GOODYEAR, AZ - FEBRUARY 25: Aaron Zavala #79 of the Texas Rangers celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 in Goodyear, Arizona. (Photo by Zach Gardner/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
ELMONT, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 03: Stuart Skinner #74 of the Pittsburgh Penguins warms up prior to a game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on February 03, 2026 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Steven Ryan/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Kyle Dubas operates on his own timeline for making trades, often culminating deals out of nowhere and sending out players in surprising ways and with trade partners that were unexpected. That almost colors recent reports that Stuart Skinner’s name is in the trade rumors. Other teams might be a little looser with information and the media could be finding out details from the other side of things (the media sure is in the dark in Pittsburgh until moves happen!) but it almost seems like if it’s out there, it doesn’t happen with Dubas. Then when it’s least expected, boom, big moves happen.
So everything can be taken with a grain of salt these days, yet it probably means something that Skinner’s name is somewhat out there in the NHL rumor mill, albeit it seems to be emanating from the singular source of Frank Seravalli at this point.
Frank Seravalli: Re Stuart Skinner: His name has popped up here in trade talks…I'd say over the last couple weeks – Frankly Hockey (2/25)
Frank Seravalli: Re Stuart Skinner: There's a bunch of teams that are saying, well, if the price was right and if there were no strings attached…then yeah maybe; Montreal; maybe the Sens make sense; what about the Hurricanes – Frankly Hockey (2/25)
Skinner is an impending unrestricted free agent. Given the timing that Brett Kulak — the other player (also a free agent this summer) involved in the Tristan Jarry deal was traded earlier this week — the grand plan to accumulate more assets from that Jarry deal could be coming into light.
On the ice, Skinner did not start the Penguins’ first game after the break last night. That went to Arturs Silovs, who has now given up two or fewer goals in six of his last eight starts. Pittsburgh also has wonderkid Sergei Murashov waiting in the AHL. Murashov made the AHL All-Star team and has a .924 save% in 28 games with Wilkes-Barre this season. Sooner than later, in one form or another, the Pens are going to need to move on from one of the current NHL goaltenders to open up a spot for Murashov with the way that is trending.
Whether or not now is the right time remains to be seen and will be the major question for Dubas to weigh. Goalies don’t tend to carry a ton of value on the trade market, which has always been an oddity given the major importance of the position. Skinner still has a checkered reputation on top of that which could add more reluctance for a suitor to be looking for “the right price” instead of showing a ton of interest. Dealing Skinner would also mean chugging along to the playoffs with a 24-year old Silovs and a 21-year old Murashov, unless another goalie was coming back in any potential Skinner trade.
To this point much of Dubas’s strategy has been to trade away veterans when their contracts are close to expiring, doing so recently with Jake Guentzel, Marcus Pettersson, Drew O’Connor, Lars Eller, Anthony Beauvillier and recently Kulak. Giving out contract extensions to players in that circumstance, like for Blake Lizotte earlier this winter, has been more of the exception than the rule. In the grand scheme of things Dubas will have to decide if it’s better for his team to keep an experienced goalie like Skinner (who has 50 career NHL playoff games under his belt, even if not all of that experience has been individually successful) or flip him out to even further extend the list of assets that stem from the Jarry trade.
Seeing some smoke in trade rumors doesn’t necessarily indicate a fire, though at this point on the heels of the Kulak trade it’s only natural to wonder what the immediate future could hold for Skinner, the other player involved in that trade. The NHL trade deadline is coming up quickly, one week from today on the afternoon of Friday March 6th. By then Dubas will have set his course for the rest of the season, what those plans with Skinner are going to be will certainly be near the top of the list for areas to watch as the week goes along.
SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 30: Former professional football player Drew Brees waves to the crowd as the San Diego Padres face against the San Francisco Giants on March 30, 2024 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Four of the five groups that have submitted bids to become the new owners of the San Diego Padres have been identified, but the fifth group or individual is unknown. It was reported Thursday that former San Diego Chargers quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer Drew Brees is a part of one of the groups that have submitted bids. The sale process is expected to move quickly and the new owners reportedly could be in place sometime soon after the start of the 2026 regular season.
Padres News:
The Padres lost to the Cincinnati Reds 11-10 on Thursday, but Manny Machado was the story. The third baseman crushed two game-tying home runs, one of which was a grand slam. Sung-Mun Song recorded his first hit as a member of the Padres and Nick Pivetta made his first start of Spring Training. San Diego continues play today with a matchup against the Colorado Rockies.
David Morgan is already established as another elite arm in arguably the top bullpen in baseball in San Diego. However, he is looking to improve his standing in the bullpen with a strong Spring Training.
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Joe Musgrove had a solid outing in a simulated game and that he could be close to making his first start since his Tommy John surgery.
Dennis Lin of The Athletic answered questions from readers regarding the Padres. He touched on multiple topics including the sale of the team, A.J. Preller’s contract extension, salary and free agency and the catching position.
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Carlos Rodón #55 of the New York Yankees in action during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 20, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For many teams, it would be a death sentence to lose their ace for the season before games had even begun. However, when the Yankees lost Gerrit Cole for the entirety of the 2025 campaign to Tommy John surgery, their pair of co-deputy-aces stepped up in a big way, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón pitching brilliantly as two of the best starters in the AL when it came to durability and run prevention. Fried is almost certainly this year’s Opening Day starter, while offseason elbow surgery for Rodón clouds the start of his season, creating some uncertainty for the 33-year-old southpaw as he enters his fourth season in pinstripes.
2025 was undoubtedly Rodón’s best season with the Yankees, continuing a pattern of the lefty improving dramatically in each subsequent campaign with the team. He posted for the entire regular season, logging a career-high 33 starts and 195.1 innings, allowing him to rack up over 200 strikeouts for just the second time in his career. Home runs had been an issue his first two seasons with the Yankees, but he slashed those down to yield right around one per nine innings, allowing him to post a sub-four FIP and xFIP for the first time in pinstripes.
This success accompanied a philosophical shift from a pure power pitcher to a more well-rounded starter with more ways to get hitters out — a shift that began in 2024 as a way to prevent a repeat of his disastrous debut season with the Yankees. Last season saw Rodón continue to deepen his arsenal, deploying the changeup and sinker at the highest rate of his Yankees tenure in exchange for reducing his four-seamer usage rate. With this more varied repertoire, Rodón was one of only a handful of starters in the league to place in the 90th percentile or higher in fastball, breaking ball, and offspeed Run Value as measured by Statcast.
Rodón’s slider remained one of the best in baseball, tying for the fifth-highest Statcast Run Value at +12 runs by racking up an impressive 40.3-percent whiff rate, 39.2-percent strikeout rate, and 32.7-percent chase rate. His changeup became elite in 2024 and that remained the case in 2025, with a 35-percent whiff rate, 22.6-percent strikeout rate, and 38.7-percent chase rate. The pitch that intrigued me most was the sinker, used significantly for the first time since 2018 with the White Sox, and it looks like a serious weapon to neutralize lefties, limiting same-handed batters to a .119 batting average, .143 slugging, and .208 wOBA.
Becoming less predictable allowed Rodón to mitigate the batted ball woes that plagued his first two seasons in the Bronx. Relative to those first two seasons, Rodón’s exit velocity dropped from around 91 mph to 88.6 mph, his barrel rate slashed from about 11.5-percent to 7.5-percent, and his expected wOBA on contact from roughly .400 to .335. Most importantly, Rodón cut down significantly on the rate of pulled fly balls he allowed, going from about 22-percent between 2023 and 2024 to 15.3-percent in 2025. This evolution into a more complete pitcher is the number one factor in why I believe Rodón can maintain this level of performance in the upcoming season and well into his 30s.
However, the multi-million dollar question for Rodón (and Cole) is when he will make his return from offseason elbow surgery and what version of pitcher that will end up being. He underwent a procedure in mid-October to remove bone spurs and loose bodies from his pitching elbow, and it is worth wondering what effect that ailment had on his shelling at the hands of the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the ALDS. He and the team are targeting a late-April return, and by all accounts this spring he is right on schedule with that timetable. If all goes according to plan, he could miss just three to four starts, giving him an outside shot at making at least 30 starts for the third year in a row.
The projection systems can’t agree on the amount of time Rodón will miss. ZiPS provides one of the more pessimistic forecasts, skeptical that he will even reach 25 starts or 130 innings pitched. I suppose one saving grace is that they and the other projection systems expect him to pitch with the same effectiveness as last season when he returns. I also feel that none of the systems give Rodón proper credit for suppressing hits the way he did in 2025 — his .187 opponents’ batting average allowed was the lowest among any qualified starter in the AL — and this plus personal optimism over an on-schedule return to play lead me to remain bullish that Rodón’s 2026 can look at lot closer to his 2025 results than ZiPS predicts.
The Florida State baseball team is off the schneid but the vibes still aren’t entirely immaculate entering the third weekend of the regular season.
The Seminoles (5-2) snapped their two-game skid with a 14-9 win over UNF Wednesday night in a bullpen game. They’ll hope for more stability on the mound this weekend when they host The Citadel (4-2) for a three-game series beginning with a Saturday doubleheader at 11 a.m., due to inclement weather on Friday, and concluding with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
In the last three games, FSU’s pitching staff has allowed eight or more runs in each game, a combined 27. In Wednesday’s bullpen game, nine different pitchers combined to walk nine batters and hit two.
There’s at least some reason for optimism with what was expected to be the weekend rotation fully available to all start for the first time this season.
Wes Mendes, who has started the season with a pair of wins and 10 1/3 scoreless innings, will start Friday. FAU transfer LHP Trey Beard will make his first start as a Seminole after missing the start of the season with an illness and debuting in last Sunday’s game out of the bullpen. Virginia transfer RHP Bryson Moore will move to the Sunday spot after starting the first two Saturday games.
They’ll face a team which enters on a hot streak. The Citadel started the season losing two of three to Liberty, but bounced back with a weekend sweep last week, beating Marshall twice by a combined score of 14-9 and then beating Army 14-8 on Sunday.
The Bulldogs also have a rest and likely a pitching-depth advantage, having not played since Sunday.
Saturday February 28th, 11:00 a.m. ET vs. The Citadel
Pitching matchup: FSU Jr. LHP Wes Mendes (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. North Florida Gr. LHP Will Holmes (1-1, 5.59 ERA)
How to watch: ACCNX
How to listen: WFLA 100.7 FM
Saturday, February 28th, 45 minutes after Game 1 vs. The Citadel
Pitching matchup: FSU Jr. LHP Trey Beard (0-0, 11.57 ERA) vs. North Florida Jr. RHP Bryce Coulter (0-0, 6.75 ERA)
How to watch: ACCNX
How to listen: WFLA 100.7 FM
Sunday, March 1st, 1:00 p.m. ET vs. The Citadel
Pitching matchup: FSU Jr. RHP Bryson Moore (0-0, 7.50 ERA) vs. North Florida Sr. RHP Michael Gibson (2-0, 6.14 ERA)
How to watch: ACCNX
How to listen: WFLA 100.7 FM
Bulldog hitters to know
Sr, 3B Phillips Daniels: Slashing .409/.458/.636 in six games. The only regular contributor hitting over .333 with nine hits, three of them the extra-base variety (two doubles and a homer)
Jr. 1B Zach Hunt: Slashing .304/.360/.739 in six games. The early-season slugger, with two of the team’s four home runs and eight RBIs, five more than anyone else
Fr. OF Jayden Williams: Slashing .318/.423/.419 in six games. Not a huge power threat (one triple in six games) but gets on base at a high rate and is 5-for-5 on steal attempts.
Feb 25, 2026; North Port, Florida, USA; Atlanta Braves shortstop Mauricio Dubon (14) dives for a ground ball in the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates during spring training at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
A quick one, off a stray thought.
When the Braves ran out their lineup of regulars-ish a couple of days ago in a home Spring Training contest, Mauricio Dubon was hitting ninth, even behind Jonah Heim. Two days before that, Dubon was hitting ninth behind Aaron Schunk, of all people. It’s early in Spring Training, but it looks like Dubon is essentially being told he’s going to be hitting ninth when present while filling in for Ha-Seong Kim. (This is where we cross our fingers that no other injury that somehow makes Dubon not the default choice for ninth occurs.)
But, Dubon isn’t meant to be a starter. Kim will be back eventually.
So, the question really comes down to: will Dubon be a super-sub enough and always hit ninth to be the answer to this question, or will it warp into someone else? And, if so, who?
Making any kind of conclusion this early into Spring Training is foolhardy. There’s not much that occurs before the calendar even flips to March that can be used to glean insight on how a player will perform once the games begin to count. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be something that catches your eye this early and causes you to look a little closer the rest of the spring.
One such thing is Justin Crawford and his new swing. Crawford’s swing looks drastically different than it did when he was in camp a year ago, as our Anthony Esbensen pointed out in his notes column from last weekend. Crawford seemingly altering his swing to add more lift to the ball is encouraging, even if it’s way too early to tell if the adjustment will finally help him cure his groundball issues. Again, it’s hard to judge anything on the first spring game of the season, but Crawford ripped a home run foul in his first at-bat before hitting a 104 MPH double off the wall in the opposite field gap in the same at-bat. Overall, Crawford is 2-9 with three strikeouts in three spring games.
On the pitching side, Kyle Backhus has caught some eyes with his velocity jump. The funky left-hander’s name has been mentioned by some of those in camo as someone who has impressed so far, and after his first performance, it’s easy to see why. Backhus’ sinker averaged 91 MPH last season, but in his first Grapefruit League appearance, Backhus averaged 92 MPH and touched 94. He quickly retired the side in that appearance on just 10 pitches, nine of which were strikes. He followed that up with another good performance in his second appearance, tossing another scoreless inning and erasing a single with a double play. Backhus is in contention for one of the last two spots in the Phillies bullpen and the third left hander role. If he continues to pitch like that, it will be hard to not put him on the Opening Day roster.
It’s the little things that can capture your attention this early. Not necessarily harbingers of what’s to come, but things that could potentially bode well. So, what has earned your attention so far in Phillies camp?
Jun 15, 2025; Omaha, Neb, USA; Batting bag filled with baseballs before the game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images
With top 20 voting for Cleveland Guardians prospects in 2026 in our rear view, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the players our readers selected and see what trends and other potential information stands out about them.
Before we get started, here’s the top 20 in its entirety:
RHP: Six (Doughty, Stephen, Espino, Oakie, Gomez, Walters).
LHP: Two (Messick, Hartle).
What stands out?
To me, it’s the number of outfield prospects in our top 20. After years of hearing Cleveland can’t develop outfielders, the system suddenly is flush with them, having nine that can technically play there in the top 20 prospects (counting Velazquez and Brito, who have taken some reps there). That also doesn’t include players outside the top 20 like Petey Halpin, who already got the call to MLB last year and held his own as a rookie in a small sample size.
Another standout is the lack of right-handed bats. Cleveland has one right-handed hitter in its top 20, outfielder Alfonsin Rosario. We’re a long way from having right-handed sluggers Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez in the lineup. Technically, three others can hit right-handed with three switch hitters in the top 20, but the system’s position players definitely lean left-centric when it comes to batting stance.
Starting pitching depth could be an issue as well. Parker Messick is the only pitcher in the team’s top 20 prospects who played at the Triple-A or MLB level last year (technically, Daniel Espino’s 0.2 innings count, but do they? And will he be able to start?). There are some solid arms in the system, but Khal Stephen, Yorman Gomez and Josh Hartle all finished last year at Double-A and still need some seasoning while youngsters like Joey Oakie and Braylon Doughty are a ways away yet.
BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 25: Cade Povich #37 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches during the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Thursday, September 25, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Alyssa Howell/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
A year ago, Cade Povich was the answer to one of the Orioles’ most pressing questions. On the final day of spring training in March 2025, the club named him their fifth starter. He was 25 years old, making his first Opening Day roster, and stepping into a rotation that needed him.
Twelve months later, despite making 20 starts for this team the year before, Povich’s place on this roster has become a question mark.
The shape of the rotation has changed dramatically. Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers are at the top of the rotation. Chris Bassitt, signed for $18.5 million this winter, gives Baltimore a veteran presence with a 3.64 career ERA and four straight seasons of 170-plus innings. Shane Baz, acquired in a trade, occupies another spot. Zach Eflin, who had back surgery in August, is back on a one-year deal and expected to join the rotation once he’s fully ramped up. That’s five starters with legitimate claims to roster spots before you even get to Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells, and Brandon Young — all of whom made starts last season.
Povich, who logged a 5.06 ERA across 21 appearances in 2025, is now competing for a role that the organization hasn’t quite defined for him yet.
“We’ve got a lot of great guys in the rotation and in the bullpen,” Povich said earlier this week in Sarasota after throwing two scoreless innings against Atlanta. “I think competition is always good.”
He knows what the situation is. Asked about the bullpen, he was refreshingly candid: “If they say, ‘we think this is going to help the team the best,’ I’m all for it.”
That flexibility matters, because right now the bullpen looks like the more realistic path to a roster spot than the rotation. The team lacks a pure left-on-left specialist. Southpaws Keegan Akin and Dietrich Enns are useful arms who can get out right-handed hitters, but neither is a shutdown weapon against same-handed batters. Povich could theoretically fill that gap, though his career splits haven’t been markedly better against lefties than righties.
One thing is making Povich’s spring more interesting than it might be: a gyro slider. A tightly spun offering with rotation like a tight football spiral, the pitch tunnels like his four-seamer before dropping just enough to induce weak contact or a whiff. In the offseason, Povich studied how Blake Snell deployed his slider last year (a pitch with a 54% whiff rate on it) and has been integrating his own version to address what has always been his most glaring vulnerability: being behind in counts.
Good timing: opponents hold a .710 OPS against Povich when he’s ahead in counts; when batters get ahead, that balloons to 1.072. The gyro slider is designed to change that equation, giving him something he can throw in the zone at 2-0 or 3-1 instead of grooving a fastball.
He’s also refined his kick change, which was his best swing-and-miss weapon in 2025 with a 34.3% whiff rate but was maddeningly unpredictable in its movement. Sometimes it cut glove-side; sometimes it ran arm-side. Catchers had trouble framing it, and Povich had trouble locating it.
Early spring results have been encouraging. Two scoreless innings against the Braves, a hit and a walk, no real damage. But these are early days against split-squad lineups, and what matters more is the stuff than the line. Manager Craig Albernaz said Povich looked good and was right where he needed to be.
The most realistic outcome for the lefty is probably a hybrid role — not quite a starter, not quite a traditional reliever, but something in between that gives the Orioles flexibility. A bulk innings guy behind an opener, or a sixth arm when the rotation needs it.
The rotation math is what it is. Bradish and Rogers are locks. Bassitt, Baz, and Eflin were brought in to stabilize things, and Elias described Bassitt specifically as someone who would give the rotation “strength in numbers.” With Kremer and Wells also pushing for spots, Povich simply isn’t going to be a regular starter on Opening Day barring an injury.
What he can control is whether he makes himself hard to cut. The gyro slider and and improvement changeup are a nice start. Showing he can get lefties out consistently would help, too. So would improved control early in counts, and staying healthy through camp, come to think of it.
Povich remains on the 40-man roster and the Orioles clearly see something in him. He’s been asked to compete, not released. For a player who was handed an Opening Day start just twelve months ago, it’s a humbling recalibration. But if the new pitch plays, and if he can carve out a role as a versatile left-hander on a team that needs exactly that, there’s still a meaningful career to be built here.
The Birds have a crowded house this spring. Povich’s job is to make himself the one they can’t send away.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to bat first in cricket's T20 World Cup Super 8 match against England at R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday.
A win will earn New Zealand the second semifinal spot from Group 2. Leader England has already qualified after beating Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Victory for England will leave Pakistan with a slim chance of getting into the semifinals via net run-rate if they beat Sri Lanka on Saturday.
South Africa has already qualified from Group 1. The second spot will be decided by the result of the match between India and the West Indies.
New Zealand fielded the same side that beat Sri Lanka comprehensively on Wednesday while England bolstered its spin attack by recalling Rehan Ahmed in place of Jamie Overton.
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Lineups:
England: Harry Brook (captain), Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson.
And, let's just say, that Canadiens fans saw why Schaefer is the clear front-runner for the award, despite Demidov's brilliance this season.
There's no question that Demidov, 20, is a tremendous player. But there's elite, and then there's generational, and Schaefer is the latter.
With the Islanders down 2-0, Schaefer scored twice in 55 seconds to get the game tied up before the second period came to a close. Then, after an Anders Lee tally tied the game late after the Islanders trailed yet again, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the game-winning goal in overtime.
Demidov leads all rookies with 47 points (12 goals, 35 assists) in 58 games. There's no denying that.
But Schaefer's 41 points as a defenseman in 59 games are incredible, let alone the fact that he's scored 18 goals, which puts him second behind Anaheim Ducks' rookie Beckett Sennecke. His 23 assists rank third.
Any other year, Demidov would be walking away with hardware. But this isn't any other year. He's going up against an 18-year-old who is accomplishing things at the NHL level that the league has never seen.
Most players have ceilings. Schaefer does not.
There are over 20 games left before Demidov and Schaefer's rookie seasons come to a close. Both should be proud of what they've been able to accomplish, but there can only be one winner, and right now, it's Schaefer's award to lose.
Hull KR face Leeds in Sin City on Saturday, with the supporters they bring in tow illustrating the league’s value to the global game
Rugby league’s greatest ride returns to Las Vegas this weekend with Super League nestled firmly in the sidecar. Two NRL fixtures kick off the Australian season while Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos open up the Allegiant Stadium action on Saturday. More than 12,000 English fans are expected to make the trip and add plenty of colour, flair and, most importantly, value.
This has been a strong start to 2026 for the game in England, evidenced last week by Hull KR’s triumph over Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Challenge. It is handy for Super League that the Robins are one of two clubs in Vegas representing the competition this week and they have even flown the trophy over to hammer home the point that Super League holds the cards when it comes to the best club side in the game.
The Orioles answered a lot of questions this offseason. The question marks surrounding the offense were addressed via the signing of Pete Alonso and the trade for Taylor Ward. Starting pitching was addressed with Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt and the resigning of Zach Eflin. The bullpen added Ryan Helsley and brought back Andrew Kittredge.
But one gigantic question still hangs over the Orioles’ heads: Is Baltimore truly a contender in 2026?
After back-to-back playoff seasons in 2023 and 2024, there was plenty of hope that the 2025 Orioles would be contenders again. Instead, a mountain of injuries and failed offseason gambles doomed the O’s to a 16-win regression and a last-place finish.
The Orioles undoubtedly had a better offseason this year. However, questions surrounding pitching and a steadily growing pile of new injuries are still here to cast doubt over the Orioles’ playoff hopes.
FanGraphs currently gives the Orioles a 51.6% chance to play October baseball, sixth best among all AL teams but only 4th in a loaded AL East. FanDuel also gives the O’s the sixth-best odds to earn a postseason birth at -115, though the gap between them and the Red Sox (-170), Blue Jays (-172) and Yankees (-265) is perhaps seen as even bigger in the betting market.
The optimistic case for the Orioles’ chances at a Wildcard berth revolves largely around their offense. The additions of Alonso and Ward, and predictable positive regression from Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, could see this O’s team challenge for the MLB home run lead and title of best offense in the AL. And that’s before factoring in the potential growth of younger players like Jackson Holliday, Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers.
The pessimists will point to the lack of top-end starters, injuries to Holliday, Basallo and Jordan Westburg and the gauntlet that is the AL East as reasons why Baltimore will miss the playoffs again. The rotation is deeper, but heavily reliant on healthy seasons from Bradish, Rogers and Baz to give Baltimore a prayer at keeping up with deep rotations in New York, Toronto and Boston.
The injuries are frustrating but perhaps surmountable. Holliday should be back sometime in April. Basallo will hopefully not be shelved for long after leaving yesterday’s game after an awkward play at the plate. Westburg’s UCL injury means he may miss the entire season, but a leap from Coby Mayo should mitigate that loss (at least offensively). And yet, having to deal with so many injuries before playing a single regular-season game could certainly dent the optimism around an Orioles return to the postseason.
Playing in the AL East is not as daunting as it once was, thanks to a reduced number of division games, but the O’s still face a challenging climb out of the basement of baseball’s toughest division. The flip side to the challenge of the AL East is that Baltimore will have plenty of opportunities to steal games from their biggest competitors in the Wild Card (or division) race.
Since the move to three Wild Card teams, the last Wild Card spot in the AL has averaged 87 wins. Most books have the Orioles over/under at 86 wins. By all accounts, this should be a team that can make the playoffs. But do they have enough juice to truly distinguish themselves as contenders? Let us hear your opinion in the comments below.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 26: Hyeseong Kim #6 of the Los Angeles Dodgers follows through on a swing against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch on February 26, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández both sidelined to begin the regular season, the second base position looks open for the taking on paper. So far this spring, Hyeseong Kim is proving to the Dodgers that he is the guy to get the nod.
Kim added another highlight to his already impressive spring with a home run against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, and he is hitting a remarkable .462 (6-13) this spring while flashing the leather both at second base and in center field. His hot spring will be coming to an abrupt end soon, as he is set to join Team Korea in the World Baseball Classic.
Instead of looking back fondly at the numbers he displayed over a short period of time this spring, Kim is focused on contributing consistently in the regular season, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
“I don’t think there’s any full satisfaction that comes from [spring results],” Kim said. “I’m just trying to focus on the things that I’m working on. Just working on my movement quality and my swing mechanics. And, yeah, just try to play every day, and hopefully it shows during the season.”
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Tyler Glasnow impressed in his first start of the spring, tossing 33 pitches over 2+ innings while giving up just one hit, striking out four and allowing no walks. The ultimate test this season will be if he can stay healthy, something that has alluded him since being acquired by the Dodgers in late 2023, per Jack Vita of the Los Angeles Times.
“Pitching well and staying healthy,” Glasnow said when asked about goals. “Just doing all that and trying to make as many starts as I can, and just executing every start and being healthy in the postseason.”
So far this spring, eight of the nine regulars in the Dodgers starting lineup have appeared in at least one game this spring. The odd man out— Mookie Betts.
Dave Roberts noted that Betts will not be playing in any of the games this weekend, and it might be another week until Betts sees some playing time, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
“I wanted Mookie to start a little bit later as far as not getting into spring training ready to go, and kind of use spring training to build up given it’s six weeks,” Roberts said Thursday. “He’s building up nicely.”
SUNRISE, Fla. — A three-week break in the schedule due to the Olympics should have helped the Toronto Maple Leafs feel refreshed and ready to chip away at their deficit in the NHL playoff race. Instead, they looked like a team lacking the details in their game. They made critical mistakes and were badly outplayed in consecutive games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
If Toronto’s 4-2 loss to Tampa on Wednesday wasn’t bad enough, they followed that up the next night with one of their worst periods of the season. The Leafs were outshot 16-6 and surrendered three goals in quick succession. This allowed Florida to seize control early and never look back.
Brad Marchand opened the scoring at 3:18 with a wrist shot from the slot, assisted by Anton Lundell. It marked his 26th goal of the season. Evan Rodrigues followed with the first short-handed goal of his career on a breakaway, capitalizing on a Toronto turnover during a power play to make it 2-0.
The Panthers’ aggressive penalty kill continued to disrupt the Leafs’ setup, leading to another tally before the period ended. Marchand’s early marker ignited a flurry that highlighted Toronto’s inability to clear zones or generate forecheck pressure. Florida’s transition game overwhelmed the Leafs’ blue line, as turnovers and poor positioning contributed to the outburst. The Panthers generated high-danger chances at will while limiting Toronto to low-quality perimeter shots.
The Leafs looked better in the second and third periods, but they ultimately lost the game 5-1. While the team kept much of their focus on that late-game improvement, it offers little consolation now. With the Boston Bruins defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto moved to eight points out of a playoff spot with only 23 games remaining.
“We have a lot of hockey left and I get it’s not the start we want coming out of the break,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. “But we have to understand that if you play the second and third for 60 minutes, you give yourself a better chance to win. We’re capable of doing it, but we’ve got to do it for 60 minutes. We have no time to take shifts off and periods off. We’re not in that mode”.
If the Leafs lose to the Panthers in regulation tonight, their playoff odds drop to just 3.8%, per Moneypuck.
When asked if it is concerning that the Leafs find themselves in the spot they’re in, captain Auston Matthews was blunt.
“I don’t think ‘concern’ is the right word,” Matthews said. “I just think we need more desperation, more fire—especially to start games. We know the position that we’re in and we need to be the more desperate team every single night”.
The Panthers entered the game behind the Leafs in the standings and showed the exact desperation Matthews described. With the win, Florida moved ahead of Toronto via a tiebreaker.
The NHL Trade Deadline is March 6. Based on what Toronto has shown over these two games, there is little reason to believe they will leap in front of the Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, Panthers, and Philadelphia Flyers just to reach the second wild card spot currently occupied by the Bruins.
Before the NHL paused for the Olympics, the Leafs rattled off three consecutive victories in Western Canada. But after this loss, Toronto's slim chances to make the playoffs went from 5.9 percent to 3.8 percent via MoneyPuck.com
All Toronto has is hope and hope isn't a strategy. It may be find to finally admit the inevitable and sell at the deadline.
