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TAMPA, FL – There was no spring training surprise with Giancarlo Stanton in this Yankees camp.

“Ready to go," said Stanton on Tuesday, about the one-year anniversary when he arrived in Florida with elbow issues that delayed his entry until mid-June.

As a slugging right-handed hitter, the designated hitter’s “presence in the middle of the lineup is really big," said manager Aaron Boone, who “really noticed it" in 2024.

Following a lost 2023 season, Stanton was “such a presence" behind Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in 2024, culminating in another terrific postseason – seven homers in 14 games.

Last year, Stanton clubbed 24 homers with 66 RBIs in just 77 games, and his .944 OPS was the highest of his eight-year Yankees career.

Here are five things to know as he enters his ninth season in pinstripes:

Giancarlo Stanton’s elbow management

Entering his age 36 season, Stanton reported to camp leaner and “ready to go, ready for a good buildup in spring."

Stanton is still managing his elbow condition; it was likened to a severe bout of tennis elbow last year, and “as I said before, it’s not going to go anywhere.

“There’s always going to be maintenance, but it won’t hinder me from any work. That’s what’s most important."

Giancarlo Stanton’s defensive availability

Last August, Aaron Judge’s flexor strain put Stanton back in play as a part-time outfielder.

This year, Boone can see Stanton getting some outfield starts and “there’s even a chance we get some outfield" play during the exhibition season.

It’ll probably be a week before Stanton gets in a Grapefruit League game, with Boone keen on slow-playing certain veterans.

But during the season, “we want to keep that (outfield) option going," said Boone. “Best case, we probably almost never have to use him because everyone’s healthy and doing their thing, but we know that’s a little unrealistic."

Boone also believes the occasional outfield starts “can keep him healthy… I think it helps him," and Stanton agrees.

There were times when Stanton wanted to play more outfield (he made 18 starts), but he’s on board with any plan “for us to be the best and for me to stay out there."

Giancarlo Stanton’s Hall of Fame chances

Stanton’s 453 career home runs are the most by any active player.

He could potentially reach the 500 home run club in 2027, and his current hitter comps through age 35 via Baseball-Reference.com include Hall of Famers Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell and Harmon Killebrew.

As for milestones like 500 homers, Stanton said he’s only focused on “the next one," and the one after that.

“Those (personal) numbers are not the same as ‘We’re going to win the World Series,’" said Stanton. “That’s the way I’m looking at it."

Giancarlo Stanton’s incomplete career

Like his veteran teammates Judge, Gerrit Cole and Paul Goldschmidt, Stanton is still seeking that elusive World Series ring.

“The goal is a championship,’’ said Stanton. “But you’ve got to do what’s in between. Not (just) to get there, but complete it.’’

And in that sense, Stanton said his story “is still being written’’ since “the point of being a Yankee is being a champion.

“There’s always going to be a stain there without that.’’

Giancarlo Stanton contract

In December 2017, the Yankees' blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins brought Stanton to the Bronx, with the Yanks absorbing nearly all of what was a then-record 13-year, $325 million contract.

There are only two guaranteed years left, with Stanton owed a total of $64 million - $30 million of which is to be paid by the Marlins.

For luxury tax purposes, Stanton's contract is still a $25 million annual hit on the Yanks' payroll.

After the 2027 season, the Yankees hold a $25 million club option on Stanton for 2028, or they can buy him out for $10 million.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Giancarlo Stanton Hall of Fame? Yankees slugger ready for 2026

Luzardo star of show with ‘electric' performance against live hitters originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The intensity ramped up significantly during the third day of full squad workouts at Phillies spring training.

Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter faced live hitters on Wednesday morning, putting on a show for the fans in attendance at BayCare Ballpark’s main field.

And make no mistake – Luzardo was the star of the show.

“He was really, really good,” said Brandon Marsh, who struck out looking against Luzardo. “You couldn’t see any of his spins, which is hard for a hitter. His fastball was electric, it exploded. He gave me a really good sequence and you just tip your cap to him.”

So how do you hit Luzardo when he has all of his pitches working?

“You don’t,” Marsh said. “Short and sweet, you don’t hit him when he’s on. When he hits his spot and puts it where he wants to, he’s as good as they come. That was really, really exciting to see that out of him today.”

Luzardo was flat out dominant in his first live session of the spring, keeping hitters off balance with a dizzying combination of his high-90’s fastball and lethal breaking pitches.

“I felt great,” Luzardo said following Wednesday’s workout. “Just commanding the zone and commanding all of my pitches. When you check those off early in camp that’s obviously huge. The rest just comes with experience throughout camp. But health and command are the two big ones for me for my first live (session). It was a nice little boost of confidence going into games soon.”

Luzardo’s performance caught everyone’s attention, including his manager.

“Luzardo was, I mean, really good,” Rob Thomson said. “Everything about it.”

It begs the question – how much better can Luzardo be this year following a 2025 season during which he set career-highs in starts, wins, innings pitched and strikeouts?

“I’m looking forward to this year,” Luzardo said. “Last year was great. But I’ve got a lot of work to do this year.”

Evaluating Nola and Painter

Nola and Painter weren’t as dominant as Luzardo on Wednesday but they each attacked hitters from the outset, something that tends to be rare for the first live session of the spring.

“They haven’t seen hitters in five months,” Thomson said. “Typically 60-65 percent of the time, pitchers walk the first hitter they face. It’s fascinating. These guys didn’t do that. They went right after the hitters. Nola’s command was really good. He threw some backdoor cutters to lefties that hit the spot. Changeup was really good, fastball was really good.”

Painter allowed quite a bit of loud contact to several hitters. It didn’t appear to be a particularly great live session for a young player whose every move this spring will be met with heavy scrutiny.

But overall Thomson was impressed with Painter’s outing.     

“His stuff was good, his control was good,” Thomson said. “He threw a lot of strikes and filled up the zone. He missed some spots early (in the session) but he commanded the ball better late.”

Pitching Plans

Thomson announced that righthander Bryse Wilson will start the Phillies’ first Grapefruit League game of the spring on Saturday against the Blue Jays in Dunedin. The 28-year old Wilson signed a one-year contract with the Phillies in the offseason. He posted a 6.65 ERA in five starts and 15 relief appearances for the White Sox last season.

The Phillies will go with a bullpen game in their spring home opener against the Pirates on Sunday. Thomson noted that Taijuan Walker will likely start next Wednesday at home against the Tigers. Walker will be the first member of the Phillies projected starting rotation to see game action this spring.

When Mickey Morandini pulled it off, it came so quickly, even the announcers didn’t realize what happened.

And who could blame them? An unassisted triple play had only happened eight times in Major League Baseball history.

Why are we talking about Morandini’s magical moment? Because, on Tuesday, a ticket to the Sept. 20, 1992 game featuring Morandini’s Philadelphia Phillies against Barry Bonds’ Pittsburgh Pirates — sold for a whopping $1,540.

To put that in perspective of Pirates tickets, the most recent sale of Bill Mazeroski’s Game 7 World Series walk-off was $945. Paul Skenes' rookie debut ticket last sold for $708. But unlike those two, PSA had never graded an exemplar from this game.

At the time, Morandini, who caught a fly ball from Jeff King, doubled off a runner who left second and tagged Bonds on his way to second, was also ticked about not thinking about the memorabilia.

Video shows Morandini, who batted .268 in 11 years in the majors, flipping the ball up in the air as he runs by the mound.

“That was stupid on my part,” he told reporters after the game. “It was probably hit as a foul ball to some fan.”

Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.

The first piece of Nationals related content I saw was DJ Herz doing some throwing. This is great because it shows he is making progress in his Tommy John recovery. However, what interested me was the black band on his left elbow. Herz is not the only pitcher to be wearing one of these bands. In fact, it has been common this spring.

DJ Herz (recovering from Tommy John) has the black elbow band on, and is getting some work in this morning. pic.twitter.com/1llbUYS5G1

— Ryan Shenker (@RyanShenker) February 18, 2026

I wanted to learn more about this device and see why so many Nats pitchers are using this thing. What I found was very interesting. The device is a Pulse workload monitor made by Driveline. It costs $320 and is designed to help pitchers know their limits. Pulse measures arm speed and workload metrics. If a pitcher’s arm speed drops unexpectedly, you now know when to take a break.

This is a really cool device and is in line with the Nats new vision. We wrote about the Nats Driveline connection earlier this month, and this is just another example of that. While the Nats want to add stuff to their pitchers, they are also going to be aware of the potential injury risk that comes with that.

Seen this a lot in pictures this spring with Nats pitchers. They are driveline pulse sensors and they measure workload on the arms. More much needed tech added for the Nats! https://t.co/Eyoftg38J3

— Nationals Source (@NationalsSource) February 18, 2026

Based on my research, I think the implementation of this device is being driven by Pitching Coach Simon Mathews. Driveline mentions that the Reds were early adopters of this device. Kyle Boddy, the founder of Driveline actually worked for the Reds for a bit. There is an article from 2021 describing how the Reds had been implementing the Pulse device.  

Mathews actually joined the Reds organization in 2021, and was involved in their rehab work for pitchers. That means he is very aware of this device and is likely a big proponent of it. It is no coincidence that it is all over Nats camp now. With that rehab background, Mathews is putting an emphasis on arm health.

However, this device is not just for pitchers with injuries. Healthy Nats arms have also been using it to track their workload. On one of the first days of camp, the Nats posted a photo of Brad Lord throwing, and he had the Pulse band on. It is easier to find a Nats pitcher wearing one than it is to see them without it.

baseball things are happening pic.twitter.com/PudV98hLsf

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) February 14, 2026

This is such a cool contraption and it is one of many pieces of new technology the Nats have. Pulse obviously helps you catch potential injuries, but it can also help you optimize throwing plans. It allows you to know how far you can push a player while not risking injury or overuse. Optimizing performance is so important for pitchers, and this is a great tool for that.

It is not just the big leaguers using these things though. I saw a video of Nats third round pick Landon Harmon throwing a bullpen, and the 19 year old had a Pulse band on his right elbow. Honestly, this tool might be even more important for young pitchers who do not totally understand their limits yet.

#Nationals 2025 3rd round pick Landon Harmon, 19, is throwing absolute gas for strikes this morning. pic.twitter.com/5o0mDWJIUh

— Ryan Shenker (@RyanShenker) February 17, 2026

That is not to say it can’t help veterans. There is a cool video from a couple years ago of Reds pitcher Nick Martinez talking about how much the Pulse band has helped him. For so long, the Nats were not taking part in these kinds of innovative practices. Now, with Paul Toboni at the wheel, the Nats are all in on innovating.

Honestly, keeping pitchers healthy might be the next great frontier for baseball minds. We know so much about how to optimize stuff, but it comes at the cost of pitchers’ elbows. If we can find a way to keep guys healthy while throwing nasty stuff, you can get an edge over the competition. The Pulse monitors are only the first step in that process, but it is cool that the Nats are trying this out.

Last season saw Chase Burns go from ‘highly talented high draft pick who’d never thrown a pro pitch’ to perhaps the game’s top rated pitching prospect prior to making his big league debut with the Cincinnati Reds in late June. Meanwhile, Tyson Lewis hit balls so damn hard in Arizona in his first action as a pro that by the time he wrapped play in Daytona he’d found himself on Top 100 lists all over the place.

Alfredo Duno mashed his way to the top of the Reds list, emerging from a two-year odyssey to be a clear-cut catcher of the future with a bat featuring as much power as anyone, anywhere.

In a similar vein, Mike Sirota – who was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Gavin Lux deal – burst onto the scene in a huge, huge way, and now finds himself a consensus Top 100 prospect overall. Oops.

It happens each and every year, players who go from unknowns to household names (at least with prospect wonks), players who live up to the billing and more.

As we just wrapped the 2026 edition of our Community Prospect Rankings around here, who’s your pick among Reds prospects to be the biggest riser between now and season’s end? Could it be Cam Collier or Edwin Arroyo, two bats coming off power-sapping injuries that finally find a healthy swing once again?

Will Steele Hall, who only finds himself on the fringes of some Top 100 overall lists, hit the ground running and prove early the faith the Reds scouts placed in him?

Could we see an arm like Aaron Watson show his polished approach is ready to move fast?

Or, might we see someone making the jump stateside from Dominican Summer League play show the world they’re ready to tackle full-season ball at a level previously thought to be above their head?

What say you? Which Cincinnati Reds prospect is poised for a breakout 2026?

Spring training is officially here now that the Detroit Tigers have reported to Lakeland to begin their preseason workouts. The excitement in the air is palpable as winter fades, leaving the smell of fresh-cut grass and clay wafting through the air.

Getting down to Florida — or Arizona — for the rebirth of baseball is in and of itself a significant experience for fans both young and old, offering an opportunity to see their favorite players in a more intimate setting than back in the big stadiums. It also offers those living up north a temporary respite from the frigid weather back home.

As you can see below, the Tigers are settling in and getting ready for the opening game this Saturday in Tampa against the New York Yankees.

📁 2026
└ 📁 spring training
└ 📁 home videos
└ 📼 return to TigerTown pic.twitter.com/HWC3nYfp0o

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) February 16, 2026

So today’s prompt for open discussion is the question of whether you, our cherished Bless You Boys reader, have ever been to spring training, and if so, what was your experience? Do you plan on trekking down I-75 this year to see the Olde English D in preseason action?

Those of you who have been around the site know that I cut my teeth at BYB providing spring training and minor league coverage from Lakeland. I have been going out there since I was a kid, and I enjoy every trip out there (as long as I can avoid I-4).

So now it is your turn! Let us know about your sentiments and experiences when it comes to spring training in the comments below.

Last January, the Dodgers were chasing Roki Sasaki and needed more international signing bonus money. That led them to utilizing their deep farm system to trade Dylan Campbell to the Phillies in return for some of that international money.

Now the Phillies have an interesting prospect.

Dylan Campbell – 80 (I promise you, that’s not Griffin Burkholder’s pie slice)
Mavis Graves – 31
Keaton Anthony – 15
Yoniel Curet – 13
Carson DeMartini – 13
Griffin Burkholder – 10
Alex McFarlane – 9
Seth Johnson – 4
Ramon Marquez – 4
Zach McCambley – 4
Devin Saltiban – 2

Having players that can be developed into utility guys are useful. Think about how much the team uses Edmundo Sosa. Were they to be able to develop someone like that, it would be invaluable as they would not have to worry about going out and signing one that is either on the downslope of his career or isn’t that good in the first place. Campbell may not get to the Sosa-esque level of utility production, but even getting someone like him to try and create a prospect is worthwhile endeavor. It’s something they really need to do more of.

2025 stats (w/ Lakewood and Reading)

514 PA, .215/.298/.367, 14 HR, 60 RBI, 33 SB, 9.9 BB%, 21.4 K%, 95 wC+

Fangraphs scouting report

Short levers and strong wrists give Campbell notable hitterish traits, and he told MLB Pipeline’s Sam Dykstra that he was working with a new swing in the AFL (for what it’s worth, it looked the same to me). Though he has kept his infielder’s mitt handy for occasional second base duty in pro ball, Campbell was introduced to first and third base for the first time in the AFL. A stocky athlete whose meaty torso and trunk taper down to toothpick ankles, Campbell runs well in a straight line but isn’t the best lateral mover. Defensive versatility is going to be important to his rosterability, but he played the corner infield so infrequently in Arizona that seeing him enough to satisfactorily evaluate his prospects there was difficult. Campbell is back on the radar as a potential bat-first utilityman who plays the outfield corners and hopefully at least one infield position.

With each new post, we’ll reveal who won the voting for that particular slot, then post new players for you to vote on, adding another one to the list each time until we get to our final tally of 20. Once we get to 20 top prospects, we’ll do an honorable mention post at the end. If a player gets traded to another team, we’ll just chuck him right on outta here and all the players will move up a spot. If a prospect gets acquired, we’ll ask where he should go on the list.

Probably the most important thing about this whole process – please vote. Give us a few minutes of your time, just click a button and then we can discuss other players and things in the comment section, but don’t forget – VOTE!

We are nearly at the point where we get to watch the Dodgers play actual games, with the exhibition slate starting this Saturday. Timelines over the last week-plus have been inundated with the sights and sounds from spring training, from backfield workouts to clubhouse speeches.

The Dodgers already brought back two of the players most of us expected to return, with Evan Phillips and Kiké Hernández signing last week, though both will miss the beginning of the season while rehabbing.

Also rehabbing is Tommy Edman after right ankle surgery, and his injured list stint to begin the season opens up an actual position battle in camp, for second base.

Blake Snell being a bit behind schedule in throwing at least puts his opening day readiness into question, which could open up another opportunity for another pitcher to earn some early starts in the rotation.

With 41 players on the 40-man roster (Phillips is on the 60-day injured list) and another 34 non-roster invitees after infielder Santiago Espinal signed this week, that means a whopping 75 players in big league camp at the moment at Camelback Ranch.

It feels like the Dodgers will make an active roster out of those 75 players currently in camp, but with just over five weeks remaining until opening day, there’s plenty of time remaining for more moves to be made. You never know who might hit the waiver wire in the next few weeks, maybe even a certain backup catcher.

Today’s question is what’s one roster move you think the Dodgers should make before opening day?

Javier Báez had little choice but offer a full mea culpa, even if the situation proved a little absurd.

"This is all my fault," he told reporters in Lakeland, Florida regarding a positive test for marijuana that will prevent him from representing Puerto Rico in next month's World Baseball Classic.

"I'm the one that failed the test. It really hurts my family, my reputation, but it's part of it. Other than that, I got a long season to go, and I got to prepare for that."

Báez, a Detroit Tigers 2025 All-Star, would not have been caught up in a positive test simply under MLB's auspices. The league has not tested members of the 40-man roster for marijuana and after the 2019 season stopped suspending minor league players for positive tests for pot.

Yet the World Baseball Softball Federation, which administers the WBC, still considers it a banned substance, even in this era when other governing bodies prefer players use marijuana rather than opioids to manage pain and other maladies.

His suspension landed at a particularly inopportune time for Puerto Rico's squad, which learned the same week that fellow All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor will not play due to insurance concerns; Lindor eventually suffered a hamate bone injury, anyway.

Báez, 33, is expected to play a key multi-positional role again for the Tigers. He just hoped to rep his home territory in the WBC before then.

"I understand the rules," says Báez, per the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. "It's not like I was taking steroids or anything to last longer or whatever. They made that decision.

"I'm fine with it – I mean, I'm not fine with it. I just keep my mouth shut."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tigers' Javy Baez takes blame for failed drug test that cost him WBC