Baseball America: 24th in organizational rankings, 2 Top-100 prospects: SS Sebastian Walcott, 16th, RHP Caden Scarborough, 65th

Baseball Prospectus: 28th, 1 Top-101 prospect: SS Sebastian Walcott, 11th (70 OFP)

FanGraphs: Org rank ended 2025 ~21st, 5 Top-100 prospects: SS Sebastian Walcott, 30th (55 FV), SS Yolfran Castillo, 70th (50 FV), RHP Caden Scarborough, 71st (50 FV), RHP David Davalillo, 89th (50 FV), RHP Winston Santos, 103rd (50 FV)

MLB Pipeline: 25th, 1 Top-100 prospect: SS Sebastian Walcott, 7th (ETA 2027)

What with the mess in Texas? If you’ve read the first two installments in this series, you’ll know the Rangers are the culprits of their own success in some ways that escape traditional prospect rankings. Baseball Prospectus has SS/2B Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers at No. 2, OF Max Clark also of Detroit at No. 6, SS Aidan Miller of the Phillies at No. 13, and Seattle’s own SS Colt Emerson at No. 15. What do they all have in common? They’re 2023 draftees, who’d be joined or surpassed by OF Wyatt Langford in all likelihood if the 23 year old hadn’t rocketed to the bigs and spent his healthy time in Arlington for the past three years.

Not everything can be accredited to the promotions of players like Langford, OF Evan Carter, INF Ezequiel Duran, RHPs Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, and OF Alejandro Osuna, though. Texas dealt away their 2025 first round pick, INF Gavin Fein, and others to bring in LHP MacKenzie Gore and shore up the big league club. Their 2024 selection, last in the round following their World Series championship in 2023, was C Malcolm Moore, has yet to hit in pro ball after a strong Pac-12 career. Rocker and Leiter were the club’s top picks in ‘22 and ‘21, and while both are early enough into their big league tenure to imagine breakouts, they’ve underachieved the 3rd and 2nd pick billing they received respectively. Rounding out the 2020s, data darling 2B Justin Foscue rocketed up draft boards late in the increasingly infamous 2020 draft, but is on the fringes of Texas’ 26-man and now 27 years old with a lost 2025 that’s still looming, with a hamstring strain likely to delay the start of his season. SS Yolfran Castillo is the latest in a series of high-upside, tools first, everything else later prospects in the Rangers’ system and it’s fair to be skeptical of that developmental group, given the hiccups seen with Carter, Josh Jung, and Leody Taveras who’ve flashed promise more than sustained it.

In their system now are a wave of pitchers with promise and an absolute smorgasbord of injury/durability issues and question marks. But the most promising – and frightening from a Mariners perspective – prospect suffered an injury this offseason that will at least delay, if not fully waylay, his 2026.

Player	Age	Position	Highest Level	ESPN	FanGraphs	Baseball America	Baseball Prospectus	The Athletic	MLB Pipeline
Sebastian Walcott	20	SS	AA	5	30	16	11	16	7
Yolfran Castillo	19	SS	A		70
Caden Scarborough	21	RHP	High-A	99	71	65
David Davalillo	23	RHP	AA		89

The Wall Got Caught

Like the Athletics a week ago, the system’s heft rests heavily on one elite middle infield prospect. SS Sebastian Walcott, who will turn 20 this March, is a Bahamian wunderkind whose potential has surpassed his countryman Jazz Chisholm Jr. to be the most hyped player in the history of the Commonwealth. His torn UCL this winter required surgery for an internal brace, which he’s already undergone, and the club suggested it’s possible Walcott returns to play in August or September of this year. 

The expectations are understandable – Walcott is a big young man with titanic raw power and arm strength, along with the ample athleticism needed to cover the left side of the infield and maturity to be challenged with a Double-A Frisco assignment at just age 19. While Walcott didn’t star there, he hit competitively, and looked more than adroit in every area of his game.

As with Leo De Vries in Sacramento, there’s a year or two until Walcott is likely to impact Seattle most prominently. But Walcott should see his debut come as Corey Seager makes a more pronounced shift off shortstop, allowing the slugging lefty to focus on his offense. Walcott’s not a lock for short, but his arm is strong enough to be a standout third baseman as well. Walcott’s length and fluidity is impressive, but he does look at times more like Oneil Cruz than Elly De La Cruz at short. Still, combine a left side infielder with 30-30 potential at the dish and that’s as good as anyone in baseball. The Rangers of 2027 and beyond are likely to go as this young man does.

The Heat

Depending on your trusted prognosticators, there may be no other Rangers prospects in the Top-100, or a handful of arms. Much of that stems from your relative taste for some edge-case arms. Scarborough looks the part in many ways that Ryan Sloan does, with a huge frame and deceptive delivery that augments multiple impressive secondaries. The 6’5 righty was a prep signee in the sixth round of the 2023 draft who utterly dominated both Single-A levels. The Sloan mention is physical in part, but ties mostly into the question mark for a 21 year old hurler who completed six innings just once in 2025 and made it through five only four times. While his velocity sits more 93-96, he’s the arm to watch as an ascendant possible top-tier arm for Texas.

Beyond him are a bevy of hurlers with promise and injury troubles. RHP Emiliano Teodo missed  much of the 2025 season with injury, but has electric stuff that could charge up a big league bullpen late in 2026 or early in 2027. Also in the mix are RHPs David Davalillo and Winston Santos, both of whom were mere five-figure signing bonus players who’ve crept up the system through diligent improvement. Santos hits upper-90s heat but hasn’t quite figured out a great pairing, making his strikeout numbers in the minors slightly suspect, and dealt with back and hand injuries in 2025 and this spring, respectively. 

Davalillo, by contrast, may be convenient for those of you used to watching a Texas pitcher with alliterative Ds for his name play a swingman or back-of-rotation role with plus command and a kitchen sink approach. Dane Dunning, we’ll never forget you, especially if you’re in Tacoma this year. The electrick Izack Tiger is yet another RHP with high-level stuff who is still experiencing delays from his UCL tear, likely to pitch at 25 this year but without innings above High-A. There are a handful more players of this sort in the Texas system than Seattle’s, big stuff, big tools, but track record paucity. It is high-variance, but currently at its low ebb.

Ignorant of Ignorance

The issue with this system is a dearth of depth. The big league roster, were Rocker and Leiter to both deliver on their promise and all else stay equal, would be potent. But a bevy of moderate disappointments once folks have entered this system has left the club shallow, from OF Aaron Zavala (38th pick in 2021) still yet to debut and lacking much sheen, with little in the outfield behind him, while his draftmate UTIL Cameron Cauley (73rd in 2021) swings and misses a lot for someone with his skillset, capping the potential of his blazing speed. 

But where this issue shows up most potently is behind the plate. 

I mentioned Moore in the introduction, and it bears repeating: the Rangers’ 2024 first round pick is not considered a top-10 prospect in the system, and the system is not well regarded. BP has Moore 15th, BA 13th, and MLBP 18th. When FanGraphs publishes their updated rankings, it’s likely Moore falls similarly, and it is not clear another big league catcher exists in this system even with a heavy squint. Athletic backstop Ian Moller was a fourth rounder in 2021, but has not been able to match the Harry Ford sweet spot in the slightest as a pro. A few rounds later, Texas took C Liam Hicks as well, who’d have helped arrest the cliff dive Jonah Heim took the past two years before departing in free agency, had he not been dealt to Detroit for Carson Kelly. Now in Miami’s backstop rotation, Hicks is one of just four backstops drafted in the 21st century by Texas to both make the big leagues and accrue positive WAR (1.3, second only to Jose Trevino, who also accrued it playing somewhere other than Texas).

That’s all fine if you’re identifying solid contributors like Heim, Robinson Chirinos, or Mike Napoli in trades and on waivers, or going for high-outcome free agents like Danny Jansen or  AJ Pierzynski. But the Rangers are not seeming to find their next Pudge Rodríguez, through the draft as the Hall of Fame Puerto Rican would’ve been found if he’d come up a few years later, or elsewhere. That’s the biggest hole in a Texas system that often is so focused on upside, it’s missing anyone who could take a squat. -JT

This morning, the Washington Nationals officially announced that Cade Cavalli will be their Opening Day starter on March 26th. If you have been following the team, this is not much of a surprise. However, it is still a cool moment for Cavalli, who will be making just his 12th career start.

3/26/26 is cade's day pic.twitter.com/FK1jGK9eOm

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 11, 2026

It is rare to see a pitcher that inexperienced take the ball on Opening Day, but it is fitting for the Nats. The team is entering a new era, which Cavalli should be a big part of. He was always the favorite to take the ball on Opening Day after the MacKenzie Gore trade, but Cavalli’s performances this spring have solidified things.

Cavalli has the best stuff on the team, with an upper 90’s fastball and a filthy curveball headlining his arsenal. He also added a sweeper this offseason to fix his issues against right handed hitters. In his two starts this spring, Cavalli has looked electric and worthy of an Opening Day start.

He is my favorite breakout pick on the team because of his nasty stuff and bulldog mentality. Cavalli was one of the best pitching prospects in baseball a few years ago before Tommy John Surgery changed everything. His recovery from the surgery was slow and he was out for basically two years. However, he re-established himself last year and now the 27 year old is ready to truly break out.

This is super cool. Cade Cavalli, after working back from a lengthy Tommy John surgery rehab, will start for the Nats at Wrigley Field on Opening Day.

An insanely hard worker, a great dude, and a guy possessing nasty stuff. Cade gets the ball in Game One. https://t.co/EW9kythhgm

— Dan Kolko (@DanKolko_) March 11, 2026

As the spring has progressed, I have become more optimistic about the Nats rotation. Outside of Cavalli, there is not anyone with huge upside, but there are a lot of dependable arms. That is especially true after the recent addition of Zack Littell. The pitching staff was a major weakness last year, but I anticipate a turnaround and hopefully the results can look more like they did in 2024.

For Cavalli, this is a big moment in his career. He is now the ace of this staff, despite only making 12 starts. Cavalli was clearly fired up by the opportunity to take the ball on Opening Day. The Nats shared a video of Blake Butera telling Cavalli he was getting the ball to start the season, and it was a cool moment.

you earned it, cade pic.twitter.com/zaTPZuSDZl

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 11, 2026

Cade Cavalli has all the ingredients to be a high level starting pitcher, but he needs to put it all together. I think this could be the year where he does that. With a new pitching apparatus, Cavalli will have a good chance to make the most of his elite tools. I also believe he will enjoy the challenge of being a front of the rotation arm. He seems like a real competitor, and I think he will love the challenge of being an ace.

Hopefully the Nats are not in a spot where they are starting a guy with just 11 career big league outings on Opening Day moving forward, but I think Cavalli is ready for this challenge. He has gone through so much adversity over the past few years, but now he is healthy and ready to roll.

Apple TV on Wednesday announced its schedule of ‘Friday Night Baseball’ games for the first half of the 2026 season, through the end of June. Included are three Dodgers games, two at Dodger Stadium and all in California.

The Dodgers’ first game on Apple TV in 2026 comes April 24 against the Chicago Cubs at home. The Saturday game of that weekend series is also exclusively on national television, on Fox.

Other Dodgers games on Apple TV in the first half of the season are May 29 against the Philadelphia Phillies at home, and June 26 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.

Games on Apple TV are exclusive to the subscription streaming service, meaning no local telecast, with one notable exception from two years ago.

The broadcast teams for Apple TV’s slate of Friday games include Wayne Randazzo, Alex Faust, and Rich Waltz on play-by-play, Dontrelle Willis and Ryan Spilborghs as analysts, plus Heidi Watney and Tricia Whitaker as field reporters.

Willis has called games for Apple TV since 2023, in addition to his broadcast role for the Dodgers. In addition to his role as studio analyst on SportsNet LA, Willis in 2026 will also call some Dodgers games on the network, as he did in 2022-23.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Rangers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

As Rangers fans, we all dislike the rest of the teams in the American League West. It is simply inherent in the nature of our being.

Our question today is, what one team in the American League West do you dislike more than any other? Its a difficult question, I know, but nobody said being a Rangers fan was easy…

Cast your vote below…

They say that the World Baseball Classic can be a blessing for a hitter. An earlier ramp-up and encounters with high-level pitching weeks before the beginning of the regular season has may positively affect hitter performance, with a study by RotoWire finding that, on average, hitters who played in the WBC played better in April and May than hitters who didn’t.

That’s an important note for a Yankees team that sent a few hitters to the WBC, including catcher Austin Wells, who is representing his mother’s side of the family as the starting backstop for the Dominican Republic. He crushed a home run in the team’s blowout win over the Netherlands, and the early ramp-up could be big for the young catcher who is entering a crucial season.

2025 statistics: 126 games, 448 PA, .219/.275/.436, 21 HR, 71 RBI, 94 wRC+, 6.7 BB%, 26.3 K%, 11 Fielding Run Value, 3.0 fWAR

2026 FanGraphs Depth Charts projections: 117 games, 461 PA, .227/.299/.417, 19 HR, 62 RBI, 99 wRC+, 8.5 BB%, 24.4 K%, 3.2 fWAR

Wells emerged on the scene in September 2023 as that year’s depressing edition of the Yankees wound down its season. He showed good potential with the bat, as expected, but also looked surprisingly comfortable behind the plate. It may be hard to imagine right now, but we have to remember that Wells was considered a great bat in the minors who might not be able to stick behind the plate.

Tanner Swanson worked his magic, though, and defense became Wells’ strength. He had a strong rookie year in 2024 that saw him finish third in Rookie of the Year voting, even with a brutal September slump. Heading into 2025, the hype around Wells was palpable, so much so that he went deep as the team’s leadoff hitter on Opening Day.

But his offense just wasn’t the same in 2025. His plate discipline regressed, and his on-base percentage dropped from .322 to .275. His already sub-standard numbers against offspeed and breaking pitches got even worse, as he often looked lost against sliders and sweepers. His framing remained elite, but with ABS coming in 2026, he could see that framing value start to be chipped away.

The one positive of his offensive profile in 2025? Wells cut down his groundball rate, generated a better pulled fly ball rate, and got more barrels. The downside, however, of looking to lift the ball is getting under it, which he also did considerably more.

For Wells, the path to getting back to being the offensive catcher he was billed to be in the minor leagues is plate discipline. His strikeout rate spiked from 21 percent to 26.3 percent in 2025, while his walk rate collapsed. His 2024 percentiles are where he wants to get back to, where he was in the 89th percentile in walk rate and 70th percentile in chase rate. Both were below average in 2025.

He’s never going to be a perfectly well-rounded hitter, so it’s hard to ask him to abandon his approach of looking to hit the ball in the air to the pull side when he’s a lefty at Yankee Stadium, but if it’s leading to the hole in his swing, it might need to be considered. It should not, however, affect his swing decisions.

Defensively, Wells will continue to be one of the league’s best, but the question will be how much ABS will impact his framing impact. With the limit on challenges, he should be fine, but he also needs to be able to steal calls for his pitchers when umpires miss calls. He’s been a mixed bag in a small sample in spring training in that regard.

Still, his defensive impact makes him, at worst, a league-average catcher. His bat, while underwhelming, was average among backstops in 2025, and he’s shown he has enough thump to be better. As a result, he’s not at risk of losing his job. JC Escarra is a fine, defense-first backup, and Ben Rice is likely the team’s everyday first baseman. If Wells struggles, he could lose reps, but he’ll almost certainly catch a majority of games in 2025 barring injury.

Ultimately, there’s a path to Wells getting back on track to being one of the best young catchers in baseball, and in the ultimate irony for those who’ve followed his career since he was drafted out of Arizona in 2020, it’s his bat that’s the swing factor.

---

See more of the Yankees Previews series here.

As Spring Training progresses for the 2026 Atlanta Braves, it is becoming clearer by the day that for Atlanta to once again be a true contender, their offense must be among the best in the league. And while the likely loss of Jurickson Profar for the season is a setback, nearly every other offensive regular has been highly productive over the past few weeks.

Among the top performers are Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II, and Mike Yastrzemski, i.e., the projected starting outfield. On paper, this group has the potential to be one of the better outfields in the game, especially offensively. However, due to the loss of Profar, they are also one big injury away from having to shuffle their way through “next man up” options with the hope something works (which has been a less than ideal strategy from the past two years.) Ideally, both availability and playing to the best of their abilities will be defining characteristics of the 2026 Braves outfield.

Right Field

Perhaps the easiest truth about the Braves is that a healthy Ronald Acuña Jr. is the biggest singular factor in them returning to contention. If you need any proof of why that is, simply watch the highlight reel of Acuña from Monday night’s Venezuela vs Nicaragua World Baseball Classic game. You also can relive how electric Acuña was at the plate upon immediately returning from a second ACL tear.

Acuña is healthy, locked in, and having fun — that version of Acuña is one the five best singular sources of offensive production in baseball. This is likely a big reason as to why Acuña will once again be leading off for the Braves in 2026.

Most 2026 projections agree with this sentiment, as Acuña is routinely among the top five position players in baseball in terms of wRC+. The average of all the projections at Fangraphs have Acuña right at 150 wRC+. While that is certainly encouraging, nearly every projection source also points to a bit of regression in terms of Acuña’s power and speed compared to the pre-second knee surgery version of himself. Acuña posted a .228 ISO in 2025, and is projected to produce a similar power output in 2026. Furthermore, nearly every projection source has him around 25 stolen bases, clearly indicating the sense that Acuña will run significantly less than he has in the past.

ZiPS itself is right in line with these predictions, suggesting 27 home runs, 24 steals, and a 156 wRC+ for Acuña this season. Perhaps the most eye-opening prediction from ZiPS is those numbers coming in just 119 games, which suggests Acuña could be viewed as having heightened injury risk compared to his peers. Without a doubt, if Acuña is healthy for a full season, there is a very, very good chance that he exceeds these offensive numbers. However, following multiple significant leg surgeries over past few years, a few injury scares have a chance to occur this season.

In the case that Acuña were to need a day off or be sidelined for a bit of time, Yastrzemski, Eli White, and Mauricio Dubon are all options to man right field. This is notable, because to keep Acuña fresh and improve the chances he remains healthy throughout the season, days off will likely be needed. Ensuring Acuña. is available for the full season and hopefully a playoff run should be a top priority for the Braves, because any time he is on the field, he has the ability so single-handedly deliver a victory for Atlanta.

Center Field

If the availability of Ronald Acuña Jr. is the biggest factor in the Braves returning the contention, the consistent ability of Michael Harris II to play to his potential may be the biggest X-factor. In the first half of 2025, Harris had the second-worst wRC+ (47) among qualified hitters. In the first six weeks of the second half of 2025, he had the seventh-best wRC+ (164) among qualified hitters. The true version of Harris is neither of these outcomes, which makes his whole self a bit of a mystery. However, the exciting thing is that the realistic version of Harris is some sort of middle ground from 2025, which easily is a 3-4 WAR player with clear All-Star potential.

Another way of putting this: Harris has been extremely streaky throughout his career, with the variance in outcomes getting larger by the year. Perhaps the biggest reason for the streakiness is his inability to take walks, which only got worse as the team actively tried to walk last year. For Harris II to gain more consistency, he must put together longer stretches of productive at bats, with a bit of an OBP floor.

Fortunately, early indications are that Harris focused on that exact part of his game in the offseason. While three walks in 21 PAs may not seem to be that significant, it certainly is a welcome improvement. Harris is also putting the ball in play with a 92.6 average exit velocity, an improvement of over 2 MPH compared to the past three years. Harris has obviously made some adjustments to get better and more consistent results, and the projections like his chances of doing just that.

While most of the projections see Harris still walking under five percent of the time, they do feel his quality of contact will return the levels of his first two seasons in the majors. Harris produced a .249 average, .160 ISO, and 83 wRC+ last year, which resulted in 2 fWAR. ZiPS has Harris at a .275 average, .179 ISO, 109 wRC+, and 3.8 fWAR. That type of leap in production for Harris would be a welcome development for many, and would he a huge boost to the offense overall.

Of course, a big source of value for Harris is his stellar defense, which is expected to remain in place for years to come. But one area where Harris could significantly outproduce his projections is stolen bases. None of the projections see Harris stealing 20 bases, despite the fact he has produced that exact amount of steals in three of his four seasons. If he can improve his ability to get on base, he will find himself having plenty of conversations with new first base coach Antoan Richardson. With how well Richardson helped the Mets improve their running game last year, Harris being on base more often could easily lead to 25-30 steals.

One positive from Harris last year is that he played in 160 games, an increase from earlier in his career. Harris remaining healthy is also critical for the Braves outfield and defense as a whole. While White, Dubon, and Yastrzemski could man centerfield for a short time, the Braves are at their best when one of baseball’s best defenders is manning center field. And if Harris can prove the projections to be true, he and Ronald Acuña Jr. could turn into one of the best outfield duos in baseball.

Left Field

Since 2022, the Braves have the second-worst overall fWAR (1.7) and wRC+ (87) among MLB teams in terms of production from the left field position. Due to injuries and other factors, several below-replacement players have manned the position for the Braves. The hope was that this year would be different with Profar and Yastrzemski serving as the main two options for that position. But now without Profar, the Braves badly need Yastrzemski to deliver a big year.

One thing Yastrezemski has proven to be over his career is consistent. He has produced between 1.5-2.5 fWAR each year of his career, including 2.4 fWAR last year. His wRC+ marks over the past five years are 106, 99, 111, 106, and another 106 last year. He combines good power and plate discipline, though his power did regress a bit last year. However, the projections seem to suggest his power should bounce back a bit while he maintains an above-average walk rate. For instance, ZiPS has Yastrzemski at 2.0 fWAR, which comes with 16 home runs, a nearly 11 percent walk rate and a 108 wRC+. In other words, Yaz is expected to maintain his career norms when it comes to offensive production.

Along with a bit of regression in power, a few other areas of slight decline compared to 2025 may be his defense and strikeout rate (19.5 percent in 2025 was a career low). However, he could be subbed out for a better defender late in games and he will mainly be used against right-handed pitching. A big number to follow for Yastrzemski will be his wRC+ vs righties. If he can produce around or above 120 wRC+ vs right-handers, he will be doing exactly what the Braves need him to do.

The guy who could replace Yastrzemski late in games will also be his likely platoon partner vs left-handed pitching, which is Eli White, pending a late addition by the Braves. From a counting stats perspective, White had a career year with the Braves (if only every game could be in Tennessee). However, in terms of quality, White showed why he is likely most valuable as a bench player. He produced an 84 wRC+ overall, including a 100 wRC+ vs. left-handers. Most projection systems have him around a 85 wRC+ for 2026. ZiPS has him with eight homers, an 85 wRC+, and 1.1 fWAR. His above-average defense remains a good source of his value.

While the Braves should be confident Yastrzemski will be a valuable addition against right-handed pitching, they should remain focused on finding a another outfielder over the next few weeks. The new addition would essentially be replacing Profar on the roster, but the hope is also the new outfielder would have more offensive upside than White, especially against left-handed pitching. Internally, the Braves also hope to get Ha-Seong Kim back in early to mid May, which would allow Mauricio Dubón to potentially platoon with Yastrzemski. Outfield depth once again is a need for the Braves, and their best value will likely come from an external addition over the next few weeks.

Organizational Outfield Depth

A big reason why the Braves should continue looking for outfield help before season the starts is because they do not have any reliable options on the minors that could provide depth at the MLB level during the 2026 season. While some of the more intriguing positional prospects in Atlanta’s system are outfielders, they are still a few years away from making an impact. As a result, White, Dubon, Jorge Mateo, and perhaps Spring Training options such as Dominic Smith or Ben Gamel are your current outfield depth for the big league Braves. That group is not exactly inspiring, especially if another injury were to occur. As a result, outside of pitching, another outfield bat remains a clear need for the Braves.

If the Braves outfield can remain healthy and consistent, they can be one of the better offensive outfields in baseball. This especially needs to be true vs. right-handed pitching for the Braves to return to contention. However, as the past few years have shown, it is far from a guarantee that health will be in the Braves favor. As a result, Alex Anthopoulos will likely continue to search for depth over time. But once again, if health can remain in a good spot, the Braves projected starters play a big role in their offensive success overall.

You might not have noticed, but one of the major narratives of the Phillies’ off season was whether or not Bryce Harper is still an elite player. After Dave Dombrowski (correctly, but curiously) said that Harper’s 2025 season was not up to his previous standard, that set off a lot of people talking, including Harper himself.

If you’re sick of the “Is Harper elite?” discussion already, I have some bad news for you: It’s not going away. My prediction is that every single home run that Harper hits this season will prompt many “Elite” or “Still looks elite to me” posts on social media.

Harper has suggested that one of the causes for his non-elite season was the lack of adequate protection in the Phillies’ lineup. Harper saw a lot of balls out of the strike zone in 2025, and he swung at far too many of them. It’s not hard to infer that Harper feels he could take more of those pitches if he had more faith in the hitters behind him in the lineup.

Protection is not a problem for Harper in the WBC. He’s been batting second in the Team USA lineup right in front of Aaron Judge. And immediately behind Judge is Kyle Schwarber, which means that Harper has 109 home runs worth of power backing him up in the lineup.

Despite that prime spot in the lineup, through four games, Harper is just 3-15 with no walks, no extra base hits, and five strikeouts. He wasn’t in the starting lineup on Tuesday (largely because the manager is an idiot) and then popped up in a pinch-hitting appearance.

Bryce Harper through three #WorldBaseballClassic games

3/14 (.214 AVG)
.527 OPS
5 Ks
1 RBI

Just knocking the rust off… right? pic.twitter.com/rfDz93c2yE

— SleeperPhillies (@SleeperPhillies) March 10, 2026

Obviously, it would be ridiculous to make any judgements based on 15 at bats in the month of March. Harper could very well go on to have a great season, and all of this elite/not elite talk will seem silly.

But if he doesn’t have a great season, it will likely be on him more than a lack of protection. For one thing, Harper needs to regain the ability to catch up with fastballs.

Harper looks like he’s struggling with the fastball again in the WBC.

His numbers against that pitch have been trending down over the last couple of seasons.

His AVG against four-seamers since becoming a Phillie:

2019: .322
2020: .293
2021: .347
2022: .337
2023: .316
2024:…

— Jack Fritz (@JackFritzWIP) March 10, 2026

He also needs to stop chasing pitches. Maybe Alec Bohm isn’t the 20+ home run threat he’d prefer behind him, but Bohm has been a quality hitter the past two seasons, so Harper needs to have more faith in him. (Ironically, if anyone should have been complaining after the NLDS, it was Bohm. With Harper going 3-15 in front of him, and the players behind producing little, Bohm was walked six times in the series.)

If Harper keeps getting himself out by chasing pitches out of the strike zone, then it’s not helping anyone. And it might also have a detrimental effect on the hitters behind him who might additional pressure to come through after Harper did not.

I don’t have numbers to back this up, but the Phillies’ offense often feels momentum-based: When things are going well in a game, they continue to go well, but if they struggle early, it seems to snowball. We all remember those stretches when the Phillies strand countless base runners and struggle to score runs. And then, they’ll have a game where one guy comes through in a big spot, and the whole team seems to relax, resulting in a double-digit outburst.

Hopefully, Harper can fix what ails him when it comes to chasing balls and hitting fastballs. Because while Team USA can overcome a down performance by Harper, the Phillies likely can not.

39-year-old Caleb Thielbar defied Father Time to be effective for the Cubs in 2025 and is returning, hoping for more of the same. At some point he’s bound to run out of gas, but maybe not yet.

He was 3-4, 2.64 last year, but hasn’t had that kind of result in the spring so far. Even so, he’s probably headed to Chicago and will occupy his short/middle relief slot once again.

Thielbar brings some funk, and has a long track record amassed during eight years as a Twin and one as a Cub. After two years of passable results in 2013-4, he spent most of 2015 and all of 2016-2019 in the Twins’ minor-league system until his curveball got him back to The Show. He spent four good years in Minnesota, had a subpar 2024, and packed his bags.

In nine years, he has a 5.6 bWAR (5.5 fWAR). He’s probably not going to hurt you, and he’ll put up 50 or 60 innings’ worth of relief, say projections. At this point, he throws fastball, slider, curve, eschewing the sinker and knuckle-curve he deployed earlier in his career. That curve is a weapon, and he throws it at different speeds to further foil hitters. At top end, it’s almost 80 mph, and he unleashes it as a quasi-eephus pitch periodically. His fastball tops out at about 92 mph.

His WHIP was 0.88 last year. The Cubs can use more of that.