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!
Per NBA insider Chris Haynes, the Jazz will be without backup center Jusuf Nurkić moving forward due to an urgent medical procedure:
I’m not a doctor, but I figure this procedure is urgent because Jusuf Nurkić is playing too well. For the Jazz, who are fighting to keep pace in a hotly contested race for draft position, every loss matters.
This leaves the Jazz with frontcourt rotations which will include Lauri Markkanen, (for now) Kyle Filipowski, Kevin Love, Oscar Tshiebwe, John “Jitty” Konchar, and Blake Hinson. The Jazz now have an opportunity to a) improve their draft position and b) Evaluate their end-of-the-bench talent before going all-in on competing next season. Kyle Filipowski has proven to be a skilled offensive player, but his defensive footwork leaves much to be desired. Can he learn to hang with upper-end NBA talent? New additions John Konchar and Blake Hinson have shown promise, but will they be part of the team’s long-term plans? The answers to these questions may be more clear after 30 games of watching them play big minutes.
Admittedly, if you had told me prior to this season that the Jazz would be Urgently Resting Nurkić for a Very Urgent Surgery, I would not have believed you. I was stuck in the past, dwelling on stuff like this:
. . . and not expecting this:
I have officially gone from “Well, I guess we had to take back salary to unload Colin Sexton” to “Wow, Nurk is a really nice backup with a cool skillset. It would be great if he re-signed here this summer.” Turns out that, sometimes, professional basketball players are really good at playing basketball, even if six-foot nothing, 5PPG-at-the-local-pickup-game guys like me think they’re washed.
Jazz coach Will Hardy has a few hours to re-work his rotations as the team prepares to take on the Houston Rockets at 7:30pm MT.
This hasn’t been the dream season we envisioned entering the year. If you came from the future and told everyone the Knicks would be the No. 3 seed and considerably behind the No. 1 seed in late February, I’d imagine near-universal disappointment. That’s fine, that’s reasonable.
What’s not reasonable is the way some people act after every single loss. Losing sucks, there’s no question about it, but you don’t need to write a thinkpiece about the entire organization after an off night. It’s an 82-game season, you’re not going undefeated. I think most people understand that, but then you also get takes like this on social media after the team’s disheartening loss against the Pistons on Thursday.
If you’re ever on social media, especially when one of these games are going on, you see the same tropes.
“This team doesn’t care”, “They’re soft.”, “They’re pathetic.”
This is especially the narrative after all the Pistons games. I understand it’s a different Pistons team than last year, but we also have to remember the regular season doesn’t tell the whole story. There’s also a misrepresentation of how Thursday’s game went. While the Knicks absolutely got punked in the first two meetings, they overall played with a good amount of intensity on Thursday. You know why the score was lopsided? The No. 3 3pt shooting team in basketball couldn’t buy one, while the worst wide-open shooting team in basketball once again shot over 40%.
The sky is not falling because the Pistons seem to have our number. There’s no guarantee that, assuming the Knicks stay in the 2 or 3-seed, the Pistons would even be the matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals! People saying that these three matchups are the reason they have no chance to come out of the East are being dishonest.
Different sects of the fanbase have different criticisms of the team. Some blame Jalen Brunson’s isocentric playstyle, which prevents guys like Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns from getting in rhythm. Some blame Mike Brown’s coaching style for not getting Towns the ball and treating him more like Domantas Sabonis. Some get on Josh Hart for the bad stretches when he misses an assignment off-ball defensively, and his reluctance to shoot. And then, of course, there’s criticism of Bridges and Towns for being soft.
Are some of these criticisms warranted? Sure! The Knicks are far from perfect, but they’re still a damn good basketball team. But some of these narratives are silly, especially the small, small sect that calls Brunson a ballhog and shows misleading on-off numbers.
But honestly, the most frustrating part about this stuff is glorifying the past. And no, I’m not talking about the 1990s or the 2013 Knicks, I’m talking about the recent teams. There was an unironic tweet during the 11-game skid that the 2021 Knicks, because of the defense and physicality, would beat this team in a playoff series.
(Speaking of the 11-game skid, this is possibly the worst tweet I‘ve ever seen.)
Nostalgia is a real virus. That 2021 team was the first playoff team for an entire generation of Knicks fans, but they were tremendously flawed. Once the Hawks learned to turn Julius Randle’s water off, it was over. Do we really think that team would be able to score enough in the playoffs and lock up Brunson and KAT? Seriously?
The more sensible nostalgia acts are coming from the 2023-25 teams. The Knicks played with a certain level of grit then, but people forget how things went for those teams.
The 2023 Knicks were an inspiring group that was genuinely ten-deep. The problem? The team’s second-best playoff performer was 23-year-old Quentin Grimes. Randle, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley were terrible against the Heat.
The 2024 Knicks might’ve been the most fun team to root for, and that’s what this boils down to. You love to root for the undermanned underdog with likable players and personalities, who play with a certain level of nastiness. But that team had a ceiling; their second option was Donte DiVincenzo. Now, if you want to talk about the January 2024 Knicks, I’m listening. They were special. But you were never getting that team again, not with the CBA forcing Isaiah Hartenstein to OKC.
There’s also a lot of comparing Tom Thibodeau to Mike Brown, some reasonable, some not. But let’s not act like the same people who are yearning for Thibs weren’t the ones begging for him to be fired midseason last year.
And that’s my point. There has always been something to complain about. In 2021, they couldn’t score. In 2023, they had no offense aside from Brunson in the playoffs. In 2024, a similar story. Then, when you add the offensive firepower, the pendulum swings the other way.
Make no mistake, this is the best Knicks team since Patrick Ewing was wearing orange and blue. They’re on pace for 52 wins. While they’ve had frustrating losses to Detroit and San Antonio, they’ve beaten Boston, Cleveland, Houston, Toronto, and Denver. They went 0-10 vs the top-three teams last year and 5-14 against teams that won at least 50 games. This year, they’re 7-5 (technically 6-5 but the NBA Cup counts to me, dammit) against teams playing at a 50 or more win pace. It’s a Pistons issue right now, not a crippling league issue.
It’s one thing when the likes of Draymond Green or Charles Barkley use buzzwords to insult this team. They’re outside media personalities who benefit from clicks. It’s disingenuous when it’s our fans doing it, pretending that we aren’t less than six years removed from Mo Harkless starting games with regularity and less than eight years removed from Allonzo Trier being our most promising player.
You know what, maybe I just need to get off social media.
The Washington Wizards are playing the Hawks in Atlanta tomorrow night. I’ve got you covered with the preview:
When: 7:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 24
Where: State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia
How to watch: Monumental Sports Network
Wizards — Trae Young, Anthony Davis, Alex Sarr and Cam Whitmore are all listed as OUT. Tristan Vukcevic and Justin Champagnie are listed as DAY-TO-DAY. Additionally, D’Angelo Russell is not being asked to report to the team.
Hawks — Jonathan Kuminga is listed as OUT and has yet to make his Hawks debut.
VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain (AP) — Lucas Boyé scored twice for Alaves to draw with Girona 2-2 in an end-to-end La Liga encounter at Estadio Mendizorroza on Monday.
The second straight draw for Alaves lifted it three points clear of La Liga’s relegation zone.
Girona was three places and three points better off, although only six points separate Girona in 11th and Mallorca in the last of the three relegation spots.
The home side took the initiative after just five minutes when Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga missed Yusi’s low cross, allowing Boyé to side-foot home from close range.
However, Girona came roaring back and 14 minutes before the break it was level, Axel Witsel’s glancing header touched into the net by Vladyslav Vanat.
Girona took the lead in the 73rd minute when Azzedine Ounahi’s superb reverse pass split the Alaves defence. Viktor Tsygankov showed a cool head to round the keeper and slot the ball into the empty net.
But Boyé’s header a minute from time gave Alaves a deserved draw that could be crucial in its fight against the drop.
“We’re at home, and we know that to reach our objective as quickly as possible we have to pick up three points here, especially against direct rivals,” Boyé said. “We’re frustrated by the draw and by not getting all three points.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Phoenix Suns had three games in four nights, going 1-2 with a dramatic win over the Orlando Magic and tough losses where the offense struggled against the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trailblazers. While it was a short week, the team lost multiple key players due to injury.
Here are the main questions for Week 18 that we want your thoughts on:
Two questions in one block here. In the Suns’ three games this week, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Jordan Goodwin all went down with injuries and missed the next game. Booker will be re-evaluated later this week, Brooks broke his hand and is out without a timeline, and Goodwin strained his calf and is also without a timeline.
Phoenix has now played 14 games this year without Booker and are en route to play at least two more. On a side note, if Booker misses four more games, he’ll be ineligible for All-NBA awards this year.
With the Suns’ top scorers likely out for an extended period, look for Jalen Green to get more into a rhythm with his new teammates. He played 30 minutes for the first time as a Sun on Saturday in the team’s double-overtime win that ended with him hitting a buzzer-beating three, green has been inefficient so far in his first ten games as a Sun, shooting 38% from the field and 31% from three. His shooting splits are the lowest of any season of his career. Averaging over 20 points per game in his previous three seasons combined, he has the potential to lead the team in scoring amid the injuries.
Is the answer to the Suns’ injury issues getting Jalen Green more acclimated into the offense? Who else needs to step up for the time being?
The Suns didn’t shoot over 40% from the field once this week. Their win against Orlando was the first time since 2023 a team won while shooting under 35% from the field, and their 77 points against Portland was the least points they’ve scored in a game all year, and is tied for the second-least points a team has scored in a game this season.
To win games, independent of whose in the lineup, the Suns need to hit more shots. While Grayson Allen missed Sunday’s contest due to injury management, he should be back in the lineup Tuesday.
What is wrong with the Phoenix offense? How can it improve?
For more questions on the Suns follow @HoldenSherman1 on X for content after every game.
Well, that was more spring baseball.
The Mariners fourth Spring Training game on Monday was more of the same: weak at bats, sloppy play, and a bunch of names so unremarkable they didn’t even bother printing them on the jerseys. I still enjoyed it, though. These games might be meaningless, but they are still baseball, still something to pass the time, still a chance to see your favorite players, however briefly. Only four more weeks until the real thing. We’re getting there.
The Mariners lost to the Dodgers 3-0. They collected just four hits and one walk. Here’s what I thought was notable.
Cole Young and Colt Emerson
Mariners’ brass got another chance to see Cole Young and Colt Emerson in direct competition for an infield spot. Young hit seventh in the lineup and played second base; Emerson hit eighth and played shortstop. Neither’s day at the plate was all that notable. Young struck out in both his plate appearances, both times against a lefty. Emerson drew a nice walk against a righty in his first at bat, then popped out against a lefty in his second.
Both made nice plays in the field. With a runner on first, Emerson got a line drive right to him at short. He dropped it intentionally and tried to turn the double play. The umpires didn’t buy it and called it a catch, but it was a nice display of awareness regardless. The game doesn’t look too big for him so far.
Young was especially impressive. In the third, he backed up first base on a ball that squirted out of Patrick Wisdom’s glove, adjusted his momentum to get to the ball, and made a nice short throw to first. Later in the inning he made a strong throw across the infield while turning a double play. In the fifth, he ranged to his right and snagged a grounder with a dive, then popped up and fired to first. These are the specific plays that really sunk Young’s value last year in the field—going to his right and making quick, unconventional throws—and its encouraging to see some improvement right out of the gate. This is the type of thing I can get excited about in Spring Training.
Logan Gilbert
Logan Gilbert made his first start of Spring Training. Like all Mariners starting pitchers, I’m interested in whether we might spy any arsenal tweaks, like new pitch types or shapes. FanGraphs’ Michael Rosen noted Gilbert was throwing what looked like a redesigned cutter. The rest of his stuff looked pretty sharp, too. His velocity was up from last year at 96+ mph, and he picked up a few strikeouts.
Gilbert’s 2025 is tough to summarize. He took a notable step forward in “stuff,” generating whiffs and strikeouts at an elite level. But it seemed to come at the expense of efficiency, as he struggled to work deeper into games. We don’t know much about how he might resolve that issue in 2026 after Monday’s outing, but we’ll see what adjustments he makes as he stretches out.
Jose Ferrer
Jose Ferrer’s time with the Mariners started out great. He got a three pitch strikeout on Andy Pages and celebrated with a little spin. It was nasty a pitch—an 85 mph changeup below the zone off back-to-back heaters up. Pages looked fooled.
Ferrer then gave up three consecutive hits and a walk and was removed from the game before recording another out. The contact he allowed wasn’t especially good and one of the hits really should have been caught by Victor Robles in right field. But Ferrer will take solace in that his performance with the Mariners can only improve from here.
Andrew Knizner
Andrew Knizner made three challenges. The first two he called correctly from behind the plate, stealing strikes for his pitchers and even ending a fourth inning jam with a challenge K. He also challenged a high strike as a batter and lost. It’s interesting to see the Mariners’ catchers testing out the new system early on.
The Dodgers are on a roll to begin the spring as they notched their third consecutive victory with a 3-0 shutout win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday.
Landon Knack was given the start for Monday’s contest, making quick work of the Mariners by facing the minimum in the first inning while tossing just nine pitches.
Jack Dreyer made his first appearance of the spring, giving up a two-out single to Andrew Knizner but managing to escape the second inning unscathed. Ben Casparius, Kyle Hurt and Alex Vesia all made their first appearances of the spring, each notching a scoreless inning in relief.
Andy Pages added another two hits with a pair of singles in his second game of the spring, giving him four hits and a .667 batting average.
Scoring was hard to come by on Monday, even more than Sunday, but the Dodgers took advantage with runners in scoring position as Alex Freeland roped an opposite field double off of Jose A. Ferrer to plate Dalton Rushing and Santiago Espinal to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Zach Ehrhard reached on a fielding error from Rhylan Thomas to plate a run and make it a three run Dodger lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Nick Robertson made his first appearance as a Dodger since the 2023 regular season, notching the save with a scoreless ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 start to the spring.
The Dodgers are now averaging 7.7 runs per game this spring, but they have yet to hit a home run as a team so far.
The Dodgers are back at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday as they host the Cleveland Guardians (12:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Gavin Stone makes his spring debut against right-hander Gavin Williams.
This is going to be an old-school recap, because I do not have any video of the Cubs’ 3-2 win over the Royals to show you.
So you’ll have to deal with descriptions, and a few MLB Gameday graphics.
Ben Brown threw the first two innings for the Cubs. It was a good outing. He allowed two hits, no runs and struck out three.
Here is one of the strikeouts, of Salvador Perez. Brown stuck with his fastball and curve, and check out some of the velocity:
Hopefully, Brown will begin to mix in some of the other pitches he says he’s been working on. He threw 30 pitches (20 strikes).
Javier Assad threw 1.1 innings and didn’t allow a run, throwing 20 strikes among his 29 pitches, a good first outing of the spring.
In the fourth, Jefferson Rojas gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead with his first home run of the spring. This is an excellent location for a pitch to hit and Rojas did not miss:
The Cubs scored two more runs in the fifth off former Cubs No. 1 draft pick (2017) Alex Lange, thanks in part to an error from the usually sure-handed Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. James Triantos singled in both runs. Triantos and Scott Kingery also stole bases in that inning.
There were a number of ABS challenges in this game and here’s one made by Royals center fielder Kyle Isbel. The call on the field was strike three and it was confirmed. As you can see, it was close, but a strike:
For the Cubs, Ariel Armas and Justin Dean both challenged and the calls were confirmed, so by the sixth inning the Cubs had no challenges left. That’s fine for a spring game where guys are testing out the system, but in a regular season game you probably won’t see two challenges like that, that early.
Porter Hodge had a much better outing this time than his first time out, striking out a pair in a scoreless inning, with just one walk. I’d think Hodge still has a chance at the Opening Day roster, if he can put together more innings like this.
Ryan Rolison and Collin Snider, both of whom could wind up on the Iowa Shuttle this year, threw scoreless innings against mostly Royals minor leaguers. Josh Rojas homered off Cubs minor leaguer Tyler Ras for KC’s only run.
That’s about all I’ve got from this one, without any video to show you.
The Cubs will return to Sloan Park Tuesday afternoon to face the Padres. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Marco Gonzales will go for San Diego. Game time Tuesday is again 2:05 p.m. CT. No TV again Tuesday, and there will be a radio broadcast online via SD Audio.
Yankees baseball is back, and even though it’s only been a handful of games it feels like a turning point in the year to see the boys put on pinstripes and take the field at last. We’ve got a loaded schedule this year for spring with the World Baseball Classic right around the corner, and several Yankees participating in the competition means they’ve got to be in game shape quite quickly. To his credit, Aaron Judge certainly appears so after he made his spring debut memorable with a pair of homers already on his soon-to-be-wiped stat line.
With all this going on, there’s plenty to react to and look forward to as spring begins to unfold. Will we see a dark horse emerge from the spring hopefuls to make the roster? Will any of the regular starters stand out with a particularly hot spring, and does it matter if they do? Who has the deepest roster heading into the WBC? If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.
Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of February 19th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
Having torn his ACL on January 19th, Jimmy Butler is out for the season — and likely a little bit of next season, too.
However, despite this, he is still incredibly dedicated to being a Golden State Warrior. Earlier this week, Butler sent this email to Warriors season ticket holders reminding them of how much he loves playing for Golden State:
“Dear Warriors Season Ticket Family,
I have played in front of many incredible crowds over my 15 seasons in the NBA, but there was always something about playing in the Bay Area that made it feel like more than just another game. It was always electric. So, when I received the phone call on February 5, 2025, that I had been traded to the Warriors, I knew it had a chance to be special. But even I wasn’t prepared for what it means to be part of Dub Nation, playing in front of the loudest, most loyal and dedicated fans in the NBA.
The energy you provided us down the stretch last year was magical, as we finished the season winning 23 of 31 games and, ultimately, clinching a playoff berth. And playing with Steph and all of my teammates in The Bay has been an incredible experience. Steph is truly the greatest shooter and showman of all time, and I am honored to be the Robin to his Batman. The energy you gave us during the first round against Houston was palpable, and further reinforced my desire to play through my Game 2 injury. It was your love, encouragement, and joy that helped me dig deep to play – and win – for this fanbase. Ultimately, last year’s playoffs left us with a big “what if,” as Steph’s injury was too much for us to overcome in the Western Conference Semifinals vs. Minnesota. But we knew what we had and were eager to play meaningful basketball once again this season.
After a roller coaster start to this season, we were finally rounding into form in mid-January, winning 12 of 16 games, looking like the playoff contender we envisioned and the NBA feared. Every NBA season is a puzzle and we were beginning to figure ours out. Unfortunately, on January 19 against Miami, I tore my ACL. I was/am devastated. For me, for my teammates, and for all of you. After being in this league for as long as I have — 15 years now — you eventually realize that you only have a certain number of these golden opportunities. We had that opportunity this year in a league filled with parity and a team full of promise. Nonetheless, we move forward and will continue to battle our way to the postseason. I am excited to see my guys compete for the remainder of this season, but also heartbroken to know that I will not be out there with them. They’re my brothers.
Despite experiencing almost every emotion over the last 12 months — from the highs of the fourth most wins in the NBA to the lows of a pair of season-ending injuries — your support has been unwavering. I can see clearly now why you, our Warriors season ticket family, are known as the best fans in the NBA. You are our most loyal supporters, and your incredible energy is the fuel that drives this team.
I can promise you that I will attack my rehab with a singular focus that will enable me to get back to playing the game that I love, in front of the fans that I have grown to love and appreciate. My life has shown me repeatedly that when something happens that is out of my control, all I can do is work and wait for the answer and the why. Both have always been shown to me, and this time will be no different. This story, which has been interrupted twice, is not complete. Not by a long shot. This period is simply a part of our journey. I can’t wait to see what next season holds and will treasure the opportunity to put my jersey back on and take the court with Steph, Dray, and the rest of the guys, in front of you all. I’m sure that when I return and hear all of you in unison chant “WAAAAARRRRRRIIIIORRRSSSSS,” it will push me forward and provide an incredible adrenaline rush.
I am the author of my story. I always have been and I always will be. I look forward to you all continuing this journey with me and with us. If you have learned anything about me over our year-plus together, it’s that I am never hard to find.
I will be back, and I need you back, too. Here’s to what’s ahead.
Go Dubs”
Since being acquired by the Warriors in January of 2025 (after a lengthy and dramatic saga with the Miami Heat), Butler has played in 68 games and has become a fan-favorite player both on and off the court. Even at age 36, he was still a valuable asset for the Warriors up until his ACL tear, putting up an average of 20 points per game. Hopefully, Butler will stay a Warrior after his recovery — he certainly seems dead-set on it, based on what he said in his email.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Manchester United supersub Benjamin Sesko scored 13 minutes after entering the field to give his side a 1-0 win over Everton in the Premier League on Monday.
It was the third time in four games that Sesko has scored after coming off the bench and secured points for United.
“I believe in me and so do the other players as well,” Sesko told Sky Sports. “They know what they are going to get when I arrive in the game. It's up to me to deliver of course.”
His goal with 19 minutes remaining finished off the slickest move of an otherwise stodgy game.
Bryan Mbeumo controlled Matheus Cunha’s superb long ball and played a perfectly weighted pass to the feet of Sesko, who steered the ball past Jordan Pickford with aplomb.
“It was a great finish," United interim coach Michael Carrick said. “It was a ruthless finish. I liked the way he put it away with real confidence. It was great play from Cunha and Mbeumo to set it up and we are dangerous on the break.”
Until then defenses had been on top and the lack of attacking fluency was not helped by a heavy pitch that appeared to slow down both teams.
The result took fourth-placed United three points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool. United was three behind Aston Villa.
It also extended Carrick’s unbeaten run to six games since he replaced Ruben Amorim on Jan. 13.
The defeat was a blow to Everton’s hopes of a place in next year’s European competitions and left it languishing in ninth, behind Brentford and Bournemouth and eight points adrift of Chelsea and Liverpool.
David Moyes’ men have gone seven games without a win at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“Generally we did very well in lots of bits," Moyes said. "We got done on the counterattack and they ran away and got the goal that was there. We put in a great effort to get the goal but lacked the quality to make it count.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
While New York was dealing with close to 2 feet of snow, Mets pitchers Clay Holmes and Tobias Myers had to deal with the challenges of cool temperatures on the west coast of Florida during their outings on Monday in Dunedin against the Blue Jays.
“It was one of those days where it was a little chilly, it was dry, windy. Typically, these are the days [weather-wise] that are tough for sinkerballers,” Holmes said after dealing 3.2 innings in the Mets' win. “It was just good to get that experience and that challenge and to be back into the game action and figure out how to make pitches and see swings and feel the game speed.”
And that is what the early spring outings come down to: coming out feeling physically strong and tinkering with the adjustments to new and existing pitches they have been working on this offseason.
“This is the time to kinda still play around with some of the things, get reactions, kinda go to this pitch, that pitch,” Holmes said of experimenting with the pitch arsenal. “You’re always finding ways to get better and what you can tinker here and there before things really start to matter.”
Holmes said he entered the spring feeling strong after pitching 165.2 innings as a starter last year (after pitching 189.2 innings over the previous three seasons combined as a reliever), and is looking to avoid some of the issues he had in the second half of last season when his ERA went from 2.99 to 4.23.
“There were some stretches there, I feel like I could have been better. And I think being able to look back and learn from those moments will be big for this year,” he said, adding that it “wasn’t just one thing” during those spells when maybe the added innings caught up to him.
“Maybe the delivery wasn’t quite the same,” he said. “I think it boils down to: I gotta find a way to stay in the zone and attack hitters, especially the lefties. That’s what kinda hurt me at times.”
Holmes said that he’s been focusing on that aspect, and during Monday’s outing, when the conditions are tough for getting a good grip and his bread-and-butter sinker, the cutter “got me back into some good counts. Last year, I felt like it got me into worse counts.”
“To me, that was a big positive for today,” he continued. “And that goes to some of the stretches of the command’s not totally there, finding a way to stay in good counts.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza said it was “overall a good day of work for Holmes” and that the cutter stood out.
“The cutter was a pitch that is the one he’s working on the most this spring training, and I felt like he got back in counts with that pitch, especially against lefties,” the skipper said. “I thought the sweeper was good, and the fact that he got up to the fourth up at 60 pitches and was like, ‘Physically. ‘I can keep going.’ That’s a really good sign.”
Holmes said he changed the grip on his cutter, but the success of the pitch will come down to his comfort with it. “I think just having that pitch in the zone will help the other pitches,” he said.
Of course, not everything worked out so well. Holmes threw four curveballs, a pitch he last threw in a game in 2021. And while he did get one whiff on three swings, Kazuma Okamoto launched a 1-2 curve 431 feet to center for a two-run homer.
“It’s probably not something I’ll throw a ton to right-handed batters,” he said of the curveball. “Threw one today and got hurt on it, so it was a good learning experience.”
For Myers, coming off making 31 starts and 18 relief appearances over the past two years with Milwaukee, he said that while his destination of rotation or bullpen isn’t set, his build-up is the same.
“There’s some new pitches in there,” he said after pitching 2.1 scoreless innings against Toronto. “We’re definitely working on them. The slider I threw a lot today, you probably think it’s a curveball, pretty big. We’re trying to get that velo up on that a little bit. And the split, been throwing the split for half a season now, trying to fine-tune that pitch.”
Myers, who threw six splitters according to Statcast's tracking, said it is more of a split-change that he feels he can "execute a lot better” than the previous changeup he was throwing.
“If I can go out there and use it consistently, throw it whenever I want any count, righty, lefty, I think that opens up a lot of doors for me instead of just going up there and trying to rely on the fastball,” he said.
He credited Mets pitching coach Justin Willard for coming up with the “little baby spike” slider less than two weeks ago in the hopes of getting more swing-and-miss.
“If I can throw that pitch north of 82 mph, with the right metrics and everything,” he said, “I think that can definitely open up some doors for some swing-and-miss.”
What pitch do you want to come along first? “You hope it’s the fastball,” Myers said. “You hope the fastball kinda comes first and then you can just kinda work on things from there.
“For me, that’s always my main goal, especially in the offseason, the first couple bullpens: lotta fastballs, kinda get that location right."
Mendoza said the fastball has “got life.”
“Even though it was like 92 [mph] today, we know he can get to the mid-90’s. It’s just the life on the fastball, the change is always gonna be good, and we saw it today,” the skipper said before speaking complimentarily of the rest of the right-hander’s pitches. “And I like that cutter/slider that he’s got going for him now. It’s a pitch that he’s going to need, and he’s working on that one, and I thought he threw some good ones today.”
Myers, who was glad to get in three ups after going for two in his past two live outings this spring, says coming out feeling good is still the most important part of this time of year.
“Body feels good, body’s healthy, I think that’s the only thing looking for this time, just check that box off and keep building up,” he said.
Myers said that while he doesn’t know his role, how he deploys his pitches won’t change either.
“The usage might change a little bit, but I think that’s gonna come from the staff and the catchers and reading hitters, reading swings,” he said. “Visually, watching the game, I think hitters come out a little bit more aggressive when they get a bullpen arm in there. So that might change [it] a little bit. But as far as pitches, no, everything will kinda be the same.”
The 2026 Winter Olympics are over, which means the Buffalo Sabres will soon be returning to game action. The 2026 NHL trade deadline is also rapidly approaching, so trade activity around the NHL should certainly pick up.
Fans will naturally be keeping an eye on the Sabres. With star forward Alex Tuch being a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) and still without a contract extension at the time of this writing, he has been the subject of trade rumors.
Yet, when noting that the Sabres are currently in a playoff spot and Tuch is an incredibly important part of their roster, they should not trade him. Instead, their next move should be to find a way to sign him to a contract extension.
Tuch is exactly the kind of player that a team on the rise, like the Sabres, should be keeping around. He is not only a big part of their top six due to his strong offensive ability, but is also a well-respected leader in their room. Thus, moving on from him would undoubtedly be negative for the Sabres. This is especially so when noting that they have a real shot of finally snapping their 14-year playoff drought.
The Sabres would be wise to work hard on getting a new deal done with Tuch as the deadline gets closer. If they extend him, it would be great news for the Sabres.
In 56 games this season with the Sabres, Tuch has recorded 22 goals, 26 assists, 48 points, and a plus-14 rating.
On January 25, Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser received an elbow to the head that would ultimately keep him out until after the 2026 Winter Olympic Games concluded. While he’d previously returned to Vancouver’s practices in a regular jersey, at today’s practice, the forward wore a red non-contact jersey.
Why was this the case?
Throughout the past little while, the Canucks have had some sort of bug making its way through the dressing room. When Vancouver first returned to practice on February 17, Conor Garland was the lone player to not return to the ice. Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote later revealed this was due to illness.
That same day, Boeser had been requested for media availability but was unable to speak as he wasn’t feeling well. It was these illness symptoms that led to the Canucks putting Boeser in a non-contact jersey today. The main concern from the organization was that the symptoms had to do with the concussion he’d sustained back on January 25, though it was more done out of an abundance of caution rather than suspicion.
“He didn't feel good a couple days ago, and they had to make sure […] that it was actually viral and not his concussion, right? So they're just doing the right thing with the protocol.”
From Foote’s perspective, things are trending positively in the direction of Boeser being A-Ok to get back in a regular jersey for tomorrow’s practice.
“[He had] a couple things going on, not being on the ice as much with the injury, and having the break, and then getting through the concussion, and then you have a viral on top of it, and tried to condition. And he went out there. He didn't want to leave, but I think the therapists wanted to do the right thing, just because the concussion was in play. And then once you get caught up in that you’ve got to make sure it is the viral, and you still have to go through the protocol of the NHL coming back your first skate in a red jersey.”
Time will tell whether Boeser's symptoms of sickness have to do with his concussion or the locker room's illness, but for now, it appears to be trending in the direction of the latter.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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