Category: Sports News

Tanner Bibee was throwing batting practice again yesterday, but Travis Bazzana homered twice and Jace Laviolette also homered for the Guardians:

Bo Naylor also had two hits including a homer.

What does it mean that Bibee is giving up double-digit hits every outing? I guess we will find out soon enough.

Logan Allen is headed to Columbus and Parker Messick is in the rotation. The Reds and Guardians play at 3:05PM ET. And, THIS THURSDAY BASEBALL IS REAL AGAIN GAAAAAH

Ty France celebrated the news that he made the Opening Day roster for the San Diego Padres by getting the start at second base when the Padres took on the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Saturday. San Diego lost the contest 6-1, but France finished his outing with a 1-for-3 performance. Randy Vasquez started on the mound for the Padres and worked through the first three innings without allowing a run. Over the final 2.1 innings of his outing the Brewers scored four runs on five hits, three of which were home runs, en route to the win. Mason Miller also surrendered two runs, one of which was earned, on two hits over 2/3 of an inning. The lone run in the game for San Diego came on a solo home run by Francisco Acuna in the top of the ninth inning.

The Padres host the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Peoria Sports Complex on Sunday at 6:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• Walker Buehler had the opportunity to sign with other teams on major league deals this offseason, but he chose to sign a minor league deal with the Padres and earn his way onto the team. He did just that with it being announced on Saturday that he made the Opening Day roster. Buehler is now one part of the rotation group that has the Friar Faithful concerned about the upcoming season.

• The San Diego Padres prospects lost their Spring Breakout game to the Chicago Cubs prospects, 7-5, but the story of the game for the San Diego organization was catcher Ethan Salas. The No. 2 prospect for the Padres went 2-for-3 and that included a monster home run to right field.

• Padres superstar right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. kicked off the spring season with consistent play but really stepped up his performance in the World Baseball Classic. Tatis has shown glimpses of living up to but understands there is more he can do to reach his full potential.

Baseball News:

• The Pittsburgh Pirates announced they sent their top prospect Konnor Griffin to minor league camp and he will not be a part of the Opening Day.

• Randal Grichuk has secured a place on the New York Yankees Opening Day roster, but Oswaldo Cabrera will open the season in the minor leagues.

• The Baltimore Orioles optioned Dean Kremer to the minor leagues and he will not be a part of the Opening Day roster for the Orioles.

• Justin Crawford and Dylan Moore have been advised by the Philadelphia Phillies they have made the roster for Opening Day.

This current Phillies era of being October regulars began in 2022, when they got in as the final NL Wild Card and then went on a run to the World Series before falling to the Astros. In the three years since, they’ve made the postseason every time and won the NL East in the last two seasons. However, they haven’t been able to match that postseason run in the years since, having lost in the NLDS in both of the last two seasons.

This season, they’ll go in on the shortlist of NL favorites again, although questions still remain. Can this be the year they return to the Fall Classic and even win it, or will the season end in frustration again?

Philadelphia Phillies
2025 Record: 96-66 (1st in NL East)
2026 FanGraphs Projection: 87-75 (3rd in NL East, 2nd NL Wild Card)

On the offensive side of things, the Phillies will run out a fairly similar lineup to last year. There are some differences, and there could’ve been even more, but they ended up re-signing Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto, meaning the core of what their lineup has been in recent years in still intact.

The biggest difference on that front is in right field. After a turbulent end to his Phillies’ career, Nick Castellanos was released by the team back before spring training got going. Earlier in the offseason, they signed former Rangers All-Star and 2023 World Series winner Adolis García, and he’ll likely handle most of the duties in right. Offensively, that change may be a bit of a wash, at least based on what he and Castellanos did last year. Defensively, though, it should be a big improvement. While he’s won a Gold Glove in right in the past, García doesn’t grade out as one of the best at that spot anymore, but Castellanos was one of the worst defensive right fielders around in recent years. It shouldn’t be hard to better that.

The main worry around their offense is just that everyone is a year older with another year of wear and tear on their bodies. Bryce Harper is still an excellent hitter, but not at the 170 wRC+ level that he was in his early years in Philly. Trea Turner is coming off the second best season of his career according to fWAR and there’s no guarantees that he can be good to that extent again. J.T. Realmuto still rates very good defensively, but was below average last year and is projected to be again this year. Odds are that not everyone will regress enough to make them miss the playoffs or anything, but if one or two do, they could fall behind in the NL East race.

The Phillies’ actual biggest loss of the offseason came in the rotation. Pitcher Ranger Suarez left in free agency, signing with the Red Sox. Even taking him out of it, the Phillies’ rotation was very good last year, but Suarez has consistently been a solid to very good pitcher since he became a full-time member of Philly’s rotation in 2022.

Some of their hopes in replace him land on prospect Andrew Painter. Since 2022, Painter has been pretty consistently rated in top 100 prospect lists, ranking has high as the top ten at points. The 2025 MiLB season was his first full one after missing most of 2023 and ‘24 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He didn’t post the best numbers in his 22 starts at Triple-A, but they’re hoping another year back from the surgery and his prospect pedigree will improve things. Even besides him, led by Cristopher Sánchez and the recently-extended Jesús Luzardo, the Phillies should have a strong rotation, which will also be bolstered by the return of Zack Wheeler, who missed time due to blood clots last year, at some point.

The bullpen will also be key for the Phillies this year. While several members of their 2025 bullpen put up good numbers, it was occasionally a turbulent year in that area for them. That led to them making a deal for Jhoan Duran at the trade deadline last year, and further adding to the mix by signing Brad Keller, on top of making a couple minor deals for backend guys. There’s certainly hope that the ‘pen will be a strength for them in ‘26.

The projections expect them to fall back to the pack in the division, but a lot of that is because they all seem to expect bounce back seasons from the Mets and especially the Braves. However, it wouldn’t remotely be a surprise to see the Phillies take the NL East again. For their sake though, they probably need another deep October run.

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

No real surprises as Phillies set opening day roster originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Phillies opening day roster has come into focus, with little surprise.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced Sunday that rookies Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter had both made the club. 

Crawford, 22, will start in center field when the Phillies open the season Thursday against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park.

Painter, who will turn 23 on April 10, is slated to start the fifth game of the season March 31 against Washington.

Both Crawford and Painter were expected to make the club. They both firmed up their status with strong spring-training performances.

“They’ve had good camps, both of them,” Dombrowski said. “Crawford has done very well for himself. He’s played well in center field. He’s contributed from an offensive perspective. Again, he’ll hit ninth most of the time. You’ll have to suffer the ups and the downs, which happens with young guys, but we like him a lot. He’s meshed well. I think he brings a youthful enthusiasm, which is always great for a team, as does Painter. He can fly. He brings another dimension to our club with a legitimate base stealer. He’s earned his spot.

“Painter has also had a good camp. He just keeps building on what he has. His velocity has been good, very good actually, but more impressive has been his breaking stuff. We’re very happy with him. He’s earned it.”

Most of the roster intrigue coming into camp centered around the bullpen and the bench. There figured to be two openings in the bullpen. That grew to three when it was announced that Orion Kerkering would begin the season on the injured list as he continues to build arm strength after being slowed early in camp by a hamstring strain. Kerkering, who will pitch in a minor-league game Monday, could be ready to go in a couple of weeks. He will not be with the club for opening day.

Right-hander Zach Pop and lefties Kyle Backhus and Tim Mayza claimed the final three bullpen spots. Mayza came to camp on a minor-league deal. The veteran has recorded at least 50 appearances five times in his career, most of which was spent with Toronto. Pop was signed in the offseason as a free agent and the side-arming Backhus came over in a December trade with Arizona.

Reliever Zach McCambley, a Rule 5 pick, did not make the club. He will have a chance to return to the Miami Marlins.

Otto Kemp and Dylan Moore both won spots on the bench. The right-handed hitting Kemp could platoon in left field with Brandon Marsh. Edmundo Sosa remains the Phillies’ top player off the bench. He could platoon at second base with Bryson Stott.

Moore essentially gets the final spot on the bench because he can play all over the diamond. Outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, in camp on a minor-league deal, opened eyes, but the Phillies want him to play regularly and keep his bat sharp at Triple A.

Rafael Marchan will be the backup catcher for the second year in a row. He beat out Garrett Stubbs, who could end up with another big-league club in a trade or go back to Triple A as insurance. Stubbs’ situation could take several days to clear up.

If Stubbs does not remain in the organization, the Phillies’ catching depth will take a hit. Rene Pinto, who has 82 games of big-league experience, and Caleb Ricketts, who has not played above Double A, are next on the depth chart, Dombrowski said.

Ace pitcher Zack Wheeler will open on the injured list. He could be ready to go in a month. Wheeler will pitch in a minor-league game Monday. The Phillies’ Triple A pitching depth will include veteran Bryse Wilson, Jean Cabrera and Alan Rangel.

Barring something unforeseen, here is the 26-man roster the Phillies will file with Major League Baseball on Wednesday.

STARTING PITCHERS – Cristopher Sanchez (L), Aaron Nola, Jesus Luzardo (L), Taijuan Walker, Andrew Painter

BULLPEN – Jhoan Duran, Jose Alvarado (L), Brad Keller, Tanner Banks (L), Jonathan Bowlan, Kyle Backhus (L), Zach Pop, Tim Mayza (L)

CATCHERS – J.T. Realmuto, Rafael Marchan

DESIGNATED HITTER – Kyle Schwarber

INFIELDERS – Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, Trea Turner, Edmundo Sosa, Dylan Moore

OUTFIELDERS – Justin Crawford, Brandon Marsh, Adolis Garcia, Otto Kemp

INJURED LIST – Zack Wheeler, Orion Kerkering, Max Lazar

Yesterday, manager Alex Cora announced that Marcelo Mayer would be the starting second baseman for the 2026 Red Sox. Thus concludes one of the sillier spring training storylines we’ve seen in a long time. There was never really any baseball reason to suggest that either Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Andruw Monasterio would make more sense for the big league team than Mayer, even considering Mayer’s struggles at the plate in his first taste of the majors last year. But Cora says he “wanted to push him.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

As a domino move that corresponded with Mayer making the big league team, Krisitian Campbell was officially sent down to AAA. This isn’t surprising, though Cora did sound surprised by some of the things he saw from Campbell in Fort Myers. “The strikeouts were going up and the walks going down, and that’s not him. He’s a guy who controls the strike zone and doesn’t swing and miss. That didn’t happen during camp.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

I’m all for making Marcelo earn his spot in theory. But the problem with putting that theory into practice is that no serious and intelligent front office would ever base any meaningful decisions on spring training performances, marked as they are by small sample sizes and variable competition. Case in point: Garrett Crochet had another rough start yesterday to close out a pretty rough spring overall. But no one seems concerned, nor should they. To quote Crochet: “Whatever.” (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

Willson Contreras’s spring didn’t go exactly to plan either, as he ended up on the bench for Venezuela’s run to the World Baseball Classic championship. But it doesn’t sound like he minds one bit: “I think it’s the best experience of my life. I played in the World Series in ‘16, and it was big, but playing in the WBC for your country, for 37 million people, means a lot more to me. And I enjoyed every single second, every single part of it. I soaked that in, and it was the best.” (Hayden Bird, Boston.com)

Someone who did have a good spring, even if it won’t result in making a big league team, is D’Angelo Ortiz. Little Papi got his first spring hit. “Hopefully he was watching,” he said of his legendary father. “If he wasn’t watching, we’ve got a problem.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

As Opening Day approaches the vibes are immaculate, if you will, for the local teams after the Mets and Yankees each gave their fans reason for optimism with spring trainings full of promise and good health.

As such, there is plenty of intrigue as each team’s season figures to be a referendum of sorts on near-opposite offseason approaches with Brian Cashman deciding to run it back with much the same Yankees’ team that lost to the Toronto Blue Jays last October while David Stearns overhauled a Mets’ roster that underachieved badly.

Meanwhile, it’s hard to ignore the dark cloud hanging over the sport, as a bitter labor war is expected after the season, one that may feel even more inevitable if the Los Angeles Dodgers’ high-spending ways -- $60 million a year for Kyle Tucker! -- result in a third straight World Series title.

With all of that in mind, here are my 10 bold predictions for the 2026 season, centering mostly around the Mets and Yankees.

10. CARLOS LAGRANGE EMERGES AS YANKEES BULLPEN WEAPON

Carlos Lagrange won the spring as a somewhat unknown pitching prospect who astonished the Yankees with his eye-popping velocity, his fastball reaching 103 mph. And while he was sent to the minors to open the season, there seems little doubt he’ll bring that high heat to the Bronx at some point in 2026.

Maybe it will be as a starter, but it would take multiple injuries in the rotation for that to happen. It seems more likely the Yankees eventually will groom the 22-year old right-hander for a bullpen role, even if it’s just for this season, as Lagrange could be a huge late-inning weapon down the stretch of a division race and into the post-season as well.

9. JUAN SOTO HITS 50 HRS, OUTDUELS SHOHEI OHTANI FOR NL MVP AWARD

Juan Soto talked openly with MLB.com this spring about how much he wants to win an MVP award, and to have any hope of dethroning Shohei Ohtani on that front, he’s going to need something beyond his typically outstanding offensive numbers.

Something like 50 or more home runs. Soto surely knows that and he’s capable of it, considering he’s only 27 and his power numbers are still ascending, as reflected by his totals of 35, 41, and 43 home runs over the past three seasons. It may require him to be a little more aggressive, perhaps not taking as many walks, and the Mets would be fine with that.

Ohtani, of course, could make it all moot if he returns to full-time pitching in a big-splash way, but it’s also asking a lot of him to hit and pitch over a full season at age 32.

8. PIRATES RIDE PAUL SKENES, KONNOR GRIFFIN TO WILD CARD BERTH

It’s kind of a trendy prediction, I know, but it would be fun to see it happen, as bad as the Pittsburgh Pirates have been for a decade. And it seems possible, considering they finally should have a capable offense to go with their strong starting pitching, led by NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes.

Toward that end they acquired veterans bats in Marcell Ozuna, Ryan O’Hearn, and Brandon Lowe, and even more significantly, in Konnor Griffin they have perhaps the top offensive prospect in the game, and another in Jhostynxon Garcia. As such, FanGraphs and other analytical models are projecting a massive improvement in runs scored, which, paired with their pitching, could give them a shot at the third wild card.

7. JOE RYAN WILL BE BEST AVAILABLE STARTER AT TRADE DEADLINE

It might not matter to the Yankees or Mets if their pitching stays healthy and lives up to expectations, but for any team looking for a starter at the trade deadline, Joe Ryan is likely to be the best available.

The Minnesota Twins should have traded the right-hander in the offseason, after essentially committing to a rebuild at last season’s trade deadline, and it would be a surprise if they’re anywhere near contention come July. At age 30 in June, Ryan has high-strikeout stuff that has many scouts believing he still hasn’t reached his full potential as a No. 2-type starter, and with another year of team control before free agency, he’ll draw plenty of interest.

6. NOLAN MCLEAN MEETS HYPE, METS’ ROTATION LEADS LEAGUE

I’m all-in on Nolan McLean living up to the hype. He wasn’t perfect in the WBC but neither was the moment too big for him, as he showed plenty of dominance in his two starts. So I think he’ll have an All-Star type season, and when you combine that with Freddy Peralta’s track record, the Mets should have a playoff-worthy 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation.

Even more significantly, in terms of the overall rotation, Kodai Senga had a strong spring, looking like the guy who had a 1.39 ERA before the hamstring injury last June that wrecked his season, while Clay Holmes wowed observers with his work at the WBC.

Questions hang over Sean Manaea about his low velocity this spring, but David Peterson figures to be at least solid again, Christian Scott and Jonah Tong offer promise if needed along the way, so this rotation should be the strength of the 2026 Mets, perhaps leading the NL in ERA.

5. TARIK SKUBAL, FRAMBER VALDEZ PITCH TIGERS TO WORLD SERIES

The Detroit Tigers made the go-for-it decision not to trade Tarik Skubal, knowing they’re likely to lose him to free agency after the 2026 season, and I think it could pay off in a big way. By signing Framber Valdez they now have a 1-2 punch capable of not only winning the AL Central but making a deep run in October.

So who knows, maybe Justin Verlander will get a storybook ending, returning to Detroit at age 43. The Tigers aren’t great offensively but they should get some impact from two top prospects, shortstop Kevin McGonigle and center fielder Max Clark, and if they win the relatively weak AL Central, the pitching could carry them in the postseason.

4. AARON JUDGE HITS 50 AGAIN TO SET RECORD AND INCREASE SCRUTINY

Don’t let his failures at the World Baseball Classic overshadow what Aaron Judge did last season. It’s remarkable that he out-hit every other player in baseball by at least 20 batting average points, leading the majors at .331, and oh by the way hit 53 home runs as well. Even as he enters his age-34 season, Judge still seems to be getting better.

If he hits 50 or more home runs again, and I think he will, he’ll become the first player in major league history to do it as many as five times, and that likely would earn him a fourth AL MVP Award. Of course, that would also further the ever-increasing need for him to win a World Series title and cement his status with Yankee fans as being equal to the likes of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle.

Unfortunately for him…

3. YANKS LOSE TO JAYS IN OCTOBER. AGAIN.

Until proven otherwise, the Toronto Blue Jays have the formula to beat the Yankees, putting pressure on them last season with good contact hitting and aggressive baserunning that forced defensive mistakes and had them on their heels.

As such, I think the Jays will prevail in a tight AL East race and from there the various team records will determine the matchups. Maybe the Yankees will figure it out against the Jays. But if they couldn’t beat them last October with Judge hitting .600 in the ALDS, the odds are against them with essentially the same team back for 2026.

2. METS WIN NL EAST, LOSE TO DODGERS IN NLCS

Have to admit, I like what I saw in spring training from the Mets, and that’s always a risky basis for making predictions, but I’m picking the Mets over the Phillies in what should be a tight NL East race. It could develop into a spicy rivalry this season as well, with seemingly all of Philadelphia outraged by the Mets swooping in to land Bo Bichette when the former Blue Jay was on the verge of signing a long-term deal with the Phillies.

I think the Mets should be more consistent offensively, with proven clutch hitters Bichette and Jorge Polanco hitting behind Soto, than they’ve been in recent years. That and their potentially dominant pitching gives them the edge over Philly, at least for me, especially with Zack Wheeler coming back from thoracic outlet surgery. But beyond that, well, the Dodgers are the Dodgers, built to win in October with their power and pitching. And in the end, the bullpens could be the difference in a seven-game series, specifically closers Edwin Diaz and Devin Williams.

1. DODGERS WIN IT ALL AGAIN, ENSURING A FIGHT OVER SALARY CAP

It’s kind of nuts for the Dodgers to pay Tucker $60 million a year, but he does fit perfectly into their star-studded lineup and likely will play a pivotal role in helping them win another championship.

Last year, LA won a second straight title even without much of a bullpen, so signing Diaz away from the Mets figures to make the Dodgers even tougher to beat come October. As a result, I think they get their three-peat, beating the Tigers handily in the World Series and in the process further angering other owners in baseball, all but ensuring a lockout next winter and a bitter fight with the MLB Players Association over a salary cap.