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It feels like every year you need more and more subscriptions to watch the Red Sox. Rob Manfred supposedly wants to fix this in the future with nationalized broadcasting but for now, let’s see what’s on the docket for all those games in 2026.

You might remember last fall when the Red Sox and Tigers played on Apple TV and part of the broadcast was done on an iPhone. Well, that phone is now in the Hall of Fame.

The milestone broadcast at Boston’s Fenway Park — where the Red Sox clinched a postseason berth with a thrilling walk-off win over the Detroit Tigers — has since been recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which added one of the authenticated iPhone devices to its permanent collection in Cooperstown, New York. Read more on the Hall of Fame website.

By coincidence (or on purpose) the Tigers will be in town on April 17th for the Red Sox first, and currently only, Apple TV game of the year. The schedule Apple released is just for the first half of the season so there may be more to come after the All-Star Game. At least the Apple games look really, really good.

NBC/Peacock will be airing games on Sundays and the Red Sox are featured four times this season. NBC, to their credit (maybe?) has tried to make these big, exciting, matches. While that is definitely a win for the national audience, we miss out of Don and Jerry Dave and Lou.

Here are your 2026 Red Sox games that will be on NBC:

June 14 — 7 p.m. — Texas Rangers at Boston Red Sox — NBC/Peacock

Apologies if I don’t remember the large Rangers/Red Sox rivalry, NBC. In 2007 Boston traded for Eric Gagne from the Rangers? Ian Kinsler played for both teams?

June 28 — 7 p.m. — N.Y. Yankees at Boston Red Sox — NBC/Peacock

Now we’re talking…a series against the Yankees! And a second look at Fenway Park. If they’re going to be on the national stage might as well let other fans see our ballpark and wonder why they can’t have a Green Monster.

August 2 — 7 p.m. — Boston Red Sox at L.A. Dodgers — NBC/Peacock

Nothing on the schedule in July but there are two broadcasts scheduled for August. The first of which is August 2nd against then Dodgers. Mookie. Ohtani. Freeman. Decoy. All the big names. This has a little interest in the timing because it’s the day before the trade deadline. Monday August 3rd will be an off day for the Red Sox but the teams that do play will start ay 6:40 PM ET or later – after the deadline.

What do you think? Do you like when the deadline occurs during a game and every move is a possible trade? Or is it better to schedule games, as much as possible, with around 20 hours of space between day games on Sunday and night games on Monday?

August 23 — 3 p.m. — San Francisco Giants at Boston Red Sox — NBC/Peacock

Boston closes out the NBC slate with the Rafael Devers Reunion. The new-look Giants are trying to compete in 2026 and by August 23rd we’ll have a pretty good idea of the fortunes of both Boston and San Francisco. Did the Dodgers collapse? Are Roman and Marcelo fueling a youth revolution?

The real sacrifice comes, as usual, from FOX and their game of the week. Here’s what we get from FOX:

April 11 — 7 p.m. — Boston Red Sox at St. Louis Cardinals — FOX

It starts off with the Bloom vs Breslow Battle! Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray head back to St. Louis. Maybe Richard Fitts makes a start?

June 6 – 3 p.m. – Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees – FOX

Yankees, because Red Sox, Yankees, and FOX are just a thing that happens in MLB. Lots of good times. Lots of Joe Buck in the past.

July 11 – 4 p.m. – Boston Red Sox at New York Mets – FS1

Step right up and meet Grimace.

August 22 – 7 p.m. – San Francisco Giants at Boston Red Sox – FOX

A full national weekend of Devers clips. You’ll be tired by the end. Guaranteed.

September 26 – 7 p.m. – Chicago Cubs at Boston Red Sox – FOX

The Cubbies will be in town and everyone in the country might watch as Boston and Chicago battle out (hopefully) for postseason positioning in their respective divisions. If things go right, both teams will be setup up for October.

Then it’s on to, hopefully, more national games in October.

The MLB season is around the corner, which means we are close to seeing one of the most electric things in all sports, homeruns.  

Rotowire.com ranked the MLB ballparks by total home runs hit from the 2020-2025 season. They gathered home run data using Statcast data via Pybaseball, ensuring a comprehensive dataset covering every regular-season home run. To determine which stadiums are the most home run-friendly, they ranked all 30 MLB ballparks by total home runs hit, including both home and visiting teams. For teams that relocated or used temporary venues in 2025, totals have been combined across all stadiums used. They also did not count postseason Homers, it was just the regular season. 

The stadium with the most home runs hit is Dodger Stadium with 1,241.  The Dodgers bashed 244 homers in 2025 alone, with 142 of those being at home. Their slugging helped Los Angeles earn its second consecutive World Series title, taking down the Toronto Blue Jays. The Dodgers are 2026 World Series betting favorites at MLB betting apps to make it three in a row.

Great American Ballpark, the home of the Cincinnati Reds was second on the list with 1,221 dingers hit. While Yankee Stadium finished out the top three at 1, 216 homers. 

The big surprise though was who ranked dead last on the list. PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, finished 30th. Only 794 home runs were hit in over the last six seasons, counting the Pirates and the away teams stats. 

This means the offense has really been struggling over the years for Pittsburgh but it also means the pitching has been doing its job not allowing the ball to leave the park. 

PNC Park is not considered to lean heavily toward either hitters or pitchers, so Pittsburgh’s offensive struggles last season – their 117 homers were by far the fewest in the Majors – is more of a roster issue, not the ballpark.

The Bucs had by far the fewest HRs hit last season with 117, The St.Louis Cardinals had the second fewest with 148. The offensive struggles that Pittsburgh has had over the last couple of seasons is a big reason why PNC Park ranks dead last.

Pittsburgh made some good moves in the offseason to break that cycle. The Pirates traded for Brandon Lowe, signed Ryan O’Hearn and picked up Marcell Ozuna in the offseason. Those are all guys with serious power who can hit 30-plus homeruns. 

It felt like over the years the power has not been there for the Pirates, but with those acquisitions, we could see more balls hit into the Allegheny river for the 2026 season.  

Check out the full list from Rotowire here.

Gabriel Moreno’s MRI reveals right elbow inflammation, to be shut down for couple of days
https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/gabriel-moreno-4/3614536/

Lawlar’s transition to CF going well; assessing D-backs postseason chanceshttps://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/reddit-ask-me-anything-with-d-backs-reporter-steve-gilbert

Diamondbacks Storm Back in Massive Comeback Win Over Giantshttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/diamondbacks-storm-back-massive-comeback-win-giants

Diamondbacks Give Relieving Gabriel Moreno Injury Updatehttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/diamondbacks-relieving-gabriel-moreno-injury-update

The ‘New’ Pitch That Could Engineer a Zac Gallen Bounce-Backhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/arizona-diamondbacks-news/pitch-engineer-zac-gallen-bounce-back-sinker

For a team with talent like the Braves have, Spring Training should be about only two things. One, staying healthy and two, letting the prospects shine for the entire organization. The numbers that the starters put up should be thrown away. Also, the 14-5 record should be ignored as well. But some of the starters are doing things that are hard to ignore. Mauricio Dubon is enjoying his time with Chipper Jones and the Spring numbers are good. Austin Riley might be stealing some bases this year thanks to some work with Antoan Richardson. But the big news out of Spring is that Michael Harris looks amazing.

Michael Harris’ 2026 Spring Training plate discipline numbers are completely different from last season. Last year’s 128/16 K/BB ratio has been replaced with a 3/4 K/BB ratio. O-Swing (swinging outside the strike zone) is down from 42.9 to 25.5 percent. Overall swing rate is down from 56.5 to 41.7 percent. He’s not trading power though. His wOBA is higher now than at any point in his career.

Yeah, it’s Spring Training. And plate discipline changes don’t really suggest anything until at least 50 plate appearances. But will Michael Harris’ Spring Training plate discipline roll over into the season? Maybe so. Plate discipline tends to be a lifestyle, good and bad. He could continue but he could easily slide the other way. He appears committed to it for now, though.

“[Plate discipline] is one of the main things I want to work on right now,” Harris said. “It’s one of the bigger things that will help elevate my game and help this team a lot. So, my focus now is making sure I’m swinging at pitches I can handle.”

The projections love Michael Harris for a reason. He has a great profile and amazing defense. It would be amazing for him not to repeat the summer of 4-3. It would be nice if 2025 was completely different altogether.

The annals of baseball history abound with stories of vaunted prospects who never fulfilled their potential. Whether due to injury, work ethic, or simply misplaced projections, these figures serve as cautionary tales to temper our expectations whenever the next “sure thing” breaks onto the scene.

A story far less often told is of the player who had to hear over 150 other players names’ called before hearing his own, and yet who somehow manages to get a shot in the big leagues — and, against all odds, carves out a successful career for himself. This is the story of Mike Pagliarulo.

Michael Timothy Pagliarulo
Born: March 15, 1960 (Medford, MA)
Yankees Tenure: 1984-89

The man they called “Pags” grew up just outside Boston as a fan of his hometown Red Sox. Snatched up by the Yankees in the sixth round of the 1981 MLB Draft out of the University of Miami, he was considered a solid defender at third who was unlikely develop into a true prospect due to a lack of ability at the plate. His early returns in the minors were encouraging, if not spectacular. Still, he rose steadily through the ranks, making it to Triple-A in 1984.

Despite slashing a meager .212/.293/.404 in 169 plate appearances through early July, the Yankees called the 24-year-old up to try to fill the hole left when they traded captain Graig Nettles to the Padres before the season. Given his pedigree, he could have been expected to serve as a brief stopgap between that five-time All-Star and the next Yankees mainstay at the hot corner. Pagliarulo fared reasonably well under the circumstances, posting a .735 OPS along with 25 extra-base hits in 219 plate appearances. With little internal competition, this performance was enough to give him the inside track on a starting job heading into the 1985 season.

It was at this key inflection point that Pagliarulo decided to roll up his sleeves. Working with hitting coach Lou Piniella, he retooled his swing and developed the power stroke that would elevate his game. “Mike has worked very hard, and I mean very, very hard,” Piniella said at the time. “The big thing has been the time and effort he has devoted to improving. When he came up last year, his swing was basically wrong. Now he’s improved tremendously.” 

Initially, the lefty’s success came only against right-handers — manager Billy Martin went so far as to order him to bat from the right side of the plate against a tough lefty in 1985. But, as the years went on, he developed from a platoon player to a true starter, appearing in 149 games in 1986 and 150 in ‘87. His 60 homers across those two seasons ranked third among all third basemen in the game, behind only inner-circle Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt and two-time Twins All-Star Gary Gaetti.

Throughout this period, the player who had worked his way up the ladder rung by rung became known for his hard-nosed approach to the game. “He comes out for extra hitting and he’s done with that and he wants extra hitting on top of the extra hitting,” said coach Roy White. “He says, ‘This feels good; I want to keep working on it,’ and he goes down to the cage. After a while, I try to stop him. There’s such a thing as overdoing it.”

Pagliarulo seemed to disagree.

“Some day, when I can’t play anymore, I can say I played as hard as I could play. I have no excuses. I’ve done the best I can do. I’ve worked as hard as I could work. In the past, I wasn’t polished. I figured the more I worked, the better I’d get. I figure now the guy who works the hardest is the guy who’s going to be the best. I want to work harder than anybody and I want to be better than everybody. That’s carried me so far, and it’s going to carry me the rest of my career. I can’t see being satisfied with what you’re doing because I figure once you’re satisfied, that’s it. You’re not going to get any better than that.”

Despite his hard work, by 1988 Pagliarulo’s bat began to trail off. The following season, the Yankees once again shipped their starting third baseman out to San Diego, this time for right-handed pitchers Walt Terrell and Freddie Toliver, neither of whom panned out in pinstripes. Pagliarulo’s time out west was a failure as well. In addition to posting just a .668 OPS in parts of two seasons, he drew the ire of teammates and fans for attacking Mr. Padre himself, Tony Gwynn, as a selfish player. “Donnie (Mattingly) would’ve kicked that guy’s ass the first day,” he told the Daily News in an interview of appallingly poor judgment, which won him no friends in San Diego.

Pags had a resurgence after leaving the Padres, carving out a starting role with the Twins on their 1991 championship team. The veteran showed out in what would be the only playoff action of his career, hitting .308 in 11 games with a pair of homers, one of which was the decisive blow in Game 3 of the ALCS in Toronto, off Mike Timlin.

Pagliarulo stuck around with Minnesota for parts of two more seasons before a brief stint with the Orioles. For the 1994 season, the 34-year-old joined the NPB, helping lead the Seibu Lions to the Japan Series, where they would be defeated by a Yomiuri Giants squad featuring a 20-year-old Hideki Matsui. He returned to the States the following year, appearing in 86 games with the Rangers before hanging up his cleats for good.

Pagliarulo has coached intermittently in the years since his retirement, most notably under his old pal Mattingly as the Marlins’ hitting coach from 2016-18.

For the sixth-rounder with a suspect bat, it’s been a remarkable baseball life. Happy birthday, Pags!

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

Week 1: Starting Pitching

Week 2: Catchers

Week 3: Corner Infield

Week 4: Middle Infield

We are less than two weeks until Opening Day and despite most outlets choosing the St. Louis Cardinals to finish last in the NL Central, I am still feeling giddy for the first pitch of the season, likely to be delivered by Matthew Liberatore. Even with that short time to go until games actually matter in the standings, the Cardinals are still sorting through what was the biggest roster competition of the spring: who starts in left field?

The St. Louis Cardinals need to find an answer at all three outfield spots

The Cardinals have been trying to find some stability in their outfield after running through an established set of veterans for a handful of years at a time, but have not yet found that consistent building block. This can be evidenced by the fact that the last Cardinal outfielder to win a Silver Slugger came in 2010 when Matt Holliday did it, and before then it was Ryan Ludwick in 2008 and Jim Edmonds in 2005.

Not only does that show the offense has been lacking for years, it also shows that the Cardinals’ Devil Magic in the grass might have been gone for longer than we figured. Even though the outfield has been a cycle of names, it had been productive, finishing in the top 10 by fWAR for total production from 2010-2020. Then, I moved that timeline from 2021 through last season and it was a total bummer. The Cardinals outfielders since 2021 have ranked 19th-best in all of baseball, and when moving the timeline to 2023 for their first year of their missed postseason streak, they drop all the way down to being the fifth-worst producing outfielders in the MLB.

By games played, the players with the most appearances in the outfield during that time are all a part of the current roster. Lars Nootbaar’s 381 games played in those three seasons leads the group, with Jordan Walker (260), Alec Burleson (203), and Victor Scott II (184) grabbing the most playing time before getting to the departed Brendan Donovan. Now, Burly will be playing the vast majority of his games at first base, leaving Noot, Vic, and Walker to roam the grass. Let’s look at what that means for the 2026 Cardinals and last week, we had Redbird Farmhands on to discuss what he has seen or not seen from the outfield group.

Lars Nootbaar

I am going to call Noot the elephant in the room, but honestly, each of these three guys have some issues that need fixing that could all be considered the obvious items needing attention. Since 2023, when he has been healthy Nootbaar has been a productive player. Over that three year span, the outfielder has accumulated 5.6 fWAR, which ranks 31st in baseball during that time. When looking at the 30 players above him, Noot’s 37 homers in three seasons only slots above Steven Kwan, Christian Yelich, and Sal Frelick. Kwan is four fWAR better than Noot, Yelich has an MVP and a track record of success before being slowed by injury, and Frelick has 43 steals and above-average defense to help make up for the lack of power.

As we wait yet again for Nootbaar to prove that his Statcast measurements are more than just intriguing potential, someone else is going to have to step up and fill his spot while he is on the injured list for an undetermined amount of time. This is the real competition in camp.

We heard throughout the offseason that the Cardinals were interested in adding a righty power bat, but the only move close to that was a non-roster invite to former prospect Nelson Velazquez. After an impressive opposite field homer and another flyout to right that just missed going over, Velazquez is the newest talk of camp and fans believe he is an easy choice for the Opening Day roster. While I am impressed by what he has shown and the potential he had as a prospect, my only hangup is the 40-man roster spot. Not that I think anyone in spots 38-40 is untouchable, but those might be the guys that Chaim Bloom and Co. want to see what they have before a DFA or trade from the 40-man roster for an unknown in Velazquez.

Of course, there’s a reason some of those guys are even in that 40-man limbo and at the end of Spring Training, most teams are looking to subtract from their roster rather than add. In that case, the Cardinals may be able to sneak out-of-options guys through the waiver process and hold onto Velazquez for as long as he stays hot. More on the rest of the outfield later, but I had to give Velazquez a blurb of his own.

Victor Scott II

Before diving further into the question mark that is left field, the clearest outfield lock for Opening Day stands in center field in the form of Victor Scott II. Those with me for awhile know that I am not super high on VSII’s offensive potential, but I understand how small the sample size has been while remembering that Scott skipped Triple-A before making his MLB debut, a promotion usually saved for polished prospects with guaranteed playign time.

Before I harp too much on his offense, it is clear that VSII’s value rests in his legs and his glove. He made good on those tools last year, ranking among the league leaders in sprint speed and fielding value while stealing 34 bases and being named a Gold Glove finalist in centerfield. He set his personal goal for the season to be 70 stolen bases, and for a Cardinals team that stole 89 total last season while losing much of their power, this team is going to have to run.

For Scott’s part, though, he needs to find ways to get on base. Of the 17 center fielders in baseball who received at least 400 plate appearances, the St. Louis center fielder ranked 13th in fWAR and his .587 OPS was dead last by over 60 percentage points. That 72 wRC+ was only better than Brenton Doyle from Colorado and now leaves Scott with something to prove this year, despite only entering his age-25 season. So far this spring, the results have been mixed for the outfielder who spent time this offseason getting his swing studied and reworked.

In 23 at-bats, VSII has trimmed his strikeout rate while drawing more walks, but the end line results still leave something to be desired. Of course, Scott is going through massive swing changes, so the early .174 batting average and four total hits can easily be attributed to that. One thing that I am not as understanding of, though, is the fact that Scott leads the Cactus League in sacrifice bunts… in Spring Training. Scott is also working on bunting more, which is likely what he is going to have to do to get on base more often than when he swings away, but if the swing really underwent some reconstruction, I would rather have him working on that during games instead of bunts. Without being able to actually watch all of his bunt attempts on TV, his sacrifices may have been attempted drag bunts, but again, I feel there may be a better time to work on that in live game situations like in live bullpens or the backfields.

ZiPS projects an overall improvement on Scott’s final hitting line in 2026, but it is still a far cry from the .303 batting average and .794 OPS he put up in the minors in 2023 when he also stole 94 bases. The model estimates a 79 wRC+, .621 OPS, and 36 stolen bases for the speedy outfielder this season. A noticeable improvement, but nothing that would make me willing to go to the extension table or call him an untouchable piece, especially in a lineup that lacks pop. For what it is worth, manager Oli Marmol has shouted out VSII’s offensive approach and his progress with the bat, so when the lights turn on, we’ll see how that translates.

Jordan Walker

I will leave this one relatively short. While I said Scott needs to prove something, the same can be said for Walker but with exponentially greater future impact. The former top prospect is currently stuck in a failure to launch phase after experiencing success in the minor leagues. I used fWAR and OPS to compare VSII to his peers, and I unfortunately did the same for Walker. To spare you the eyesore of seeing it on FanGraphs, he ranked 17th out of 17 qualified right fielders in both measures.

We have heard it all before, launch angle, sliders, defense… There is really no arguing that Walker has not managed to take the step we all hoped as he expected him to fortify right field for the next decade. Now, he is fighting for his position on the major league roster and, at just 23-years-old, he only has one minor league option season remaining. Not so much here, because the baseball IQ is much greater than elsewhere, but the amount of people I see saying that Walker needs to be in Memphis seems a little wonky. If there was a second option remaining, AND someone waiting in the ranks (no, Josh Baez is not ready), then I would be more open to that idea.

For this year, Walker, for lack of better terms, deserves to be on the major league roster, but his leash is likely shorter than any other player who is expected to have a starting job. He is yet to hit 1,000 major league at-bats, number Nolan Gorman has far surpassed yet I believe the third baseman gets more leeway than Walker. ZiPS projects another negative fWAR season, but it again expects an improvement from what he did in 2025. Walker is projected to hit .232 with 14 homers and 58 RBI, good for an 88 wRC+. As mediocre as those numbers sound, all of those would be his highest output since his rookie season, with 58 runs driven in representing a career-high. If that season were to happen, Walker could possibly play his way into another “final chance” season in 2027. That would probably get an eye roll or seven from Cardinal Nation, but there is always the question of hold on too long or let go too soon?

The Starting Left Fielder

Who takes over for Noot? I teased the idea of Velazquez already, but even with 12 days until Opening Day, it might be too early to hand him a roster spot. Since a 40-man move would be required, be it DFA or 60-day IL usage, the Cardinals likely want to be sure Velazquez’s performance is validated, not just from his numbers, but also from the eye test and advanced metrics. Marmol continues to give the outfielder every opportunity to win the job, as he sits near the top of the team this spring with 10 games played, and his three homers lead the squad. The ball might be in Velazquez’ court for the starting job while Noot is out.

While his inclusion on the roster would necessitate some finagling elsewhere, FanGraphs currently has lefty Nathan Church penciled in as the starting option in left field. The 25-year-old lefty is already on the big league roster and received a teeny cup of espresso last season with the Cardinals. Church has performed well in Spring Training so far, hitting a double and homer in his 20 at-bats while also taking four walks. The lefty hit .329 last season in 86 games between AA and AAA, and set a career high with 13 homers and added 16 stolen bases. Church is a solid fielder with a great arm who could become a Nootbaar replacement straight up. Around the clubhouse, Church has been praised for his work ethic and his Brendan Donovan-esque demeanor. If Velazquez falters for the last week, Church could be ticketed to the Opening Day lineup when the team heads north.

Behind those two sit Thomas Saggese and Jose Fermin, both of whom looked to have a shot at winning an Opening Day job, with one in a utility role and the other expanding their bag of tricks to an outfield spot. Now, though, it may be one of those guys settling in on the bench and the other in Memphis after the Cardinals brought in Ramon Urias, along with the potential of adding Church and Velazquez to the squad. I was personally hoping Saggese would get a shot at consistent playing time, even if that did not mean a starting spot. With the Cardinals lineup lacking pop, Saggese at least showed some ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark with his minor league track record. Fermin is a faster, more athletic defender who probably fits a utility role better, but he has been limited with the bat in his 10 professional seasons. The inclusion of Urias makes one of these two expendable, since they are both young players that the organization has kept around. Fermin might have a slight advantage because he is out of options, but if Velazquez were to stay hot, the Cardinals may opt to risk Fermin hitting the waiver wire to open up a spot for the righty power bat.

Regardless of the direction they go, the Cardinals’ outfield may go a long way in telling us how long this rebuild might last. If none of the three above can maintain consistent production, the team will have to rely on Josh Baez to add a spark to the current team while Chaim Bloom may have to adjust any drafting plans and change his focus to the grass.

SELF PROMO OF THE WEEK

• 10 days until Opening Day, which means your time to enter Redbird Rundown’s May 4 Coca Cola ticket giveaway is nearing the end! Go to Patreon.com/RedbirdRundown, sign up for just $1, and you’re entered!
• While Redbird Rundown covered the position battles with Farmhands, I sat down with Nate Schwartz of Pitcher List and Thomas Gauvain from Redbird Rants to talk about the rotation. Matthew Liberatore and Richard Fitts have been impressive, but what is their future?

• Random Cardinal of the Week stayed super random this week as Jim featured Jason Simontacchi! He was one of the first players I remember responding to me as a kid in the bleachers of Busch Stadium during BP and how can you look past the high socks?!
• Tonight at 6pm, our fearless VEB Podcast host Jake Wood joined the Redbird Rundown as we took a bunch of over/unders that were set for the Cardinals roster and we broke down our thoughts on each one. I had an inch of standing water in my basement and now have 15 industrial fans down there, so I recorded outside in 25º weather for you all! Make sure you hit the comments and let us know where you agree or disagree! Please follow on Spotify and YouTube to help us continue to grow!

Thanks as always!

The Athletics offense picked up where it left off yesterday, taking advantage of the dry, hot Arizona air to bash four home runs in a 12-1 rout over the Kansas City Royals. This afternoon showed why the A’s could be a dangerous team this season: multiple hitters throughout the lineup can change a game with one swing, provided the pitching keeps them within striking distance.

Left-hander Jacob Lopez made his second start of the spring and looked sharp. Facing a Royals lineup missing most of its regulars, Lopez cruised through four scoreless, hitless innings, while striking out seven. He looks healthy and close to ready for the season, although it would be nice to see him face more MLB batters in his next Cactus League outing. If Lopez carries this form into the regular season, he could raise the ceiling of the A’s rotation.

The relievers who followed Lopez pitched well, with Tyler Ferguson the lone exception after allowing the R0yals’ only two hits and lone run. Offseason acquisition Scott Barlow struck out four of the five batters he faced. Later in the game, non-roster invitees Wander Suero and Joel Kuhnel each tossed a scoreless inning. Both are likely headed to Triple-A to start the year, but either could be promoted if the team needs bullpen depth.

Shea Langeliers was not only guiding the pitching staff behind the plate, but providing the fireworks at the plate as well. Langeliers faced Kansas City’s pitcher Ryan Berget three times and each time the result was the same: a solo home run. He now has six home runs this spring, the most of any hitter across the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues.

Reports circulated this offseason about the A’s showing interest in an extension with both Langeliers and Nick Kurtz, though neither player has reached an agreement yet. Given the lack of minor league catching prospects in the organization, it would make sense for A’s general manager David Forst to keep those conversations going in Langeliers’ case.

Kurtz also went deep in the fourth inning, hitting a solo shot immediately ahead of Langeliers as the A’s went back-to-back. Center fielder Henry Bolte contributed earlier with an RBI single in the second.

The A’s jumped out to a 5-0 lead, a score that would not change until the seventh inning, when the Royals finally got on the scoreboard. Having limited the Royals to one run, the A’s responded with two runs in the seventh and five in the eighth to put this game firmly out of reach.

Third baseman Tommy White and shortstop Leo De Vries both contributed once again, this time off the bench. White is now batting .500 this spring after collecting two more hits and two RBIs. De Vries is not far behind, as the 19-year-old is batting .400 after singling and later hitting a two-run double. Having turned 19 in October, De Vries appears on track to make his MLB debut well before his 21st birthday. If he continues playing this well, De Vries could force his way into the conversation this summer, which will cause an infield logjam that the A’s will have to deal with when the time comes.

Here’s how the box score looked today:

The Athletics will aim to keep the bats rolling tomorrow against the Cleveland Guardians. Right-hander Jack Perkins will toe the rubber for the A’s, looking to improve on his last outing as he vies for a spot in the team’s rotation or bullpen. The Guardians will counter with arguably their best pitcher, right-hander Tanner Bibee. It should be another fun Cactus League matchup in sunny Arizona between two teams looking to exceed expectations this season.

1903
Possibly the weirdest roster snafus in a single season continue, as Harry Gleason (brother of future White Sox manager Kid Gleason) is signed by Chicago — but chooses to report to his former team, the Boston Red Sox (née Americans), instead!

The comedy of outlaw-player errors began when George Davis, after having doubled his salary by signing with the White Sox, jumping from the National (New York) to American (Chicago) League during the war between the leagues, chose to break his deal and remain with the Giants. That forced the White Sox to shift Lee Tannehill from third base to shortstop to cover … and opened a need at third base.

Gleason was the solution. He was no start, but was a warm body, and available for purchase from Boston. However, Gleason defied the sale and reported to his former team for spring training. It’s hard to determine whether his six games played for Boston in April-May 1903 were due to legal wrangling over his rights or the fact that he was a lousy player, but Gleason never showed up to play in Chicago.

As a result, it was Nixey Callahan that would man the hot corner for the White Sox in 1903, despite playing as a two-way pitcher-outfielder in 1902 and having logged just eight career games at third base over the first seven seasons in the majors. Callahan played in 102 games at third base for the White Sox, with 37 errors and an .895 fielding percentage (those numbers being a sign of the rocky-infield, worn-baseball, baby-gloved times, Nixey compiled 0.1 defensive WAR for those efforts and a 3.0 WAR season overall — not bad for an emergency insertion).

Coincidentally, on the day after this, Callahan was named White Sox player-manager.

1945
Due to World War II travel limits, the White Sox open spring training in Indiana, along with the St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Cubs. More MLB teams end up training in Indiana than any other location.

1959
Future Hall-of-Famer and White Sox fan favorite, Harold Baines, is born, in Easton, Md. Baines was famously “scouted” at age 12, while in Little League, by Bill Veeck, who would in 1977 make Baines the only No. 1 overall draft choice in White Sox history to actually suit up for the team. Traded to Texas on July 30, 1989, Baines was so beloved in Chicago that his No. 3 jersey was retired by the White Sox on his next visit to Chicago with the Rangers, on August 20. (Only Phil Niekro and Frank Robinson have had numbers retired while still active players.) Baines, of course, also returned to the White Sox on two occasions as a free agent, and then served in various coaching roles with the team for a decade, and remains with the club in an ambassador role.

1971
The White Sox sent catcher Art Kusyner to California for reliever Steve Kealey and catcher Dave Adlesh. Kealey had two strong bullpen seasons for the White Sox, with a 3.61 ERA and 1.2 WAR over 94 games in 1971-72. His 1973 was a disaster on the South Side, however, with -0.8 WAR and a 15.09 ERA in just seven games before being dispatched in trade to Cincinnati. Adlesh retired, and yet somehow still gave the White Sox the better end of the backstop swap, as Kusyner played three increasingly-disastrous seasons with the Angels, totaling -1.5 WAR. “Cave” would return to the White Sox as a longtime bullpen coach for the club.

1976
After stepping in at the last minute to buy the franchise and prevent them from being moved to Seattle, Bill Veeck appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The headline read, “Baseball Couldn’t Shut Him Out.” Veeck owned the team for five years in his second stint — longer than his more storied tenure with the Go-Go White Sox.

Originally the other owners voted down Veeck’s bid, demanding that he change financial ownership terms in it. Amazingly, Veeck somehow got it done, and he was approved to purchase the White Sox.

2016
One of the most bizarre stories in the long, bizarre history of the White Sox breaks, as rumors circulate that Adam LaRoche will retire rather allow his young son Drake be subject to the supposed indignity of a partial ban from the clubhouse.

LaRoche signed a two-year, $25 million deal with Chicago before the 2015 season, supposedly in part because the club assured him that Drake would be able to serve as the de facto team mascot. Perhaps that was an easy promise to make to a slugger coming off of an excellent 26-homer, 82-walk, 2.4-WAR season in Washington. But after LaRoche crapped the bed in 2015 with a pathetic campaign (12 homers, 49 walks, -0.5 WAR), his flex had sagged. Couple that with multiple players (including a true clubhouse leader, newcomer Jimmy Rollins) stunned over the fact that he was lockering across from a young child day-in, day-out, and the White Sox forced LaRoche to make a choice: play daddy all day, or treat your job as if his $13 million salary for 2016 was riding on it.

LaRoche chose to forfeit $13 million and walk away from the game rather than subject his son to limitations on his MLB Spring Training freedom. LaRoche would make his ludicrous retirement official on March 18.

Meet the Mets

Yesterday the Mets placed Justin Hagenman on the 60-day injured list with a rib fracture. In a corresponding move, the Mets claimed familiar face Dicky Lovelady off waivers from the Nationals and added him to the roster.

David Stearns is demonstrating that he has learned lessons from the failures of 2025, writes Laura Albanese of Newsday.

Mark Vientos’ numbers this spring—both in Mets camp and with Nicaragua in the World Baseball Classic—have not been pretty. But he’s not stressed about it.

First round draft pick Mitch Voit got his first spring training start last night—and his first hit to boot.

Around the National League East

Phillies ace Zack Wheeler continues to progress in his rehab and today’s milestone (facing live hitting for the first time) came with his family in attendance.

Kyle Stowers, who had been rehabbing a hamstring strain, started in left field and batted leadoff for the Marlins in yesterday’s Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals.

Around Major League Baseball

Wilyer Abreu’s sixth inning three-run homer lifted Venezuela to a stunning 8-5 victory over Japan, handing the defending champions their worst ever result in a World Baseball Classic.

Italy staved off Puerto Rico 8-6 to advance to the semi-finals in the World Baseball Classic.

Team USA’s World Baseball Classic hopes now lay in the hands of ace Paul Skenes, who faces off against the fearsome Dominican Republic lineup tonight.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Linda Surovich previewed Tobias Myers’ season.

This Date in Mets History

Since we’re in a World Baseball Classic year this year, we’ll take a look back at the 2009 World Baseball Classic when on March 15, South Korea pummeled Mexico 8-2 partially at the expense of former Mets Oliver Perez, Elmer Dessens, and Luis Ayala.