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Spring Training is a mirage. It’s a wavery vision that sits atop the horizon, and in this oasis, we see what we want to see, trying to discern, predict, manifest, what lies further on up the road in the regular season. 

I put this into practice as I ventured out into the blizzard currently pummeling the Northeast coast. As a Californian expat living in New England, I understand now that February is the longest month. Baseball, in these conditions feels, like an impossibility, but I tried to lean into the sensory dissonance by wandering around the snow-driven streets with the voice of Joe Rizzo in my ear and the atmospheric soundtrack of a ballgame popping and sizzling in the background. That ethereal warmth competed with the rumbling of plows, the grinding engines of snow blowers fountaining powder into the air, as my nose ran and fingertips numbed. I stared as far as I could out into the white-out conditions of my town in an attempt to envision Luis Arraez’s RBI bloop in the 3rd.

This is certainly what was promised to us. The gamble of 2026 lies in that 70 MPH ball-in-play, scooped from a shin-high slider, somehow finding grass. I saw it — briefly. Contact when it counts. Batted balls as numerous as a blizzard’s snowflakes, in this specific instance brought on perhaps by the three-pitch strike out Arraez suffered against A’s starter J.T. Ginn in the 1st inning. If the stories are true, that means his next 30 plate appearances or so would produce a ball in play. Arraez is well on his way — he delivered that single against lefty Gage Jump; with another runner in scoring position in the 5th, he lined a hanging slider 100 MPH 390 feet to right-center for a ground-rule double. The guy hates to strike out — even I saw that in the far-off February of Massachusetts.

Early trends of camp so far are becoming established. Loose command by the pitching corps continued with JT Brubaker, Trevor McDonald, and Gregory Santos combining for five free passes (4 BB, 1 HBP) over the first three frames. The defense received more gifts from baserunning gaffes. They caught A’s Max Muncy between third and home after a poor initial read from second on a double to right. A batted ball by Joshua Kuroda-Grauer in the 7th struck Tommy White trying to advance to second, and they nearly turned another odd triple play after Rafael Devers relay after a 4-6-3 double play arrived a fraction of a second late to nab Austin Wynns advancing to third.   

Despite starter Brubaker’s command struggles, who allowed two earned runs in the 1st, the subsequent train of eight San Francisco arms (mostly from the minor league camp) held the A’s to just two runs. Six consecutive single tally frames, from the 3rd through the 8th, erased the early deficit and secured the Giants 6-2 win. They are undefeated.  

The expected starting outfield sandwich of Heliot Ramos, Harrison Bader, and Jung Hoo Lee made their spring debut together. All three will be leaving Arizona to play for their respective national teams in the World Baseball Classic ((Puerto Rico (which I guess is not considered a part of the United States to most international sports governing bodies), Israel, and South Korea).  

Trevor McDonald made a debut with a relatively clean, 15-pitch 2nd. The sinker, which he threw 40% of the time over his 15 innings, looked to be in mid-season form from the jump. He dotted a 97 MPH sinker at the top of the zone to retire the first batter he faced. Though his next sinker went awry and struck Junior Perez, a nicely located knee-high fastball on the outer-third of the plate got reigning Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz to roll out to first, before a buried curveball got Austin Wynns swinging. The right-hander caught everyone’s attention after his dominant pair of starts last September. He’s turning 25 in a couple of days and will be someone to watch over the coming month, considering how in-flux the bullpen is, and how uninspiring and injury-prone the back-end of the rotation is. 

Jung Hoo Lee slapped another hard-hit single through the 5.5 hole. Hell yeah, Lee! 

Non-roster invitee Victor Berricoto launched the Giants first long-ball of Spring to lead-off the 8th. The bat-first corner outfield replaced DH Drew Gilbert and shot an RBI single to right field in his first at-bat. Both hits went to the opposite field.

Bo Davidson and Luis Matos both bagged their first hits as part of the mid-game roster change. After slugging his way into Double-A last year, the number-3 prospect could possibly break camp in Sacramento if all goes well in Arizona. While the field of possibility is wide-open for Davidson, the outfield walls must feel like they’re closing in on Matos. Even though he just turned 23 years old, the outfielder has lingered on the cusp of Major League relevance since 2023 and is now out of options. 

Here’s the box score, courtesy of Baseball Savant:

And here’s the pitching breakdown:

Record: 1-3. Change on 2025: 0. 5-inning record: 0-4.

Once again, the D-backs waited until late for their offense to show up, only getting their first run on the board when they were already down by seven. That put a thin veneer of respectability on a score which was never really in doubt. Though after being 7-0 down. they did get the tying run in scoring position in the eighth – but Ivan Melendez grounded out with the bases loaded. However, they have trailed all of their games after five innings, which is the point at which the regular players normally clock out. Early days, but that is a bit concerning. On the other hand, there were some positives to take from today’s performance.

Indeed, both teams had the same number of hits (11) and extra-base hits (4), with the D-backs actually having more home-runs (2 vs. 1). The big difference was in the free passes, where Arizona had only two walks, compared to Cleveland’s eight. Only the Giants have given up more bases on balls than the Diamondbacks’ 23. However, again, it wasn’t the expected major leaguers who were the problem. Taylor Clarke and Juan Morillo each pitched scoreless innings with no walks and a strikeout to get things underway: it was back-end pitchers like Wilkin Paredes, and his four walks to six batters, that inflated the numbers today.

Jordan Lawlar had another good day. Starting in center, he went 3-for-4 including his second home-run: that ties him with the like of Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso for the pre-season lead. Ryan Waldschmidt also went deep, for the first time this year, and drew a walk, while Ildemaro Vargas notched a pair of hits, as did right fielder Oscar Mercado. Only four ABS challenges in today’s games, two of which were successful and two of which confirmed the call. Tomorrow, the D-backs travel again, this time off to Surprise for a meeting with the Texas Rangers. It will see winter signing Michael Soroka take the mound for the first time.

There are expectations surrounding new Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker — not surprising for someone with a four-year, $240-million contract.

But first things first.

“Last year I got one hit in spring, so hopefully I get more than that,” Tucker said, sharing a laugh with reporters after grounding out and walking in two plate appearances in his Cactus League debut Sunday. “So, that’s the goal. But I mean, just feeling comfortable.”

In a clubhouse full of superstar players, the feeling seems mutual with his teammates.

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“I’m glad he’s with us,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said, adding: “There might be other superstars on this team, but it’s not really anyone’s focus here. It’s all about getting in every day, working hard, helping us win a ballgame that day and working toward the ultimate goal of winning the World Series.”

Last year was a tale of two seasons for the 29-year-old Tucker.

Through the first three months, Tucker had the Chicago Cubs’ offense humming, powering the club to a 53-35 start. Entering July, Tucker was batting .291 with a .395 on-base percentage, .931 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 17 home runs, 52 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Tucker found himself in the middle of the National League most valuable player discussion as the Cubs sat in first place in the National League Central.

But from July 1 through the end of the season, he batted just .225, posting a .690 OPS, five home runs and 21 RBIs, a far cry from his first half that earned him a start in right field in the All-Star Game.

It was later revealed that Tucker sustained a hairline fracture in June, which he played through. In September, he suffered a calf strain, landing him on the injured list.

He finished the season with a .266 batting average and 22 homers, career lows. That did not deter the Dodgers, and it was an easy sell for Tucker as well.

“Every organization is unique in its own sense,” Tucker said. “But this organization obviously the last couple of years has done pretty well, so I think that’s a huge part of the front office and them doing their part and trying to get a great group together. Just great people and great athletes, and then trying to just put the best product out on the field for the city of Los Angeles and the fans. I think they’ve done a pretty good job of that so far. Hopefully, we can keep winning for them.”

Despite what happened last season with Tucker, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is confident in the newly signed star.

Read more:Stephen Nelson is now part of Dodgers fans' memories. Here's how he keeps it in perspective

“For me and the people that I talked to and how he goes about it, there’s nothing negative for me,” Roberts said last week. “I love guys that just come to work and love playing and competing. So, he just wants to win. He’s not a self-promoter; he’s not going to give [the media] a bunch of great soundbites. He wants to play to win, and I love guys like that. So, I’m excited to have him and get to know him even more.”

Tucker missed a little less than three weeks in last season’s final month. He did not return to the outfield, manning the designated-hitter spot for the Cubs, whose season ended at the hands of the Brewers in five games in the NL Division Series.

Tucker says he felt good all offseason and is feeling even better in the early days of camp with his new team.

“It was a pretty healthy” offseason, Tucker said. “At the beginning, I might have still been kind of nursing the calf a little bit. But it was kind of feeling pretty good right at the end. I think if we had moved on to the next series, I probably would have gone to the outfield, so I wish I could have gotten out there for that. Overall, in the offseason, I felt pretty healthy, and [feel pretty healthy] going into camp so far.”

Alex Vesia returns to the mound

Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia made his Cactus League debut in Monday’s 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners — the first time he’s pitched in a game of any kind since his newborn daughter died last fall.

Entering in the fifth inning to a loud ovation, Vesia struck out one and retired the side in order. He then received a warm greeting from teammates in the dugout.

“Being around the guys, it’s really been comforting,” Vesia said. “These guys are my brothers, I truly love all of them. It’s meant a lot.”

Dodgers set starting pitchers for the week

Before Monday’s game, Roberts revealed starting pitchers for this week. Gavin Stone will take the mound Tuesday, Roki Sasaki will start Wednesday and Tyler Glasnow makes his first start of the Cactus League on Thursday. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start for the second time Friday in what likely will be his last before joining Team Japan for the World Baseball Classic.

Over the last two offseasons, the Dodgers spent a combined $141 million on relief pitchers Edwin Díaz and Tanner Scott, both of whom are expected to make their first spring appearances this week.

“Tanner and Edwin are going either Wednesday or Thursday in the Cactus League games,” Roberts said. “Those guys, we’ll start to see them this week.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

PHOENIX - It may have been a meaningless spring training game, but for Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia, it meant everything.

He slowly walked to the mound Monday, listening to the crowd at Camelback Ranch give him a rousing ovation, took a deep breath, and with his heart pounding, proceeded to do what he does best.

Vesia pitched a 1-2-3 inning against the Seattle Mariners, and he walked off the mound, the cheering grew louder and louder. He patted his chest and looked to the crowd in appreciation. He reached the dugout, and every single one of his teammates stood up to hug him, shake his hand, or pump fists.

“It’s been hard,’’ Vesia said. “I guess it’s hard in a good way because I want to interact with all of the fans and stuff like that, but I have a job to do.

“Even on the backfields, first day, I walk out the doors and cheers and lots of love. So, yeah, it means a lot, not only for myself, but for [wife] Kayla, too.’’

Welcome back, Alex Vesia 💙👏 pic.twitter.com/4j7lFPJutH

— MLB (@MLB) February 23, 2026

This was the first time Vesia pitched in a game since he and Kayla lost their newborn daughter, Sterling Sol, on Oct. 26, just before the start of the World Series. He left the team, but watched every pitch of every game on TV, and celebrated when they won the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

He stayed home with his wife during the World Series parade, still in mourning, and after months of working out fanatically in the gym, and undergoing counseling with his wife, is back with the Dodgers, with life ever so slowly feeling as normal as could be in the aftermath of heartache and tragedy.

“Being around the guys, it’s really been comforting, you know,’’ Vesia said. “We’ve had multiple conversations and guys are asking me questions and just trying to, you know, feel for me. That’s honestly been a blessing. I do like talking about it with the guys and whatnot. I don’t want them to feel like they can’t. These guys are my brothers, man. I truly do love them all.’’

“It was a little overwhelming,’’ said Vesia, who was immediately praised by Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior and assistant Connor McGuiness. “I was just trying to take it all in. Definitely, it was nice.’’

Vesia’s teammates certainly showed their love right back by standing in the dugout when he came off the mound, making sure he understood what he means to them, too.

That was a bummer.

Wait, you don’t know what I’m talking about?

Well, MLB returned to the theoretical on Monday, as the Rockies and White Sox played one of those tree-falls-in-the-forest games, with no video or audio record of it left behind. Statcast is a component of every Spring Training game this season, which is great … but we still live in a world where not all, not even close to every, White Sox game is available to watch. Hard to get hyped for the season when about a third of games are televised, and not even 100% of them ramping up to the regular season (say, every game after St. Patrick’s Day) are so covered.

The White Sox lost, today, 5-4, on a titanic blast from Zac Veen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. White Sox reliever Shane Murphy was just two strikes from sending the game to extras (or, calling it a “tie”) but dropped a cutter a bit too hittable to Veen, who cleared the fence by 50 feet with a no-doubter:

Sorry friends, a Statcast visualization is the best we can do here for you today.

Murphy’s toss wasn’t crushingly bad; unfortunately his goal of staying away from Veen and making him chase out of zone failed, and his cutter crossed the heart of the plate and set the purple-haired left fielder to drooling. When your off-speed is truly out-of-gas (84.6 mph), barrels come easy: Veen’s clout was by far the hardest-hit ball of the day, at 113.3 mph.

Don’t let the close game fool you. The White Sox were pretty bad, choosing a good time to minimize the exposure of being outclassed by the worst team in baseball. There were errors, wild pitching, and some horrid baserunning that helped the Good Guys snatch defeat from victory. It’s only February 23, sure, but then again the numerous flubs weren’t only coming from players with three digits on their uniforms.

Presumptive Opening Day starter Shane Smith got things off to a rocky start, drilling Brenton Doyle with his third pitch of the game, and was knocked from of the box with two outs. The righty yielded two runs on his watch, the big blow a golfed RBI double by Willi Castro:

After Smith hit a second batter in the inning and departed for reliever Jacob Heatherly, it was Kyle Teel’s heel turn: Yet another error from the young catcher, as his attempt to nail Troy Johnston (Smith’s second HBP victim of the frame) stealing second led to Castro trotting home from second base.

There is so much to love about Teel. I’m just not sure his catching is one of them.

The White Sox, from this 3-0 hole, chipped away before finally tying the game, 4-4, in the eighth. But even in that triumph came tragedy: Mario Camilletti was thrown out at home trying to score from second on a Ryan Breaux double to left in the seventh, killing a rally with the White Sox still down, 4-3. And even the game-tying play one frame later came out of Bizarro world, as Tristan Peters sac-flied into a double play with Caden Connor trying to advance to second base as Matt Hogan crossed home.

From there, it was a 1-2-3 ninth for the White Sox, followed by a 1-2-BOOM sayonara homer from Veen.

Good evening, y’all. So, we’ve got a bit of a series going on in The Feed where we’re asking everybody to map out an All-Time Braves lineup using a grid. If you haven’t already checked it out yet, mosey on over and cast your vote in the first entry so we can get that going.

The floor is now yours and here’s a random clip for y’all:

The Milwaukee Brewers looked well on their way to picking up their first Cactus League win this afternoon when a late bullpen collapse by players you’ve probably never heard of meant another day with a zero in the win column for the Brewers.

Of course, winners and losers in the Cactus League don’t really matter at all, so who did what?

Milwaukee jumped out to an early lead in this one when, following a Joey Ortiz single (the hardest-hit ball of the game, according to Statcast, at 109.1 mph), Andrew Vaughn hit a one-out bomb to put the Brewers up 2-0.

The Brewers kept the pressure on San Diego starter JP Sears after that. Gary Sánchez was hit by a pitch and Brandon Lockridge singled to put two more on base with still just the one out. A David Hamilton fielder’s choice led to the second out, but with two outs one of the new faces on the Brewers, Jett Williams, showed off one of his gifts—speed—with a two-run triple:

Easton McGee and Abner Uribe both had nice early-inning appearances for the Brewers; Uribe gave up a bloop single to Ty France but otherwise neither pitcher allowed anything and they both struck out two batters. Craig Yoho pitched a scoreless third, though he didn’t strike anybody out.

The first two Brewers of the fourth inning were retired on calls that went to ABS challenges: the Padres successfully challenged a 3-2 pitch on Williams that was initially called a ball, and the next batter, Luis Lara, unsuccessfully challenged a called third strike.

The Padres got on the board in the fourth when Miguel Andujar hit a two-out solo homer off of Drew Rom, and the Brewers added one in the seventh when Lockridge—Brandon Lockridge!—hit his second homer of the spring.

That made it 5-1, and it looked like the game might end there, but bottom of the eighth, things went sideways. Pitcher Bjorn Johnson entered the game walked the first batter, got a pop-out, gave up a single, walked another guy, gave up a bases-loaded double, and walked another guy before getting pulled. Joshua Quezada replaced Johnson, gave up a single, balked, and gave up another single, and the Padres had six runs in with only one out. Thankfully, a double play ended the inning after that, but San Diego was up 7-5 heading into the ninth. Johnson’s line was a little scary: two hits, three walks, and five earned runs in 1/3 of an inning, which equates to an ERA of 135, if you’re curious.

Milwaukee got a couple of two-out baserunners in the ninth when Dylan O’Rae singled and Jesús Made walked; they both stole their way into scoring position, but a strikeout of Jordyn Adams ended things there, which I’m sure the players didn’t mind.

Ortiz was a notable bright spot. In addition to the single he stung in the first inning, he hit a strong double in the fifth (at 107.2 mph, it was the third-hardest-hit ball of the day), and in the third he made this nifty play:

For those who spent large parts of last season concerned about Jackson Chourio’s plate discipline, he took two more walks today. We’ve already covered all the extra-base hits, but among the interesting prospects, Lara and Brock Wilken also hit singles. In addition to McGee, Uribe, and Yoho, the Brewers also got scoreless innings from Jacob Waguespack, Ethan Dorchies, and Wande Torres, though only Waguespack managed a three-up, three-down inning.

The 0-4 Brewers will take another shot at picking up their first win tomorrow afternoon at 2:05 p.m. central time when they take on the Athletics in OaklandSacramentoKansas CityPhiladelphia Mesa.

Today, the Colorado Rockies walked off the Chicago White Sox in a 5-4 win after Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP) hit a crushing 468 feet walk-off homer. For more details, go here.

Let’s start with Veen’s homer:

Here’s manager Warren Schaefer on today’s game:

And Ryan Feltner reviews today’s outing:

And here are Michael Lorenzen’s postgame comments:

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The internet can be a cruel place, but it can also be hilarious.

On Monday afternoon, when the New York Post’s Jon Heyman broke the news that former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Michael Conforto had signed a one-year minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs, well, let’s just say the Boys in Blue’s X turned into a late-night comedy club. 

Conforto arrived in Los Angeles last offseason on a one-year, $17 million prove-it contract. He was the Dodgers’ everyday left fielder and was expected to be the missing piece of a lineup that already featured former MVPs Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. 

Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman’s thinking was simple: put a career 120 OPS+ bat inside Dodger Stadium and let the ballpark do the rest. Instead, the ballpark watched him unravel.

Conforto hit a career-low .199 with just 12 home runs and 36 RBI. He had a .333 slugging percentage that felt like a typo every time it flashed on the scoreboard. By October, he wasn’t just struggling — he was invisible. Benched. Left off the postseason roster. Replaced in left field by Kiké Hernández, who did what Kiké Hernández does in October and helped power the Dodgers to a second straight World Series title.

So when the Cubs offered Conforto a lifeline on Monday, Dodgers fans offered punchlines.

Heartbroken. Dodgers legend. Will be missed. https://t.co/u2PIxNeT1p

— Jacob Brownson (@brownsonjacob2) February 23, 2026

“The Dodgers traded Michael Conforto for Kyle Tucker,” one fan cracked, pointing out the obvious that Tucker was with the Cubs last year and Conforto with the Dodgers. 

“How on earth will we ever move on?” asked one Dodgers fan.

“This legendary Dodger will be missed dearly,” another posted, sarcasm dripping like pine tar in July.

As a Dodger fan, it’s like watching a toxic ex-girlfriend date someone new. God bless both of you.

— AF (@AndrewFonseca19) February 23, 2026

“As a Dodgers fan, this is like watching your toxic ex date someone new. God bless them both,” wrote another.

“Dodgers legend.” “The Dodgers GOAT.”

The hits just kept on coming.

dodgers legend

— SleeperDodgers (@SleeperDodgers) February 23, 2026

It was brutal. It was creative. It was so Dodgers fans.

For the Cubs, this is a low-risk, high-reward: Counsell, Conforto’s .251/.348/.456 career line, his consistency from 2017-24, the 20-homer season in San Francisco just two years ago. The Cubs believe there’s still a professional hitter buried under the wreckage of 2025.

At 33, Conforto isn’t chasing superstardom; he’s just trying to remain relevant and resurrect his career. 

In Los Angeles, he’ll be remembered mostly as a punchline attached to a championship season he didn’t participate in when it mattered most. In Chicago, he gets a clean slate.

Baseball is funny that way. One city roasts you. Another hands you a bat.

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Observations from Mets’ spring training on Monday:

Nice ABS

Carlos Mendoza said the team would be aggressive this spring when it came to using the new automated ball-strike challenge system.

They were aggressive again Monday, as Clay Holmes’ outing ended when Hayden Senger challenged a ball call with Toronto’s Addison Barger at the plate.

The pitch proved to be a strike, which resulted in a strikeout for Holmes.

Spiked

Vidal Bruján was forced from the game when he was spiked on his left thumb as he dove headfirst into second on a stolen-base attempt in the top of the sixth inning.

Caught my eye

Jared Young is among those getting time at first base this spring, and he made a nice backhanded play on an Andrés Giménez grounder.

Mark Vientos, who started at first Sunday and could split time with Brett Baty as Jorge Polanco’s backup, was the DH.

Tuesday’s schedule

The Mets will start right-hander Jack Wenninger when they host the Astros at 1:10 p.m. at Clover Park.

Wenninger was the team’s 11th-ranked prospect last year, according to MLB Pipeline.