DENVER, CO - AUGUST 01: Thomas Harrington #40 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Friday, August 1, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Casey Paul/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Pirates are beginning to shrink their spring training roster as Opening Day approaches.
On Monday, the Bucs announced several players being optioned to Triple-A, and others reassigned to minor league camp.
Eight moves were announced, most notably right-handed pitchers Antwone Kelly, Thomas Harrington, and Wilber Dotel sent to Triple-A Indianapolis, signaling they are highly unlikely to make the team.
Kelly was one of the most impressive pitchers in the organization last season, going from unranked in MLB Pipeline’s Pirates Top 30 to ranked No. 9 this season.
In 25 starts between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona, Kelly earned a 3.02 ERA, a .206 opponent batting average, 1.06 WHIP, and 116 strikeouts in 107.1 innings.
Kelly, 22, owns a 65-grade fastball, 50-grade slider, and 55-grade changeup on MLB Pipeline’s 20-80 scale. He is one of 20 pitchers on the Pirates’ 40-man roster.
Harrington made his MLB debut last season but struggled mightily, allowing 15 runs in 8.2 innings in three outings.
In two spring training outings, Harrington allowed a solo home run and struck out two in six innings, earning a 1.50 ERA. He’s a former Pirates top 10 prospect who now ranks No. 14 by MLB Pipeline and will be a key part of the Bucs’ depth this season.
Dotel ranks one spot ahead of Harrington and had a breakout season in Double-A. In 27 starts with the Altoona Curve, Dotel earned a 4.15 ERA with a .234 opponent batting average, 1.23 WHIP, 43 walks, and 131 strikeouts in 125.2 innings.
The Pirates put Dotel on the 40-man roster this winter to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. Dotel, 23, owns a 60-grade fastball, 50-grade slider, and 50-grade sweeper.
Pittsburgh also optioned right-handed pitcher Brandan Bidois and outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez. All five are on the 40-man. That’s the reason for the difference between being optioned to Indy or outrighted to minor league spring training.
We have made the following roster moves. There are now 54 players in Major League camp. pic.twitter.com/Wgg9WSQKqn
ROME (AP) — A stoppage time goal from Adam Marušić gave Lazio a 2-1 win over Sassuolo and snapped its four-game winless streak in Serie A on Monday.
Marušić headed in his first goal of the season after 90+3 minutes.
Lazio had not won since January or scored in over a month but Daniel Maldini opened the scoring two minutes after kickoff.
The son of AC Milan great Paolo Maldini pounced on a loose ball to fire home from close range.
However, Sassuolo’s in-form winger Armand Laurienté equalized just before halftime with a well-placed drive from 12 meters out. It upped his recent stats to two goals and four assists in his last four league games.
Lazio had the lion’s share of the chances but its toothlessness in front of goal looked to be its undoing once again until Marušić popped up in the final seconds.
The result lifted the capital side one place into 10th, a point and a place behind Sassuolo.
It was only the second defeat in seven games for Sassuolo.
TAMPA, FL - MARCH 03: New York Yankees Pitcher Max Fried (54) delivers a pitch to the plate during the spring training game between Team Panama and the New York Yankees on March 03, 2026 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Spring training continues tonight for the Yankees, with Pittsburgh coming to George M. Steinbrenner Field to face off with the Bronx Bombers. A considerable chunk of the Yankees’ roster is occupied at the World Baseball Classic—albeit with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and José Caballero now about to head home with their teams eliminated— but the Yanks are still throwing a perfectly cromulent lineup out against Pittsburgh, with ace Max Fried taking the mound for his second start of the spring.
Fried debuted this spring against Caballero and Team Panama on March 3rd, tossing three scoreless innings in the exhibition and throwing 56 pitches. We’ll see to what extent he surpasses that pitch count tonight. Last season, Fried threw seven distinct pitches. With that kind of a repertoire, it will be worth seeing what Fried chooses to work on in his second outing of the spring.
For Pittsburgh, José Urquidy gets the ball, also making his second start of the spring. The veteran right-hander (and former Houston Astro) has missed virtually all of the past two seasons due to injury, so despite having been in the big leagues for several seasons, these are invaluable reps for Urquidy.
The Yankee lineup tonight is replete with legitimate big leaguers to face off with Urquidy and whoever follows him out of the Pirates’ bullpen. The top half of the lineup is really just missing that Judge fellow who is off captaining Team USA. Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton form an imposing, albeit lefty-heavy one through four in the lineup. Elsewhere, NRI and fourth outfielder candidate Randal Grichuk makes his spring debut, playing left field. And Oswaldo Cabrera, recently returned from an awful ankle injury, holds down the keystone.
March baseball is still baseball. Go Yankees and stay healthy.
How to Watch:
Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field — Tampa, FL
The NBA on Monday announced it had canceled a theme night planned by the Hawks to commemorate Atlanta strip club Magic City.Photograph: Ashley Landis/AP
The NBA has called off the Atlanta Hawks’ plans for a night celebrating the city’s famed Magic City strip club, saying it did so because of “concerns” from many across the league.
Atlanta announced the plan last month, saying the team would pay tribute to an “iconic cultural institution” with food – including the club’s famous lemon pepper wings – along with a live music performance by Atlanta native TI and exclusive merchandise.
After the Hawks announced plans for the promotion, San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet spoke out about the idea and urged the parties involved to reconsider. And the league evidently heard the same messaging from others.
“When we became aware of the Atlanta Hawks’ scheduled promotion, we reached out to Hawks leadership to better understand their plans and rationale,” Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees. I believe canceling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community.”
The Hawks had no immediate comment. The tribute game had been scheduled for next Monday against the Orlando Magic.
Kornet wrote in a Medium post that it “would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society”.
“We desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience,” he wrote. “The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision.”
Al Horford, the Golden State Warriors center who played nine seasons for the Hawks, reposted Kornet’s letter with the caption, “Well said Luke”.
Rappers Drake, Quavo and 2 Chainz have praised Magic City’s impact on music and celebrity culture. Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal have also visited, while MLS’s Atlanta United celebrated their 2018 title at the club.
Hawks principal owner Jami Gertz was a producer for a five-part docuseries that explored Magic City’s history, its place in Black and hip-hop culture and what it means to the city.
“This collaboration and theme night is very meaningful to me after all the work that we did to put together ‘Magic City: An American Fantasy,’” Gertz, who is also a film-maker and actor, said when the promotion was announced. “The iconic Atlanta institution has made such an incredible impact on our city and its unique culture.”
Charlotte will send a second-round selection in the 2026 NBA Draft to Miami as part of the dispute concerning the January 2024 trade that shipped Rozier to the Heat, two people with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The people spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
Charlotte had held multiple second-round picks in the draft; the pick sent to Miami will be the more favorable one that originally belonged to the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets.
The decision was announced in a league memo sent to all NBA general managers.
Neither the NBA nor the Hornets disclosed information to the Heat about irregular betting activity around Rozier’s performance during a March 23, 2023 game prior to the trade. The Heat had no knowledge about the suspicious betting activity raised in March 2023 by integrity monitoring services, nor did the Heat have knowledge about the subsequent federal investigation into Rozier until both became public in January 2025.
According to the NBA’s constitution and by-laws, when a trade is executed, the general managers of all teams involved are required to first send an email with the terms to the NBA league office.
Then, representatives from each team jump on a “trade conference call” with the league office that includes league lawyers. The call is recorded and the terms of the deal, including the terms of each player contract involved, are read aloud.
It is during these calls when pertinent medical information is discussed. One section in the constitution states that teams are prohibited from making “any other material misrepresentation or fail to disclose any other material information during the Trade Call.”
Once the terms are agreed upon, teams must certify that there are no other terms that were not mentioned and agreed upon during the call.
Afterwards, logistics about timing of the trade announcements are discussed.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 25: Emilio Pagán #15 and Noelvi Marte #16 of the Cincinnati Reds celebrate after beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 at Great American Ball Park on September 25, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s impossible to land on just one definition of the word ‘success’ in anything, let alone in the world of sports. Success as a concept to the Boston Celtics and New York Yankees is a vastly different bird than success to, say, the Cleveland Browns or Colorado Rockies.
Success to the Cincinnati Reds, at least as the franchise has devolved over the last trio of decades, has limped to meaning just slightly more than not being terrible.
You’ve begun to remember specific seasons and specific rosters who simply finished with a winning record. You recall each and every player brought in on a waiver claim or non-roster deal who actually netted the team more than 0.0 WAR. You don’t have to remind yourselves that Buster Posey’s grand slam and Pirates fans abrasively chanting ‘Cue-to, Cue-to’ were actually the good times of the last 30 years, the times this club dared participate in league-sponsored postseason activity before hibernating again for the winter.
If that run of form continues any longer, we’re going to begin to remember the 2025 Reds the way we recall 2013, 2012, 2010, 1995. They did make the playoffs in a full 162 game season, after all, even if they snuck into a superexpanded megaplayoff bracket with a barely .500 record (and were summarily dismissed immediately). The 2025 Reds made the playoffs, and around these parts that’s damn near tattoo-worthy. As the cobwebs envelope those 2025 memories, it will be hard for anyone to forget the most essential plays that allowed them to sneak into the postseason, since every single one of them mattered when the season’s final day came down to the slimmest of margins in the standings.
The one that stands out most, I think, is Noelvi Marte robbing Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds of a 9th inning homer at home in GABP, bailing out closer Emilio Pagán (who’d left a meatball over the plate to the Pirates lone decent hitter with the game on the line). It preserved a 2-1 victory and moved the Reds to 81-78 on the season with just a series left to play – that’s the bottom line of it – but it also seemed to somewhat validate the odd series of moves the Reds had made in the run-up to that moment.
Marte, of course, came to the Reds in the 2022 blockbuster that saw Luis Castillo head the other way to the Seattle Mariners. He was a shortstop then, a bat-first guy with elite athleticism who seemed to be just about as can’t-miss as they come. His defensive issues moved him to 3B shortly after arriving in the Cincinnati system, however, at the time a move generally considered to have been made thanks to the presence of each of Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and fellow former Mariner Edwin Arroyo at short. His bat then carried him through to the muddled mess that was the hot corner situation at the big league level in late 2023 only for an 80-game PED suspension to torpedohis 2024 season entirely.
Then came 2025, a year where his bat played decently despite an oblique injury that once again put him on the pine. His glovework, though, became a serious issue once again, and barely after having filed Jeimer Candelario into the 3B Sunk Costsof the Reds folder next to Mike Moustakas, Cincinnati splurged, again, on a 3B at the trade deadline by picking up Ke’Bryan Hayes and the long-term contract that came with him. That pushed Noelvi off 3B for good, and despite his complete lack of experience there it’s what put him in RF that day in GABP to be in position to rob Reynolds of a homer and ‘save’ the Reds season.
It worked! The grand plan had worked!
The Reds had picked up a pristine defender at 3B and Marte was going to stick in RF just fine!
Heck, given his offensive upside, he’s a lock to be the RF of both the present and future now!
The catch, while brilliant and ‘season saving,’ put a loose patch over some more significantly glaring issues, however. While Marte was brilliant in August after the initial move, he stumbled terribly down the stretch last season while hitting just .186/.215/.275 (.489 OPS) in 107 PA over his final 25 games. Noelvi, a right-handed hitter, was positively abysmal against LHP all season long, hitting just .232/.288/.274 in 104 PA against them to the point where manager Terry Francona has made note of them in his 2026 season preparation.
Catch against the Pirates aside, the surface info here suggests a guy who’s still very, very raw in RF whose offense – which is supposed to be a calling card – still hasn’t lived up to its billing. On top of that, he’s a guy with pretty glaring reverse platoon splits on a team that a) spent the winter bringing in two more left-handed hitters who could probably use a platoon partner (JJ Bleday and Nate Lowe) alongside the already-rostered Will Benson and b) threw Eugenio Suárez’s bat into the mix in a way that, with Sal Stewart around, will make Spencer Steer’s right-handed bat much more available in outfield corners when needed.
So, when you read things like this from MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon on March 9th, it’s hard not to wonder just how strong Marte’s grip on the ‘everyday RF’ role really is, or should be.
Bleday, Benson, and Lowe have all out-hit Marte this spring. Bleday and Benson both are talented, experienced career outfielders with boatloads of experience in RF. Dane Myers, acquired from the Miami Marlins over the winter, has already been out-hitting Marte, provides plus defense all over the outfield, and came in with a reputation of specifically hitting left-handed pitching with aplomb.
Against RHP, it’s hard to imagine an outfield combo of Steer, TJ Friedl, Bleday, and Benson having the most consistent two-way floor. And against LHP, it’s hard to question an outfield spread of Steer, Friedl (whose .770 career OPS against LHP is actually better than his .754 mark against RHP), and Myers.
And if that’s the case, well, I’m not exactly sure where Marte fits right now in all of this – at least for right now.
He’s still just 24 years old. He’s still just barely played RF, and his speed and arm and athleticism makes you pretty comfortable with the idea that he’ll only get better there with rep after rep after rep. But he’s also a guy with a pair of options left, and 2026 sure does look like one of those rare years where maybe, just maybe, the Reds might win more games than they lose despite already being without Hunter Greene for a time and the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers looking ever-so-potent in the NL Central.
So, it could be another one of those years where every play, every decision could be the difference between sneaking into the playoffs or finishint ever-so-short. With that much on the line, it’s hard not to wonder whether starting Marte in AAA as the team’s everyday RF for a few weeks – or maybe longer – until he begins to wow the way a top prospect seeking a promotion should is anything other than the most prudent decision Cincinnati can make in the next two weeks.
BROOKLYN, NY - FEBRUARY 26: Luke Kornet #7 and Devin Vassell #24 of the San Antonio Spurs high five during the game against the Brooklyn Nets on February 26, 2026 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David L. Nemec/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
So much for that. The NBA canceled ‘Magic City Night’ a week before it was supposed to happen after criticism from San Antonio Spurs big man Luke Kornet. NBA commissioner Adam Silver did not like one of his teams honoring the famous strip club, and now it’s the celebration is over before it started. Here’s the statement from Silver on the decision:
Magic City is part of Atlanta’s cultural identity. It seemed like the Hawks had a creative promotion tied to a local business that would help inject some excitement during the March doldrums of the season. It’s too bad the NBA wasn’t comfortable with it. Blame or credit Luke Kornet for amplifying the conversation around this one.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today against the New York Yankees looking to grab a win.
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The beloved annual tradition that is the NCAA Tournament opens with Selection Sunday this weekend, opening the door for hundreds of thousands of fans to fill out brackets and take a shot at winning the office pool.
The tournament tips off with the First Four on March 17-18 in Dayton, Ohio, with the first round starting March 19 at sites across the country. For the first time, the NCAA will punish teams that do not provide player availability reports. Fines start at $10,000. The reports are intended to to combat betting-related pressure, solicitations and harassment athletes receive from bettors connected to their playing status.
Bubble teams have the rest of this week to prove to the NCAA Selection Committee they belong in the 68-team field. This is also championship week for the nation's biggest conferences whose teams can jockey for better seeding with a good run.
If you like the tourney at 68 teams, enjoy the moment! Discussions continue on whether to expand the field by at least fourteams and possibly more.
The betting favorites
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, the favorites to win the national championship are Duke (plus-320), Michigan (plus-325), Arizona (plus-475) and defending champ Florida (plus-675).
Every game of the men’s tournament will be aired — here is a schedule that will be updated with matchups — either on CBS, TBS, TNT or TruTV and their digital platforms, including Paramount+. TBS will broadcast the Final Four and national title game this year. The NCAA will also stream games via its March Madness Live option.
Who is playing
There are 31 automatic bids for league tournament champions. The selection committee will then pick 37 at-large teams. The full field will be revealed on Selection Sunday, March 15, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern.
When the Madness begins
After the First Four, the first- and second-round games will be played March 19-22 in Buffalo, New York; Greenville, South Carolina; Oklahoma City; Portland, Oregon; Philadelphia; San Diego; St. Louis; and Tampa, Florida.
Sweet 16 games will be played March 26-29 in Houston (South), Washington (East), Chicago (Midwest) and San Jose, California (West).
The Final Four is Saturday, April 4, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with the title game the night of Monday, April 6, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
David Wright says he was “excited” and “surprised” when new Mets third baseman Bo Bichette asked if he was coming to spring training and if he had a few minutes to talk.
“Good one to reach out to, right?” manager Carlos Mendoza said of Bichette’s overture to the club legend.
Wright, who logged 13,924.1 innings at third base and won two Gold Gloves during his career, isn't sure what direction the meeting will go with many areas to hit on with the offseason signing, including handling the pressures of playing in New York, but he should have something to offer Bichette, who has played all 6,184 innings of his career at shortstop.
“I’m excited to spend some time with him,” Wright said.
Wright said that spring training is "incredibly important" with the Mets having several new faces and players taking on new positions, like Bichette, but also to get to know each other off the field, as well.
"You have a locker room full of veteran guys, All-Star caliber players, guys that are one their way to becoming Hall of Fame-type players, and I think that you use this time in camp to get to know one another, not only on the field," he said. "But you have guys playing new positions, so it is important for Bo to know [Francisco Lindor's] tendencies, it's important for [Jorge] Polanco to learn tendencies of feeling comfortable [with the other infielders]."
Mendoza said all of that represents the “importance of having guys like that” in camp.
“He was elite at the position,” the skipper said of Wright. “And that fact that he’s here around, anything that he can share to Bo is gonna go a long way. Just building that relationship is going to be super important.
“And the fact the’s going to be able to pick his brain, face-to-face instead of over a phone call, David is gonna have an opportunity to watch him take some ground balls and just provide some feedback immediately. That’s gonna go a long way.”
“If I could do it, anybody could do it; it shouldn’t be that hard,” Wright said in January. “But he can pick it and is such a great athlete -- I see it being a seamless transition.”
“To me, that signals that there's a lot of leaders in that clubhouse,” Wright said, adding that while he just arrived in camp on Sunday, he’s known the Mets have “a group of leaders” in the locker room already, knowing Lindor and Juan Soto for a few years.
“That is just as good, if not better, than having a single leader,” he said of the current setup. “To me, times change, it makes sense when you have the veteran group that they have in here, especially with some of these young guys, where that group can get together with these young guys, these top prospects, and say, ‘Hey, this is kinda how we’re gonna do it.’
“And I think that’s what made the success that we had when I played, it seemed like those clubhouses had a group of leaders that would, starting now, let these young players know this how we play the game, this is how we carry ourselves, this is how even you as a younger player can lead by example, and I think that’s what’s going on right now.”
Wright added that it “all starts” with Mendoza, who he thinks does a great job of having his “finger on the pulse” as the manager and collecting the veteran players to “police the clubhouse.”
Cohen said that his view is that “the locker room is unique and let the locker room sort it out, year-in, year-out.”
“There'll never be a captain. I've felt that way all along,” he said at the start of spring training.
Mar 8, 2016; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Zach Thornton (80) stretches the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Atlanta Braves at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
Skubal, the Tigers' back-to-back Cy Young winner, is a free agent after the 2026 season and had always planned to return to spring training in Lakeland, Florida after making his start on Saturday against Britain.
But in the days before the tournament, Skubal stressed how much he was loving the experience and hinted at a plan to regroup with the national team in Miami and at least be a cheerleader. And after his scheduled outing on Saturday in Houston, Skubal explicitly said that "things have changed."
"When you get into these environments, when you get this team, it’s hard to walk away from that," Skubal said after tossing three strong innings in the Americans' 9-1 win over Great Britain.
"I didn’t expect these types of emotions to run through my brain or my thoughts to differ. I was pretty committed to making a start and getting back to camp," Skubal said. "Things have changed, obviously, that’s why I’m going to have some conversations to try and figure out a plan for me."
Skubal, 29, is expected to sign the richest contract of any pitcher in MLB history this winter, perhaps approaching $500 million and his USA teammates were more than understanding about his plan.
“He's got the two Cy Young awards, but this guy's about to make half a billion dollars here in the next offseason,’’ three-time MVP and Team USA captain Aaron Judge said. “So, for him to put it all on the line for his country, and come out here and show up for us. ... You know, maybe it is just one game, but you know there's a risk with everything you do, and for him to take that risk and come out here and be with us, the boys love it."
The Buffalo Sabres passed a difficult and challenging test in their quest to make and succeed in the postseason, battling through five fights, blowing an early three-goal lead, before staging a late comeback to win 8-7 over the Tampa Bay Lightning at a raucous KeyBank Center on Sunday. The victory is the Sabres 13th in the last 16 games, and propelled Buffalo into sole possession of top spot in the Atlantic, and perhaps set the stage for an exciting second-round matchup with the veteran-laden Tampa squad.
The Lightning clearly took a page out the playbook of their division rival, the Florida Panthers, attempting to push around the Sabres, instigating five fights, and specifically targeting Sabres team captain Rasmus Dahlin and defenseman Bowen Byram. Dahlin dropped the gloves with Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh early in the game, and then was assaulted by Tampa’s Brandon Hagel, earning the former Sabre draftee a double-minor for roughing and a $5,000 fine from the NHL on Monday, while Byram tussled with Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous.
"I'm not a referee, but I mean a situation like that, usually a guy gets kicked out, he doesn't get four (minutes). He probably should get two for every punch, and it probably would lead to at least 20 minutes," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the win.
Tampa responded with three goals in the middle frame, and took a 7-5 lead in the third, but goals from Dahlin and Jason Zucker tied the game, and Josh Doan scored the Sabres fourth power play goal with 4:17 left to give the Sabres the victory.
"I think the group has got real tight, and it showed tonight. They answered every call. They were there in every play, and even getting down. You're up 4-1., you get down by a couple, just how hard we worked to get back in the game. There was no quit. The desire to finish this thing the right way. I thought every guy was on board.” Ruff said "We're playing for a playoff spot. That's what we're playing for. Both teams are still playing for a playoff spot. That's really what it was all about. We know how tight this conference is, we know how tight the division is. It's one game at a time, but knowing that we're looking for a playoff spot."
Although the fact that goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen gave up seven goals on 28 shots, and the Sabres surrendered a significant lead, it is tough to ignore the momentum that Buffalo continues to build on. The win over Tampa has the Sabres at an .806 winning percentage (28-6-2) since December 9, when they were at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. This is reminiscent of the St. Louis Blues magical run in 2019, when the Blues went 30-10-5 in the final 45 games after being in last place in the NHL on New Year’s and that resulted in a Stanley Cup victory.
At this point, the Sabres are concerned with clinching their first postseason berth since 2011, but their winning ways have their long-starving fanbase hungering for more.
Spring plods along, and we’re now just a few weeks away from Opening Day and the real start of the 2026 season. The World Baseball Classic will cover a good portion of that time, and the tournament is heating up as pool play is wrapping up in the next couple of days. The United States squad has gotten off to a strong start, and seem likely to end up advancing to the quarterfinals — it’s just a question of whether they’ll win out and take the top seed of their pool or not.
While we wait for the eventual champions to be determined, Yankees camp continues to churn out results. The competition within the pitching staff is ongoing, as Ryan Weathers endured his first blowup in spring on Sunday while Paul Blackburn similarly struggled on Thursday. Will there be a race for the fifth starter after all, or will spring results only shift around roles in the bullpen? How will the Yankees returning from the WBC do jumping back to spring action? 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 March 12th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
