Worldwide Sports News

Walks came back to haunt the Colorado Rockies in their 9-5 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday. The minor league arms struggled to find the zone, but it was non-roster invite Parker Mushinski who struggled the most of the arms that day, walking three and giving up five runs in his 2/3 of an inning. Still, there are some worthwhile things happening with the offense and the pitchers, with a strong shot of making the roste,r so that is good.

Michael Lorenzen will make his Cactus League debut as he takes the ball against the Chicago White Sox. Signed to an $8 million deal, the Rockies are hoping that Lorenzen’s intellectual mind, deep mix of pitches, and desire to solve Coors Field will make him a valuable asset in 2026. He is embracing the challenge and welcomes the role of mentoring and teaching the young guys in the clubhouse. Unfortunately, you’ll only get to watch clips of him pitching after the game today since it isn’t available on television or the radio.

Shane Smith will take the mound for the 3-0 White Sox. Selected in the Rule-5 draft in 2024, Smith was a darling for Chicago in an otherwise forgettable season. He ended up making 29 starts and posting a solid 3.81 ERA with 145 strikeouts against 58 walks in 146 1/3 innings of work, and was named an All-Star in his first big league season while finishing 10th in Rookie of the Year voting.

On the position player side of things, the Rockies continue to experiment with new positions, as Ryan Ritter, who started at third base recently, is now getting some looks in the outfield as he starts in left field. As for the White Sox, Munetaka Murakami will continue getting exposure while their other new additions fill up what could be a fairly regular lineup for them come April.

First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. MDT

TV: None

Radio: None

Lineups:

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Milwaukee Brewers at San Diego Padres, February 23, 2026, 12:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV and MLB Network (Out of Market Only)

Location: Peoria Sports Complex – Peoria, AZ

Listen: None

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GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!

In the wake of two lackluster performances to open their spring training schedule, the Athletics have another chance today to nab their first preseason win as they travel to Scottsdale to take on the San Francisco Giants.

The A’s starter this afternoon will be JT Ginn, a youngster who bounced between the starting rotation and bullpen last season. This appearance will be the first of many for Ginn in what could be a pivotal spring training for him. Ginn is in a similar situation as Jack Perkins, who started the A’s first spring training game. Both of these pitchers have the ability and experience of being starting pitchers, yet seemed to pitch better in the bullpen last fall. Also given the A’s current roster construction, they may have a better chance of making the team as long relievers or guys who can pitch the sixth inning or later. That may benefit Ginn, who seemed to tire as a starting pitcher last year, especially when facing batters for the third time.

After Ginn, things get exciting on the mound. Today will be the first spring training outings for A’s top pitching prospects Gage Jump and Braden Nett, the latter one of the return pieces in the Mason Miller trade. Both of those highly-regarded pitchers have a chance to impact the A’s pitching staff this season. Get ready to jump around today A’s fans! In addition, relievers Elvis Alvarado and Tyler Ferguson are lined up to pitch today, both hoping to have more success this year.

Here’s how the A’s starting lineup looks today:

It seems that manager Mark Kotsay intends to keep Nick Kurtz first, much to the chagrin of many in this community. The third base competition is front and center today, with all four candidates in the lineup as the A’s starting infield. In the outfield, prospects Henry Bolte and Junior Perez will get more playing time to make an impression. Having only scored two runs in their first two games, the A’s hope that this lineup will put some runs on the scoreboard.

Here’s how the Giants will line up for their game today against the Athletics:

That Giants lineup looks really close to their Opening Day lineup, so it will be a true test for Ginn. Catcher Daniel Susac, who the A’s lost in the Rule 5 draft, will be playing against his former organization in his bid to win the Giants backup catcher job.

Who is ready for more spring baseball? Time to secure that first win. Let’s go A’s!

Meet the Mets

The Mets got their first win of spring yesterday against the Yankees, by a 6-4 margin. Jared Young, Luis Torrens, and Hayden Senger all hit solo home runs, and JT Schwartz provided the lion’s share of the offense with a three-run home run in the eighth inning. Justin Hagenman looked good in his 2.1 innings, giving up just one run on two hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. Mets’ top prospect Carson Benge had his spring training debut, but he blanked with an 0 for 3 final line.

After his departure from the Mets, Brandon Nimmo opened up about his leadership style, how the trade transpired, and his future with the Rangers.

Buster Olney ranked the top 10 third basemen in the league, and new Met Bo Bichette has made the cut.

John Harper investigated rookie Met sensation Nolan McLean and what gives him an edge.

Around the National League East

Marlins middle infielder Graham Pauley has been shut down from all baseball activities due to forearm tightness.

Around Major League Baseball

The Twins dodged a bullet, with Joe Ryan’s MRI only revealing inflammation.

Rhys Hoskins has joined the Cleveland Guardians, signing a minor league contract with an invite to major league spring training.

Angels players have taken notice of Arte Moreno claiming that their fans don’t prioritize winning, and have met with the new director of MLBPA.

Michael Conforto has signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.

ABS is here, and Jayson Stark broke down what fans need to know about the so-called “robot umps” this season.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Thomas Henderson examined Daniel Duarte and his quest to make it back to the major leagues by way of the Mets bullpen.

Linus Lawrence considered whether Ben Rortvedt might make his way to the Mets major league roster in the form of positional insurance.

Chris McShane welcomed back Nate Lavender after the Rays returned him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft last season.

This Date in Mets History

The infamous former Met Bobby Bonilla is celebrating his birthday today, turning 63 years old.

The Cactus League Brewers are back in action and looking to get off the schneid this afternoon after losing both games in split-squad action yesterday. They’ll travel to Peoria to take on the San Diego Padres.

Today’s lineup features a balance of regulars and minor leaguers, as Jackson Chourio, Joey Ortiz, Andrew Vaughn, and Gary Sánchez make up the top of the lineup but Jett Williams, Luis Lara, and Eddys Leonard — who has not appeared in a Cactus League game yet — bring up the rear. In the middle are two guys likely to figure into the Brewers’ plans as bench players this season, Brandon Lockridge and David Hamilton. The Padres also have a couple of established big leaguers at the top of their lineup, most notably Fernando Tatís Jr., who will bat third as the designated hitter.

Plenty of guys in the major league bullpen conversation will appear today, as Easton McGee is today’s listed starting pitcher with Abner Uribe, Craig Yoho, Drew Rom, and Jacob Waguespack scheduled to follow. Lefty JP Sears will be the first pitcher out for the Padres.

First pitch is slated for 2:10 p.m. CT and this one will be televised for free on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network, including 620 WTMJ in the Milwaukee area.

As noted in the post above, today’s game is available for free on brewers.tv, and it’ll also be shown on MLB Network for those out of market. You can also hear it on the Brewers Radio Network.

Detroit Tigers vs. Minnesota Twins

Time/Place: 1:05 p.m., Joker Marchant Stadium – Lakeland, FL
SB Nation Site: Twinkie Town
Media: Tigers Radio Network

Darryl Strawberry believes that Pete Alonso will come to "regret" leaving the Mets for the Baltimore Orioles this offseason.

Strawberry said he was “really shocked” that the man who broke his all-time home run record with the franchise traded Queens for Charm City.

“Pete could have broken all the records and could have been on top of every offensive category for this organization and then sometimes when you don’t see that and realize how important that is, one day he is going to wake up just like I did and regret you didn’t stick where you are at,” Strawberry said, via The New York Post’s Mike Puma.

Strawberry added that Alonso “deserved all the credit” for what he accomplished during his seven seasons with the Mets, but questioned his decision to go to the Orioles.

“I just don’t leave New York to go to Baltimore,” Strawberry said. “Don’t get me wrong, I am not getting on Baltimore. But I am saying, this is New York, come on. Baltimore is a good place, but it’s not New York.”

Alonso opted out of the second year of the two-year deal he signed with the Mets the previous offseason after the final game of the 2025 season and hit the open market for the second time in as many winters, but this time he ended up signing elsewhere.

Strawberry believes that it was a “combination” of the club and player not working hard to get a deal done: “I think they both could have fought harder in that situation,” he said, via Puma.

“The biggest mistake I saw was after they lost in Miami he opted out,” Strawberry said of the final game of the regular season that saw New York eliminated from postseason contention. “I think if he just waited and said, ‘OK, I’ll stay at that, but give me a four-year deal, something like that, they could have worked it out.’”

After the game, Alonso said from the clubhouse in Miami that he would be foregoing the final year of the deal and leaving $24 million on the table in the hopes of securing a longer-term deal after a stellar regular season.

“Playing for this organization and this city, they've continued to believe in me. And I’ve loved playing here,” Alonso said at the time. “There's some great guys in this clubhouse, there’s some great people on the staff. Every single day, it's been a pleasure coming to work and putting on the orange and blue.

“For me, I've really appreciated it and have been nothing but full of gratitude every single day. Nothing is guaranteed, but we'll see what happens – I've loved being a Met. Hopefully, they've appreciated me the same."

It has been reported that the Mets did not offer Alonso a deal. The first baseman signed a five-year, $155 million contract with Baltimore 73 days after the end of the regular season.

The Phillies kicked off the start of their season over the weekend with games against the Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates. Many of the names competing for the final few spots in the bullpen and bench played and look to make good impressions for the rest of camp.

The first two games of spring training will not tell you much how the season is going to go. It would take some scenarios no one wants to imagine for Bryse Wilson to start on opening day or for Trevor Richards to pitch in high leverage but there are still things to take note of.

Justin Crawford’s swing

Here is a Justin Crawford swing on February 23 of last year:

And now here is a Justin Crawford swing from February 21 of this year:

I’m not a swing expert but there are two easy things to notice. His hands are a bit lower in the second clip and it’s helping him get to a more compact swing. The second thing is that his lower half is more in sync with his upper half, which might help him access more power either of the gap to gap variety or homers.

For most of Justin Crawford’s professional career, it often looked like the bat was swinging him and there were big questions about how he was going to cut down on the groundballs he hit. Matt Winkelman took a deeper look into Crawford’s season in AAA and found his groundball rate dropped over six percent from July to August that can be tied to swing adjustments he made.

Crawford is betting on those swing adjustments as he looks to solidify himself as the Phillies center fielder for 2026.

A Pair of Velocity Bumps

One pitcher fighting to make the final 26 who caught attention this weekend was left-hander Kyle Backhus. He throws from a funky, dropped-sidearm slot with over 7 feet of extension. He pitched 25.1 innings for a depleted Arizona Diamondbacks pitching staff last year. He excelled against left-handed hitters but got barreled against righties.

It seems like his strong first impression to start camp translated to Sunday’s outing. Backhus’s sinker was up a tick from 91.0 mph last season to 91.9, and he flashed 94. Any extra velocity to help him against right-handed hitters would be huge for his chances of making one of the final two bullpen spots.

The Phillies spent most of their offseason looking to bolster their right-handed reliever depth. They swapped Matt Strahm for Jonathan Bowlan and signed Brad Keller. They signed Zach Pop to a major league deal, added three right-handed arms to their 40-man roster from other organizations, and signed another 3 arms that have extensive major league experience to minor league deals.

But their only external left-handed reliever adds this off-season were the aforementioned Backhus and Génesis Cabrera on a minor league deal. With José Alvarado and Tanner Banks as the only lefties out of the bullpen on the major league roster, there is room for Backhus to make the club with a good spring.

Seth Johnson was granted a fourth minor league option this off-season and showed some flashes in 12.2 innings last season. He struck out over 31% of hitters he faced at the big league level in 2025 with a slider that generated a whiff rate north of 40%.

Johnson flashed 99 mph and sat 98.3 against the Blue Jays on Saturday. He threw noticeably more fastballs that outing, probably to work on something, because it’s February but it’s still worth paying attention to.

Among 40-man pitchers with minor league options that are expected to pitch in AAA and the majors this season, Johnson flashes the most upside because of his velocity and ability to generate whiffs. The problem with him is that he does not throw enough early count strikes and has to throw more four-seam fastballs because of it.