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I’ll have a more detailed look into the other four teams in the NL Central coming up soon.

But today, I simply want you to give your gut feelings about the Brewers, Reds, Pirates and Cardinals. How will the division wind up this year?

We can get an idea of how these teams line up from the first 2026 PECOTA standings, which were released Tuesday.

PECOTA has the Cubs at about a 90-72 record, which is pretty close to the 92-70 from 2025. (Personally, I think they’re better than that.)

The Brewers are next at approximately 80-82. PECOTA has underestimated the Brewers many times in recent years. Personally, I think the Brewers are better than that, though they have traded away a couple of key players (Freddy Peralta, Caleb Durbin) from last year’s 97-win team.

The Pirates, who have made some noise through free-agent signings (Marcell Ozuna, Ryan O’Hearn), are listed next at 79-83. That might be a bit too optimistic, in my view.

The Reds made the postseason last year with an 83-79 record and proceeded to get swept by the Dodgers in the wild-card round. PECOTA also has them at about 79-83. The Reds should be better than that. That pitching rotation can be scary.

The Cardinals are in full rebuild mode after trading away Sonny Gray, Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras. PECOTA has them as a 96-loss team. The Cardinals haven’t lost that many games since 1913 (!), when they lost 99. This could be a 100-loss Cardinals team.

Where do you see these teams finishing this year?

We need to start this article with an acknowledgement: Any list or stack ranking posted on social media is intended to generate engagement. Well, congratulations Major League Baseball, I have become engaged. On Monday night, MLB Network continued their coverage of the Top 10 Right Now, ranking various position groups. Someone—or perhaps something—called The Shredder presented this Top 10 First Basemen list:

1. Freddie Freeman
2. Nick Kurtz
3. Matt Olson
4. Bryce Harper
5. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
6. Rafael Devers
7. Yandy Díaz
8. Pete Alonso
9. Michael Busch
10. William Contreras

According to MLB itself, The Shredder is not the leader of the Foot Clan, but is in fact “MLB Network research team’s collective system of research and analysis that uses traditional and advanced metrics and takes into account previous player performance to determine who makes the lists.” The more you know.

Anyway, all of these players are fine, representative MLBers. There’s a name here that’s missing though, a name that was the sixth-best hitting first baseman in baseball last year even as his own team continued to give time to Paul Goldschmidt. That player is Ben Rice, and when I saw what The Shredder had presented, my first thought was “How many of these guys would I rather have Rice over?”

When thinking about this I’m not worried about contracts or salaries — the fact that Rice is making the MLB minimum immediately makes him one of the top three most “valuable” first basemen, alongside Nick Kurtz and Michael Busch. Let’s just talk about who I think would provide the most on-field production in 2026, whether that costs $780,000 or $25,000,000. To wit, give me Rice instead of Bryce Harper, Rafael Devers, Yandy Díaz, and Willson Contreras.

To start, Díaz isn’t really the Rays’ first baseman, with All-Star Jonathan Aranda expected to get the lion’s share of time at the cold corner while Yandy is deployed as the primary DH. Moreover, he, Harper, and Rice were all pretty well equal in 2025, in a tight band between 130-135 wRC+ and 25-27 home runs. Rice gets the edge because he’ll be 27 on Opening Day, and while that’s older than you’d expect for a guy about to start his second full season, it’s six and seven years younger than Harper and Díaz respectively. Father Time is the only undefeated champion, and we’ll return to him in a moment.

Devers is a little trickier simply because for the better part of the last decade, he’s been one of the finest pure hitters in baseball … except he went from Fenway Park to Oracle out in San Francisco. He actually did OK for himself in the power department — famously a challenge for left-handed hitters in that stadium — going yard every 19.75 PA as a Giant compared to every 22.27 PA while with the Red Sox. Overall though, he saw steps back in ISO and all three triple slash categories, and how much of that is a “new team” tax and how much is moving from the second-best ballpark for hitters to the 22nd best is part of the story of the 2026 season. I’m going to hedge to the latter though, not to mention San Fran has to be more than a little worried about first base defense. Edge to Rice in my book, long track record be damned.

Ben Rice was better than Willson Contreras in 2025 at everything but two points of batting average. Contreras is moving into Fenway which should help him out especially as a right-handed hitter, but his Statcast page, were it a rash, would demand a soothing oatmeal ointment and not an immediate course of antibiotics like in Rice’s case.

So those are the four guys I would slot below Ben Rice. I’m willing to concede that Nick Kurtz is probably a better hitter — in fact, I’m not that far from being convinced Nick Kurtz is like, one of the five or so best hitters in baseball, period. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. seems to be a more complicated case, as his production was very similar to Rice’s in 2025, he plays a little more of a leadership role than the young Yankee, and occupies more space in the cultural weight of their respective franchises. I’d lean towards a wash but sure, we can slot Vlad over top. Pete Alonso’s raw power probably makes him a better bet in ‘26, but beyond that I’d be betting Rice all day. Still, we’re just thinking about this coming year.

We come to a couple of pushes — Michael Busch and Matt Olson. Busch was the best hitter of the three but not by much, and Rice’s underlying metrics are the most impressive of the trio but again, not by much. Olson gets the nod as the best defender, buttttttttt I generally don’t care about first base defense. We have a three-way tie for my 2026 expectations here.

That leaves the head of the table, Freddie Freeman. For most of my adult life he’s been the gold standard of play at first base, and while 2025 was a step back from his own lofty track record, it was still a 139 wRC+ and a four-win season. Here’s where we move beyond educated guesses about performance and into straight speculation, where I’ll say that the future Hall of Famer is my breakdown pick of the year, the opposite of the ever-so-popular breakout pick. He will turn 37 midseason, has dropped out of the World Baseball Classic for personal reasons, and while he does have a 138 wRC+ over his past two seasons, it was 153 in the five before that stretch. I don’t think he outright collapses, but Father Time is winning on the judges’ cards.

So I’m confident that Rice is a better pick than four of the so-called Shredder’s top 10, maybe five depending on Freeman’s aging curve. The Yankees drafted a guy in the 12th round out of a school more proficient at churning out diplomats than sluggers, and you have a very good argument he’s one of the four or five best in the world at his position. Not a bad piece of business.

The day has finally arrived. Washington Nationals pitchers and catchers are officially reporting to camp today. After a long winter, the baseball season is finally here. While the weather is still chilly in DC, the first sign of spring is here. The expectations for this team are not very high, but it is still exciting to see the Nats back in action.

This is one of the best days on the baseball calendar. I can’t help but feel so alive when I hear the crack of the bat or the pop of the catchers mitt. This Spring Training is going to be different for the Nats. It is the first camp without Davey Martinez and Mike Rizzo running the show for a long time. Instead, we have the youthful duo of Paul Toboni and Blake Butera.

Pitchers and catchers are the only ones who officially report today. However, there are plenty of early arrivals to Nats camp. The Nats social media pages put out plenty of content yesterday, and a lot of players were already in West Palm Beach. Brady House, Luis Garcia Jr., Dylan Crews and more were spotted in West Palm yesterday.

This does not surprise me one bit. The Nationals are a young roster and these players have a lot to prove. They are also going to want to impress their new bosses. Paul Toboni is not as directly tied to these players as Mike Rizzo was, which makes them more disposable. Toboni was not the person who drafted or signed most of these players. That means these players will want to make a strong first impression.

For guys like Garcia, House and Crews, 2026 will be a major year for their careers. All of them had disappointing 2025 seasons, at least at the MLB level. Garcia is looking to bounce back, while House and Crews are looking to establish themselves. The new bosses seem very open to competition, and these guys want to prove themselves.

Speaking of the new bosses, both Toboni and Butera did a press conference before setting sail for West Palm Beach. There was nothing overly newsworthy in it, but both men talked about what they wanted to see this spring, as well as their philosophies. I also got to ask a question to Butera, which was fun.

Speaking of those philosophies, they will be meaningfully different from the last regime. There is going to be more of a focus on analytics and using technology. For the first time, the Nats will have a Trajekt Arc machine at their Spring Training facility. I am sure that is not the only new piece of technology we see.

It will be  interesting to see what kind of changes these players make based on the new data. I would not be surprised if a bunch of Nationals pitchers add new pitches or tweak their arsenals. A potential big storyline this spring will be Nats pitchers throwing fewer fastballs.

The Red Sox have been leading the way on cutting fastball usage, and that is where Toboni comes from. A lot of Nats pitchers were throwing mediocre fastballs too much. That should change in 2026, and we will see the first signs of that this spring.

It is so exciting to see baseball back. The clips the Nats media team puts out of the boys in action will just warm my heart. Sure, the team may not be good, but a bad baseball team is better than no baseball team. There are also going to be plenty of great storylines to follow in the drama that is the baseball season. Buckle up, because the boys are back in town.

Good morning! MLB Network’s ongoing project to determine the 10 best players at each position continued yesterday, as they finally made it to the bullpen. And if you’re a Red Sox fan, this is what you want to see:

Two Sox relievers on the list, with Aroldis Chapman taking the top spot. Not too shabby.

It’s hard to argue with MLB Network. Chapman was a blizzard of dominance in 2025. Already one of the greatest closers of his generation, Chapman posted career bests in ERA+, walk rate, strikeout-to-walk ratio, and WHIP, while posting the second-best hits-per-nine-innings rate of his career. He was outstanding.

And yet… I’m not completely sold on him as we enter 2026. I was skeptical of him last year and he shoved it in my face, so feel free to ignore me. But the reason why I was skeptical in 2025 — he was an aging pitcher with poor control whose performance had been trending downward for years — still gives me cause for concern this season.

Chapman was a completely different pitcher in 2025 than he had been in the three prior years, seemingly fixing his life-long control issues over night. He says that there was a reason for this, and that it wasn’t just statistical noise:

That’s right: if Chapman is to be believed, the reason why he suddenly was able to control his fastball after 15 years in the big leagues was that… last year was the first time he tried to control his fastball?

I don’t know, I’m not really buying that.

Chapman will be 38-years-old this year and everything I know about baseball tells me that last season will prove to be a statistical fluke. Granted, Chapman could come back down to Earth this season and still be perfectly effective in the ninth inning this year. But I’m worried about the back-end of the bullpen. Are you?

Talk about the closer’s role and whatever else you want, and, as always, be good to one another.

San Diego Padres pitchers and catchers reported to Peoria, Ariz. to open Spring Training for the 2026 season. Manager Craig Stammen, bench coach Randy Knorr and hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. all took questions from the media and at least sounded like they were on the same page. Position players Xander Bogaerts , Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth, Gavin Sheets and Ramon Laureano reported to camp early and took swings on the backfields. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball looks at the potential philosophical differences between the 2025 team and the 2026 and how that could impact the results this season.

Padres News:

• Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball predicts two minor league signings who could make an impact at the major league level. While many Padres fans are hoping a reunion between Triston McKenzie and Ruben Niebla could produce a capable backend starter, Zdunich makes the argument for Marco Gonzales to be the breakout arm. He also tabs Nick Solak as the player to watch of the position player group.
• New Padres hitting coach Souza Jr. told the media one of his goals is to have his hitters be more aggressive in the zone, adding that they will have to adjust their approach from game to game or park to park rather than using a one-size fits all philosophy.
• San Diego would like to add to its rotation and the rumor Tuesday was the Padres were showing interest in free agent starter Zac Gallen. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune says that type of signing is not likely unless the price for Gallen drops much lower. But Acee said he does expect the Padres to add an arm soon.
• Jason Adam is ahead of schedule regarding his recovery from surgery following a ruptured quadriceps tendon. He wants to pitch as soon as possible, but Stammen stated he and the team will take a cautious and methodical approach to getting Adam back on the field.
• Dennis Lin of The Athleticposes three questions for the Padres as Spring Training opens. The first is about the potential sale of the team, the second is whether general manager A.J. Preller will receive a contract extension and the third is whether the Preller and the Padres can add to their roster with bargain bin finds.

Baseball News:

• Justin Verlander returns to Detroit after he agreed to a 1-year, $13 million with the Tigers.
• Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Santander is in danger of missing the 2026 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Francisco Lindor could also miss time after being evaluated for a hamate bone injury.
• The New York Mets acquired Bryan Hudson from the Chicago White Sox.

Spring training is coming up on every baseball fan’s docket. Teams travel to warmer weather to begin their work and preparation for the coming season, and players on the bubble hope to earn their spot on the Major League roster.

To that end, the Twins on Monday announced 22 players who have received an invite to major league camp:

Some notes from this group:

The non-roster invitees include three recent Twins first-round picks: Aaron Sabato, Walker Jenkins, and Kaelen Culpepper. Sabato made his AAA-St. Paul debut last season, hitting 14 home runs with a .741 OPS after putting up a .973 OPS (with nine homers) in AA-Wichita. Jenkins also reached St. Paul last season after spending most of the season in Wichita (.912 OPS), playing in 23 games as a Saint (.719 OPS) in his age-20 season. Culpepper, like Jenkins, has been accelerating through the minors, reaching Wichita in his second minor league season and putting up an .824 OPS over 59 games.

The group also includes several older veterans, none more familiar to Twins fans than Gio Urshela. Urshela was the Twins’ primary third baseman in 2022, playing in 144 games and putting up a 2.9-WAR season before joining the Angels the following year. Across the last three seasons, though, Urshela has been a subpar player, with a .654 OPS and 0.4 total WAR in just 249 games played.

Twins fans may also recognize veteran middle infielder Orlando Arcia via familiarity with his brother Oswaldo, who spent the first three-plus seasons of his career as a Twin, bounced around the league in 2016 (playing for four teams), and was out of the majors following that year. And there is one more player here who has previously appeared in a game for the Twins: reliever Matt Bowman, who made five appearances out of the Minnesota bullpen in 2024.

The last player I want to draw attention to here is Matt Canterino, whose pitching track has been repeatedly derailed by injuries. Canterino last threw a pitch in a non-spring training game in 2022 and will reportedly be unable to pitch yet again this spring, but he remains with the organization.

Of course, I haven’t talked about everyone here, which means it’s going to be one of the players I haven’t mentioned who comes out of nowhere to earn a roster spot. And that’s the best part of spring training.

We’re this close to baseball.

Texas Rangers rumors: Jordan Montgomery is returning to Arlington on a one year deal for $1.25 million plus incentive bonuses, per Evan Grant. Montgomery, who is returning from Tommy John surgery, would presumably immediately go on the 60 day injured list.

Montgomery, of course, was one of the heroes of the 2023 World Series team. Acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline, along with Chris Stratton, in exchange for Tekoah Roby, Thomas Saggese and John King, Montgomery put up a 2.79 ERA in 11 starts post-trade and a 2.90 ERA in 6 post-season appearances, including pitching in relief in the Rangers’ Game 7 ALCS clincher.

Montgomery hit the free agent market after 2023 expecting to cash in, but ended up finding the market for his services much softer than expected. He ended up signing a one year, $25 million deal with the D-Backs with a $20 million player option right before Opening Day, and fired his agent, Scott Boras, two weeks later. Montgomery put up a 6.23 ERA in 21 starts and four relief appearances in 2024, then missed all of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery, which he underwent at the end of March, 2025.

In the comments recently, I dismissed a suggestion that the Rangers could/should bring back Montgomery, noting that he would probably not be ready to return to the majors until close to the All Star Break, and that his timeline being about a month behind Cody Bradford made him not that attractive an option. I have now been proven wrong, as we are reminded that Chris Young never believes you can have enough starting pitching, and at just $1.25 million guaranteed, the price is obviously right.

One of the things we have talked about is how much turnover there has been from the 2023 team, and how many contributors to that club aren’t here anymore. Bringing back Montgomery, who is up there with Cliff Lee as one of the best trade deadline additions the Rangers have ever made, goes in the other direction, and there’s definitely a quality vibes element to this move, however it may work out. Now maybe they will bring back Mitch Garver to platoon at DH with Joc Pederson.

On Tuesday, Baseball Prospectus revealed their PECOTA projections for the 2026 season. The White Sox, like most teams, have had a long-standing beef with the system, having long in the past chronically underestimating performance.

As a mathematical projection system, PECOTA is not without biases. But it’s math, man. So, as funny as this division looks, well, this is how a “normal” 2026 sizes up to play out:

To give this projection some perspective, the second-half White Sox played 28-37 baseball in 2025. That .431 winning percentage works out to a 70-92 record. (In fact, .431 is 69.8 wins.) So PECOTA sees whatever additions and subtractions made this offseason, plus growth or regression of prospects, all as a wash.

Tomorrow, we’ll ask you for your thoughts on the entire AL Central. For today, take on the White Sox fortunes for 2026.

Do you agree? Will the White Sox prove PECOTA wrong?

The day is here. Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater today. The offseason is over: rejoice!

Of course, there’s still a bit of time before the actual spring training games begin. But for the devoted (or, perhaps, obsessive) baseball fan, there’s still things to watch. Videos of pitcher workouts will hit social media. Interviews will happen. Pitchers will try new offerings. Rust will be shaken off. Etcetera.

This is all small, quiet stuff, but it’s baseball. And there are fans who will gladly take any baseball they can get. There are also fans, of course, who find this all tedious and won’t start watching until the games begin.

So, today’s question is: Will you be following the pitchers and catchers (to the extent that one can)?

They say you can never have too much pitching. The Orioles were reminded of that simple phrase during an injury-filled 2025 season. Mike Elias knows this. He knew it last year too, and he knew it all the way back in December 2023 when he signed a 34-year-old swingman that hadn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2017.

Elias never could have anticipated the impact Albert Suárez would make the following season, but he clearly saw something he liked during Suárez’s time in Japan and Korea. Baltimore inked Suárez to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. The Birds called on the righty for a spot start in mid-April, and the veteran went on to post a 3.70 ERA over 133.2 major-league innings.

The Birds kept Suárez around in 2025, but injuries prevented any real opportunity for a sequel. He made the Opening Day roster but suffered a right subscapularis strain after his first appearance. Big Al returned from the injured list in the middle of September, but the O’s shut him down after he reported elbow discomfort. He posted a 2.31 ERA and 0.943 WHIP over five appearances (one start) last year.

The Birds non-tendered Suárez at the end of 2025, but they brought him back on another minor-league deal. Suárez will once again head to Sarasota looking to prove that he still has what it takes to get big league hitters out on a routine basis.

Suárez remains a low-risk, high-reward option for the Orioles, but the stakes have changed. The 36-year-old will continue doing everything he can to earn a roster spot, but the Birds may need him now more than ever. Suárez provided incredible value (2.7 bWAR) as a surprise contributor over 145 innings in a Baltimore uniform, but the Birds need him to do it again.

Baltimore’s bullpen will begin the season as the club’s least proven unit. Ryan Helsley and Andrew Kittredge will anchor the back end, but just about every other reliever will bring some form of uncertainty into 2026. Keegan Akin and Yennier Cano have been inconsistent, while guys like Rico Garcia and Yaramil Hiraldo will begin the year without any real type of track record.

Dietrich Enns followed the Suárez template with a 3.14 ERA over 16 relief appearances and one start last year. The 34-year-old will return as a multi-inning option for the Orioles, but he could face a roster crunch if both Suárez and Tyler Wells find their way to the bullpen. Enns is healthy and two years younger, but Suárez holds more credibility right now. What was that phrase about never having too much pitching?

Baltimore dealt from an already thin unit when they traded Kade Strowd and prospects for Blaze Alexander. It remains to be seen whether guys like Cade Povich and Brandon Young will join the bullpen or Norfolk’s rotation. Colin Selby and Grant Wolfram could be good, but the team will have to find out the hard way. Chayce McDermott may finally discover something, and Anthony Nunez figures to get a look at some point.

Still, I can’t help but come back to what Suárez delivered in 2024 and wonder if he has another year in the tank. The six-foot-three righty pitched to contact with a mid-90s fastball. Batters rarely put the ball on the ground (just a 35.5 GB%), but they only barreled the ball 7.1 percent of the time. Sure, there could have been some luck involved, but Suárez appeared to have what it takes to keep hitters off balance.

Injuries forced Suárez into the rotation for a majority of 2024. The Orioles appear to have more depth in that department right now, but it’s a comfort knowing that a healthy Suárez could give the team five or six strong innings at some point during the season. A set relief role could provide Suárez a better chance to stay healthy, but his workload will be worth monitoring as spring training progresses.

It’s never wise to put all your eggs in the basket of a 36-year-old coming off an injury. You can call him a dark horse, an x-factor, or anything in between—either way, Suárez has a chance to provide real value to an unproven bullpen, and the Orioles would greatly benefit from one-more year of the veteran exceeding expectations.

There could be little else to start today’s news roundup with than general enthusiasm over the return of former Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander. Verlander, who accompanied the Tigers on both their last visits to the World Series, is winding down his Hall of Fame career, and seems to want to bring it back to where it all began in Detroit. We’ve covered his one-year deal in more detail on the site already, but a news recap wouldn’t be complete without some general chatter about the signing. We’d love to know how you feel about the deal. While Verlander is not as young and no longer has the same stats he did when he was traded to Houston all those years ago, he has certainly proven over the last several seasons that there is still gas in the tank. And with Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson both hitting the 60-day IL yesterday, this is a team that could certainly use pitching. On that note, yesterday the Tigers made things official with Framber Valdez as well.

There’s more tidbits in today’s news, including the unexpected passing of a former Royal, and some legal woes for a former Dodgers outfielder. So let’s just jump right into it.

Detroit Tigers News

• Welcome back to the D, JV!

• If you want to feel a little misty-eyed about it.

• Jason Beck looks at the one-year deal signed by Verlander.
• Some injury updates

• A look at the new streaming home for the Tigers in 2026.

AL Central News

• Terrance Gore, a World Series winner with the Royals, has passed away at age 34.

MLB News

• Paul Goldschmidt will make his home with the Yankees this season.
• The Pirates have signed Marcell Ozuna.
• It took a six-player deal to send Caleb Durbin to the Red Sox.
• Exactly how much free food can a player consume under the CBA?
• The Rangers are turning an iconic Nolan Ryan moment into a bloody unique giveaway item.
• Who is the top player in every position heading into the 2026 season?
• Francisco Lindor may need to undergo surgery for a potential hamate bone issue.
• Anthony Santander will miss much of the 2026 season after undergoing left shoulder surgery.
• How Cody Bellinger lockout-proofed his new contract.
• Ex-MLB outfielder Yasiel Puig has been found guilty on two federal charges related to gambling.
• 10 MLB players with surprising international connections heading into the WBC.
• How the last Team USA in the WBC managed to put together one of the most unstoppable pitching rotations in current baseball.
• The Pirates will never totally shut the door on finding ways to work with Andrew McCutchen.
• The annual state of baseball fan survey from The Athletic has been released. ($)
• After Verlander, Scherzer, and Kershaw… when will we see the next Hall of Fame starting pitcher? ($)
• So wait, how am I supposed to watch baseball again?

• Here’s a helpful guide for how to watch games on MLB TV this season.

• Oof.

Just by the nature of doing a daily birthday post, we’re going to run into some days where there’s not a truly notable Yankee from history to profile. There are also going to be some days we run into where there’s more than one beloved player. However, today is definitely the former and not the latter.

There have only been three Yankees players who have ever had a February 11th birthday, and you’d be forgiven for not remembering any of them. Maybe you can recall the recently-released Jayvien Sandridge, just because he made a cameo for last year’s team.

However, one of today’s birthday boys is engrained into my mind. Unfortunately for him, it’s not for a reason you would want to be remember for.

César Augusto Cabral
Born: February 11, 1989 (Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic)
Yankees Tenure: 2013-14

Cabral’s road to the major leagues was a strange journey. He originally signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent in 2005. While he had some OK years in the meantime, by 2010, he had only advanced to High-A ball. Left off the Red Sox 40-man roster, he was then selected by the Rays in that offseason’s Rule 5 Draft.

In the ensuing spring training, the Rays and Blue Jays played a bit of hot potato with him before the Rays had to return him to the Red Sox after Cabral failed to make Tampa Bay’s roster. Following another season back in Boston’s system, he was again picked in the Rule 5 Draft, this time by the Royals. Once again though, he wasn’t destined to play there, as later that same day, the Yankees purchased him from Kansas City.

In spring training 2012, Cabral pitched well enough that the Yankees were considering rostering him full time, negating him returning to Boston. However, he suffered a stress fracture in the dying days off spring, leading to him missing the entire 2012 season. The injury also mean the Yankees could put him on the 60-day injured list and avoid sending him back.

With the possibility of losing him wiped out, the Yankees sent Cabral to the minors to begin 2013, where he produced some iffy results. But when the rosters expanded in September, the Yankees decided to call up the pitcher. In addition to him having the raw “stuff” that impressed them in 2012, he was also a lefty who could allow them to further play matchups in the days before the three batter rule. He ended up appearing in 3.2 innings across eight games for the 2013 Yankees, striking out six batters.

In 2014, Cabral started the season in the minors, but came up that April following an injury to David Robertson. He was again used as a LOOGY, combining for one total inning across his first three games. His fourth appearance came on April 18th, and became the reason why I—and other sickos—continue to remember him.

Playing the Rays on April 18th, the Yankees brought in Cabral in the bottom of the eighth. Adam Warren had just allowed a two-run homer to increase the Yankees’ deficit to 8-5, and they were likely just looking for someone to get a quick final out of the inning before trying to rally in the ninth.

Cabral started his day by giving up a single to Ben Zobrist, and then uncorking a wild pitch in a sign of things to come. Following a Brandon Guyer RBI single, Cabral hit Evan Longoria with a pitch. He then also hit James Loney, having already fallen behind 3-0 in the count. Wil Myers followed that with a single, but in the first pitch of the at-bat after that, Cabral hit a third batter, plunking Logan Forsythe. At that point, home-plate umpire Joe West ejected Cabral, despite the protestations of manager Joe Girardi. Cabral almost certainly didn’t hit any of the batters on purpose, but at that point, the ejection was almost for the safety of batters as much as anything else.

Immediately after that game, the Yankees DFA’d Cabral, but eventually cleared waivers and returned to the Yankees’ minors. Following the season, Cabral elected for free agency and signed with the Orioles. He appeared in two games for them in 2015 and after that spent the next couple years playing in the minors and Independent ball. His last recorded stats are in the 2023-24 season in the Dominican Winter League.

Every season for every team usually features relievers who only appear in a handful of innings. Usually, those stint are uneventful and not particularly remembered. That’s probably the case for Cabral for most people out there. However, some of us are weird, and Cabral plunking three batters and getting ejected for the wellbeing of the opposition is something to remember.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.