Worldwide Sports News

German Marquez must have taken some inspiration from Walker Buehler because the right-hander took the mound for the San Diego Padres and delivered a five inning, nine strikeout performance against the Seattle Mariners that resulted in a 9-6 win for San Diego at the Peoria Sports Complex on Tuesday. Marquez did allow three runs on three hits, but the Padres offense powered up and hit six home runs off Mariners pitching. All six home runs were hit by different players, and half of those were hit by regulars Gavin Sheets, Xander Bogaerts and Nick Castellanos. Ty France who is battling for one of the final bench spots as Spring Training enters its final week, also homered as well as Jase Bowen and Rodolfo Duran. San Diego returns to action Thursday against the Chicago White Sox at 6:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• Buehler came to Spring Training as a minor league signing with the Padres and was only guaranteed the opportunity to compete for a spot in the rotation. He has taken advantage of that opportunity and has shown to be the most consistent arm in the group vying for a rotation spot and Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball thinks he has done enough to have secured his place on the roster.

• Bradgley Rodriguez opened some eyes when he made his MLB debut in 2025 and he has continued to do so in Spring Training. Perla Paredes of Padres.com believes that his spring performance has earned him a spot in a crowded San Diego bullpen.

• Kruz Schoolcraft is hard to miss on the baseball field because his typically stands head and shoulders above everyone else on the diamond. Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune said the San Diego prospect is more than just a physical presence he is athletic as well and that will benefit him as he progresses through the minor league system.

Baseball News:

• New York Yankees pitcher Garrit Cole is expected to return to the mound today. He has not pitched since Tommy John surgery last March. Shohei Ohtani is also scheduled to take the mound Wednesday for the Los Angeles Dodgers, which will be his Cactus League debut.

• Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki suffered a knee injury in the WBC while playing for Team Japan, but it does not appear to be serious, and he still has a chance to play on Opening Day.

WBC News:

• Venezuela took advantage of their first trip to the World Baseball Classic final and upset the US with a 3-2 win. The teams entered the ninth inning in a 2-2 tie, but Venezuela was able to scratch out a run in the top of the ninth to win their first WBC title.

Mid March is a great time of year for any number of reasons, but it isn’t necessarily a great time for analysis. A regular commenter asked how I analyze spring numbers. The simple answer is I don’t. There are any number of reasons why. The most important reason is that the sample size is just too small. I’ll sometimes quote the numbers, but they really don’t mean anything.

The second problem is that we don’t know what level of competition these guys are facing. We can get excited about a young player breaking out until we realize they are mainly squared off against other young players. Obviously, that is doubly true for veterans. Finally, when we look at veterans we have to consider that sometimes they are working on something specific that may not translate to performance. Pitchers may work on a specific pitch or hitters may try to hit the ball the opposite way.

Keeping all of this in mind, I wanted to take the opportunity to answer another question that came down the pike. Someone asked for the source for many of these numbers. An analyst is only as good as his or her tools and I need to be upfront in admitting that others have done the heavy lifting for the most part. My job is to take those numbers and use them to analyze players and performance. However, much like theologians and the Bible, we are better off when more people understand the underlying sources and their strengths and weaknesses.

Baseball-reference.com

One could call baseball-reference.com the official online baseball encyclopedia. The strength comes in the wealth of information and the ease of finding what you are looking for. It sets itself apart from Fangraphs.com by including things like rankings in certain categories on each player’s page including a section of when they led the league in certain categories or finished in the top ten. This was huge for me when I was calculating awards voting and deserved MVP points.

It should be noted that B-ref uses it’s own WAR formula we normally call BWAR. It is based primarily on their fielding metric which ties pretty closely to defensive runs saved (Fielding Bible). It does not have the wealth of fielding metrics that Fangraphs and other sources have. However, it is an absolutely terrific resource if you want quick information on players from conventional data to the more sabermetric data.

Fangraphs.com

Fangraphs.com is my favorite site and probably most trusted resource. The advantage of Fangraphs over Baseball-reference is that it includes more minor league information and that came in handy when breaking down the hitters and pitcher numbers from the past few weeks. They also include international numbers as well. Baseball-reference also has this information, but it takes a few extra clicks to get there. When I want this information in a hurry I go to Fangraphs.

Obviously, the graphs part of the name is key. They include a lot more of what I would call process data than Baseball reference. So, what exactly is process data? In short, it includes things like pitch velocity, spin rates, and exit velocity for hitters. So, if you want to know what a pitcher’s average curveball velocity or what a hitter’s chase rate, contact rate, or hard hit rate then Fangraphs is the fastest resource to get that information.

I should note that they do have access to leaderboards. Both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference have paid services that allow you to custom those leaderboards for your own research. I personally do not currently do that because the free versions give me everything I want, but people that want to go into even more detailed analysis should check those out.

Baseball Savant

Baseballsavant.com is another resource that more and more analysts are using. In particular, it includes some of the same information as Fangraphs, but uses more charts and graphics to show the information more graphically. That includes things like heat maps for hitters and tracking pitches for pitchers along with movement, velocity, and spin.

These numbers come in handy particularly when looking at individual performances early in the season. Hitters and pitchers can look great or horrible because of the numbers, but the underlying information may not match. Seeing it graphically is great for visual fans that want to see what the numbers are saying. The site also includes more underlying numbers that can explain why fielding numbers and base running numbers say what they do.

As I said earlier, an analyst is only as good as his or her tools. The goal of this space is not only to analyze but to educate about how analysis gets done. I may be the analytics guy around here, but I am also a teacher at heart. As such, if you have ever had a question that has had you scratching your head, this is the space for you. Feel free to jump into the comments with a particular question. As we get closer to the actual season we will start going fast and furious into the actual numbers flying at us. Until then, enjoy the last few days of spring baseball while you can.

What’s This Team’s Deal?

Last year, this article began with a picture of a completely disheveled Tropicana Field, still unusable six months after Hurricane Milton. After sustaining significant water and wind damage, the stadium has been renovated and the Rays will return to Tropicana Field in less than a month.

The capacity of this renovated Tropicana Field will be reduced due to the damage. But that’s nothing new to the Rays. For several years, the upper decks of Tropicana Field were closed off due to lack of interest. This lack of interest is almost entirely due to stadium’s location far from downtown Tampa, as has been addressed many times. The Bucs are closer to downtown and manage a near-sell-out crowd despite relatively similar recent performance (outside of a 2021 Super Bowl… I don’t want to talk about it.) But, looking at this year’s roster in comparison to the rest of the division, I don’t know how Rays fans could find too much intrigue in this team, which was hit hard by a fire sale in 2024. The storm before the storm, if you will.

The next storm the team has to weather is deciding whether to play baseball in Tampa or St. Petersburg. This decision will be tantamount to any other decision the team makes before the conclusion of the 2028 season, when the lease runs out.

How Good Are They?

They’re probably just fine. Which is best case scenario for a team that recently gave away a perennial All-Star and who’s marching out a guy straight off two serious arm injuries as their ace. Shane McClanahan was one of the best in the game prior to his Tommy John surgery, clocking elite velocity and extension, resulting in a top-eight percentile whiff rate among all pitchers. The problem for the Rays? His surgery was on August 15, 2023. A lot’s happened since then, but McClanahan is still just 29 years of age and shows a lot of promise to go with an 8.0 career WAR in fewer than 3 seasons.

Behind McClanahan in the rotation is Drew Rasmussen, who’s coming off of his first All-Star selection and first Cy Young vote (it was only one fifth-place vote, but still!) The 30-year-old stayed healthy, reliable, and kept innings short, tallying a WHIP of 1.02 over 150 innings. That’s all you can ask from a rotation pitcher, and McClanahan coming back takes some pressure off him. Ryan Pepiot, part of the return for sending Tyler Glasnow to LA to win a couple World Series titles, looks fine enough in the middle of the rotation, putting up an ERA+ slightly above average last year.

Offensively, the Rays are led by budding star Junior Caminero, who’s coming off of a 45 home run season and a berth in the Home Run Derby finals. Caminero, who’s still just 22 until July, had an OPS of .846 and the highest bat speed in baseball on his way to slashing .264/.311/.535. He can really spread the ball around with the best of them already… but don’t take my word for it, here’s his spray chart.

Elsewhere, Yandy Diaz is returning despite every talking head (and most of us on this site, including yours truly) booking his plane ticket at the trade deadline of 2025. Cedric Mullins, former Oriole, rejoins the division where he enjoyed a decade of very dependable play in Baltimore. Jon Aranda batted .316 and had an incredible Savant chart in his own right along with providing versatility by playing all over the infield. And while Gavin Lux may not have the shine as he did coming through the Dodgers’ farm, he’s still a good infield option for a team looking to replace the productivity of Brandon Lowe.

Outside of those stalwarts, though, the roster’s kind of a mess, having got there in the name of efficiency, with a front office eager to ship players out before big paydays in exchange for players who aren’t quite ready to appear on a Major League team yet. But if these aforementioned guys can contribute at close to their best, the team might be good. Good players performing at their best helps a team… who knew?

Most Likable Player: Junior Caminero

I was going to use Jon Aranda here because there’s a lot of value in a guy who can get on base as much as he does and play three positions. But I can’t deny a guy who placed sixth in baseball in home runs in a year that one of the top five was Aaron Judge, another was the best baseball player of our generation, and another was someone who left the stratosphere in catcher metrics. Caminero is good and it would be heartbreaking if Tampa decided to ship him off for prospects like the rest of their homegrown stars (besides one they did pay who will be on the restricted list for a very, very, long time).

Least Likable Player: DJ Kitty

I don’t have the heart to select former Red Sox reliever Steven Matz here because he was fine for the Sox and left on amicable terms. And Caminero is a Red Sox killer but he’s honestly an everyone-killer and so awesome to watch against any other team. But remember: it was DJ Kitty who was unable to pry Triston Casas’ first career home run from this Ryan Brasier lookalike.

Schedule Against the Red Sox

The Rays visit Fenway for a four-game series from May 7-10. A month later, on June 8-10, the Sox head to the Trop. Fenway then gets the first series post-All-Star game from July 17-19. Finally, the Red Sox travel down to Tampa in what could be an all-important series from September 18-20. It’s the Rays’ last home series of 2026 and the Red Sox’s last away series before heading back to Boston to finish the season out.

Season Prediction

Overall, this is probably a last place team, but they’re better than most last place teams and their overall result likely hinges on just how extraordinary their star power performs. No matter how good Caminero is, though, this team could use a Tyler Glasnow, or Randy Arozarena, or either Lowe, or maybe a half dozen more players that have graced the Trop — or Steinbrenner Field — in recent years. When the front office wants to ask why the team went from nearly 100 wins to to 77 in 2025, they only need to look within.

PREDICTION: 79-83, 5TH IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

George Lombard Jr. and Elmer Rodríguez are typically regarded as the two best prospects on the Yankees, but the next two are pretty much interchangeable. Some believe No.3 belongs to Carlos Lagrange and No.4 to shortstop Dax Kilby; others have them in the reverse order. In any case, the point stands: Kilby, last year’s first-round pick, is a top-five organizational prospect and a top-100 in all baseball per multiple outlets.

If Lombard is a glove-first prospect with developing offensive skills, Kilby is quite the opposite: the hit tool is impressive, and while he is not a disaster at shortstop, questions about his ability to make all the throws from the position remain.

2025 Stats (Single-A Tampa Tarpons): 18 games, 81 PA, .353/.457/.441 (159 wRC+), 0 HR, 9 RBI, 16 SB, 13.6 K%, 16 BB%.

So, what’s in store for Kilby in 2026? Nope, not the big leagues, if that’s what you are thinking. The most likely answer is a months-long date with High-A pitching. There might be a quick stop at Low-A to open the year, though.

If the Yankees are aggressive, they will have Kilby spend most of the season in High-A Hudson Valley and see if he can consistently produce against more polished pitchers. If his 2025 performance is any indication, he most likely can.

Last year, the Yankees sent Kilby to the Low-A Tampa Tarpons, and he hit .353 there over 81 trips to the plate, with an elite .457 OBP and a .441 slugging percentage. He had more walks (13) than strikeouts (11) and added 16 stolen bases in just 18 games. His 159 wRC+ tells you everything you need to know: he was a mismatch for Low-A pitchers.

Kilby has the tools to keep advancing. MLB Pipeline wrote the following about him and his offensive gifts:

“Kilby employs a quick and relatively compact left-handed stroke that stays in the hitting zone for a long time. He makes advanced swing decisions, rarely misses fastballs, and focuses on driving balls from gap to gap. While he stands out most with his hitting ability, he also has the bat speed and projectable strength to develop plus raw power. Add in plus speed and an aggressive nature on the basepaths, and Kilby has 20-20 potential.”

With 100 games played, he could push for 30 or 40 steals if he stays aggressive on the basepaths. There is still work to do to tap into his power, though.

In the 18 games Kilby played last year, he didn’t homer. He did have two doubles and two triples, a sign that the gap power is there and the potential for some of those balls to clear the fence remains, but he seems to be a swing change away from becoming a 20-homer guy, as many predict. He had a healthy 28.1 percent line drive rate per FanGraphs, but his 54.4 percent ground ball rate will have to come down, and his 17.5 percent fly ball rate will need to increase if he wants some balls to leave the yard.

Still, the 19-year-old Kilby might not be done adding to his 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame. More power should be on the way if he works for it.

The 2026 campaign will be a pivotal one for his development. If he dominates High-A as he did in Single-A, there is a chance we see him in Double-A Somerset at some point in the season.

Kilby is, without a doubt, one of the best and most exciting prospects on the farm, but he hasn’t scratched his ceiling yet. He probably won’t see the majors this year, but if he’s brought along slowly and the organization lets him develop at his own pace, he could become a franchise cornerstone in 2027 or 2028.

See more of the Yankees Previews series here.

MESA, Arizona — While most of you were watching Cubs closer Daniel Palencia close out the World Baseball Classic for Venezuela, Cubs catcher/DH Moisés Ballesteros and starting left-hander Shōta Imanaga put on quite a show in front of a festive St. Patrick’s Day full house at Sloan Park.

Ballesteros smashed two monster home runs to center field and Imanaga had his best outing of the spring, striking out eight and allowing just one hit over four innings (okay, it was another homer, but still, he was dominant). The Cubs defeated the Angels 8-6.

Imanaga struck out the side in the first, all swinging, and had two more K’s in the second before the Cubs offense got to work. Michael Conforto led off with a double and Carson Kelly gave the Cubs a lead with this two-run homer [VIDEO].

Ballesteros batted next and hit a baseball a very, very long way:

The Cubs loaded the bases after the homer but could not score again, leaving the second with a 3-0 lead.

Then Ballesteros smashed another homer to nearly the same spot in center field in the third. Here are both of the homers [VIDEO].

And remember, Ballesteros is just 22 years old. He usually sprays balls all over the field. This sort of power is something he’s developed more recently. I think he could be primed for a big season.

While this was going on, Imanaga was mowing down more Angels hitters. He didn’t allow a hit through four innings, just a walk and former Cub Jorge Soler reaching on catcher interference. Former Cub Jeimer Candelario homered off Imanaga leading off the fifth, the only Angels hit off the Cubs left-hander. It was a really good outing for Shōta, who struck out eight [VIDEO].

Here’s more on Imanaga’s outing [VIDEO].

And a bit more [VIDEO].

Imanaga threw 76 pitches (50 strikes). Seven of the eight strikeouts were swinging and he had 23 whiffs, which is the most by any pitcher in the Cactus League so far this spring. I’m really encouraged by this great outing from Shōta.

The Cubs scored three more in the fifth, highlighted by this double from Dansby Swanson [VIDEO].

Kelly drove in the Cubs’ eighth and final run with a single in the sixth. Most of the Cubs starting players stuck around until the top of the seventh. They likely won’t play in Wednesday’s away game and the team has Thursday off, so this is part of getting them ramped up for full games beginning next week in Chicago.

After that it got a bit sloppy, particularly in the ninth when Cubs minor leaguer Jackson Kirkpatrick walked in a run and Tyler Beede had to be called on to wrap things up.

I look forward, though, to more good games like this from Ballesteros and Imanaga. Also of note: Pedro Ramirez made a couple of really slick plays at third base and had two hits in this game. He’s a prospect to watch, for sure.

Attendance watch: First, an update on Sunday’s game, where the official attendance is now reported as 13,888. For Tuesday evening, a full house of 15,055 paid to see the Angels and Cubs. Many in attendance (myself included) were keeping track of the WBC game on their phones or at one of the ballpark bars that had TVs. The season attendance at Sloan Park is now 176,674 for 14 dates, or 12,620 per date.

Also, ICYMI (Bluesky link):

Hopefully it will be just a bit warmer in Chicago a week from tomorrow. It’s definitely going to be warmer for Friday’s game at Sloan Park. Forecast highs for Friday in the Phoenix area are supposed to reach 106, which is nearly 30 degrees above average.

The Cubs travel to Scottsdale to play the Diamondbacks Wednesday afternoon. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Merrill Kelly will go for Arizona. Game time is 3:10 p.m. CT and there will be a TV broadcast via the D-backs streaming service AZ Video.

One possession from my childhood that is a continuous source of fascination is a Kansas City Athletics yearbook, the type that you used to be able to buy at the ballpark, or by sending in a few dollars to the club.  The yearbook looks to be from 1967.  It was given to me by a friend of my father’s, who attended a game.  The cover has been missing for years and the brittle pages are starting to show their age which is tragic, as the yearbook is a time capsule for that era.  Near the front, there are two pages dedicated to Charlie O. Finley, and his family.  No surprise there given Finley’s ego.  Towards the back, there are two pages dedicated to Charlie O., the mule mascot of the Athletics.

Overall, the publication is put together very well.  It has two pages of headshots of the players; all dressed in black suits and ties.  Very classy.  There are several pages dedicated to player profiles, talking about their careers, where they grew up and some tidbits about how they came to be Athletics, either through trades or free agent signings.  Since the player draft was new, no drafted players had yet made the Kansas City roster.  Rick Monday was the first ever choice of the Athletics and at this printing, he was still in the minors.

One player who figured prominently in the publication was a slugging first baseman named Ken Harrelson. 

Harrelson was born September 4^th, 1941, in Woodruff, South Carolina.  He grew up in Savannah, Georgia, where he was a star athlete in baseball, golf, football and basketball.  Like many young men from the south, he dreamed of playing basketball at the University of Kentucky.  Golf may have been his best sport, but his mother convinced him to pursue baseball as she thought the sport gave him the best chance for a long and lucrative career.  Harrelson listened to his mother and signed with the Athletics after graduating from high school, figuring correctly that the woebegone Athletics offered him the best chance of quickly making the majors.   The scout who signed him was the legendary Clyde Klutz. 

At the age of 17, Harrelson was assigned to the Olean A’s of the New York-Pennsylvania league.  He started to blossom at the age of 19, hitting .301 with 25 home runs and 114 RBI at Class C Visalia.  He followed that up with a .272, 38 home run, 138 RBI effort in 1962 at Class A Binghampton during his age 20 season.  His rapid ascension continued in 1963 as he started the year at AAA Portland.   He hit .300 with 9 home runs in 41 games for the Beavers.  That was enough to convince Finley to call up the young slugger.  Why not?  The Athletics weren’t contending and they needed fresh young stars to attract fans, and the somewhat flamboyant, talkative Harrelson was nothing if not fresh.

He made his major league debut on June 9^th, 1963, at the age of 21.  He got two pinch hit at bats before he got his first start on June 12^th against the Twins in Bloomington.  He collected his first major league hit with a first inning single off Hall of Famer Jim Kaat.  He collected his first home run, and RBIs, in the 8^th inning with a two-run shot off Bill Pleis.

The Athletics acquired veteran slugger Jim Gentile in the offseason, which left no position for Harrelson going into the 1964 season.  Gentile did what he was brought in to do, by hitting 28 home runs and driving home 71.  Finley went all in on power for the 1964 season.  Another off-season acquisition was Rocky Colavito.  The Rock was very popular with Athletics fans and his 34 home runs, and 102 RBI didn’t hurt his standing.

Harrelson started 1964 at AAA Dallas.  His batting average dropped to .232, but he still hit 18 home runs and drove home 52 in just 77 games.

The Athletics recalled Harrelson in July and gave him the start in leftfield on July 9^th against the Twins.  Facing Kaat once again, he smoked a 6^th inning pitch into the left field stands for a solo home run.  Welcome back to KC Hawk.  Why left field?  With Gentile entrenched at first, and regular left fielder Manny Jimenez only hitting .241, why not?

About that nickname.  Early in his KC career, someone started calling Harrelson “Hawk” due to the shape of his often-broken nose.  Harrelson wasn’t crazy about the name at first, but eventually it became his identity.  It rolls nice, Hawk Harrelson.  And Finley had a thing about nicknames.  He even tried to convince Vida Blue to change his first name to True. 

The Gentile/Colavito experiment only lasted one season (Finley had a history of being what you might describe as impulsive). 

The first base job was Harrelson’s in 1965, with Tommie Reynolds and Jose Tartabull moving to left, while Mike Hersberger manned right.

Harrelson hit just .238 but did lead the team with 23 home runs and 66 RBI.  Those totals don’t sound too imposing but remember, the Athletics finished with a 59 and 103 record.  They were not good.  Yet.

The team was starting to play some of the young talent they acquired.  Dick Green and Bert Campaneris made a solid double play combo.  Catfish Hunter and Blue Moon Odom both made their debuts in 1965.  This was also the year that 58-year-old Satchel Paige came out of retirement and threw three scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox.

Harrelson got off to a slow start in 1966 and in late June, the Athletics traded Harrelson to Washington for pitcher Jim Duckworth.  The trade didn’t make much sense, other than to fulfill the Athletics constantly churning roster.  Why trade a 24-year-old with power potential?  Duckworth appeared in eight games for Kansas City during which he compiled a 9.00 ERA.  He never appeared in another major league game.   

On June 9^th, 1967, the Athletics realized they needed Harrelson back, and with him Harrelson only hitting .237 with ten home runs during his 97 game Washington tenure, the cash strapped Senators gladly sold him back to Finley.  The reunion was not peachy.  After Finley fired manager Alvin Dark, Harrelson popped off to the media, calling Finley “A menace to baseball.”   Harrelson denied using the word menace, but even if he did, he wasn’t wrong.  The enraged Finley ordered Harrelson released, which was a major stroke of luck for the Hawk.  Three days later, he signed with the Boston Red Sox and made several key contributions down the stretch in the Sox Impossible Dream season.  Unfortunately, Harrelson had a miserable World Series, going 1 for 14 in the seven-game loss to St. Louis.

Harrelson had his best year as a pro in 1968, hitting .275 with 35 home runs and a league leading 109 RBI for Boston.  He made his only All-Star team and finished third in the leagues MVP vote.  That was Kansas City’s lot in life in those days, trade away or release a player and watch him become a star in another city.

Harrelson hit another 30 home runs in 1969, drove home 92 and drew a career high 99 walks. 

Just ten games into the 1969 season, the Red Sox shocked Harrelson by trading him to Cleveland in a six-player deal.  Harrelson then announced his retirement, saying that leaving Boston would cost him money from lost business interests.

Bowie Kuhn intervened, Harrelson relented and reported to Cleveland with a new contract in hand.  The Hawk slugged 27 home runs and drove home 84 which endeared him to the Indians faithful.  It was in Cleveland that Harrelson got his first taste of television, hosting a program called The Hawk’s Nest.

The Hawk broke his leg early in the 1970 season and when Chris Chambliss took over the first base job in 1971, Harrelson elected to retire and pursue a professional golf career.

Harrelson was a terrific golfer.  His KC bio says he won the Baseball Players Golf Tournament with a record score of 290 over the 72-hole event.  In 1972, he played in the British Open and missed the cut by one stroke.    

While he was still playing baseball, Harrelson strode to the plate once and with his hands blistered from playing golf and used his golf glove.  Some people credit Harrelson for introducing modern “batting” gloves to the sport.  Records show that other players used gloves periodically, especially in the 1950’s but Harrelson and Rusty Staub were the two modern era players who popularized the use of gloves.

In 1975, Harrelson went to work for the Red Sox as a TV announcer.  He jumped to the White Sox for the 1982 season.  He served in a variety of front office jobs for Chicago through the end of the 1986 season.

He spent a couple of years with the Yankees, before moving back to Chicago for the 1990 season.

Harrelson, an admitted homer, is one of those broadcasters that you either love or you hate.  He has a large collection of Hawkism’s such as “You can put it on the board” and “Mercy!”.  He had a long running feud with umpire Joe West and has been called to the carpet on multiple occasions by the commissioner’s office for his colorful remarks about other umpires.

Love him or hate him, Harrelson is never boring.    

Last week I dug into the things we think we know at this point of the Orioles spring. We know that Tyler Wells is going to start the season in the bullpen because Craig Albernaz told us. We’re pretty sure that Coby Mayo is going to get a shot at third base with Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday sidelined, and we’re all but certain that the Orioles roster will not have room for a third catcher.

We know a lot more than that about the Orioles, but those were questions that followed the team to Sarasota. With those all but settled, I’m focused on a few things we still don’t know at this point of spring training.

What if Eflin is ready for Opening Day?

With Wells set to join the bullpen, a healthy Eflin would still give the Orioles six solid starting pitchers for the rotation. The Orioles resigned Eflin after an injury-filled 2025. Last year’s Opening Day starter tallied only 71 1/3 innings last year with an inflated 5.93 ERA.

Eflin underwent a lumbar microdiscectomy procedure to address prolonged back pain in the second half of last season. The surgery could have ended his tenure in Baltimore, but the organization brought him back on a one-year, $10-million deal that features a mutual option. At the time of the signing, it seemed unlikely that Eflin would be healthy enough to break camp with the team. Eflin has undergone a delayed ramp up this spring, but the team has yet to announce whether he’ll be ready in two weeks. Eflin has a pair of Grapefruit League starts under his belt in 2026.

If Eflin is ready to go, and the Orioles avoid any other injuries, he’ll join a rotation that features Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt and Dean Kremer. A majority of Orioles fans recently came out in support of a six-man rotation, but the strategy would potentially weaken an already certain bullpen.

Who will set up Helsley with Kittredge sidelined?

Speaking of the bullpen, the Orioles are running it back with another pitcher that missed time with an injury last season. Baltimore re-acquired Andrew Kittredge from Chicago in exchange for cash considerations. Unfortunately, Kittredge will begin the season on the IL for the second consecutive year. The team announced that the veteran reliever had a “low probability” of making the Opening Day roster due to shoulder inflammation.

Kittredge and new closer Ryan Helsley are expected to anchor a bullpen with several unknowns. Wells could emerge as a multi-inning option, a high-leverage reliever, or anything in between. The same can be said for Albert Suárez. Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin have leverage experience but come with less certainty. Rico Garcia and Grant Wolfram have potential, while several others remain in the mix for a spot in the ‘pen.

Albernaz said that Kittredge was “on the right track” after he played catch earlier this week, but the skipper reiterated that the they are taking it one day at a time. The bullpen will need to tread water in the meantime. The roster will be set at the end of spring, but the hierarchy will remain fluid throughout the start of the season.

Which infielder takes the last spot?

There’s more room on the roster due to the Holliday and Westburg injuries. Holliday appears on track for a quick return, but Westburg’s status represents the greatest unknown of the Orioles spring. Westburg’s long-term availability will not be decided in the next two weeks, but Baltimore’s utility infield competition will.

Jeremiah Jackson, Luis Vázquez, Weston Wilson and Bryan Ramos all have a shot at making the team. Jackson could be considered a favorite after slashing .276/.328/.447 over 48 games in his debut season, but the 25-year-old still has minor league options. The 25-year-old looks like player that could carve out a Ramon Urías type role in Baltimore, but the Birds may be willing to stash him at Triple-A in an effort to keep another guy in the organization.

Vázquez is back in camp after representing Puerto Rico in the World Baseball classic. Vázquez appeared in 32 games for Baltimore last season. He slashed a discouraging .160/.208/.240 over 53 plate appearances, but his versatile glove proved valuable. The 26-year-old made 12 appearances at third, 11 at short, three at second, and he even logged an inning at first base. His four relief appearances won’t win him any prizes, but the ability to play shortstop holds real merit. The Orioles believe there’s at least a little more offensive upside than what he displayed last season.

Bryan Ramos is the flavor of the day after finishing a triple shy of the cycle yesterday. Ramos made his first start at second base and took future hall-of-famer Justin Verlander deep in a 1-1 tie. The Orioles DFA’d Wilson when they acquired Ramos from the White Sox. Wilson has big league experience at multiple infield positions and the corner outfield. He can match Vázquez with mop-up relief appearances too.