 with two strikeouts swinging, the second on an up-and-in 90 mph sinker.

- Grisham went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts swinging, the second flailing at a changeup off the plate.

- Randal Grichuk went 0-for-3 with a mile-high pop-out in foul territory to third, a terrible-looking swing on a strikeout on a ball in the dirt, and a groundout to short.

- McMahon went 0-for-3 with a pair of swinging strikeouts, but did put a charge on a ball (106.7 mph off the bat) in his final at-bat to lineout to left. 

- The Yanks scored five runs in the top of the ninth, capped by Jonathan Ornelas rocketing a monster, three-run home run: 460 feet and 113.1 mph off the bat. 

Highlight

An RBI single for Cody Bellinger 💪 pic.twitter.com/rkFUSmlwuI

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 13, 2026

What's next

The Yankees host the Philadelphia Phillies in Tampa on Saturday, with Opening Day starter Max Fried climbing the hill for the 1:05 p.m. first pitch.

If the Cubs are going to snap their losing streak against the White Sox, they’re going to have to do it on the road — and on a Friday the 13th on top of that.

It’s a battle of Martins today, go figure:

Advantage to our Davis, in every way including 2026 Cactus League performance.

For the White Sox, it’s a mix of established lineup and late-spring tryouts. In the latter category sits Everson Pereira at DH, Jarred Kelenic in center, back from WBC Curtis Mead at third base and Dustin Harris getting his first taste of first base. None of them have options left, and not all will make the cut north with the White Sox, so we’ll have some DFAs from this group within two weeks.

As for the Cubs, who cares? They’re traditionally a lousy organization, with insidious ownership. Let’s get another rout, packed with homers, against them.

It’s a dual broadcast, on both CHSN and WMVP, at 3:05 p.m. CT.

Giants reliever Erik Miller on track for Opening Day after making spring debut originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SCOTTSDALE — Giants reliever Erik Miller would prefer not to know when he’s going to pitch. He used to get “starter’s anxiety” the night before his spot in the rotation came up, and one thing he has loved about life in the bullpen is the fact that he can be tapped on the shoulder at just about any time late in a game and asked to go throw 97 mph fastballs to a tough lefty.

But spring training innings are mapped out well in advance, and for Miller, that’s particularly important right now. 

The left-hander had missed all of camp with lower back tightness, but he returned to game action on Friday and looked like, well, himself. Miller gave up a leadoff single but then struck out three straight Cincinnati Reds in the fourth inning.

Miller will get back out there Monday, and the Giants will try to keep him on a regular schedule in order to have him ready for the New York Yankees — Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm and others — on March 25. After Friday’s spring debut, manager Tony Vitello said he sees no reason why Miller can’t be ready for the opener. 

“In my opinion, he does (have time),” Vitello said. “I don’t think there was anything drastic going on. I’m a karma guy, I don’t want to say too much (but) he was in a position where he was able to keep (playing catch) so I think he’s in a good spot and I think he feels that way.”

While there are checkmarks for every reliever to hit in the spring, Miller on Friday looked like someone who is ready for regular-season games. His fastball was up to 97 mph and averaged 96.5, and he got two strikeouts on his slider. 

“That’s about as good as I can ask for,” Miller said. “I threw strikes — that’s the main thing. Strikeouts are a benefit but for the most part I was throwing stuff where I wanted to. Yeah, it was good. Obviously, it’s been a long time since I’ve thrown in a big league game.”

Miller’s last appearance against big leaguers was July 2 of last season. He dealt with elbow discomfort throughout the second half and spent all of August and September rehabbing, but the elbow hasn’t been an issue this spring. 

Miller said he usually has back problems a couple of times a year, but this spring, the discomfort returned after he thought he had turned a corner. That led to him being delayed until eight days before the Giants fly home, and they can’t afford any setbacks at this point with their top left-handed arm, and a pitcher who could end up throwing in the eighth and ninth quite often. 

Miller figures he’ll need at least four or five appearances to get ready, but the early schedule could help. The Giants are off on two of the first five days of the season, giving Miller a bit more time to get fully up to speed. 

More Moves

A day after making their first round of spring cuts, the Giants sent relievers Juan Sanchez and Wilkin Ramos to minor league camp. The 25-year-olds are both likely to begin the season with Triple-A Sacramento. 

Sanchez briefly seemed to be in the mix for the Opening Day roster before Miller returned and Joey Lucchesi signed. The lefty had a good spring, allowing just two hits in six scoreless appearances. He walked five and struck out seven, and Vitello was impressed.

“I just think he’s got all the things you want out of a guy intangible-wise,” he said last week. “He just needs to be as good as he can be physically, because when he’s at his best it’s pretty good. The deception piece is there and the stuff is good enough.”

Noteworthy

The misters were on at Scottsdale Stadium for most of Friday’s game and it’s only going to get hotter in the coming days. It’s supposed to be over 100 degrees for the final four days of camp, so some teams in the Cactus League are considering moving some 1 p.m. games to the evening next week.

The Giants entered the day with a .296 average as a team this spring, but Rafael Devers is still trying to find his timing after missing time with hamstring tightness. Devers was 0-for-3 on Friday and is hitless in 18 at-bats this spring. Willy Adames is just 4-for-31. 

While there are zero concerns with those stars, Jerar Encarnacion looked like he was slumping his way off the roster about a week ago. He has found his swing, though. Encarnacion tied Thursday night’s game with a sac fly in the ninth and went 2-for-4 on Friday with a scorched RBI double. 

The Giants could use his right-handed pop off the bench, and there’s a chance he starts the season as the DH if he makes the initial roster and Bryce Eldridge does not. Vitello was especially pleased with Encarnacion’s defense and baserunning lately, noting how hard he is going.

“Jerar is an inspiration right now with the way he’s playing,” Vitello said.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast