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We don’t generally go out of order with our spring prospect reports, but the timing is too good for Jordan Yost. The Detroit Tigers first round pick last summer stepped to the plate for his first at-bat as a professional on Sunday afternoon and made a little magic. The Tampa native had friends and family in attendance as he dug in with the bases loaded and no outs, trying to just hit something to the outfield. He did, crunching a grand slam to right field on a 1-0, 95 mph fastball from a Triple-A level pitcher. Welcome to pro ball.

The 19-year-old, left-handed hitting shortstop went to the Tigers with the 24th overall pick in the 2025 draft. A graduate of Sickles HS, Yost signed for $3,250,000. That was $500K underslot, helping the Tigers to land Michael Oliveto in the competitive balance round and still afford their seasonal hunt for talented prep arms ready to sign. Yost is the kind of player who seems likely to at least give them their money’s worth, with a chance to be a standout shortstop and one of the most valuable players from this draft.

Right now, the big calling card is pure hitting ability and defense. Yost is already an agile, sure-handed shortstop with a good arm. No doubt he is already enjoying the tutelage of Alan Trammell and the rest of the Tigers development staff, and he has the potential to be one of better defensive shortstops in the league if he continues to refine his game.

Yost makes a lot of good contact at the plate and shows an advanced eye as well. His feel for the barrel is impressive, and he stayed within himself to spray line drives and the occasional home run in his prep career. He has a quick, accurate bat and rarely strikes out. The question is whether he’ll develop enough power to handle major league pitching and do enough damage to become an everyday player. The defense alone could carry him to the major leagues as a bench player. He can hit. The rest is all about the ability to ramp up the raw power over the next few years.

Data before the draft had Yost as one of the few notable players who didn’t top 100 mph in combine BP sessions. The well below average raw power didn’t help his stock and the main criticism of the Tigers pick was that Yost’s lack of power was a limit on his upside and made this a conservative selection. Still, every major prospect site had him in the Tigers top ten this offseason and it was pretty comfortable to rank him sixth in the farm system. The floor on his talent is still useful and the upside is a well above average all around player who can lock down shortstop or play all over the diamond.

So it was particularly striking that Yost’s first appearance on our television or computer screens was him cracking a 102.7 mph grand slam off a 26-year-old Triple-A reliever on Sunday. His contingent in the crowd went nuts. It was a cool moment. But turning around a 1-0, 95 mph fastball in your first at-bat in major league camp was also a signal that Yost is on his way in the power department.

Yost has added that little toe tap since draft day, and you notice how he sits back along with the clean, simple action of the barrel into the zone. That’s a smooth, easy 102.7 mph, caught out front and launched to the pull side.

If the fear on draft day was that Yost wouldn’t grow into something like average power, that swing certainly should open some eyes. The slender, speedy 6’0” shortstop, has plenty of room on his frame to build muscle. Yost looks noticeably stronger through his shoulders and legs already, telling reporters after the game that he’s added 13 pounds since draft day while running even better. Time will tell, but there was some skepticism about Kevin McGonigle’s power potential on draft day as well, and maybe the Tigers just know what they’re doing here. Yost is unlikely to approach McGonigle’s plus power, but average certainly looks attainable. With Yost’s hit tool, that’s plenty.

His defense, pure hitting ability, and his speed all give him plenty of weapons to lean on and he advances into his pro career. He just needs to do enough damage to be playable, and as we suspected that’s not at all a far-fetched hope. The 19-year-old is already in a better spot to start his pro career than it looked on draft day, and the bar much more attainable.

We may see Yost again in the Spring Breakout game this Friday as the Tigers farm system takes on the Pirates prospects in the yearly exhibition game. He should start the year in Lakeland playing shortstop for the Flying Tigers, and with an advanced hit tool it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him hit his way to West Michigan by year’s end. Still, with Bryce Rainer and Franyerber Montilla all at similar stages of development, perhaps they’ll just let Yost cook in Lakeland all summer instead. He’s already taken a nice step up with the raw power since draft day. The next stages may take a few seasons to unfold, but after announcing his presence on Sunday, Jordan Yost is on his way.

We were expecting a terrific game and we got it. We were expecting a slugfest and we got a pitcher’s duel. It also ended on a terrible call.

USA 2, Dominican Republic 1

Team USA hit two solo home runs and Team Dominican Republic only had one as the United States advanced to the World Baseball Classic with a 2-1 win.

Paul Skenes started for Team USA and the Dominican Republic countered with Luis Severino. The Dominican Republic drew first blood on this 401- foot home run by Junior Caminero. [VIDEO]

It’s amazing how Caminero pulled a pitch that was on the corner, up and away.

Team USA put runners on second and third with one out in the top of the third after Bobby Witt Jr. walked and Bryce Harper doubled. But Severino struck out both Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber to end the threat. [VIDEO]

The Dominican Republic had another rally going in the third inning, but Aaron Judge threw this strike to Gunnar Henderson to nail Fernando Tatis Jr. trying to go from first to third. [VIDEO]

Team USA finally got to Severino in the fourth inning. First, Gunnar Henderson led off the inning with a home run. [VIDEO]

After Will Smith lined out, Dominican manager Albert Pujols pulled Severino for Gregory Soto. Roman Anthony greeted him with this 421-foot blast [VIDEO] to make it 2-1.

Skenes pitched 4.1 innings and allowed one run on six hits. He struck out two and walked no one.

Team USA almost made it 3-1 in the fifth inning when Aaron Judge connected off of Rockies reliever Juan Mejia. But Julio Rodríguez had other ideas and made a fantastic catch in center field, possibly stealing a home run. [VIDEO]

The Dominican Republic got a rally going in the seventh inning off of David Bednar. Austin Wells doubled with one out and then Geraldo Perdomo singled to center field. However, the slow-footed catcher stopped at third base. Perdomo then stole second base but with runners on second and third and one out, Bednar struck out Tatis and Ketel Marte to end the threat. [VIDEO]

Team USA did not have another hit after a Kyle Schwarber single in the fifth. So it came down to the ninth when the Dominican Republic had to score off of Mason Miller. Miller struck out Caminero to start the frame but then walked Junior Caminero. A wild pitch and an Oneil Cruz ground out to first put the tying run on third with two outs.

Miller got the count to 1-2 on Geraldo Perdomo before missing the zone with a fastball and a slider. So with a 3-2 count, Perdomo fouled off two 101 mile per hour fastballs before taking this slider down low. [VIDEO]

It’s a shame that pitch was called a strike and for an all-time classic contest to end on a bad call by the umpire. But there’s no ABS system in the WBC, so that’s how the game ended.

Later today, at 7 p.m. CT, Venezuela takes on Italy for the other spot in the WBC final. Michael Lorenzen is scheduled to start for Italy and Tigers pitcher Keider Montero is pencilled in for Venezuela. The game will be broadcast of FS1. We will, of course, have a game thread here later today for this semifinal game.

We haven’t done one of these Question Time things for a few days, but lets try this one? Who of the Jays minor leaguers has impressed you the most this spring?

I’m going to pick Brandon Valenzuela. He’s hitting the ball well, 7 for 23 with a home run and I’ve liked his glove behind the plate. I asked, in the GameThread, the other day, if ‘all things being equal’ would you give the backup catcher job to Valenzuela?

Of course, all things aren’t equal. Tyler Heineman is out of options and he did a good job for us last year, which trumps any 23 at bats in spring training.

Since catchers tend to get dinged up over the season, I’m pretty sure we’ll see Brandon at some point. If only to cause me more confusion with the various Brandon, Brenden, Braydon, Bradan, Brendans on the team. Those guys should get together and pick one and only one form of that name and all use it, all spelled the same. It is bad enough we have guys who just skip a letter out of their names, to make life tougher on me (yes I’m looking at you Jonatan).

Anyway, your turn.

Last week, we took a look at the early returns from the outfield group. This week, we’ll turn our attention to the catchers. The front office addressed this area at last season’s trade deadline by acquiring Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia. This duo is likely to handle the majority of the reps at catcher this season, and I expect Dom Keegan will have an opportunity to contribute a bit later this season.

Fortes is a plus defender across the board while Feduccia grades as roughly average in blocking and throwing but above average as a receiver. There aren’t many concerns about their defensive skill sets, but both are looking to turn in better offensive seasons than what they showed so far in their major league careers. Early Spring Training data suggests the Rays may get more offensive production from the catching position in 2026 – particularly through improved contact and stronger raw power indicators.

11.9%

… is the combined whiff rate for Fortes and Feduccia so far this spring. That’s a significant improvement from the 26.0% whiff rate Rays catchers posted in 2025.

The front office has quietly been moving towards a more contact-oriented offense, and this change has impacted the catching group as well. More balls in play should lead to a more efficient offensive output – even if some of those balls in play simply move runners along. I don’t think a sub 15% whiff rate is realistic as the wear-and-tear of the position could affect them later in the year, but around 20% seems possible and likely.

104.0mph

… is the 90th percentile exit velocity (EV90: industry standard to measure raw power) for Fortes and Feduccia so far this spring. Rays catchers produced a below-average EV90 of 102.8mph last season, so it’s clear that there’s more power in this duo than the collective combinations of catchers the Rays rostered in 2025.

Fortes and Feduccia were briefly part of that group last season, but they accounted for relatively few of the catching group’s batted-ball events. The raw power upgrade heading into 2026 is real and could make a difference for the offense.

6°

… is the average hard-hit launch angle for Fortes and Feduccia so far this spring.

They’ll need to find a way to elevate the ball more to tap into their power as we countdown to the beginning of the regular season. While the group last year didn’t hit the ball very hard, they did a nice job of elevating the ball when they did – evident in their average hard-hit launch angle of 12°. Fortes and Feduccia may currently be prioritizing contact over damage, which can sometimes lead to flatter contact profiles.

One way to unlock more power would be to take slightly more aggressive swings, even if that comes with a bit more swing-and-miss.

40.7%

… is the zone-minus-out-of-zone swing rate for Fortes and Feduccia so far this spring. While this is better-than-average, Rays catchers ran an even better 43.6% in 2025. However, it was hard for the group last season to leverage their swing decisions into much production because the whiff was prevalent and the power was quite low.

Maintaining strong swing decisions will be key for Fortes and Feduccia, as that approach gives them the best chance to elevate the ball and tap into their raw power. If these trends hold, the Rays should get significantly more offensive production from the catching position than the 70 wRC+ they received in 2025.

This is a Spencer Steer story, really.

Steer, Cincinnati’s most recent 1B, is now a guy who’s slated to play defense all over the place in 2026. In many ways, he’s expected to be one part his former self and another part what Gavin Lux was last year, albeit with (hopefully) improved defense throughout the entire process.

Steer’s going to get a little time at 1B on days when Sal Stewart either needs a break (or is sliding over to 2B or 3B for the day). Steer’s going to get a little time at 2B, potentially, on days when Matt McLain slides over to SS to give Elly De La Cruz a break. Steer is absolutely going to get time in LF routinely, and he’s even begun getting reps in RF this spring, too.

He’s going to get to 550+ PA one way or another, that Steer. How the Reds choose to round out their 26-man roster, though, depends precisely on which spot he’ll be playing most often to get there.

For the first time in seemingly forever, the Cincinnati Reds do appear set to have a pair of final bench bats on their roster who are actually/potentially legitimate big league hitters. This is not a case where we’re hashing it out between the likes of Santiago Espinal, Nick Martini, or Kevin Newman. Jason Vosler is not going to start a handful of April games on this revamped Cincinnati roster.

(This is also assuming Dane Myers isn’t a complete pumpkin, but I digress.)

This time around, the Reds have seemingly stacked their options with bat-first guys in an attempt to help bolster an overall offense that was sluggish, at best, through their 2025 season. And as we enter the final week of Cactus League action, the battle for those final spots on the Opening Day roster has been one where all relevant parties have been living up to their billings.

Here’s a breakdown of the top candidates for the roles, with the likelihood being that just two of these names end up in the dugout come Opening Day:

JJ Bleday

JJ Bleday has the sheen of a free agent signing with actual guaranteed money going his way. He’s a former 1st round pick and top overall prospect as well as a guy with a 20 homer season at the big league level already under his belt. His 2025 season was rough across the board, though he still managed a 92 OPS+ in 344 PA with the Athleics in his ‘down’ year. This spring, he’s hit .294/.351/.529 with a pair of dingers, but more importantly has received pretty glowing evaluation on the contact he’s been making and the diligence with which he’s been trying to tap back into his former successes.

Bleday is a left-handed hitter who can play both outfield corners (and CF in mediocre fashion in a pinch). He’s almost certainly a platoon bat at this point, but putting him in LF against RHP looks like a credible decision at this point in time. The question is, though, whether putting Steer in LF against RHP is a better idea on most days, in which case Bleday – who has one option remaining – isn’t even a starting option in his best-case scenario.

Will Benson

Benson has the sheen of a guy who’s a known quantity to both the manager and the roster, a guy who’s spent three seasons with the Reds (and even more with manager Terry Francona, as both were in Cleveland together for years before Benson became a Red). He’s had his ups, like in 2023 (.275/.365/.498 in 329 PA), his downs (.187/.274/.376 in 388 PA in 2024), and his almosts (.226/.273/.435 in 253 PA in 2025, albeit with elite batted ball data and a brutally unlucky .255 BABIP).

Benson, who also has an option remaining, does a lot of the same things that Bleday does. Benson does have a lot more success on his ledger as a baserunner, however, and would likely profile as the team’s go-to pinch runner whenever that need arose. He’s also mashed in camp this spring (.276/.432/.724 with 4 HR and more walks than Ks), and it’s really hard to imagine him not being on the active roster from the outset.

Nathaniel Lowe

If the Reds chose to carry both Benson and Bleday, that would push Steer into more of the mix on the infield, mixing in at 1B more often and cutting into Sal Stewart’s time at the position. If the Reds opted to carry Nate Lowe, though, instead of one of Benson or Bleday, Steer would have a more regular role in a corner outfield spot (especially if Noelvi Marte has continued struggles in RF).

Lowe, to his credit, has come into camp and hit. He’s posted a .241/.353/.517 line with a pair of homers, that on the heels of hitting .280/.370/.420 in 119 PA with the Boston Red Sox during the second half of a 2025 season that saw him flop with the Washington Nationals in his first stint with the club. He’s a guy who posted a 122 OPS+ across four seasons with the Texas Rangers from 2021-2024, a guy who won a Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, and World Series in those stops.

He’s only 30, but he’s also in camp as a non-roster guy, so adding him would require lopping someone else off the 40-man roster, too. Still, he’s by far and away the most proven bat among this group, and he’s an vastly experienced 1B on a team that projects to have Stewart – who’s barely played 1B – be the other go-to guy at the position.

Rece Hinds

Hinds was the best player on the planet for a week in 2024, and won NL Player of the Week for his efforts. He also tanked terribly once optioned back to AAA that year, and he floundered (.116/.136/.279 in 44 PA) when called back to the big leagues in 2025. However, his prodigious power has been on display again this spring (.364/.417/.788 with 3 HR), and that’s after he destroyed AAA pitching last year for Louisville in his age-24 year (.302/.359/.563 with 24 HR and 21 SB in 435 PA).

He’s a right-handed hitter, albeit one who didn’t hit LHP (.769 OPS at AAA) better than RHP (.914 OPS at AAA) last year. So, he’s not the perfect complement to any of Benson, Bleday, or Lowe, at least on paper. He’s also been streaky to the point where you wonder how well he’d do with limited playing time, which isn’t the best attribute when looking for a ‘bench’ bat.

His upside/ceiling, though, is probably the highest among this group, however, and to pass over him if he’s finally figured it out would be a tough pill to swallow.