4. Cole Carrigg (476 points, 19 ballots)

The term “super-utility player” is often employed with hyperbole, but in the case of Carrigg, it fits like a glove (any kind of baseball glove, in Carrigg’s case). The 23-year-old has played literally every position (and played them well) in a college or pro game over the last few years — and he’s even a switch-hitter so he provides versatility there too. Colorado drafted the 6’2” Carrigg 65th overall in 2023 out of San Diego State as a catcher with a plus-plus arm (he threw 102 MPH from the outfield at the Draft Combine) — and signed him for a $1.3 million over-slot bonus (by $116k).

Carrigg tore up the Complex League and Low-A during his draft year (while playing catcher, shortstop, and center field), then mostly stayed at High-A Spokane for 2024. In 510 plate appearances, Carrigg’s 16 homers and 11 triples led the Northwest League — and he added 15 doubles and 42 steals in 51 attempts for good measure — as part of a 132 wRC+ performance. Carrigg settled into a center field role more full time, where he threw out five runners and committed two errors in 92 games. He won the Northwest League Player of the Week award three times — once each in June, July, and September — and was named the best defensive outfielder and most exciting player in the league by Baseball America en route to an All-Star berth and league championship.

In 2025, Carrigg headed to Double-A Hartford, where he was 0.5 years below league-average age. He brought his exciting brand of baseball to the Eastern League, swatting 15 homers, six triples, 18 doubles, and stealing 46 bases in 56 attempts (including stealing second, third, and home in one inning) while scoring a league leading 81 runs, though he also had the second most strikeouts (145) in the league. In 537 plate appearances, Carrigg had a .237/.316/.394 batting line while striking out in over 27% of PA (walking in 8%), which is a 106 wRC+. Defensively, Carrigg had 18 (!!!) outfield assists and six errors in 111 games, most of them in center field.

Carrigg received an invitation to big league camp and will also spend this spring playing for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic at shortstop.

Here’s some video of Carrigg’s many 2024 highlight plays:

Baseball America recently ranked Carrigg sixth in the system while naming him the org’s best defensive outfielder and best outfield arm:

Carrigg is a tall, athletic switch-hitter with the ability to do a variety of things well. He has developed as a hitter as a professional and shows bat-to-ball skills and power from both sides of the plate. Carrigg still shows just fringe bat-to-ball skills overall and struggles against spin and offspeed. Carrigg destroys fastballs and velocity, against which he does most of his damage. … A plus runner who will flash a plus-plus run time, Carrigg is an aggressive basestealing threat.

Keith Law of the Athletic ranked Carrigg 17th in the system earlier this month:

Carrigg played only outfield last year, although he’s previously played shortstop in A-ball and caught a little in college. He has plus speed, helping him to maybe average or 55 defense in center, but he plays out of control on both sides of the ball and hasn’t really made any adjustments since the Rockies took him in the second round in 2023. He hit .237/.316/.394 as a 23-year-old in Double A last year, with a well below-average approach that included a 33 percent chase rate. His speed and positional flexibility get him there, but he’s several adjustments away from being a long-term big leaguer.

Carrigg was ranked third in the system last year by MLB Pipeline as a 50 FV player with a 70 grade on the arm and 60 on the speed:

A super high-energy player who gets some “hair on fire” evaluations, Carrigg is a switch-hitter who makes a ton of contact from both sides of the plate. There was some concern about his aggressive nature and hit tool and how it would translate to this level, but the transition has gone well so far as Carrigg doesn’t strike out much and even drew a decent amount of walks. There’s more pop than many expected, with most of it coming from the left side of the plate to his pull side. He also can turn singles into extra-base hits and doubles into triples — he led the league in three-baggers, too — with his plus speed clearly an asset and giving him at least 20-30 potential.

With one of the best arms in baseball, there were some who wanted to see if catching would work at this level, but that’s been shelved. He’ll keep getting some reps on the dirt at shortstop to maintain some versatility, but it should surprise no one if he shows up to Coors Field as an every day center fielder.

John Trupin of Baseball Prospectus ranked Carrigg fifth last January with a 55 OFP grade:

In a fully healthy campaign [in 2024, Carrigg] swiped over 50 bags, while hitting for power and contact, maintaining his average rates at a higher level. Carrigg pokes his big flies more than crushes them, but his strength is sufficient to keep a pitcher honest, and a lot of his hardest contact comes in the air. Every action he takes on the field has a slight raw tinge still, with his athleticism covering some mechanical inconsistencies on both sides of the ball and an at times overexuberance for swinging outside the zone whilst at the plate. He may not be a superstar, but you only need to look at another multi-positional player, Tommy Edman, to see a beacon for what this sort of player is capable of.

Carrigg could be a shortstop and center fielder with 30-40 steals a year and 20+ home runs.. His relative rawness on both sides of the ball make his longer-term projection hazier, however, as he could end up an outfielder only without the game power to put the rest of his profile together.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs graded Carrigg as a 40+ FV player, ninth in the system last year, with an 80 grade on the arm:

Carrigg is a unique multi-positional prospect, a fair switch-hitter with some low ball pop from the left side of the plate and an all-world arm. He slashed .283/.359/.491 with 17 homers in his first full pro season, spent mostly at High-A Spokane. Both visual scouting and a data-oriented assessment of Carrigg as a hitter have him more average (contact) or a shade below (raw power). Both of Carrigg’s swings are geared for pull and lift (he has a pretty classic low-ball stroke as a lefty), and he’ll be able to get to relevant (if modest) power.

The Rockies deployed Carrigg behind the plate a little bit right after he turned pro, but he spent most of 2024 in center field, with infrequent starts at shortstop. A long-striding runner, Carrigg has plus speed underway but takes a little while to get going. In a year and a half of pro ball, Carrigg has now played twice as many games in center field as he did throughout his three years of college. He was more comfortable out there late in 2024 than he was at the start and should be average there in time. Plus, he brings show-stopping arm strength to the table. The way Carrigg’s body unfurls on a max-effort outfield chuck is incredible, though he isn’t an accurate infield thrower at all, and it’s a big enough issue that he might just be an outfielder. The peak outcome for Carrigg would be a dynamic, Willi Castro-esque utilityman, though he’s trending more like a good part-time outfielder whose career might have a relevant second act on the mound.

Carrigg is a really fun player to watch at the plate, on the base paths, and in the field. His tremendous defensive utility makes him very easy to fit into whatever fantasy future Rockies roster you may have in mind (he’s the 2029 starting center fielder for Baseball America). He continued to hit for power against upper minors pitching last year in Hartford, making him more of a candidate to be a big league regular, though the strikeout spike is worrisome. Carrigg won’t be Rule 5 eligible until after the season and should start in Triple-A Albuquerque, but I expect him at Coors Field soon in some capacity, even with the logjam of outfield prospects ahead of him.

If and when a MLB debut happens, Carrigg could be a valuable player all over the diamond, especially if his plate discipline doesn’t crater against big league pitchers and the power development sticks. I ranked Carrigg eighth in the system as a 40+ FV player because I’m a little less sold that he’ll be a big league regular, but even a true super-utility player as exciting as Carrigg would be a win for Rockies fans.

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

Hope springs eternal, and spring training is supposed to be an especially hopeful time for fans of all Major League Baseball clubs, even those who don’t root for the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is the only time of the season where all fans can maybe, just maybe, convince themselves that this could be the year.

It’s a great time of year to be a baseball fan.

So why does Major League Baseball keep getting in its own way?

I promise, I’m trying to think positively these days, especially about the Royals and their (real!) shot at capturing the American League Central and getting back to the playoffs after a minor step backward in 2025. I’m reading tons of baseball content while watching baseball movies—even Rookie of the Year, which glorifies the Cubs.

The Cubs! That’s the worst team ever!

Still, Daniel Stern’s movie about exploiting child labor is pretty entertaining. Gary Busey isn’t that weird in it. Hey, there’s John Candy! Solid flick. Made me excited about the upcoming season.

But then Tony Clark happened.

And there’s not great news about Mike Trout.

Oh, and also, the Guardians pitchers remain in the news.

Nothing halts optimism like an ugly concoction of a potential work stoppage, controversy, insurance problems, and a gambling scandal.

Let’s start with the least of it and progressively get worse. Nothing like waiting to tear off the band-aid.

Have you heard of this guy named Mike Trout?

He’s pretty good. Getting up there in age, in relation to baseball. Owns quite a bit of hardware. Breathtaking centerfielder, awesome with the bat. An Angel his entire career, he hasn’t had much success in the playoffs, but c’est la vie, say the old folks.

In the last World Baseball Classic, he cooked in seven games, cracking three home runs en route to a .962 OPS. Iconically, he struck out to end the tournament against his then-MLB teammate, Shohei Ohtani, pitching for Japan, in baseball’s version of the duel of the fates.

Yeah, him. That guy. Mike Trout: Future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.

But he’s been hurt a bunch. That’s the main thing about him these days. Injuries galore. Also, he’s due $35 million in 2026. Turns out he couldn’t get that figure insured, and so he will miss the World Baseball Classic this year.

Sure, he’s diminished. He’s not the player he was when the tournament was last held, but tell me this: wouldn’t you rather see Mike Trout play than Pete Crow-Armstrong? No offense, PCA.

Trout’s not the only star who’s gonna miss the tournament due to insurance issues. Venezuela will be without Jose Altuve, Puerto Rico without Carlos Correa.

What do you call a best-on-best baseball tournament that doesn’t involve the best players because of insurance issues? Probably not best-on-best. Dilutes the product. Softens the enthusiasm. Let the best play. Make it happen.

Back in the American League Central, a gambling controversy continues to linger. Who knew that getting in bed with the gambling world would end up with players embroiled in lawsuits?

Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are the two Guardians pitchers currently staring down the legal system. I won’t get into the whole details of their case(s), but suffice to say, they allegedly (a defense attorney’s favorite word; I should know) rigged pitches.

The case continues. Trial is scheduled for early May, but now could be pushed to October. Great timing, going head-to-head with the playoffs and the World Series, baseball’s marquee event. Guardians could still be on the hook for their salaries this season. Who cares? Dolan has the money. Hell, he probably received (at least) triple what Clase’s set to make for cozying up with bookmakers.

This was always gonna happen. It’s happening in other sports, too, most notably the NBA. Did baseball really think it wouldn’t happen in its own backyard? Naive, if so. Now, it very well might take headlines away from the World Series.

Which could be the last baseball we see for some time.

As fans know, an ugly labor dispute is on the horizon. So ugly that it could cost teams games or possibly even all of 2027. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if that happened. Owners want a salary cap. Players don’t. Major League Baseball is the only North American professional sports league without one. A fight over a salary cap wiped out an entire NHL season some twenty years ago. Time is a flat circle.

To muddy the waters, MLBPA head Tony Clark just resigned. Bizarre stuff. He needed to go, obviously. No argument for keeping him. Bruce Meyer, who joined the MLBPA less than a decade ago from the NHLPA, takes over, at least in the interim, at least for the upcoming labor discussions.

I’m no billionaire owner, but even I know they smell blood in the water. They’re going to do everything they can to sow chaos in the players association, to break it, to get the salary cap and other items, like further shrinking the minors and barring the drafting of high school players. What’s a missed season to the owners? Reap what you sow, but the chaos benefits owners, not players.

Who’re the fans going to turn on? The players, that’s who. Just like ‘94. Took a while to recover.

Talk of the union being stronger under Meyer—fishy. From The Athletic: “Meyer does not have universal support in a fractured player and agent community. A group of players and agents tried to encourage Clark to dismiss Meyer in 2024.”

Like a stagnant, dark cloud, the approaching labor war is going to hover over the entire baseball season. It’s already here. In Spring, a time for hope, there’s that cloud up above.

Whatever progress the Royals make this season, it won’t bleed into 2027.

Because baseball just can’t get out of its own damn way.

When Ben Rortvedt was claimed off waivers by the Mets on Sunday, it wasn’t the first time the catcher joined a New York organization, but it was certainly the quietest. Back in 2022, Rortvedt was acquired by the Yankees as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela to Minnesota. Four years later, the 28-year-old will compete in Spring Training to move up the Mets’ catching depth chart.

A second-round draft pick out of high school by the Twins in 2016, Rortvedt received his first taste of big league action in 2021. From that point on, Rortvedt has shuffled from organization to organization. Prior to the 2022 season, he was sent to the Yankees along with Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa; just before Opening Day in 2024, Rortvedt was traded to the Rays; at the 2025 trade deadline, he was shipped off to the Dodgers. 

Rortvedt played in just 18 regular season games with the back-to-back champions, but he received four starts early in the postseason while catcher Will Smith recovered from injury. Rortvedt went 3-for-6 with a double and an RBI in the Wild Card Series as the Dodgers teed off on the Reds, who promptly claimed Rortvedt off waivers a month and a half later. Earlier this month, Rortvedt bounced back to the Dodgers before the Mets finally claimed him on Sunday.

Rortvedt’s upside as a potential backup backstop primarily comes from his defense. Back in 2021, he racked up a Fielding Run Value of 5 despite only playing in 39 games. He still grades as an above-average pitch framer, and he averaged 85.3 mph on his throws last season (good for 16th-highest in baseball, just behind Francisco Alvarez). 

Rortvedt has never found much offensive success in the majors, bearing a career 57 OPS+ and .190/.279/.270 slash line. Last season was especially a struggle for Rortvedt, who accumulated -0.5 bWAR in just 44 games played. Only once has the catcher ended a season with a positive bWAR — back in 2024, when he posted an 80 OPS+ while playing quality defense in 112 games with the Rays. Rortvedt opened that 2024 season with a stellar first month, holding an .831 OPS by the end of April, but he was unable to sustain that offensive success throughout the remainder of the year.

Rortvedt has no options remaining, meaning the Mets would have to carry him on their Opening Day roster in order to avoid placing him on waivers. Alvarez and Luis Torrens are likely locked for the Mets’ catching spots on the major league roster. Behind that pair is a quartet of viable backup options for 2026, including Rortvedt, defensive specialist Hayden Senger, longtime-Dodger Austin Barnes, and former first-round pick Kevin Parada, who concluded last season in Triple-A. The question for the Mets’ catching corps entering Spring Training is who among that quartet will be the first man up in case of an injury to Alvarez or Torrens. 

If Rortvedt rakes over the next five weeks, he might earn that third slot in the Mets’ organizational catching hierarchy, but he would also earn himself a probable waiver selection by one of the other 29 teams before the Mets have the chance to option him to Triple-A. This makes the acquisition of Rortvedt more of an insurance move for David Stearns, protecting the Mets in light of Francisco Alvarez’s injury history. Whether the Mets end up being a comfortable home for Rortvedt or just another quick stop in the catcher’s continuing journey across the league, it’s hard to envision Rortvedt becoming better remembered in New York for his time in orange and blue than his inclusion in 2022 headlines.

I’ve chosen a few different formats for this series now that the Cubs play all 29 other teams every year. Sorry, I’m not writing 29 of these.

This year, I’ll focus an article on each of the Cubs’ NL Central rivals, since the Cubs play them more than any other teams. That’ll make four articles. The rest of the series will cover the other 29 teams by division.

Let’s start with the Cubs’ postseason rivals from last year, the Brewers, who beat out the Cubs by five games for the NL Central title and then defeated them in a Division Series.

Before we begin, a note: This series is intended to give broad overviews of each team and start some discussion, not as a real detailed look.

Key departures: Freddy Peralta, Caleb Durbin, Erick Fedde, Rhys Hoskins, Isaac Collins, Tobias Myers, Andruw Monasterio, José Quintana

Key arrivals: Kyle Harrison, Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams, Angel Zerpa, Gary Sánchez, Reese McGuire

The Brewers were certainly busy this offseason, trading one of their top starters along with two young players (Durbin and Collins) who were key players in their 29-4 run mid-season.

They are, apparently, hoping that the two prospects (Sproat and Williams) that they got from the Mets in the Peralta deal will be useful replacements for the guys they traded. The starting rotation will be helped by Brandon Woodruff’s expected return for Opening Day. But Woodruff is now 33 and has missed much time over the last three seasons, making only 23 total starts from 2023-25.

William Contreras will now be their top offensive player, and Christian Yelich, who didn’t have a good 2025, is a year older. They are hoping for big things from Jackson Chourio, who doesn’t turn 22 until next month.

Former Cub Reese McGuire has a chance to make Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster, but they just signed Gary Sánchez to back up Contreras, so McGuire might wind up as he was with the Cubs, a “break glass in case of emergency” guy.

The Brewers always seem to find a way. They are well managed by Craig Counsell’s former bench coach, Pat Murphy. I don’t think they are a 97-win team anymore, but they have surprised people in the past.

Unlike last year, these teams will have meaningful games against each other in September.

At Wrigley Field: May 18-19-20 and Aug. 31-Sept. 1-2-3

At Milwaukee: June 26-27-28 and Sept. 7-8-9

SB Nation team site:Brew Crew Ball

Morning everyone and happy Monday!

We’re now two games into the spring schedule and while there’s not much we can really glean from these early contests, we do have some hints about how manager Mark Kotsay plans to write out his lineup this coming season.

Reigning Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz is the Athletics’ best hitter and one would normally think the 3-hole is the spot reserved for the team’s best hitter. The A’s are not your typical team however. When the league zigs, we zag. In that sense it shouldn’t be any surprise that the Athletics are genuinely considering using Kurtz as the primary leadoff man this season.

It’s not an unfamiliar spot for Kurtz, who was in the leadoff spot 18 times in his rookie campaign. He hit .242/.413/.403 with four long balls in that spot. That on-base percentage is to die for but the power wasn’t as prodigious and he’s not exactly a burner on the basepaths either. Not that that is the A’s calling card right now, but you don’t want a Bengie Molina clogging up the basepaths.

Now, Kotsay says that yesterday’s lineup isn’t “set in stone”, and that he’s merely putting Kurtz and Shea Langeliers near the top of the order to get them as many at-bats as possible, but it’s hard to believe that he’s not seriously considering Kurtz atop the lineup when Opening Day rolls around. And frankly, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Langeliers right behind him.

In a sense, it might be genius. Leadoff guys get more at-bats over the course of the season than 3-hole hitters. It might not seem like much but those extra plate appearances really do add up and by the end of the season the leadoff man will likely have dozens more at-bats than guys just a spot or two lower in the batting order. Kotsay even acknowledged this when discussing lineup configurations:

“My opinion, getting the best hitter on the team the most amount of at-bats is productive,” Kotsay said. “Especially when that at-bat comes around the 18th through the 21st out of a game when a starter is going through a lineup a third time, it’s nice to get those guys an opportunity. It presents a leverage situation.

It makes sense in one way, but not in others. Kurtz could very well be a tone-setter for the club but the team could be leaving extra runs on the table just to get him a few extra at-bats. Imagine a world where Jacob Wilson and Jeff McNeil, two slappy on-base machines, get on and set up Kurtz for a three-run bomb in the first inning. That sounds better than a solo shot to start the game to me, but what do I know. We’ll be keeping an eye on where Kurtz hits during this spring but it seems like the A’s have already sort of decided that he’s the best option to leadoff. What do you guys think? Is it genius? Or are the A’s way overthinking this?

Have a great week A’s fans.

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics Drop Second Spring Contest, Fall To Guardians 6-0
• A’s Drop Spring Opener To White Sox 11-2
• Meaningless Stats Begin Today!
• Athletics Community Prospect List: Hoglund Lands at #16
• See you later, soda: A’s Perkins ditches sugar for science
• Bob Melvin returning to Athletics as special advisor
• Can The A’s Young Core Turn Defense Into a Strength?
• Pesky Drawback Of “Closer By Committee” (It Never Really Works)
• Can Kurtz get his glove to match his monster bat?
• Zack Gelof: Outfielder?
• Athletics 2026 Top MLB Prospects Deep Dive
• Waiting For Gelof: What Do We Do?
• “Relievers Are Volatile”… But Why?
• Are The Final Two Rotation Spots Really Up For Grabs?
• Story Lines To Watch As Spring Training Unfolds

MLB News and Interest:

• Guardians reportedly sign first baseman Rhys Hoskins to minor league pact
• Twins’ starter Joe Ryan has lower back inflammation
• Red Sox interested in left-handed bullpen depth
• “He’s gonna be a stud, man”: Harper dishes on MLB’s #1 prospect
• Cardinals sign veteran infielder Ramon Urias to major league deal for 2026
• 2 HR’s in 2 games? Polar Bear knows just how to break the ice with Orioles
• Yankees’ Gerrit Cole reaches 96.9 MPH in 1st session versus hitters
• Freddie Freeman hopes to retire with Dodgers
• Honus Wagner card sells for $5.124 million, third-largest for T206 Wagner card
• Baseball legend Bill Mazeroski passes away at 89
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Sevy gearing up for the WBC:

Baez’s new slider a game-changer?

Not A’s related but funny:

Lin’s spring debut didn’t go all that well:

The San Diego Padres dropped their second game of Spring Training action in a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. There were positives to be sure. Fernando Tatis Jr. recorded his first two hits of the spring and Randy Vasquez allowed just one hit and one walk over two scoreless innings. On the other side, Triston Mackenzie did not look good in his first appearance for San Diego. He allowed four runs in 2/3 of an inning although his velocity was up. The Padres will have the chance to continue to prepare for the regular season with a contest against the Milwaukee Brewers today.

Padres News:

• The Padres had a busy week that saw new addition, Nick Castellanos, make his first appearance in the brown and gold. He also made his first appearance at first base and finished the day with a couple solid defensive plays. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball provides information about Castellanos and other news and notes that came from the Padres over the past week.
• Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball dived into Matt Waldron’s first start of the spring and what this Spring Training means for him and his career moving forward.
• AJ Cassavell of Padres.com identifies six takeaways from what he has seen in the first three Spring Training games for the Padres. The first takeaway for Cassavell is the overall usage of the players who will be participating in the World Baseball Classic. One of the WBC players who was scheduled to join his fellow countrymen, Yuki Matsui, will not take part to allow him time to recover from injury.
• Sung-Mun Song made his first appearance for the Padres in their loss to the Dodgers and appeared healthy taking swings at the plate after suffering an injury earlier in the offseason.
• Mason Miller seems to make news every time he steps on the mound. His first spring appearance was no different. Miller threw multiple pitches at or above 100 mph, which did not go unnoticed by the Padres.

Baseball News:

• Free agent first baseman Rhys Hoskins and the Cleveland Guardians agreed to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training.
• Shohei Ohtani is not scheduled to pitch in the WBC.
• Players around MLB commented about their thoughts on the USA men’s hockey win over Canada in the gold medal game. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes said he has been inspired by the hockey team to help the US win gold in the WBC. Toronto Blue Jays star George Springer was showed his support, donning a USA hockey jersey during his batting practice session.
• The San Francisco Giants turned a rare triple play against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
• A T206 Honus Wagner baseball card that was pulled 117 years ago sold at auction for more than $5 million.
• The sluggers have been slugging around MLB this spring. Pete Alonso of the Baltimore Orioles hit his second home run in as many games, and Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber connected on a longball of his own in his first at-bat of the spring.
• The New York Yankees had to overcome more than just their on-field opponent on Sunday. A sewage leak interrupted their preparations for the game.
• A day after being scratched from his start, Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Ryan received good news following an MRI and remains on track for Opening Day.

The 2026 spring training schedule got underway this past weekend, giving MLB teams a chance to knock off the rust from the long winter.

Some teams might need a few more games to get up to speed, like the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs took the field Sunday for their third spring training game of the season, in Scottsdale against the San Francisco Giants. But as the proceedings got underway there was a rather strange start to the game.

An emergency alarm:

San Francisco left-hander Robbie Ray was less than five pitches into his start when the alarm went off, but the umpires instructed the two teams to simply play through the looping emergency message. But Ray conceded after the game that it was a rather unsettling way to work. “I was like, ‘We’re just going to play through this?’” Ray said after the game. “It kind of rattled me a little bit.”

Thankfully for Ray, the Cubs helped him out a few pitches later.

After Ray walked Matt Shaw and Alex Bregman to begin the game, he allowed a single to Seiya Suzuki in shallow right field. But instead of the Cubs having the bases loaded with nobody out, Ray was walking back to the dugout following one of the most bizarre triple plays you will ever see:

Suzuki tried to stretch this flare into a double, but first baseman Rafael Devers cut off the throw into home from second baseman Luis Arraez and threw to second, where shortstop Willy Adames was covering the bag. Adames snapped down a tag on Suzuki, and the Giants had the first out of the inning.

But the fun was just starting.

Shaw, who was on second when the play began, held up at third on the shallow fly ball and did not try to advance on the throw to second. Bregman, however, did try to advance to third on the play, and the Cubs ended up with a pair of baserunners on the third base bag.

Adames walked over to third and tagged both Shaw and Bregman. As the trailing runner, Bregman was ruled out by the third base umpire. But both Shaw and Bregman walked off the bag, with Shaw perhaps thinking the umpire had called him out too.

That’s when third baseman Matt Chapman, who had taken the ball from Adames, tagged out the leadoff hitter to end the inning.

“I don’t even know what happened,” Adames said after the game. “I couldn’t even look at it because we don’t have review on the iPad. But I know there were too many people at third base. There should be like maybe two guys there. There were like three.”

“Well, there were a lot of distractions going on,” Chapman said. “The fire alarm going off, people vacating the stadium. Just trying to figure out if that was real or not. And then some early baserunning miscommunication. Willy comes over and tags [Bregman] and gives me the ball. I think Shaw thought he was out, so I just tagged him. Not much more to it. Just early Spring Training, probably getting used to running the bases again, but we’ll take it.”

“That’s the beauty of baseball, I guess,” Adames said. “Every day you just see something new.”

Welcome back, baseball.

2026 is a massive year for Brady House’s development. He is entering the season as the undisputed starter at third base. For that to be the case again next year, he is going to have to make big improvements with the bat. His first game of Spring Training was a major statement, with the 22 year old clubbing two home runs.

That power is great to see from House, and it is something that was missing in his first taste of the MLB. He only hit 4 homers in 73 games last year, and two of them came in one contest against the Brewers. That is not what you want to see from a guy who is supposed to be a power hitter. House’s chase and whiff issues will limit his on base numbers, so he will have to slug.

Anyone who has followed House knows he is capable of hitting for power. His exit velocities in Triple-A were elite last season and he even hit the ball pretty hard in the majors. The former first rounder translated that into game power in AAA last year. He hit 13 homers in 65 Triple-A games and had a slugging percentage over .500. 

With his strong defense at third base, House does not need to be an elite hitter, but he needs to be much better than he was last year. A .574 OPS simply will not cut it at the MLB level. I think hitting for more power is the best way for him to improve. His approach will have to get better as well, but I don’t see House suddenly developing a strong eye at the plate. 

That is one of those skills that is more innate. Tapping into more game power is something you can coach, especially when the player has the raw power. Hopefully today marks the start of a big year for House. His first homer actually came off of former Cy Young Sandy Alcantara, so at least one of his bombs came off of big league competition as well.

So how can Brady House consistently hit for power? We know he has the horsepower to be a 25 homer bat. Well, he is going to have to get the ball in the air more consistently. Last season, House’s ground ball rate was higher than average at 46.3%. He is going to have to develop into a line drive and flyball hitter to make it at the MLB level. 

The whiff and chase give him a smaller margin for error when it comes to the quality of his contact. His well struck balls are going to need to be elevated for House to have big league success at the plate. Another thing I would like to see, but is not as necessary is for House to pull the ball in the air more. Last season, his air pull percentage was well below average at just 10.6%. For context, the league average is 16.7%.

House has enough raw power to hit balls out to all fields. Both of his homers yesterday actually went to right center. If House is not comfortable selling out for air pull, he can stick to just hitting line drives and flyballs all over the yard. However, pulling the ball in the air is the easiest way to compile extra base hit damage. House has enough juice where he just needs to elevate to have success though.

We saw that on display yesterday. Hopefully this can continue deeper into Spring Training and into the regular season. If House can even be an average bat this season, that would change a lot for the Nats. It would make the lineup a lot deeper and more powerful.

One thing about Brady House is that he tends to get better in his second try at a new level. In 2024, House struggled with AAA after a midseason promotion. While he hit .250, he only posted a .655 OPS due to a lack of plate discipline and an inability to translate his raw power into games. That should sound familiar to Nats fans because that is what we saw from House last year.

However, he put in some important offseason work and was ready to go for the 2025 season. He hit .304 with an .872 OPS in AAA last season. That earned him a big league call up, but just like 2024, he struggled at the new level. Hopefully this first taste of the big leagues was a learning experience and House can come back looking much better.

Despite his whiff and chase issues, House has always been able to post higher batting averages than you would expect in the minors. He hits the ball so hard that he is able to sneak a lot of hits through. Even in his disastrous big league debut, his average was not horrible at .234. However, he needs that average to be fairly high because he is not going to walk much.

My dream outcome for House is for him to hit about .260-.265 with 25 homers, a .310 OBP and an OPS in the mid-.700’s. With his defense, that would be an excellent player. However, it requires quite a bit of projection to get to that point. The biggest goal for House this year should be to find a way to turn his tremendous raw power into good game power. Hitting two homers in your first game of the spring is not a bad start in achieving that goal.

Hello and happy Monday, folks. Hope you’re not totally snowed in today. If you are, maybe the joy of an Olympic men’s hockey gold medal yesterday can help lift your spirits. Or maybe an Arsenal 4-1 win over Spurs can. Or maybe something else can, I dunno.

A question for you, dear readers: how we feeling about Brayan Bello?

After a relatively strong season preceding Labor Day(ish), the wheels sorta fell off in the last month or so of 2025. Fast forward to yesterday, where he coughed up four earned runs across four hits and an error in just 1.1 innings against Toronto in Grapefruit League play. Sure, it’s only Spring Training. Sure, he wasn’t gonna go beyond a few innings anyway. But it’s not a great way to start 2026, right?

Even then, I’m not freaked out. It’s one start, who cares? Plus, he’s got less pressure on him with the law firm of Crochet, Suarez, and Gray ahead of him in the pecking order. In 2025, he was expected to perform as a number two for a playoff team. In 2026, he can act as a five-or-six inning guy to get you over the hump as a back-half guy—with demonstrated quality to boot, mind you.

I figured that’s a question worth throwing at their at the very least, though. If you agree with me: great! Let me know why you agree in the comments. If you disagree with me: also great! Tell us why below! Either way, if you think OTM should fire me…………maybe keep that to yourself, if you don’t mind.

Be good to each other and go Sox.

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes about the Texas Rangers getting their first look at MacKenzie Gore in his exhibition debut yesterday.

McFarland checks out what we learned over the first week of game action at Surprise with the Rangers sorting through their bullpen options.

Kennedi Landry writes that the Rangers plan to be more aggressive on the basepaths with new manager Skip Schumaker at the helm.

Evan Grant writes that Schumaker believes recently injured Cody Freeman can still contribute to the vibes in Surprise.

At The Athletic, Will Sammon writes about new Ranger outfielder Brandon Nimmo itching to take on the role of mentor in Texas.

McFarland writes about undrafted reliever Ryan Lobus and his quest to make a name for himself in Surprise this spring.

Landry names right-handed hitting veteran bench option Mark Canha as a dark horse candidate to make the Opening Day roster for the Rangers.

And, McFarland notes that the Rangers intend to have Jacob deGrom make his 2026 spring debut in the coming days.

Have a nice day!