Careers are made on a signature pitch. Nolan Ryan’s fastball. Sandy Koufax’s curve. Mariano Rivera’s cutter. Over the years, the Kansas City Royals have had plenty of pitchers with a signature offering that defined their style on the mound.

What Royals pitcher had your favorite pitch? Here are some of my favorites:

• Dan Quisenberry’s sinker
• Mark Gubicza’s sinker
• Tom Gordon’s curveball
• Kevin Appier’s forkball
• Zack Greinke’s slow curve
• Joakim Soria’s curveball
• Jason Vargas’ change-up
• Wade Davis’ cutter
• Greg Holland’s slider

Tell me your favorite pitch from a Royals pitcher!

Introduction

This short article continues my effort to articulate some of the observations I made during my visit to Spring Training, 2026.

Short Topic of the Day

I will start out with showing my bias. I’m a fan of the system. Although I’m an old guy, I tend to like new technology. I’m not a leading-edge adapter, but more the fast-follower type. This tech I like.

Since many of you haven’t seen it, I’ll describe it in hopefully not so many words.

All MLB stadiums are equipped with Hawkeye technology that tracks (in very small increments, it turns out) the flight of the ball. It is tuned to register if the ball passes through the strike zone. In days of yore, when mortal humans calling balls and strikes, the strike zone was an amorphous cube, where umpires would judge if a ball crossed any part of the plate (front or back) while in between the players knees and the letters. Each of these positions is open to some interpretation and judgement.

But now, Hawkeye evaluates 0n a two-dimensional plane. It looks to see if the ball crosses the plate only along a line that runs between the two back corners of the plate. Ergo, a pitch that might look a tad high to the hitter in the strike point (out near the front of the plate) could actually drop in the zone 8.5” later and be viewed by Hawkeye as a strike. The second dimension eliminates knees and letters and now just uses 53.5% of the player height as the top of the zone and the bottom is 27% of the same measurement. So the judgement of strike or ball by the ABS system is two-dimensional, whereas I suspect umpires will still tend more toward a 3-dimensional view that will naturally look more like an egg than a rectangle.

A pitcher, catcher or hitter may challenge, but must do so immediately, without assistance or encouragement from anyone else. They are to tap their head AND verbalize their challenge. Each team gets (theoretically) unlimited challenges during a game but loses the right to challenge if they have challenged unsuccessfully on two occasions during the game. The right to challenge is restored in any extra innings.

The actual challenge is quite interesting and seems to engage the fans a fair bit. The player taps their head, the umpire announces the challenge and all eyes turn toward the scoreboard. The strike zone and the ball location are displayed, along with a measurement of how far into or out of the zone the ball was. I didn’t time it, but I’d guess it takes in the area of 5 seconds or so. Pretty quick. The umpire announces the impact of the ruling (upheld, changed to ball or strike, and revised count). Then play resumes. The fans seem to really get into it. The umpires? If body language means anything, not so much.

For folks who watch the game on their chosen video device, I understand that the strike zone displayed during the broadcast will be one and the same with the two-dimensional Hawkeye view presented on the scoreboard.

I saw one game this past week where CB Bucknor was challenged multiple times and proven right more than not. Wouldn’t it be ironic if ABS informed us that CB is a better umpire than we had imagined? Another umpire went 0-6 on challenges, finally breaking the streak on, ironically enough, the last pitch of the game.

The Cardinals are encouraging their players to challenge during ST. It seems like it will be a good tool for them to learn the edges of the strike zone in real time. I am sure in regular season there will be less freedom to challenge. It would not shock me if only a few hitters are allowed (Nootbaar, for one). Otherwise, the onus might rest mostly on the catcher. I can see hitters having some freedom in crucial points of the game. I forget who, but we saw a hitter challenge a 3-1 call, in the rain, in the midst of a 10-2 game. That probably won’t reach the “crucial” threshold during regular season.

Most of the pitches that got challenged were truly borderline pitches that in the human umpire world could go either way. Several strikes were called on balls that were measures as “less that .1 inches” outside the strike zone. Likewise, you see some balls that get reversed to strikes as they just nick the zone. .1 inches. Wow! Our past time is no longer a game of inches, it is a game of millimeters.

I don’t get the sense that framing will be altered a lot by ABS. Seems like only 4-5 calls per game get challenged, whereas framing can affect the outcome of quite a few more pitches. That is my estimation, but we will have to wait and see.

For those that haven’t seen it, Baseball Savant has an ABS leaderboard page at www.baseballsavant.com/ABS. Take a look.

Friday notes…

• FORMER CUBS IN MARINERS CAMP: Anthony Kay, Tyson Miller.
• DYLAN CARLSON: The non-roster outfielder is making his case for the Opening Day roster. In 12 games this spring he’s batting .360/.529/.440 (9-for-25) with two doubles and seven walks. He’s played well in the field, too.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

White Sox lineup:

It’s an all-Martin day!

Riley Martin will start for the Cubs. The Cubs are having another bullpen game. The list of other Cubs pitchers scheduled today was not available at posting time.

Davis Martin will start for the White Sox. Other White Sox pitchers scheduled today: Sean Newcomb, Jordan Hicks and Jordan Leasure. The White Sox are a split squad today.

Today’s game will be televised by the White Sox channel CHSN. There will also be a radio broadcast via the Sox flagship station, WMVP/ESPN 1000.

MLB.com Gameday

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with Sox fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

As we have done in the past, we’ll have a first pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time. For today, that will be 3 p.m. CT and 4:35 p.m. CT.

These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked ”Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher photos and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

In a sense, spring warm up is just ending now and something like the actual competition for the final roster spots ramping up over the final two weeks of Grapefruit League action. The first weeks are mainly just stretching out into game shape and getting rhythm and timing going, both at the plate and on the mound. For players assured a roster spot, there’s really no rush and the trick is to conserve energy and avoid injury while slowly getting up to game speed just in time for Opening Day.

We’ve talked about the position side quite a bit. The main questions haven’t changed. Kevin McGonigle is going to see a lot fewer fastballs to hit over the next two weeks as the big league regulars stretch out and there are fewer minor leaguers getting reps on the mound. He’s done everything the Tigers could’ve asked to prove he’s ready for the starting shortstop job so far, but the big test is seeing a lot more spin and offspeed, from pitchers who can throw strikes without making too many big mistakes. His track record says this won’t be a problem, but it may be an adjustment.

So we’ll be watching him closely like everyone else, with the center field job really the other main positional question to answer.

The rotation is set. Will Vest, Kenley Jansen, Kyle Finnegan, Tyler Holton, and Drew Anderson are all locks for the bullpen. That’s five of the eight man bullpen locked in. Three spots remaining.

The Tigers picking up Enmanuel de Jesus’ contract suggests he’ll be in the Opening Day bullpen, though it’s not certain. The club may prefer to take Brant Hurter as the second lefty, or to take both.

Brenan Hanifee is on the 40-man roster already. So is Beau Brieske, whose rib cage discomfort has abated and should return to action soon. Sawyer Gipson-Long and lefty Bailey Horn are on the 40-man but dealing with hopefully minor injuries. Troy Melton is on the 60-day IL. Dylan Smith and lefty Drew Sommers are on the 40-man but already optioned to minor league camp along with Keider Montero, who is still with Team Venezuela currently.

Anyone else in camp, whether Tanner Rainey, Burch Smith, Jack Little, Sean Guenther, Ricky Vanasco, or players already moved to minor league camp like Tyler Mattison, Cole Waites, or Tyler Owens, will require a 40-man roster move.

In theory there are three spots. One of them will go to a left-hander, whether De Jesus, Hurter, Sean Guenther, or some combination of them. If you’re A.J. Hinch, which three relievers in camp are you taking?

Trying to jump into the mind of Terry Francona might actually be a little easier than those of many Major League Baseball managers. To be clear, that’s no knock on the intellect of the future Hall of Famer – rather, it’s an admission that the man speaks pretty openly about what it is he would really like to accomplish with his club.

He’s sold on TJ Friedl as his leadoff guy. He’s going to hit Elly De La Cruz in the #3 spot almost every single day, though he’s on record all over the place saying he’s going to get him some more breaks this season.

Despite the former 1st rounders struggles with injuries and underperformance the last two seasons, Matt McLain is a Tito favorite. He’s drawn Dustin Pedroia comps before, and the manager still seems more than willing to bat him 2nd in the lineup once again.

Those three things sure appear to be the fixed tenets on this otherwise malleable, flexible roster. So, it’s not a surprise that when I asked you earlier this week how many Cincinnati Reds hitters would top the 600 PA mark in 2026, you overwhelmingly responded with 3…or more.

The 600 PA threshold may seem arbitrary, but it’s a pretty decent measure of what a player who bats atop his team’s order almost every single day should cross. Those are numbers of a ‘regular,’ and in 2025 only two players – Elly and Friedl – cleared that mark.

They cleared it by a ton, too, as Elly finished with 699 and Friedl with 685. It was actually that kind of blowing past the 600 mark that made me consider the question in the first place, as last year – despite a lot of flexibility up and down the roster – injuries, trades, and positional rotation caused a lot of players to get PA often, but not exactly be ‘regular.’

McLain (577 PA) didn’t get there due to getting dropped in the order and sat here and there amid his struggles. Spencer Steer (568) sure felt like a regular all year, but didn’t get there, either.

This year, it sure feels like Steer, and Sal Stewart, and Eugenio Suárez should be regulars, but someone in this exercise is going to have to hit 6th, and that just simply doesn’t stack the PA the way hitting up top does. There’s also Ke’Bryan Hayes in there siphoning PA while hitting 9th for most of every game before getting pinch-hit for late, and Noelvi Marte still assumed to be the everyday RF at this point of the spring despite some recent struggles (and quality depth behind him).

The 2025 Seattle Mariners had four players with more than 600 PA (including a trio with more than 700), with the New York Mets sporting the exact same. The Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals, meanwhile, had zero, for reference.

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One thing that has been noticeable this spring is that Blake Butera wants his players to be versatile. A number of Nats players have been playing multiple positions this spring. Between James Wood playing right field and Nasim Nunez playing third base, players are being exposed to new spots. 

Blake Butera admitted that the team is still working out how they will align their plethora of outfielders. However, he said that “I don’t see ourselves pigeon-holing either guy. That is the goal, to have flexibility on the roster”. The Nats want their players to be able to play multiple spots. We may have to view James Wood as just a corner outfielder, rather than a right or left fielder.

I like this idea, and think it will be important this season. Having positional flexibility allows managers to build the best possible lineups. For the Nats to over-achieve this year, they will have to win on the margins. Having guys who can play at multiple different spots is a way to do that.

The outfield is not the only place where we are seeing this push for versatility. Nasim Nunez and Luis Garcia Jr. are examples of infielders who have played multiple spots this spring. Garcia has played first and second base, while Nunez has played shortstop, second base and third base. 

Before this spring, Nunez had never played third base. While Nunez is a great defensive infielder, third base has its own nuances. Blake Butera mentioned that Nunez was working with Victor Estevez on his positioning. As a utility man off the bench, the more positions Nunez can play, the better.

Despite being a smaller guy, Nunez easily has the arm strength to play at the hot corner. He has a comfortably plus arm, and that is part of what makes him such a good defender at shortstop. I like that Nunez can be an option at third. While Brady House has been red hot this spring, he is unproven. Jose Tena is also more comfortable at second base than third.  That makes Nunez a strong candidate to get some reps at third this season.

However, it is not just the hitters that will be versatile this season. The pitching staff will have more fluid roles as well, especially in the bullpen. Butera did point out that it is “Important for a handful of our guys to have some clarity about what they are going to do every night”. 

However, I would not expect the Nats to have a true closer. Butera said he likes to view bullpen roles as “Leverage vs non-leverage rather than having specific innings for guys”. This is a very modern view, and it has some merit. There are times where the highest pressure spot comes in the 7th or 8th against the heart of a lineup, rather than the 9th inning.

The Nats relievers will have roles, but it will be more about leverage rather than innings. For the non-leverage relievers, it will be important for them to go multiple innings. The Nats have guys who can do that, most notably Brad Lord. One great thing about Lord though is that he has the stuff to slide into higher leverage spots if needed.

Versatility will be something that is a big theme this year. Whether that is where you play on the field, or what inning you pitch, roles are going to be more fluid this year. This is not a huge surprise given Blake Butera’s background. The Tampa Bay Rays have been on the cutting edge of all this stuff, and that is where Butera got his baseball education.

Some of the mixing and matching may seem whacky at first, but I think there is a method behind the madness. The Nats are going to have to find every small edge they can this season, and this is one way to do it. Blake Butera is going to mix things up, and Nats fans are going to have to be prepared for that.

The Milwaukee Brewers are back in action today against the nomad Athletics. It’ll be their first day game after a night game this spring following a 1-0 loss to the Guardians last night.

On the bump today the Brewers will have Kyle Harrison continuing to build up. Harrison is in a strong position to land a spot in the initial starting rotation, especially with the news that Quinn Priester will start the year on the IL. Following Harrison will be Craig Yoho, Trevor Megill, and Carlos Rodriguez. This will be Rodriguez’s first Cactus League action in a while as he was with Team Nicaragua in the WBC. Gage Jump gets the start for the A’s.

In the lineup today the Brewers continue to plug in a bunch of their regular starters with less than two weeks to Opening Day. Sal Frelick is leading off, followed by Blake Perkins, Jake Bauers, and Andrew Vaughn. Garrett Mitchell is the DH today batting fifth followed by Luis Rengifo. The bottom of the order is rounded out with David Hamilton, Reese McGuire, and Cooper Pratt who is at second base.

First pitch is at 3:10 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast in Milwaukee on 620 WTMJ and the Brewers Radio Network.

With the 2025 Texas Rangers season having come to an end, we shall be, over the course of the offseason, taking a look at every player who appeared in a major league game for the Texas Rangers in 2025.

Today we are looking at catcher Tucker Barnhart.

It says Tucker Barnhart…

But have you ever considered…

Bucker Tarnhart?

It has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it?

Bucker Tarnhart sounds like the name of a hobbit, someone who attended Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy-first birthday party and drank beer and ate and had a merry old time before diving under the table when the dragon fireworks went off.

Just like every team needs more than five starting pitchers to make it through the season, every team needs more than two catchers to make it through the season. Catchers get banged up, they hurt things, they start just not playing well. They go on paternity or bereavement leave.

And when that happens, a team is going to summon a catcher up from AAA to fill in. Sometimes the filling in is just for a day or two. Sometimes it is for a week or ten days. Sometimes it is multiple weeks. You never know with these catchers. You might even have a situation where the catcher called up from AAA to replace the unavailable catcher temporarily gets hurt, and then you have to find a fill-in for the fill-in.

So if you are a catcher with a modicum of ability, you can hang around for a long time. Not necessarily in the majors, of course. At least, not for a full season, or necessarily even if a definitive period of time. But every team needs a lot of catchers to catch pitchers in spring training, and every team needs players at AAA who, if not exactly capable, are not so inept that they can’t be called upon to be a band-aid for a bit in the bigs.

Which brings us to Tucker Barnhart. Barnhart was, once upon a time, a starting catcher. He was the Reds’ regular catcher from 2016 through 2021, won a couple of Gold Gloves, had a random 3.6 bWAR season fueled by a National League leading 3.1 dWAR, never had a bWAR as high as 1.0 in a season otherwise.

After catching 116 major league games for the Reds in 2021, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers after the season, with the Tigers picking up the $7.5 million club option for 2022 that the Reds were passing on. I remember there being carping from certain circles when that happened, the Reds being ripped for being cheap and just dumping salary, but, well, its Tucker Barnhart we are talking about. Not wanting to have to pay a 31 year old Tucker Barnhart $7.5 million to play for you in the year of 2 thousand and 22 seemed fairly reasonable at the time.

Barnhart promptly put up a 554 OPS in 94 games for the Tigers, went to the Cubs for 2023, only played 43 games, and saw his OPS drop to 541. Games played and OPS dropped again in 2024, with the D-backs, to 31 and 497, respectively.

So last year, Texas brought him to camp, and he was sent to Round Rock to be the catcher behind the glass that you break in case of emergency. Emergency struck at the end of April, when Kyle Higashioka’s hamstring issue necessitated getting a functional catcher on the active roster. Barnhart managed to stick around until the end of May, even once Higashioka and Jonah Heim were both healthy, though he only played in eight games — three as the starting catcher, four as a mid-game replacement at catcher, and one as a relief pitcher.

Barnhart was DFA’d at the beginning of June when Nathan Eovaldi’s injury resulting in Codi Heuer being summoned, with Barnhart being the 40 man roster casualty. He was released, re-signed, spent June in Round Rock, and then retired. His final season in the majors saw him slash .231/.333/.231 in 15 plate appearances.

Given that inoffensive veteran catchers are always needed for the purpose of stashing in the minors, Barnhart could have hung around a while longer, I imagine. However, per B-R, he has earned over $30 million in his major league playing career. I can see why a guy who was a regular for a number of years, who made a lot of money in his career, and who is playing out the string might decide going home and spending time with his family was preferable to trying to hang on as a AAA journeyman.

Previously:

Gerson Garabito

Tyler Mahle

Kyle Higashioka

Adolis Garcia

Luis Curvelo

Alejandro Osuna

Blaine Crim

Jake Burger

Jacob Webb

Nick Ahmed

Jon Gray

Carl Edwards Jr.

Josh Jung

Leody Taveras

Dustin Harris

Marc Church

Luke Jackson

Danny Coulombe

Wyatt Langford

Dylan Moore

Michael Helman

Evan Carter

Cole Winn

Rowdy Tellez

Dane Dunning

Marcus Semien

Billy McKinney

Jose Corniell

Jonah Heim

Cody Freeman

Sam Haggerty

Jacob deGrom

Merrill Kelly

Caleb Boushley

Justin Foscue

Nathan Eovaldi

Chris Martin

Patrick Corbin

Joc Pederson

Phil Maton

Corey Seager

The Phillies weren't letting Kyle Schwarber get away and Pete Alonso knows it originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Shortly after the Phillies re-signed Kyle Schwarber in December, a team official was asked what Plan B was if the slugger had taken his talents elsewhere.

“There was none,” the official said. “We weren’t letting him get away.”

Pete Alonso, who would have made a lot of sense if the Phillies needed a Plan B for a slugging designated hitter, has no trouble believing that.

“There was a little bit of dialogue, very, very early, more of a ‘Hey, how you doing?’ type of thing,” said Alonso, who was also a free agent this winter. “But they were like, ‘All our eggs are with Schwarbs.’

“And they should have been. Kyle means a lot to that franchise and that clubhouse and I’m really happy for him because he’s in the right spot. He just fits really well with that group and that clubhouse. The Phillies got a good one in Schwarbs.”

Schwarber was pursued by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles. He returned to the Phillies on a five-year, $150 million deal. Twenty-four hours later, the Orioles signed Alonso to a five-year, $155 million contract. He will play first base for the O’s and bring a slugging bat to their lineup, just like he did for seven seasons with the New York Mets.

Alonso visited Clearwater with his new team Friday. He had a pair of singles against Phillies prospect Andrew Painter. He was booed like a Met. Phillies fans remember those 18 home runs and 62 RBIs he produced against their team in 104 games with the Mets.

“I love playing in Philly,” Alonso said. “The Bank is a fun place to hit. The ball flies. The fans are rowdy. They bring a lot of energy. And the Phillies always have a great team. They’re super talented. You’ve got to bring it when you play them.”

Alonso hit a majors-leading 53 homers as a rookie with the Mets in 2019, Zack Wheeler’s last season with that club. The Mets made little attempt to retain Wheeler when he became a free agent and signed with the Phillies before the 2020 season. Alonso can empathize. He averaged 41 homers and 113 RBIs in his six full seasons (minus the 2020 COVID season) with the Mets, and never played in less than 152 games in a full season. Despite this, the Mets were reluctant to give Alonso more than a three-year contract this winter. He turned 31 in December.

If Alonso’s time in Baltimore is as successful as Wheeler’s has been in Philadelphia, the Orioles will have made a good signing.

“I can’t think of Wheels as anything else other than a Phillie,” Alonso said. “Just like Schwarbs. As soon as he came over, it’s like, this is the best place for him, not just contractually, but the fit is right. He’s unlocked his true potential with the Phillies. He’s a top contender for the Cy Young every year. He’s been an absolute stud.

“As a player, I knew he was nasty because facing him in live at-bats in spring was never fun. I’m happy for him and his family. This is the best version of himself. They’ve been able to get the most out of him.”

Alonso also had high praise for Cristopher Sanchez, who has blossomed into an ace the last couple of seasons.

“The first time I faced him was in ’22,” Alonso said. “Obviously, him throwing harder makes his off-speed stuff play better. The changeup is up there with the best.”

Starting pitching is a Phillies strength. The club led the majors with 84 quality starts last season. The starting staff’s 3.53 ERA was second-best in the majors. As a frequent opponent during his time in New York, Alonso believes catcher J.T. Realmuto has a lot to do with that.

“If you look at what he means to the pitching staff, he’s really an unbelievable asset to have,” Alonso said. “He’s managing games. He posts every day. His 145 games as a catcher are like a position player’s 190 games. What he does is incredible, how he manages the staff. Not just pitch-calling and game management, but he’s won Silver Sluggers and Gold Gloves. He’s the whole package, everything you want in a catcher.”

Alonso said he will miss the 13 meetings per year against the Phillies in the National League East, but he’s eager to feel the intensity of the American League East.

“I’m stoked for where I’m at,” he said.

That’s Baltimore.

But if the Phillies hadn’t been able to re-up Kyle Schwarber — who knows? Pete Alonso would have been a good Plan B, even if the Phillies never really had one.