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Starter, reliever, long guy – it doesn’t matter to Cooper Criswell. He’ll embrace whatever role the team wants to give him.

“My dad was a basketball coach for 30-plus years, and he always told his teams, every guy on a team has a role, and you need to know your role,” Criswell said. “So for the past several years, that’s been my role, and I love doing it. Any way you can go out there and help the team win.”

The soft-spoken 29-year-old with a gentle Georgia accent isn’t what you might expect. Towering over most of his teammates at 6’6”, he says he’s actually the short one in the family; his brother, a former basketball player, is 6’8”. Despite his height, he’s no flamethrower: the hottest pitch he threw in his three-inning start yesterday was a 92.5 mph sinker.

Rather than overpowering batters with big stuff, Criswell relies on a four-pitch mix that works all quadrants of the plate: cutter up, sinker down, changeup with arm-side movement and sweeper with glove-side movement. All of this comes out of a low, almost sidearm arm slot (9°) that’s at odds with his statuesque mound presence, creating another wrinkle for batters.

“Me and my older brother growing up, like everyone in the front yard, did the Derek Jeter sidearm throw from shortstop,” said Criswell, grinning. “And it’s kind of naturally been that way since high school. Maybe it’s crept a little lower over time.”

It all adds up to a package the Mariners saw and liked when they acquired the former Red Sox from the Mets this off-season, pouncing on Criswell when the Mets DFA’d him shortly after acquiring him. For his part, Criswell is happy to have ended up with the Mariners, an organization he says he’s heard good things about both on the pitching and the people sides, and one that seems prepared to help him become the best pitcher he can be.

“Where the game’s going right now, I feel like velo’s talked about a ton, and that hasn’t even been mentioned to me yet. So that’s kind of refreshing, being a guy who’s not lighting up the radar gun but being told hey, you can pitch in the big leagues even if you don’t sit 96-97. So it’s nice and refreshing, getting that here.”

Even with non-premium velocity, though, Criswell racked up seven whiffs in his three innings of work against the Giants, coaxing 19 swings on his 41 pitches. He gave up just two hits, both singles: one, when Matt Chapman ambushed a first-pitch sinker that caught too much plate for a hard-hit single, and another ground ball base hit on a cutter to Will Brennan that Leo Rivas couldn’t quite make the play on. The average exit velocity against Criswell was 81.6 mph as he mixed his cutter, sinker, and changeup in about equally (30%), accenting with the sweeper.

“That’s kind of my aim, just throw any pitch in any count, to keep the hitters off balance so they can’t sit dead red on a fastball or something.”

A good example of Criswell’s approach was in the first inning of last night’s game. Criswell had one out with two on after giving up the two singles (one hard-hit, one not) and was facing Casey Schmitt. He started Schmitt off with a sinker in the zone that Schmitt was under, fouling it off for an 0-1 count. Next Criswell went to the cutter up out of the zone, trying to coax a swing, but it was too high. He then changed eyelines again, pulling out a changeup that Schmitt harmlessly tapped directly to Rivas at short. It’s not the sexiest highlight, unless you like inning-ending double plays:

It’s a delicate line Criswell has to walk: if the cutter or sinker wind up in the zone in a hitter’s count, there’s a good chance the pitch could get punished, as Chapman did in his at-bat. But Criswell has embraced the Mariners’ philosophy of working ahead—he had nine of eleven first-pitch strikes last night—and competing in the zone. When he arrived, the Mariners sat Criswell down and showed him the numbers for when pitchers are in 0-1 counts vs. 1-0 counts, something he considered eye-opening. While he’s always thought of himself as being aggressive in the zone, he acknowledges that in past years he’s maybe tried to nibble too much early in counts, and is committed to “going straight at guys” this year.

“Just trying to get in the zone with all four pitches, really trust your stuff. They’re constantly telling everyone—not just me—you wouldn’t be here if your stuff’s not good enough. So trust it in the zone…Don’t try to nibble and pick the corners. Make them beat you.”

Criswell says he’s going to continue building as a starter this spring, because it’s easier to go from a starter to shorter outings than vice-versa, but he’s ready for whatever the Mariners ask him to do, with his dad’s advice in his back pocket.

“You don’t know what’s going to come, but you’re there for the team in any way you can be.”

A question off the top….do we want GameThreads for WBC games? Just for Team Canada games? USA games? Japan? Dominican Republic? All the games? I guess I could put up a GameThread, each morning, for all the WBC games of that day. Anyway give your opinion.

Today we have the Jays traveling to North Port, Florida to play the Braves. The Jays have a lot of guys going to the WBC, but there are a number of Jays who are likely to make the active roster in the lineup today. There are five Braves going to the WBC. And, of course, Jurickson Profar is suspended for the season.

Eric Lauer starts for the Jays. Chris Sale for the Braves.

Lineups:

Go Jays Go.

Is it on TV?

It sure is. First pitch is at 1:05 PM on MLB Network.

What’s the lineup?

What should we watch for?

Yikes. As fun as it’s been watching Braiden Ward small-ball his way around the bases this spring, today’s lineup is absolutely brutal. And we don’t even have any fun WBC exhibitions to flip over to. Honestly, this afternoon might be a good time to do your actual job.

Spring is a time for hope. But in the back of the minds of even the most optimistic Royals fan there are concerns about how it could all go wrong. Which players give you cause for concern?

The Royals seem to be relying a lot on the performance of young hitters like Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone. Jensen performed well, but could he struggle the more pitchers see him? Will Caglianone continue to pound the ball in the ground as he did his rookie campaign?

Carlos Estévez led the Majors in saves, but he certainly made us sweat through a lot of them. Can he still be a solid closer or does his career-worst strikeout rate last year give you pause? Does Lucas Ereceg’s significant drop in strikeout rate ring alarm bells?

Pitchers are always at risk of injury, and the Royals have their fair share of pitchers with a history of landing on the Injured List. Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic are both coming off injuries that cut their 2025 season short. Seth Lugo had a second-half swoon that raised questions about whether or not he can handle his workload. And Michael Wacha turns 35 years old in July – any pitcher at that age should make you a bit nervous.

Which players makes you the most nervous on this roster?

The Yankees are back at their home-away-from-home field, and they’ll stay on TV as well for the second straight day following their George Lombard Jr.-led victory over the Red Sox yesterday. The Twins are rolling into Tampa today, and they’ll be facing one of the depth arms on the pitching staff in Paul Blackburn.

Blackburn was picked up late last year after getting released by the Mets, and wound up appearing in eight games in the regular season as well as mop up duty in Game 1 of last year’s ALDS matchup with the Blue Jays. He re-signed with the team over the offseason on a one-year, $2 million deal, meaning he’s one of the arms holding down a 26-man roster spot and has a leg up on making it to the Opening Day roster. So far this spring he’s pitched in two games (one start), tossing six innings of no-run ball. giving up seven hits and a walk against just three strikeouts in the process. He went four innings his last time out against Toronto, and he’ll look to build up his résumé as a potential inning-filler towards the bottom of the bullpen.

Opposite Blackburn will be Taj Bradley, a familiar face from the last three seasons playing within the Yankees’ division as a Ray. Traded at the deadline for Griffin Jax, Bradley had a rough second half, starting just six games and pitching to a 6.61 ERA in that span. Bradley was slated to pitch for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, but decided to pull out of the event last week and focus on his involvement with his new-ish team during spring instead as he looks to lock down one of Minnesota’s rotation spots. Thus far in spring, Bradley has started twice and pitched five innings, allowing six runs on 11 hits with nine strikeouts against just one walk.

The top of the Yankees’ lineup today is a familiar bunch, with the three primary non-Aaron Judge outfielders from 2025 taking the stage. From left to right, it’s Jasson Domínguez, Trent Grisham, and Cody Bellinger with the Martian batting second between Grisham and Bellinger. Giancarlo Stanton cleans up at DH and Ryan McMahon makes his second start of the spring at shortstop to see if he can be a viable backup to José Caballero with Anthony Volpe out. J.C. Escarra catches, while Max Schuemann, Seth Brown, and Zack Short fill out the order.

How to watch

Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field — Tampa, FL

First pitch: 1:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES Network

Radio broadcast: N/A

Online stream: Gotham Sports Network, Twins.TV

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Mets lineup

1. Mike Tauchman – LF
2. Jorge Polanco – 1B
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Brett Baty – RF
5. Ronny Mauricio – SS
6. Jose Rojas – DH
7. Cristian Pache – CF
8. Jackson Cluff – 2B
9. Ben Rortvedt – C

SP: Justin Hagenman ( RHP)

Nationals lineup

lineup to follow

Broadcast info

First pitch: 1:05 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV

The story of the Dodgers and Andrew Toles is one of a franchise trying to do the right thing by one of its former players struggling with mental health challenges.

Toles, a promising outfielder who played parts of three seasons with the team from 2016 to 2018, did not report to spring training in 2019 and was quietly placed on the restricted list before it was eventually revealed that Toles had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Every year since 2019, the team has quietly renewed Toles' contract so he can retain his health insurance while placing him on the restricted list so he would not take a roster spot.

The Dodgers, however, revealed this week that proceeding in this manner with Toles was no longer possible and the team is working with his family to figure out "how to best move forward."

Read more:'Opportunity is present.' Alex Freeland trying to take advantage of reps at second base

"We’ve been in contact with the Toles family and have worked together on how to best move forward," the Dodgers said in a statement to The Times. "Continuing with the previous setup was no longer possible due to eligibility. The Toles family has asked that Andrew’s privacy be respected. Out of respect to the Toles family, we will not comment any further."

Toles, who turns 34 in May, was picked up by the Dodgers late in the 2015 season after he was released by the Tampa Bay Rays. Playing all three outfield positions, Toles batted .314 in 48 games during the 2016 season. But it was during the playoffs that he emerged, batting .364 while appearing in all 11 of the team's postseason games — including a .462 batting average and 1.082 OPS in the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.

In 2017, Toles made the opening-day roster and was the Dodgers' primary leadoff hitter. But an ACL tear in early May ended his season after 31 games, and he appeared in 17 games with the Dodgers during the 2018 season.

By 2020, Toles was found sleeping behind a building at Key West International Airport in Florida. He was homeless and taken to a mental health facility.

At last report, Toles was in the care of his father, Alvin, who said Andrew is in a “zombie-like” condition. ”We are having challenges,” Alvin told USA Today in 2021, “but nothing that God and I can’t handle. Schizophrenia, it’s just so tough. I mean, he can’t even watch TV. He hears voices and the TV at the same time, so it’s kind of confusing. I’ve seen him looking at some baseball games on his laptop, but I don’t think he really understands what’s going on. I just want him to have a chance in life. That’s all. Just to be healthy, live a normal life.”

MLB's restricted list is used to place a player who is unavailable due to non-baseball reasons, such as personal issues. It has also been used when a player retires at a young age without getting an unconditional release, but then returns to playing. Right-hander Salomon Torres spent several years on the restricted list after playing 1993-97 for three teams before returning to the majors in 2002 at age 29 to pitch for seven more seasons with two teams. (He spent a year pitching in South Korea in 2001 before his MLB return.)

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

First Pitch (CT):12:05
TV: Twins.TV (via YES)
Radio: NA
Know Yo’ Foe: Pinstripe Alley

What to watch: Luke Keaschall, left fielder?? Good to get some reps out there since he’ll likely be used to platoon Larnach/Wallner/Roden/Outman/Rodriguez against lefties.

Lineups

After taking a win in yesterday’s exhibition game against Colombia (9-1), with the excitement of the World Baseball Classic now in full swing, Braves fans are still hoping to see signs of increasing promise throughout the remainder of Spring Training. This, after the news of Jurickson Profar’s second suspension, would be a highlight as everyone is watching to see what potential moves the team will make to add another power bat to their roster.

But first…Today’s Spring Training

Mauricio Dubón will be batting leadoff, and once again, Chris Sale will be returning to the mound to face off against the Blue Jays.

The matchup starts at 1:05 p.m. EST and will also be on MLB.TV’s free game of the day, alongside streaming on Gray TV.

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Last night or early this morning, depending on where you live, the World Baseball Classic got underway at the Tokyo Dome with pool C play.

There are five teams in Pool C and they will play a round-robin tournament with the top two teams advancing to the quarterfinals in Miami and Houston. Team Japan is the overwhelming favorite to win the group, but the second ticket stateside is really up for grabs.

Australia 3, Chinese Taipei 0

In the first game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Australia got home runs from catcher Robbie Perkins and second baseman Travis Bazzana while three pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout.

Alex Wells, who pitched 46.1 innings for the Orioles in 2021 and 2022, started the game for Australia and dominated Chinese Taipei for three innings. He allowed no hits walked just one and struck out six.

Perkins, who played in the Rockies system from 2014 to 2018, opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the fifth inning off of current Pirates farmhand Po-Yu Chen. Australia got their other run on a solo home run in the seventh inning by Guardians top prospect Bazzana, who was the first pick of the 2024 MLB Draft. That home run came off of Yi Chang, who pitched in NPB from 2018 to 2023.

Meanwhile, Australian pitchers Jack O’Loughlin and Jon Kennedy each threw three innings of scoreless baseball to complete the shutout. O’Loughlin, who got a cup of coffee with Oakland in 2024 and pitches in the Rockies system now, allowed two singles. He struck out two and walked one.

Kennedy pitched in the Braves system from 2016 to 2019. He almost let Chinese Taipei back into the game as two batters reaches with one out on an error and a single. But with the tying run at the plate, Kennedy completed the save with a long fly out and a grounder back to the mound.

Kennedy walked one and struck out one.

Chinese Taipei managed just three singles. Yu Chang, who played 235 games in the majors between 2019 and 2023 and was expected to be the main offensive threat for CT, went just 1 for 4.

Korea 11 Czechia 4

LG Twins first baseman Bo Gyeong Moon hit a grand slam in the first inning and Korea never looked back as they downed the mostly amateur Czechia team thanks to four home runs, 11-4.

Daniel Padyšák, who played college ball in the US and minor league baseball in Japan in 2025, got the start for Czechia but didn’t fool anyone, getting hit hard. He loaded the bases with two walks and a single to Giants outfielder Jung Ho Lee before Moon connected for the grand slam. Padyšák only retired one batter before exiting and that was on a hard-hit line drive to left.

Korea added another run in the second inning on a groundout by Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones. Astros third baseman Shay Whitcomb made it 6-0 Korea with a solo home run in the third.

Czechia didn’t go down without a fight as shortstop Terrin Vavra, the one player on the team with major league experience with the Orioles from 2022 to 2025, hit a three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to cut the Korean lead in half at 6-3. But in the bottom of the fifth, Whitcomb hit his second home run of the game with a man on to put Korea up 8-3.

Jones hit Korea’s fourth home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Czechia managed to score a consolation run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Jan Pospisil, who is currently playing at the junior college level in the US.

Today:

Czechia has a quick turnaround as they face off against Australia today at 9 pm Central time in Tokyo. Then at 4 am Central, the host Samurai Japan open up their quest for a fourth WBC title with a match against Chinese Taipei.