Worldwide Sports News

I really hate to keep beating the same drum, but I’m going to continue to be on the record as believing that the make-or-break aspect of the next would-be competitive era of White Sox baseball — the aspect that Rick Hahn and friends utterly failed at from 2017-19 — is going to be whether they can find at least a couple All-Stars or solid starters out of the scrap heap. In other words, unexpected help that picks up the slack when all of the prospects aren’t magically good at the same time the moment they hit the big leagues — a concept that Rick Hahn always seemed a little bit challenged by.

As I’ve blabbed about a million times before, the Cubs don’t win in 2016 without Jake Arrieta. In Houston José Altuve was barely a Top 100 prospect, Dallas Keuchel never came close to sniffing a prospect list, and Marwin González was a critical cog in their championship roster. The Orioles may have blown their shot, but they wouldn’t have even had one if they hadn’t gotten more than 500 extra-base hits from the previously-anonymous Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins over a five-year stretch.

Things look more promising for the Sox this time around. When the decision was made to tear down the core that brought home the 2021 AL Central crown, nobody knew that Shane Smith was going to be in the plans as a Top 3 starter, and I can’t think of another Sox prospect who’s ever rebounded from “seems like a bust” to “possibly a superstar” like Colson Montgomery.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be identifying and breaking down five players on the Sox roster who could potentially be those unexpected building blocks — and what it means for the team if it ever comes to fruition.

Let’s get straight to the point here. I want you to look at an assortment of hand-picked stats from three young Sox players, measured from July 3-onward last year.

Player A, as you’ve probably gathered from the massive slugging number and perhaps conspicuous cutoff date, is Colson Montgomery. Player B probably isn’t hard to pin down as Kyle Teel, who’s probably second to Montgomery in terms of excitement generated for future Sox teams, and whose numbers are particularly exciting for a solid receiver behind the plate.

Player C, though? That’s Brooks Baldwin, who was called back up to the majors on July 1 last season and proceeded to hold his own with the best of the Sox young talent the rest of the way (albeit with a bit less playing time). It’s not an exaggeration to say that he came as close to matching Montgomery’s absurd second-half output as anybody else on the Sox, especially when you look at the batted-ball metrics.

Interesting! Very Interesting!

Let’s turn this into a quick deep-ish dive on what exactly happened between his initial demotion in May and final recall to Chicago in July. I found a real short answer: He figured out how to hit fastballs in the air instead of on the ground.

In fact, I wrote this entire article before I realized video existed of the kid going oppo-taco on a Spencer Strider fastball. The same Spencer Strider whose entire shtick is, hey, you can’t hit me because I consistently throw a four-seamer up in the zone faster than you can blink.

Baldwin’s bat speed isn’t elite, but it’s not unplayable either. Even when he’s struggled, he’s made solid contact, posting above-average exit velocities at every measured level. When he came back from Charlotte at the beginning of July, all of that hard contact suddenly started going places where it could do actual damage. His overall fly ball percentage jumped from 30% to 48% after that call-up!

I’m pretty embarrassed I didn’t notice it before. It didn’t take a lot more diving to locate the specific place of improvement, either.

The game is largely moving away from traditional fastballs, but pitchers are always going to have to throw them. The key for Baldwin is to avoid getting himself out on breaking stuff. There are a solid number of solid big-leaguers who make a living off of hammering fastballs. It’s plenty conceivable that Baldwin could become one of them.

The flip side is that Baldwin’s tendency to chase is still worrisome. Even after he started being awesome against heaters (I specifically love how he took his average launch angle against sinkers from a virtually flat one degree all the way up to 16, solidly in line drive territory) he still offered at pitches out of the zone at a rate near the bottom of the league. Damage against fastballs doesn’t matter if pitchers can spam breaking balls and offspeed pitches and get away with it most of the time.

Still, there’s still a much wider range of outcomes with Baldwin than many of us are giving him credit for. Defensive metrics have panned his work pretty much across the board, but he’s plenty fleet of foot, ranking in the 82nd percentile for Baseball Savant’s sprint speed metric. It also thinks he has a solid enough arm, one that will play all across the diamond even if it’s nothing special. Contrasted with someone like Lenyn Sosa, whose lack of lateral speed and overall athleticism put a hard cap on his defensive ceiling, Baldwin still has room for improvement. This is not the guy who has the tools of a negative defender.

Now, to zoom out of the nitty-gritty. Let’s assume July-August-September Baldwin is what we actually get this season. Pencil in a 120 wRC+ switch hitter who isn’t better-than-average at any position, but can give any of your regulars a breather on any given day. He’s going to walk and strike out at rates around league average, and he’s got enough speed to do some damage on the basepaths. Project it out over 500-odd trips to the plate, and you get a guy who might push 20-20 without even locking down a regular position.

In what world were the 2026 White Sox supposed to have a guy like that that we didn’t already know about?

Did I just accidentally describe peak Ben Zobrist when trying to come up with a comp for Brooks Baldwin? Maybe I did! So sue me. This is the thought experiment right here, guys. Does anyone expect every single one of the farm system’s ranked prospects to hit their ceilings any more than they did the last time? I’m sure one of these years, we’ll finally witness long-awaited glory from a rotation topped by Jon Rauch, Matt Ginter, and Dan Wright.

If the 2027 or 2028 White Sox are going to be competitive, it’s not going to be because of Teel, Edgar Quero, the Montgomerys, and Roch Cholowsky.

(Pause for dramatic effect)

That’s a lie! Of course it’s going to be because of them. A better way of putting that might be to say that if the 2027 or 2028 Sox want a shot at being 100-win juggernaut instead of a 92-win question mark or 84-win flop, it’s not going be because the top prospects clicked; it’s going to be because someone like Brooks Baldwin turned into a poor-but-not-necessarily-crazy-poor man’s Ben Zobrist, and nobody saw it coming. Nobody but us, of course.

It could just as easily be that Baldwin reverts to the 60 wRC+ hitter he was for the first 80-odd games of his big league career. It’s almost famously common knowledge by now that September stats have, broadly speaking, no real correlation with performance the following season. But hey, tell that to Lenyn Sosa in September 2024.

If Baldwin does anything in 2026 akin to how Sosa followed up on that scorching-hot September, there’s no telling how the calculus on this team’s roster might be changed seven months from now.

While much of the attention through the first few weeks of Spring Training has been on the Braves pitching staff, the Braves offense has been the source of much success so far. Power has been on full display from just about everyone, from newcomers such as Mike Yastrzemski to emerging prospects like John Gil. Of course, the mainstays are also getting in on the fun, including Austin Riley. Riley went deep for the second time on Sunday, and has looked locked in so far this Spring. If Riley can return to his 2022-2023 form, the Braves offense can be among the best in baseball once again.

Braves News

Mark Bowman looks at how top pitching prospect J.R. Ritchie could be a potential option in the majors sooner than later as he continues to impress in Spring Training.

Braves made their first round of cuts, including reliever Hunter Stratton and utilityman Nacho Alvarez. Most of the cuts were to free players up to join their respective WBC clubs.

MLB News

MLB.com released their WBC power rankings.

Konnor Griffin’s potential has been on full display

The Cardinals extended manager Oli Marmol for two more years.

We know Freddie Freeman has a plan for things. He wants to play four more seasons (two beyond his current contract with the Dodgers) and get to 3,000 hits. He’d like to get 47 plate appearances this spring.

But sometimes even Freeman gets caught off guard with thinking too far ahead.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times argued that Freeman should wear a Dodger cap once he’s inducted into the Hall of Fame rather than a cap of the Atlanta Braves, for whom he played 12 seasons. I enjoyed this part of their exchange:

“I’ve only been here for four years, and you’re already talking about this?” Freeman said. “That makes me happy because that means I’ve done my job well.”

Consider this a bonus daily question to answer in the comments below: What cap should Freeman wear when he’s inducted into the Hall of Fame?

Start your Monday off by seeing the reception Shohei Ohtani received when arrived in Osaka for Japan’s final two tuneups before the World Baseball Classic, from Theo DeRosa at MLB.com.

Japan’s first WBC game in Pool C is Friday at 2 a.m. PT, televised by FS1.

Speaking of World Baseball Classic news, old friend Ryan Yarbrough was added to the United States roster for pool play, replacing Twins pitcher Joe Ryan. Yarbrough pitched for the Dodgers in parts of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and is currently with the Yankees.

A month ago, most Orioles fans probably had no idea who Blaze Alexander was. After all, how many of us pay close attention to the utility players on the 4th-place team in the NL West? Most Orioles fans’ interest in the Diamondbacks likely ended last season just after former friend Corbin Burnes tore his UCL in early June. And yet, the newly-acquired utility man is set to play a big role with the O’s in 2026.

Of all the trades Mike Elias & Co. pulled off in the offseason, the one for Alexander seemingly caught the fanbase most offguard. Trades for Taylor Ward and Shane Baz filled obvious needs. The trade for Alexander, however, saw the Baltimore weaken an already shaky bullpen by dealing middle reliever Kade Strowd (and minor leaguers Wellington Aracena and José Mejia) to Arizona. The fanbase started to warm to the idea of Alexander as we collectively realized that he’s a plus defender who can cover 2B, 3B, SS and CF.

Then the injuries in the infield started to pile up. Ten days after the Orioles acquired Alexander, it was announced that Jackson Holliday would likely start the season on the IL after breaking the hamate bone in his right hand. Nine days after that, Elias announced that Jordan Westburg will miss at least the first month of the season with a partial UCL tear—which would sideline him for the whole season if it requires Tommy John surgery. And so, in the span of three weeks, the newest Oriole infielder went from nice depth piece to likely Opening Day starter.

In his brief big league career, Alexander has been more about potential than actual production. In just under 400 career ABs, the 26-year-old has a triple slash of .237/.32232/.366 with 50 runs, 19 doubles, 10 HRs and 50 RBIs. His numbers at the plate mirror his power-over-hit profile as a prospect, as he had a 40-grade hit tool in the minors compared to a 50-grade power tool. His best tools, however, were his 55-grade speed and 70-grade throwing arm. We’ve seen both of those tools play at the big-league level, though the plus speed hasn’t translated into many stolen bases (seven in 14 attempts).

Once Holliday is healthy in April, Alexander’s long-term role will largely depend on two things: how well he hits left-handed pitching and how well Coby Mayo adapts to playing 3B. In 145 career ABs against LHPs, Alexander holds a .269 average and .800 OPS. His positional versatility means he could spell Holliday at 2B or Colton Cowser in CF against southpaws, depending on which of the Orioles regular starters struggles more against lefties.

Mayo’s ability to stick at 3B (assuming Westburg can’t avoid surgery) will ultimately determine if Alexander is a regular starter for the majority of 2026. The South Florida native Mayo undoubtedly has higher offensive upside than his fellow Floridian Alexander. Mayo finished last season hitting .301 with a .941 OPS in September, and has carried that hot streak into this Spring Training by hitting .500 with a 1.095 in Grapefruit League play.

The question that will ultimately decide Alexander’s playing time is whether the coaching staff is comfortable with Mayo’s defense at third. New skipper Craig Albernaz has used Mayo almost exclusively at 3B this Spring. And while the 24-year-old seems to be getting a little more comfortable at the hot corner as we get closer to Opening Day, his defense is still noticeably worse than what Westburg and Alexander offer. If Mayo continues to provide passable defense, Alexander returns to the super utility role he was originally intended to play. If not, Alexander could find himself as the regular starting 3B going forward.

FanGraphs and Baseball Reference both project Alexander to set career highs in games played and plate appearances with the O’s this season. Last year with the Diamondbacks, the 26-year-0ld played in 74 games and registered 266 PAs. FanGraphs projects Alexander to play in 117 games with 459 PAs. Baseball Reference is slightly less aggressive with its projections, projecting Alexander to compile 352 PAs in 2026—a number more in line with what we’ve seen from Ramón Urías the last two seasons. The full projections are as follows

• FanGraphs ZiPS: 459 PAs, .237/.322/.369, 10 HR, 48 RBI, 2.1 fWAR
• Baseball Reference: 352 PAs, .245/.326/.387, 9 HR, 39 RBI

The Orioles don’t need Alexander to become a completely different player than what he showed in Arizona. They acquired him to be a more defensively versatile Jorge Mateo and provide the O’s much-needed infield depth. If he can do that while providing some offensive value against LHPs, he’ll more than earn his spot on the roster. In fact, Baltimore would probably prefer that Alexander not be forced to assume a bigger role, because that’d mean either Mayo made a significant leap defensively or Westburg avoided surgery.

And yet, we can also hold out hope that Alexander will become the unexpected, unsung hero of the 2026 Orioles. We’ve seen players like Mateo, Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano all take advantage of unexpected playing time to carve out bigger roles on Orioles teams of yesteryears. There’s no reason Alexander can’t be that player for this year’s Orioles.

Happy March, everyone! It might seem like Spring Training just got underway, but we’re also already in the same month where MLB games will return to our lives after the long drought of winter. Plus, we’re officially in World Baseball Classic week, as the games will get going this Thursday. We look forward to seeing a lot of Tigers players compete for their countries, and hopefully not make enemies of their own Detroit teammates along the way.

We’ve got some fun tidbits today, including a look at the team’s hottest prospect, and also a seasoned veteran who is relying on his teammates to give him feedback and get him season ready. Plus a look at which team (and which player) might be benefitting the most from the ABS system.

Let’s just get right into it.

Detroit Tigers News

• FanGraphs breaks down the top 47 prospects in the Tigers’ minor league system.
• Speaking of which, let’s take a little glimpse into the future shall we…

• Tarik Skubal had some high praise for McGonigle after that showy display.
• Keith Law shared an article on the prospects most likely to make a major league difference in 2026, and here’s what he had to say about McGonigle:

The No. 2 prospect in baseball has raked everywhere in the minors, only slowed by injuries in the two years since the Tigers took him with their second pick in the 2023 draft. He isn’t blocked by a real shortstop in Detroit — the Javier Báez comeback didn’t last, as he hit .223/.230/.318 in the second half with one (1) walk and 46 strikeouts in 153 PA. McGonigle’s not a great shortstop defensively, but he’ll be passable for now, and his bat should more than make up for his lack of plus range.

• Verlander is putting in the reps to get ready for the season.

• The players aren’t the only ones getting into season condition, as our beloved broadcast crew decided to get an early start.

AL Central News

• Interesting little bit of data for the Twins here.

• I’ve seen custom shoes, but this is something new.

• The Royals are taking a chance on Starling Marte for the season.

MLB News

• Old friend Max Scherzer is heading back to the Blue Jays.
• Here are the projected Opening Day lineups and rotations for every club.
• Mike Trout is looking to prove he’s still got more in the tank in 2026.
• We love a good throwback, and this story about a pre-teen Paul Skenes catching a no-hitter from Pete Crow-Armstrong and Masyn Winn is a great one.
• Aaron Judge is bound and determined to win the whole thing at the World Baseball Classic.
• Are the Rockies finally learning to embrace analytics?
• Hinchliffe Stadium, once an iconic Negro Leagues venue, has been saved from disrepair and has come back better than ever.
• Jesus Luzardo said the only way he would participate in the WBC was with Team Venezuela, declining to play for Team USA.
• Shohei Ohtani treated a large crowd in Japan to a little batting practice spectacle.
• The Dodgers don’t expect Blake Snell to be ready for Opening Day.
• Some breakout pitching candidates for 2026. ($)
• A quick peek at how things are going for umpires in Spring Training.

• Pretty big day for card collectors…

Cole Ragans is healthy and ready to compete, writes Jaylon Thompson.

The All-Star lefty — who missed a significant time in 2025 — is back. “I’m healthy and I feel good,” Ragans said.

“I’ve got some things to work on, obviously, but going into the offseason with a clear conscience of being healthy is a big thing.”

Anne Rogers writes that he wants to improve his slider.

“It was really good and performed really well to both sides, lefties and righties,” Ragans said. “I could take it in the zone, out of the zone. It was firm. It was exactly what I wanted.”

In ‘24, the pitch was more inconsistent for Ragans, but he made do with what he had and still got fairly good results with it. He tweaked the grip heading into last year, and it was back to getting swing and miss and some chase in Ragans’ limited time on the mound – but the movement wasn’t what Ragans wanted.

“It got super depthy and was almost a baby curveball,” Ragans said. “… It was bigger and inconsistent. And just depthy, just straight down. I got some chase with it, some swing and miss with it, but it’s more so about putting it in the zone. I could never throw an 0-0 slider last year. In the grand scheme of things, I didn’t do well with that. And it’s something I do want to do.”

Craig Brown was blown away by the exit velocity on a ball hit by Jac Caglianone last week.

Add up the instances and what Jac Caglianone did to that baseball on Thursday has happened just 27 times in the regular season since 2008.

Sure, it’s spring training, but Jac Caglianone hit a baseball 120.2 mph! It was 120.2 mph!!! That moment, that destruction, is why the Royals are going to put him in the lineup pretty much every single day. Oh, and the fences at The K are coming in. What I’m saying is that when it comes to Cags, keep the faith. This could be quite fun.

David Lesky looks at how the Stephen Kolek injury could affect the rotation depth.

I think Bergert is the clear six right now, fighting with Noah Cameron to make the Opening Day rotation and ready if any of the others get hurt during spring. The seven now is either Luinder Avila, who Matt Quatraro continues to rave about, Mason Black, who has been outstanding this spring, or Bailey Falter, who is said to look great. I mentioned Kudrna had a tough day yesterday, well, he’s had a tough spring overall with eight runs on nine hits allowed in 3.1 innings with three walks. He’s…out. Steven Zobac is the other starter who could enter the fray, but I think he’s more of a midseason depth add.

Luinder Avila has been added to the Team Venezuela roster.

Carter Jensen is the only Royals prospect who was named on a composite of top 100 prospect rankings.

The Cardinals extend manager Oliver Marmol for two more years.

The Padres add outfielder Alex Verdugo on a minor league deal.

Mike Trout wants to have elite speed again.

Will the NL East be a three-team race?

Who will be the closer for the Rangers?

Which teams have the most 26-and-under talent in baseball?

The Rockies are embracing analytics to figure out how they can use their unique home field to their advantage.

Ryan Yarbrough joins the Team USA World Baseball Classic roster to replace Joe Ryan.

How Negro League ballpark Hinchliffe Stadium was brought back to life.

The Cardinals are unveiling “all-you-can-eat” seats.

Paul Skenes once caught a no-hitter thrown by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Masyn Winn as kids.

Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini is sentenced to life in prison for murder.

Longtime umpire Bruce Froemming died this week at age 86.

Why eligibility and contracts over college athletes will continue to be litigated.

The Atlanta Falcons fire assistant coach LaTroy Lewis following sexual assault allegations.

Why have concert ticket prices gotten so expensive?

After taxing sugary foods, Thailand is set to tax salty foods.

Most cities aren’t getting as much winter weather as they used to.

Your song of the day is Spoon with Wild.

The Houston Astros are reportedly signing right-handed pitcher Danel Reyes, according to Francys Romero on X. Reyes is an 18-year-old arm out of Cuba with intriguing upside.

The 6-foot-2 right-hander is viewed as an athletic pitcher with a fastball that already reaches 93 MPH. He first emerged as a notable prospect while pitching for Cuba’s 2022 U-15 World Cup team and has continued to draw attention for his projectable frame and arm strength. The deal is currently pending a physical.

Reyes has been battling to sign since 2023 and appears he will have a deal with Houston. Reyes adds another high-upside, projectable arm to the Astros’ system and will further bolster an international signing class that has already featured several notable additions.

What are your thoughts on the move?

Happy March, everyone! It feels like Spring Training only just got started, but we’re already at World Baseball Classic week as the games get underway on Thursday March 5th. It’s crazy to think that we were just complaining how it felt like winter would never end, and now we’re in the same month that will se MLB games return at last!

We’ve got some fun tidbits to get your week started, as Aaron Judge shares his committment to bringing a WBC victory home for Team USA, while Shohei Ohtani was busy dazzling Japanese fans with his batting practice as he prepared for the big event.

Plus, a little look at the likely lineups for Opening Day (never too soon to get excited), and the Cardinals have decided to stick with Oliver Marmol for at least another two years.

So let’s just jump right into today’s news.

• Here are the projected Opening Day lineups and rotations for every club. (MLB)
• Bryan Hoch reports that Aaron Judge is determined to lead Team USA to a win in the World Baseball Classic.
• Active steals leader Starling Marte has found himself a home with the Royals for the 2026 season. Story by Blake Silverman.
• A crowd in Japan were delighted to get to observe a Shohei Ohtani batting practice. Story by Kyle Koster.
• The Cardinals have extended their contract with manager Oliver Marmol for another two years. (ESPN)
• This is some interesting data.

• Rhett Bollinger reports that Mike Trout is hoping to regain his sprinting speed this season.
• Keegan Matheson shares that team friendships are on hold as players head to the WBC, where Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has told teammate Kazuma Okamoto “Me and you are enemies.”
• Dan Gartland looks at the gorgeous restoration of Hinchliffe Stadium.
• The Dodgers don’t expect Blake Snell to be ready for Opening Day. (AP)
• Eno Sarris looks at some breakout pitching candidates for the 2026 season. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• This is going to be an interesting season.

• Paul Skenes once caught a no-hitter? You bet, and it was thrown by none other than Pete Crow-Armstrong and Masyn Winn. Story by Thomas Harrigan.
• Stephanie Apstein looks at how the Rockies are learning to embrace analytics heading into the new season, in a hopes of recovering from a brutal 2025.
• Ryan Phillips reports that Jesus Luzardo declined to participate in the WBC for Team USA, saying he would only play for Team Venezuela.
• Hot prospect Konnor Griffin just keeps dazzling with yet another home run in Spring Training. (ESPN)
• Jayson Stark wonders if the Blue Jays can actually be better in 2026. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Big day for card collectors.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.

The Brewers ended last season with a prominent figure in their first base rotation that no one saw coming, who wasn’t even in the organization at the beginning of last season. But Andrew Vaughn, who seized the job after Rhys Hoskins (who has now departed the club) was injured and the Brewers traded Aaron Civale for him, figures to play a big part in 2026 as well. Vaughn presents one of the team’s biggest questions for this season: Can he come anywhere close to repeating his production from last season?

There are a couple of other players who figure to man first base for the Brewers at some point this season, one of whom may be hoping to get a significant — and probably final — opportunity with the major league club. Let’s check out the names in play for games at first base this season, and take a brief glance toward the future.

Andrew Vaughn

We’re all familiar with Vaughn’s story by now. No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft. A top 20 overall prospect. Debuted two years later at 23. Topped 15 homers in each of his first four seasons. But his progress stagnated fairly quickly, and as an offensive player, Vaughn appeared to have peaked early — his best OPS+ to date was in 2022, his second year, when he hit .271/.321/.429 with 17 homers in 134 games. Add to it that Vaughn was first used in the outfield by the White Sox — where he should absolutely not have been playing — and was then moved to first base, where he didn’t grade out particularly well defensively. His start in 2025 was so bad that Chicago demoted him to the minors, and then took the opportunity to send him to Milwaukee for Civale.

At the time of the trade, Vaughn didn’t figure to play into the Brewers’ plans. Hoskins was healthy, and Vaughn had given no reason to play him. He was only 27, but it looked like his career was in jeopardy. But getting out of Chicago turned out to be a very good thing for Vaughn: he showed some life at Triple-A Nashville, and when Hoskins got hurt just after the Fourth of July, Vaughn got his opportunity and did not disappoint.

In his first 33 games with Milwaukee, Vaughn hit .325/.394/.600, hit six doubles and nine homers, and knocked in a remarkable 35 runs. He showed a knack for getting the big hit, and “King Vaughn” quickly became a cult hero of sorts. While he cooled off a little in the last month-and-a-half of the season, Vaughn still posted a 142 wRC+ and 1.9 fWAR in just 64 games as a Brewer.

The question now is whether those 64 games were a blip or whether Vaughn is a good offensive player who needed to get out of a bad situation in Chicago. He has shown an ability to hit over his career, but in four-plus years with the White Sox, he had an OPS+ under 100 (97). That’s a long track record, and the major reason to be skeptical of his one-third-of-a-season in Milwaukee. That skepticism is apparent in Vaughn’s projections; for example, ZiPS projects Vaughn for a 100 wRC+ (20 homers, but just a .244/.305/.413 batting line) and 0.5 WAR. Others are similar.

But the optimistic take is that the wake-up call of getting sent to the minors, plus a better coaching staff in Milwaukee, has unlocked Vaughn’s significant bat-to-ball skills. One way this is apparent is in Vaughn’s walk rate, which jumped from 3.6% to 9.4% between his time in Chicago and Milwaukee last season; the 9.4% walk rate he posted in Milwaukee would have been a career high over a full season. Vaughn also wasn’t, apparently, a beneficiary of good luck last season: he really was scalding the ball. There’s a ton of red on his 2025 Statcast page, and maybe he was just on a heater, but he wasn’t getting bloop singles or benefitting from bad defense.

That’s the biggest reason for optimism here, and he’s off to a good start this spring: he is hitting .429/.529/.643 through five games.

Jake Bauers

Another player who needs to prove that late-season improvements were for real is Vaughn’s backup/platoon mate, Jake Bauers.

Bauers was another highly regarded prospect — he was in the top 50 in Baseball America’s 2018 rankings — but he was never able to come through on his promise after debuting in 2018 and has bounced around the league ever since. The Brewers, with whom he landed in 2024, are his fifth major league team.

Pat Murphy seemed to take a liking to Bauers in 2024; he had a good, reliable glove at first base and had enough pop that he could run into a ball, making him a good option off the bench. But the overall numbers still weren’t great: despite 12 homers in only 346 plate appearances, Bauers hit just .199, had an 84 OPS+, and had -0.4 WAR according to Baseball Reference.

But he stuck around in 2025, and his overall numbers improved in 2025, and much of those improvements came after a stint on the IL that caused him to miss about a month between late July and late August. After returning, though, Bauers smoked the ball: he hit .321/.433/.500 with four doubles, two homers, and 10 RBIs in 67 plate appearances between his return on August 23 and the end of the season. That carried into the postseason; he was 4-for-13 (.308) with a double and a homer in five postseason games.

Were his late-season adjustments real? Bauers looked like a real threat in the postseason when hardly anyone else on the team was hitting. He has the tools to be a solid offensive player if he’s figured something out: he has a solid .179 isolated power number over the last three seasons, and should be a source of homers for the club, even in limited duty.

Bauers also offers the Brewers flexibility in one other respect: while he is by no means a good outfielder, he is capable of playing there, and indeed appears to be a preferred defensive option in left field to the aging Christian Yelich at this point.

For now, Bauers and Vaughn are likely platoon at first. Bauers posted a .769 OPS against right-handed pitching in 2025 (and was given only 17 plate appearances against lefties) while Vaughn crushed lefties, with an .859 OPS (and just .661 against right-handers).

Tyler Black

Tyler Black is doing everything he can to get a job this spring, but it’s very possible that it won’t be entirely up to him. Strong minor league seasons in 2022 and 2023 got Black into top 100 prospect lists heading into 2024, but a lack of opportunities and an offensive step back at Triple-A Nashville have hurt his stock. And while he did get a brief major league debut in 2024, Black has appeared in just 23 games over the past two seasons. Now he’s 25, and it feels like if the Brewers don’t see something from him in a sustained way at the major league level, he might be on his way out of the organization.

Black’s superpower is a fantastic batter’s eye. He’s got a 15.7% walk percentage in five minor league seasons, and that’s translated to the majors (in an admittedly tiny sample size), where he’s walked 12 times in 70 plate appearances (17.1% rate). But Black doesn’t boast the kind of power you’d like from a major league first baseman: while he’s a good contact hitter, he has just average power, with 42 homers in 386 minor league games (and a career high of 18). He hit just five home runs in 2025, one of which came while he was rehabbing at the Arizona Complex League.

But back to this spring: it’s only been four games, but he’s 8-for-12 with four extra-base hits (two doubles, a triple, a homer) in 13 plate appearances. Of course, all of those at-bats came in February, when pitchers aren’t exactly locked in, but it seems like Black is making a statement: “Please don’t forget about me.”

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to see where Black figures into the Brewers’ plans, barring an injury to Bauers. He has played third base in the minors, but if he were a viable defensive option there, the Brewers would likely not have signed Luis Rengifo. All accounts are that his defense at third is not a viable major league option; his future is likely at first base or in one of the outfield corners.

If a Brewer regular does get injured, Black is likely to be one of the primary alternatives: he might get the first call with an injury to an outfielder, a first baseman, or to designated hitter Christian Yelich. Obviously, we hope no one gets injured, but Black is still intriguing enough that many fans — myself included — would like to see him get an extended run in the majors to see what he can do. Whether it happens this season or not is a major question, but as Black approaches his 26th birthday in late July, he may be running out of time with the Brewer organization.

Who might be coming next?

Beyond Black, the Brewers have several intriguing minor league hitters who are either already playing first base or may end up there. Very quickly:

Luke Adams was drafted in the 12th round in 2022 out of high school, and in his first three full seasons as a Brewer minor leaguer, he has shown off an incredible amount of patience: if Black’s 15.7% minor league walk percentage is impressive, what does that make Adams’ Soto-like 17.6% walk rate? Adams’ power needs to develop — he’s hit 11 home runs in each of the last three seasons, though he did that in significantly fewer games in 2025 than in the two seasons prior — but if he can develop into his considerable 6-foot-4 frame, he could be a major league player.

The only other two players I’m going to mention here are both considered third basemen at this point, but may or may not stick there. The first is last year’s first-round pick, Andrew Fischer. Fischer (who hit a bomb in Saturday’s spring training game) was one of the best college hitters in the country in 2025 and then hit .311/.402/.446 in his professional debut in 19 games at High-A Wisconsin. His offensive game is tantalizing, and he could progress quickly through the Brewers’ system. He figures to start at Double-A Biloxi this season. He might be able to stick at third base, but given how much middle-infield talent exists in the Brewers’ minor league system at this point, a move to first might be down the line.

Defensively, Brock Wilken is in the same boat. He’s been playing exclusively third base in the Brewers’ system, but while he’s viewed as capable there, it doesn’t figure to be one of his strengths. Wilken had an impressive season in 2025, after his 2024 season was derailed by a pitch to the face in April of that season. In 2025 at Double-A Biloxi, Wilken played only 79 games but hit 18 homers and 17 doubles in just 344 plate appearances; he also walked a whole bunch, and put together a .226/.387/.489 batting line. The Brewers started Wilken at first base in their spring training contest on Monday, so even though he’s played exclusively third in the minors, they’re obviously starting to think about him as a first baseman. He figures to start at Triple-A Nashville and could conceivably make a major league debut this season.