Category: Sports News

I’m not going to pretend I’m a doctor. I’m not to going to act like I know more about Romy Gonzalez’s body than the highly paid and likely excellent medical staff working in Fort Myers and on Ipswitch Street. I’m not here to second guess medical advice — I’m sure there was a very solid reason why “wait it out” made sense. But I will say that I am not remotely surprised by how this has developed. After arriving at Spring Training with a shoulder that was still bothering him after an initial injury that occurred way back in September, Romy Gonzalez is now meeting with an orthopedic surgeon to determine whether surgery is necessary. Even if he he does elect surgery, he doesn’t think he would miss the whole season, but as of now there is absolutely no timetable for his return. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

The Romy injury is a big blow to the lineup, particularly against lefties. But it does open up some opportunities. Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t do much to help the outfield/DH logjam, because Masataka Yoshida looks like he’s ready to hit:

One player who is better positioned to take advantage of Romy’s absence, though, is infielder Andruw Monasterio, who is one of four under-the-radar players who could end up making an impact for the Sox in 2026. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)

Here’s a guy whose shoulder is definitely not injured. Connelly Early’s fastball is averaging 95.3 MPH so far this spring, after averaging 94 MPH last year. The book on Early has usually been that, while he has a complete arsenal, he doesn’t necessarily have elite stuff. It looks like he’s trying to rectify that. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Though after two strong starts in a row — and two starts in a row without issuing a walk — some are now saying that the fifth spot in the rotation is Johan Oviedo’s to lose. (CJ Haddad, MLB.com)

As Patrick so ably reported to you yesterday, the Houston Astros have agreed to a minor league contract with Christian Vazquez with an invitation to Spring Training. Fortunately, he has been working out with team Puerto Rico, so he will not be coming in completely cold and presumably could reasonably build up enough plate appearances to plausibly make the team out of camp. Of course, that brings up the salient question: should he make the team out of camp?

I would point out that Vazquez was likely always on their radar and Dana Brown simply had a price he wanted to stick to. We don’t know know the exact parameters, but the wild suggestions that he could sign for something like four to six million dollars were always ridiculous on their face. Vazquez was always going to be in the Jonah Heim, Gary Sanchez, and Elias Diaz neighborhood of things.

Some of you will remember that we profiled Vazquez with the catchers in our current series. However, I looked at Cesar Salazar based on his big league numbers and we didn’t look at Carlos Perez at all. In this edition, we will look at Vazquez’s big league numbers since 2023 and compare them with the AAA numbers for both Perez and Salazar. I should note that the 2023 numbers for Perez came in Oakland which was nominally a big league team.

This is just a gentle reminder that we are looking at five different statistics on offense. That includes the chase rate, hard hit rate, BABIP, contact rate, and home runs per flyball. We have been looking at these fairly consistently, but I will include the league norms for those metrics below in case you are joining us for the first time.

• Chase rate: 30% league average
• Hard hit rate: 35% league average
• BABIP: .300 league average
• Contact: 75 percent league average
• HR/FB: 10 percent league average

Carlos Perez

There is one significant difference between Perez and the other two. The home run rates are significantly higher and he did club 27 home runs two seasons in a row at the AAA level. He has hit 20 or more home runs several times since the 2021 season in the minors. Even the 2023 rate (which came in Oakland) is significantly better than what the other two have done. So, if we assume he plays 40 games, how many extra dingers does this end up translating into?

Catcher BABIP is an interesting conversation itself. If the league average is ,300 then that would include all positions and some where the BABIP is probably naturally above .300. Catchers aren’t beating out infield singles as a general rule, so it makes perfect sense for their BABIP to dip to the .270 or .280 range naturally. Otherwise, Perez looks like an average big league hitter across the board. Maybe that’s not exciting, but getting average major league hitters on your bench can be exciting.

On the other hand, Perez has spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues as a catcher. He was significantly above average defensively back in 2015. Unfortunately, he was below average in 2018 and 2023 (his last two stints) according to both defensive runs saved and fielding run value. A vote for Perez is a vote for the bat. Given what the other two have going on, that might not be the craziest bet.

Cesar Salazar

It’s hard not to like a guy like Salazar. He probably gets about as much out of what he has as anyone has any right to do. When you consider the fact that there are 780 big league players we could then take that number and multiply by five to get the total number of players in affiliated baseball. Then, you take that number and probably multiple it two or three times to include Japan, Korea, Mexico, Australia, and Cuba. Then, you have the independent leagues. It would probably be fair to guess that there are around five or six thousands players being paid to play baseball around the world. That might be a conservative estimate.

Maybe Salazar is one of the top 1000 players in the world. That’s actually an accomplishment even if he never sticks in the big leagues. He doesn’t chase. He doesn’t swing and miss often. He just doesn’t hit the ball hard and he doesn’t have power. If you add in the fact that he does not have speed as a catcher then you see what we are up against. Soft contact from slow runners is not a recipe for a good BABIP. Add in very little extra base power and I’m not sure where the offense is going to come from.

He has been more or less a neutral defender at the big league level in minimal innings, but comes with a reputation of a good receiver. You did have the dust up with Framber Valdez last season, so there is some question over whether he has the cache to work with veteran pitchers. Simply put, you have to be over the moon about his defense in order to accept the lack of offensive production.

Christian Vazquez

I’m probably repeating myself from the last time I profiled Vazquez, but the ultimate question is whether he bounces back to the aggregate or continues to rot. In general, I like the choices he seems to have made to react to his aging. He swings at fewer balls outside the zone and makes more contact. I have to believe that is a conscious choice and one that could mask some of the decline in hard hit ball rate and home run rate.

The good news is that even with the low hard hit rate, that BABIP was ridiculously low last season. I think the aggregate in BABIP is actually a decent target and give him 35 points on his batting average and he would have hit about .225. No one would confuse that with Josh Gibson, Johnny Bench, or even Joe Mauer, but for a backup catcher that also produced good fielding numbers, that would be more than reasonable.

The question at backup catcher wss never about whether either Perez or Vazquez (or anyone else) was better than Salazar. That was likely always a given. The question was always how much more you would have to pay for marginal improvement? I wrote an earlier piece about preferring to stand pat because the costs being thrown around sounded ridiculous. A Christian Vazquez at or near veteran minimum seems like a reasonable cost to pay for a marginal upgrade. Assuming he is in shape, he would seem to be the preferred choice, but we will have to see how it all plays out.

We’ve got another day of WBC baseball and this one wasn’t without it’s thrills.

Japan 8, Korea 6

Ho hum, another game for Japan, another home run for Shohei Ohtani.

Except this time, it wasn’t Ohtani that was the star for Japan. That would be Seiya Suzuki, who homered twice to help Japan take a game was pretty well played from both teams.

Korea’s offense was actually clicking on a few cylinders and gave Japan a scare, but Samurai is just too deep.

Canada 8, Colombia 2

Canada has a sneaky good team put together that might be able to do a little damage. They rode an Owen Cassie home run and a two hit, two RBI day from Abraham Toro to a victory over Colombia.

Canada’s offense is legit. If they can get some pitching to back it up, particularly if their bullpen can be effective, don’t be surprised if they win their pool and maybe a quarterfinal game.

Netherlands 4, Nicaragua 3

This one was a thriller. Nicaragua, which has yet to ever have a win in the Classic, were down to needing their last out to secure that first victory. They had gotten that lead thanks to a two-run home run from Jeter Downs that broke a 1-1 tie. However, with those two outs, Netherlands put two runners on for Ozzie Albies. Albies got a first pitch fastball and…

Fun game to watch.

Italy 8, Brazil 0

Italy began their tournament play with a thumping of a Brazilian team that is simply overmatched in any game they play. The Italians were led by Dante Nori, who had two home runs.

That’s a rather nice swing from the Phillies’ prospect. Might we be seeing a breakout campaign begin right before our eyes?

Puerto Rico 4, Panama 3 (10 innings)

Now, this was another thriller that was probably missed thanks to the U.S. playing around the same time. Panama had a lead in the bottom of the ninth, but blew it thanks to a bases loaded walk to Willi Castro. In the tenth, the Panamanians took the lead when Jose Caballero singled in the ghost runner on second, but they needed to get three outs themselves.

It was not to be.

Venezuela 11, Israel 3

Venezuela continued to show an all around offensive thunder by beating Israel 11-3. Luis Arraez was the hitting star of the night, going 4-5 with two doubles and two home runs, driving in five to pace the Venezuelans. They are looking dangerous yet again.

United States 9, Great Britain 1

Tarik Skubal gave up a first pitch home run to someone named Nate Eaton, but that was the only offensive production the Brits would have. The American pitching simply overwhelmed the opposition while their own offense slowly creaked the life as the game when on. They were sparked by Kyle Schwarber.

That should wrap up that pool, I think.

Chinese Taipei 5, Korea 4 (10 innings)

Another extra inning thriller, Chinese Taipei put their hat into the ring as the possible second seed in their pool by taking a game from Korea thanks to a suicide squeeze in the 10th inning. Fundamentals are critical, folks.

Australia stayed with defending World Baseball Classic champion Japan step for step for more than six innings during their Sunday pool play clash.

Masataka Yoshida changed that with one swing.

Yoshida, the Red Sox outfielder/designated hitter, hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to wipe out a one-run deficit and ultimately help Japan to a narrow 4-3 win.

Japan scored two more runs in the eighth to provide some breathing room, which proved important when Australia designated hitter Alex Hall AND first baseman Rixon Wingrove blasted solo homers in the ninth.

Australia matched zeroes with Japan for five innings before breaking through with the game's first run in the sixth.

Center fielder Aaron Whitefield, who had three of Australia's six hits, was almost single-handedly responsible for that run. Whitefield hit one-out double in the sixth off Japan reliever Chihiro Sumida, then he stole third and scored after a bad throw by Japan catcher Kenya Wakatsuki. It gave Australia a 1-0 lead, which it held going into the bottom of the seventh.

The starting pitchers were stellar with Tomoyuki Sugano leading Japan by working four scoreless innings with two hits and two strikeouts. Australia starter Connor MacDonald blanked Japan on one hit over three innings with one strikeout.

Australia could still advance to the next round by beating Korea on Monday (6 a.m. ET. on FS1).

Shohei Ohtani stats today

For the first time in this WBC, Shohei Ohtani did not leave the yard. He didn't even have a hit.

Ohtani wound up 0-for-3 with two walks, the last of which was intentional in the eighth inning.

Ohtani led off the bottom of the first inning with a groundout to second base, and he ended the second inning with a hard lineout to center field. Ohtani came up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded and two outs, and he had a 2-2 count when his teammate Shugo Maki was picked off second base by Australia catcher Robbie Perkins to end the inning. Ohtani wound up lining out to right to start the fifth.

Ohtani won his fourth MVP award in 2025 with a career-high 55 home runs and returned to the mound after only hitting in 2024, leading the Dodgers to a second consecutive World Series title.

• 2025 (LAD): .282 AVG | 55 HR | 102 RBIs | 20 SB | 1.014 OPS
• 2024 (LAD): .310 AVG | 54 HR | 130 RBIs | 59 SB | 1.036 OPS
• 2023 (LAA): .304 AVG | 44 HR | 95 RBIs | 20 SB | 1.066 OPS
• 2022 (LAA): .273 AVG | 34 HR | 95 RBIs | 11 SB | .875 OPS
• 2021 (LAA): .257 AVG | 46 HR | 100 RBIs | 26 SB | .965 OPS

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani stats today: Hitless in Japan's WBC win vs Australia

Three hours and 13 minutesafter the biggest comeback win of the season for Missouri baseball, Josh McDevitt provided the Tigers with what they had been lacking for the first two games of the series in their 7-0 series-clinching victory over UIC. Quality starting pitching.

In his previous three outings this season, McDevitt has given up six hits combined. He had an ERA of 3.21 coming into Saturday. He’s struck out 19 batters and consistently finished his outings around the pitch mark of the mid 80’s. The one problem? He’s walked 16 batters this season.

McDevitt’s fourth start of the season at Taylor Stadium saw him tie his career-high in strikeouts with seven, dousing the Flames despite walking six batters. He worked his way out of two jams in the third and fifth innings, in which UIC left a combined five runners on base.

“I think they gotta get in and do some things mechanically with him this week, before we get into conference play,” Jackson said. “Really missing to the glove side, and yanking a lot of fastballs, high counts to guys, walks that we’re not accustomed to seeing him doing. Coach Drew, he’s gotta get in there with him and kind of try to figure that out a little bit, because it’s really good stuff — a good three‑pitch mix, very, very competitive — but we’re putting ourselves in situations that we shouldn’t be putting ourselves in.”

The final result ended with two five shutout innings for McDevitt, two hits allowed by the Tigers staff, and the first shutout victory for Missouri since Mar. 7, 2023, a 6-0 victory over Western Illinois. It also marked the 11th straight victory for the black and gold.

Perhaps UIC was still deflated after the Tigers completed their massive comeback win less than an hour before; even so, the Missouri offense came out with a purpose. The first inning saw Macon open the game how he likes to, a lead-off hustle double, his seventh of the season, extending his hit streak to 14 games.

Jase Woita followed with an RBI single to left, and Cameron Benson added another run with a sharp base hit to make it 2–0 before UIC recorded its second out of the first inning.

Benson capped off the Tigers’ 12-run comeback against UIC, and just like the rest of the offense, he kept continuing to pick up right where he left off. Missouri, already up 4-0 in the top half of the fifth, Benson cushioned the driver’s seat, cracking a two-run shot over the right field fence. The first two homers of his season came in one day, both 377 feet apiece.

“Cam is capable of doing whatever he wants to do on a baseball field,” head coach Kerrick Jackson said. “He’s finally coming into his own and realizing that, and it’s fun to watch.”

Missouri wasn’t done. Utility man Jamal George followed with a double down the right‑field line, driving in another run to make it 7–0 in the fifth and effectively put the game out of reach.

Relievers Isaiah Salas, Keyler Gonzalez, and Dane Bjorn combined to finish the final four innings, allowing only three hits and striking out four. Gonzalez, making his Mizzou debut, tossed a clean eighth inning with his first strikeout as a Tiger.

“You’re seeing a lot of freshmen come out in big situations and compete their tails off,” Jackson said. “High leverage is high leverage, and they’re getting valuable experience.”

The Tigers have now thrown 15 straight scoreless innings and improved to 13–2 — their best start since the 2017 team opened 20–1.

“We just needed to come out and throw punches,” Jackson said. “If we play our baseball, we’ll be in a great situation.”

We have our first walk off of the 2026 WBC! Athletics infielder Darell Hernaiz smacked a two-out home run for Puerto Rico to walk off Panama in ten innings, the first walk-off home run in tournament history. USA and Venezuela maintained their perfect starts to the tournament with resounding wins over Great Britain and Israel, respectively. Let’s see how it all shook out.

Pool A: Puerto Rico (2-0) 4, Panama (0-2) 3

The starting pitchers opened this rain-delayed game in San Juan with quite a duel, Ariel Jurado of Panama getting the upper hand with his five scoreless innings allowing three hits and no walks with five strikeouts over Puerto Rico’s Eduardo Rivera, who also struck out five in his 4.1 innings of one-run ball. Panama broke the seal in the fifth, Jonathan Araúz reaching with one out on a hit-by-pitch and scoring on a Christian Bethancourt double, himself scoring as Luis Castillo followed with a double of his own.

Puerto Rico cut that deficit in half in the sixth on a sac fly by Nolan Aranado with the bases loaded after Bryan Torres and Willi Castro singled and Heliot Ramos was hit by a pitch. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Eddie Rosario walked, Martín Maldonado singled, and Matthew Lugo walked to again to load the bases, allowing Castro to draw the game-tying free pass to send the game to extra innings.

Panama immediately put the pressure on in extras, a sac bunt advancing the automatic runner to third, allowing him to score the go-ahead run on a José Caballero single. However, after stealing second, the Yankees’ speedster and back-to-back AL stolen base leader was thrown out at the plate by Carlos Cortes on a Leonardo Bernal single.

Buoyed by that play to end the top-half, Puerto Rico put the game to bed in the bottom of the tenth. Luis Vázquez singled to lead off and advance the automatic runner to second and again it was Cortes’ turn to come through, his ground ball double play plating the tying run. Up stepped A’s infielder Darell Hernaiz with two outs to yank the first walk-off home run in WBC history just fair inside the left field foul pole.

Pool D: Venezuela (2-0) 11, Israel (0-1) 3

It was a hit parade for Venezuela in Miami, with 14 base knocks against the hapless Israel pitching staff. They set the tone scoring four in the first and never took their foot off the gas pedal from there. Luis Arraez opened the scoring with a double after Ronald Acuña drew a leadoff walk, the former coming around to score on a Salvador Perez single. Eugenio Suárez then crushed a two-run bomb, and already you could sense that this could be a blowout.

From that point forward, this became the Luis Arraez game. Known almost to a fault as a slap singles hitter, the newly-minted Giant brought his slug to the ballpark today. To go along with his first inning RBI double, Arraez lined a solo home run to right in the fifth before smacking a three-run bomb to almost exactly the same spot as part of Venezuela’s five-run sixth, Maikel Garcia also chipping in with a two-run single with the bases loaded earlier in the frame.

Venezuela’s dominant offensive display was matched by that of their starting pitcher, Enmanuel De Jesus setting the tournament high water mark with eight strikeouts in his five innings of one-run ball. RJ Schreck and Harrison Bader hit solo home runs for Israel, but the game was already well in hand for Venezuela at that point.

Pool B: United States (2-0) 9, Great Britain (0-2) 1

It was a slow start for Team USA despite having the best pitcher on the planet on the mound, but the bats broke out once they dug into Great Britain’s bullpen. Tarik Skubal declared prior to the tournament that he would only make one start, and it followed an eerily similar trajectory to that of Logan Webb the night prior. The two-tim defending AL Cy Young winner surrendered a leadoff home run to Nate Easton on the very first pitch of the game, but was nigh-on untouchable from that point forward. He finished his outing having given up two hits and no walks with five strikeouts, setting the tone for the rest of the game as he, Clay Holmes, David Bednar, Griffin Jax, and Brad Keller combined to strike out 17 British hitters.

The United States offense was silent for the first four innings before exploding for five in the fifth, following the pattern from their tournament opener of scoring in bunches. Ernie Clement reached on a one-out throwing error and scored the tying run on a wild pitch after a Pete Crow-Armstrong double advanced him to third. Following up on his two-hit day on Friday, Kyle Schwarber put the USA on top with a booming two-run blast to right, Gunnar Henderson then tacking on a further pair of runs with a two-out single with the bases loaded after Alex Bregman doubled, Bryce Harper was plunked, and Will Smith walked — part of a 4-for-5 performance from the Orioles shortstop in the lineup in place of Bobby Witt Jr.

In their game against Brazil, the US relied on their patience to get the job done, drawing an astonishing 17 walks. With the Great Britain pitcher much less afraid to challenge their daunting lineup in the strike zone, the US had to shift gears to more of a batted ball approach to get the job done. They collected three more insurance runs in the sixth, initially loading the bases with no outs on a Clement leadoff single and walks by Schwarber and PCA. Bregman hit a sac fly and Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper lined RBI singles to put the game to bed, Bregman wrapping up the scoring with his second sac fly an inning later. Brad Keller struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. to end the contest, the Yankees second baseman going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts to earn the dreaded golden sombrero.

Pool C: Chinese Taipei (2-2) 5, South Korea (1-2) 4

Chinese Taipei have bounced back valiantly from getting manhandled in their first two games of the tournament, scrapping out an extra-innings victory to finish at an admirable 2-2 in pool play. The long ball was the difference maker of this contest, seven of the nine combined runs coming via the home run.

2023 was the last time that Hyun Jin Ryu last pitched in MLB, the 38 year old now plying his trade for the Hanwha Eagles of KBO, but he showed he’s still got it with three innings of one-run ball for South Korea. The only damage against him was the opening run of the contest, a leadoff home run from Yu Chang in the second. South Korea responded in the fifth, a run-scoring double play ground ball from Shay Whitcomb plating the tying run after Hyun Min Ahn drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a Bo Gyeong Moon single.

Tsung-Che Cheng reclaimed the lead for Chinese Taipei with a home run to leadoff the second, but it was immediately erased in the bottom half, Do Yeong Kim slugging a two-run blast to grab the lead for South Korea after Dong Won Park drew a leadoff walk. That set Stuart Fairchild up for his second clutch home run in as many nights, following up his grand slam on Friday with the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth. However, Do Yeong Kim replied with an RBI double in the bottom half to send the game to extras.

Home runs pay have powered most of the scoring, but this game was won in the most small ball way possible, Chinese Taipei plating the automatic runner in the top of the tenth with consecutive sacrifice bunts. It looked like South Korea would follow suit in the bottom half, but Ju Won Kim was thrown out at home on a soft grounder to preserve Chinese Taipei’s 5-4 victory.

After back-to-back days with eight games, today and tomorrow will only feature seven as we wrap up pool play. As expected, the US and Japan are the early frontrunners with two wins through two, although Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Australia are more than holding their own with perfect records as well. Here’s the slate for today:

Australia vs. Japan (Pool C)
Pitching matchup: RHP Connor MacDonald vs. RHP Tomoyuki Sugano
Time: 6:00 a.m. ET
TV: FS1
Venue: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan

Colombia vs. Cuba (Pool A)
Pitching matchup: RHP Luis Patiño vs. RHP Denny Larrondo
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
TV: FS2
Venue: Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, PR

Dominican Republic vs. Netherlands (Pool D)
Pitching matchup: RHP Luis Severino vs. RHP Arij Fransen
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Venue: loanDepot park, Miami, FL

Great Britain vs. Italy (Pool B)
Pitching matchup: TBD vs. RHP Dylan DeLucia
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
TV: Tubi
Venue: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

Israel vs. Nicaragua (Pool D)
Pitching matchup: RHP Dan Kremer vs. RHP Carlos Rodriguez
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: Tubi
Venue: loanDepot park, Miami, FL

Panama vs. Canada (Pool A)
Pitching matchup: TBD vs. RHP Jameson Taillon
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: FS2
Venue: Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, PR

Brazil vs. Mexico (Pool B)
Pitching matchup: RHP Eric Pardinho vs. RHP Taijuan Walker
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
Venue: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

Week 1: Starting Pitching

Week 2: Catchers

Week 3: Corner Infield

This could be a long article made short with the simple word: yes. I truly believe we are seeing the middle infield that will be standing at Busch Stadium for the foreseeable future. But Doc probably would not be happy if my write up just ended there. So here we go.

The St. Louis Cardinals have their middle infield of the future

For those who have been checking in on my work, first off, thank you. Secondly, you know that I am enamored with the future potential of shortstop Masyn Winn. He will turn 24 later this month and is just scratching the surface for what I hope to see flying around short for the next 8+ years.

Yes, I know the offense needs to show some progress, but even if he is unable to reach my lofty annual 20 homer/20 stolen base floor prediction, his defense is just so darn good that I will settle for a plain old 100 wRC+ with Platinum Glove level performance one of the hardest positions on the field. Call me a hypocrite because when I talked about Ivan Herrera, I basically said the opposite as I am saying for Winn. Herrera can play mediocre defense behind the plate and put up a 130 wRC+ and I will forgive a 20% caught stealing rate with a few passed balls in a growth season. For Winn, though, his athleticism and overall talent at short will allow him to be an above-average major league contributor for a long time, even if the bat does not fully progress, even though I have confidence it will.

In exactly 1200 at-bats, Winn has a .252 average and .680 OPS, which measures him as a 91 wRC+ for his career. On FanGraphs, he has accumulated a 6.3 fWAR in his 2+ years in the bigs, but much of that is due to his incredible abilities at shortstop. I sorted FanGraphs’ leaderboard for shortstop value to just include each of Winn’s last two seasons and his 7.2 fWAR (subtracting his negative debut cup of coffee) puts him as the 11th-best shortstop in baseball. His defense ranks second in MLB behind Bobby Witt, Jr., but his offensive production sits at 31st. Even with a mediocre couple of years with the bat, Winn is making a case to be a top 10 player at the position, a distinction I have already given him.

Masyn Winn’s 2024 season was an exciting glimpse into the future as he put up a 104 wRC+ with 15 homers and 11 stolen bases with top 10 defensive value. He did that while primarily hitting leadoff, a spot in the order that may not be the best fit for Winn’s skillset. Because of that great year, the expectations were high for Winn as he entered his second full season and had built a consistent track record of success in the minors. Unfortunately, his production took a step back in some ways while staying similar in other aspects.

We will never know and Winn will likely never admit to how much injuries played a factor in his 2025 season, as he only played 129 games after missing time with back and knee issues before eventually going under the knife to repair his meniscus once the season was deemed over. All told, Winn ended up with a 91 wRC+ with just nine homers and nine stolen bases, but took home his first Gold Glove award. Assuming Winn is back to full strength like he claims, get me back on the 20/20 watch. He surpassed the 20 stolen base mark in each of his first two pro seasons, including swiping 43 bags in 2022, and hit 18 homers with a .288 average and 17 swipes before he was called up for the end of the 2023 season. It is because of that consistent showing, yes I know it was the minor leagues, that my hopes for Winn’s bat are still high. With a team full of youngsters all looking to make an impact on the roster, I could see Winn finding another level in his game and finally be recognized nationally as one of the best all-around shortstops in the game. ZiPs and the other projection sites predict a similar season for Winn in 2026, but with improved health and another year of offensive maturity, I will say I think the 12 homer prediction we see from ZiPS is going to be low.

Over across the bag to Winn’s expected double play partner. Maybe you’ve heard of him: JJ Wetherholt. Before I gush over Wetherholt’s expected season and career, let us first look back at what second base provided the Cardinals last year. Sorry to bring it up as we are finally starting to move past it, but Brendan Donovan was the primary second baseman last year and put up his typical Donnie season, finishing as the 5th-best second baseman in baseball with a 3.0 fWAR while playing the keystone. His shift to second from his usual utility role provided some stability at the position that saw him, Nolan Gorman, Jose Fermin, Thomas Saggese, and of course Pedro Pages see time there. But now, that position belongs to JJ Wetherholt and that’s all there is to it. Everyone in Cardinal Nation is excited for his arrival, even Kareem Haq. Kareem joined us on Redbird Rundown this past week to partake in a Prospect Draft, and even though he scooped up Rainiel Rodriguez with the first overall pick, he is still as pumped to see JJ in St. Louis as the rest of us.

So why the excitement? For one, he will probably take the leadoff spot away from Winn and allow the shortstop to find a place in the lineup that fits his aggressive, yet contact-oriented approach. We have seen how Wetherholt approaches his at-bats this spring (yes, it is still spring) and his .579 OBP shows he knows the strike zone, but his homer and four RBIs also means he knows when to attack. While he has shown that patience, I want to be wary of being grouped into Lars Nootbaar territory, where Noot was so patient he rarely swung at pitches he should hit over the mountains. Wetherholt’s Savant page shows he does have that level of selectivity, but the infielder’s K-rate is better than the outfielder’s.

We know all of Wetherholt’s accolades and expectations, so I won’t spend my time (but since you’re also here, our time) rehashing all of that. Basically, JJ is major league ready and the Arenado and Donovan trades cemented his spot on the Opening Day roster. The projection systems predict that Wetherholt will hit a little bit of a snag during his first big league season, with ZiPS being the most optimistic with a .254 batting average, 11 homers, 13 stolen bases which equates to a 103 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR. By that last measure, Wetherholt would be a near-even replacement for Donnie at second. I’m sure it is just my Cardinals-colored glasses talking, but if Wetherholt sticks in the majors for 130+ games this season, I would hope his actual numbers are a tick better across the board than the prediction.

To round this week’s position group up, I wanted to do a quick view of who could fill in if either of these two missed extended time or if Wetherholt struggled to the point a demotion was necessary. One of the actual competitions we are seeing this spring is for a spot on the major league bench. With Ivan Herrera continuing to get catcher reps, the Cardinals may very well roll with three catchers on the big league roster with Pedro Pages and Yohel Pozo offering support. Even if Herrera were to move out from behind the plate, that moves him to a DH role so that trio would remain the same, just in a different capacity. Assuming Lars Nootbaar is going to start on the IL, the Cardinals still need to find a left fielder (preview to next week) who can start multiple times a week. Because of this, backup infield options Thomas Saggese and Jose Fermin have been working in the outfield to gain the upperhand and earn a spot.

Each of those guys can play around the infield and have shown the athleticism to handle those spots with at least average defensive abilities. Depending on what Oli Marmol wants out of his bench could determine who takes the opening. Of the two, Saggese is projected to be the more complete hitter with the former Texas League MVP popping double-digit homers in every professional season so far with Fermin maxing out with eight home runs. Fermin is the quicker athlete, though, with the Dominican notching 20 stolen bases in three different seasons. Personally, I would like Saggese to push for the Opening Day roster and maybe even give Nathan Church (glimpse to next week again) a run for the left field job. Saggese is the younger of the two and the higher profile prospect, so in a season of opportunity, I would like Saggese to get the call to see if he can tap into some of that power he flashed in the minors.

If (when) both Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt make their presence known at the national level, it creates a much more interesting roster construction for the future at other positions. With Nolan Gorman at third and Alec Burleson at first, the spots for Saggese and Fermin run thin for the long-term future with the organization. Of course, that means that the incumbents stay healthy, consistent, and even improve to work their way into an extension. Either way, the 2026 season is going to be an exciting one to watch, even if the wins don’t show up early and often in the standings.

SELF PROMO OF THE WEEK

• Random Cardinal of the Week returns to its roots with one of the most underrated and/or unknown player on the 2005 and 2006 teams. Check out my Twitter to see how I actually have some experience and Six Degrees of Separation with this week’s featured player.
• Redbird Rundown had Kareem last week and kept the prospect conversation going this week with the infamous Redbird Farmhands. We talked about the Oli Marmol extension before discussing some offensive camp battles.
• Our Patreon is live and active. From now until Opening Day (March 27), anyone who joins using our $1 promotion will be entered to win two Coca-Cola All-Inclusive tickets on May 4th against the Brewers. Follow the link and you’ll receive an email from us confirming your entry for the giveaway.

• What to expect on Patreon:
  • All of our normal content from Spotify/YouTube
  • A bonus episode every week. Our first bonus episode is unlocked for you to see what you can expect. Spotify, YouTube, Patreon links for the bonus.
  • Paid members will get an unlocked chat with just paid members. This will be a hub for the sickos like us.
  • Free members will have a chat option accessible to everyone.
  • Paid members will have access to a Game Day Thread for each and every game. During Spring Training, all members can access this thread to have a conversation about each game.
  • Free members will have access to a Series Preview before each three or four game set

Let me know if you have any questions, see you over there! Thanks as always!

The same guys have been getting the attention at Pittsburgh Pirates Spring Training, like Konnor Griffin, and rightfully so. The No. 1 prospect has been putting on a clinic with his towering home runs and impressive skills. He is also building a compelling case to make the Pirates’ Opening Day roster and become the starting shortstop. 

Former MLB GM for the Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds Jim Bowden believes Griffin is the best teenage prospect ready for the show since Juan Soto and Bryce Harper. 

Bowden also believes the Pirates should already pursue a long term extension for the 19 year old. 

“Griffin told the media that he would be open to signing a long-term contract, something the Pirates should jump on as soon as possible because he profiles as one of the best players in the sport over the next 10-15 years,” Bowden wrote.

It feels a little risky to me to already give Griffin a massive contract extension without even seeing how good he is going to be in the major league. Although if he plays well in his rookie season and he is already looking like the star everyone expects him to be, they should extend him early. 

 Bowden also praised O’Neil Cruz for trying to address the flaws in his game before the start of the season.

“Oneil Cruz of the Pirates struggled last year against left-handed pitching, batting just .102 against them over 125 plate appearances. He hired a left-handed batting practice pitcher this offseason to improve his at-bats against southpaws,” Bowden wrote. “In addition, he hit just .141 against breaking balls and has been working hard on tracking them and making better contact against them.”

Cruz has the potential to be an elite player in the National League. He has serious power to his bat with the potential of having a 30 plus home run season. He just has to put it all together and if he can do that we will be looking at one of the most improved players in the league. You also have to look at defensive play which needs to seriously improve for this upcoming season. 

Cruz is emerging as an above-average hitter and that would give Pittsburgh’s lineup a much needed boost. 

What Bowden is saying in my opinion is absolutely true. If the young star for the Bucs can make that next step the Pirates can compete for a playoff spot. The pitching will do their thing this year but it’s up to the offense and the young guys to back the pitching up.