Worldwide Sports News

Earlier today, we received some massive news regarding the Atlanta Braves and the new Braves.TV platform. Shortly after that news broke, we got some more important news on where to watch the Braves during the upcoming season. While the lion’s share of games will be on BravesVision, they also have to make room for nationally televised contests — and nationally streamed contests as well.

Apple TV is doing Friday Night Baseball for another season and they’ve announced their schedule through the month of June and the Braves are now set for three games that will be streaming-exclusive for that particular platform. We won’t have to wait long for the first game, as Atlanta’s road game against the Diamondbacks on April 3at 9:45 p.m. ET will be on Apple TV. Their only scheduled home game on Apple TV (as of right now) will take place on April 24 at 7:15 p.m. ET against the Phillies. After that, it’ll be a long wait between that game and the next Apple TV appearance for the Braves, as they’ll be playing a road game against the Mets on June 12at 7:15 p.m. ET.

Again as a reminder, you’ll have to sign up for Apple TV in order to have access to these games. To sum up the state of watching the Braves during the 2026 season, you’ll have to make sure you have access to the following platforms if you want to make sure you’ll have the ability to catch all 162 games:

• BravesVision (or Braves.TV)
• Fox Sports 1
• TBS
• ESPN (solely for the Little League Classic on August 23)
• Peacock
• Apple TV

I didn’t list NBC or FOX since technically you can have access to those broadcast networks for free. Good luck keeping up with all of that!

Insert GIF of The Rock yelling, “It doesn’t matter who you want to start Opening Day!”. Because, despite fans on the SnakePit being behind Ryne Nelson, by almost a 3-1 margin, we will instead be getting Zac Gallen on Opening Day, against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on March 26. This will be the fourth time in a row for Gallen, albeit this year, only because Merrill Kelly is unable to accept the honor initially given to him by Torey Lovullo. That ties Gallen with Brandon Webb for second on the franchise list of Opening Day starts by a pitcher, behind the six times Randy Johnson took the mound.

Though the results for Zac previously have been less than whelming: Gallen is 1-2, with a 6.59 ERA on previous Opening Days. That includes taking the loss in Dodger Stadium on Opening Day 2023: he allowed five runs over 4.2 innings, in an 8-2 loss. Mind you, Opening Days against the Dodgers have not historically gone very well for the D-backs. They have only one win in six attempts, and that came 25 years ago in 2001. Randy Johnson tossed seven innings of two-run ball in Los Angeles, and a two-run homer in the seventh by Luis Gonzalez proved the margin of victory in a 3-2 win for Arizona.

The Big Unit was actually only 3-2 on Opening Day, but he gave the team a quality start each and every one of the six games. The best record probably belongs to Ian Kennedy, who never started an Opening Day game the D-backs didn’t win. He got the W in two of his three, with the third going to extras before Arizona prevailed 7-6 in Denver. Webb was just 1-0 over his four starts, but the team ended up winning three of them. That included his final major-league outing in 2009, where he allowed six runs over four innings, but the D-backs still won, 9-8. In the end, I’d take that for Gallen in a couple of weeks: the team win is the thing.

Despite fielding one of the worst offenses in baseball last season, the Cleveland Guardians still finished atop the American League Central when the dust settled. How an organization that was almost anemic offensively managed to win its division can be puzzling at first glance.

The ballclub by the lake does one thing as well as anyone in baseball. They manufacture the one thing every team needs and no team ever has enough of: pitching. For more than a decade, Cleveland has been one of baseball’s most reliable pitching development pipelines, consistently turning highly ranked prospects, mid-round draft picks, and overlooked arms into major league contributors. That model has kept the Guardians competitive despite operating with a payroll far smaller than many American League rivals.

Last season that formula paid off again. Cleveland stormed back late to claim its second straight AL Central title. Whether it holds again in 2026 will depend on two familiar questions: whether the pitching machine keeps humming and whether the offense around José Ramírez can provide enough support.

2025 record: 88-74 (1st, AL Central)
2026 FanGraphs projection: 76–86 (4th, AL Central)

Cleveland’s identity begins on the mound. Even as recognizable names cycle off the roster, the Guardians continue to produce quality pitchers at a rate few organizations can match. Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams represent the latest examples of Cleveland turning young arms into frontline starters.

The numbers explain why the organization is viewed as one of baseball’s most effective pitching development systems. Over the past three seasons, Guardians pitchers have ranked near the top of the American League in run prevention metrics. Cleveland finished 2025 among league leaders in ERA, fourth overall with a 3.70 team ERA while also ranking near the top in strikeout-to-walk ratio. The staff’s ability to limit free passes has been particularly impressive, as Cleveland routinely posts one of the lowest walk rates in baseball.

Underlying pitch metrics tell the same story. Statcast and FanGraphs data regularly show Cleveland pitchers near the top of the league in chase rate and weak contact allowed, two indicators strongly tied to sustainable run prevention. Pitching coach Carl Willis has emphasized pitch design, mechanical adjustments, and a clear organizational philosophy that helps the Guardians extract value from arms throughout their system.

Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake spent time in Cleveland’s organization earlier in his career, and since his arrival in New York it’s easy to see similarities between the two teams’ pitching philosophies. Both organizations emphasize data-driven adjustments and maximizing the strengths of each arm.

While Cleveland’s identity remains tied to the mound, the offense revolves around one of the most quietly dominant players of this generation. José Ramírez remains the centerpiece of the lineup and one of baseball’s most complete players, combining power, plate discipline, baserunning, and good defensive. Last season J-Ram posted 5.8 WAR with 30 home runs and 44 stolen bases, good for an .863 OPS and a third-place finish in the MVP race behind the first loser Cal Raleigh and, of course, The Captain himself, Aaron Judge.

He must also really believe Cleveland rocks. Ramírez signed a seven-year, $175 million extension that will keep him with the Guardians through his age-39 season, a rare commitment between a star player and a small-market franchise.

Alongside Ramírez, Steven Kwan provides a completely different but valuable offensive profile. His contact ability and disciplined approach make him one of the hardest hitters in the league to strike out and a natural table-setter at the top of the lineup. Cleveland needs that skill set, because offense has often been hard to come by. The Guardians scored more runs than only the Pirates and Rockies in all of baseball last season.

Beyond those two anchors, Cleveland once again hopes several young hitters can take the next step. Bo Naylor and Kyle Manzardo represent the next wave of offensive hope, while top prospects Chase DeLauter and George Valera should also factor into the lineup this season.

That reliance on internal development reflects Cleveland’s long-standing roster philosophy. This offseason, their most notable addition was first baseman/designated hitter Rhys Hoskins on a minor league deal. Hoskins is expected to make the big league club and projects as a regular splitting time between first base and designated hitter with Manzardo. Even after losing their star closer and a starting pitcher to betting allegations last July, the Guardians made no real additions to reinforce the bullpen or the rotation.

Rather than chasing free agents, Cleveland continues trusting its development pipeline to supply the next wave of contributors. In some seasons that approach works beautifully. In others, it leaves the lineup searching for consistent production behind Ramírez. That volatility is why Cleveland remains one of the harder teams in baseball to project. Their pitching depth keeps them competitive most seasons, but the offense often determines whether they hover around .500 or push toward the top of the division.

A team built on development rarely views its roster as static. If Cleveland struggles early this summer, the front office could again explore selling pieces for additional young talent.

That flexibility is part of why the Guardians feel like a team that simply refuses to go away. Some seasons they’re the belle of the trade deadline ball, making just enough moves to stay competitive without committing to a full rebuild. Then later that same year, they’re a team you see in October with grown men dancing to the SpongeBob theme song.

For the Yankees, Cleveland remains one of the more intriguing matchups on the schedule. The Guardians may not always feature the most intimidating lineup, but their pitching development consistently produces staffs capable of neutralizing even elite offenses. Games between these two clubs often turn into battles of pitching depth, discipline at the plate, and occasionally get a little chippy.

As long as Cleveland continues producing pitchers the way it has for the last decade — and as long as José Ramírez stays healthy — the Guardians will remain one of baseball’s quietest but most persistent threats.

More Pinstripe Alley MLB team season previews can be found here.

The big news in today’s line-up sits right at the top, where Corbin Carroll is back in the line-up. It’s an amazingly quick return, just one month and a day after he suffered the injury on a swing during live batting practice on February 10. Given that when we looked at previous hamate-afflicted players, the average amount of time missed was almost twice as much, at 61 days, this is remarkably quick. In fact, it’s quicker than any of the players in our (admittedly fairly small) sample from the past five years. It being spring training may be a factor: this could be the equivalent of a rehab assignment. It’s good to see him, regardless; let’s just hope he is not being rushed back.

Ryne Nelson gets the start, and after him we can expect to see RHP Thomas Hatch, RHP Kevin Ginkel, RHP Ryan Thompson and LHP Philip Abner. It will be Nelson’s third start of spring: the other two lasted for a total of 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, with an impressive 6:0 K:BB ratio so far. With the news that Zac Gallen is going to be the Opening Day starter (I’ll be writing that up next), the next question is where Nelson is going to slot into the rotation. My instinct is it’ll be just behind Gallen, but we’ll see. Out of the bullpen, Ginkel and Thompson are the names to watch, as they look to establish dominance among our relief corps.

At the top line, Spencer Strider looked really good on Wednesday afternoon: four innings, one walk, five strikeouts. When you consider that it was a visiting Rays team, maybe that’s more akin to something expected, but… I thought that this was a nice outing for him.

When Strider returned from injury last year, my amateur take on his struggles early was that he was struggling to stay mechanically consistent after taking a break between innings. Then, when things fell apart for him later in the year after his really nice run of starts, it was the slider mechanics (and resulting command) that did him in. So, I wasn’t surprised at all to see that in his first two Spring Training outings, the things he was struggling with were these same two: getting feel back after “going up and down” and having any semblance of consistency on his slider release.

So, the good news, if you care at all about my divinations into a guy’s mechanics in Spring Training, is that Strider looked much better for big chunks of this outing. There seemed to be a concerted effort to “slow down,” which I saw both in that he was “pulling” his four-seamer a lot (later release) and that everything was definitely not max effort.

The end result seemed to work out fairly well, especially towards the latter half of the outing. Strider worked the fastball early and didn’t get creamed for it (again, a quarter-strength Rays lineup at best here) and then really started carving up the set of Spring Training randos in his latter two frames. When he struck out the side in the third, it was very vintage Strider — Logan Davidson went down on a 1-2 well-located slider below the zone, Chandler Simpson swung through a zone curveball, and Gavin Lux got eaten alive on an above-the-zone fastball. Again, not the stiffest of competition, but still. Strider did issue his only walk in the fourth, but ended his outing with a nice (and Drake Baldwin/ABS-assisted) strikeout where he got Ben Williamson to look daft on two waste-type sliders.

Oh, and there was a game separate from Strider’s outing, too. Who knew. Matt Olson popped his third Spring Training 2026 homer, and the Braves drew some walks against Nick Martinez, but this was a low-scoring game for a while. Martinez actually struck out the side in the third before walking Austin Riley to start the fourth and departing. The Braves had a bit of a rally against Bryan Baker in the fifth: Brett Wisely homered to start the half-inning, Mauricio Dubon was robbed by a diving catch on a 100 mph screamer in center, Baldwin struck out (again), and then Olson, Riley, and Mike Yastrzemski proceeded to dunk balls onto grass to give Atlanta a 4-0 lead. There was a late tack-on run, too, with Luis Guanipa bouncing one up the middle to score a runner from second.

On the pitching end, Raisel Iglesias came in after Strider and had a few scary fly balls, but survived. Martin Perez worked the rest of the slate — all four innings — and was kind of mean to the random Rays’ hangers-on and minor leaguers, given his arsenal. Williamson did pop him for a three-run homer after a barely-there roller and a walk put two on with two out, but the rest was easy pickin’ for the veteran, as he struck out six of the 17 batters he faced.

The Braves will play a night game tomorrow as they head to Bradenton to hang with the Pirates. Will they return with Charlie Morton? Who knows. (Probably not.) Stay tuned.

Down in the desert, the Royals are dividing-and-conquering today.

At Surprise Stadium, a group led by the likes of Jonathan India, Carter Jensen, and Starling Marte face the Giants.

At Sloan Park, Kyle Isbel, John Rave, and Tyler Tolbert lead a group against the Cubs.

Split Squad Lineups for 3/11/26

Here are the lineups for the Giants and Cubs:

The White Sox are back at Camelback Ranch, hoping to recover from yesterday’s beatdown by the A’s. The good news is the bats have been alive, and today’s another shot to keep the offense rolling against the Angels. First pitch at 3:05 p.m. CST.

Anthony Kay gets the ball for Chicago, who’s looking to make the most of his spring. Once a first-round pick, Kay still flashes the stuff that got him drafted — a fastball with some life and a slider that sometimes actually misses bats when it’s working. The southpaw has performed well so far this spring, going 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 frames across three starts, but that 1.57 WHIP is a mess. Welcome to Cactus League, where everyone’s just shaking off the rust and trying to remember how to pitch.

The Angels counter with Alek Manoah, who once looked like a future ace before injuries and wildness sent him spinning. If he’s got it working, Manoah can still blow hitters away with a mid-90s fastball and a slider that actually bites. The Angels are crossing their fingers that he can get back to form, but spring hasn’t been kind so far to the righthander in his three starts, with a 6.14 ERA and 2.05 WHIP over 7 1/3 innings.

Today’s Sox lineup features a handful of bats who’ve been making noise lately. Austin Hays continues to square everything up and looks locked in at the dish, while Colson Montgomery has been flashing some pop after leaving the yard on Sunday. Add in the veteran Andrew Benintendi, who has put together a solid spring, and the versatility of LaMonte Wade Jr., and Chicago once again rolls out a lineup that can create some chaos on the bases and do damage in a hurry. Who would have thought?

The Angels counter with their own mix of veterans and hopefuls as Manoah takes the mound.

Unfortunately, there’s no TV for this one. If you’re desperate for some Good Guys baseball, fire up MLB.TV or MLB+ and settle for the Angels radio call at 3:05 p.m. CST.