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FORT MYERS—Four little words make our hearts soar: Pitchers and catchers report We took last year's gut punch, but come back for more. Pitchers and catchers report The fire sale came; we watched stars depart Felt like someone was stealing our heart But hope’s a disease, and we'll do our part Pitchers and catchers report Debt was reduced, papers were filed Pitchers and catchers report New partners joined (The guy from the Wild?!) Pitchers and catchers report Minority owners now in the mix A new set of suits with their “synergies” tricks We’ll take it, if somehow this lineup they'll fix Pitchers and catchers report They added some bats, the offense to pump Pitchers and catchers report Caratini to catch, Josh Bell adds some thump Pitchers and catchers report Rogers returned, four years gone, now he's back We hope that his left arm has not lost its knack Now get us the closer we somehow still lack. Pitchers and catchers report Joe's out, Tom's in the Executive Chair Pitchers and catchers report Then the BIG change: “Mutual,” they swear Pitchers and catchers report Falvey walks out as the waters get rough "Relentless" Tom chants, as if that's enough Now prove it and fund a 'pen that's not fluff. Pitchers and catchers report Finally, you take your turn as poet Pitchers and catchers report Channel your winter frustration and show it Pitchers and catchers report The comments below are a great place to bleat Two tens and three ‘levens provide you the beat (But add words wherever, if, like me, you cheat). Pitchers and catchers report View the full article

The Fish On First LIVE panel looks under the hood at what may have motivated the Marlins to spend on two veteran arms coming off disappointing 2025 campaigns. View the full article

Royals players reported to spring training in Surprise, Arizona, on February 11. Most of the main roster spots are well defined, but the Royals have many decisions to make in the margins of the roster. Here are five storylines to watch as the Royals shape their roster for the 2026 season. Sorting Out the Opening Day Bullpen Top performers from 2025, Carlos Estevez, Lucas Erceg, and John Schreiber, along with recent trade acquisitions Matt Strahm and Nick Mears, are all likely locks to make the Opening Day roster. Alex Lange, Daniel Lynch IV, Eric Cerantola, and Steven Cruz are fighting for the final three bullpen spots along with non-roster invites Jose Cuas, Hector Neris, Helcris Olivarez, and Eli Morgan. Bailey Falter may also be in the mix despite being viewed as a starter because he has no more minor league options remaining. Beyond who makes the roster, bullpen roles are yet to be fully defined. Last year’s American League saves leader, Estevez, is locked into the closer role, but will Erceg or Strahm emerge as the primary setup guy or a middle-relief “fireman” role? With both Erceg and Strahm being lefties, does Lynch may face additional pressure to make an impression at spring training for the sake of bullpen balance. Balance at Catcher and Carter Jensen’s Progression After having a productive stint with the Royals at the end of last season, Jensen is projected to be Salvador Perez’s backup in the 2025 season. Manager Matt Quatraro will aim to strike the right balance of playing time for Jensen and Perez heading into 2026 to maximize offensive production and defensive stability. Jensen slashed .300/.391/.550 with a 161 OPS+ in his 69 plate appearances last season. While his production will likely not be sustainable at the major-league level, Jensen has proven that his bat can be a legitimate asset to the Royals’ offense. Perez, meanwhile, has also shown that his bat is still productive entering his age-36 season, and his home run total could go up since the Royals have decided to move in the left and right field fences this offseason. Perez will miss time in spring training to play for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, which will leave Jensen as the main catcher in his absence. This should give Jensen the opportunity to work more closely with the pitching staff and allow pitchers to become more comfortable with their new battery mate. Filling Out the Outfield The Royals added Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas this offseason to help with outfield production. As things currently stand, it would seem that Collins will be the starter in left field with Kyle Isbel in center and Jac Caglianone in right. However, Thomas is not necessarily a lock for the 4th outfield spot. His last two seasons have had struggles at the plate, and he missed a lot of time in 2025 on the injured list. In fact, the Royals have another five outfielders on their 40-man roster. Dairon Blanco, Nick Loftin, Kameron Misner, John Rave, and Drew Waters are all going to be challenging for a spot on the Opening Day roster. Jonathan India, Michael Massey, and Tyler Tolbert also spent time in the outfield last season but are not listed as primarily outfielders. Thomas, Rave, Tolbert, and Misner are all capable of filling in for Isbel in center field, while Tolbert can also serve as a utility man in the infield and a pinch runner. Tolbert stole 21 bases in 23 attempts in 2025 and can provide an impact on the bases in late innings. Among 40-man players, Waters is the only outfielder who is out of minor league options, which could come into play when deciding if he makes the final roster. Given the Royals' struggles in the outfield last season, including the presumed locks Isbel and Caglianone, any outfielder who has a hot spring could force his way onto the Opening Day roster. Managing a Surplus in the Rotation The Royals have a strong starting pitching rotation. Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha, and Seth Lugo are the locks at the top of the rotation, mostly because of their experience at the major-league level, and because the Royals are less likely to trade away any of them. The fourth and fifth spots are not necessarily up for grabs since both Noah Cameron and Kris Bubic had strong seasons in 2025. The Royals also have Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert on the roster, who performed well after being traded to the Royals at last year’s trade deadline. Luinder Avila (No. 13 prospect) is also viewed as a starter, and he could also factor into the conversation in Spring and into the season. Bubic, Cameron, and Lugo all finished the season on the injured list, raising questions as to how ready they will be to pitch this spring. Considering Lugo is set to pitch for Puerto Rico, he is more likely to be ready to pitch. The Royals have expressed a willingness to trade a starting pitcher in order to add a bat to the lineup, but have not yet done so. As free agents start coming off the board, teams may become more desperate to acquire an arm for their rotations, and there is no shortage of teams looking to add starting pitchers. Will the Royals finally find a trading partner? Finding the Answer at Second Base and Utility Infield Barring injury, Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia, and Vinnie Pasquantino will start almost all the games in the season. The starting spot at second base is less clear. Jonathan India, Michael Massey, Nick Loftin, and Tyler Tolbert will all be vying for the second base and bench utility spots. They also face tough competition from non-roster invites Brandon Drury, Connor Kaiser, Kevin Newman, Josh Rojas, Abraham Toro, Daniel Vazquez, and Peyton Wilson. With the large number of infielders invited to camp, the Royals are signaling that they are willing to be creative in finding a solution at second base. The Royals probably hope that India wins the starting job after tendering him an $8 million contract despite speculation that he could be a non-tender candidate this offseason. Whether his contract affects the Royals' patience with his production remains to be seen. Each of the non-roster invites also had their fair share of struggles last season. Will any of them be able to push for a spot on the roster? Massey, Loftin, and Tolbert can provide more flexibility with the ability to play in the outfield, which would give them an edge for a utility role. View the full article

In some interesting news on Wednesday, with most teams beginning their first workouts with pitchers and catchers, the Philadelphia Phillies appear ready to move on from outfielder Nick Castellanos. In fact, Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb reported that they have essentially made it clear to Castellanos that he will not have a locker in Spring Training, thus signaling the end of his tenure in Philadelphia. Castellanos has had a polarizing career with the Phillies, marked by some poignant highs and lows. The former Tigers draft pick signed a five-year, $100 million deal with Philadelphia prior to the 2022 season and hit 82 home runs in his four seasons in the City of Brotherly Love. That said, he had only two seasons with wRC+ marks over 100 with the Phillies (2023 and 2024), and his accumulated fWAR was 0.7 in 602 games. Considering the money the Phillies had poured into him back in 2022, it's safe to say that his tenure with the club has been a major disappointment. Last year seemed to be the culmination of Castellanos' multi-year disappointment in Philadelphia. In 589 plate appearances, he hit 17 home runs, collected 72 RBI, posted a .300 wOBA, and -0.6 fWAR. Not only was his fWAR a career low, but his wOBA was his worst mark in that category since his 11-game rookie sample with the Tigers as a 21-year-old in 2013. To make matters worse, his Statcast profile was meager for a "power" hitter in 2025. As illustrated in his TJ Stats summary, many of his categories, especially exit velocity and barrel rate, were under the 40th percentile. That is a sign that Castellanos is near the end of his career, if not already there. Thus, does Castellanos make sense for any team right now, let alone the Royals? Well, let's look at his overall profile, especially from a batted-ball end, and what he could bring the Royals if GM JJ Picollo decides to take a flier on the former Tigers star. Declining Hard-Hit Rates and Bat Speed a Concern When it comes to Castellanos' value, all of it is pretty tied to the bat at this point in his career. Since 2017, he's been below league average by double digits in Fangraphs' Def every season with the exception of 2020 (and that was due to the 60-game COVID-shortened season). In terms of BsR, which measures baserunning runs, he's been 9.9 runs BELOW average since 2022. Unfortunately, the 33-year-old outfielder just doesn't do anything with the glove or on the bases, and it's unlikely that it's going to get better in 2024, wherever he should play. Castellanos' bat is so key to his value as an MLB player, but unfortunately, he's trending in the wrong direction in some key categories. Two of those categories are hard-hit rate and bat speed. In terms of hard-hit rate, he posted a 36.1% hard-hit rate last season, which ranked in the 16th percentile. That was worse than his average exit velocity (23rd percentile), max exit velocity (33rd percentile), and barrel percentage (36th percentile). While Castellanos did a good job of launching the ball (92nd percentile LA Sweet-Spot%) and swinging at pitches in the zone (99th percentile), his poor performance in other Statcast metrics weighed down his overall production. That is evident in his lackluster average (.250), OPS (.694), ISO (.150), and wRC+ (90) last season. Hard-hit rate sticks out the most, however, because if Castellanos isn't hitting the ball hard, it doesn't matter how well he launches the ball. Well-launched, but soft-hit balls will just become flyouts, especially at Kauffman Stadium, even with the new dimensions (which will still be more pitcher-friendly than Citizens Bank Ballpark, which was the fourth most HR-friendly ballpark in baseball last year, according to Statcast park factors). When looking at his rolling hard-hit chart over his career, he's not only performed poorly in hard-hit rate last year, but also showed that downward trend last year as well. After a brutal finish to 2022, where he hovered around the 30 percent mark in hard-hit rate, he did bounce back in 2023, touching the 50% mark at one point. However, since his 3,500th batted ball, he saw a gradual decline in his hard-hit rate through the 2024 season. There was a slight bump at the start of the 2025 season, but it dropped dramatically by the 4,200th batted ball. What is causing this decline in the hard-hit rate for Castellanos? His decline in bat speed could be the explanation. Though there isn't a ton of data on Statcast bat speed, his rolling chart in this category shows a stark regression from 2024 to 2025. For most of 2023 and 2024, Castellanos was demonstrating above-average bat speed. Unfortunately, in 2025, his bat speed stayed below the league average for most of the season. That bat speed could explain his lackluster hard-hit and squared-up rates (24th percentile in squared-up rate), and thus, underwhelming production in his final season in Philadelphia. To bring it all together, let's take a look at his rolling xwOBA chart via Statcast. The xwOBA metric tends to give a better predictor of future success than wOBA. Much like his hard-hit rate and bat speed, the xwOBA trend isn't good. Not only did he hit some bad lows in 2025, but he showed that "dip" trend in all four of his seasons in Philadelphia. He likely was able to overcome those poor xwOBA marks at times because of the hitter-friendly confines of Citizens Bank. That said, it's likely that those xwOBA valleys would only amplify Castellanos' struggles in Kansas City or another more pitcher-friendly ballpark. Why Would the Royals Consider Castellanos? Castellanos has limited defensive flexibility, and he chases a lot, as his 40.9% O-Swing% ranked in the bottom third percentile. Defensive versatility and plate discipline are two areas that the Royals have valued this offseason, based on their acquisitions (Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas). Thus, it doesn't seem like Castellanos would fit the Royals' philosophy for 2026. On the other hand, the 33-year-old has historically hit lefties well, and his spray-and-pray approach, despite the hard-hit issues, could translate to Kauffman Stadium for one season. In terms of splits, Castellanos has an .815 OPS, .215 ISO, and 127 wRC+ against lefties over his career. Against righties? He has a career .762 OPS, .185 ISO, and 103 wRC+. The Royals' projected right-handed bats off the bench are Thomas, Tyler Tolbert, and Nick Loftin. Thomas is a nice platoon outfielder for now, but he may get more regular playing time, especially if he gets off to a hot start and if Kyle Isbel and his bat stagnate in 2026. Loftin has plate discipline, but little else on the offensive end. Lastly, Tolbert may be more of a pinch-running option and late-inning defensive replacement than a real weapon at the plate. Thus, he could be a nice platoon player who could rotate between RF and DH against left-handed starters without hurting the lineup by playing every day. At this point in his career, any kind of playing time would be appreciated, and he could see more value in being a mentor to a young hitter like Jac Caglianone, whom he could platoon with in 2026. Another positive impact with Castellanos is that the spray chart didn't fare as badly at Kauffman as I initially imagined. Castellanos was able to pull a lot of balls in the air, and that profile fit the K well in the past, as illustrated in Castellanos' spray chart, applied to Kauffman Stadium dimensions. Only one of Castellanos' home runs would've not gone out last year at Kauffman, and he could've had two or three more as well. With the dimensions getting even friendlier at the K in 2026, Castellanos could see even more production, especially on the balls he's able to launch effectively. There's no question that Castellanos isn't quite the player that he used to be, and that was evident down the stretch in 2025 as he saw his playing time wane. That decrease in plate appearances seemed to strain the relationship between Castellanos and his manager, Rob Thomson. That tension could've contributed to his mediocre performance in 2025. My guess is that Castellanos will want a fresh start and be more willing to have a complementary role if it means he gets to be on a winner with playoff chances. The Royals fit that bill for Castellanos, especially with PECOTA projecting Kansas City to have the best record in the AL Central. Thus, the decision to acquire Castellanos, who likely won't cost much, whether it's through a trade or free agency, may rest on Picollo and how he sees this roster. Does Castellanos give the Royals a veteran presence and carry some power upside? Absolutely, and he's been known to mash at Kauffman, especially during his days with Detroit. Conversely, he's limited defensively, and he could cause some logjams in the outfield, especially in right field. Messing up Caglianone, who could be part of the Royals' long-term core along with Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino, and possibly, Carter Jensen, doesn't seem like the most prudent strategy. A decision on Castellanos will be made in the next day or so. I guess we will see if Picollo thinks Castellanos could be the boost they need, or passes on him for simply being another Hunter Renfroe who fails to see his skills translate in Kansas City (much to their chagrin). View the full article

To hit for power in the major leagues, you have to be pretty strong. Baseball isn't a contact sport, but if you've ever faced competitive pitching, you know that it can feel like one in the batter's box. Making solid contact—let alone hard contact, which sounds like a synonym but really requires that solidity of contact to be combined with good bat speed, a hard thing to muster in the tiny amount of time a good pitch leaves you to accelerate—requires as fierce an explosive movement as getting by an offensive tackle or finishing through a foul at the rim. There's a baseline a hitter must clear to produce any meaningful pop, and it's higher than it looks on TV. However, once you're clear of that baseline, driving the ball comes down to some of the clever ways you can create more space or time to accelerate with the barrel. Not every hitter can top out at 80 miles an hour of swing speed, but each hitter can tweak their setup, timing mechanism and swing mechanics to pursue power by getting off their 'A' swing more often. Specifically, a hitter who wants to hit lots of homers but lacks elite bat speed can do two important things: Make sure to be working uphill at contact, as steeply as possible; and Catch the ball far out in front of their body. In fact, these two things are correlated to each other, anyway. Every swing starts with a hitter twisting their trunk and slashing their barrel down into the hitting zone, from its starting point behind their head. At some point, any big-league swing begins to work upward, instead of down, but that comes at a different point in every swing. The more steeply the hitter tilts their bat as they swing, the earlier the barrel starts to move uphill, and the faster their attack angle changes as they rotate. The greater your attack angle at the contact point, the more likely it is that the barrel is now well out in front of you. The further in front of you contact comes, the more awkwardly you would have to be waving at the ball not to be swinging upward. Pete Crow-Armstrong is a medium-height, slender lefty batter with good-not-great bat speed—although that number was closer to great from mid-May through the end of 2025 than it had been before that, so he's trending up. He hit 31 home runs last season, and was on pace for more like 40 before a late-summer slump. That caught the baseball world by surprise. It's not what you expect when you glance at Crow-Armstrong. He found all that power (not just the homers, but 37 doubles and four triples, to boot) by being extremely optimized for that outcome. He had a 15° average attack angle on swings in 2025, which put him in the 89th percentile of the league in that statistic. His contact point (a stat that captures both actual contact and the theoretical intercept point of the swing and the ball on swings that come up empty) was 35.6 inches in front of the center of his mass, a 95th-percentile number. He was in go-get-it mode, and when he got it, he was swinging upward steeply enough to produce clean, hard-hit, pulled fly balls. Only six qualifying hitters put a higher percentage of their batted balls in the air to the pull field than did Crow-Armstrong. He was a volume shooter, and it worked like a charm. As his disastrous late-season swoon proves, though, that kind of swing optimization includes some pretty hefty sacrifices. From the start of August through the end of the regular season, Crow-Armstrong hit just .188/.237/.295. The reason is pretty simple: when you swing with the dual goals of maximizing attack angle and catching the ball well in front of your frame, you're committing to everything early. To see what I mean, compare Crow-Armstrong's swing to that of Cardinals would-be slugger Nolan Gorman, another lefty who stands 6 feet tall and who has almost identical bat speed, average attack angles and swing tilt. Here are two visualizations of each of their swings at crucial moments. On the top, we have the moment at which each hitter's swing hits its nadir and starts to move upward. On the bottom, we have them each in the frame nearest their contact point. Crow-Armstrong is already a better hitter than Gorman, so don't think of this as an aspirational comparison for him. However, it highlights some of the extremes to which Crow-Armstrong pushes his approach, via his mechanics. Note how much farther Crow-Armstrong (again, the same height as Gorman) strides. Note, too, how his front shoulder and hip have rotated farther in both snapshots than Gorman's have at the same points. Gorman would be better if he could rotate a bit farther, to match Crow-Armstrong, but Crow-Armstrong's long stride and reaching swing mean he's committed to his swing extremely early. This swing optimization virtually forces Crow-Armstrong into the hyperaggressive approach that is often his undoing at the plate. It's why he had a low OBP (given his other numbers) even at his best, and why he was utterly lost at the plate once the good times ceased to roll. It's a double-edged sword. It makes him lethal in the box, when he gets things right, in a way that belies his frame and his reputation as a glove-first star. However, it also puts his barrel far from his body at the moment when he hopes to make contact. That means lots of whiffs, and even more importantly, it means deciding early and triggering the swing so as to get the barrel out there where he wants it. To tap into better consistent, overall production, Crow-Armstrong will have to rein in his reaching swing just a bit. Even if he and the Cubs were willing to tolerate the low OBP and embrace all that power, sustaining that production with such an aggressive approach and a contact point so far from his body is unlikely. He'll need to find ways to slightly modulate what he's doing, to make slightly more contact, chase slightly fewer bad pitches, and stay through the ball a bit longer. Crucially, though, he can't sacrifice all of that optimization. This is a tricky moment in the development of the could-be superstar. He enters 2026 looking to make an adjustment just big enough to unlock the next level of production and consistency—no bigger, but no smaller, either. View the full article

Acquired alongside top-100 prospect Eduardo Tait in the 2025 trade deadline deal that sent closer Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies, Mick Abel made four appearances for the Minnesota Twins last season, generating an 8.36 ERA, 2.99 FIP, and an 18-to-7 strikeout to walk ratio over 14 innings. Abel’s struggles weren’t unique to his tenure in Minnesota, as he posted similarly disappointing numbers (5.04 ERA, 6.30 FIP, and 21-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio) over 25 innings with Philadelphia. Despite struggling during his first cup of coffee in the majors, the 24-year-old still projects to be a serviceable major-league starting pitcher in the near future, given his plus stuff and sustained success in the high minors. What should his role with the 2026 Twins be? Let’s take a look. This article is part of a series about the Twins pitchers with the most fluid set of possible roles, as spring training begins. Read previous entries: David Festa's Arsenal Zebby Matthews' Arsenal Taj Bradley's Arsenal Mick Abel's Stuff Abel relies on his four-seam fastball; he threw it 42% of the time last season. Hovering around 96 MPH, the righty’s four-seamer possesses above-average velocity but an average movement profile. With a high spin rate, the heater ate up minor-league hitters over the past four seasons. Unfortunately, he was unable to replicate those results with the pitch at the major-league level in 2025, surrendering a .610 slugging average on it. Somehow, attacking with a fastball this firm at the top of the zone should work. Philadelphia and Minnesota’s pitching coaches agree, evidently, as the young righty threw his four-seamer up in the zone 33.5% of the time last season, which would have been the highest rate in baseball if Abel pitched enough to qualify for that leaderboard. Again, Abel’s fastball shape and spin rate grade out better than average, especially once one adjusts for his low three-quarter arm slot. That pitch isn't disappearing from his arsenal any time soon. However, he'll need to locate it more efficiently and become less predictable if he wants to mirror the success he had with the pitch in the high minors. Mick Abel's Arsenal Abel’s best pitch is his curve, which he threw at a 21% rate in 2025. He reserces the offering almost exclusively for left-handed batters. As is true with a good changeup, right-handed pitchers are often able to get left-handed hitters to swing over curves low in or below the zone, generating whiffs or inducing weak choppers to the right side of the infield. The pitch was a darling of advanced metrics, with left-handed hitters generating a .296 expected slugging average (xSLG) and a .212 expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) against the pitch last season. Though it pops out of his hand a bit, lefties have a hard time adjusting to the depth of the pitch's movement. The blue tracer below shows the average trajectory of Abel's curve. Hitters read that either hump, but struggle to bend their swing enough to respond to its two-plane break. His slider (thrown 12% of the time) was less impressive, generating a .449 xSLG while being thrown only 83 times. Abel throws his slider far more often to righties, hoping to pinpoint the pitch low and outside of the zone. Unfortunately, his slider control is spotty, with his heat map looking like a no-correlation scatter plot. Still, you can see how it's more deceptive to a righty than that curve. Horizontally, the slider and four-seamer stay in the same tunnel longer, before the slider breaks away and the fastball tails back toward the batter. The righty also throws a sinker and changeup, which combine for a 22% usage rate. Unsurprisingly, he utilizes his change (alongside his curve) to attack left-handed hitters. The pitch was hammered last season, though, with hitters turning into Ted Williams and posting a .417 batting average against it. Abel was slightly more effective throwing his sinker, with hitters instead turning into Tony Gwynn and running a .375 batting average against the pitch. Abel will need to continue refining his pitches with Minnesota’s pitching development. Luckily, being 24 years old and having thrown only 39 innings in the majors, Abel should still be treated with the grace of an unproven pitching prospect. Year Pitch Type # # RHB # LHB % MPH PA AB H 1B 2B 3B HR SO BBE BA XBA SLG XSLG WOBA XWOBA EV LA Spin Ext. Whiff% PutAway% 2025 Four Seamer 303 92 211 42.1 96.4 73 59 17 10 1 0 6 15 44 .288 .273 .610 .570 .439 .418 90.7 25 2544 6.8 25.9 18.3 2025 Curveball 154 31 123 21.4 82.7 35 35 6 2 1 1 2 16 19 .171 .198 .429 .296 .248 .212 89.4 12 2672 6.8 37.5 23.5 2025 Sinker 95 80 15 13.2 95.4 26 24 9 8 0 1 0 1 23 .375 .339 .458 .398 .386 .351 91.5 7 2469 6.7 12.2 6.3 2025 Slider 83 65 18 11.5 87.3 23 22 5 5 0 0 0 3 19 .227 .271 .227 .449 .222 .320 95.5 14 2419 6.7 16.3 9.4 2025 Changeup 63 4 59 8.8 89.1 12 12 5 5 0 0 0 2 10 .417 .333 .417 .538 .368 .375 90.2 1 1704 6.8 25.0 13.3 2025 Sweeper 22 22 0 3.1 84.5 5 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 3 .200 .228 .200 .313 .176 .237 87.4 34 2781 7.0 41.7 15.4 What Should Be Mick Abel's Role In 2026? While technically competing with Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews, and David Festa for the fifth rotation spot, Abel has the fewest innings in the majors of that group and the most refinement needed to his arsenal. That being the case, Abel would be best suited to start his 2026 campaign in Triple-A, functioning as a still-developing starting pitching prospect. He still has two minor-league option years, so Minnesota has the luxury of being patient with Abel. He should figure into the rotation at some point in 2026. Yet, given that Pablo López, Joe Ryan, and/or Bailey Ober could no longer be part of the club’s rotation come next season, the team would be wise to continue developing Abel as a starting pitcher in Triple-A, with an eye toward him becoming a rotation stalwart in 2027 and beyond. View the full article

Kyle Harrison is the more recognizable of the two left-handed pitchers the Brewers acquired from the Red Sox in the Caleb Durbin trade earlier this week. However, president of baseball operations Matt Arnold stressed that the club also thinks highly of Shane Drohan, who owns an unassuming 4.29 ERA and 4.52 FIP across five minor-league seasons and has yet to make his big-league debut at age 27. “Our scouts really, really like this guy,” Arnold said on Monday. “He was a very big part of [the trade] for us as well.” After Boston made him its fifth-round pick out of Florida State in 2020, Drohan made it to Triple-A Worcester in 2023, but injuries and control issues stalled his progress there. Shoulder surgery wiped out most of his 2024 campaign (which included a brief stay in the Chicago White Sox organization as a Rule 5 pick), and he missed three months last year with forearm inflammation. When healthy, he has walked 11.4% of hitters over his minor-league career. Drohan’s ability to miss bats, however, has always been apparent. Thanks to a deceptive arsenal delivered from a low arm slot, he owns a career 26.3% strikeout rate as a professional. By cleaning up that five-pitch mix last year, the southpaw elevated his game to new heights, posting a 2.27 ERA, 68 DRA-, and 35.3% strikeout rate in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings. “He’s kind of flown under the radar a little bit more than Harrison, but this guy dominated in Triple-A last year,” Arnold said, adding that the club has no concerns related to that forearm injury. “I mean, he was very good. Strikes out a lot of guys and has really good stuff.” Visually, Drohan’s delivery looked more athletic. Here’s a comparison of the southpaw throwing a breaking pitch in his previous healthy season in 2023 and in 2025, both with the bases empty. drohan.mp4 Drohan moves quicker in the earlier clip, but his delivery is stiffer. Pitching out of a fuller windup in the 2025 clip, he takes longer to get to his release point, but he gets deeper into his back leg before rotating more explosively toward the plate. The result is a well-located, sharper slider that gets a chase low and away. With those changes, Drohan added a tick of velocity to each of his pitches, increased the backspin-induced carry of his four-seam fastball, and tightened his cutter and slider into more consistent and distinct shapes. His control also improved, as he cut his walk rate to 8.4% in Triple-A. Those developments turned Drohan into one of the top swing-and-miss pitchers in minor-league baseball. He generated whiffs on 37.3% of swings, which ranked in the 99th percentile of Triple-A pitchers. His riding cutter, which opponents tagged for a .504 xwOBA, was the only pitch not to produce a plus whiff rate. The rest of his arsenal was dominant. Drohan’s improved four-seamer played well at the top of the zone, and his fading changeup baffled hitters, thanks to nearly 10 mph of separation off the heater. His shortened gyro slider remained in the strike zone longer before its late movement took effect, leading to more chases and weak contact. His curveball, regarded by some evaluators as his best pitch before he refined his slider, offers bigger movement when necessary from a similar slot to the rest of his pitches. Drohan could scrap his cutter in a relief role, where his fastball-slider pairing would be enough to carve through most hitters. If he remains a starter, he and the Brewers must determine the best way to use the pitch. He found the most success when back-dooring it to right-handed hitters, which is how Quinn Priester began using his similarly shaped cutter to lefties throughout last summer. Drohan’s swing-and-miss upside has never been in question, and with improved control, he’s closer to missing big-league bats. The question is how consistently he’ll tap into that upside, and in what role. He figures to be further down the depth chart than the myriad bona fide starters in camp, but he has the arsenal to start. Don’t be surprised if he’s recording pivotal outs in Milwaukee by season’s end. View the full article

Pitchers and catchers have reported for the Chicago Cubs! We talk non-roster invitees, PECOTA projections, and some prospect chatter! Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-north-side-baseball-podcast/id1798599313 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/75wMGhBwlrDDYPt3kaF453 Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-north-side-baseball-po-268998437/ Listen on Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/eey7h6ih Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@northsidebaseball View the full article

Spring training is officially here as pitchers and catchers have reported to Fort Myers. Along with those on the 40-man roster, the Red Sox have invited quite a few players to their spring training camp as non-roster invites. Every season, teams manage to find key contributors through this process, as many veterans try to catch on with a team by signing a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training. Along with veterans, teams tend to bring prospects into big league camp in similar fashion. Last season the Red Sox saw contributions from a handful of non-roster invitees in the form of Nate Eaton, Abraham Toro, and Sean Newcomb. This season, the team has currently invited 24 players to spring training, though that number could increase in the days leading up to the first days of practice. Here is an overview of the players invited to camp: Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees: Pitchers RHP Osvaldo Berrios Berrios signed with the Red Sox on a minor-league deal back on November 18 while the team was making several trades prior to the Rule 5 protection deadline. Berrios, who was drafted in 2017 by the Athletics had previously been acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals in June of 2024 after playing in the Independent Frontier League. Berrios split the 2025 season between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis where he appeared in a total of 40 games, going 4-4 with a 5.12 ERA in 58 innings. He struck out 62 batters and walked 24. In seven minor league seasons, Berrios has appeared in 155 games with 56 of them being starts. Overall, he’s gone 23-34 with 16 saves and a career 5.44 ERA in 420 1/3 innings pitched. In 2025, the 26-year-old struck out 9.62 batters per nine innings and throws four pitches: a fastball that tops out at 94 mph, a 78 mph curveball, a low to mid-80s changeup and a mid-80s slider. LHP Alec Gamboa Gamboa is a former ninth-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers who played in their organization until getting released in early 2025. The left-handed pitcher mainly appeared out of the bullpen during his time with the Dodgers, making his way up to Triple-A by 2023 and spending parts of three seasons there before finishing 2025 in the Korean Baseball Organization with the Lotte Giants. During his time in Korea, Gamboa moved to the rotation where he pitched rather well in 19 starts. Going 7-8, he tossed 108 innings with a 3.58 ERA and struck out 117 batters. With the Dodgers’ organization, Gamboa appeared in 131 games and made 41 starts going 28-22 with a 4.23 ERA in 359 2/3 innings with 315 strikeouts. Gamboa’s biggest weakness is subpar control which limits his swing-and-miss potential, though he's good at keeping the ball on the ground. RHP Tayron Guerrero Guerrero is one of the older players coming into camp with the Red Sox as a non-roster invitee at the age of 35 years old. The reliever has had some experience in the majors though not with the best results. He made his debut in 2016, pitching one game with the San Diego Padres before being traded to the Miami Marlins near the trade deadline. Guerrero would see himself appear in 112 games between 2018 and 2019 with Miami to less-than-stellar results. During his time with the Marlins, the right-hander tossed 104 innings and struck out 111 batters while walking 67. He finished his time in Miami with a 5.80 ERA before being selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox following the 2019 season. He would not play in the 2020 COVID shortened season and would then spend 2021 at the White Sox’s Triple-A team before heading overseas to play for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2022. Guerrero would return state side in 2023 where he pitched for the Cincinnati Reds’ Triple-A team before finishing the season pitching in the Mexican League. 2024 was more of the same this time with the Los Angeles Angels’ Triple-A team before returning to Japan for the 2025 season where he rejoined the Chiba Lotte Marines. Overall, he pitched in 39 games with the Marines' main team and their farm team tossing 39 2/3 innings and striking out 37 batters. RHP Hobie Harris Harris spent the 2025 season in the Red Sox organization after being selected in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft. The 32-year-old made 31 appearances with Triple-A Worcester, and one rehab start in the Florida Complex League despite not being active from the injured list until mid-June. In those 32 appearances, he went 1-3 with a 4.05 ERA across 40 innings where he struck out 45 batters. The right-hander was drafted back in the 31st round of the 2015 draft by the New York Yankees and pitched in their organization through the 2019 season. Starting in 2021, Harris bounced around pitching for the Triple-A teams of Toronto, Milwaukee, Washington and Minnesota before signing with the New York Mets. He never pitched a game for them as the Red Sox took him in the Rule 5 Draft as previously mentioned. Harris has made 16 appearances in the majors, all with the Nationals back in 2023. In those appearances, he tossed 19 1/3 innings and struck out nine. RHP Kyle Keller Keller was one of Boston’s later invites, signing with the team on February 3. The 32-year-old was drafted in the 18th round of the 2015 draft by the Miami Marlins and would make his debut with them in 2019. He would be traded after the season to the Los Angeles Angels though he would only pitch in two games before being purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021. For his career, Keller has pitched in 44 games and tossed 46 1/3 innings with a career 5.83 ERA. He also struck out 48 batters while walking 32. Since the end of the 2021 season, Keller has pitched in the Nippon Professional Baseball league for the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants, where he revitalized his career and generated interest by the Red Sox. In those four seasons, Keller was a key bullpen arm as he appeared in 186 games between the farm teams and parent organizations. In that span, he threw 179 1/3 innings with a 2.21 ERA while striking out 206 batters in the pitcher-friendly league. RHP Seth Martinez Martinez may be the pitcher with the best major league track record on the list, as he was once a key arm in Houston’s bullpen. Drafted by the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft back in 2020, Martinez appeared in just three games in 2021 before pitching in 108 games over the next three seasons. For his career with the Astros, he threw 137 1/3 innings with a 3.93 ERA and 122 strikeouts to 54 walks. Following the 2024 season, Martinez bounced around on waivers, being claimed by the Diamondbacks, then the Marlins, Mariners and Marlins once more before the start of the 2025 season. The right-hander spent most of 2025 with Triple-A Jacksonville where he appeared in 41 games and tossed 43 2/3 innings with a 3.71 ERA. He would also make six appearances with the Marlins where he struck out four in 6 2/3 innings. RHP Vinny Nittoli A 35-year-old pitcher who has made a total of 15 appearances across four seasons, Nittoli hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2024 and split the 2025 season between the Triple-A teams of Baltimore and Milwaukee. The Red Sox are now the 12th organization he’s been a part of in his career. In 37 games, Nittoli tossed 39 1/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA. He also struck out 46 batters while walking just 15. In his major league career, he’s tossed 18 2/3 innings with a 2.41 ERA and 13 strikeouts. Nittoli is an addition that continues Craig Breslow’s interest in big extension, as the right-hander’s extension last season was 7-foot-2 and also saw an increase after joining Milwaukee’s organization. The main difference being more usage for his cutter which went from a 35% usage rate all the way up to 53% upon joining Milwaukee. Across the entire 2025 season, the cutter generated a .172 expected batting average and had a 31% whiff rate. RHP Wyatt Olds Olds was drafted by the Red Sox in the seventh round of the 2021 draft and has split the past two seasons between Portland and Worcester, though he spent the majority of 2025 at Triple-A. The 25-year-old dominated in eight appearances early on with Portland, going 4-2 with a 2.50 ERA across 18 innings out of the bullpen. His promotion to Worcester saw some growing pains, as he appeared in 34 games and had an ERA of 5.91 across 53 1/3 innings. Currently, Olds is viewed as organizational depth due to his need to work on his command and control, though his fastball and slider look promising. Olds throws three pitches, the previously mentioned fastball (that tops out at 98 mph), the slider and a changeup that can touch 90 mph. LHP T.J. Sikkema Sikkema, who was a former New York Yankees draft pick, was traded by the team to the Kansas City Royals for Andrew Benintendi back in 2022 before being taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the Rule 5 Draft in 2023. A left-hander, Sikkema made it to Triple-A for the first time last season after 18 appearances at Double-A Chattanooga. Overall the left-hander went 8-4 in 23 appearances, 15 starts as he tossed a career high 86 2/3 innings. For his career, he’s made 100 appearances in the minors and thrown 311 innings with a 4.57 ERA. He doesn’t throw hard, his fastball averaging 88 to 91 mph but can hit mid-90s but not consistently. Along with that, he also throws a slider that is in the low to mid-80s and an average changeup. RHP Noah Song Song has been someone the Red Sox have liked for a long time, but various events have kept him from being able to reach his full potential. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, Song showcased a strong start to his professional career by tossing 17 innings with a 1.06 ERA in 2019 before losing the 2020 season due to it being cancelled from COVID. That was followed by missing both the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to his petition to delay his active service with the Navy being denied. Following the 2022 season, Song was drafted in the Rule 5 Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies and the man who drafted him originally, Dave Dombrowski. He was granted his request to delay his active service time in February 2023 and finally reported to spring training with the Phillies. Back tightness sent him to the injured list in spring training before he made his first appearance in four years on June 28 with Single-A Clearwater. Song was eventually returned to the Red Sox after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers where he would finish the season with Greenville. He would go on to miss the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery. 2025 saw him pitch in all five minor league levels (Complex League, Single-A, High-A, Double-A, Triple-A) with his longest stay being 23 appearances with Portland where he tossed 43 innings with a 4.19 ERA and struck out 44 batters. RHP Devin Sweet Sweet has been in professional baseball since 2018 as part of the Seattle Mariners’ organization. The right-hander pitched his way up to majors with Seattle in 2023, making two appearances with them before the Athletics selected him off waivers and he made five more appearances with them. Overall, he pitched in seven games with a 10.38 ERA and struck out six batters in 8 2/3 innings. Since then, Sweet spent the 2024 season with Detroit’s Triple-A team and the 2025 season with Philadelphia’s Triple-A team. Last year, he pitched in 46 games and tossed 51 1/3 innings with a 5.08 ERA. He also struck out 49 batters and walked 27. Sweet throws three pitches: a four-seam fastball, a slider and a changeup. RHP Jacob Webb Webb was drafted by the Red Sox in the 14th round of the 2021 draft. Last season, Webb split the year between Greenville, Portland and Worcester, making a total of 25 appearances. He would end up tossing 40 1/3 innings with a 3.57 ERA (though it was 6.35 in 11 1/3 innings with Worcester) and struck out 46 batters. This is the second consecutive spring training that Webb received an invitation to spring training from the Red Sox, having been invited in 2025 as well. He has a low release point and a high induced vertical break on his fastball. Webb tosses four pitches: a fastball that tops out at 96 mph, a slider that can vary in shape and velocity, a sweeper and a changeup that can touch 90 mph. LHP Jeremy Wu-Yelland Wu-Yelland was drafted back in the fourth round of the 2020 draft by Boston and has had a tough time staying on the field after his debut season in 2021. After making 23 starts between Salem and Greenville, Wu-Yelland would miss 2022 due to needing Tommy John surgery. Upon his return in 2023, he would only make three appearances in the Florida Complex League before another injury would shut him down for the rest of the season. 2024 saw a move to the bullpen for the left-hander but he still opened the season on the injured list due to stiffness. He would make 23 appearances out of the bullpen with a 5.67 ERA in 33 1/3 innings for Greenville. 2025 saw Wu-Yelland miss just under a month with lower back stiffness, but he still made 25 appearances between Greenville and Portland where he threw 45 2/3 innings with a 3.15 ERA and struck out 71 batters. Wu-Yelland throws four pitches: a fastball that tops out at 97 mph, a cutter which is his most thrown pitch, a sweeper that has a very high spin rate and a changeup that sits in the low-80s. Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees: Catchers Nate Baez Acquired from the Minnesota Twins for Tristan Gray, Baez split the 2025 season between High-A and Double-A where it was two different stories offensively for the catcher. Overall, he would play in 96 games and hit a combined .278/.371/.423 with 17 doubles, four triples, eight home runs, and 54 RBIs. Though, in Double-A his numbers were .237/.297/.400 with eight doubles, four triples, five home runs, and 31 RBIs. Despite that, Baez showed an ability to put the ball in play last season, striking out just 65 times in 338 at-bats and walking 45 times as well. Defensively, he split time between catcher, first base and designated hitter. While with Double-A, he threw out 23% of potential base stealers while allowing just two passed balls. Jason Delay Signed by Boston to be catching depth, Delay is a former fourth-round pick in 2017 by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Delay would go on to make his major league debut in 2022 and would play in the majors with the Pirates from 2022 until a short stint in 2024. In total he played 134 games, hitting .231/.295/.315 with 20 doubles, one triple, two home runs, and 35 RBIs. Offensively, there isn’t much power to his game, and he has a tendency to strike out (94 strikeouts in 337 at-bats) while not walking enough to offset it (26 career walks). 2025 saw Delay split the season between Atlanta’s Double-A and Triple-A teams where he hit a combined .200/.261/.257 in 68 games. He also had 10 doubles, one home run, and 14 RBIs. Ronald Rosario Rosario was signed as an international free agent by the Red Sox in July of 2019 as a 16-year-old, though he missed the 2020 season due to the minor league season being cancelled. The young catcher spent 2021 and 2022 in the Dominican Summer League and Florida Complex League respectively before playing for Salem and Greenville in 2023. 2024 saw Rosario begin the year with Greenville, playing 99 games before a promotion to Portland where he was placed on the development list. 2025 saw Rosario play 98 games with Portland where he hit .201/.278/.321 with 10 doubles, 11 home runs, and 56 RBIs. Offensively, he is viewed as having an average hit tool with average power but mostly as a doubles hitter. Defensively, he could be an average catcher depending on how he develops. He doesn’t have soft hands and in 2025 he made six errors and allowed 10 passed balls. Though, he has good, fluid motions and threw out 24% of potential base stealers and was part of seven double plays. Max Stassi Stassi has the most MLB experience out of the listed catchers, having been drafted way back in the fourth round of the 2009 draft by the Athletics. Stassi made it to the majors with the Astros in 2013 and played with them until being traded to the Angels in 2019. Stassi would remain with the Angels until the end of 2022. After not playing in 2023, Stassi has spent the last two seasons in Triple-A with the White Sox organization in 2024 and the Giants organization in 2025. For his career, Stassi played in 403 games at the major league level and hit .212/.295/.361 with 42 doubles, two triples, 41 home runs and 128 RBIs. For his career, he’s thrown out around 20% of potential base stealers and has allowed 31 passed balls. Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees: Infielders Nathan Hickey Originally drafted as a catcher in the 2021 draft, Hickey has primarily played first base or DH since mid-2024 and only appeared in four games as a catcher in 2025 after getting a non-roster invitation to spring training that year. Defensively, he struggled at catcher and was viewed as being below average when it came to receiving while also having trouble with blocking pitches in the dirt. He has looked better at first base than he did behind the plate, having made just four errors in 610 defensive chances. Offensively, Hickey is coming off of a decent season with Worcester, having appeared in 128 games where he hit .234/.325/.408 with 23 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs and 75 RBIs. He does strike out a lot as shown by his 141 punchouts last season. He also knows the strike zone well but often whiffs on pitches in the zone and struggles against left-handed pitching. Vinny Capra Capra is a four-year veteran who made his debut in 2022 after getting drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2018. Prior to 2025, he appeared in just 20 MLB games. Last year, he split the season between Milwaukee and the Chicago White Sox, appearing in a career high 47 games and struggling at the plate. He ended up hitting a combined .125/.157/.177 with two doubles, one home run, and six RBIs. Defensively, Capra has mainly played second base, shortstop and third base during his time in the majors but also has limited experience playing left field in the minors. In the minors, he’s hit well enough to keep getting chances, having played in 511 career minor league games and hitting .270/.355/.397 with 111 doubles, 10 triples, 33 home runs, and 240 RBIs. Max Ferguson Acquired from San Diego as part of the Eric Hosmer trade, Ferguson quickly became organizational depth as he jumped from Greenville all the way to Worcester when the Triple-A team needed bodies at the end of the 2023 season. Since then, he’s been shuttled back and forth between Portland and Worcester the past two seasons depending on which team needed him more. Offensively, there isn’t much to talk about. Little power and a high strikeout rate means Ferguson’s value will come from his glove. Though to at least partially make up for it, he tends to walk a decent amount. Last season, he played a career high 118 games between Portland and Worcester as he hit .205/.323/.313 with 13 doubles, one triple, nine home runs, and 42 RBIs. In 2025 Ferguson, played every position besides catcher and pitcher at least once. The majority of his playing time came between second base and left field, however, moving between positions as needed. Mikey Romero A former first-round pick by the Red Sox in 2022, Romero dealt with injuries early on in his career before finally appearing fully healthy in 2025. Drafted as a shortstop, Romero has mostly played second base and third base since early 2025 and seems likely to have his best fit be at second base due to his arm. Offensively, Romero has put together back-to-back decent seasons showcasing power in his game as he hit 16 home runs in 2024 and followed that up with 17 in 2025. Overall, he wound up hitting .245/.300/.452 in 111 games between Portland and Worcester in 2025. He also had 33 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs and 76 RBIs. Though, he does tend to strike out a lot as shown by 132 strikeouts. Romero impressed during spring training in 2025 and now in 2026 has a chance to showcase his skills even further. Tyler McDonough Drafted in the third round of the 2021 draft, McDonough quickly made his way through the system, making it to Triple-A Worcester by the end of the 2023 season. Since then, he’s split time between Portland and Worcester, as he’s provided upper-minors depth for the organization while playing multiple positions. Last year with Worcester, McDonough appeared in 79 games and hit .254/.328/.369 with 12 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 27 RBIs. He won’t hit for much power and is just average when it comes to zone contact and chasing but has good bat speed. Defensively, the utility player saw time at second base, shortstop, right field, left field and appeared in one game in center field. He’s viewed as an above average, all-around fielder. Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees: Outfielders Allan Castro Signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2019, Castro was originally signed as an infielder before being moved to the outfield prior to his professional debut. Just 22 years old, Castro spent all of 2025 at Double-A where he played in 92 games and hit .268/.353/.400 with 20 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, and 37 RBIs. Offensively, he improved from his 2024 numbers and showed growth as a hitter, though the switch hitter still has room to grow. While he doesn’t chase and has shown an ability to make contact on pitches in the zone, he still struggles against off-speed pitches and can get too aggressive. Defensively, he split time between all three outfield positions, though the majority of his playing time came in center field where in 150 defensive chances he made just one error. With the Red Sox missing three outfielders due to the World Baseball Classic, Castro should see a lot of playing time early in camp. Braiden Ward Ward was acquired by the Red Sox in a Rule 5 Draft protection deadline trade, as they sent reliever Brennan Bernardino to the Rockies. Ward, who was drafted by the Rockies in 2021, split last season between Double-A and Triple-A where he appeared in 97 games. The utility player slashed .290/.395/.391 with 17 doubles, four triples, two home runs, 37 RBIs and he also stole 57 bases. Offensively, Ward does not have much power as he’s hit just 14 home runs in 414 minor league games, but he puts the ball in play and has shown an ability to earn a walk. He’s at his best when taking advantage of his speed and using it to either stretch a hit or to steal a base. Defensively, he mainly played center field and left field last year but got some action at both second and third base and will likely be used in a utility role. With Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu all leaving camp to join the World Baseball Classic, Ward should see plenty of playing time. 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Fish On First shows you the dramatic transformation to the Marlins' side of the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex entering the 2026 season. View the full article

Spring training is officially here as pitchers and catchers have reported to Fort Myers. Along with those on the 40-man roster, the Red Sox have invited quite a few players to their spring training camp as non-roster invites. Every season, teams manage to find key contributors through this process, as many veterans try to catch on with a team by signing a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training. Along with veterans, teams tend to bring prospects into big league camp in similar fashion. Last season the Red Sox saw contributions from a handful of non-roster invitees in the form of Nate Eaton, Abraham Toro, and Sean Newcomb. This season, the team has currently invited 24 players to spring training, though that number could increase in the days leading up to the first days of practice. Here is an overview of the players invited to camp: Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees: Pitchers RHP Osvaldo Berrios Berrios signed with the Red Sox on a minor-league deal back on November 18 while the team was making several trades prior to the Rule 5 protection deadline. Berrios, who was drafted in 2017 by the Athletics had previously been acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals in June of 2024 after playing in the Independent Frontier League. Berrios split the 2025 season between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis where he appeared in a total of 40 games, going 4-4 with a 5.12 ERA in 58 innings. He struck out 62 batters and walked 24. In seven minor league seasons, Berrios has appeared in 155 games with 56 of them being starts. Overall, he’s gone 23-34 with 16 saves and a career 5.44 ERA in 420 1/3 innings pitched. In 2025, the 26-year-old struck out 9.62 batters per nine innings and throws four pitches: a fastball that tops out at 94 mph, a 78 mph curveball, a low to mid-80s changeup and a mid-80s slider. LHP Alec Gamboa Gamboa is a former ninth-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers who played in their organization until getting released in early 2025. The left-handed pitcher mainly appeared out of the bullpen during his time with the Dodgers, making his way up to Triple-A by 2023 and spending parts of three seasons there before finishing 2025 in the Korean Baseball Organization with the Lotte Giants. During his time in Korea, Gamboa moved to the rotation where he pitched rather well in 19 starts. Going 7-8, he tossed 108 innings with a 3.58 ERA and struck out 117 batters. With the Dodgers’ organization, Gamboa appeared in 131 games and made 41 starts going 28-22 with a 4.23 ERA in 359 2/3 innings with 315 strikeouts. Gamboa’s biggest weakness is subpar control which limits his swing-and-miss potential, though he's good at keeping the ball on the ground. RHP Tayron Guerrero Guerrero is one of the older players coming into camp with the Red Sox as a non-roster invitee at the age of 35 years old. The reliever has had some experience in the majors though not with the best results. He made his debut in 2016, pitching one game with the San Diego Padres before being traded to the Miami Marlins near the trade deadline. Guerrero would see himself appear in 112 games between 2018 and 2019 with Miami to less-than-stellar results. During his time with the Marlins, the right-hander tossed 104 innings and struck out 111 batters while walking 67. He finished his time in Miami with a 5.80 ERA before being selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox following the 2019 season. He would not play in the 2020 COVID shortened season and would then spend 2021 at the White Sox’s Triple-A team before heading overseas to play for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2022. Guerrero would return state side in 2023 where he pitched for the Cincinnati Reds’ Triple-A team before finishing the season pitching in the Mexican League. 2024 was more of the same this time with the Los Angeles Angels’ Triple-A team before returning to Japan for the 2025 season where he rejoined the Chiba Lotte Marines. Overall, he pitched in 39 games with the Marines' main team and their farm team tossing 39 2/3 innings and striking out 37 batters. RHP Hobie Harris Harris spent the 2025 season in the Red Sox organization after being selected in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft. The 32-year-old made 31 appearances with Triple-A Worcester, and one rehab start in the Florida Complex League despite not being active from the injured list until mid-June. In those 32 appearances, he went 1-3 with a 4.05 ERA across 40 innings where he struck out 45 batters. The right-hander was drafted back in the 31st round of the 2015 draft by the New York Yankees and pitched in their organization through the 2019 season. Starting in 2021, Harris bounced around pitching for the Triple-A teams of Toronto, Milwaukee, Washington and Minnesota before signing with the New York Mets. He never pitched a game for them as the Red Sox took him in the Rule 5 Draft as previously mentioned. Harris has made 16 appearances in the majors, all with the Nationals back in 2023. In those appearances, he tossed 19 1/3 innings and struck out nine. RHP Kyle Keller Keller was one of Boston’s later invites, signing with the team on February 3. The 32-year-old was drafted in the 18th round of the 2015 draft by the Miami Marlins and would make his debut with them in 2019. He would be traded after the season to the Los Angeles Angels though he would only pitch in two games before being purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021. For his career, Keller has pitched in 44 games and tossed 46 1/3 innings with a career 5.83 ERA. He also struck out 48 batters while walking 32. Since the end of the 2021 season, Keller has pitched in the Nippon Professional Baseball league for the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants, where he revitalized his career and generated interest by the Red Sox. In those four seasons, Keller was a key bullpen arm as he appeared in 186 games between the farm teams and parent organizations. In that span, he threw 179 1/3 innings with a 2.21 ERA while striking out 206 batters in the pitcher-friendly league. RHP Seth Martinez Martinez may be the pitcher with the best major league track record on the list, as he was once a key arm in Houston’s bullpen. Drafted by the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft back in 2020, Martinez appeared in just three games in 2021 before pitching in 108 games over the next three seasons. For his career with the Astros, he threw 137 1/3 innings with a 3.93 ERA and 122 strikeouts to 54 walks. Following the 2024 season, Martinez bounced around on waivers, being claimed by the Diamondbacks, then the Marlins, Mariners and Marlins once more before the start of the 2025 season. The right-hander spent most of 2025 with Triple-A Jacksonville where he appeared in 41 games and tossed 43 2/3 innings with a 3.71 ERA. He would also make six appearances with the Marlins where he struck out four in 6 2/3 innings. RHP Vinny Nittoli A 35-year-old pitcher who has made a total of 15 appearances across four seasons, Nittoli hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2024 and split the 2025 season between the Triple-A teams of Baltimore and Milwaukee. The Red Sox are now the 12th organization he’s been a part of in his career. In 37 games, Nittoli tossed 39 1/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA. He also struck out 46 batters while walking just 15. In his major league career, he’s tossed 18 2/3 innings with a 2.41 ERA and 13 strikeouts. Nittoli is an addition that continues Craig Breslow’s interest in big extension, as the right-hander’s extension last season was 7-foot-2 and also saw an increase after joining Milwaukee’s organization. The main difference being more usage for his cutter which went from a 35% usage rate all the way up to 53% upon joining Milwaukee. Across the entire 2025 season, the cutter generated a .172 expected batting average and had a 31% whiff rate. RHP Wyatt Olds Olds was drafted by the Red Sox in the seventh round of the 2021 draft and has split the past two seasons between Portland and Worcester, though he spent the majority of 2025 at Triple-A. The 25-year-old dominated in eight appearances early on with Portland, going 4-2 with a 2.50 ERA across 18 innings out of the bullpen. His promotion to Worcester saw some growing pains, as he appeared in 34 games and had an ERA of 5.91 across 53 1/3 innings. Currently, Olds is viewed as organizational depth due to his need to work on his command and control, though his fastball and slider look promising. Olds throws three pitches, the previously mentioned fastball (that tops out at 98 mph), the slider and a changeup that can touch 90 mph. LHP T.J. Sikkema Sikkema, who was a former New York Yankees draft pick, was traded by the team to the Kansas City Royals for Andrew Benintendi back in 2022 before being taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the Rule 5 Draft in 2023. A left-hander, Sikkema made it to Triple-A for the first time last season after 18 appearances at Double-A Chattanooga. Overall the left-hander went 8-4 in 23 appearances, 15 starts as he tossed a career high 86 2/3 innings. For his career, he’s made 100 appearances in the minors and thrown 311 innings with a 4.57 ERA. He doesn’t throw hard, his fastball averaging 88 to 91 mph but can hit mid-90s but not consistently. Along with that, he also throws a slider that is in the low to mid-80s and an average changeup. RHP Noah Song Song has been someone the Red Sox have liked for a long time, but various events have kept him from being able to reach his full potential. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, Song showcased a strong start to his professional career by tossing 17 innings with a 1.06 ERA in 2019 before losing the 2020 season due to it being cancelled from COVID. That was followed by missing both the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to his petition to delay his active service with the Navy being denied. Following the 2022 season, Song was drafted in the Rule 5 Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies and the man who drafted him originally, Dave Dombrowski. He was granted his request to delay his active service time in February 2023 and finally reported to spring training with the Phillies. Back tightness sent him to the injured list in spring training before he made his first appearance in four years on June 28 with Single-A Clearwater. Song was eventually returned to the Red Sox after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers where he would finish the season with Greenville. He would go on to miss the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery. 2025 saw him pitch in all five minor league levels (Complex League, Single-A, High-A, Double-A, Triple-A) with his longest stay being 23 appearances with Portland where he tossed 43 innings with a 4.19 ERA and struck out 44 batters. RHP Devin Sweet Sweet has been in professional baseball since 2018 as part of the Seattle Mariners’ organization. The right-hander pitched his way up to majors with Seattle in 2023, making two appearances with them before the Athletics selected him off waivers and he made five more appearances with them. Overall, he pitched in seven games with a 10.38 ERA and struck out six batters in 8 2/3 innings. Since then, Sweet spent the 2024 season with Detroit’s Triple-A team and the 2025 season with Philadelphia’s Triple-A team. Last year, he pitched in 46 games and tossed 51 1/3 innings with a 5.08 ERA. He also struck out 49 batters and walked 27. Sweet throws three pitches: a four-seam fastball, a slider and a changeup. RHP Jacob Webb Webb was drafted by the Red Sox in the 14th round of the 2021 draft. Last season, Webb split the year between Greenville, Portland and Worcester, making a total of 25 appearances. He would end up tossing 40 1/3 innings with a 3.57 ERA (though it was 6.35 in 11 1/3 innings with Worcester) and struck out 46 batters. This is the second consecutive spring training that Webb received an invitation to spring training from the Red Sox, having been invited in 2025 as well. He has a low release point and a high induced vertical break on his fastball. Webb tosses four pitches: a fastball that tops out at 96 mph, a slider that can vary in shape and velocity, a sweeper and a changeup that can touch 90 mph. LHP Jeremy Wu-Yelland Wu-Yelland was drafted back in the fourth round of the 2020 draft by Boston and has had a tough time staying on the field after his debut season in 2021. After making 23 starts between Salem and Greenville, Wu-Yelland would miss 2022 due to needing Tommy John surgery. Upon his return in 2023, he would only make three appearances in the Florida Complex League before another injury would shut him down for the rest of the season. 2024 saw a move to the bullpen for the left-hander but he still opened the season on the injured list due to stiffness. He would make 23 appearances out of the bullpen with a 5.67 ERA in 33 1/3 innings for Greenville. 2025 saw Wu-Yelland miss just under a month with lower back stiffness, but he still made 25 appearances between Greenville and Portland where he threw 45 2/3 innings with a 3.15 ERA and struck out 71 batters. Wu-Yelland throws four pitches: a fastball that tops out at 97 mph, a cutter which is his most thrown pitch, a sweeper that has a very high spin rate and a changeup that sits in the low-80s. Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees: Catchers Nate Baez Acquired from the Minnesota Twins for Tristan Gray, Baez split the 2025 season between High-A and Double-A where it was two different stories offensively for the catcher. Overall, he would play in 96 games and hit a combined .278/.371/.423 with 17 doubles, four triples, eight home runs, and 54 RBIs. Though, in Double-A his numbers were .237/.297/.400 with eight doubles, four triples, five home runs, and 31 RBIs. Despite that, Baez showed an ability to put the ball in play last season, striking out just 65 times in 338 at-bats and walking 45 times as well. Defensively, he split time between catcher, first base and designated hitter. While with Double-A, he threw out 23% of potential base stealers while allowing just two passed balls. Jason Delay Signed by Boston to be catching depth, Delay is a former fourth-round pick in 2017 by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Delay would go on to make his major league debut in 2022 and would play in the majors with the Pirates from 2022 until a short stint in 2024. In total he played 134 games, hitting .231/.295/.315 with 20 doubles, one triple, two home runs, and 35 RBIs. Offensively, there isn’t much power to his game, and he has a tendency to strike out (94 strikeouts in 337 at-bats) while not walking enough to offset it (26 career walks). 2025 saw Delay split the season between Atlanta’s Double-A and Triple-A teams where he hit a combined .200/.261/.257 in 68 games. He also had 10 doubles, one home run, and 14 RBIs. Ronald Rosario Rosario was signed as an international free agent by the Red Sox in July of 2019 as a 16-year-old, though he missed the 2020 season due to the minor league season being cancelled. The young catcher spent 2021 and 2022 in the Dominican Summer League and Florida Complex League respectively before playing for Salem and Greenville in 2023. 2024 saw Rosario begin the year with Greenville, playing 99 games before a promotion to Portland where he was placed on the development list. 2025 saw Rosario play 98 games with Portland where he hit .201/.278/.321 with 10 doubles, 11 home runs, and 56 RBIs. Offensively, he is viewed as having an average hit tool with average power but mostly as a doubles hitter. Defensively, he could be an average catcher depending on how he develops. He doesn’t have soft hands and in 2025 he made six errors and allowed 10 passed balls. Though, he has good, fluid motions and threw out 24% of potential base stealers and was part of seven double plays. Max Stassi Stassi has the most MLB experience out of the listed catchers, having been drafted way back in the fourth round of the 2009 draft by the Athletics. Stassi made it to the majors with the Astros in 2013 and played with them until being traded to the Angels in 2019. Stassi would remain with the Angels until the end of 2022. After not playing in 2023, Stassi has spent the last two seasons in Triple-A with the White Sox organization in 2024 and the Giants organization in 2025. For his career, Stassi played in 403 games at the major league level and hit .212/.295/.361 with 42 doubles, two triples, 41 home runs and 128 RBIs. For his career, he’s thrown out around 20% of potential base stealers and has allowed 31 passed balls. Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees: Infielders Nathan Hickey Originally drafted as a catcher in the 2021 draft, Hickey has primarily played first base or DH since mid-2024 and only appeared in four games as a catcher in 2025 after getting a non-roster invitation to spring training that year. Defensively, he struggled at catcher and was viewed as being below average when it came to receiving while also having trouble with blocking pitches in the dirt. He has looked better at first base than he did behind the plate, having made just four errors in 610 defensive chances. Offensively, Hickey is coming off of a decent season with Worcester, having appeared in 128 games where he hit .234/.325/.408 with 23 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs and 75 RBIs. He does strike out a lot as shown by his 141 punchouts last season. He also knows the strike zone well but often whiffs on pitches in the zone and struggles against left-handed pitching. Vinny Capra Capra is a four-year veteran who made his debut in 2022 after getting drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2018. Prior to 2025, he appeared in just 20 MLB games. Last year, he split the season between Milwaukee and the Chicago White Sox, appearing in a career high 47 games and struggling at the plate. He ended up hitting a combined .125/.157/.177 with two doubles, one home run, and six RBIs. Defensively, Capra has mainly played second base, shortstop and third base during his time in the majors but also has limited experience playing left field in the minors. In the minors, he’s hit well enough to keep getting chances, having played in 511 career minor league games and hitting .270/.355/.397 with 111 doubles, 10 triples, 33 home runs, and 240 RBIs. Max Ferguson Acquired from San Diego as part of the Eric Hosmer trade, Ferguson quickly became organizational depth as he jumped from Greenville all the way to Worcester when the Triple-A team needed bodies at the end of the 2023 season. Since then, he’s been shuttled back and forth between Portland and Worcester the past two seasons depending on which team needed him more. Offensively, there isn’t much to talk about. Little power and a high strikeout rate means Ferguson’s value will come from his glove. Though to at least partially make up for it, he tends to walk a decent amount. Last season, he played a career high 118 games between Portland and Worcester as he hit .205/.323/.313 with 13 doubles, one triple, nine home runs, and 42 RBIs. In 2025 Ferguson, played every position besides catcher and pitcher at least once. The majority of his playing time came between second base and left field, however, moving between positions as needed. Mikey Romero A former first-round pick by the Red Sox in 2022, Romero dealt with injuries early on in his career before finally appearing fully healthy in 2025. Drafted as a shortstop, Romero has mostly played second base and third base since early 2025 and seems likely to have his best fit be at second base due to his arm. Offensively, Romero has put together back-to-back decent seasons showcasing power in his game as he hit 16 home runs in 2024 and followed that up with 17 in 2025. Overall, he wound up hitting .245/.300/.452 in 111 games between Portland and Worcester in 2025. He also had 33 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs and 76 RBIs. Though, he does tend to strike out a lot as shown by 132 strikeouts. Romero impressed during spring training in 2025 and now in 2026 has a chance to showcase his skills even further. Tyler McDonough Drafted in the third round of the 2021 draft, McDonough quickly made his way through the system, making it to Triple-A Worcester by the end of the 2023 season. Since then, he’s split time between Portland and Worcester, as he’s provided upper-minors depth for the organization while playing multiple positions. Last year with Worcester, McDonough appeared in 79 games and hit .254/.328/.369 with 12 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 27 RBIs. He won’t hit for much power and is just average when it comes to zone contact and chasing but has good bat speed. Defensively, the utility player saw time at second base, shortstop, right field, left field and appeared in one game in center field. He’s viewed as an above average, all-around fielder. Red Sox Non-Roster Invitees: Outfielders Allan Castro Signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2019, Castro was originally signed as an infielder before being moved to the outfield prior to his professional debut. Just 22 years old, Castro spent all of 2025 at Double-A where he played in 92 games and hit .268/.353/.400 with 20 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, and 37 RBIs. Offensively, he improved from his 2024 numbers and showed growth as a hitter, though the switch hitter still has room to grow. While he doesn’t chase and has shown an ability to make contact on pitches in the zone, he still struggles against off-speed pitches and can get too aggressive. Defensively, he split time between all three outfield positions, though the majority of his playing time came in center field where in 150 defensive chances he made just one error. With the Red Sox missing three outfielders due to the World Baseball Classic, Castro should see a lot of playing time early in camp. Braiden Ward Ward was acquired by the Red Sox in a Rule 5 Draft protection deadline trade, as they sent reliever Brennan Bernardino to the Rockies. Ward, who was drafted by the Rockies in 2021, split last season between Double-A and Triple-A where he appeared in 97 games. The utility player slashed .290/.395/.391 with 17 doubles, four triples, two home runs, 37 RBIs and he also stole 57 bases. Offensively, Ward does not have much power as he’s hit just 14 home runs in 414 minor league games, but he puts the ball in play and has shown an ability to earn a walk. He’s at his best when taking advantage of his speed and using it to either stretch a hit or to steal a base. Defensively, he mainly played center field and left field last year but got some action at both second and third base and will likely be used in a utility role. With Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu all leaving camp to join the World Baseball Classic, Ward should see plenty of playing time. 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Last week, Eric Lauer and the Blue Jays argued their cases in front of an arbitration panel. Earlier today, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith reported that the Jays won the hearing. That means Lauer will earn $4.4 million for the 2026 season instead of the $5.75 million figure he filed at. Ultimately, $1.35MM in savings is pocket change for the Blue Jays, as is the $1.215 million this will save them on their 2026 luxury tax bill. However, this result is interesting because of the precedent it sets. As I wrote last week: The fact that Lauer will make less money in 2026 (his third year in the arbitration system) than he earned in 2023 (his second year in the system) is bad news not just for Lauer, but for future players who find themselves in a similar position. View the full article

Letting Liam Hendriks slip away from them before he morphed into a bulldog of a closer was one of the most regrettable failures of the Twins' front office in the final days of the Terry Ryan regime. Bringing him back as a reclamation project in a weak bullpen doesn't make up for it, but it's a feel-good story, anyway. Robert Murray of FanSided was first with the news. Hendriks isn't getting a guaranteed big-league deal. He'll be invited to big-league camp to compete for a place in the bullpen, but the Twins don't have to expend big money or (for now) even a 40-man roster spot. More to come. View the full article

JUPITER, FL—The Miami Marlins adjusted their approach to spring training in 2025, putting their players in competitive environments from day one. That has carried over into 2026. With pitchers and catchers reporting to camp for the first time on Wednesday, left-hander Braxton Garrett was thrown into the fire despite missing all of last year recovering from elbow UCL surgery. He was among a small group of Marlins pitchers who threw live batting practice sessions. Garrett hasn't appeared in a major league game since early in the 2024 season. In seven starts, he posted a 5.35 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 8.27 K/9 and 0.97 BB/9. The long layoff has been "tough," he admitted to the media on Wednesday morning, "but as I've said a couple times, my teammates, just being around in Miami, the new facilities we have down there really made it a lot easier. My (physical therapist), Mike Chamberlain, really made it easy for me. Worked with me on a schedule that was comfortable for me...Thanks to the organization, it wasn't as bad as it could be." Agustín Ramírez caught Garrett and the opposing batters were Graham Pauley, Liam Hicks, Javier Sanoja and Connor Norby. "I was talking to him after and was just telling him to continue going through the process and he's looking really good," Ramírez said, noting that the 28-year-old used most of his pitch mix, including his changeup, slider and cutter. "He went through a lot last year, trying to come back, and it's good seeing him back on the mound," Pauley said. "It looks good and ready to compete." Although Garrett has been in the Marlins organization for a while and showed he could hold up as a quality starter for a full-length season in 2023, he believes nothing is "going to be handed to me." He feels like he needs to earn back his spot in the rotation. "I worked really hard this offseason," Garrett said. "I'm really excited. Here to compete, do the best I can and help the team the best I can." Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez and newly signed Chris Paddack are viewed as locks for the Marlins Opening Day rotation. That leaves Garrett battling with the likes of Max Meyer, Janson Junk, Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur and others for the two other spots. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough considered this "an exciting day" for both Garrett and lefty reliever Andrew Nardi on their journey to re-establish themselves coming off injuries. "We'll just go from each outing they have and see how those two in particular just continue to respond, recover and help us map out and guide what's next." Additional Notes - Outside of Garrett, Max Meyer, Cade Gibson and Josh Ekness also threw live BP sessions. Nardi, Tyler Phillips, Zach Brzykcy and Nigel Belgrave each threw pitch design sessions. - Every Marlins pitcher and catcher reported on Wednesday except for Calvin Faucher, who is awaiting the verdict of his arbitration hearing. McCullough expects him in camp this weekend. - The workload for World Baseball Classic participants will be different. "We'll ramp them up here early in camp and not try to push the gas too much because what's coming," McCullough said. - Outside of the WBC position players, some notables who have reported early are Xavier Edwards, Graham Pauley, Griffin Conine, Connor Norby, Maximo Acosta, Daniel Johnson, Dillon Lewis, Brendan Jones, Fenwick Trimble, Andrew Pintar and Kemp Alderman. - Following the workout, the Marlins reached an agreement with left-handed reliever(!!!) John King on a one-year, $1.5M deal. View the full article

Enjoy new episodes of our Miami Marlins livestreams throughout 2026 spring training. Every week, Fish On First staffers answer your questions and provide in-depth analysis of the team leading up to Opening Day. Wednesday's show was hosted by Ely Sussman and featured panelists Isaac Azout, Kevin Barral, Alex Carver and Jeremiah Geiger. The following topics were covered: Signings of free agents Chris Paddack and John King Potential corresponding roster moves Key features of the new "Jupiter Academy" Takeaways from the first pitchers and catchers workout Overview of Marlins.TV You can find Fish Unfiltered and Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Follow Ely (@RealEly), Isaac (@IsaacAzout), Kevin (@kevin_barral), Alex (@FOFProspects), Jeremiah (@JeremiahGeiger2) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. View the full article

Yes, the Twins were a 70-win ball club last year, but these five players truly could be gamechangers in 2026. In this video, we dive into how Zebby Matthews, Josh Bell, Luke Keaschall, James Outman, and Taylor Rogers can add to Minnesota's on-field performance this upcoming season. View the full article

A Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award. The second overall pick who became the Minor League Player of the Year. A National League Rookie of the Year, MVP, and curse-busting World Series champion. Kris Bryant accomplished all of that within a four-year span, by the time he was 24 years old. He was the golden child, the chosen one. The man who delivered the Chicago Cubs from the depths of championship purgatory to the promised land. That 2016 season, in particular, was something special, as Bryant led the senior circuit in WAR (7.3) and runs scored (121), hitting 39 home runs and posting a .939 OPS for good measure. He was just as valuable in the postseason, slashing .308/.400/.523 on the way to the team's World Series victory. For a fuller look at Bryant's career before and during his tenure with the Cubs, I encourage you to look at our Player's Project biography of him. Today, we're here to focus on what has transpired since he was sent to the San Francisco Giants at the 2021 trade deadline in exchange for Alexander Canario and Caleb Killian. That trade was one of many made during the Great Chicago Fire Sale of 2021, though by that time, a lot of the shine had worn off on Bryant. Injuries and failed contract negotiations robbed him of some of the luster that once made him so legendary, and by the time he was sent on his way to the Bay Area, most fans were already numb from trades involving Anthony Rizzo, Javier Báez, and other members of the 2016 core. For what it's worth, Bryant more or less lived up to his billing with the Giants, posting a 113 wRC+ in the middle of the lineup. By some miracle, San Francisco rode their veteran core to 107 wins, outlasting the Los Angeles Dodgers in the regular season and breaking up their NL West reign of terror. That 2021 division title is the only one the Dodgers haven't won since 2012. Once his new team fell in Game 5 of the NLDS (to the Dodgers), Bryant became a free agent for the first time in his career, arguably a year later than he should have given the Cubs' not-so-subtle manipulation of his service time back in 2015. That lost year didn't end up mattering much, as he found a seven-year, $182 million deal with the Colorado Rockies. It was a bizarre turn of events after the Rockies had traded franchise third baseman Nolan Arenado to St. Louis less than a year earlier, but it at least suggested that the franchise wasn't interested in being the runt of the NL West litter. Unfortunately for both Bryant and Colorado, the deal has flamed out in historic fashion. The Rockies — who last appeared in the playoffs in 2018, when they knocked out Bryant's Cubs in the NL Wild Card Game — haven't won more than 68 games in any of the four seasons that the former champ has spent with them. They've finished last in the division in each campaign, and are currently rocking a streak of three consecutive 100-loss seasons that would go down in the infamy of ineptitude had it not directly clashed with the somehow-more-disastrous stretch the Chicago White Sox find themselves mired in. Bryant, of course, isn't directly responsible for the gross mismanagement of the franchise. His onerous contract remains the largest one on their books, but the front office has been so incompetent for so long that they are now being replaced by Paul DePodesta of both Moneyball and Cleveland Browns fame. The Rockies are simply the most irrelevant team in baseball, a painful truth that Bryant was supposed to help alleviate. But pain is really the only thing that's been true about the 34-year-old's tenure in Colorado. A degenerative lumbar disc disease (lower back) has all but sapped his effectiveness on the field, and more often than not held him off of it. He's played in 170 games out of a possible 648 since joining the Rockies, and he's not going to improve that percentage any time soon. Bryant hasn't played in more than 80 games in any of his four campaigns since joining the Rockies. He's been worth -1.6 bWAR (-1.9 fWAR) in his time on the field. It's hard not to feel overwhelming sympathy for him — he told the Denver Post after last season that his chronic back issues affect his daily life off the baseball field as well — but he also isn't willing to contemplate retirement. Since 2022, he's missed time due to back, foot, glute, heel, finger, rib, and lumbar injuries. His whole body seems to be failing him at this point. With just three years (and $81 million) remaining on his contract, there's almost no way Bryant can make up for so much lost time. Much like the White Sox's struggles masking what has plagued the Rockies, Anthony Rendon's contract has shielded the former Cubs legend from most worst-contract-in-baseball discussions. But now that the Angels have bought that deal out, it's almost impossible to suggest that anyone is less deserving of the money he's being paid than Bryant. Is this really how his story ends? One of the great young players in the history of baseball fading into injury-fueled obscurity in Colorado? Reconciling this battered and bruised version of him with the 24-year-old MVP who broke the greatest drought in sports isn't feasible. It's practically like discussing two different players. His health is most important, and his legacy in Chicago was secured on Nov. 2, 2016. With any luck, he'll be able to add a little bit to his ledger before he has to call it quits. But luck isn't the only thing that appears to have escaped him since he put pen to paper on his current contract. View the full article

With the preamble to spring training officially underway, the Boston Red Sox have finally returned to the diamond after a long offseason. During this period, less heralded players often have a great chance of breaking out. Sometimes, it allows them to force their way onto the opening day roster, just as Kristian Campbell did last season. Thanks to the World Baseball Classic occurring this year, many Red Sox players will be disembarking from major-league camp and playing for their countries in the pursuit of winning the entire tournament. Because of this, the Red Sox have invited quite a few minor leaguers to spring training, including some notable prospects fans should get familiar with. Below we’ll breakdown three prospects that fans should keep an eye on during spring training this season. 3 Red Sox prospects most likely to break out at spring camp Jeremy Wu-Yelland Wu-Yelland is someone who hasn’t had the easiest professional career. After a promising professional debut in 2021 that saw him make 23 starts between Salem and Greenville (3.91 ERA in 76 innings pitched), he’s had to deal with multiple injuries. His 2022 campaign was lost due to Tommy John surgery, 2023 was cut short after three rehab appearances due to an injury, he started 2024 on the injured list, and 2025 saw him miss just around a month due to lower back stiffness. Despite that, he has some potential as a left-handed reliever. Following 2023, Wu-Yelland has been pitching strictly out of the bullpen and in 2025 he managed to flash potential of the weapon he could be in the bullpen. Now with an emphasis on throwing his cutter to get ahead, Wu-Yelland was able to dominate with his fastball and finish the season with 71 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings, good for 14.0 strikeouts per nine innings. Currently, the Red Sox need left-handed reliever help in the bullpen, and should Wu-Yelland remain healthy and build off of the foundation he built in 2025, there’s a chance he could be given an opportunity at some point in 2026. He throws four pitches with his cutter averaging between 90-92 mph; he improved his command with the pitch last year, which has allowed him to take a step forward. Along with the cutter is his fastball that tops out at 97 mph and can get on hitters quickly while also being good at missing bats. Add to it a sweeper with a high spin rate and batters will continue to have a hard time figuring out which pitch could be coming. And while he also has a changeup, Wu-Yelland has rarely thrown it since moving to the bullpen. A good spring training could see the young southpaw begin the season with Worcester. At that point, all it takes is a good month or two for him to potentially be knocking on the door of the majors, especially given the current state of the Red Sox's righty-heavy bullpen. Mikey Romero Romero is entering his first major league spring training as a non-roster invite after putting together a strong 2025 season. Splitting the year between Double-A and Triple-A, the former first-round pick played in a career high 111 games. In that span, he hit a combined .245/.300/.452 with 33 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs, and 76 RBIs while also transitioning off of shortstop. Since around May, the infielder had instead played mainly second base and third base over his original position. Romero did spend time playing in Red Sox spring training games in 2025 (though without a non-roster invite) and already impressed manager Alex Cora. Last spring training, when asked which prospect stood out to him other than Boston’s Big Three of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell, the manager responded with Romero. “Yeah, he’s a good player. A really good player. Just a baseball player. Good at-bats. Good defender. Mikey Romero is a good player,” Cora stated. For Romero, this is a chance for him to get at-bats against others competing for a roster spot. While he is likely to open the season in Worcester barring a combination of trades and injuries, the young infielder can shoot his way up the depth chart with a good showing this spring. Red Sox fans should know him by now considering he was the team’s first-round pick back in 2022 before injuries slowed him in 2023 and caused him to miss time to open 2024. Now, the infielder is finally completely healthy and has a chance to showcase his true potential. While the Red Sox infield seems set thanks to the Caleb Durbin trade, the team could always use impact players, especially someone like Romero who has shown an increase in power since getting healthy. Over the past two seasons, the infielder has averaged 28 doubles and 16 home runs, a display of power the major-league team would love if it carried over to the highest level of competition. Noah Song There is no way Song breaks camp with the Red Sox, but seeing him finally make it to a major-league spring training with the team that drafted him back in 2019 is a great storyline. Everyone who has followed Song knows that he lost nearly four years of development between the cancellation of minor league baseball in 2020, being denied a waiver request to transfer his service to the Navy Reserve, being taken by the Phillies in the Rule 5 Draft and then spending most of the year on the injured list before being returned to the Red Sox, and then undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024. Song may not be the same pitcher he was originally viewed as, but now he has a chance to continue his dream. His first steps back on that path were taken in 2025, when he pitched at every minor league level. He’ll get chances to pitch during the spring exhibition slate, and in turn chances for the Red Sox to see what kind of pitcher they drafted over a half-decade ago. It’ll be hard for anyone to not find interest in his performance and even harder not to root for his success. Should he do well enough in spring training. he could put his name in the conversation for one of the first names called upon should injury or inconsistency hit the Red Sox's bullpen. Currently, Song tosses four pitches. A fastball that tops out at 97 mph and is still working to regain the feel he had for it prior to his military service, a slider that is his most comfortable pitch at the moment, a changeup that averages 86-88 mph, and a curveball that has a 12-to-6 break to it. View the full article

Pitchers and catchers report this week, which means optimism is officially back on the menu in Fort Myers. Every organization arrives believing that this will be the year injuries cooperate, prospects take the leap, and depth charts magically sort themselves out. For the Twins, spring training feels especially important, because there are real decisions to be made on the mound. Roles are open, and a few arms could reshape how this staff looks by Opening Day. Pitching should be one of Minnesota’s clear strengths. The Twins have more usable arms than rotation spots, a good problem to have after years of scrambling for innings. Last summer’s trade deadline played a major role in that shift, as the front office targeted pitching help that could impact both the short- and long-term future. With more than five starters capable of handling big-league innings and a bullpen that is lacking upside options, spring training will be less about finding warm bodies and more about determining the right fit for everyone. That depth makes the following three pitchers particularly interesting to watch over the next few weeks. RHP Bailey Ober Why Watch: Can his velocity return? Joe Ryan and Pablo López will be away with their national teams for the World Baseball Classic, which quietly places Ober at the top of the Twins rotation this spring. That alone makes him worth paying attention to, but there is more going on here than spring training optics. The 2025 season was a frustrating one for Ober. A lingering hip injury sapped velocity from a pitcher who already lives on precision rather than raw power. In 2024, his four-seamer averaged 91.7 mph; that dipped to 90.3 mph last season. It was never about dominance disappearing overnight. It was about margins shrinking. The Twins believed the injury would resolve itself over the winter without surgery, and that belief will be tested immediately once Ober starts stacking outings in camp. Traditionally, he's run higher velocities in February and March than in August and September, so if he doesn't have any juice in his arm in the spring, he's unlikely to discover it later. RHP Marco Raya Why Watch: How does he transition to the bullpen? Over the last week, Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll discussed Raya as one of the former starting pitchers in the organization who is transitioning to a bullpen role. It's a notable pivot for a pitcher who has been one of the Twins' top prospects since being drafted out of high school in the shortened 2020 MLB Draft. Raya’s 2025 season at Triple A was rough. A 6.02 ERA and 5.48 FIP came alongside a 22.6 K% and a career-worst 12.6 BB%. That last number is the one that really matters now. Moving to the bullpen can unlock velocity and simplify pitch usage, but free passes become even more damaging in shorter stints. As the old Metrodome video board famously reminded everyone, walks will haunt. LHP Connor Prielipp Why Watch: Will he be a starter or a reliever for the long term? Prielipp has been one of the most dominant pitching prospects in the system when healthy, but that qualifier—'when healthy'—has followed him since before he turned pro. Drafted in the second round in 2022, Prielipp made just two starts in A ball before undergoing Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2023 season. He returned in limited fashion in 2024 before finally getting a chance to build momentum last year. The results were encouraging. Across Double and Triple A, Prielipp posted a 4.03 ERA with a 3.54 FIP and a 98:31 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 82 ⅔ innings. The organization used him almost exclusively as a starter, while carefully monitoring his workload. His stuff and injury history naturally invite bullpen speculation. Spring training may not provide a definitive answer, but how the Twins deploy him will be telling. Spring training is rarely about results, but it is always about information. For the Twins, these three pitchers represent different questions that need answering before the games start to count. Is a veteran starter healthy again? Can a former top prospect reinvent himself in a new role? And where does a talented but injury-tested arm fit best going forward? If pitching is going to carry Minnesota in 2026, the clues will start showing up this spring. What pitchers will you be watching in spring training? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Royals pitchers and catchers began workouts on Wednesday, and many of the Royals' beat writers were sharing video of players back in action in camp in Surprise, Arizona. While pitchers and catchers reporting was the biggest news of the day, another big story was Kris Bubic and his arbitration case getting settled. According to Mark Feisand, Bubic was awarded $6.15 million for the upcoming season. That is $1 million higher than what the Royals filed this offseason. Bubic underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023, which limited him to just 16 IP that season. He ended up returning to the Royals in 2024, but primarily pitched in the bullpen. However, the role suited him, as he posted a 2.67 ERA and 1.95 FIP in 30.1 IP. He was a key setup man for Kansas City down the stretch and in the postseason in 2024. Fully healthy, the Royals returned Bubic to the rotation in 2025, and the early results were solid. The Stanford lefty posted a 2.55 ERA and 2.89 FIP in 20 starts and 116.1 IP. That performance helped him earn his first-ever appearance in the All-Star game. Unfortunately, he only pitched 7.2 innings in the second half before suffering a shoulder injury that shut him down for the remainder of the season. With Bubic working out in Surprise on Wednesday, it seems he's fully recovered and ready to go for 2026. He is entering his last year of team control with the Royals (he will be a free agent after this season), and because of that, his name has been frequently floated in trade talks. As of now, Bubic is still on the Royals' roster, and he should start the season in the rotation, though it will be interesting to see if manager Matt Quatraro manages his innings load to keep him healthier this season. View the full article

For the second time this week, the Miami Marlins have bolstered their pitching depth via free agency. They reached a one-year deal with right-handed starter Chris Paddack on Monday, followed by another one-year deal with left-handed reliever John King on Wednesday afternoon. King is guaranteed $1.5 million. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the contract details, though the Marlins have not announced it yet. King, 31, has split his major league career between the Texas Rangers (2020-2023) and St. Louis Cardinals (2023-2025), with practically identical workloads for each franchise in terms of innings pitched. Across 214 total appearances (all of them in relief), he owns a career 3.80 ERA and 4.04 FIP, never issuing more than 14 walks in a single season. He doesn't have any postseason experience. King's command is particularly sharp against left-handed batters, issuing walks to them at only a 4.4% rate in his career (1.9 BB% in 2025). He's a welcome addition to a Marlins team that ranked 30th in Major League Baseball last season with only 98 relief appearances from lefties. Why was King still on the market this deep into February? He performed poorly in 2025, allowing a lot of hard contact, particularly against his sinker. A career-high eight home runs by his opponents contributed to a 4.66 ERA and 5.00 FIP. The Cardinals non-tendered King rather than pay him a projected $2.1 million via arbitration. Entering this season with four years and 148 days of MLB service time, he'll be arbitration-eligible again in 2027, so the Marlins can turn this one-year deal into two years of club control if they're satisfied with how he performs. Accommodating Paddack on the Marlins 40-man roster seemed simple enough now that Ronny Henriquez (right UCL surgery) is eligible to be placed on the 60-day injured list. With no other major league players known to be suffering from significant injuries, making room for King will require designating somebody for assignment. The Paddack signing is expected to be made official on Thursday. View the full article

As spring training gets underway, the San Diego Padres have no shortage of infield options. In fact, they would be remiss not to attempt to move one of these options if they really want to bolster their starting rotation. However, they may be looking at the possibility of one of those players getting reps in the grass. To a pool of reporters on Wednesday, Sung Mun Song shared that he was told he'll be "covering third, second, first, and also maybe outfield." He adds that while his primary position is third, his "goal is to be out there every single day and play any position that they want [him] to be out there for." Sung, 29, played all over the infield (except shortstop) for the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). However, in 2025, he didn't play first base, and he's never played the outfield in his career. His mindset is exactly what you want to hear from a player trying to establish himself in the States after a successful career in the KBO. Sung holds a career slash line of .283/.347/.431 with 80 home runs and 51 stolen bases across 3,236 plate appearances, various projection models have him being a below average hitter in his rookie campaign. Whether that will be the case remains to be seen, but his positional versatility could make up for what he may lack at the plate if he can produce even a mid-80s wRC+. Do you think Sung should focus on a single position in the short term, or do you think he can handle the adjustment to Major League Baseball well, also moving all around the diamond? Let us know in the comments! View the full article

Whether the Brewers would pursue a backup catcher was a hot topic over the final few weeks of the offseason. As they opened camp to pitchers and catchers Wednesday, the team answered the question more forcefully than they had to that point, signing old friend Gary Sánchez to a one-year deal worth $1.75 million. Two years after spending a campaign with the Brewers as a slugging backstop and occasional DH, Sánchez will reprise the role, though for one-fourth of the money he made last time around. More to come. View the full article

Whether the Brewers would pursue a backup catcher was a hot topic over the final few weeks of the offseason. As they opened camp to pitchers and catchers Wednesday, the team answered the question more forcefully than they had to that point, signing old friend Gary Sánchez to a one-year deal worth $1.75 million. Two years after spending a campaign with the Brewers as a slugging backstop and occasional DH, Sánchez will reprise the role, though for one-fourth of the money he made last time around. Jon Heyman of the New York Post had the news first. Sánchez, 33, batted .220/.307/.392 and swatted 11 home runs for the Brewers in 2024. Last year, with the Orioles, he played in just 29 big-league games and had only 101 plate appearances, but he hit .237/.297/.418. Though big and sluggardly, he plays acceptable defense at catcher, and his power remains a helpful threat. He's played for five teams in the last four years, but after having a comfortable and useful season as William Contreras's understudy in Pat Murphy's first campaign, Sánchez will get a second stint with the club. This makes the path to a spot on the Opening Day roster much tougher for both Reese McGuire (who signed a minor-league deal last month) and Jeferson Quero. Presumably, Quero will be the starting backstop for Triple-A Nashville to open the season, and the team will try to convince McGuire to stick around as a depth piece. Alternatively, Quero could be involved in a trade that brings Milwaukee a replacement for just-traded third baseman Caleb Durbin, but for now, that possibility feels remote. If nothing else, Sánchez brings power and a veteran presence to a young team with below-average raw pop. View the full article

It's an awkward time of year to review (or even preview) a starting rotation. Teams often go into camp with up to nine potential starters and (if they're very lucky) a couple of intriguing prospects. At least one projected member of the 26-man roster usually hits the injured list before Opening Day. There's still the chance for trades and signings, but what we see right now is the Cubs' Plan A for the rotation. The pitching injury rates of the current era necessitate serious depth. Last season was a good lesson for the Cubs on that score, as three members of their Opening Day rotation—Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon—missed significant time due to injuries. Matthew Boyd didn't miss time, but that was the first time in over half a decade that he'd stayed healthy all year; he's unlikely to do so again. Hence, we see the Cubs remaining interested in additions to their starting depth chart. For now, though, let's taxonomize the guys who are coming to camp as rotation candidates. Measuring Aces vs. Mid-Rotation Contenders In the top tier of starting pitching, you don't want to make any longwinded excuses for anyone. You want the statistics to leap off the page and command confidence. Ideally, you want at least one such stud at the front of a rotation. Do the Cubs have one? Let's define an ace arm in very simple terms. An ace arm should rank in the top 40 in the league in terms of long-term fundamentals. You don't want the guy to be too dependent on finesse and luck against the world's best hitters. We'll use two stats for fundamentals: Expected ERA (xERA), and Pitching+, via Fangraphs, the latter of which combines Stuff+ and Location+ modeling. A player with fundamentals below these expectations (even one who manages to get results) is showing a red flag: Those ace-caliber results may be inconsistent going forward. Still, there are plenty of dudes who have a complex approach to hacking the fundamentals, and the Cubs specialize in finding those guys. More importantly, perhaps, an ace will rank in the top 25 in basic results. We'll combine three measures to rank pitchers on that front: Earned Run Average (ERA), Home runs per nine innings (HR/9), and walks per nine innings (BB/9). One's ERA is the natural statistic for how reliable a player is, but it can sometimes overlook an elite player because of a few bad outings, or poor defensive support. Homer rate is less important during the regular season, except in extreme cases, but it becomes very important for assessing a player's ability to face elite slugging lineups in the postseason. Meanwhile, limiting walks is essential for amassing quality starts during the season but has a bit less impact against elite contact hitters in postseason. I computed total indices as an average of all five statistics, but with ERA weighted three times as heavily as the other two. After all, we want to emphasize run prevention in this portion. We'll also give a pitcher some extra credit if they play good defense, including controlling the running game well. For a World Series hopeful like the Cubs, you'd like to see the top 5 starting options to rank in the top 75 in both xERA and ERA (out of 127 players in the year 2025 who had 100 or more innings), and all of them, obviously, should be as highly ranked as possible. Without further ado, let's evaluate the leading three options for ace quality, based on their 2025 statistics. (Note, in the case of Boyd, adding in 2024 would inflate his overall results into clearer ace territory, but it was a small sample). The Top Trio: Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, and Edward Cabrera Horton ERA: 12th (2.67) HR/9: 18th (0.76) BB/9: 51st (2.52) xERA: 44th (3.88) Pitching+: 70th (97) TOTAL WEIGHTED RANK, 2025: 31 An elite pitcher rarely peaks in their rookie year. Ideally, a hurler loses some "major-league jitters" their sophomore season. Horton had ace-like numbers in ERA and HR/9 in his debut. He was appropriately showered with affection during Rookie of the Year voting. His best results came during the second half of the season ,when you most need it. His overall stuff and expected ERA should both be better this year, as we have seen him do better in minor-league performances with clean bill of health. If you're an optimist, you see an ace in the making. I expect top-40 fundamentals and top-25 results in 2026. It's worth remembering, though, that "sophomore slumps" are as real as those jitters we mentioned earlier. Boyd ERA: 29th (3.21) HR/9: 29th (0.95) BB/9: 23rd (2.10) xERA: 33rd (3.75) Pitching+: 76th (96) TOTAL WEIGHTED RANK, 2025, including good fielding bonus: 25 Boyd is famous for his nice guy attitude and leadership on the mound. Here's a mid-velocity lefty with very good breaking pitches, who really remade himself last year. I believe his career year in 2025 has some chance to be repeated, but his stuff has hit a hard ceiling. His Gold Glove-level defense makes him a borderline ace; he kept runners in check as well as anyone in baseball last year. His results are quite fringy for an Ace, without factoring in defense. However, as a lefty with 5 decent or good pitches, we can give him quite a bit of leeway on velocity, too. Cabrera ERA: 42nd (3.53) HR/9: 51st (1.11) BB/9: 80th (3.14) xERA: 56th (4.05) Pitching+: 21st (107) TOTAL WEIGHTED RANK, 2025: 47 Cabrera is virtually the opposite of the typical Cubs starter: a guy whose raw ingredients hint at an ace, but who has yet to put it all together for a full season. His numbers profile as classic third option, but with good enough momentum to be a trusted No. 2. The bad news is that he drags the Cubs down from an elite walk rate; the good news is his results should improve in the Friendly Confines, and with the pitcher-friendly Cubs defense behind him. The even better news is that he's young and has showed steady improvement three seasons in a row. He had a four-month stretch last year wherein he was in the top 5 in ERA. The 4-6 Rotation Arms: Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, and Jameson Taillon Breaking down the less starrish arms can lead to many arguments. You'll see cases of very high WAR and xERA paired with a bad ERA (Ben Brown, 2025), or a consistently impactful starter with a deceptively low WAR and stellar ERA (Jameson Taillon's 2024). Overall, the Cubs can be proud of their fourth through sixth guys; they're better than the back half of many rotations. The best of the bunch, Steele, certainly belonged to the first tier of the team's starters before his injury last year, but that very thing now makes it harder to gauge what the team will get from him and when. We'll judge him based on his 2024 stats, since he essentially lost 2025. Steele ERA: 17th (3.07) HR/9: 19th (0.80) BB/9: 52nd (2.47) xERA: 7th (2.81) Pitching+: 52nd (102) TOTAL WEIGHTED RANK, 2024: 26 Steele's 2024 self was as good as the team can reasonably hope for Horton, Boyd or Cabrera to be. However, two problems restrict his ranking in 2026. First, pitchers rarely play their best ball when they come back midseason from injury, especially in terms of fundamentals (Pitching+). Second, his results were a just below the desirable cutoff of top 40 in Pitching+, and thus, he's likely to face regression. He succeeded so much with precision before shredding his elbow that it's hard to expect him to be as good afterward. Between these two factors, we must expect Steele to have a shortened and diminished 2026. If he can reclaim health, he'll still be atop the rotation in 2027. Imanaga ERA: 20th (3.28) HR/9: 108th (1.64) BB/9: 4th (1.53) xERA: 28th (3.66) Pitching+: 39th (104) TOTAL WEIGHTED RANK, 2024 AND 2025: 34 Here, by the way, I've used his last two seasons' numbers taken together. I wish we could just roll with his 2024 stats, because he flashed ace-level results in his first major-league year. It's safer, though, to assume that he'll be somewhere between the stud he was that year and the suspect he was down the stretch of 2025. His velocity really became a problem last season, as he lost over 1 mph while navigating a stubborn hamstring strain. Still, the upside is real. We've seen it relatively recently, and he's a tenacious and creative competitor. Taillon ERA: 28th (3.45) HR/9: 83rd (1.37) BB/9: 12th (1.83) xERA: 46th (3.95) Pitching+: 60th (100) TOTAL WEIGHTED RANK, 2024 AND 2025: 41 We'll look at each of the last two seasons again here, to accentuate the reliability of the team's veteran workhorse. Taillon has put together two very impressive seasons, with a near-ace ERA and an elite walk rate that is confidence-inspiring. Still, his low strikeout rate hurts his xERA. In addition, those darn homers keep him out of postseason primacy. The only good news in that category is that he had a career-worst HR/9 year in 2025 and regression should be expected. Taillon has the exact profile of a season-long innings eater who wins many games with ruthless efficiency. He's definitely worth his $18-million salary, but he won't carry you in October like $30-million arms do. The Rest of the 40-Man Starters Colin Rea, Ben Brown, and Javier Assad: Better Than You Think Let's look at the rest of the important arms quickly. Colin Rea and Ben Brown finished last season with xERAs of 4.52 (85th) and 4.53 (86th), respectively. This means each team has, on average, three better pitchers capable of giving 100+ innings. When we look closer, it gets better. In BB/9, Rea was 50th (2.49), and Brown was 55th (2.71). Rea was tied for 52nd in HR/9 (1.13), whereas Brown can brag about his Pitching+'s 70th rank (97) being a floor, not a ceiling. In the case of Assad, you've got a guy who is much like Rea in junk pitching style, but somehow always outperforms Rea's (and his own) fundamentals. In terms of players with at least 250 innings pitched from 2023-2025 (134 results), Assad's ERA is shockingly good, at 29th-best (3.47). Adding to that, he boasts a HR/9 (1.10) that ranks 52nd, despite a sad xERA of 4.98 (117th) and equally bad BB/9 of 3.56 (117th). His horrendous Pitching+ scrapes the bottom of qualified players, and explains why he rarely strikes anyone out. This huge gap between actual and expected performance is why most analysts believe Assad will never again repeat his best two seasons. His best role on a good team is in long relief, although a non-contending team would immediately stick him into the back of the rotation. Caveats Clearly there's no exact science for projecting results from prior history. Pitching can be rather volatile across a season, let alone multiple seasons. The simplest evaluation is the most recent healthy year, though in some cases, two years is more appropriate. Comparisons: Who Potentially Has Three or Four Aces? Instead of thoroughly evaluating all 30 ballclubs, let's just compare six of the scariest rotations on highly complete contending squads: the Dodgers, Braves, TIgers Mariners, Phillies, and Red Sox. The point here is merely to illustrate how good the Cubs really are, rather than predict the relative quality of these teams. The Dodgers Stand Alone Los Angeles has an embarrassment of riches, of course. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell stand clearly above the Cubs' top four, although not by as much as you may think. It's hard to make statistical comparisons, because three of the four didn't have 100+ innings in 2025 or 2024. It will be interesting to see if they actually meet their lofty expectations. Of course, it doesn't end there. Roki Sasaki and River Ryan could blossom into deadly weapons this year. Four Top-Quality Performers, When Healthy: The Mariners, Tigers and Braves Seattle still has its deadly ace trio of Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby. Luis Castillo, who has some fringe ace stats at his best, is comparable to Cabrera in ERA and xERA. However, their next three guys can't compete with the Cubs' fifth through seventh options (Imanaga, Taillon, and Rea). Detroit can go man-for-man with Seattle, after signing Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander to complement their previous top duo of Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty. Skubal is, without controversy, the best pitcher in baseball. Valdez is an ace in his own right, and Verlander and Flaherty are solid mid-rotation pieces. The team won't have Reese Olson to round out their staff this year, as Olson is set to undergo season-killing surgery, but they have a handful of other young arms and former No. 1 pick Casey Mize to brace them against the risk of an injury to Verlander. Until camp opened, it looked like Atlanta would fit into this tier, too, although more tenuously. Chris Sale remains dominant at times, but is starting to age. Spencer Strider returned from Tommy John surgery, but wasn't his best self. Reynaldo López missed last season with shoulder trouble, and now Spencer Schwellenbach will spend at least the first two months of the year on the IL, too. The upside is very high for the Braves, but the downside is coming after them. Two Studs, One Fringe Ace: The Red Sox and Phillies Philadelphia's Christopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesús Luzardo (fringe) are good enough to top Horton, Boyd, and Cabrera, but Wheeler is coming off thoracic outlet syndrome and won't be ready to start the season. Similarly, Boston's Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suárez, and Sonny Gray (fringe) trio can strike fear in batters' hearts. Boston has better depth; Philadelphia has better upside. Neither is clearly superior to the Cubs, though. Conclusion Though other teams have truer aces, the Cubs blend depth and upside as well as almost anyone. They'll have to prove that they can hold up, and Cabrera and Horton have to take the next step after their quasi-breakouts in 2025, but this is an October-ready starting rotation. Unless and until they run into the Dodgers, they can hang with anyone. View the full article