Category: Sports News

The Michigan Wolverines have faced a gauntlet so far this season in two weekend tournaments, and they have fared well. Michigan is 4-3, with three of those four wins coming against ranked teams. The Wolverines also won their opening weekend tournament in Surprise, Arizona, which was, well…a surprise.

Michigan wasn’t predicted to be great this year, but the results of the first two weekends are promising. The three losses have come to No. 19 Oregon State (in extra innings; the Wolverines beat the Beavers in their other matchup), No. 21 Florida State and Kansas State.

The Wolverines will once again be somewhere warm this weekend, as they will head to California to take on San Diego in a three-game series. Let’s take a closer look at this weekend’s matchup.

San Diego this season vs. last season

San Diego was one of the best teams in the WCC last year. The Toreros finished 28-30 overall record and a 19-5 conference record. They made it all the way to the WCC Championship with a spot in the NCAA Tournament on the line, but St. Mary’s ended up earning the auto bid.

The Toreros are off to a hot start in 2026, as they are 6-1 with wins against Charlotte (twice), Long Beach State, Utah, Creighton and San Diego State. The lone loss came against Charlotte.

San Diego’s record is impressive, but it has not been tested like Michigan has. The Toreros have zero ranked wins to Michigan’s three, so the difficult schedule the Wolverines started with could end up giving them an advantage.

Players to watch

Offensively, San Diego has three players who are hitting .300 or better so far, and all three have started all seven games. Outfielder Aden Howard is leading the way for the Toreros so far, as he is hitting .345 to start the year. He is 10-of-29 with one double, three triples, one home run and seven RBIs.

Catcher Jayden Lobliner is also having a hot start to the season, as he is 9-of-3o (.300) so far. He also has some pop in his bat, as three of his nine hits have been home runs. Lobliner can turn a mistake into runs very quickly. He has 10 RBIs on the year. Lastly, infielder Gabe Springer is hitting .300 as well. He has three doubles, one triple, one home run and six RBIs to start the season.

It’s hard to know what a pitching rotation will look like for a weekend series in college baseball, especially this early in the season. But Michigan will likely face Kyle Bade, Diego Gutierrez and Drake Frize, three guys that all have two starts under their belts this season.

Bade has been the best of them so far, tossing nine innings pitched and giving up three earned runs. Gutierrez has been solid as well, giving up four earned runs in 10 innings pitched. Frize has struggled a bit, as he has given up seven earned runs in nine innings pitched.

Overall, this will be another tough test for Michigan, but this is a winnable series. Programs out west are always solid, but the Wolverines have already notched a few impressive wins this season.

Series schedule

• Game 1: Friday 2/27 @ 9 p.m. ET, ESPN+
• Game 2: Saturday 2/28 @ 9 p.m. ET, ESPN+
• Game 3: Sunday 3/1 @ 4 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Looking ahead

Michigan will be out in California for a while, as the Wolverines have another series next weekend against Pepperdine. In between Pepperdine and San Diego, however, Michigan will have a mid-week clash against Cal State Northridge on Tuesday. The Matadors are 5-3 to begin the year with wins against Seattle (three times), St. Mary’s and Cal Baptist.

No matter what continent Shohei Ohtani is on, two things seem to be constant with the Dodgers superstar.

The first? He’s going to crush baseballs. And the second? Fans are going to be in awe.

Shohei Ohtani put on a show in Japan for fans and fellow players pic.twitter.com/Nkfw5V8WRz

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 27, 2026

Ohtani left his Los Angeles teammates at spring training in Arizona this week to head to Japan to prepare for the World Baseball Classic, and on Friday, he dazzled spectators with his light-tower power.

Just before Samurai Japan took on the Chunichi Dragons in a WBC tuneup at Vantelin Dome Nagoya, Ohtani stepped into the box for some batting practice and ripped ball after ball after ball into the seats.

The thousands in attendance — including fellow baseball players — all paused what they were doing to watch the show, and video captured from inside the venue shows nearly everyone was stunned.

In fact, some on the field even pulled out their phones to document the four-time MVP’s session at the dish.

At points, several on the Dragons roster let out audible gasps seeing how far Ohtani was putting baseballs.

When Ohtani wrapped his time at the dish, he received an applause usually reserved for a Home Run Derby contestant.

Ohtani will officially take the field for Team Japan in the WBC when his team kicks off its tournament run on March 6 against Chinese Taipei.

While he isn’t scheduled to pitch in the event while trying to preserve his arm for the 2026 MLB season, it’s clear there will be more than a few fans tuned in to watch his at-bats.

Today the Texas Rangers are back to playing only one spring training game. That game will be played from Camelback Ranch in Glendale, AZ where the Rangers will take on the Chicago White Sox.

LHP MacKenzie Gore is set to take the mound for Texas opposite RHP Erick Fedde for Chicago.

Chicago has a radio and video feed for this one, otherwise you’ll have to follow along on Gameday. First pitch from Camelback Ranch is scheduled for 2:05 pm CT.

Go Rangers!

The White Sox have three split-squad game days this spring, including the Prospect Breakout game vs. the Dodgers. And, lucky you, today is the first! There no Munetaka Murakami today for the Sox — or for any time in the near future, as he has departed to join Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

Leading off at 2:05 p.m. CT is the Camelback Ranch game, hosting Texas:

Old friend and apparent heir apparent to the No. 5 starter spot, Erik Fedde, gets his first look of the spring. The impressive Sam Antonacci gets another start, in the 6-spot, continuing to get a long early look from the Sox.

The game is on White Sox radio (WMVP-AM 1000) and also on something called CWS Video. I presumed that meant a webcast, but at the moment I’m not certain that’s so. But still THIS is the game with actual White Sox broadcast coverage, in some form.

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Over in Phoenix, Sean Burke takes the ball for the second time this spring, hoping to stay perfect through his two or three frames:

Slugging star shortstop Tanner Murray takes the 6-spot in this one, as the two lineups for today are equally strong (or weak, depending on your take). This ballgame is a Cactus League ghost on the White Sox side, with only Gameday and Brewers radio to confirm its existence.

The Dodgers look to make it a 7-0 start this spring, as they are on the road to take on the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium. Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes his final spring start against left-hander Robbie Ray.

Today’s #DodgersST lineup at Giants: pic.twitter.com/YbusEHl72N

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) February 27, 2026

FRIDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Giants
• Ballpark: Scottsdale Stadium
• Time: 12:05 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio:

Last Thursday, I put up an open thread, saying that I was going to do so every Thursday so we could have a place to talk about whatever was on our minds. And then, Yesterday, I totally forgot about that.

So this week, it is a Friday Open Thread.

You can discuss anything you like (barring, you know, politics and religion). It doesn’t have to be baseball, but it can be if you like.

At the moment, the thing on my mind is: There are a lot of places on this planet where, if you go to bed and it is +10 C, you will not not wake up to 5 inches of snow on your driveway the next morning. Why do I live in one of those latter places?????

Oh well, I suppose I needed the exercise.

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If you want a baseball subject, Baseball America has a list of 30 MLB Prospects Facing Critical Seasons in 2026. The Blue Jay on the list is Arjun Nimmala.

Nimmala started 2025 on fire with High-A Vancouver, hitting nearly .290 and looking like he was ready to take the next step. But as the season wore on, the hot start simmered, and he struggled to maintain that early production over the final two-thirds of the year. Now 20, he enters 2026 with a chance to find more consistency and build on his flashes of promise. Double-A is next, and if he can carry his early-season form across a full campaign, Nimmala could begin to establish himself as a reliable everyday shortstop.

Arjun is 20 this year. I don’t know critical season? It would be great if he blew the doors off of the season and forced the Jays to put him active roster next year. But I don’t think the Jays will give up on him if he has a terrible year.

I don’t know, it is a critical season for Yariel Rodriguez. I guess it depends if you call him a prospect or not. Now Yariel is making a lot of money, so this season is critical for his baseball career, if not his bank account.

Ricky Tiedemann? He’s number 5 on FanGraphs list of top Blue Jays prospects, but he’s 23 now and coming off Tommy John surgery. I’m going to discount the soreness they told us about the other day. He’s just off Tommy John, there is going to be soreness. But, if he’s going to have the MLB career we thought he was going to have, he’s going to have to get it on track again.

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If you want a non-baseball topic? What are you watching? I’m watching West Wing (again). I watch it every two or three years. I like the writing and the acting. I like the idea of smart people talking about big decisions. I like the idea that the people who make the big decisions care about the people those decisions are going to effect.

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Ok, go for it.

Hello and welcome to week two of Spring Training. I was going to write up a separate “perfectly reasonable reactions” post as I usually do at this time of Spring Training but there’s just too much going on this year, so I’m going to hit you with some bullet points here, instead:

• Josh Rojas has already socked a couple of dingers, and while it seems unlikely he’ll make the roster, if he keeps it up, he positions himself to get an early chance somewhere this year.
• Helcris Olivárez seems to be making a case to join the roster as a left-handed reliever. He’s already appeared three times after signing as a minor league free agent, and the book on him was that he had big stuff, but he couldn’t get it near the strike zone; he’s been keeping it near the strike zone so far this spring. He might not make the Opening Day roster but he figures to be among the guys rotating between Omaha and KC if he can keep this up.
• Jac Caglianone continues to terrorize the Cactus League. launching a mammoth home run one day and a 120.2 MPH double yesterday. Once again, he seems to have little to prove anywhere except at the big league regular season level and he seems destined to get another shot, this year. Let’s hope it goes better the second time.
• Carter Jensen is holding up his end of the Carter and Cags duo with a 1.222 OPS so far including a two-run bomb yesterday. Yesterday was really fun for fans of the non-existent western mystery series that the two seem to have come from, as there were two separate innings where they each collected a solid hit and an RBI.
• Finally, Michael Massey entered the spring battling for a roster spot but as good as he has looked early, he might now be fighting for India’s starting job at second base. We’ve talked a lot about how India might bounce back this year, but it’s worth remembering that Massey isn’t without his prior big league success, either.

Anyway, here is today’s lineup:

I’m probably wrong, but this is the first time I remember EVER seeing Bobby hitting leadoff. Maybe Quatraro wasn’t blowing smoke when he suggested the shortstop might be leading off for the team this year. It may only be a trial to see how Bobby feels about doing it in practice and he may decide that, no, he really does hate it. But it’s interesting to at least consider it. Batting Isaac Collins fourth probably means nothing, but it’s also very interesting as a lot of the discussions around the Royals have been about how Maikel Garcia can’t lead off because Collins and India, the other two primarily considered candidates, can’t hit in the middle, and he can.

Bailey Falter is getting the start for today, but here are the other pitchers the Royals have included in their game roster and could pitch:

• Nick Mears
• Hector Neris
• Dennis Colleran Jr
• Oscar Rayo
• Daniel Lynch IV
• Carlos Estévez
• Andrew Pérez
• Aaron Sanchez
• Steven Zobac
• Hunter Patteson

Rayo, Pérez, and Patteson are probably the guys who only pitch if someone can’t get out of their inning before they hit a limit. Everyone will be keeping a close eye on Estévez’s velocity as it was way down in his first Spring appearance, but that’s hardly the first time that’s been true of the closer, including last year when he ended up doing just fine for himself.

Today’s game can be heard online at royals.com or through the At Bat app. It’s also available on the radio on 1660 AM in Kansas City.

Once California tax laws entered the equation, two was greater than three for Merrill Kelly.

The math was done by the veteran pitcher at some point this offseason, when he was a free agent deciding between two options for his MLB future.

No. 1 was a two-year, $40 million contract with the Diamondbacks. No. 2, at least on paper, seemed better.

It was a three-year, fully guaranteed deal with the Padres that appeared to have a similar average annual value.

Kelly, though, chose the former — and during a sitdown interview with Foul Territory’s Scott Braun and A.J. Pierzynski this week, he explained the decision was almost entirely due to the Golden State’s tax system.

“I don’t think it’s any secret on how much money you get taken out of your pocket when you go to California,” the 37-year-old right-hander said.

There were, of course, other factors that pulled Kelly toward Arizona. He went to high school at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale and played collegiately at Arizona State.

Merrill Kelly reveals he had a three-year offer from the Padres on the table.

"It definitely made the decision to come back here a lot harder." pic.twitter.com/Da7oGkO7dv

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 26, 2026

And, the father of two young kids has called the Phoenix area home while logging innings for the Snakes in each of the past seven seasons.

“Coming back here,” he admitted, “it was always the priority.”

But after Pierzynski jokingly told him he was “the first person ever that’s been offered a bunch of money to go live in San Diego and said no,” Kelly made it crystal clear that giving away a significant portion of his income to a state government was ultimately a dealbreaker for him.

“I love San Diego,” Kelly said. “It’s just, like I said, they take too much money out of my pocket, man. The taxes over there are a different level.

“We had my numbers guy run the numbers, and it just made more sense to come home.”

If he had opted for the Padres’ offer, Kelly was likely staring down a state income tax in the ballpark of 13 percent. A far more palatable 2.5 percent state income tax rate was part of his Diamondbacks deal.

“It worked out best for us because that was honestly our second choice,” Kelly said. “It was between here and San Diego going into the offseason. San Diego was really the only place that, if we did go somewhere, that was probably high on our list if we weren’t in Arizona. It’s like, ‘All right, let’s just hop over and take a short, six-hour drive to San Diego.’

“But, yeah, the desert is home. I guess we’re not ocean people.”

The Padres — who told The California Post on Friday, when asked for a statement on Kelly’s remarks that they “do not comment on contract negotiations” — could have certainly used the pitcher’s arm on their roster this season.

In 184 innings last year (split between the Diamondbacks and Rangers following a trade at the MLB’s summer deadline), he boasted a 12-9 record with a 3.52 ERA and 167 strikeouts.

Baseball Reference projects him to own a 10-7 record with a. 3.79 ERA and 145 strikeouts in 2026, though Kelly did confirm this week the start of his season will be delayed due to a back injury.

The Padres will now head into ’26 with a starting rotation anchored by Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta — and a big wonder of what if California’s tax laws were just a little less strenuous.

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