Hello and happy Monday, folks. It’s amazing that we can finally see grass again. I was going to make “How happy are you that the snow is melting?” my question of the day, but there are more pressing matters for the Boston Red Sox to attend to.

What in the world is up with Romy Gonzalez, man? As our fearless leader Dan Secatore wrote in his news and links story this weekend, the infielder is exploring the possibility of surgery to remedy the issue with his shoulder that’s been present since September. That sucks, man. Obviously we wish him nothing but good health, but is anybody here a doctor? Can someone clue me into what the hell is going on here? Fingers crossed, I suppose.

Talk about what you want, be good to each other, and go Sox.

Meet the Mets

In the televised Spring Subway Series, Freddy Peralta and the Mets defeated Ryan Weathers and the Yankees by the score of 10-4.

Freddy Peralta isn’t just an incredibly good pitcher, he’s also a pretty solid hang in the clubhouse.

In International Met News, Juan Soto hit a mercy rule walk off home run for the Dominican Republic in the seventh inning of their win over the Netherlands.

Around the National League East

Coming off 186.2 innings of above average ball, starting pitcher Zack Littell and the Nationals came to terms on a one-year deal for a currently unknown amount of money.

Though serious enough to get him carted off the field, initial tests by the Braves on Joey Wentz haven’t showed any catastrophic injury to his leg.

For Justin Crawford and Don Mattingly, crossing paths on the Phillies is an encounter nearly 14 years in the making.

Around Major League Baseball

In the World Baseball Classic, Japan defeated Australia, undefeated Cuba took down Columbia, Italy moved to 2-0 with a win over Great Britain, Israel beat Nicaragua, Panama edged out Canada, and Mexico absolutely pummeled Brazil.

Tonight, Paul Skenes and the United States will face off against equally-undefeated Mexico at 8:00 PM eastern on Fox.

Not only is World Baseball Classic glory up for grabs for the Central American countries, but Olympic dreams hinge on these games too.

Presenting the ultimate National Anthem Standoff: Logan Allen vs. Logan Allen.

Now 44 years old and playing for the same Cuban team he represented in the inaugural WBC in 2006, Alexei Ramirez just can’t quit baseball.

It’s easy to say that you’re only going to make one start for Team USA, but for Tarik Skubal, actually committing to that is a bit harder.

The Texas Rangers moved Jordan Montgomery to the 60-day injured list and picked up Dairon Blanco off of waivers from the Royals.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2013, Captain America hit a go-ahead grand slam to put the United States ahead of Team Italy.

Louis Varland is a 28-year-old, right-handed reliever. He was a 15th round draft pick by the Twins, in 2019.

Louis has one option year left. He will likely be arbitration eligible after this season (Super 2) and he would be free agent eligible after the 2030 season. He could be a Blue Jay for a long time

He made it to the majors with the Twins in 2022, making 5 starts, with a 3.81 ERA. In 2023, he pitched in 17 games, 10 starts with a 4.63 ERA. Then, in 2024, 16 more games, 7 starts, with a 7.61 ERA.

We traded Alan Roden and Kendry Rojas to the Twins to get Varland and Ty France. Roden played in 12 games for the Twins with a .158/.200/.263 average. Rojas finished last year in Triple-A St. Paul, with a 6.59 ERA in 8 games, 23 walks and 28 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.

Last year, he became a full-time reliever, pitching in 74 games, 1 start (as the opener). with a 2.97 ERA and 22 holds. Batters hit .244/.304/.383 against him. He doesn’t have much for left/right splits, against right-handed batters he had a .662 OPS, .716 vs left-handed batters.

And, of course, he pitched a lot in the playoffs. He threw in 15 of our 18 playoff games. I’m sure he warmed up at least once in the other three. Louis had a 3.94 ERA with 17 strikeouts, 3 walks and 4 home runs, in the 16 innings. Once you get your manager’s confidence, he’s going to use you until your arms falls off in the playoffs.

He throws a lot of pitches, for a reliever. A Four Seamer (45.3% of the time, averaging 98.1 mph), a Knuckle curve (37.4%), a Slider (7.1%) Sinker (5.5%) and Changeup (4.6%). If I could throw a ball 98 mph, I don’t think I’d do anything else. The slider got hit hard, .677 slugging average against.

Baseball Savant tells us that Varland was very good in:

• Fastball Velocity: 95th percentile.
• Chase %: 86th percentile.
• Strikeout %: 65th percentile.
• Groundball %: 90th percentile.
• Extension: 92nd percentile.

But he wasn’t good at:

• Hard Hit %: 23rd percentile.
• Barrell %: 36th percentile.
• Average Exit velocity: 26th percentile.

Steamer thinks he’ll pitch in 67 games, 67 innings, with a 3.38 ERA.

Japan winning Pool C puts them in the final eight of the World Baseball Classic, and locks them into a quarterfinal matchup on Saturday night in Miami against the Pool D runner-up, likely either the Venezuela or the Dominican Republic.

Though nothing has yet been announced regarding Japan’s pitching plans for the next round, Saturday would presumably be when Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes his next start, after throwing 55 pitches in 2 2/3 innings in Friday’s tournament opener.

In other potential Dodgers rotation forecasting, Roki Sasaki threw a bullpen session on Sunday at Camelback Ranch and will make his next start on the backfields rather than in a Cactus League game, per Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic.

Sasaki’s spring thus far has been a mixed bag, incorporating new pitches into his repertoire. He has as many walks (five) as strikeouts in his two games, during which he allowed seven runs in 3 1/3 innings. Sasaki last pitched last Tuesday, which would likely line him up for his next outing, wherever it is, to come on Monday or Tuesday.

Andrew Toles last played professional in 2018, his third season with the Dodgers. In the next seven seasons since then, the Dodgers renewed Toles’ contract and placed him on the restricted list. Toles did not earn a salary in those years nor did he count against the 40-man roster, but was able to receive health insurance, as he dealt with various mental health issues.

This year the Dodgers cannot similarly renew Toles’ contract and place him on the restricted list according to major league rules, per Ed Guzman at the Los Angeles Times, to whom the Dodgers released his statement:

“We’ve been in contact with the Toles family and have worked together on how to best move forward,” the Dodgers said in a statement to The Times. “Continuing with the previous setup was no longer possible due to eligibility. The Toles family has asked that Andrew’s privacy be respected. Out of respect to the Toles family, we will not comment any further.”

Walker Buehler, who pitched last season for the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies, is in San Diego Padres camp this year as a non-roster invitee. I found this note from last week illuminating regarding the length of recovery time after Tommy John surgery, and the general taxing nature of pitching. From Dennis Lin at The Athletic:

Jaylon Thompson reviews Seth Lugo’s outing in the World Baseball Classic.

Lugo looked sharp in the early going. He recorded two strikeouts in the first inning while displaying his extensive pitching arsenal. There was an emphasis to utilize his slurve and four-seam fastball.

Both pitches were effective. Lugo registered six swings and five called strikes with his slurve. Meanwhile, the fastball averaged 92.7 mph, an uptick from earlier in spring training.

At times, Lugo touched 95 mph while navigating the Colombia lineup.

Lugo entered this offseason looking to pitch with more velocity. He was able to command the strike zone with his fastball early in counts on Friday. As a result, he finished his outing with a combined 28% whiff rate on his pitches.

The Royals also made the first wave of reassignments, sending catchers Blake Mitchell and Ramon Ramirez, outfielder Carson Roccaforte, and pitchers Ben Kudrna, Chazz Martinez, and Steven Zobac to minor league camp.

Perla Paredes at MLB.com writes that younger players are amazed by Salvador Perez’s work ethic.

“He’s an amazing leader,” Jensen said of Perez. “[I’ve learned] how to prepare myself every day and the work ethic. To play as long as he’s played and continue to be playing, it takes preparation, it takes taking care of your body.”

While the young catchers are learning Perez’s preparation from the plate, the Royals’ pitchers see his influence from the mound. For left-hander Matt Strahm, Perez is a great target, and his presence immediately threatens the running game.

“It’s been my favorite. I’ve thrown to some great catchers … but the target Salvy gives you is just massive, and none of them can replicate that,” said Strahm, Perez’s locker neighbor.

And that Mitch Spence is showing increased velocity.

For Royals manager Matt Quatraro, the difference was immediately noticeable.

“He’s thrown three to four miles an hour harder. That’s a huge jump,” Quatraro said. “And that gives hitters a lot less time to react.”

Spence said the increase in velocity is the result of offseason work focused on refining his mechanics and strengthening his arm.

“The biggest thing this offseason was just cleaning up some stuff with my mechanics,” Spence said. “I started going to physical therapy and just kind of got my arm stronger from the workout program. I think it just kind of clicked.”

She also writes that shortstop Daniel Vazquez is progressing in his development.

Vazquez said he is focusing less on results and more on the daily process that could shape the next step in his development. That includes physical conditioning, discipline and mental preparation — the same elements that fueled his surge last season.

“I’ve taken a lot from that,” Vazquez said. “Always respect the game, always play hard. And everything is about winning.”

Preston Farr looks at whiff rates in spring training for Royals pitchers.

How 2024 draftees, including Jac Caglianone, could impact this season.

Vinnie Pasquantino is keeping the espressos flowing for Team Italy.

The sons of Jose Contreras and Manny Ramirez impressed scouts in the WBC.

The Nationals sign pitcher Zack Littell to a one-year deal.

The Astros sign catcher Christian Vazquez to a minor league deal.

Kansas City native Joey Wentz injures his leg covering first base.

The Braves could target Ryan Mountcastle to replace Jurickson Profar.

Andrew Abbott will start on Opening Day for the Reds.

Logan Allen wins a national anthem standoff against Logan Allen.

Mets pitcher Freddy Peralta is looking for a seven- or eight-year deal.

Baseball teams are increasingly focusing on the mental side of the game.

The Tigers never made Tarik Skubal a long-term offer this offseason.

Ernest Hemingway was a big baseball fan.

Travis Kelce hits free agency today.

More people are watching the NHL in the weeks after the Olympics.

A report indicates that contractors with Meta are able to see intimate moments of users of AI glasses.

Climate change could lead to more turbulence on airplanes.

The future of horror movies is on YouTube.

Your song of the day is George Michael with Faith.

It’s kind of unfortunate for Yairo Padilla that he came up at the same time as Rainiel Rodriguez. Some sites had him as the better prospect entering 2025. And then, well, 2025 happened. I think the perception of Padilla was certainly negatively affected by Rodriguez’s rise, even though that doesn’t really make sense, just because they were bunched together and then they very much weren’t. Now, I don’t know that Padilla will rank radically different for me, but he also wasn’t on my top 20 last year, so I don’t feel like I’ve downgraded him after a pretty positive year. Here’s the list:

1. JJ Wetherholt
2. Liam Doyle
3. Rainiel Rodriguez
4. Quinn Mathews
5. Jurrangelo Cjintje
6. Joshua Baez
7. Leonardo Bernal
8. Jimmy Crooks
9. Brandon Clarke
10. Tink Hence
11. Tekoah Roby
12. Tanner Franklin
13. Brycen Mautz
14. Nathan Church
15. Cooper Hjerpe
16. Ixan Henderson
17. Yairo Padilla

Comparable Player Poll

I think this is going to be the last comparable player poll. I already know the next two players I will add. Or I should say, I know two of the three people I will be adding to the vote. Obviously, one of them is this vote, so I certainly would hope I know who I’m adding right now. The third is between the two people below you. I haven’t decided if the winner of this vote is going on the next vote or the last vote. Both of these players have won comparable player polls and short of removing a player from the voting, which I might honestly still do, I’d kind of be guessing which one to add, which I’d prefer not to do.

Blake Aita was a 6th round draft pick in the same draft as Dutkanych, but not by the Cardinals. Drafted by the Red Sox, his command-oriented approach led him to play about half the season in Low A and half in High A. He posted average K rates, but didn’t walk many. He pitched well enough to earn a trip to AA, but I suspect the depth of the pitching will see him in High A to begin the year. He’ll be 23.

Andrew Dutkanych is someone you guys are very familiar with if you’ve been voting on every poll. He’s already been in two of these and won both of them. He was a 7th round draft pick, drafted with the full knowledge that he had recently undergone Tommy John surgery and thus was not going to be able to pitch much last year. He pitch in both rookie league and Low A, basically a glorified reliever, but missed some bats and some of the strike zone. He will be 22 and probably repeating Low A.

VOTE HERE

New Add

I always try to add a relief prospect by the 18th vote, and I do that because we’ve actually had a relief prospect be the 18th prospect in the system twice. If I add any doubt whatsoever about adding a relief prospect, it was removed when Luis Gastelum completely dominated the vote. Like he received 123 votes and the next highest total was 12. He should be in the voting for sure.

Jesus Baez, IF – 21

Stats (High A): 416 PAs, .244/.327/.397, 10.3 BB%, 18.5 K%, .153 ISO, .270 BABIP, 116 wRC+, 121 DRC+

Scouting (FG): 30/45 Hit, 35/50 Game Power, 50/55 Raw Power, 40/40 Speed, 40/45 Fielding

There’s always one guy who I add to the voting too early. There’s a high upside, but high variance prospect who I’m not totally sure how this crowd feels about, and I add them as early as possible just so that I don’t add them too late. Well Baez has been on the vote since the 6th vote and I have long since run out of things to say about Baez. You get the picture. Jesus Baez personally ran Keith Law’s mother over with a car, he has a rep for chasing, and yet statistically, nothing looks bad from my eyes.

Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP – 19

Stats (CPX): 6 G, 20.2 IP, 31.6 K%, 9.2 BB%, 51.2 GB%, .205 BABIP, 0.44 ERA/2.41 FIP/3.29 xFIP

Low A: 13 GS, 51.1 IP, 27.8 K%, 9.4 BB%, 50 GB%, .326 BABIP, 2.98 ERA/2.50 FIP/3.14 xFIP

Scouting: 40/45 Fastball, 55/60 Slider, 30/50 Change, 35/50 Command

It is kind of crazy to be this late in the game and have guys like Baez and Fajardo still be in the voting and it not be some gross misjustice. Like just think about the fact that there is a 19-year-old who pitched very well in both rookie league and Low A and you can still vote for this guy at 18 or 19 or 20 and I just think this guy is already on the list in the other three years I’ve done this. I don’t think this group was even that high on Padilla, but by 15 last year, the other options were just not that exciting. We still have kind of exciting options at 18!

Luis Gastelum, 24 – RHP

Stats (AA): 46 G, 62.2 IP, 35.4 K%, 6.5 BB%, 48.3 GB%, .343 BABIP, 4.02 ERA/2.19 FIP/2.31 xFIP

Scouting: 45/45 Fastball, 40/40 Slider, 65/65 Change, 50/55 Command

Yes, Gastelum is posting those numbers with effectively one pitch. I mean yeah you can see he has other pitches, but the changeup is how he strikes out over a third of batters he faces. As one can imagine, when you imagine someone throwing a changeup in your mind, it’s not going to look like Gastelum’s change. It looks more like what you expect a breaking ball to do. That is in fact what Mets’ announcer Gary Cohen called it in a recent spring training game.

Pete Hansen, LHP – 25

Stats (AA): 26 GS, 137.1 IP, 21.1 K%, 6.3 BB%, 46.2 GB%, .306 BABIP, 3.93 ERA/3.65 FIP/3.71 xFIP

Scouting: 35/35 Fastball, 45/50 Slider, 40/40 Curve, 50/55 Change, 55/60 Command

What I find particularly fascinating about Hansen’s scouting report is that one would think Fangraphs was low on him, but they aren’t. They definitely aren’t. They ranked him 10th in the system last season. But that 35 fastball grade kind of pops out at you. It’s the kind of grade you give to a prospect that you aren’t typically high on, so I suppose it provides an insight into what FG thinks of the importance of command. You don’t usually see 60 command prospects.

Blaze Jordan, 23 – 1B/3B

Stats (AA): 176 PAs, .320/.415/.513, 12.5 BB%, 10.8 K%, .193 ISO, .333 BABIP, 167 wRC+, 145 DRC+

AAA: 368 PAs, .248/.291/.423, 5.7 BB%, 11.1 K%, .175 ISO, .247 BABIP, 83 wRC+, 101 DRC+

Scouting: 40/50 Hit, 40/50 Game Power, 60/60 Raw Power, 30/30 Speed, 40/45 Fielding

The problems that Blaze Jordan needs to overcome in order to be a productive hitter strike me as very similar to the problems that Alec Burleson once had. Burleson flew through the minors, had a better hit tool, and had the platoon advantage in the majority of his plate appearances, but broadly speaking – guy who doesn’t strike out much needs to be more selective with his swing choices – that describes Blaze Jordan too.

Colton Ledbetter, 24 – OF

Stats (AA): 535 PAs, .265/.337/.378, 9.5 BB%, 23.9 K%, .114 ISO, .339 BABIP, 112 wRC+

Scouting: 30/35 Hit, 40/50 Game Power, 55/55 Raw Power, 50/40 Speed, 50/50 Fielding

Story is pretty clear cut on Ledbetter. He previously had a bit of a strikeout problem, but with the strikeouts came a lot of power. At AA last season, Ledbetter managed to get his strikeouts to a more reasonable level, but it did come with significantly less power. His goal I assume will be to merge the power with a more reasonable strikeout rate.

Chen-Wei Lin, 24 – RHP

Stats (Low A): 12 GS, 38.2 IP, 27.2 K%, 17.2 BB%, 50 GB%, .283 BABIP, 4.89 ERA/3.69 FIP/4.17 xFIP

High A: 4 GS, 9.2 IP, 41.7 K%, 18.8 BB%, 50 GB%, .412 BABIP, 9.31 ERA/4.80 FIP/2.76 xFIP

Scouting: 60/70 Fastball, 40/45 Slider, 40/60 Change, 30/40 Command

The scouting is definitely reflective of a relief prospect, but by no means are the Cardinals giving up on him starting. Mostly because you can actually start if you have a 70 fastball and a 60 change, that is a lethal combo. As you can also see by the scouting, he’s not there yet with either pitch. The slider isn’t great, but just having a third option to go to with two elite pitches can still work as a starter. He’ll need better command of course.

Ryan Mitchell, 19 – OF

No stats

Scouting: 25/55 Hit, 25/50 Game Power, 40/55 Raw Power, 60/60 Speed, 25/50 Fielding

No one carrying tool for Mitchell, but just an overall well-rounded profile, which also happens to be kind of a boring scouting profile. You can dream on a better power tool even if it came with a worse hit tool, but everything being average or above average all adds up to a potentially great player, just not real eye-popping in the way ranking prospects tends to reward.

Deniel Ortiz, 21 – 1B/3B

Stats (Low A): 320 PAs, .285/.406/.446, 15.3 BB%, 27.5 K%, .162 ISO, .386 BABIP, 145 wRC+, 119 DRC+

High A: 130 PAs, .336/.438/.500, 13.8 BB%, 22.3 K%, .164 ISO, .436 BABIP, 168 wRC+, 97 DRC+

Scouting (Baseball Savant): /45 Hit, /55 Power, /55 Arm, /45 Field

I will once again mention that those scouting grades are his potential, but that Savant has not posted the “current” scouting grades. Although if you think about it, the current is not super relevant for a guy in High A. You can kind of draw your own conclusions based on the stats to some extent. Also you don’t necessarily care if they don’t have trouble with swing-and-miss at the lower levels, you want to know if he will have trouble. Ortiz cutting down his K rate upon promotion strikes me as a fairly good sign.

Tai Peete, OF – 20

Stats (High A): 529 PAs, .217/.288/.404, 8.7 BB%, 30.6 K%, .187 ISO, .282 BABIP, 79 wRC+, 79 DRC+

Scouting: 20/30 Hit, 30/50 Game Power, 50/60 Raw Power, 60/60 Speed, 45/55 Fielding

One thing I’ll note about scouting grades, and this is super relevant to Peete I think, is that the potential isn’t necessarily static. That does not mean his 30 grade potential hit tool is always going to be a 30 grade. From where the hit tool stands now, the scout can’t see better than a 30 in his future. But Peete can make improvements and changes. Joshua Baez probably had a 30 hit tool as his potential before last season. But he changed and made improvements.

VOTE HERE

It has been a roller coaster offseason at the hot corner in Milwaukee. It was a big question at the beginning of last season, too, but Caleb Durbin quickly snagged the job once given an opportunity and put up a very nice rookie season in which he was about a league-average hitter, stole 18 bases, and played better-than-expected defense on his way to a third-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting.

Well, things change quickly sometimes in Milwaukee. Sensing an opportunity, the Brewers shipped Durbin (along with Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler, who were the primary backups to all three of the Brewers’ non-first-base infield positions last season) to the Boston Red Sox for a pair of starting pitchers, Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan, and utility infielder David Hamilton. The Milwaukee front office perhaps also felt a bit squeamish about some of Durbin’s underlying metrics — there are some definite parallels between Durbin’s 2025 season and Joey Ortiz’s 2024 season, and of course, we know what happened to Ortiz in his second year.

While the Hamilton part of the return from Boston surely answered some of the question of “who is going to play third base now that we traded our entire 2025 depth chart in one deal,” it did not answer them all. That led to a week of wild speculation: was Jett Williams going to start the season at third? Could we be shocked by an aggressive promotion of someone else, like Brock Wilken or Cooper Pratt?

Well, no. The Brewers signed a real, actual major league third baseman exactly one week after trading Durbin, and he tops the depth chart, even if he comes with some questions.

Luis Rengifo

Rengifo comes to the Brewers after seven seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. Returns from Rengifo have been mixed, but he had three straight seasons from 2022-24 where he was an above-average offensive player, and he’s got two major league seasons on his record of more than 15 homers.

Those seasons are fading into the rearview mirror at this point, though: he last hit double-digit homers in 2023. While Rengifo is still in what we’d consider his “prime” based on his age, he struggled badly at the plate in 2025 after missing half of the 2024 season. I went pretty deep in the wake of the trade to try to figure out whether Rengifo’s bad 2025 was the new normal or whether we should expect him to return to the offensive levels of earlier in his career. (The conclusion there: if he can get his launch angle back up — it was around 9-10 degrees in 2022 & 2023 and around 6-7 degrees in 2024 & 2025 — then the homers might return, but we shouldn’t expect him to hit .300 like he did in 2024, a fluky BABIP year.)

Defense is a question with Rengifo, too. The advanced metrics, which should always be taken with a grain of salt, are all over the place. He’s played more second base than third in his career, and has sometimes graded out as a good defensive player and sometimes as a bad one.

The mathematician in me says that we should expect Rengifo to be about a league-average player on both sides of the ball (but please keep in mind that I haven’t had a math class since 2006). The Brewers can handle that. Rengifo is on a one-year deal, he’s not making a ton of money, and there are exciting reinforcements coming from the minor league system, maybe even this year. Rengifo should be able to handle things until the next generation is ready.

David Hamilton

Here I am talking about David Hamilton, third baseman. Guess how many times Hamilton has played third base in a regular-season game as a professional?

If you said “one,” then yes, you are correct, even if one is generous: he played third base for 1 1/3 innings of a game last season. That’s it. Never once in the minor leagues, nor in college, nor in the Arizona Fall League, nor in summer ball in the Cape Cod League.

Hamilton is likely to replace Monasterio as Milwaukee’s true utility infielder this season — in Hamilton’s two-plus seasons, he’s appeared almost equally at second base and shortstop. The Brewers are pretty set at those two positions, barring a continuing collapse of Ortiz’s offense; if they feel comfortable keeping Ortiz’s bat in the lineup regularly, then Hamilton’s opportunities are going to come most often at third. Hamilton is quite a good defensive middle infielder, so there is no reason to think that he won’t take to third, where he has been playing almost exclusively this spring (six of his seven starts have been at third base).

There aren’t a ton of reasons for optimism in Hamilton’s offensive game — he was almost a league-average offensive player in 2024, but he was bad in 2025, and the biggest difference between those seasons was not in anything you’d see on Statcast but in BABIP (.316 in 2024, .234 in 2025). Hamilton is pretty good at not chasing bad pitches, something the Brewers surely liked about him, and there’s a little bit more power in there than you might expect (he has 14 home runs in 511 plate appearances across the last two seasons).

The other thing the Brewers can (and will) do to help Hamilton is to essentially never let him face a left-handed pitcher: for his career, Hamilton is a .200/.233/.257 hitter against lefties and .226/.291/.376 against righties. Rengifo, a switch-hitter, has a career OPS that is 84 points higher against left-handed pitching, so a soft platoon is certainly in play (though it should be noted that Rengifo’s .665 career OPS against right-handed pitching is essentially the same as Hamilton’s career .667 OPS against righties). Regardless of how much platooning happens at third, Hamilton will never start against lefties.

Hamilton should function well as an occasional starter against right-handed pitching at third while backing up both Ortiz and Brice Turang in the middle of the infield. If he has to do more than that, the Brewers will likely be asking too much of him.

Who else?

I mentioned earlier the people who were being speculated about as being in the mix after the Brewers traded Durbin: Jett Williams’ future probably lies in the outfield, but he’s certainly capable of playing in the infield somewhere, and he is the furthest along of any of the Brewers’ big infield prospects. I went more in-depth on Williams in our second base preview, but I expect he’ll play somewhere (or, maybe, everywhere) in Milwaukee before the 2026 season ends.

I also mentioned Eddys Leonard in the second base preview. He’s played more at second in his career, but he’s appeared often at third as well. We’ll see if Leonard is even still in the organization when the season starts — there probably isn’t a place for him on the Brewers’ major league roster, and he’s an accomplished enough minor leaguer that he might be someone who can get a better opportunity elsewhere.

As far as prospects, Dave also looked atBrock Wilken as a long shot to get the job after Durbin was traded and before Rengifo was signed. Wilken has never played above Double-A, and while he’s probably okay as a defensive player, he’s not going to be nearly as good as Hamilton and likely not as good as Rengifo. Wilken has shown real power and patience in the minors, but he likely needs more seasoning.

Long term, the most likely answer here is that one of the Brewers’ big shortstop prospects ends up at third base. Who will that be? The consensus at this point seems to be that between Cooper Pratt, Jesús Made, and Luis Peña, Pratt is the best defensive player (though some think Made could get there). And while we’ve gotten used to the rocketship trajectory of Made and Jackson Chourio the last couple years, Peña is very young, and while he has shown some advanced offensive skills, if you say he won’t make the majors until he’s 22 — still young! — that still pushes him back to 2029. That puts this question off for a while, at least for him.

Maybe the 2027 Brewers have some sort of Turang-Pratt-Made alignment. Maybe Ortiz is still in the picture. Maybe Pratt gets traded. This will work itself out, but I don’t think we need to give a whole lot of thought to Pratt or Made as it relates to the 2026 Milwaukee Brewers season.

Conclusion

Expect to see Rengifo most often, with Hamilton starting a couple of times a week against right-handed pitching. I’m hopeful that Rengifo’s production will bounce back to about league average. Hamilton will likely not get there, but he can run into them occasionally, and he’ll be a good, reliable defensive player.

If Rengifo continues to struggle as he did in 2025, especially if he’s not playing high-level defense, Milwaukee will start looking to their minor league system for alternatives, but I think we’d need to get close to two full bad months from him before that happens. Hopefully, though, his bad BABIP luck from last season turns around and he starts hitting fly balls again, giving the Brewers a credible power threat in the lower part of their batting order.

Andrew Kittredge is back in the orange and black — for the second time in less than a year. That fact alone tells you something about how the Orioles view him, and maybe about how he views the Orioles. After a productive first run in Baltimore last season ended at the trade deadline, the two sides wasted little time in November agreeing to a reunion. Now, heading into 2026, the 35-year-old right-hander will be expected to provide this young, rebuilding bullpen with experience, reliability, and a solid track record. He’s done it before, but there’s one hitch this time — he’’ll be starting the year on the injured list.

Kittredge has been around. That’s not a knock; it’s a fact. And quite an accomplishment for a reliever who didn’t stick in the majors until his late twenties. Drafted by the Mariners in 2008, he only debuted in 2016, and didn’t regular appearances until after being dealt to Tampa Bay, where he soon found his footing, grinding through middle relief work until he emerged as one of the Rays’ most valuable arms.

His peak came in 2021, when he posted a stellar 1.88 ERA over 71 2/3 innings pitched and earned his first-ever All-Star nod. It was nice validation for a dark horse not guaranteed to crack the Majors. Between 2020 and 2022, in fact, Kittredge was quietly exceptional, with a combined 2.17 ERA and 0.973 WHIP over 82 games. Tampa Bay always seemed to be discovering gems like this.

Until they lost it, and in this case, I mean Tommy John surgery, which was the diagnosis for Kittredge in June 2022, costing him significant time and disrupting the momentum he had built. Returning to the mound in 2023, he took a step backward, appearing in just 14 games, and in 2024, Tampa Bay dealt him to the Cardinals. Even then, he wasn’t bad, posting a cumulative 2.84 ERA in his next two seasons. When he eventually found his way to Baltimore on a one-year deal for the 2025 season, there was cautious optimism tempered by the awareness that players coming off major arm procedures don’t always return as the same pitcher.

Kittredge didn’t even take the mound for the Orioles until May 21st — a knee issue during spring training delayed his debut. That’s not the ideal start, but once he got going, he looked much like the pitcher Tampa Bay had relied on. In 31 games in Baltimore, he went 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA, and equivalent peripheral numbers. The stuff was there.

Unfortunately, the team wasn’t — in a playoff sense, at least. The Orioles finished 75-87, last in the AL East, and shipped Kittredge off to Chicago at the trade deadline in exchange for Wilfri De La Cruz, an 18-year-old Dominican shortstop prospect who’s now ranked 22nd in Baltimore’s farm system.

Kittredge’s time with the Cubs was, if anything, even better. He went 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA and a career-best 13.3 strikeout rate, then pitched in the postseason for good measure. He was, in short, exactly what a contending team wants: a veteran arm pitching in meaningful games with a clean ledger.

And yet, November came, and the Orioles came calling again. For cash considerations, Kittredge returned to Baltimore. The Birds-Cubs-Birds loop was completed, and the net result — sending Kittredge away in July and buying him back in November — was essentially that Baltimore acquired De La Cruz on the cheap while retaining the reliever it wanted all along.

That’s not a bad outcome, frankly. Kittredge brings something the Orioles’ bullpen sorely needs: a veteran who has pitched in October, who knows how to handle a high-leverage appearance without rattling, and who has the kind of career ERA (3.43 lifetime) that suggests consistency even across different teams and contexts. With Felix Bautista still working his way back from shoulder surgery, Baltimore needs experience at the back end, and Kittredge provides it.

The hope, of course, is that Kittredge’s getting ruled out for Opening Day due to shoulder inflammation — which manager Craig Albernaz announced last week — is simply precautionary, and that the team is protecting him rather than rushing him back in late March. If and when Kittredge returns healthy, Baltimore should have a valuable, proven arm stabilizing the back of its bullpen. There’s an “if and when” question here, though, and it’s worth monitoring Kittredge’s health as spring progresses.

Kittredge and the Orioles are running it back once more this year. Whether that partnership flourishes in 2026 depends, for now, on a shoulder that needs to cooperate. But the veteran righty has overcome worse odds before, including Tommy John surgery in ‘22, and an MLB career that didn’t get off the ground until his late-twenties. It’ll be worth seeing what he can do this season.

After a few weeks of work that generally has zero predictive value on the upcoming season, spring training is finally reaching a point where pitchers and hitters are no longer just shaking off the winter’s rust. The Grapefruit League season concludes on March 25. Opening Day is March 27 in San Diego. So while we saw Tarik Skubal and Enmanuel de Jesus pitching for their countries on Sunday, and the WBC is ongoing and the Spring Breakout game lays ahead as the final notable day on the the spring calendary on March 20, the focus now turns more acutely toward the Tigers’ Opening Day roster decisions. There are still a few big questions left to answer.

It’s natural to worry over Grapefruit League production, but year in and year out, it just doesn’t mean anything for established big leaguers. Currently, Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling lead the team with 22 plate appearances. Essentially, no one else has even had five full games worth of trips to the plate yet. So while seeing important players struggle feels a lot worse than seeing everyone cranking homers and looking sharp, the last three weeks of games were little more than a warm-up.

We should see a significant amount of cuts from major league camp in the coming days, and the regulars starting to get 3 or 4 plate appearances per game more often. If the Tigers don’t already have their Opening Day position player roster basically locked in, the last two weeks could potentially tip the scales somewhat, but more than likely they only have one or two questions at most that they’re looking for answers to in the final weeks of camp.

Focus for the Tigers position player group will center around two positions, center field and shortstop, as it has all along. And one player is the key to the final Opening Day roster.

Is Kevin McGonigle the starting shortstop?

The one roster decision that controls the whole equation is whether top prospect Kevin McGonigle is the Opening Day shortstop. It’s not a certainty that he’s got the job, but it’s been a very impressive camp for an already very impressive young player. He’s done nothing to change our preseason opinion that he was already one of the top hitters on the roster, and so far he’s answered all the defensive questions after an offseason of intense focus on improving his defensive game at the shortstop position. The Tigers may have other ideas, but it certainly feels like something would have to go very wrong for McGonigle to end up in Toledo to start the season.

The 21-year-old prospect came to camp needing to show that he’s cleaned up his footwork and transfer, and could now play a more consistent and efficient brand of defense at the position. He’s done that. The double pumps and extra steps that sometimes plagued him in what has only been a short time of actual play in the minor leagues have been banished so far this spring. His range has looked average or better, his hands and reactions are good, and his decision making with the ball has been excellent. There’s nothing to be done about his arm strength. McGonigle is going to give up a few singles in the hole that a more typical, strong-armed shortstop would not, but the Tigers will have to live with that until a better option, namely #3 ranked prospect Bryce Rainer, arrives in a few years. I don’t think it’s going to hurt McGonigle’s numbers too badly in the meantime.

Assuming that McGonigle is the Opening Day shortstop, that really alters the roster by pushing Javy Báez and Zach McKinstry into full utility mode rather than splitting time at shortstop as they would if McGonigle wasn’t ready. It makes no sense to promote McGonigle, open a 40-man spot for him, and then only play him part-time trying to ease him into the job. Just turn him loose. In turn, that makes the Tigers roster a lot more flexible with Báez and McKinstry capable of playing every and anywhere. In that scenario, carrying someone like Jahmai Jones as a pure bench bat or Parker Meadows as a defense first center fielder becomes easier.

With Colt Keith starting at third base most of the time, Báez might end up handling the weak side of the platoon there. The Tigers could also use him in center field against left-handed starting pitchers. He’ll be entering games to hit lefties or as a defensive replacement on the majority of days where he begins the game on the bench.

McKinstry can play anywhere but catcher, and while he probably won’t see time in center field, having McGonigle at shortstop frees him up to play all over the place and to pinch hit for someone like Meadows when needed, knowing they’ve several other players who are least solid in center field. Most days, McKinstry will probably freelance as a defensive replacement late in games, while taking occasional starts at second and third base.

Who plays center field?

Right now, the Tigers have Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, and Matt Vierling locked in as Opening Day outfielders. A.J. Hinch and Scott Harris love Vierling, and after a 2025 season ruined by a shoulder injury that never cooperated, the versatile 30-year-old outfielder is swinging the bat well and apparently healthy. He’ll get the opportunity to put 2025 aside and try to get back to his 2024 form. Vierling’s ability to play a reasonably solid center field, play the corners when Carpenter or Greene are the DH, and even backup Colt Keith at third base here and there, basically makes him a lock at this point, though he does have an option remaining.

That leaves, Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez, Jahmai Jones, along with minor league invite Austin Slater and former prospect Trei Cruz fighting it out for two spots in center field and as the fifth outfielder on the roster. Veteran minor leaguer Corey Julks is on the outside looking in, while Max Clark was never really an option yet and needs to get his seasoning in the upper minors before perhaps taking over in center field later on this summer. His timetable for full time work was always 2027, but he can certainly speed things up by tearing up the Triple-A level this year, particularly if the Tigers needs in center field remain pressing.

Obviously as the best defensive center fielder on the roster, the Tigers would really like Parker Meadows to show something at the plate over the final weeks of camp. This is shaping up like a below average defensive outfield otherwise, and the Tigers’ entire team strategy is to not worry too much about singles getting through the infield, and focus instead on preventing extra base hits. That means they need the best outfield they can put together. This is otherwise a mediocre defensive club other than behind the plate.

Riley Greene went from arguably the best defensive left fielder in baseball in 2024, to more middle of the pack with a below average defensive runs saved (DRS) mark, and only slightly above average according to Statcast’s outs above average (OAA) metric. Carpenter is even a little worse than those numbers, though he’s also expected to be the DH much of the time to try and keep him healthy. We can hope Greene bounces back somewhat, and having Vierling in the mix helps solidify things, but without a good center fielder, this is an average at best defensive outfield.

The two open roles here are the starting center fielder against right-handed pitchers, and the best bat possible to use against left-handed pitching at any outfield position or in the DH slot. For a heavily left-handed group of top hitters, that last role is crucial and Andy Ibáñez and Jones have both seen signficant playing time over the past two years specifically because they did that one thing fairly well, or in Jones’ case last year, extremely well.

Parker Meadows just needs to get the bat going a little bit, and he’ll continue to have an inside track to a roster spot, even if he’s mainly used as a defensive specialist. Has he been hitting the ball on the ground all spring? Sure, and he can’t just put a disaster at the plate into April without a course correction in the roster, but no one else fits the bill as an above average center fielder who is productive against right-handed pitching.

Cruz is more of an average center fielder, but he may be able to outproduce Meadows as a left-handed hitter, and his switch-hitting and ability to play all over the infield, including shortstop, gives him at least a broader profile. He’ll need a strong finish at the plate and in the field over the last two weeks to counter Meadows defensive advantage. Still, Cruz does have his fate in his own hands at this point. So does Wenceel Pérez. Now 26-year-old, Pérez has put up average numbers at the plate in part-time work, but he’s could really stand to convince the Tigers he’s ready to handle center field. He has the speed and overall athleticism to play the position well, but so far in his career he’s been a little too mistake prone.

Báez posted a 75 wRC+ against right-handed pitching last season, so he’s really not the everyday answer in center field. They could go with Vierling’s more balanced splits in center field against right-handed starters, but he’s a bit fringy in center field as a defender as well, and at least part of the time they may have him in right field with Carpenter in the DH slot. Slater does hit left-handed pitching pretty well, but he isn’t really a center fielder at this point in his career. Corey Julks isn’t a center fielder at all, so his opportunity was solely as a bat to hit lefties. He’ll be extremely hard pressed to convince anyone he’s the superior option to Jahmai Jones in that limited role.

So, assuming McGonigle making the team, this is a current guess at the 13 total position players the Tigers will take north. The flexibility thus added by freeing up Báez and McKinstry makes it a pretty simple decision to take Jones for his lefty mashing stick alone. They’ll still have six other players who are fully capable of handling the outfield, and six players capable of playing the infield, though clearly Torkelson, Torres, and Keith are not cut out to play shortstop.

C Dillon Dingler

C Jake Rogers

1B Spencer Torkelson

2B Gleyber Torres

SS Kevin McGonigle

3B Colt Keith

LF Riley Greene

CF Parker Meadows

RF Matt Vierling

DH Kerry Carpenter

UTIL Javier Báez

UTIL Zach McKinstry

UTIL Jahmai Jones

The first alternate plan to that positional player group is to take Trei Cruz or Wenceel Pérez instead of Parker Meadows. The other alternate possibility is that the Tigers drive everyone crazy by deciding they want McGonigle to get some Triple-A time for additional reps at shortstop and against upper level minor league pitching. We can hope that A.J. Hinch has a say in that matter, but should that occur, now you have Báez and McKinstry back at shortstop for a while. That opens up an outfield slot for Slater or Pérez, as well as ensuring Meadows or Cruz is playing center field a lot. I’d bet on Pérez in that instance, but Slater’s ability and track record against left-handed pitching could convince the Tigers to keep him through Opening Day and evaluatue him a little longer, knowing they can option Pérez and keep him in their back pocket in Toledo if needed.

Still, that would require cutting someone for a 40-man spot for Slater, something they’ll already have to do to add McGonigle to the roster at whatever point they choose, and thus two DFAs required before we even get to the pitching side of things. Overall I think the 33-year-old journeyman remains a real longshot to make the roster, though the Tigers would probably love to keep him stashed as a backup option in Toledo.

In the end this all revolves around McGonigle continuing to play well at shortstop over the final two weeks, and on Meadows showing a little more life at the plate. The McGonigle decision will determine how flexible the Tigers can be with the rest of the roster, and that decision will shape what the Tigers need from their outfield group. The bar isn’t that high for Meadows’ bat considering the Tigers defensive needs. He just needs to look more like he can approach his career numbers at the plate, but if not, we’ll see if Cruz or Pérez can seize the opportunity.

It’s hard to believe it, but the San Francisco Giants are already more than halfway through their Cactus League schedule. They’ve played 15 games, with 14 remaining. They’ve also played an exhibition against Team USA, while the future has four more exhibitions: a Spring Breakout prospect game with the Cincinnati Reds, one game against their own AAA affiliate, and two games against Sultanes of the Mexican League.

And then it’s on to the good stuff!

Critically, the Giants have played enough games that we can start to get a feel for how each player’s spring is going, though Carson Whisenhunt on Saturday offered a very strong reminder that a spring can flip — for better or for worse — in a moment’s notice.

With that said, which player has, to this point, stood out to you the most, both positively and negatively?

While I think that Victor Bericoto’s spring has been the most surprising, I’m instead picking Bryce Eldridge as my spring standout to this point. There have been endless discussions over the last month as to Eldridge’s roster status — does he have to hit his way onto the roster, or does he have to hit his way off of it? But I’m just going to parrot something that Alex Pavlovic said on Thursday’s Giants Talk podcast: I don’t see how you can watch the at-bat he had against Paul Skenes and conclude that he shouldn’t be on the Opening Day roster.

Eldridge’s at-bats have been competitive, poised, and most impressively, loud. And his defense has even been very impressive. There will no doubt be bumps and bruises — he’s still striking out quite a lot — but that’s going to occur at the Major League level whether he’s called up on March 25 or on July 25. Ultimately, Eldridge has looked like he is without a doubt one of the team’s best bats, and that’s a happy sight in my eyes.

As for the biggest disappointment, the easy choice is certainly Hayden Birdsong. There’s unfortunately not too much to say there.

Who have been your biggest Spring Training standouts and disappointments so far?