Worldwide Sports News

The 2026 World Baseball Classic has been great viewing for my baseball-deprived soul. I really struggle to pay attention to or care about Spring Training games, unless there is a pitcher’s velocity drop to freak out about. Mix that same baseball with a dose of patriotism and nationalism, however, and I’m all the way back in.

The teams and players don’t look like they are in midseason form yet, but the creativity around home run celebrations is in peak form. I love the Great Britain celebration, honoring the Buckingham Palace Guard:

Italy also brought back a great home run celebration from 2023; players take a shot of espresso when they return to the dugout:

Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino shoulders a large responsibility in this celebration; he uses the Nespresso machine to make the espresso shot and gives Milwaukee Brewers prospect Andrew Fischer an il bacetto. Royals fans saw the il bacettolast season between Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone, who are both playing for Team Italy.

Both of these home run celebrations made me wish that the Royals had a more thematic home run celebration. The Gladiator Mask has been around since 2023, and it’s fine. I look at the Seattle Mariners and their home run trident, however, and think that there is room for improvement.

What I like about the Buckingham Palace, espresso, and trident celebrations is that they are thematically linked to their respective teams and the places those teams represent. I think there’s enough material around the Royals and Kansas City that we can find something that feels more appropriate to this specific team. In no particular order, these are the best home run celebrations I could come up with:

• If you want to use headgear, the Royals should at least use a crown instead of a gladiator mask. I think a giant crown would work best; the more obnoxious the crown, the better.
• Upon returning to the dugout after a mighty blast, the hitter needs to eat a barbecue rib. Joe’s KC is already at Kauffman Stadium, so I assume a partnership can be worked out. The rib needs to be dripping in sauce, to the point that some of the players have barbecue sauce stains on their jersey for the rest of the game.
• In honor of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, hitters come back to the dugout, grab a badminton racket, and smash a shuttlecock. Like the crown celebration, the larger the shuttlecock, the better.
• All the people in the dugout line up on opposite sides of the dugout; some against the railing and some against the bench. The returning home-run hitter then drag races down the middle of the dugout like it’s Southwest Boulevard. The prop could be a remote control car or a child’s push-around car that they direct down the middle.
• The team can channel their inner Charlie Parker and blast some notes from a saxophone after they blast a dong. Bonus points if any of the hitters can actually play a tune.

I was trying to incorporate fountains into one of the celebrations, but I think the Salvy Splash has the team covered there. These are the best five ideas that I could come up with, but I trust in the wisdom of the crowds here and assume the commenters will come up with something better. What do you think would be a great Royals home run celebration? Let us know in the comments!

What’s been the story of Spring Training so far? If we’re talking big picture stuff, then it’s probably either the battle for the fifth spot in the rotation or the questions about Marcelo Mayer’s role on the team. But if we’re talking strictly about on-field matters, then I think the answer is Braiden Ward, who has stolen 16 bases in 15 Grapefruit League games. Not only do those 16 steals lead all of baseball this spring, but they are 10 more than the players in second. But while Ward’s been fun to watch, his profile just doesn’t really fit the team’s needs right now, which is why he’s looking like someone who could be a big fan-favorite in Worcester this year. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

There may be an emerging storyline that many didn’t see coming: a battle for the backup catcher spot. Alex Cora has had some nice things to say about Matt Thaiss, and it’s recently been reported that Thaiss has an upward mobility clause in his contract that kicks in before Opening Day. That means that, if the Red Sox do not put him on the MLB roster and another team does want him for their big league team, he’ll be free to leave. Meanwhile, Connor Wong has an option remaining and can be sent to Worcester. (Darragh McDonald, MLB Trade Rumors)

The battle for the backup catcher spot will obviously have a significant impact on the pitching staff. For now, though, the Sox’ pitchers are mostly focused on their own development. Case in point: Sonny Gray, who is focused on repeating his delivery and getting the right spin on the ball. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)

Greg Weissert’s probably already pretty happy with how his stuff is looking. He struck out Aaron Judge last night to conclude one of the most significant upsets in World Baseball Classic history:

As for that fifth spot in the rotation, it looks like we can remove Patrick Sandoval’s name from contention for now. The Red Sox are slowing him down for a “deload week.” He now may not even make a start this spring, and he doesn’t sound too happy about it: “I’ve been going pretty hard out here since the beginning of January. I’m not the biggest fan of this deload, but it’s what they prescribe and what they think will be good for me in the long run. I’ve trusted them so far, so I’m going to keep trusting them.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

I’m putting the open thread up today, because the Jays don’t play until the evening and there is nothing pressing as far as Jays news. I have a couple of things I want to write about, but they will take awhile.

Jose Berrios wanted to play for Puerto Rico but can’t because of insurance issues. It seems funny that a guy making $19 million this year, won’t be playing because of insurance issues. But then it isn’t health insurance, it is insurance for his contract. If he were to get hurt and miss this season, the insurance would be needed to cover his contract. I can understand insurance companies not wanting to be on the hook for the, roughly $70 million left on his contract. Especially with him missing time last year with an elbow issue.

The WBC is a bit of a tough sell for MLB teams. If something bad was to happen to the top player from the Yankees or Blue Jays or whoever, you know that it will be harder to get them to let players go to it in the future. But it is fun to watch the baseball (especially the big upsets). I wonder how much a $100 bet on Italy would have paid? Likely not as much as I think, because a number of people will bet on the long shot.

Anyway, as always, use the thread to talk about whatever you are interested in (within site rules). I’m all for religion and politics, as much as I like people swinging their arms, but just not in my face. I do have a personal rule, I’ve hit that age where I’m sometimes sitting with groups of men around my age, having coffee and I’ve said I’m happy to sit and chat but when politics become the subject I get up and leave. I’m not going to change a mind, and they aren’t going to change my mind, so let’s not do it.

Though, strangely enough for a devote atheist, I’ve been having pretty deep conversations with friends about religion lately. As long as they understand they aren’t going to convert me, I’m ok with it all.

Wow. What an evening in the World Baseball Classic. All of a sudden, Team USA is in real danger of not making it out of pool play for the first time ever.

Pool A (San Juan):

Canada 3, Puerto Rico 2

Puerto Rico had already qualified for the quarterfinals, but Canada can now knock them out of the top seed after they beat Puerto Rico 3-2.

Former Twins reliever Jordan Balazovic started for Team Canada and got off to a rocky start. After he walked the first two batters, Nolan Arenado singled home the first run of the game [VIDEO] before an out was recorded in the bottom of the first.

As you can see from that play, Canadian center fielder Denzel Clarke threw out Heliot Ramos trying to go from first to third on the play.

The score stayed 1-0 until the top of the third when Puerto Rico starter José De León couldn’t throw a strike. After recording the first two outs of the inning without issue, De León gave up singles to Clarke and Edouard Julien. Then De León hit Josh Naylor to load the bases and walked the next two batters, Tyler O’Neill and Tyler Black, to force in two runs and give Canada a 2-1 lead.

Canada increased the lead to 3-1 in the fourth when Owen Caissie doubled and Abraham Toro singled him home [VIDEO].

Puerto Rico got to within 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth when Arenado scored on a Martin Maldonado ground out.

After that, the bullpens for Team Canada and Team Puerto Rico traded zeros the rest of the way. Canadian Brock Dykxhoorn, who has pitched the last six years professionally in Taiwan, retired the last nine Puerto Rico batters of the game in order to record the save. He also helped himself out with this defensive gem. [VIDEO]

Canada plays Cuba today at 2 p.m. CT. Should Canada win, they will win the group with a 3-1 record and be a one-seed going into the quarter finals. Should Cuba win, Cuba will be the two-seed, Puerto Rico will be the one-seed and Canada will go home.

Pool B (Houston):

Italy 8, United States 6

Italy stunned Team USA by jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the sixth inning and surviving a furious comeback to win 8-6.

Mets pitcher Nolan McLean got the start in this one and he looked more like someone who has only 48 innings in the majors rather than a guy with 57 strikeouts in those 48 innings and a 2.06 career ERA. After striking out the Italy side in order in the first, Kyle Teel hit a solo home run off of him to put Italy up early. [VIDEO]

Next McLean hit Jac Caglianone. White Sox minor leaguer Sam Antonacci then made it 3-0 with another Italy home run. [VIDEO]

Italy stretched the lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning when Caglianone hit a two-run home run off Ryan Yarborough. [VIDEO]

Former Cub Brad Keller came on to pitch in the sixth inning with a man on second and one out. After walking Caglione, Keller looked to be out of trouble with a tailor-made double play on a grounder back to the mound. Except Keller made a bad throw to second base. [VIDEO]

Team Italy would make it 7-0 in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Dante Nori and 8-0 on a wild pitch by Keller.

Team USA’s bats came alive after that and they almost mounted the biggest comeback in WBC history. Gunnar Henderson got things started with this tremendous solo home run in the bottom of the sixth. [VIDEO]

Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong just missed a solo home run early in the game when the ball curved foul down the right field line. But PCA was not to be denied in the seventh inning, sending the ball 402 feet with two men on [VIDEO]

Three straight singles after two out in the eighth inning by Kyle Schwarber, Will Smith and Roman Anthony cut the Team Italy lead down to 8-5.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Crow-Armstrong did it again, going 377 feet to make it 8-6. [VIDEO]

All of a sudden, it seemed possible that Team USA would pull this one out, especially after Bobby Witt Jr. singled after PCA’s second home run.

But Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert struck out Henderson and Aaron Judge to end the game.

Team USA finishes pool play at 3-1 and could miss going on to the quarterfinals if Mexico beats Italy tomorrow at 6 p.m. CT. Here are the scenarios as they stand now.

If Italy wins, they win the group and Team USA advances as the second seed.

Should Mexico win, there will be a three-way tie for two places at 3-1. Because each team would be 1-1 against the other two, the decision goes to fewest runs allowed divided by outs recorded. So basically, the two teams that allowed the fewest runs over their two games with the other teams advance.

Team USA has allowed 11 runs.

Italy has allowed 6 runs and still has Mexico to play

Mexico has allowed 5 runs and still has Italy to play.

So if Italy wins OR if Mexico wins and scores five or more runs, then Team USA will mostly likely advance. A tie will most likely go to Team USA because the third tiebreaker is earned runs allowed divided by outs recorded and three of the runs today were unearned. However, if the game goes to extra innings tied 4-4, then Mexico and Italy would advance on a 5-4 Mexico win, which is quite possible since Mexico is the home team.

Pool C (Tokyo):

It’s all over in Tokyo as Japan and Korea advance to the elimination rounds. But I wanted to show the standing ovation that the fans at the Tokyo Dome gave Czechia pitcher Ondrej Satoria, a full-time electrician and part-time baseball player who pitched 4.2 scoreless innings and struck out three against Japan yesterday morning.

Satoria has been a bit of a legend in Japan since he struck out Shohei Ohtani with his 78 mile per hour fastball back in the 2023 WBC. He’s retiring from baseball after this game. It’s moments like this that make the WBC special.

Pool D (Miami):

Israel 6, Netherlands 2

Israel scored five runs in the sixth inning and held the Netherlands to three hits en route to a 6-2 win.

The Netherlands took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off of Team Israel starter and Tigers minor leaguer Carlos Lequerica. Druw Jones walked, Ceddanne Rafaela singled him to third and Jones scored on this fielder’s choice by Xander Bogaerts. [VIDEO] As you can see, Israel tried to get two outs on the grounder and ended up getting none.

The Netherlands would get another run in the first on a sacrifice fly by Didi Gregorius.

But that would be all the offense the Orange would get. Israel got on the board in the third inning on this Jake Gelof double off of Ryjeteri Merite. [VIDEO]

There was a cool moment in this game next as 38-year-old Shairon Martis threw 3.1 innings, allowed no runs and one hit. He struck out two and walked no one. [VIDEO]

Why is that such a cool moment? Because exactly twenty years ago to the day in the very first WBC, Martis threw a seven-inning no-hitter for Team Netherlands. It was a nice bookend to his WBC career.

But once Martis left the game, Team Israel went to town on Rays reliever Kevin Kelly, scoring five runs in the top of the sixth. Blue Jays minor leaguer RJ Schreck tied the game with an RBI single. [VIDEO]

Then Gelof gave Israel the lead with a two-run single. [VIDEO]

Finally, someone you’re familiar with, Matt Mervis put Israel up four with a two-run double [VIDEO].

That’s the way the game ended as the Netherland could manage just three hits: two singles by Bogaerts and a single by Rafaela.

Israel finishes the tournament 2-2 and the Netherlands finish at 1-3.

Baseball America: 24th in organizational rankings, 2 Top-100 prospects: SS Sebastian Walcott, 16th, RHP Caden Scarborough, 65th

Baseball Prospectus: 28th, 1 Top-101 prospect: SS Sebastian Walcott, 11th (70 OFP)

FanGraphs: Org rank ended 2025 ~21st, 5 Top-100 prospects: SS Sebastian Walcott, 30th (55 FV), SS Yolfran Castillo, 70th (50 FV), RHP Caden Scarborough, 71st (50 FV), RHP David Davalillo, 89th (50 FV), RHP Winston Santos, 103rd (50 FV)

MLB Pipeline: 25th, 1 Top-100 prospect: SS Sebastian Walcott, 7th (ETA 2027)

What with the mess in Texas? If you’ve read the first two installments in this series, you’ll know the Rangers are the culprits of their own success in some ways that escape traditional prospect rankings. Baseball Prospectus has SS/2B Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers at No. 2, OF Max Clark also of Detroit at No. 6, SS Aidan Miller of the Phillies at No. 13, and Seattle’s own SS Colt Emerson at No. 15. What do they all have in common? They’re 2023 draftees, who’d be joined or surpassed by OF Wyatt Langford in all likelihood if the 23 year old hadn’t rocketed to the bigs and spent his healthy time in Arlington for the past three years.

Not everything can be accredited to the promotions of players like Langford, OF Evan Carter, INF Ezequiel Duran, RHPs Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, and OF Alejandro Osuna, though. Texas dealt away their 2025 first round pick, INF Gavin Fein, and others to bring in LHP MacKenzie Gore and shore up the big league club. Their 2024 selection, last in the round following their World Series championship in 2023, was C Malcolm Moore, has yet to hit in pro ball after a strong Pac-12 career. Rocker and Leiter were the club’s top picks in ‘22 and ‘21, and while both are early enough into their big league tenure to imagine breakouts, they’ve underachieved the 3rd and 2nd pick billing they received respectively. Rounding out the 2020s, data darling 2B Justin Foscue rocketed up draft boards late in the increasingly infamous 2020 draft, but is on the fringes of Texas’ 26-man and now 27 years old with a lost 2025 that’s still looming, with a hamstring strain likely to delay the start of his season. SS Yolfran Castillo is the latest in a series of high-upside, tools first, everything else later prospects in the Rangers’ system and it’s fair to be skeptical of that developmental group, given the hiccups seen with Carter, Josh Jung, and Leody Taveras who’ve flashed promise more than sustained it.

In their system now are a wave of pitchers with promise and an absolute smorgasbord of injury/durability issues and question marks. But the most promising – and frightening from a Mariners perspective – prospect suffered an injury this offseason that will at least delay, if not fully waylay, his 2026.

The Wall Got Caught

Like the Athletics a week ago, the system’s heft rests heavily on one elite middle infield prospect. SS Sebastian Walcott, who will turn 20 this March, is a Bahamian wunderkind whose potential has surpassed his countryman Jazz Chisholm Jr. to be the most hyped player in the history of the Commonwealth. His torn UCL this winter required surgery for an internal brace, which he’s already undergone, and the club suggested it’s possible Walcott returns to play in August or September of this year. 

The expectations are understandable – Walcott is a big young man with titanic raw power and arm strength, along with the ample athleticism needed to cover the left side of the infield and maturity to be challenged with a Double-A Frisco assignment at just age 19. While Walcott didn’t star there, he hit competitively, and looked more than adroit in every area of his game.

As with Leo De Vries in Sacramento, there’s a year or two until Walcott is likely to impact Seattle most prominently. But Walcott should see his debut come as Corey Seager makes a more pronounced shift off shortstop, allowing the slugging lefty to focus on his offense. Walcott’s not a lock for short, but his arm is strong enough to be a standout third baseman as well. Walcott’s length and fluidity is impressive, but he does look at times more like Oneil Cruz than Elly De La Cruz at short. Still, combine a left side infielder with 30-30 potential at the dish and that’s as good as anyone in baseball. The Rangers of 2027 and beyond are likely to go as this young man does.

The Heat

Depending on your trusted prognosticators, there may be no other Rangers prospects in the Top-100, or a handful of arms. Much of that stems from your relative taste for some edge-case arms. Scarborough looks the part in many ways that Ryan Sloan does, with a huge frame and deceptive delivery that augments multiple impressive secondaries. The 6’5 righty was a prep signee in the sixth round of the 2023 draft who utterly dominated both Single-A levels. The Sloan mention is physical in part, but ties mostly into the question mark for a 21 year old hurler who completed six innings just once in 2025 and made it through five only four times. While his velocity sits more 93-96, he’s the arm to watch as an ascendant possible top-tier arm for Texas.

Beyond him are a bevy of hurlers with promise and injury troubles. RHP Emiliano Teodo missed  much of the 2025 season with injury, but has electric stuff that could charge up a big league bullpen late in 2026 or early in 2027. Also in the mix are RHPs David Davalillo and Winston Santos, both of whom were mere five-figure signing bonus players who’ve crept up the system through diligent improvement. Santos hits upper-90s heat but hasn’t quite figured out a great pairing, making his strikeout numbers in the minors slightly suspect, and dealt with back and hand injuries in 2025 and this spring, respectively. 

Davalillo, by contrast, may be convenient for those of you used to watching a Texas pitcher with alliterative Ds for his name play a swingman or back-of-rotation role with plus command and a kitchen sink approach. Dane Dunning, we’ll never forget you, especially if you’re in Tacoma this year. The electrick Izack Tiger is yet another RHP with high-level stuff who is still experiencing delays from his UCL tear, likely to pitch at 25 this year but without innings above High-A. There are a handful more players of this sort in the Texas system than Seattle’s, big stuff, big tools, but track record paucity. It is high-variance, but currently at its low ebb.

Ignorant of Ignorance

The issue with this system is a dearth of depth. The big league roster, were Rocker and Leiter to both deliver on their promise and all else stay equal, would be potent. But a bevy of moderate disappointments once folks have entered this system has left the club shallow, from OF Aaron Zavala (38th pick in 2021) still yet to debut and lacking much sheen, with little in the outfield behind him, while his draftmate UTIL Cameron Cauley (73rd in 2021) swings and misses a lot for someone with his skillset, capping the potential of his blazing speed. 

But where this issue shows up most potently is behind the plate. 

I mentioned Moore in the introduction, and it bears repeating: the Rangers’ 2024 first round pick is not considered a top-10 prospect in the system, and the system is not well regarded. BP has Moore 15th, BA 13th, and MLBP 18th. When FanGraphs publishes their updated rankings, it’s likely Moore falls similarly, and it is not clear another big league catcher exists in this system even with a heavy squint. Athletic backstop Ian Moller was a fourth rounder in 2021, but has not been able to match the Harry Ford sweet spot in the slightest as a pro. A few rounds later, Texas took C Liam Hicks as well, who’d have helped arrest the cliff dive Jonah Heim took the past two years before departing in free agency, had he not been dealt to Detroit for Carson Kelly. Now in Miami’s backstop rotation, Hicks is one of just four backstops drafted in the 21st century by Texas to both make the big leagues and accrue positive WAR (1.3, second only to Jose Trevino, who also accrued it playing somewhere other than Texas).

That’s all fine if you’re identifying solid contributors like Heim, Robinson Chirinos, or Mike Napoli in trades and on waivers, or going for high-outcome free agents like Danny Jansen or  AJ Pierzynski. But the Rangers are not seeming to find their next Pudge Rodríguez, through the draft as the Hall of Fame Puerto Rican would’ve been found if he’d come up a few years later, or elsewhere. That’s the biggest hole in a Texas system that often is so focused on upside, it’s missing anyone who could take a squat. -JT

This morning, the Washington Nationals officially announced that Cade Cavalli will be their Opening Day starter on March 26th. If you have been following the team, this is not much of a surprise. However, it is still a cool moment for Cavalli, who will be making just his 12th career start.

It is rare to see a pitcher that inexperienced take the ball on Opening Day, but it is fitting for the Nats. The team is entering a new era, which Cavalli should be a big part of. He was always the favorite to take the ball on Opening Day after the MacKenzie Gore trade, but Cavalli’s performances this spring have solidified things.

Cavalli has the best stuff on the team, with an upper 90’s fastball and a filthy curveball headlining his arsenal. He also added a sweeper this offseason to fix his issues against right handed hitters. In his two starts this spring, Cavalli has looked electric and worthy of an Opening Day start.

He is my favorite breakout pick on the team because of his nasty stuff and bulldog mentality. Cavalli was one of the best pitching prospects in baseball a few years ago before Tommy John Surgery changed everything. His recovery from the surgery was slow and he was out for basically two years. However, he re-established himself last year and now the 27 year old is ready to truly break out.

As the spring has progressed, I have become more optimistic about the Nats rotation. Outside of Cavalli, there is not anyone with huge upside, but there are a lot of dependable arms. That is especially true after the recent addition of Zack Littell. The pitching staff was a major weakness last year, but I anticipate a turnaround and hopefully the results can look more like they did in 2024.

For Cavalli, this is a big moment in his career. He is now the ace of this staff, despite only making 12 starts. Cavalli was clearly fired up by the opportunity to take the ball on Opening Day. The Nats shared a video of Blake Butera telling Cavalli he was getting the ball to start the season, and it was a cool moment.

Cade Cavalli has all the ingredients to be a high level starting pitcher, but he needs to put it all together. I think this could be the year where he does that. With a new pitching apparatus, Cavalli will have a good chance to make the most of his elite tools. I also believe he will enjoy the challenge of being a front of the rotation arm. He seems like a real competitor, and I think he will love the challenge of being an ace.

Hopefully the Nats are not in a spot where they are starting a guy with just 11 career big league outings on Opening Day moving forward, but I think Cavalli is ready for this challenge. He has gone through so much adversity over the past few years, but now he is healthy and ready to roll.

Apple TV on Wednesday announced its schedule of ‘Friday Night Baseball’ games for the first half of the 2026 season, through the end of June. Included are three Dodgers games, two at Dodger Stadium and all in California.

The Dodgers’ first game on Apple TV in 2026 comes April 24 against the Chicago Cubs at home. The Saturday game of that weekend series is also exclusively on national television, on Fox.

Other Dodgers games on Apple TV in the first half of the season are May 29 against the Philadelphia Phillies at home, and June 26 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.

Games on Apple TV are exclusive to the subscription streaming service, meaning no local telecast, with one notable exception from two years ago.

The broadcast teams for Apple TV’s slate of Friday games include Wayne Randazzo, Alex Faust, and Rich Waltz on play-by-play, Dontrelle Willis and Ryan Spilborghs as analysts, plus Heidi Watney and Tricia Whitaker as field reporters.

Willis has called games for Apple TV since 2023, in addition to his broadcast role for the Dodgers. In addition to his role as studio analyst on SportsNet LA, Willis in 2026 will also call some Dodgers games on the network, as he did in 2022-23.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Rangers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

As Rangers fans, we all dislike the rest of the teams in the American League West. It is simply inherent in the nature of our being.

Our question today is, what one team in the American League West do you dislike more than any other? Its a difficult question, I know, but nobody said being a Rangers fan was easy…

Cast your vote below…

They say that the World Baseball Classic can be a blessing for a hitter. An earlier ramp-up and encounters with high-level pitching weeks before the beginning of the regular season has may positively affect hitter performance, with a study by RotoWire finding that, on average, hitters who played in the WBC played better in April and May than hitters who didn’t.

That’s an important note for a Yankees team that sent a few hitters to the WBC, including catcher Austin Wells, who is representing his mother’s side of the family as the starting backstop for the Dominican Republic. He crushed a home run in the team’s blowout win over the Netherlands, and the early ramp-up could be big for the young catcher who is entering a crucial season.

2025 statistics: 126 games, 448 PA, .219/.275/.436, 21 HR, 71 RBI, 94 wRC+, 6.7 BB%, 26.3 K%, 11 Fielding Run Value, 3.0 fWAR

2026 FanGraphs Depth Charts projections: 117 games, 461 PA, .227/.299/.417, 19 HR, 62 RBI, 99 wRC+, 8.5 BB%, 24.4 K%, 3.2 fWAR

Wells emerged on the scene in September 2023 as that year’s depressing edition of the Yankees wound down its season. He showed good potential with the bat, as expected, but also looked surprisingly comfortable behind the plate. It may be hard to imagine right now, but we have to remember that Wells was considered a great bat in the minors who might not be able to stick behind the plate.

Tanner Swanson worked his magic, though, and defense became Wells’ strength. He had a strong rookie year in 2024 that saw him finish third in Rookie of the Year voting, even with a brutal September slump. Heading into 2025, the hype around Wells was palpable, so much so that he went deep as the team’s leadoff hitter on Opening Day.

But his offense just wasn’t the same in 2025. His plate discipline regressed, and his on-base percentage dropped from .322 to .275. His already sub-standard numbers against offspeed and breaking pitches got even worse, as he often looked lost against sliders and sweepers. His framing remained elite, but with ABS coming in 2026, he could see that framing value start to be chipped away.

The one positive of his offensive profile in 2025? Wells cut down his groundball rate, generated a better pulled fly ball rate, and got more barrels. The downside, however, of looking to lift the ball is getting under it, which he also did considerably more.

For Wells, the path to getting back to being the offensive catcher he was billed to be in the minor leagues is plate discipline. His strikeout rate spiked from 21 percent to 26.3 percent in 2025, while his walk rate collapsed. His 2024 percentiles are where he wants to get back to, where he was in the 89th percentile in walk rate and 70th percentile in chase rate. Both were below average in 2025.

He’s never going to be a perfectly well-rounded hitter, so it’s hard to ask him to abandon his approach of looking to hit the ball in the air to the pull side when he’s a lefty at Yankee Stadium, but if it’s leading to the hole in his swing, it might need to be considered. It should not, however, affect his swing decisions.

Defensively, Wells will continue to be one of the league’s best, but the question will be how much ABS will impact his framing impact. With the limit on challenges, he should be fine, but he also needs to be able to steal calls for his pitchers when umpires miss calls. He’s been a mixed bag in a small sample in spring training in that regard.

Still, his defensive impact makes him, at worst, a league-average catcher. His bat, while underwhelming, was average among backstops in 2025, and he’s shown he has enough thump to be better. As a result, he’s not at risk of losing his job. JC Escarra is a fine, defense-first backup, and Ben Rice is likely the team’s everyday first baseman. If Wells struggles, he could lose reps, but he’ll almost certainly catch a majority of games in 2025 barring injury.

Ultimately, there’s a path to Wells getting back on track to being one of the best young catchers in baseball, and in the ultimate irony for those who’ve followed his career since he was drafted out of Arizona in 2020, it’s his bat that’s the swing factor.

See more of the Yankees Previews series here.