Worldwide Sports News

PHOENIX — For several minutes on Monday, Miguel Rojas said his world “rumbled.”

For several minutes that afternoon, the baseball world thought he had tested positive for steroids.

In reality, of course. Rojas hadn’t. 

But that day, a reporter from The Athletic incorrectly posted on social media that the Dodgers infielder had been suspended 80 games because of a banned substance — before quickly deleting the post and explaining his mistake.

Turned out, it was Johan Rojas of the Philadelphia Phillies who had been popped for PEDs, receiving an 80-game ban for testing positive for Boldenone.

“I’ve deleted a post incorrectly identifying who was suspended today,” the reporter later clarified. “It was Johan Rojas of the Philadelphia Phillies who was suspended.”

Two days later, Miguel Rojas was still voicing frustration over the situation, telling reporters in the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch clubhouse that he had yet to receive an apology over the incorrect report.

“I’m not frustrated because of the report,” he said. “We’re all humans and we make mistakes.”

However, he quickly added, “I was expecting a little bit more of an apology. Not just to me, but the organization. Because it wasn’t just my name. It was pretty clear that he said, ‘Miguel Rojas from the Los Angeles Dodgers.’

“That’s the only thing that I’m kind of bothered by.”

An apology eventually came later on Wednesday, with the reporter, Evan Drellich, tweeting: “To Miguel Rojas and the Dodgers, I sincerely and publicly apologize. I’ve reached out to Miguel, the Dodgers and Miguel’s agent to say the same. Once again, I’m sorry.”

But by then, viral videos were already circulating of Rojas first discussing the situation in an interview with Chris Rose on Tuesday night, when he described the lack of an apology as “bulls–t.”

“For six minutes, (it) kind of rumbled my whole world, and got so many people around me and around us, the team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, worried because of one guy making a mistake,” he said then. “I’m totally OK with making mistakes. But at the end of the day, I was expecting an apology.”

However, Rojas also said he wanted to move on from the story, trying not “to make it a big deal” or “make it about myself.”

“I just feel like whenever the tweet was deleted and the clarification was trying to be made, I think we all deserve a little bit of an apology there,” he said. “Because it wasn’t just my name. It was the organization that I represent too. And that’s really important to me.”

Diamondbacks News

Eduardo Rodriguez Leads Venezuela over Team USA
Eduardo Rodriguez turned in just the sort of performance Arizona was hoping to see out of him regularly when they signed him after the 2023 season.

Evaluating Rodriguez’s Night
In anything other than a championship game like last night, Rodriguez probably goes another inning or two at least. The veteran lefty put together a commanding performance in one of the biggest games of his life.

NL West Outlook: Second Place or Better Likely Necessary for October Baseball
The NL West is already stacked against the Diamondbacks, what with the Dodgers being in the same division. But preseason projections make it look like Arizona will need to finish no worse than a strong second in order to punch their ticket to the playoffs in 2026.

Other Baseball News

Why the Venezuela – Team USA WBC Final is a Win for Baseball
Jeff Passan breaks down the dedication to the event through the lens of Bryce Harper.

Star-Studded Team USA Comes Up Short – Again
Two competitions in a row now have seen Team USA eliminated in the finals.

2026 Second Baseman Rankings
The number one name on the list shoul;d surprise no one.

2026 Third Baseman Rankings
The arrival of grizzled veteran Nolan Arenado saves Arizona in this category, leaving them only 20th.

It felt like it was trending this way for a little while, but Harry Ford was officially optioned to Triple-A this afternoon. Paul Toboni acquired Ford in a trade that sent Jose A. Ferrer this offseason. At first, I thought Ford would have a good chance of cracking the Opening Day roster. However, as camp progressed, it was clear the new regime wanted to give Keibert Ruiz another chance.

That is an understandable decision, especially considering the service time ramifications for Ford. However, I cannot say I am fired up about a Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas catching tandem. The Nats had the worst catching situation in baseball last season, yet they still did not give Ford a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Yes, we will see plenty of Harry Ford this season, but I am still bummed out that he did not make the Opening Day roster. I really hope Ruiz’s contract doesn’t give him a longer leash than he deserves. While Ruiz showed promise in 2022 and 2023, the last two seasons have been disastrous for the Venezuelan catcher. As a bat first catcher, he has posted a .619 and .595 OPS the last two seasons. 

His contract which runs through the 2030 season and a solid spring have given Ruiz another shot behind the plate. However, his leash is going to be shorter this time. With Ford in the fold, he has real competition for the first time in DC. Hopefully, he can rise to the challenge, but I have my doubts. Ruiz has serious flaws on both sides of the ball which have persisted for years.

Ford is far from a perfect player himself, but he would provide new blood. He also represents a big investment from Paul Toboni. Ford had solid WBC and an up and down spring, but he showed why the Nats got him. He walked a lot this spring, which is a big part of his game. Ford also showed off some power for Great Britain at the WBC.

I do not think sending Ford down is an irrational decision by any means, it is just a bit of a bummer. Fans were excited to see him, and now they are going to have to wait a little longer. Ford already has a strong track record in AAA with a .283 average and .868 OPS at the level last year.

However, the new regime clearly thinks he needs more seasoning. I would not be surprised if a big reason for the demotion is to work on his defense. While Ford has steadily improved on that side of the ball, there is still more work to be done.

Another reason for this demotion could be service time related. If teams keep a player in the minors long enough, they can gain an extra year of team control. That deadline usually comes sometime in mid to late April, so it would not be a surprise to see Ford called up around then.

I cannot say I am excited about this decision, but it is understandable. Keibert Ruiz has looked better this spring, but he still has a lot to prove before he can regain faith from the fanbase. Hopefully we see Harry Ford sooner rather than later.

While it feels like the baseball gods have laid low every Detroit Tigers pitcher under the age of 22, that’s not strictly true. One of the best stories at the A-ball levels last summer was the emergence of right-hander Kelvis Salcedo. While there is certainly relief risk present in his frame and delivery, Salcedo arguably boasts the nastiest set of pitches in the whole farm system already, so we’ll kick off our 45 FV tier with a pitcher who will have a lot of eyes on him in 2026 as he looks to build on a breakout campaign.

The Tigers signed 20-year-old Kelvis Salcedo back in January 2023, as he was turning 17. He hails from Santa Barbara del Zulia, Venezuela in the northwestern corner of the country. Salcedo wasn’t a big bonus prospect in a class where catcher Enrique Jimenez and outfielder Anibal Salas were the big names at the time, but he’s already outpaced them in terms of future major league projections.

The young right-hander stands 6’0” but while his official weight is 180 pounds, he’s clearly bulked up since that weigh-in and has filled out in his chest and legs significantly. He looks like he’s probably touching 215 pounds or more. That additional muscle now powers a fastball that can clip 99 mph at max effort. It’s a fairly high effort delivery, but as he continues to develop things may come more easily for him. There really isn’t any physical projection left, and the program for him is more about building more functional strength rather than filling out any further.

Salcedo will sometimes utilize a rock step with the bases empty, but either way it’s a simple motion and he’s basically pitching out of the stretch most of the time already. Like most with a higher arm slot, he has to pull his head hard to the first base side to create space for his arm path to get to that high three-quarters position, and as a result he will spin off to the first base side at times. Still, while he’ll occasionally sail a fastball or have his cutter and slider back up on him somewhat, he’s already an effective strike thrower who pounded the zone very well for his age and didn’t walk too many batters. He hides the ball well and that delivery makes it hard to pick up his release point until a hitter has seen him a few times.

A delivery with a good deal of visible upper body effort to throw hard is something scouts tend to key on as a poor sign for a future starting pitching role, and Salcedo isn’t the long-limbed, lanky 6’3”-6’5” with big extension that teams favor these days in a starting role. As a result, Salcedo gets high relief risk marks. Of course, you can tell that to Max Scherzer and many other high effort starters around the league. It’s just up to the player to put the work in to get in the best shape possible by the time they reach the major leagues. Salcedo may well be able to keep repeating his delivery with better efficiency as he builds up reps into his early 20’s. So, right now it’s just a note of caution as to his future role, and we’ll see how well he holds up to full seasons of pro ball the next two years.

The right-hander worked with fourseam fastball, cutter, and splitter last season, though he will mix in a slider and sinker as well, per Statcast. He can really spin the baseball to go with the raw velocity, and has a pretty intriguing fourseam fastball shape. In Lakeland last summer, Salcedo’s average fastball was already 95.4 mph and he topped out at 98.5 mph. The deception in his delivery helps balance out his below average extension, but it’s still not a huge, whiff generating fourseamer. The movement is more deceptive than explosive. It looks like a fourseamer in terms of spin alignment on the ball, but instead it has some late cut and drop that routinely had hitters breaking bats and beating it into the ground last summer. Hitters don’t swing and miss at it much, but they really struggled to barrel it up.

Salcedo backs the heater with a nasty 88-89 mph cutter that averaged 2711 rpms of spin last year. It plays off the fastball well with sharp late break to his gloveside and average depth. He drew a whopping 50 percent whiff rate on the cutter last year. His slider moves like the cutter but with a little more depth in the mid-80’s, and Salcedo tended to turn to it once he already had a hitter down and was trying to get them to chase down. It too produced a huge whiff rate, but it’s inconclusive whether these are even two distinct pitches as they blur together often. He might do better adding a spike curveball from that arm slot for a change of pace and something with more downward action.

His best pitch is a pretty spectacular changeup that looks like a splitter although the grip hasn’t been confirmed. It’s a mid-80’s offspeed pitch and Salcedo really kills the spin on it to go with the velocity separation, getting serious late drop and armside run on it. This is already a consistent plus pitch and drew a 60 percent whiff rate in Lakeland. When he’s really commanding it well it’s better than plus and you won’t see a nastier changeup anywhere in the minor leagues.

Salcedo had a really good Dominican Summer League season in 2024, and arrived stateside last year to pitch in the Complex League. He dominated there, and then moved over to the Single-A side to pitch for the Lakeland Flying Tigers in August and early September. He was already boasting an ERA under 2.00 in Complex League action, with really good strikeout to walk ratios, but things clicked into another gear in full season ball as he finished the year with a flourish. Salcedo only spent about a third of his season there, but he put up a 1.54 ERA with a downright crazy 39 percent strikeout rate against a walk rate of just 7.3 percent. He threw strikes, he didn’t give up hard contact, and the cutter and changeup generated tons of whiffs. If he was a young college draft pick this would be outstanding, but when you also consider that Salcedo only turned 20 in January of 2026, that’s particularly eye-popping.

Salcedo made 10 starts and had 18 appearances in 2025, throwing a combined 68 2/3 innings between Complex League ball and the Florida State League. He finished with a 1.83 ERA and a 2.88 FIP and a combined 33.5 percent K-rate. So, we have a very young pitcher here doing all the things we were hoping to see from recent top picks like Owen Hall, Paul Wilson, Zach Swanson, Ethan Schiefelbein, among others.

Like any young starter, Salcedo has to refine his game and prove he can hold up to a starter’s workload over the next few seasons. His frame and delivery raise some red flags for relief risk, but even as a reliever he’s got a good chance at a long career in high leverage work. On the other hand, the stuff is already overpowering from an A-ball standpoint and he had no real issues throwing a lot of strikes. As long as he’s handling the workload, the Tigers will rightfully continue to develop him as a starter. There’s a chance that Salcedo turns out to be a really good one. If they decide to convert him to relief at some point, Salcedo already has closer caliber stuff when he airs out the fastball. He could prove a really great weapon for the Tigers’ bullpen.

Will Venable told reporters on Tuesday that Chicago’s Opening Day rotation is set, and there is nothing here that’s unexpected. 

Shane Smith comes off a strong rookie campaign to head the rotation, eyeing a second All-Star nomination and looking to improve upon a strong 7-8 record, 3.81 ERA, and 1.20 WHIP. If Smith can keep his performance at a similar level and tack on a few more starts, he’ll take significant pressure off a bullpen that now needs more help than expected.

Last year’s Opening Day starter Sean Burke gets the No. 2 spot, which is a strong testament to Venable’s confidence in him. His six quality starts and ability to pitch deep into games make him a logical choice to back up Smith, helping build in a lighter workload for relievers.

Anthony Kay, slotting in third, is not at all shocking upon closer inspection. His lefty arm breaks up the two straight righty starters. Additionally, his reformed sinker ball and emergence as a strikeout pitcher from playing in Japan offer a dynamic and natural deviation from Smith and Burke’s styles. His 1.72 ERA, 130 punchouts in 24 games, and veteran presence almost serve as a palate cleanser before getting to the back half of the bullpen. 

Davis Martin at fourth is a bit interesting, considering he was Venable’s second rotation arm in 2025, but with the first half set, it’s difficult to put him anywhere else. Martin’s pitching wasn’t mind-blowing last season, but he showed glimpses of brilliance. He lasted at least five innings in 23 of his 26 games, and he recorded two runs or fewer in 11 of his games. His range, from a durable innings eater to an effective strikeout-seeker, offers plenty of upside with a tolerable amount of risk. Sensible for a fourth pitcher.

Finally, the prodigal son, Erick Fedde, brings up the rear. Venable is justified in prioritizing young guys and newcomer Kay in the rotation over a veteran traded away in 2024. Zach Bove and Co. should be carefully dissecting Fedde’s command issues and dramatic decline from a 3.30 ERA in 2024 to a 5.49 ERA last year. Perhaps he missed pitching for Chicago so much, or maybe it’s because he didn’t have Ethan Katz whispering in his ear during mound visits. The southpaw is looking to squeeze a couple more years of baseball out of that arm, and the Sox are hoping they don’t have to go to the pen before the fourth inning when he starts.

All told, it’s a rotation built on balance more than flash — a clear blend of upside, durability, and just enough experience to stabilize things early. If the top half delivers as expected and the back end holds its own, this group should give Chicago a fighting chance to stay competitive while the rest of the roster finds its footing.

TAMPA — It was only a Grapefruit League exhibition, and only 10 pitches in one inning.

But 53 weeks after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Gerrit Cole returned to the mound for his first game action on Wednesday afternoon at Steinbrenner Field, checking off another significant box in his comeback toward potentially rejoining the Yankees by May.

Cole looked as sharp as one can while only throwing 10 pitches — he was set to head down to the bullpen afterward to throw about 20 more — flashing some life on his fastball, which topped out at 98.7 mph, in the scoreless frame.

Gerrit Cole threw 10 pitches across one scoreless frame in his return to the mound pic.twitter.com/EaXsEShsnG

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 18, 2026

The 35-year-old threw six fastballs (averaging 97.1 mph), two sliders and two knuckle curveballs.

He allowed two singles — one on a bunt up the first base line on the first pitch he threw — but also got some fielding work in when he covered first base on a groundout to end the inning.

Cole still has more hurdles to clear over the next two months before he could return to a big league mound, building up his workload and stamina after not throwing a single inning last season.

But the Yankees are eagerly awaiting his return, and Wednesday’s tease only re-emphasized that feeling, allowing them to dream on what their rotation could look like with him in it.