Worldwide Sports News

Jordan Walker is a riddle wrapped up in enigma hidden inside of a 3-lock box for the St. Louis Cardinals. Since his major league debut in 2023, Walker has seen the optimism about his abilities fade into pessimism about whether he really can be fixed.

I asked the question of what you would do if you were President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom regarding Jordan Walker’s future. The answers varied from letting him be the starting right fielder for the Cardinals on Opening Day because the team doesn’t have a better option, send him to the low minor leagues and make him earn his promotions back to the big club or designate him for assignment.

In case you missed our interview with St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol, here are his comments about Jordan Walker:

“This has been one that…keeps us up at night. We have to figure it out. When I say I’m committed to it, I need to think of a stronger word to make sure that this dude figures it out…with us…because there’s a real skill set there, but I do feel like we missed some time in getting to where we’re at now. I wished we would have gotten to this point sooner. What I mean by that where there’s real vulnerability of what has actually happened…how do we feel…how are we gonna get on the other side of this to create real change…not just say we’re working on something, (but) six months later it looks very similar. I feel like we’re finally at a point where that’s happening. It could be a month before we feel good about it…it could be three months before we feel good about it…I may feel good about it in 3 hours….I don’t know. I like where we’re at with what’s taking place. There’s a real responsibility on both ends here…on mine, on Brownie and that whole hitting department…to unlock what he’s capable of…and there’s real responsibility on (Jordan’s) end, too…of carrying the work that he’s doing into the game. We’re doing everything possible for that to be the case…but this is one that has not gone well and we need it to go well. All hands on deck for this one.”

This is just my speculation because Oli didn’t say it outright, but I could sense that the time for Jordan Walker to show real progress is ticking down quickly. It also felt like there is frustration from the Cardinals management that Jordan didn’t get to the point where he’s accepting coaching direction quicker. When he emphasized that he hopes that Jordan Walker figures out his problems “with us”, I got the feeling that Walker not being “with us” might be a possibility. Everyone realizes his immense talent and potential high ceiling, but I’ve heard it said that one skill he has never really displayed is a true command of the strike zone. Yes, that can be taught, but there also needs to be something built into the player’s instincts about pitch recognition as part of his approach. I’m not the only one questioning if that is something that Jordan Walker can acquire.

Jordan Walker still has one more option left and I really hope the team makes use of it and has him start the season at Triple A Memphis. Why not start Nelson Velázquez who has had an excellent Spring or Nathan Church? I don’t want to witness Jordan Walker trying to figure this out in front of a Busch Stadium crowd again because I believe the patience of the fanbase is spent. No matter if the previous St. Louis Cardinals management rushed him through the minor league system too quickly or not, the time for a solution is now. The runway for Jordan Walker is ending soon. Would be a shame for such a talented player to not see his potential realized.

Record: 12-12-1. Change on 2025: -1. 5-inning Record: 8-15-2.

Arizona stretched their unbeaten streak to five games with an emphatic victory over the Cubs at Salt River Fields. It looked unlikely, considering the D-backs were 5-1 down in the middle of the third. But scoring fifteen unanswered runs is never a bad thing. A six-run third was followed by a seven-run fourth, Arizona pounding out seventeen hits and five walks. Jordan Lawlar reached base three times on a hit and two walks, while there were two-hit days for Geraldo Perdomo, Carlos Santana and Jorge Barrosa. Good to see Corbin Carroll hitting his first post-hamate home-run. Alek Thomas (top, with Carroll) and Barrosa also went deep, and the team were 7-for-13 with RISP.

Given all of the above, what the pitchers did was almost irrelevant. Merrill Kelly’s second appearance was an improvement on his first: he went 2.2 innings, allowing five hits and two runs, with no walks or K’s. Joe Ross somehow got the W, despite an ugly outing which included allowing a grand-slam. But Juan Morillo struck out three of the four batters he faced, and there was a clean inning from Paul Sewald too. Kade Stroud’s rough spring continued in the eighth, because he allowed as many home-runs as he recorded outs (two of each). But all told, a pretty satisfactory day for the Diamondbacks.

Tomorrow, it’s over to Camelback Ranch for an evening game against the other residents of Chicago, the White Sox. 6:05 pm first pitch there, with Michael Soroka making his first start since coming back from the World Baseball Classic as part of Team Canada.

Wednesday was a very hot afternoon in the Phoenix area. The temperature reached 101 degrees, breaking the record for the month:

“Hot” also described the Cubs bats, at least early in the game. The D-backs came back, though, hitting Edward Cabrera hard, and won the game 16-8.

The D-backs scored first, off Cabrera in the first inning. The run was unearned. Corbin Carroll reached on an error by Matt Shaw, who was playing right field. Carroll then stole second and scored on a single by Geraldo Perdomo.

Carroll suffered a broken hamate bone during a BP session earlier in camp and this was just his fourth Spring Training game. Perdomo had been off at the WBC playing for the Dominican Republic and this was his first game back. So the D-backs took advantage of a couple of their good players being back in the lineup.

The Cubs took the lead in the third, when the teams combined for 11 runs. Shaw led off with a double and scored on a Miguel Amaya single. After Michael Conforto hit into a double play, the Cubs loaded the bases on a single by Kevin Alcántara and walks to Jonathon Long and BJ Murray.

Jefferson Rojas followed with a grand slam, his third homer of the spring. This kid is going to be a really good player.

That ball was a towering drive that went a long way [VIDEO].

Here’s a look at the homer [VIDEO].

The D-backs flipped the script in bottom of the third. First, on a two-run homer by Alek Thomas, another player back from the WBC. Then Cabrera walked Nolan Arenado and he was replaced by minor leaguer Grayson Moore, who gave up a single and two more walks, making it 5-4. A wild pitch tied the game and then Moore gave up a two-run double to give Arizona a 7-5 lead.

Cabrera re-entered the game in the fourth and well, maybe he shouldn’t have. He served up another homer, this one to Carroll, then D-backs hitters continued to tee off on him until the score was 10-5 Arizona. Then minor leaguer Dawson Netz, who had relieved Moore in the third, entered to relieve Cabrera. At this point you are forgiven if you think the heat has gotten to all of these men. The D-backs just kept scoring. One run was charged to Cabrera, but Arizona wound up with an eight-run inning and led 14-5 at the end of the fourth.

Here’s a look at Cabrera’s outing [VIDEO].

After all the minor leaguers were done relieving Cabrera and each other, Gavin Hollowell shut the D-backs down 1-2-3 in the fifth. Hollowell has thrown well this spring and might have an Opening Day bullpen spot.

Ben Brown entered to throw the sixth, against mostly D-backs minor leaguers. He loaded the bases on three singles, but got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts, both swinging.

Alcántara smacked a two-run homer in the eighth, his first of the spring, and one of three hits he had on the afternoon. Long followed with another long ball, also his first home run of the spring. Alcántara’s homer went a long way [VIDEO]

Manager Craig Counsell’s son Brady, playing for the Diamondbacks, went 1-for-2 in this game and scored twice.

The Cubs have Thursday off, and then will play their only split-squad game of Spring Training 2026 on Friday. Both games were originally scheduled for Friday afternoon and both have been moved to Friday evening because of a forecast high of 106 degrees.

Against the Reds at Sloan Park Friday, Matthew Boyd will face Brandon Williamson. That game will begin at 8:05 p.m. CT. No TV for the Sloan Park game, there will be a radio broadcast on the Reds flagship station WLW 700.

Against the A’s at Hohokam Stadium Friday, Jameson Taillon will go for the Cubs. At the time of this recap the A’s didn’t have a starter listed. That game will begin at 8:10 p.m. CT and be televised on Marquee Sports Network and NBC Sports California. There will be a radio broadcast with the A’s announcers on ATH Audio.

The Dodgers continued sorting out their roster on Wednesday, sending both pitcher River Ryan and utility man Ryan Fitzgerald to minor league camp.

Ryan, who is on the 40-man, was optioned, while non-roster invitee Fitzgerald was reassigned to the minors. Earlier Wednesday, the Dodgers also optioned pitcher Kyle Hurt and selected infielder Santiago Espinal to the roster.

Ryan has been quite impressive this spring, returning after Tommy John surgery and missing all of last season. In his four appearances and 9 2/3 innings, Ryan had a 1.86 ERA with four walks and 12 strikeouts, fanning a third of his batters faced. But the Dodgers are taking the conservative route with his return, as we’ve seen in past years with Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, and others in returning from surgery.

After Hurt and Ryan were optioned, only 16 healthy non-Ohtani pitchers remain in camp, which means only three more cuts to go to finalize the pitching side of the opening day roster.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is starting opening day. Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and Roki Sasaki are rotation locks, the latter reiterated by manager Dave Roberts on Wednesday morning despite Sasaki struggling all spring. Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski are still vying for rotation spots. Both could claim them should the Dodger use a six-man rotation out of the gate, but also one of them could make the team as a reliever, too.

The Dodgers have four off days in the first 22 days of the regular season, including three Thursday off days in a row before a more taxing schedule kicks in.

Edwin Díaz, Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, and Jack Dreyer are roster locks. Ben Casparius, Will Klein, and Edgardo Henriquez are in the mix for bullpen spots as well.

The other three still active in camp are starter Landon Knack plus non-roster relievers Chris Campos and Antoine Kelly.

Fitzgerald played in 18 games this spring, mixing time between second base, third base, and shortstop, with 17 of those games coming in reserve. Fitzgerald hit .333/.412/.533 with four doubles, a triple, and four walks, with eight runs scored and seven driven in.

Emerson Hancock had 70ish pitches to work with today and made them last for 3.2 innings – not as efficient as one would hope. He had to dance around some trouble right away, loading the bases in the first on three singles, but was able to work out of the trouble by striking out Reese McGuire, who chased after a high-and-away fastball at 96.5 mph, and getting Brock Wilken to ground into a forceout.

Brendan Donovan gave Hancock a little breathing room in the bottom of the inning with his first homer of the spring, ambushing a first-pitch fastball, poorly located, from Brewers starter Carlos Rodriguez:

But Hancock gave that run right back in the second, giving up a hard-hit single followed by a double; the runner then scored on a sacrifice fly. Hancock’s velocity was slowly climbing in the inning, working up from 94 to 95 to 96 on both his four-seamer and sinker, and he polished off the inning by dismantling Brandon Lockridge on four pitches: three straight sweepers before getting him swinging after a four-seamer away.

The Mariners built a lead in the bottom of the third thanks to a Luke Raley three-run homer that scored Brendan Donovan, who had walked, and Josh Naylor, who had singled, although some of the credit for Raley’s blast belongs to Naylor, who was an absolute pest at first base, urging Donovan into a double steal and just generally wreaking havoc with the pitcher. Rodriguez then delivered Raley a 94.5 mph fastball right in the middle of the plate and Raley, having a good spring now that he’s finally healthy and enjoying frequent playing time with so many outfielders away for the WBC…did not miss it.

Hancock was on his way to a shutdown inning in the fourth, opening with back-to-back strikeouts, but then left a 94 mph fastball on the plate for Cooper Pratt, who singled and then promptly stole second. Another single on a slider that wound up in the middle of the plate moved him to third, and then both runners scored on a Tyler Black triple to shave the Mariners’ lead down to 4-3 and end Hancock’s day. It’s a shame because the triple was actually on a well-located sweeper at the bottom of the zone that Black just flicked into the wind and floated into the deepest corner of Peoria Stadium, and Hancock had made several good pitches in the at-bat, obviously emptying the tank with some 98 mph fastballs. Baseball! Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkmen, who has one of my favorite nicknames (“The Law Firm”) came in and got a groundout to end the threat there.

In the bottom of the fifth, it was Luke Raley again, this time with an RBI double as he ambushed a first pitch from former Mariner Easton McGee. He then scored on Randy Arozarena’s first homer of the spring, making the game 7-3 and helping deliver the Mariners another Cactus League win.

Spring training doesn’t matter, but having a complete team in spring training does matter if you want to win games, it seems.

The morning belonged to cameras, photoshoots, and cover stories. 

By the afternoon, it belonged to the mound.

Shohei Ohtani was revealed as the April cover of Sports Illustrated–posed beside Aaron Judge, both men dressed like baseball’s answer to royalty in suits underneath the headline: “Super Powered.”

Hours later at Camelback Ranch, the illusion gave way to reality. The tailored suits were gone. The spotlight remained.

Ohtani made his 2026 Cactus League pitching debut against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. He dominated his rivals with 4 and 1 third scoreless innings on 61 pitches. 

Shohei Ohtani is back on the mound for the Dodgers, starting their Cactus League game against the rival Giants. Here’s the first out of the game. pic.twitter.com/FX9O7tGAFT

— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) March 18, 2026

Shohei Ohtani collects his first #SpringTraining K with a 99-mph fastball pic.twitter.com/adGtN2yuQs

— MLB (@MLB) March 18, 2026

Ohtani did not hit in the game, but will be the DH in Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts lineup on Friday. 

Inside the cover story by Tom Verducci, Ohtani and Judge are leading a “new golden era of baseball.” That might be selling it short.

Ohtani and Judge have seven MVPs between them and the former can dominate you twice in the same night like he did in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. 

That’s more than just a golden era. That’s the dawn of a new day for a sport that is now global because of Ohtani. 

Roberts said Ohtani is expected to pitch again in the Freeway Series, setting up his 2026 regular season debut at Dodger Stadium against the Cleveland Guardians somewhere between March 30 and April 1st.