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Philadelphia Phillies' president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski chose an odd time to call out one of his star players last season. Following the team's postseason departure in October, Dombrowski suggested that first baseman Bryce Harper, a two-time National League MVP, was no longer an elite player.

With spring training getting underway soon, Harper was asked by reporters what he thought of Dombrowski's comments.

Bryce Harper on “not elite” shirt and Dave Dombrowski’s comments

(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/9GgCf4WVyS

— OnPattison (@OnPattison) February 15, 2026

Harper stayed mostly professional throughout his answer, but did express some discontent.

"For me it was kinda wild the whole situation of that happening," Harper said.

"I think the big thing for me was when we first met with this organization it was, 'Hey we’re always going to keep things in-house and we expect you to do the same thing.' So when that didn’t happen it kind of took me for a run a little bit."

Harper also claimed that the "Not Elite" shirt he wore in a December TikTok of him taking batting practice was not a statement against Dombrowski, merely a shirt that was made for him. Harper claimed, "If they're going to make [the shirts] for me, I'm going to wear them." However, the timing seems odd considering Dombrowski had spent the previous month claiming he and Harper had cleared the air.

Harper is entering his age-33 season.

Did Harper struggle in 2025?

By Harper's standards, absolutely.

In 2025, Harper posted his second-lowest batting average (.261), lowest on-base percentage (.357), and lowest slugging percentage (.487) of his Phillies' career.

That said, he still posted a 129 OPS+, which is a high-end figure by any metric. Furthermore, his strikeout rate dropped between 2024 (21.9%) and 2025 (20.9%) as well as his average exit velocity (91.3) and barrel percentage (12.3%).

When do the Phillies begin spring training?

The Phillies begin spring training on February 21 with a matchup against the reigning American League champion Toronto Blue Jays. The game is scheduled for a 1:07 p.m. ET start time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bryce Harper finally speaks on Dombrowski's "no longer elite" comment

Nathan Lukes is a left-handed-hitting, 31-year-old outfielder. He was a 16th round draft pick by Cleveland in 2015. The Jays added him to their 40-man roster in November 2022.

He had his first full season in the majors last year, playing in 135 games, hitting .255/.323/.407 with 12 home runs, and a 2.0 bWAR. He has an option year left, which, a week ago, I would have thought was a non-issue, but then the team traded for Jesús Sánchez. Now? Well, the team has Sánchez, Addison Barger and Daulton Varsho as left-handed hitting outfielders, who will likely get the bulk of the playing time against right-handed pitchers. Not to mention George Springer, who will get some outfield time. And then there is Myles Straw (a very good defensive replacement) and Davis Schneider, who will likely get time in the outfield against RHP. The Jays also have Eloy Jiménez and RJ Schreck who will get long looks this spring.

Normally, someone who had the season Luke’s had last year wouldn’t have to worry about how he performed in spring training; it wouldn’t hurt for him to have a great spring.

I guess there is a question in there of whether you’d rather have Lukes or Sánchez in the outfield, but the team doesn’t have that question. They didn’t trade for Sánchez to have him sit, but in roughly as many games as Lukes, Sánchez posted a 1.2 bWAR last year and has never had a 2.0 bWAR or better.

Anyway, Lukes can play all three outfield spot, though I’d rather he not get a lot of time in center. He had a +1 in outs above average across the three spots last year. I’ve long thought he was the perfect fourth outfielder type.

Why Sánchez over Lukes? Well, Sanchez has power. He hits the ball hard. Sánchez is in the 79th percentile for average exit speed, Lukes 19th percentile. Power is important, but Lukes is the better player in many other ways. Oh well, I guess I’m feeling sorry for Lukes, he’s worked so hard for so long to get his shot and it might be slipping away some.

Because of the way they work things, even though Luke’s is 31, he’s still not going to be making great money this year, likely not much more than MLB minimum. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until 2028 and won’t be a free agent until 2031 (assuming he continues to get major league time). I’ve often thought that there should be a different way of figuring out when players get to the arbitration and free agency, when players don’t make it to the majors until age 30.

Lukes is easy to like. He’s always been the underdog, never been the flashy prospect. He just played well enough at each level, forcing the team to keep moving him up (if slowly). If he had the one tool that teams could point to, big power, big speed, then he would have been in the majors years ago. I think we all like the underdog. Someone who gets there through consistency and hard work.

Steamer figures Lukes to play 60 games, hit .273/.336/.406 with 5 home runs and a 0.8 fWAR. I think that was before the trade for Sánchez

Scottsdale, Ariz. – After the Rockies traded Ryan McMahon at the 2025 deadline, Kyle Karros became the heir apparent at third base.

The 23-year-old made his MLB debut on August 8 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and started hot, going 4-for-11 with two doubles, three RBI, two walks and two strikeouts. He hit his first home run at Coors Field against his dad, Eric’s, former team — the Los Angeles Dodgers — on August 19.

Karros started to dip towards the end, though, finishing the season with a .226/.308/.277 slash with four doubles, one homer, nine RBI, 15 walks and 41 strikeouts in 43 games. But, like many young Rockies, 2025 was a learning year for Karros.

“I think (my biggest lesson) was just to have more trust in myself,” he said at Rockies spring training camp.

“I think that was kind of what allowed me to perform so well in the minor leagues – I believed in what I was capable of, and I really stuck with it. It didn’t matter if I went 0-for-4 in a night, I’d come back the next day to the yard and be confident going up to the plate, and wouldn’t start changing stuff.”

But he found it hard to stay consistent after being promoted.

“I know in the big leagues, I got up there and honestly started off pretty well. But then you have a couple of 0-for’s throw together when you don’t have a lot of at-bats under your name, and then you’re looking up at the scoreboard,  and you’re batting .220, and so I think that definitely affected me a little more in the big leagues than it did in the minor leagues just because there’s more at stake – more people watching and stuff. 

“But I think I kind of got to the point near the end where I said, ‘To hell with the numbers. Whatever this experience has been, just go out there and play,’” he continued, “and I thought I finished pretty strong. So I think going into this season, I know what I have works. I’ve seen it work at every level, so just being more convicted with that and staying true to myself each and every day.”

Karros hit the gym in the offseason, and is now playing “the heaviest [he’s] ever been,” as he put it.

“That was another thing I learned last year being in Denver, playing [at] altitude every day. Obviously, the big-league schedule is a bit more rigorous than the minor leagues, so I definitely made it a priority to put on some weight and get strong showing up to camp. [I’m] still moving well. I feel great – I feel strong, I feel durable, and ready to take on 162.”

Warren Schaeffer said that “getting his body right” was a priority for Karros, as well.

“With Kyle, it was his first offseason after playing in the big leagues,” Schaeffer said, “so it was important for him to know that he needed to get his body right coming into spring training because [playing in the big leagues is] a grind on your body.

“The minor league season is tough, too,” he continued, “but the big leagues offer something a little different in terms of the mental stress that it can put on you if you choose to let it, which affects your body weight and affects everything. But you can’t feel it until you go through it.”

Heading into this year, there has obviously been a lot of turnover throughout the Rockies, both players and coaches (as has been chronicled many times). But Karros is excited to see what the new coaches bring. 

“I’ve connected with everyone on board, and I think we have a great thing working here,” he said. “I think we’ve got some really good people in the right spots.”

Plus, he’s eager to work with some of the former Dodgers who’ve joined the organization.

“I think it’s pretty cool that we got a lot of people from the Dodgers,” he said.

“Obviously, they know how to do it over there, and they’ve been doing it for a couple of years. So we’ve got some people in some pretty important spots that came over from them, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about them, and now I’m experiencing those good things for myself. It’s been really pleasant to work with them throughout spring so far.”

One of the coaches that Karros has connected the most with is new hitting coach, Brett Pill, who came over from the Dodgers. 

“We’ve been seeing eye-to-eye a ton,” Karros said. “I mean, I’m hitting the ball harder than I’ve ever hit it. Things are going well offensively so far, and I really like what we’re doing. We’ve been clicking on all fronts, so I’m really excited for this year.”

“He came in looking strong,” Schaeffer said. “He looks great with the glove. He’s working on his swing with Brett Pill a lot. He looks like he’s put in a lot of good work.”

In addition to the new coaches, the Rockies have signed a number of veteran players – both pitchers and position players. One of the veterans that Karros has gravitated towards is Nicky Lopez, who was signed as a free agent in December after spending 2025 in the Angels’, Cubs’, Diamondbacks’ and Yankees’ systems.

Notably, in 2024, Lopez played for the 41-121 Chicago White Sox.

“We’ve been taking a lot of ground balls together,” Karros said. “He obviously is one of the best defenders in the game, so I’ve been picking his brain. He was part of the White Sox when they had their tough year, so he’s seen what it’s like to be on a good team and what it’s like to be on a bad team. So he’s going to definitely offer some good insight on how to get us going in the right direction.”

Looking ahead to 2026, Karros has one main goal.

“Without a doubt, my biggest priority is to make this team my own and feel like this is my team going into the year,” he said. “I know that’s kind of what I experienced last year, joining the team so late in the year after they’d already kind of gone through a season with one another. When you join in near the end, it’s a little different.

“But when you’re able to go through spring training with a team and build those relationships and earn the trust of your teammates and your coaches, that helps a lot over the course of the season,” he continued.

“So I’m looking forward to just building relationships with the guys and with the coaches.”

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PEORIA, AZ — San Diego Padres All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, having watched the bitter rival Los Angeles Dodgers dominate the NL West – and enter the season with a payroll exceeding $400 million – not only declined to criticize the Dodgers’ expenditures, but praised the organization.

“I (expletive) love it," Machado said Sunday morning. “I think every team should be doing it. They’re figured out a way to do it, and the (stuff) is (expletive) great for the game honestly. I think every team has the ability to do it. So, I hope all 30 teams could learn from it."

DODGERS: LA World Series heroes still can't believe what happened

The Dodgers will enter the season with a payroll nearly twice as much as the Padres’ payroll of about $220 million, but Machado believes that a salary cap will hurt the game.

“I think our game is very good at what we’re doing," Machado said. “There’s a lot of money being made. Look at what’s going on with the game. The last five years, it’s been great.

“So, I think a lot of teams have the ability to do what the Dodgers are doing. We started it a few years ago with [late owner] Peter [Seidler], so everyone could do it. It’s just a matter if they want to or not."

The Nationals finally made a free agent signing to their bullpen, bringing in Cionel Perez on a minor league deal. This is different from the other minor league deals they have signed, as Perez has a good chance of making the team. Before a disastrous 2025, Perez was a mainstay in the Orioles bullpen.

If Perez makes the team, he will make $1.9 million plus another $700,000 in potential incentives. As long as he does not look terrible this spring, Perez should make the team. From 2022-2024, Perez made at least 60 appearances in the O’s bullpen. He posted a combined 3.12 ERA in those three seasons. 

So what made Perez such an effective reliever over those seasons and why did he fall off a cliff in 2025? Well, Perez is elite at generating ground balls with his heavy sinker. For his career, Perez has posted a 55.5% GB rate. Even in his horrible 2025 season, he still was great at keeping the ball on the ground, with a 58.2% GB rate.

However, Perez is not a big strikeout guy and has had control issues throughout his career. That makes him reliant on his defense and batted ball luck. Last season, he was a victim of terrible batted ball luck, with a .379 BABIP. This bad luck, combined with a 16.4% walk rate was why Perez posted an 8.31 ERA in 19 outings.

Despite some of these awful numbers, statcast was still bullish on him. Last season, his xERA was a respectable 3.93 despite his awful surface level numbers. His actual batting average against was .322 but his xBA was .213. I am not sure I have ever seen a gap that wide.

These discrepancies make him an interesting bounce back candidate for the Nats. If Perez can get his walk rate closer to 10% and he has better batted ball luck, Cionel Perez can be a solid piece in the bullpen. In a bullpen from January, he was already sitting 95-96, which is nice to see this early in the offseason.

His velocity has gone from 97 in 2022 to 95.6 last year, so hopefully he can recapture some of that old velo. There are a lot of if’s here, but Perez has the ceiling of a dependable middle reliever. On this team, that probably means looks at the back end of the bullpen. 

Honestly, Perez does a lot of the same stuff that the traded Jose A. Ferrer did. Both are left handers who throw very hard but are ground ball oriented pitchers rather than strikeout guys. The biggest difference though is that Ferrer has much better control. 

Another thing I am interested about here is if they will make any tweaks with Perez. Last season, he threw a sinker, a new slider, a slurve and a 4-seam. Despite being added before the worst year of his career, Perez’s new slider was actually very effective. It was a nice complement to his slurve, which had been his primary secondary pitch for years.

Going back to Ferrer, he featured a really nice changeup. I wonder if the Nats will want to give Perez a changeup. Perez has been much more effective against lefties in his career. Lefties have hit just .211 against Perez, while righties have hit .270. A changeup could be a good weapon for him to have against right handed hitters.

Some pitchers just never have great feel for changeups, so that could be hard. However, the invention of the kick changeup has been helpful for those pitchers. The kick change does not require pronation like other changeups. It is the grip that is doing the work. Maybe that could be something Perez could learn.

Overall, this is a low risk, medium reward move. If Perez can’t hit the broadside of a barn in Spring Training, he just won’t make the team. However, if he looks like the guy he was before last season, he will be a reliable piece in the Nats bullpen. 

Still only 29, Perez combines experience with at least some youth. He also could be a trade candidate if he performs well in the first half. This is an interesting flier that could work.

Leave it to the White Sox to sully the start of Spring Training for the man who may be their best acquisition in a long time. The news should all be about Munetaka Murakami (no matter how the locker room crew spelled his name), and instead it’s about Chris Getz proving his incompetence once again.

Getz has apparently finally figured out that another newcomer, Luisangel Acuña, isn’t actually a switch-hitter, as Getz had called him. And called him again. And again. And again. And again, so many times it’s very, very hard not to believe that Getz actually thought he’d traded Luis Robert Jr., for a player who didn’t just hit right-handed (and who, incidentally, has fairly big platoon splits, .592 OPS vs. righties, .732 vs. lefties).

Now Getz being a fool isn’t exactly man bites dog, but what’s more worrisome is that if he thought Acuña was a switch-hitter, did he also think he was an outfielder? That seems to be where the Sox plan to play the young speedster, despite the fact that both the Rangers and Mets had found that he’s a very fine middle infielder but can’t hack it in center. Guess we’ll have to wait to find out.

But let’s move on to the man who should be getting the attention, and whose performance could mean the difference between White Sox losses in the high-90s or worse (as most predicting algorithms believe will be the case) or the low-90s (as PECOTA anticipates).

Murakami the Good?
Reports are that the reason contending teams didn’t cough up the nine-figure offers prognosticators expected for the Japanese slugger is pretty straightforward. While Murakami boasts immense power, he strikes out way too much, has way too much swing-and-miss, and — and this is the important part, because lots of power hitters whiff a bunch — he struggles against pitches faster than 92 mph. That wasn’t a huge deal in Japan, where most pitches don’t throw that fast, but would render him impotent in an MLB where almost everybody could just blow balls by him.

Thing is, that 92 mph-plus problem depends on why it exists. It could very well be that Murakami just hasn’t faced enough mid-90s or higher heat to get used to it and adjust, in which case live pitching, lots of hours on the Trajekt machine and maybe a tiny swing adjustment could have him ready to take on major league velocity by the start of the regular season, or shortly thereafter.

Also on the good side is that Murakami’s not apt to become depressed, playing a for a team that usually loses. His Japanese team, the Yakult Swallows, has been perennially as bad as the Sox. It’s even possible he thought playing for the White Sox instead of a good team for a couple of years will give him a chance to adjust to a new country, language and level of play without the pressure to be a star immediately, as would be the case if he’d signed for a contender.

If this is the case, we should enjoy watching Murakami swat baseballs out of The Rate at a happy rate.

Murakami the Bad?
Alternatively, the reason Murakami has struggled against pitches faster than 92 mph could be that his reflexes are only so good. Maybe his brain/body/swing combo is just a millisecond or two slower than it needs to be in the big leagues, as happens to many power hitters as they slide downhill (or fall off a cliff, like José Abreu sadly did) in their mid-30s. That’s certainly possible, given that roughly 99.999999999999999% of humanity doesn’t have reaction time anywhere close to his.

If that turns out to be the case, it could be a very long season for Mune and the Sox, especially given how terrible his fielding is expected to be.

Murakami the Maybe?
Then there’s a middle ground, where the slugger can catch faster pitches down by his knees (as is often the case for lefties) but can’t cope with high heat, or even high almost-heat. That would mean relying on pitchers to make mistakes, but a whole lot of power hitters have had long and successful careers only being able to hit mistakes, especially early on (Kyle Schwarber, anyone?)

The upper side of this seems to be where the algorithms used for projections think Murakami will land. Steamer and ZiPS are pretty close in what they see for him, and FanGraphs Depth Charts is close to both of them, with him hitting a very respectable .232/.342/.449, for a wRC+ of 120, with 30 homers and 80 RBIs. However, that only adds up to a 2.2 WAR (just barely better than the level considered major-league starter), with his WAR brought way down because of abysmal defense.

(It will be interesting to see what the Sox, who like to pretend to care about defense, will do if Murakami’s D is as bad as advertised and he’s best moved among the other DH contenders who also can’t field a lick, like Andrew Benintendi and Lenyn Sosa, plus one of the catchers. If you don’t become a good defender in Japan, where D is high art, it’s unlikely to occur here.)

But it’s spring!
Well, baseball spring, anyway. So let’s go with Murakami the Good.

And, what the heck, let’s even pretend Acuña’s a switch-hitter. And good outfielder.

The Dodgers are in rarefied air in their long franchise history going into 2026, having won consecutive championships for the first time. What’s next on the checklist is trying to become the fifth MLB team to win at least three World Series in a row.

MLB teams winning 3+ championships in a row

• New York Yankees 1949-53 (5)
• New York Yankees 1936-39 (4)
• Oakland A’s 1972-74
• New York Yankees 1998-2000

The Yankees understandably dominate this list, with several extended periods of dominance in their storied history. These represent different eras as well. The two longest title streaks came in a league of 16 teams and no divisional play. The A’s in the 1970s were in a 24-team MLB and had to go through a best-of-5 League Championship Series. The Yankees from 1998-2000 are the only team of this group to be in our modern era, with 30 MLB teams and two extra rounds of playoffs before the World Series.

The Yankees are the only MLB team to win three titles in a row after Pat Riley trademarked the term “Three-peat” in 1989. Riley was ahead of his time, even though his Lakers team that year ran into a Pistons-sized roadblock in the NBA Finals, getting swept after an 11-0 start to their postseason. Multiple trademarks for “Three-peat” are still active under Riles & Company, Inc., which means any such marketing (shirts, hats, etc.) have to go through Riley for approval and/or compensation for use.

The Dodgers in 2026 are just the third team coming off consecutive championships and going for a third straight title in the wild card era, along with those Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays in 1994. In all there have been 21 teams prior to the Dodgers to win the previous two World Series.

Eleven teams, just over half of the 21, reached the World Series after winning the previous two, with seven championships. In the divisional era, four of seven teams reached the World Series, with two wins.

This is the sixth time the Dodgers have won two pennants in a row — 1952-53 and 1955-56 in Brooklyn, plus 1965-66, 1977-78, 2017-18, and 2024-25 in Los Angeles. They have yet to win three pennants in a row, and this is their only time winning consecutive championships.

The only one of the previous 21 back-to-back champs to finish under .500 in Year 3 were the 1994 Blue Jays, who were 55-60 when a strike ended that season in August.

It stands to reason that a team winning two championships in a row will still be good the next year. These 22 teams have an average .609 winning percentage, roughly 99 wins over 162 games.

The Dodgers this year are in that range, projected to have the best record in baseball by a wide margin. But like this current era of Dodgers baseball, they won’t be judged by the regular season, but rather how they do in October.

Yesterday, I looked a few things that were off interest to me where the PECOTA projections were concerned. For the most part, I would agree with what was said in this article that talked about the release of PECOTA and how it is pretty accurate these days.

The only downside, of course, is that PECOTA Week comes with few surprises, anymore. If you’re a fan engaged enough with the game to care about projections, you’ve probably got a rough but accurate idea of what PECOTA is going to say about most guys (and, thus, most teams) before you click through to the standings page or the spreadsheet. The model is always being honed and improved upon, but we’re two decades into this ritual now. Many of you have started to feel and roll with the projections, and even to anticipate them.

So, when it comes to the team’s pitching staff, we should more or less guess what it is going to say. The pitching staff has been pretty good the past few seasons, so the projections are likely going to be kind.

Still, there were some interesting observations.

Cristopher Sanchez: still an Ace

There was maybe a tinge of hesitancy when talking about Sanchez last year and letting him ascend into the conversation of “Top 5 starters in the game” because of his background. He struggled to get his footing as a starter for a long time before finally having it start to click in 2023. His season in 2024 was very good, but again, without the background of being a top prospect, there was at least to be some doubt he could keep it up.

Not only did he keep it up, he was the runner-up in the NL Cy Young voting last season, comfortably entered that conversation about being one of the five best pitchers in the game and if PECOTA has anything to say about it, will remain there. By WARP, PECOTA has Sanchez being the fifth best starter behind Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, Garrett Crochet and Bryan Woo. By DRA- (Deserved Run Average, scaled where numbers below 100 are good), Sanchez projects to be again fifth, behind the same pitchers plus Chris Sale and Cole Ragans.

If there was any doubt that Sanchez is one of the best pitchers in the game today, there should be none. His transformation is truly one of the best developmental stories in this organization in a long, long time.

We really should just devote a day to Sanchez.

Zack Wheeler’s top comps are really fun

One of the things PECOTA likes to do is draw on historical comparables to show you what each pitcher should remind you. Obviously, when you’re being compared to the greats, you’re one of the great pitchers and vice versa with being compared to the historical road apples. Wheeler’s comparables are pretty fun: Bob Gibson, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Now, this isn’t prime Bob Gibson we’re talking about. It’s 36 year old Bob Gibson. And 36 year old Bob Gibson was no slouch. Neither were Scherzer nor Verlander. In fact, these were their lines during their age 36 season:

Gibson, age 36: 34 GS, 278 IP, 7.3 H/9, 6.7 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 139 ERA+, 7.1 bWAR
Scherzer, age 36: 30 GS, 179 1/3 IP, 6.0 H/9, 11.8 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 167 ERA+, 6.1 bWAR
Verlander, age 36: 34 GS, 223 IP, 5.5 H/9, 12.1 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, 179 ERA+, 7.4 bWAR, 1 Cy Young award

These are all time great seasons for any pitcher, let alone ones that are already getting mail from AARP. To see that PECOTA puts Wheeler in that company is a reminder that his skillset should age well as the years continue to pile on.

However – and it’s a pretty large “however” – none of those pitchers were coming off the injury that Wheeler is coming off of. We simply have no idea, nor does PECOTA have any idea, of well Wheeler will perform once he finally steps back on a major league mound. We can make assumptions, but without a ton of players to compare him to, we just have no way of being able to know for sure how he’ll be. If PECOTA is any indicator, he’ll be just fine, but the injury is the unknown this season and the #1 storyline that will weave itself through the 2026 season.

The bullpen finally has some strikeout potential

One of the issues the Phillies have felt they have had with their bullpen is that there wasn’t much swing and miss stuff outside of one or two relievers. It seemed to be a point of emphasis in their offseason dealings this year, to make sure that they get pitchers who don’t need to depend on the defense to get out and do so, particularly, from the right side.

Now with an overhauled bullpen, PECOTA thinks they have a group that will be able to strike out hitters with some regularity. These are the projected K/9 numbers for the top seven arms that should be in the bullpen:

J. Duran: 10.39 K/9
O. Kerkering: 9.45 K/9
B. Keller: 8.40 K/9
J. Alvarado: 9.24 K/9
T. Banks: 7.64 K/9
Z. McCambley: 10.33 K/9
J. Bowlan: 9.08 K/9

The Keller number is probably a bit skewed by his just being a full time reliever for one season and most his past K/9 numbers were below seven. His 2025 season was closer to 10, so there is some built in skepticism.

And Tanner Banks isn’t really known for striking people out anyway, so that projection doesn’t really bother me.

What is fun is that they have a bunch of arms that can now get strikeouts late in games. We’ll see if a lot of this comes true, but if PECOTA is right about this, they are a lot deeper than last year.

The first thing I thought of — and maybe you did, too — on seeing the name “HESTER” was Devin Hester, the Hall of Fame Bears kick returner/defensive back.

Obviously, this isn’t Devin Hester.

I had no recollection of this Diamondbacks player when BCB reader Clark Addison sent me the photo, so off I went to baseball-reference.com to look him up.

John Hester played for the D-backs in 2009 and 2010, then for the Angels in 2012 and 2013. A catcher, he played a total of 93 MLB games.

Exactly two of those were at Wrigley Field.

Here, we see him sliding into second base, with a relay going to first on a double-play attempt.

One of the games Hester played in Wrigley was in early May, so the ivy couldn’t have been as thick as we see it here.

This play happened Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 in the top of the sixth. The D-backs were leading 7-0. Hester drew a walk after Eric Byrnes had led off the inning with a home run.

Billy Buckner hit into a double play, and that’s what we are looking at here. Billy Buckner? No, not the Bill Buckner who played for the Cubs. This Billy Buckner pitched for the Royals, Diamondbacks, Angels and Padres from 2007-14. Pitchers, of course, still batted back then. In 30 MLB plate appearances, this was the only GIDP of Buckner’s career.

The Cubs second baseman is Jeff Baker, who played for the team from 2009-12.

The Diamondbacks defeated the Cubs 12-3 that afternoon, seven of the runs off Tom Gorzelanny.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any video of this game that’s survived, so all I can show you is this play, another little slice of Cubs history.

The high school boys/girls basketball seasons are still ongoing, but one of America’s favorite past times is now beginning to take center stage. One that stands out during the spring months is high school baseball, with there being many great teams all around the national scene ready to hit the diamond to break out the cleats, gloves and bats. Now it’s time to roll out the first Rivals High School Baseball Top 25 rankings of 2026.

Topping the rankings to start off the 2026 preseason for high school softball season are Florida’s Majory Stoneman Douglas, which went 31-2 and won the FHSAA Class 7A state championship a year ago. The Eagles return a bevy of starters from last year’s crew as they’re off to a 3-0 start and top the first set of rankings. Which other teams join Majory Stoneman Douglas in our first-ever Rivals High School Top 25 baseball rankings?

We dive into the best high school baseball programs around the nation and give you our take on which teams stay in the conversation.

1. Majory Stoneman Douglas Eagles (Fla.) (3-0)

Hard to argue with this choice at the very top because of the overall consistency the Eagles play at year in and year out. Majory Stoneman Douglas ended the 2025 Florida high school baseball season by winning the Class 7A state championship and boasting a 31-2 record. That’s by no coincidence they’re considered one of the best in the nation and much has to do with them being at the top because of some of the returning talent. The Eagles will feature senior left-handed pitcher Gio Rojas, who is committed to the University of Miami. Rojas is a projected first round draft pick in this summer’s MLB Draft and will be one of the country’s best on the mound after going 13-0 with a 0.73 ERA last spring.

2. St. John Bosco Braves (Calif.) (0-0)

Unlike down in the Sunshine State, the state of California has yet to see its high school baseball season’s first pitch, but that’s right around the corner and topping all of the schools out west is the St. John Bosco Braves. The Braves’ roster is stacked with returning talent from the 30-4 team from 2025, including on the pitcher’s mound. Returning with the most experience of all the hurlers is senior Gavin Cervantes, who went 8-0 with 44 strikeouts in 2025. Another up and coming arm to watch for is sophomore Brayden Krakowski, who went 5-0 with 31 strikeouts last spring.

3. Jesuit Tigers (Fla.) (2-0)

Already off to a 2-0 start to the Florida high school baseball season, the Jesuit Tigers look to be the favorites to win it all in the FHSAA’s Class 4A classification. With victories already over Wesley Chapel (9-1 win) and Berkeley Prep (5-0 win), the Tigers have already shown why they’re one of the country’s best programs once again. Leading the way for Jesuit this spring is the bat of infielder/outfielder Christian Sheffield (Florida A&M commitment), the son of former MLB star Gary Sheffield. The younger Sheffield has impressed thus far, batting .500 and driving in three runs off of two hits.

4. IMG Academy Ascenders (Fla.) (2-0)

Always lurking around the Top 5 and starting inside of it for Rivals’ first-ever Top 25 high school baseball rankings are the IMG Academy Ascenders, which are off to a sizzling 2-0 start. The Ascenders, the third Florida team among the top five, start off fairly high for us due part to the victories they have already notched on their schedule, with wins over No. 6 ranked Etowah (Ga.) and Lowndes (Ga.). IMG Academy is always going to be well stocked with baseball talent that’s preparing to head off to the next level and this spring is no different, no by the talents of Maple Mountain (UT) transfer Cry Chrisman, who hit 19 home runs in 2025.

5. Orange Lutheran Lancers (Calif.) (0-0)

Rounding out the Top 5 of the Rivals High School Baseball Rankings are the Orange Lutheran Lancers, which could make a strong argument in being higher on this list of teams. The Lancers went 23-7 last season, but with the talent the team possesses at the plate, it’s hard to not have this group in the conversation of the nation’s best. Player to watch for the Lancers on the mound is senior pitcher Gary Morse, who is already committed to the University of Tennessee. Morse led the Orange Lutheran pitching staff in 2025 with a 8-2 record and a 0.94 ERA.

Rivals High School Baseball Rankings Nos. 11-25

6. Etowah Eagles (Ga.) (3-1)
7. VeniceIndians (Fla.) (3-0)
8. GrapevineMustangs (TX) (0-0)
9. Blessed Trinity CatholicTitans (Ga.) (3-0)
10. South Walton Seahawks (Fla.) (2-1)

11. De La Salle Spartans (Calif.) (0-0)
12. TrinityShamrocks (Ky.) (0-0)
13. CoronaPanthers (Calif.) (0-0)
14. CasteelColts (Ariz.) (0-0)
15. Trinity Christian AcademyConquerors (Fla.) (1-1)

16. MemorialWarriors (TX) (0-0)
17. Huntington BeachOilers (Calif.) (0-0)
18. CalallenWildcats (TX) (0-0)
19. Magnolia Heights SchoolChiefs (MS) (0-0)
20. Mater DeiMonarchs (Calif.) (0-0)

21. St. LaurenceVikings (IL) (0-0)
22. BasicWolves (Nev.) (0-0)
23. The Stony Brook School Bears (NY) (0-0)
24. DelbartonGreen Wave (NJ) (0-0)
25. Lake TravisCavaliers (TX) (0-0)

How to Follow National High School Baseball

For national high school baseball fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the state, ensuring you never miss a moment of the high school sports scene action. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the sports excitement across the country.