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After a full offseason of hemming and hawing over who was and wasn't being acquired, the San Diego Padres have revealed their 26-man roster for Opening Day. While there, the starting rotation and the position players were set; the remaining decisions to be made had to deal with the bullpen. In order to get down to the final 26, the Friars had to make numerous moves, including adding two players to the major-league roster. One of those moves included putting right-handed starter Yu Darvish on the restricted list. Darvish had offseason elbow surgery and is expected to retire. Here is a list of what the Padres did: Selected the contract of right-handed starter Walker Buehler from Triple-A El Paso. Selected the contract of infielder Ty France from Triple-A El Paso. Placed right-handed starter Yu Darvish on the restricted list. Placed right-handed starter Joe Musgrove (right elbow inflammation) on the 15-day injured list. Placed right-handed starter Griffin Canning (surgery on left Achilles) on the 15-day injured list. Placed right-handed starter Matt Waldron (hemorrhoid surgery) on the 15-day injured list. Placed right-handed reliever Jason Adam (surgery on left quad) on the 15-day injured list. Placed left-handed reliever Yuki Matsui (strained left groin) on the 15-day injured list. Placed right-handed reliever Bryan Hoeing (right flexor tendon surgery) on the 15-day injured list. Placed infielder Sung Mun Song (strained right oblique) on the 10-day injured list. Placed infielder Will Wagner (strained right oblique) on the 10-day injured list. Starting rotation (5) Nick Pivetta, RH Michael King, RH Randy Vasquez, RH German Marquez, RH Walker Buehler, RH Buehler, the former Los Angeles Dodgers star, earned a spot in the rotation with a good spring. Vasquez was a surprising standout and could play a vital role throughout the season. Marquez had a bumpy Cactus League and, like Buehler, will need to prove himself as the season goes along, as there is a minimal financial investment. Bullpen (8) Mason Miller, RH Adrian Morejon, LH Jeremiah Estrada, RH David Morgan, RH Wandy Peralta, LH Kyle Hart, LH Bradgley Rodriguez, RH Ron Marinaccio, RH A unit that was one of the best in MLB last season returns virtually intact, with last year's closer, Robert Suarez, leaving via free agency (Atlanta). But Miller is more than a suitable replacement. Miller's profile, already pretty strong, should rise now that he is no longer with the A's. Rodriguez made his MLB debut last season and could work his way into important innings. Rodriguez and Marinaccio earned the final two bullpen spots. Catcher (2) Freddy Fermin Luis Campusano Fermin enters his first season as a starting catcher. While his defense isn't a question, his offense could be, although he had a terrific spring with the bat. Conversely, Campusano struggled this spring at the plate, which is by far the stronger part of his game. Infield (6) Gavin Sheets, 1B Jake Cronenworth, 2B Manny Machado, 3B Xander Bogaerts, SS Nick Castellanos, 1B-OF Ty France, 1B-2B-3B-LF France benefited from Song's injury to make the team as a non-roster player out of spring training. He hit well and showed he can play second and third base, positions he hasn't played much in recent MLB seasons. He did win the AL Gold Glove at first base last year. Castellanos was the headline acquisition in this group following his fallout in Philadelphia. He should get a lot of time between designated hitter and first base. Otherwise, Machado, Bogaerts, and Cronenworth as back as starters. Outfield (5) Ramon Laureano, LF Jackson Merrill, CF Fernando Tatis Jr., RF Miguel Andujar, LF-3B-1B Bryce Johnson, OF Tatis will be the key to how this offense clicks, regardless of where he hits in the order. Tatis had a nice World Baseball Classic, which could ignite him to start the season. With no starting jobs available due to the presence of Laureano, Merrill, and Tatis, Andujar was a free-agent addition meant to bolster the bench. While he doesn't hit many homers anymore, he does hit the ball well, especially against left-handers. Merrill is looking to bounce back from an injury-filled 2025. View the full article

New Marlins outfielder Austin Slater and manager Clayton McCullough talk with the media about Slater's one-year free agent deal and roster fit. View the full article

Coming off a franchise-record win total and an NLCS loss to the Dodgers, the 2019 Brewers turned toward youth in the rotation. That sentence applies again in 2026, too. Back then, it made perfect sense, with a trio of high-upside arms in Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff leading the young staff. The parallels are obvious, but the Brewers hope for a smoother start this time. While 2019 ended with a crushing Wild Card loss to eventual champion Washington, the early returns from two-thirds of the young group were rocky. Milwaukee’s front office had bet on the trio’s potential based on performance, development and skill sets. None had contributed much as starters the year prior, but their relief work—particularly in the postseason—showed flashes of real brilliance in 2018. Burnes (24 years old, 38 IP pre-2019): 2.61 ERA, 1.00 WHIP in 2018 2.00 ERA, 0.56 WHIP in nine postseason games Baseball America No. 46 overall prospect (pre-2018) and top Brewers farmhand Peralta (23 years old, 78.1 IP pre-2019): 2.65 ERA, 0.96 WHIP in first half of 2018 Three shutout innings in NLCS Game 4 Sub-2.70 ERA in 141 minor-league innings Woodruff (26 years old, 85.1 IP pre-2019): 2.03 ERA in 26.2 relief innings 20 K, 3 BB, 2.19 ERA (1.13 FIP) in four playoff outings Baseball America No. 61 prospect (pre-2018) with big minor-league performances You can see the vision. With a full offseason and spring to develop them, the Brewers hoped the upside would outweigh the risk. But the plan unraveled early—because baseball is hard, and development is never linear. Particularly for young pitchers, there is an ebb and flow to finding your way. With Peralta as the most experienced of the three at the big-league level (he had only 153 service days), maybe the organization was a little too confident. Burnes’s first four starts yielded 11 home runs in 17.2 innings and a 10.70 ERA. He spent most of the year shuttling between Milwaukee and the minors, posting a 7.70 ERA in 31.1 relief innings with the Brewers. Peralta fared only slightly better, sporting an 8.31 ERA in his first five starts before settling into a relief role (4.01 ERA in 49.1 IP). He didn't allow an earned run over his final five outings (6.1 IP), all in September, with 12 strikeouts, two wins, a hold and just one walk. Woodruff was the lone bright spot as a starter. He wasn’t dominant, but his May (1.36 ERA, 0.73 WHIP) was phenomenal, and he battled admirably in June and July to earn a 3.75 ERA to that point in the season. An oblique injury slowed him, but he returned to deliver four critical innings in the Wild Card Game. We know what these three became, but 2019 remains a reminder: expectations should stay realistic, and pitching development isn’t linear. The Brewers quickly turned to their depth that year, and they’ve built similar coverage for 2026. So how do the new arms compare? Milwaukee will open the season with four relatively young and inexperienced starters: Jacob Misiorowski (24 years old), Kyle Harrison (24), Brandon Sproat (25) and Chad Patrick (27). Some have more big-league innings than the 2019 group entering that season, and Patrick is the oldest. Harrison, despite his age, has nearly 200 MLB innings and probably doesn’t fit the “inexperienced” label. But the loose comparisons still line up: a Brandon (Sproat vs. Woodruff), a No. 39 with a nasty cutter (Patrick vs. Burnes), and an excitable youngster coming off a postseason breakout (Misiorowski vs. Peralta). Of course, the optimism for this group has concrete support, not just a comparison to the trio of the past. Misiorowski is one of baseball’s most electric young arms. His small 2025 sample included a dazzling postseason: 1.50 ERA (2.30 FIP) in 12 innings with 16 strikeouts and just three walks—highlighted by five dominant frames against the Dodgers. Patrick impressed early last year, with a 2.62 ERA (3.09 FIP) in his first 68.2 innings as a starter. After a midseason stumble, he stabilized in the bullpen and shined in October, striking out 11 with one walk in nine playoff innings—including five massive outs in NLDS Game 5. Sproat, Baseball America’s No. 81 prospect, is the least experienced, with just 22 service days. But his stuff is real, and despite a 4.79 ERA in his four MLB starts, his 2.80 FIP suggests more to come—especially with Milwaukee’s defense behind him. As usual, the Brewers’ season will hinge on youth and pitching. The talent is undeniable, but expecting no growing pains on their way to great heights is unfair. Maybe these guys are different. Maybe Milwaukee’s modern pitching infrastructure helps smooth the bumps. Or maybe it gets messy, and the depth gets tested. That’s not inherently bad—just uncertain. So, do these young starters follow a path similar to Woodruff, Peralta and Burnes? Or do they carve their own track—be it better or worse? The team's chances to win the pennant this time around depend heavily on the answer to that question. View the full article

Coming off a franchise-record win total and an NLCS loss to the Dodgers, the 2019 Brewers turned toward youth in the rotation. That sentence applies again in 2026, too. Back then, it made perfect sense, with a trio of high-upside arms in Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff leading the young staff. The parallels are obvious, but the Brewers hope for a smoother start this time. While 2019 ended with a crushing Wild Card loss to eventual champion Washington, the early returns from two-thirds of the young group were rocky. Milwaukee’s front office had bet on the trio’s potential based on performance, development and skill sets. None had contributed much as starters the year prior, but their relief work—particularly in the postseason—showed flashes of real brilliance in 2018. Burnes (24 years old, 38 IP pre-2019): 2.61 ERA, 1.00 WHIP in 2018 2.00 ERA, 0.56 WHIP in nine postseason games Baseball America No. 46 overall prospect (pre-2018) and top Brewers farmhand Peralta (23 years old, 78.1 IP pre-2019): 2.65 ERA, 0.96 WHIP in first half of 2018 Three shutout innings in NLCS Game 4 Sub-2.70 ERA in 141 minor-league innings Woodruff (26 years old, 85.1 IP pre-2019): 2.03 ERA in 26.2 relief innings 20 K, 3 BB, 2.19 ERA (1.13 FIP) in four playoff outings Baseball America No. 61 prospect (pre-2018) with big minor-league performances You can see the vision. With a full offseason and spring to develop them, the Brewers hoped the upside would outweigh the risk. But the plan unraveled early—because baseball is hard, and development is never linear. Particularly for young pitchers, there is an ebb and flow to finding your way. With Peralta as the most experienced of the three at the big-league level (he had only 153 service days), maybe the organization was a little too confident. Burnes’s first four starts yielded 11 home runs in 17.2 innings and a 10.70 ERA. He spent most of the year shuttling between Milwaukee and the minors, posting a 7.70 ERA in 31.1 relief innings with the Brewers. Peralta fared only slightly better, sporting an 8.31 ERA in his first five starts before settling into a relief role (4.01 ERA in 49.1 IP). He didn't allow an earned run over his final five outings (6.1 IP), all in September, with 12 strikeouts, two wins, a hold and just one walk. Woodruff was the lone bright spot as a starter. He wasn’t dominant, but his May (1.36 ERA, 0.73 WHIP) was phenomenal, and he battled admirably in June and July to earn a 3.75 ERA to that point in the season. An oblique injury slowed him, but he returned to deliver four critical innings in the Wild Card Game. We know what these three became, but 2019 remains a reminder: expectations should stay realistic, and pitching development isn’t linear. The Brewers quickly turned to their depth that year, and they’ve built similar coverage for 2026. So how do the new arms compare? Milwaukee will open the season with four relatively young and inexperienced starters: Jacob Misiorowski (24 years old), Kyle Harrison (24), Brandon Sproat (25) and Chad Patrick (27). Some have more big-league innings than the 2019 group entering that season, and Patrick is the oldest. Harrison, despite his age, has nearly 200 MLB innings and probably doesn’t fit the “inexperienced” label. But the loose comparisons still line up: a Brandon (Sproat vs. Woodruff), a No. 39 with a nasty cutter (Patrick vs. Burnes), and an excitable youngster coming off a postseason breakout (Misiorowski vs. Peralta). Of course, the optimism for this group has concrete support, not just a comparison to the trio of the past. Misiorowski is one of baseball’s most electric young arms. His small 2025 sample included a dazzling postseason: 1.50 ERA (2.30 FIP) in 12 innings with 16 strikeouts and just three walks—highlighted by five dominant frames against the Dodgers. Patrick impressed early last year, with a 2.62 ERA (3.09 FIP) in his first 68.2 innings as a starter. After a midseason stumble, he stabilized in the bullpen and shined in October, striking out 11 with one walk in nine playoff innings—including five massive outs in NLDS Game 5. Sproat, Baseball America’s No. 81 prospect, is the least experienced, with just 22 service days. But his stuff is real, and despite a 4.79 ERA in his four MLB starts, his 2.80 FIP suggests more to come—especially with Milwaukee’s defense behind him. As usual, the Brewers’ season will hinge on youth and pitching. The talent is undeniable, but expecting no growing pains on their way to great heights is unfair. Maybe these guys are different. Maybe Milwaukee’s modern pitching infrastructure helps smooth the bumps. Or maybe it gets messy, and the depth gets tested. That’s not inherently bad—just uncertain. So, do these young starters follow a path similar to Woodruff, Peralta and Burnes? Or do they carve their own track—be it better or worse? The team's chances to win the pennant this time around depend heavily on the answer to that question. View the full article

Opening Day arrives with all the usual pomp and circumstance, and in 2026, it carries a familiar mix of optimism and uncertainty for the Minnesota Twins—albeit, perhaps, with a bit more desperation tinging the optimism and a bit more dread mixed into the uncertainty. The roster is finalized. The long grind of spring training is over. Now comes the part that counts. There is something different about Opening Day. The pageantry feels bigger, the expectations feel sharper, and every roster decision suddenly matters more. Over the course of 162 games, this group will evolve, fracture, and reshape itself. But for now, these are the 26 players entrusted with carrying the Twins into a new season. Each one comes with a question. Catchers Ryan Jeffers: Can his body withstand the rigors of catching 100-plus games? Minnesota is committed to Jeffers taking on a heavier workload behind the plate. That is easier said than done. Catching is unforgiving, and durability has always been part of the evaluation. In his final year of team control, how his body holds up could directly impact both his performance and his future. Victor Caratini: How much will he be used at DH or first base? Caratini is more than just a backup. The Twins want his bat in the lineup, which means time away from the catcher position. How often they find those opportunities could determine how valuable he becomes. Infielders Josh Bell: Can the Twins help him improve below-average defense at first base? Minnesota has turned first base defense into a strength with recent Gold Glove winners in Carlos Santana and Ty France. Bell is not likely to continue that trend, but he doesn't need to. If he can simply be playable, his bat will carry the value. Luke Keaschall: Can he avoid a sophomore slump? There weren't many bright spots in 2025, but Keaschall was one of them. Now the league adjusts. The question is whether he can adjust back and meet rising expectations. Brooks Lee: Can he finally lock in the bat-to-ball skills he showed as a top prospect? Lee needs to solidify himself. That starts with steady defense at shortstop and continues with contact skills that once defined his profile. The margin for error is shrinking. Royce Lewis: Were his offensive struggles this spring a sign of a larger issue? A revamped swing led to a rough spring. Small samples can be misleading, but timing matters. If those struggles carry over, it raises real concern for one of the lineup’s most important hitters. Kody Clemens: Can he establish a regular role? Clemens has shown flashes, especially when given consistent at-bats. The problem is opportunity. With multiple left-handed options ahead of him, he must force the issue. Tristan Gray: Is his defense strong enough to back up at shortstop? The Twins chose Gray over other options like Orlando Arcia and Ryan Kreidler. That decision now puts pressure on his glove. If he can't handle the position, the roster math changes quickly. Outfielders Byron Buxton: Can he replicate his 2025 campaign? Last season was a reminder of what Buxton can be at his best. Health, production, and impact are all aligned. Doing it again is the challenge. Matt Wallner: Is 35+ home runs out of the question? Wallner’s role is clear. Hit for power. The Twins need it, and the time to prove he can deliver consistently is now. Austin Martin: Can he build off his strong finish to 2025? Martin earned trust late last season. Now, he steps into a key bench role as the primary right-handed option. Sustaining that momentum is critical. James Outman: Does he provide enough value to stick on the roster? Outman won the job over other options, such as Alan Roden. The tools are intriguing, but consistency has always been the hurdle. Trevor Larnach: Why is he still on the roster? It's a fair question. The roster leans heavily left-handed, and Larnach has yet to fully separate himself. He will need to produce quickly to justify his spot. Starting Pitchers Joe Ryan: Can he be the ace of the staff? An All-Star season set the stage, but back concerns this spring add uncertainty. If Ryan takes another step, he anchors the rotation. Either way, though, his future could become a trade deadline storyline. Bailey Ober: Will his velocity concerns follow him all season? Velocity trends have been a lingering concern. If this is the new normal, Ober will need to adapt in other ways to remain effective. Taj Bradley: Can he finally break out at the big-league level? After years of prospect hype and extended big-league exposure, the time has come. The flashes are there. Now it's about consistency, and consolidating some of the improvements he's made since coming to Minnesota at the deadline last year. Simeon Woods Richardson: Is there another level to his performance? He has been a steady contributor, but the Twins need more than steady. A jump toward mid-rotation reliability from Woods Richardson would change the outlook for the entire staff, but he seems to be working at the boundaries of his ability already. Mick Abel: Can he show enough control to become a playoff-caliber starter? Abel forced his way onto the roster with a strong spring. The stuff is undeniable. The command will determine everything—and that means both good location and consistent execution. Relief Pitchers Justin Topa: Can he show enough to be the team’s second-best right-handed option? Acquired in the Jorge Polanco trade, Topa was brought in to stabilize the bullpen. Late-inning trust must be earned quickly, and last year, he didn't look like a high-leverage arm. Cole Sands: Which version shows up in 2026? In 2024, Sands was a revelation. In 2025, he regressed. The gap between those versions is significant, and the Twins need the better one—one who throws harder, handles lefties better and misses more bats than he did last season. Eric Orze: Can he prove the Rays made a mistake? The Tampa Bay Rays rarely miss on bullpen evaluations. Orze has a chance to challenge that reputation, and his splitter suits the Twins' predilections nicely. Zak Kent: Can his strikeout numbers translate? An 11.8 strikeouts per nine rate in Triple-A is impressive. The question is whether major-league hitters will chase the same way minor-league ones did, or whether Kent can still miss bats while being forced into the zone more often. Cody Laweryson: How long does he stick on the roster? The last bullpen spot is always fluid. Laweryson enters as the most vulnerable arm, and will need immediate results to avoid a quick trip back to St. Paul. Taylor Rogers: What does he have left in the tank? Rogers is likely to open the season in the closer role. Experience matters, but performance will dictate how long that lasts. He's become such a low-intensity sinker-sweeper guy that the strikeout rate will be an important gauge of his utility. Anthony Banda: Can he get right-handed hitters out? Left-on-left matchups are not enough anymore. Without success against righties, his role becomes limited; that's why he was available this spring. Kody Funderburk: Can he establish himself as a late-inning option? A strong finish last season earned confidence. Now comes the test of sustaining that performance in meaningful situations, and of being consistent in a role that probably won't be. Opening Day rosters feel permanent in the moment, but they never are. By the end of the first weekend, there is a real chance this group already looks different. Injuries happen. Roles shift. Performances force decisions. That is the nature of a 162-game season. For now, these 26 players carry (seemingly) 206 questions into the year. The answers will define not only their individual paths, but the direction of the Twins season as a whole. What questions do you have regarding the players on the Opening Day roster? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Brandon Neely is a right-handed pitching prospect for the Boston Red Sox and is ranked among the organization's top 30 prospects. After a solid career at the University of Florida, he was selected in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft. Red Sox are working him as a reliever turned starter; however, he has the fixings to become an elite bullpen piece of the future. View the full article

The Blue Jays have named the 26 players who will make up their active roster when their season starts on Friday, March 27. The biggest surprise, if you can call it that, is that Rule 5 draft pick Spencer Miles has earned a spot in the bullpen over the more experienced Chase Lee. Meanwhile, the other notable (though even less surprising) piece of news is that Leo Jiménez failed to earn a spot on the 26-man roster and thus was designated for assignment. As expected, Angel Bastardo, another Rule 5 pick, was also DFA'd. Here is Toronto's official Opening Day roster, listed by position and in alphabetical order: Pitchers Dylan Cease Braydon Fisher Mason Fluharty Kevin Gausman Jeff Hoffman Eric Lauer Brendon Little Spencer Miles Tommy Nance Cody Ponce Tyler Rogers Max Scherzer Louis Varland Catchers Tyler Heineman Alejandro Kirk Infielders Ernie Clement Andres Gimenez Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Kazuma Okamoto Outfielders Addison Barger Nathan Lukes Jesus Sanchez Davis Schneider George Springer Myles Straw Daulton Varsho Rehabbing pitchers Shane Bieber, Yimi García, José Berríos, and Trey Yesavage have all been placed on the 15-day IL, while injured outfielder Anthony Santander has been placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to March 22). They join Bowden Francis, who landed on the 60-day IL back in February. View the full article

Jed Hoyer has been in charge of building the Chicago Cubs roster since late 2020, when Theo Epstein resigned and Hoyer was promoted to president of baseball operations. The 2026 campaign, then, will be his sixth as the architect of the club. He's 0-for-6, so far, when it comes to building a solid bench. This year, the glaring, flashing beacon of Hoyer's annual failure is Scott Kingery. Set to turn 32 next month, Kingery has 1,156 career plate appearances and a .227/.278/.382 batting line. He's a solid but unremarkable defender at any of a handful of positions. He is, by any definition, below the replacement level for a team with any semblance of developmental competence or resources to spend. By now, though, Cubs fans have become accustomed to having someone essentially unplayable keeping a portion of the bench warm each spring. In 2021, Eric Sogard played 78 games for the Cubs, despite batting .249/.283/.314 and being unimpressive at each position where David Ross played him. In 2022, the team tried out Jonathan Villar, Michael Hermosillo, and Clint Frazier in stints of varying lengths. Those were rebuilding years, but those weren't players who came in via July trades; they were the team's Plan A for bench spots. Nor did things improve as (in theory) the Cubs pivoted toward contention in 2023. That was the year of Trey Mancini, Eric Hosmer and Edwin Rios, Though the 2023 Cubs' failures of depth were responsible for their missing the postseason, Hoyer learned nothing. In 2024, he brought back all three of Patrick Wisdom, Miles Mastrobuoni, and Nick Madrigal, when even a generous assessment and an optimistic vision would only have justified keeping two of them. He also sought a mulligan on his repeated failures at first base by signing Garrett Cooper. In 2025, having failed spectacularly again, he invested more resources in addressing the bench—but came up just as empty, because Justin Turner, Gage Workman and Vidal Bruján were uncannily, unaccountably similar to the players who had flopped in their very roles over the previous three years. This winter, though, Hoyer did nothing better to deepen his positional roster. He's falling into a pattern that stretches across his tenure as the leader of the team: paying strict attention to detail in choosing big moves and mostly getting them right, but neglecting the bench or making the same mistakes there over and over. In fact, his approach to the bench has been very similar to the one he takes with the bullpen. It's worked like a charm for the relief corps, which might be giving the team false confidence about applying the same plan to the bench—where they've had no success whatsoever. Under Hoyer, the Cubs have signed major free agents (Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman) and extended key contributors (Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong). They've done well with those moves, and they build a solid starting lineup almost every year. But their lower-level moves have missed much more often than they've hit; the only mild exceptions are catchers Yan Gomes and Carson Kelly. This winter, Hoyer signed veteran slugger Tyler Austin, who was penciled into one spot on the bench. After he was hurt early in camp, though, the team scrambled a bit. They scooped up Michael Conforto, to complement the winner of a competition between minor-league signees Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick for the fourth outfield spot. If Austin had been the team's only spring loss, they might have slotted Matt Shaw in as their backup infielder, but once Suzuki went down with a sprained PCL, the path opened for an extra infielder, with Shaw getting more time in right field. Thus, Kingery will sponge up a spot on a team with playoff aspirations, for the first time in his entire career. He was once a moderately hyped prospect, but he was a bust, and his only significant playing time since the pandemic came with last year's Angels. It's a galling error in team-building to have Kingery on the roster, even if it's only for a fortnight. It's a stark reminder of Hoyer's consistent inability to keep up with (among others) the rival Milwaukee Brewers, who perennially find lots of value at the bottom of their roster and with low-level pickups. That's why the Brewers have run circles around the Cubs for the last half-decade, and if they beat Chicago out for a fourth straight division title in 2026, it will be for the same reason. Kingery didn't even play well this spring, except by drawing a fistful of walks and stealing some bases once he got on. He's on the roster solely because, when two players were hurt in the preseason, Hoyer's creaky construction of the roster was immediately exposed. It shouldn't be long before Kingery is pushed out, but even once he is, Conforto and Carlson will have relatively safe jobs—and neither is an especially good bet to have a good 2026. The Cubs must do better at this, but they extended Hoyer last summer, so the decision-maker will remain the same. Hoyer needs to do some serious self-evaluation and improve as a reinforcer of his positional core, but it's already too late to put the pieces in place as well as he should have for this year. View the full article

Jays Centre is taking a close look at every position on the Toronto Blue Jays heading into the 2026 season. Check out prior entries in the series here: Catcher First Base Second Base Shortstop Third Base Left Field Right Field Toronto Blue Jays Designated Hitters at a Glance Starter: George Springer Backup: Anthony Santander Just Passing Through: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, anyone rehabbing an injury First Man Up: Eloy Jiménez George Springer won the Silver Slugger Award last season behind a resurgent campaign at age 35. He was hot out of the gates and stayed that way until the season ended. In his ‘slumpiest’ month (June), he still put up a 108 wRC+ (indicating he was 8% better than the league average). In each of July, August, September and October, he was over 200. He led all Blue Jays in Wins Above Replacement (both the Baseball Reference and FanGraphs versions), hit more homers (32) than anyone on the team, and led the club in stolen bases (18) and OPS+ (161). I say if he repeats a season like that, we let him rename the position to whatever he wants. Springer was at his best when hitting in the DH spot, but he only played about half of the Jays’ games there. He also made appearances in all three outfield spots. While the bat stayed hot when Springer was in the field, his time on the defensive side of the ball was below average. He made 57 appearances across the outfield, and you can choose your favourite metric or the good ol’ eye test – it seems pretty clear Springer’s best spot in the lineup is at the DH. The second most DH appearances on the team went to the newly acquired Anthony Santander, who played 30 games at DH (plus an additional 23 in the field). Santander never looked right at the plate, and a (practically) season-ending trip to the IL in May suggests he was probably playing hurt from the beginning (with his outfield wall collision being the proverbial camel’s straw). Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk made 23 and seven appearances at DH, respectively, mainly as maintenance days from their usual position. No one else remaining on the team made more than one. The real question around the DH spot this season will be: Can Springer do it again? Before the news broke that Santander would be missing the majority of this season, both Springer and the Jays as an organization talked about rotating players through the field and DH spots. Springer has continually expressed a desire to play the field, and it will be up to manager John Schnieder to find the right balance of keeping one of his star players happy, fresh and productive. Based on last season, I’d say that can be accomplished. Outside of something happening to another player that necessitates an extended stay at DH, there isn’t anyone healthy on the roster that would threaten Springer’s hold on the position. If Springer went down, however, there also isn’t a clear successor. The Jays have plenty of capable players who could be comfortably rotated through the DH spot if Springer needs a few maintenance days. If he were to see an extended absence from the lineup, one interesting name to consider is Eloy Jiménez. Bryan Jaeger covered how Jiménez could fit on the roster, and Jiménez had more plate appearances at DH in spring training than any other Blue Jay (43 vs Springer’s 41; no other Jay had more than five). That still doesn’t necessarily put him first in line for the call-up, but if he starts the year hot in Buffalo and Springer struggles, there might be some temptation to shake things up. The DH, or OP if you prefer, is Springer’s to lose, and there’s nothing to suggest that this will be the year that it happens. View the full article

As many managers and front-office leaders will say, the Opening Day roster is good for exactly one day. But it is also a significant achievement for players who have never started a season on an MLB roster. The Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday revealed the 26 players who will line up along the baselines and be introduced to the American Family Field sellout crowd on Thursday before taking on the Chicago White Sox (1:10 p.m. CT first pitch). As part of that, the Crew had to make several moves to get down to that number. Here is what the Brewers did (all 15-day injured list moves are retroactive to Sunday): Optioned right-handed reliever Easton McGee to Triple-A Nashville. Right-handed starter Quinn Priester (right thoracic outlet syndrome) was placed on the 15-day IL. Right-handed reliever Craig Yoho (strained right calf) was placed on the 15-day IL. Left-handed Rob Zastryzny (strained left shoulder) on the 15-day IL. Outfielder Steward Berroa (strained right shoulder) was placed on the 15-day IL. Confirmed the previously announced move of outfielder Akil Baddoo (strained left quad) to the 60-day IL. That is the bad news. Here is the good news: Making their first Opening Day roster are Jacob Misiorowski, Brandon Sproat, and Grant Anderson. Starting rotation (5) Jacob Misiorowski, RH Chad Patrick, RH Brandon Sproat, RH Kyle Harrison, LH Brandon Woodruff, RH The only question was if Woodruff would be healthy enough to begin the season or have to go on the IL for a brief time. Worries cropped up with a big drop in velocity in the fourth inning of this last spring start, but he will continue his comeback from a lat injury in the majors. Expect short outings to begin the season. Misiorowski starts Opening Day after making his MLB debut in June. There is plenty of talent here, but also lots of inexperience outside of Woodruff. Sproat is the Freddy Peralta replacement, coming over in the trade with the New York Mets. Bullpen (8) Trevor Megill, RH Abner Uribe, RH Angel Zerpa Aaron Ashby, LH Jared Koenig, LH DL Hall, LH Grant Anderson, RH Jake Woodford, RH Woodford joined the team on Tuesday in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, which cost McGee a spot on the Opening Day roster. Megill and Uribe are a terrific 1-2 punch at the back end, and now get support from Zerpa, who came over from the Kansas City Royals via trade. The depth is very good here. Catcher (2) William Contreras Gary Sanchez Contreras had offseason surgery on the middle finger of his catching hand, an injury that happened late in the 2024 season and plagued him throughout 2025. He could be an MVP candidate as he begins the season healthy. Infield (6) Andrew Vaughn, 1B Brice Turang, 2B Luis Rengifo, 3B Joey Ortiz, SS Jake Bauers, 1B-OF David Hamilton, IF Rengifo takes over at third base following the trade of Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox. Can he get back to his pre-injury 2024 form? Vaughn begins his first full season with the Crew after making a splash following his trade from the White Sox during the 2025 season. Ortiz has a fresh start after a frustrating offensive showing in 2025, his first as the Brewers' starting shortstop. Outfield (5) Christian Yelich, LF Jackson Chourio, LF Garrett Mitchell, CF Sal Frelick, RF Brandon Lockridge, CF Mitchell is looking to stay healthy and showcase the skills that led the Brewers to draft him in the first round in 2020. If he can, this could be a pretty productive group offensively, with Yelich at designated hitter. Chourio, just two weeks after turning 22, has shown the floor to his game is 20 homers and 20 stolen bases. He is the youngest player in MLB history to have back-to-back 20-20 seasons. This will be a standout defensive group regardless. View the full article

When Royce Lewis was selected first overall in the 2017 MLB Draft, the expectation was simple. He was supposed to be a future superstar and the face of the Twins franchise. Alas, his journey in professional baseball has been anything but a smooth ascent to the firmament. Multiple ACL tears and a lengthy injury history have interrupted his development at nearly every turn, forcing him to spend more time rehabbing than refining his game. Even so, the flashes have always been there. The moments that remind you exactly why he went No. 1 overall have not been hard to find, especially when the lights were brightest. That's the version of Lewis everyone has been waiting to see over a full season, which is why this spring has drawn some attention for the wrong reasons. In 45 at-bats this spring, Lewis batted .133/.160/.289, with 2 home runs, 2 stolen bases, 2 walks and 11 strikeouts. The surface-level production was rough, and even when you look a little deeper, the contact quality offered little reassurance. Lewis did post a reasonably strong 107.4 MPH 90th-percentile exit velocity, but his average exit velocity was just 88.7 MPH and he hit just over 35% of his balls in play at 95 MPH or higher. For a player whose value comes from the damage he can do when he connects, that lack of consistent authority stands out. It's also worth noting that this has not come against top-tier pitching. According to Baseball Reference’s opponent quality metric, Lewis faced a 7.9 out of 10 level of competition this spring, with 10 representing a typical major-league pitcher. In simple terms, much of his playing time came against minor-league arms, rather than big leaguers, which only adds to the concern one feels at first glance. That's really where this conversation starts. It's fair to ask whether these struggles are simply a rough stretch or something more meaningful, but the answer depends on how much weight you want to give a handful of spring at-bats. There are several reasons to believe this was basically a fluke. The most obvious place to start is his batting average on balls in play, which was an atrocious .114. That number isn't just low; it's essentially impossible to sustain. Even hitters who are consistently overmatched don't run a mark that low over time, which means some level of correction is inevitable as the sample grows. Beyond that, there are still signs that the underlying impact ability has not disappeared. Lewis produced a 13.5% barrel rate this spring, according to Statcast, which tells us that his high EV90 wasn't fueled by hammering the ball into the ground. That figure would have placed him comfortably above the league average last season, and suggests that when he does square the ball up, the quality of contact is still there. The disconnect comes from the inconsistency in getting to that contact. His overall exit velocity and strikeout rate point to a hitter who is not consistently on time or fully comfortable in the box. That would not be unusual, given the context of his offseason. Lewis made adjustments to both his stance and approach over the winter, and that type of change often comes with an adjustment period. Even established hitters can look out of sync in spring training when they are working through mechanical tweaks, especially when the focus is on process, rather than immediate results. Pile the question of sample size on top of these considerations, and it's easy to downplay the problem. Lewis has already shown that he can perform at a high level against major-league pitching, and he has done it in meaningful moments. The raw talent that made him the top pick in the draft is still present, and the underlying metrics suggest that his ability to impact the baseball has not disappeared. As we've already documented, though, there are reasons beyond the stat line to be concerned, too. What matters more is how he looks once the games begin to count, when the focus shifts from adjustments to execution. For now, the results are not pretty, but they're also not especially predictive. It is fair to acknowledge the slow start, and it's reasonable to monitor how he looks early in the season. At the same time, the combination of a tiny sample, an unsustainably low BABIP, and ongoing adjustments makes it difficult to treat this as anything more than a temporary lull. If you have to choose between the two, view this as an unimportant (though not strictly encouraging) spring blip. As the season begins, though, he sure hasn't answered the questions that hung over him all winter. View the full article

One quirk of the 2026 Miami Marlins schedule is that the organization's first minor league game begins before its major league opener. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp host the Rochester Red Wings this Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET, while first pitch of Opening Day in Miami will be approximately five minutes later. The Jumbo Shrimp announced their initial 30-man active roster on Wednesday afternoon. Don't get too attached to this group, though, as Triple-A rosters tend to churn constantly throughout the course of the season. Seven of our Fish On First Top 30 prospects have been assigned to Jacksonville as indicated in parentheses below. That's without including Maximo Acosta (FOF #15), who will likely be optioned to Triple-A once he recovers from his left oblique strain. Pitchers (15): Garrett Acton, Bradley Blalock, Josh Ekness (FOF #27), Dax Fulton, Braxton Garrett, Cade Gibson, Ryan Gusto, William Kempner, Zach McCambley, Patrick Monteverde, Jack Ralston, Robby Snelling (FOF #3), Jake Walkinshaw, Josh White (FOF #25), Tyler Zuber Catchers (3): Bennett Hostetler, Joe Mack (FOF #2), Brian Navarreto Infielders (7): Jesús Bastidas, Jacob Berry, Deyvison De Los Santos (FOF #28), Nathan Martorella, Cody Morissette, Johnny Olmstead, Jared Serna Outfielders (5): Kemp Alderman (FOF #10), Matthew Etzel, Daniel Johnson, Ethan O’Donnell, Andrew Pintar 7-day IL: Evan McKendry, Jesús Tinoco, Thomas White (FOF #1) Notable prospects who finished the 2025 season with the Shrimp but didn't crack this roster include right-hander Nigel Belgrave and left-hander Dale Stanavich. Expect them to start off with Double-A Pensacola. Pensacola's full roster will be announced next week. View the full article

Spring training is a time for timing to return, for mechanics to sharpen, and for everyone around the game to find their rhythm again. That does not just apply to hitters and pitchers. Broadcasters are shaking off rust too, and sometimes that leads to moments that take on a life of their own. That is exactly what happened in the Twins television booth when Glen Perkins and Cory Provus found themselves tangled in an exchange about Byron Buxton and his uniform style. It started innocently enough. Or at least it was supposed to. Perkins attempted to describe Buxton’s preference for wearing his baseball pants all the way down rather than pulled up to show high socks. Instead, he delivered a question that immediately veered off course. Perkins (GP): “You ever seen Buck with his pants down?” Provus, caught off guard, tried to clarify. Provus (CP): “Uh, no. Like in shorts?” GP: “No, like he’s got…he doesn’t have his,... no socks showing.” CP: “Ah, I see what you’re saying.” From there, the moment snowballed. Perkins tried to explain. Provus tried to recover. The booth never quite found its footing again, and within hours, the clip was circulating far beyond the usual Twins audience. It is the kind of exchange that lives in the uncomfortable middle ground between confusion and comedy. No one involved meant anything beyond a simple observation about uniform style, but the phrasing turned it into something else entirely. That disconnect is exactly why it spread. To their credit, Perkins and Provus leaned into it. During the spring training finale against the Boston Red Sox, they revisited the moment with a level of self awareness that made it even better. CP: “Take a look at that sharp uniform today, and just because we are thorough, the baseball pants the baseball pants are down at the bottom.” Perkins followed with a line that perfectly captured the absurdity of the entire situation. GP: “He has got his pants up around his waist, but also down around his ankles at the same time.” CP: “Baseball pants” GP: “Baseball pants” CP: “Baseball pants. Well that became a thing” At that point, everyone was in on the joke. Even Derek Shelton, who joined the broadcast, admitted the moment had taken on a life of its own. He said his phone lit up with messages from fellow parents in his volleyball circles, all reacting to what they had heard. His reaction was about what you would expect from someone trying to process the unexpected. "The first time I heard it, I was like, 'Good God, I don't know how to comment on this or think about it.' So, yeah, I don't know," Shelton said. "I was actually going to say last inning that Buck looks good with his pants down, not his pants on." Shelton even joked about nearly adding his own line to the chaos, saying he considered pointing out that Buxton looked good with his pants down, before wisely thinking better of it. Most importantly, he recognized what the moment had become. DS: “You guys definitely caught people’s attention. And the one thing about it is no one got canceled, which is the most important thing. And number two, you guys decided that you were going to bring the Twins to the forefront of the viral universe for about four or five hours.” That might be the most accurate summary of all. For his part, Buxton handled it exactly how you would expect from a veteran who has seen just about everything at this point. According to Perkins, the center fielder could not do anything but laugh when the two crossed paths afterward. Spring training can feel long. The games do not count. The repetitions can blur together. But every now and then, something breaks through the routine and reminds everyone that baseball is still a game, and the people around it are still human. This was one of those moments. It was awkward. It was unintentionally hilarious. It was completely harmless. And in a sport that often takes itself very seriously, it was a reminder that sometimes the best content is the kind no one plans. All it took was one question, one misunderstanding, and one pair of baseball pants to give the Twins their most unexpected viral moment of the spring. View the full article

With the emergence of Maikel Garcia as an everyday starter at third base in 2025, Garcia has locked down the position for 2026, barring injury. If Garcia needs a day off, there are a few options in the Royals system to give him a break. Royals Centerfielders At A Glance Starter: Maikel Garcia Backups: Nick Loftin Depth: Tyler Tolbert Prospects: Peyton Wilson, Colton Becker, Sam Ruta, Austin Charles Non-Roster Invites: Josh Rojas, Brandon Drury, Kevin Newman Royals fWAR Ranking Last Year: 2nd out of 30 Royals fWAR Projection This Year: 7th out of 30 The Good Garcia is coming off a career year in which he posted 5.6 fWAR and slashed .286/.351/.449 with a 121 wRC+. In 2025, Garcia earned his first career All-Star selection, won a Gold Glove at third base, and finished 14th in AL MVP voting. Following his stellar season, the Royals rewarded him with a five-year contract extension that will keep him in Kansas City until 2030 with an option for 2031. Garcia carried that production into the World Baseball Classic. Representing his home country, Garcia led Venezuela to win its first-ever WBC championship in 2026. In seven games, Garcia slashed .385/.393/.577, earning tournament MVP honors. Following his contributions to the Venezuelan national team, the Royals will hope he can carry the momentum into the 2026 regular season. Garcia excels at getting on base, posting a wOBA of .345 last season. His plate discipline was borderline elite with chase, whiff, strikeout, and walk rates all grading in the 91st percentile or better. While he does not swing at a very high rate, he excels at getting contact when he does swing, with a zone contact rate of 90.5% (90th percentile). Near the end of 2025, Garcia began spending more time in the leadoff spot and has been hitting there often during his spring training games. After the Royals had struggled to find a consistent threat in the leadoff spot in 2025, Garcia looks to be the leading contender to fill that role and combine with Bobby Witt Jr. at the top of the order. With his on-base abilities combined with his elite plate discipline, Garcia and Witt could become one of the most dangerous one-two punches in the league. The Bad If Garcia can repeat his production from 2025 and remain healthy, the Royals will not have too much to worry about at third base. With the 7th best projection from Fangraphs going into 2026, there’s reason to remain optimistic. If there was an area where Garcia could improve, it is his power profile. barrel rate, max exit velocity, and pull-air percentage are all below league average, which limits his power potential. This is a minor nitpick, and if Garcia can maintain his production in other areas, it will not be a concern. While the backups would offer a sizable drop-off in production, there are a few players whom the Royals could turn to if needed. Nick Loftin will be the primary backup at third base. While his production during spring training has been good, slashing .282/.364/.513 with a 131 wRC+, projections are not as high on him going into 2026. Projections range his wRC+ between 75 and 98, and his projected fWAR ranges from 0.0 to 0.8. The other depth option, Tyler Tolbert, has even lower projections. There have been a couple of standout non-roster invitees in Kevin Newman and Josh Rojas, but they are both looking to bounce back from disappointing 2025 seasons of their own. The Royals will certainly hope that they do not need to rely on either for meaningful innings in 2026, if they even make the final roster. The Bottom Line Maikel Garcia looks like he could be a star in the making following his 2025 and WBC performances and is now a foundational piece for the Royals. If he can remain healthy in 2026, Garcia looks to be poised to continue his stellar form. The Royals do have MLB experience to back up Garcia, should the need occur, but they will offer a noticeable decline in production if called upon. Previous Installments: Second Base Position Analysis Catcher Position Analysis First Base Position Analysis Corner Outfield Position Analysis Center Field Position Analysis View the full article

The initial field for the 2026 National League Rookie of the Year award is crowded. One of the entrants is Chicago Cubs catcher-designated hitter Moisés Ballesteros. The 22-year-old made his debut in 2025 but kept his rookie status, as he stayed below the thresholds of 130 at-bats and 45 days on an active roster. Ballesteros's competitors include New York Mets right-hander Nolan McLean, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart, Miami Marlins outfielder Owen Caissie (hey, we know him), Mets outfielder Carson Benge and St. Louis Cardinals second baseman J.J. Wetherholt. Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin will join this group as soon as he's promoted from the minor leagues, but the head start the others will have is sure to make things tougher on the teenaged Griffin. If Ballesteros bests his competition, he will become the seventh Cub in franchise history to be voted Rookie of the Year. Previous winners include a Baseball Hall of Famer and a franchise icon. Three Hall of Famers got votes, but fell short. The Rookie of the Year award, which is voted on by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, was first given out in 1947. Jackie Robinson was the first recipient, for both leagues. Awards for each league began in 1949. North Side Baseball went through club and Rookie of the Year history to determine the Cubs' 10 best rookie seasons since the award's inception. Results are ranked based on season stats, excitement surrounding the player, and the players who finished behind or ahead of them in the voting. The player's finish in the voting is listed in parentheses. Chicago Cubs 10 Best Rookie Seasons Since 1947 10. Ken Hubbs, 1962 (Rookie of the Year) Hubbs pulled off a huge feat in his ROY season: he beat out Bill Mazeroski for the National League Gold Glove at second base. Mazeroski had won the award the previous two years and would take home the next six. Teammates saw star potential in Hubbs, but tragedy kept it from being realized. Hubbs died on Feb. 13, 1964, when the single-engine Cessna 172 plane he was piloting crashed into Utah Lake in Provo, Utah. He was 22 years old. 9. Randy Hundley, 1966 (4th in voting) The Cubs acquired Hundley in a trade with the San Francisco Giants in December 1965 and named him their No. 1 catcher the following spring. He ran with the opportunity, taking 144 starts behind the plate; hitting 19 home runs; and nabbing a major league-leading 51 baserunners. In hindsight, he deserved better than fourth in the voting. He finished behind middling middle infielders Tommy Helms, Sonny Jackson and Tito Fuentes. 8. Jerome Walton, 1989 (Rookie of the Year) Walton had two things going for him in the voting: he played center field for a division winner, and he set a modern (since 1900) franchise record with a 30-game hitting streak that began in July after the All-Star break. (He still holds that record.) His main competition in the balloting was teammate Dwight Smith, but Walton won comfortably, receiving 22 of the 24 first-place votes. Smith received the other two. Walton also finished 13th in MVP voting. 7. Geovany Soto, 2008 (Rookie of the Year) Soto was a September callup in 2005, 2006 and 2007, so he already knew his way around Wrigley when the club anointed him its No. 1 catcher in 2008. At the plate, Soto delivered premium production: a 120 wRC+, an .868 OPS and 23 homers in 583 plate appearances. Behind the plate, he was a workhorse, making 131 starts. He was an All-Star and he finished 13th in MVP voting. Oh, and he also beat out a fellow named Joey Votto for ROY (probably indefensibly, because Votto batted .297/.368/.506, already flashing his Hall of Fame talent), garnering 31 of 32 first-place votes. 6. Shota Imanaga, 2024 (Fourth in voting) Imanaga joined Kosuke Fukudome and Seiya Suzuki as Japanese stars who had big rookie seasons for the Cubs. The left-hander put up a 2.91 ERA, a 3.72 FIP, a 25.1% strikeout rate and a 4.0% walk rate in 173 1/3 innings; made the NL All-Star team; and finished fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting. He just ran into a loaded rookie class, finishing behind Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio in the voting. 5. Mark Grace, 1988 (Second in voting) Grace gave Cubs fans a preview of what he would bring to the field during his entire 13-year run in Chicago: elite line-drive hitting and bat control, and Gold Glove-caliber defense at first base. That combination wasn't enough for him to beat out Cincinnati Reds third baseman Spuds McKenzie—er, Chris Sabo (as always, Google it)—for Rookie of the Year. In the end, however, Grace had, by far, the better career. Between Sabo beating out Grace and Soto beating out Votto, we can call it even between the Cubs and Reds. 4. Ernie Banks, 1954 (Second in voting) Banks made history the previous September when he, along with fellow infielder Gene Baker, integrated the Cubs. In 1954, he established himself as the franchise's long-term answer at shortstop. Banks played in all 154 games, hitting 19 home runs and a posting a 7.7% strikeout rate. Curiously, he finished 16th in NL MVP voting but second in Rookie of the Year voting to St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Wally Moon, who received no points in the MVP balloting. 3. Billy Williams, 1961 (Rookie of the Year) The sweet-swinging Williams was still eligible for the award in '61 after being up with the Cubs in both 1959 and 1960. He broke camp as the starting right fielder, and then he made the most of the chance: 25 home runs and a .278/.338/.484 slash line in 147 games. The '61 season launched Williams's Hall of Fame career, which ended with him collecting 2,711 hits and 426 home runs. He is, beyond debate, the greatest living Cub, and the proudest remaining symbol of the team's long history. 2. Kris Bryant, 2015 (Rookie of the Year) Imagine how good his rookie season would have been if he had debuted on Opening Day, instead of 12 days later. (That's for the people who are still salty about the service time manipulation). The delay did not affect Bryant. He posted a 136 wRC+, an .858 OPS, 26 home runs and 13 stolen bases in 151 games. He snagged an All-Star berth and finished 11th in MVP voting. Maybe the club was right about his defense at third base, though. Manager Joe Maddon played Bryant at third, first and all three outfield positions, and didn't always play stellar defense at the hot corner. 1. Kerry Wood, 1998 (Rookie of the Year) Wood became a rookie legend in his fifth career outing. On a damp May afternoon at Wrigley Field, the 20-year-old right-hander tied Roger Clemens' nine-inning MLB record with 20 strikeouts in a one-hit, no-walk shutout of the Houston Astros. Wood's feat would be overshadowed that summer by Sammy Sosa's pursuit of Roger Maris' home run record, but the kid from Texas kept putting up strikeouts in the background (33.3% strikeout rate in 166 2/3 innings). He edged out a future Hall of Famer, Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, for ROY. View the full article

Manny Machado has held down the hot corner for the San Diego Padres since signing a 10-year, $300 million contract before the 2019 season. He has played third base well and, for the most part, been the player Friars fans expected when he left the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hasn't hit fewer than 27 homers, his 2025 total, in any of the full seasons since, being either the No. 1 or No. 2 item on the checklist for opposing pitchers to be aware of in the Padres lineup. There is veteran depth to give Machado some rest and keep his bat fresh, but there is nothing imminent in the prospect pipeline. Padres Third Basemen At A Glance Starter: Manny Machado Backup: Sung Mun Song, Miguel Andujar Depth: Jose Miranda Prospects: Jorge Quintana, Deivid Coronil Padres fWAR ranking last year: Ninth out of 30. Padres fWAR projection this year: Ninth out of 30. The Good One of the anchors of the Padres' offense, Machado bounced back from a subpar, by his standards, 2023 season due to a constant pain in his right elbow to put together similar campaigns in 2024 (.275/.325/.472 slash line) and 2025 (.275/.335/.460). Even the home runs (29 and 27) we nearly identical, while he drove in 105 runs in 2024 to 2025's 95, while reversing that trend when it came to runs scored (77 and 91). He earned down-ballot NL MVP votes each of those seasons. Machado enters 2026 as a 33-year-old, meaning the right-handed hitter should still be producing as the elite hitter that he has been in his career. While he might have lost a little from his 7.1 fWAR season of 2022, when he finished second in NL MVP voting following a .298/.366/.531 slash line with 32 homers and 102 RBIs, he still is an impact bat in the middle of the Padres' order. Part of the reason new manager Craig Stammen is tinkering with the top four in his lineup during spring training is to make sure that not only is the offense maximized, but that Machado has the protection he deserves. Defensively, Machado remains solid. He makes a lot of plays seem routine and never panics. Every throw seems to be a perfect chest-high toss to the first baseman. He also posts every day, having played in 150 or more games every full season (except 2023 with the ailing elbow) since 2014, when a knee injury ended his year early. With reinforcements brought in to play third base in Song and Andujar in particular, Machado could get some time off his feet and still remain in the lineup as the designated hitter, not only keeping him at the top of his game defensively, but more importantly offensively as well. The Bad Machado turns 34 in July. He signed an 11-year, $350 million contract that began in 2023, which means he is on the books through 2033. That deal is light on the front end, with Machado having earned $17.09 million each of the last two years, increasing to $25.09 million this year and jumping to a franchise-record $39.09 million next season, the figure he will make until the deal expires when he is 41 years old. The Padres certainly won't be getting MVP-caliber performances for the final eight years of that contract, but he has also been underpaid the last three seasons and will be this year, too. The Friars are hoping to get another three or four good seasons out of Machado offensively before any decline starts to take place. He struck out 131 times in 2025, two shy off his career worst in 2022. How that affects him defensively is something else to consider seeing as his metrics have slipped in recent years, but that is a discussion to be had down the road. For now, Machado is easily the best defensive option at the hot corner on the roster. The Bottom Line Machado is the present and the future at third base until he proves he can't handle the position, at which time he either moves to first base, left field, or DH. But again, that is at least a few years away. Machado's fewest games at third base with the Padres and playing for a full season was the 100 he played in 2023, when he served as the DH 51 times. He'll be expected to take the majority of starts in 2026, though his backups will determine how much rest he can really get. View the full article

The final days of spring training include plenty of roster movement across baseball, as non-roster invitees exercise the opt-out and upward mobility clauses in their minor-league contracts. The Brewers are not strangers to adding some of those newly available players to their roster shortly before Opening Day. They did it again on Tuesday afternoon, acquiring right-hander Jake Woodford from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor-league pitcher K.C. Hunt and cash considerations. Woodford, 29, has pitched in parts of six big-league seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He spent the spring in Rays camp, where he recently exercised his upward mobility clause after they reassigned him to minor-league camp. He'll get a big-league opportunity in Milwaukee, which added him to its 40-man roster while placing outfielder Akil Baddoo on the 60-day injured list with a left quad strain. Woodford, who has primarily started in the minor leagues but has made 86 of his 111 big-league appearances out of the bullpen, is expected to fill a multi-inning relief role. "I think he's built up to 40-plus pitches," manager Pat Murphy said. "He definitely has a history, and obviously, we're excited about acquiring him." "We have some history with him," president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said, referring to Woodford's time in St. Louis. "He's an interesting arm that can play a valuable role in a number of different spots in our bullpen, or potentially even at the front of games." A former first-round pick by the Cardinals in the 2015 draft, Woodford showed flashes of his potential during his first few big-league seasons, but he has since struggled while working as a low-leverage innings eater. In 256 career innings, he's pitched to a 5.10 ERA, 4.84 FIP, and 111 DRA-, according to Baseball Prospectus. Woodford has reinvented himself over the last couple of years, lowering his arm slot and modifying his arsenal. Now working from a low-three-quarters delivery, his sinker has more depth, and his four-seamer plays better at the top of the zone as a flat, upshoot fastball. A few years ago, he replaced his slider with a cutter and ditched his curveball, and he developed what appears to be a kick changeup last season. Finally, Woodford averaged a career-best 93.2 mph with his sinker and four-seamer in 2025. After those changes, Woodford profiles as a platoon-neutral reliever whose stuff may be closer to clicking than last year's 6.44 ERA suggests. The Brewers seem to believe he'll be more than a temporary mop-up reliever, as they parted with Hunt—who had an unremarkable showing in Double-A last year but was the organization's co-Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2024—to acquire him. "We like the platoon flexibility there," Arnold said. "Obviously, being right-handed, with us having a few more lefties, makes some sense. And his ability to be built up and pitch multiple innings is also something we value." The Brewers do not make sweeping changes to a pitcher's arsenal or identity during the season, and that need not be the case for Woodford. All that's left for his development is plugging him into the right run-prevention unit and finding the best way to sequence his pitches. The Rays already had him on the right track this spring. Woodford excelled at missing barrels last year, allowing just a 6.9% barrel rate, 33.6% hard-hit rate, and an average exit velocity of 86.1 mph. His .365 expected wOBA on contact was slightly lower than the league average of .369. His sinker flashed potential to eat up right-handed hitters, yielding an average launch angle of -3 degrees and inducing plenty of chases inside. The issue was that Woodford allowed too much contact, in front of a Diamondbacks defense that ranked 23rd in baseball with -4 Defensive Runs Saved and posted -2 Outs Above Average while he was on the mound. His stuff was difficult to square up, but it wasn't deceptive. Except for those inside sinkers to righties, none of his other pitches to other locations generated truly uncomfortable swings. Woodford's 16.4% whiff rate ranked in the 2nd percentile among all pitchers, and his 24.4% chase rate ranked in the 12th percentile. Throwing more cutters could help alleviate that problem. It produced a decent 24.0% whiff rate last season, held hitters to a .276 xwOBA, and was one of the two pitches in Woodford's arsenal with a positive run value. Baseball Prospectus's pitch tunneling metrics estimated that hitters only had a 48.1% chance of recognizing it as a cutter by the time they had to decide whether to swing, meaning it was also his most difficult pitch to identify. That was because it spun very similarly to his other fastballs before separating from them with slight glove-side movement. The cutter was Woodford's least-used pitch last year, but throwing it more could make pitch recognition tougher for hitters, potentially leading to fewer comfortable swings and more chases against his other pitches. Woodford doubled his cutter usage with the Rays this spring, even making it his primary pitch against left-handed hitters. Peripherals from small spring training samples are hardly a reliable measure of improvement, but there are signs that throwing more cutters is making Woodford more effective. His chase rate jumped to an above-average 31.6% in his 7 1/3 Grapefruit League innings. To account somewhat for facing lower-level hitters in exhibition games, it was still a better mark than his 27.5% chase rate in Triple-A last season. The Brewers could still make a few more tweaks after Woodford arrives in Milwaukee, including throwing more high four-seamers to introduce more swing-and-miss into his game. Knowing how they usually operate, though, they'll likely lean into his sinker and cutter to induce batted balls that their defense can turn into outs. Because he is out of options, Woodford will join the big-league roster, but he may not be active on Opening Day. Traded players get a 72-hour grace period to travel to their new club. "It's a possibility," Arnold said of Woodford being active by Thursday afternoon. "The logistics around getting him here are something we're still working through." If he doesn't arrive in time, it seems the Brewers will begin the year with the current group of 26 players they have left on the active roster, with Easton McGee occupying the final spot in the bullpen. McGee looks like the obvious candidate to be optioned to Triple-A once Woodford joins the team, but with Arnold emphasizing adding a right-hander to balance a lefty-heavy relief corps, the club could feasibly option DL Hall instead. Either way, the front office still has a few moving parts to navigate with the start of the regular season one day away. View the full article

Another Twins spring training has come and gone, and although every spring brings new storylines, a select few tend to reappear again and again. It’s time to hand out Twins Daily’s Golden Grapefruit Awards, presented by Greggory T. Masterson of the Twins Off-Daily Podcast, a Twins Daily subsidiary, sponsored by No One, Are You Insane?. Miguel Sanó Memorial "Best Shape of His Life" Award: Brooks Lee If you close your eyes and look up spring training clichés in the dictionary, this is what you see—er, after you open your eyes again. Every spring, one guy or another shows up 15 pounds lighter or with an alleged 40 pounds of muscle. It’s such a cliché that Twins manager Derek Shelton actually requested that no one use the words “best shape of his life.” Well, too bad for Shelton, we provide unbiased, independent coverage, and we’re not afraid to ruffle some feathers, awarding Brooks Lee the Best Shape of his Life Award. Lee showed up weighing the same amount as last season, but the weight has been “better proportioned” as he has tried to improve his lateral foot speed and quickness in hopes of improving his defense at shortstop. Congratulations, Brooks! Previous winners: Jhoan Duran (2025), Byron Buxton (2024), José Miranda (2023) "Newest Pitch" Award: Connor Prielipp This spring, there was little news of new pitches among Twins pitchers. Maybe it’s because everyone was more concerned with who was pitching (or who wasn’t pitching) than they were about what those pitchers were throwing. There was no big story about six guys learning a splitter at Driveline or anything. There was one notable pitch added, though: Connor Prielipp added a curveball. Prielipp, who is fighting to remain a starter, has been working on adding a fourth pitch to complement his fastball, slider, and changeup. He’s already tried mixing in a sinker, and it looks like the Twins are also working with him on a curveball with more depth and glove-side movement than his gyro slider. Here’s hoping it helps him remain a rotation option! Previous winners: Jorge Alcala (2025), Joe Ryan (2024, 2023), Griffin Jax (2023) "Most Revamped Swing" Award: Matt Wallner Matt Wallner was probably the Twin most fans were convinced needed a swing overhaul this offseason, even after his 110 OPS+ last season. One of the biggest issues Wallner dealt with last season was his performance against fastballs in the upper third of the zone. This offseason, he made an effort to simplify his swing, working to expand the range of pitches he can damage without sacrificing the power his offensive profile is built on. To date, none of the Most Revamped Swing winners have turned around their offensive performance, but none of them have had the floor Wallner established last season. Previous winners: Ty France (2025), Brooks Lee (2024), Max Kepler (2023) "Weirdest Injury" Award: Pablo López For some reason, it seems like every spring some very stupid injury occurs, like Byron Buxton chipping his tooth eating steak or Jordan Balazovic being sucker-punched at a Fort Myers bar. Sadly, there were no ha-ha funny injuries this spring. There was an existentially funny injury, though. Just hours into spring training, Pablo López exited the mound with soreness in his arm. Within days, it would be determined that the Twins’ ace had a torn ulnar collateral ligament and would miss the entire season. Really. The first day, the first practice, just hours into camp. Not funny, but pretty funny. Previous winners: Mickey Gasper (stepped on playing second base, 2025), Pete Maki (ruptured bicep doing pullups, 2024), Jordan Balazovic (broken jaw, bar fight, 2023) "Honey, Grab My Program" Award: Kyler Fedko Somewhere between the 4th and 7th inning in nearly every spring training game, a wave of players wearing number 87 with no name on the back of their jersey take over for the big-leaguers. Every year, there are a couple of guys who do so in almost every game. Sometimes it’s for positional flexibility, other times they’re top prospects. And other times, the team doesn’t really have any other center fielders to play instead of them. Only players who have never appeared in MLB and are not on the 40-man roster qualify for this award. Both Kyler Fedko and Tanner Schobel appeared in 18 games, tied for the most on the team, including big leaguers. Fedko amassed 25 plate appearances, though, and had a few starts, so he wins this year. Fedko played all three outfield spots and first base, providing real coverage. He may have been the biggest surprise last season, nearly accumulating a 30-30 season in the minors, but he struggled in his opportunities this spring, batting just .130. Already 26, he may debut this season, though none of the other winners of this award were still in the organization the following season. Previous winners: Jeferson Morales (2025), Chris Williams (2024), Andrew Bechtold (2023) "First Cliché Statement" Award: Bailey Ober We’d like to take a moment of silence to mourn the trade of Carlos Correa, who (if he were still in a Twins jersey) would have surely been the betting favorite for this award. Alas, Correa had no opportunity to avenge his 2025 loss. Instead, this award goes to an unlikely winner, one Bailey Ober. As far as I can tell, Ober was among the first, if not the first, player to be interviewed this spring. When asked if he needed to win a rotation job, he said, “I always enjoy proving to myself that I'm here and that I every single day continue to try and get better and not necessarily be complacent with what I have. I'm always pushing myself and trying to be the best I can be, do whatever means necessary to accomplish that.” Everyone’s always excited to do the work on February 12. We’ll see if it paid off. Previous winners: Rocco Baldelli (2025), Carlos Correa (2024, 2023) "Grainiest Video" Award: Josh Norris Finally, my favorite award—the media can’t help themselves, and we, as fans, will eat up whatever they give us. When baseball’s back, we need proof. Grainy videos taken through a fence at the beginning of camp are a spring training staple. Dan Hayes tried to defend his crown, but I simply think phone cameras are too good. There wasn’t much to choose from this season. Instead of a beat writer, this year’s award goes to Josh Norris of Baseball America, who posted a video of Twins prospect Marek Houston with about a third of the frame obscured by a chain link fence. You can still see most of the swing, and the video is of good quality, but it doesn’t get more spring training than a slow-motion video obscured by a fence on a back field. Previous winners: Dan Hayes (2025, 2024), Do-Hyoung Park (2023) View the full article

Jays Centre is taking a close look at every position on the Toronto Blue Jays heading into the 2026 season. Check out prior entries in the series here: Catcher First Base Second Base Third Base Left Field Right Field Toronto Blue Jays Shortstops at a Glance Starter: Andrés Giménez Backup: Ernie Clement Depth: Leo Jiménez, Addison Barger, Davis Schneider Prospects: Josh Kasevich, Arjun Nimmala, JoJo Parker, Juan Sanchez Blue Jays SS fWAR in 2025: 12th out of 30 Blue Jays SS FGDC Projection for 2026: 17th out of 30 Entering 2026, the Toronto Blue Jays can expect their shortstop position to be constantly under the microscope. After all, the departure of star shortstop Bo Bichette in free agency most certainly has left a huge void for the Blue Jays to fill going forward. Fortunately for Toronto, shortstop is one of those positions at which the team has sufficient pieces to potentially overcome the dire situation. So, what does the depth chart look like for the Blue Jays for now and the future? The Good With Bichette leaving the organization, there is one clear benefit that the Jays can capitalize on, which is the instant boost in defense at the shortstop position. With multiple-time Gold Glove winner (at second base) Andrés Giménez taking over as the team’s everyday shortstop and multiple-time Gold Glove finalist (at third base and utility) Ernie Clement as the trusted backup, the Blue Jays have perhaps their best defensive unit at the position since Troy Tulowitzki left town. Not to mention the fact that they have also had the defensively sound Leo Jiménez knocking on the door the past couple of years, waiting for his chance. Moreover, with Toronto valuing positional versatility in recent years, they could potentially even slot Addison Barger or Davis Schneider in at shortstop if an emergency arises. On top of that, in a situation in which Giménez, Clement and Jiménez all falter in taking on the role, Toronto appears to have an MLB-ready shortstop waiting in the wings in Josh Kasevich. Kasevich showed exactly what he could provide to the team with a strong spring showing in training camp. In 20 games of action, the 25-year-old infielder impressed with a .306/.375/.500 slash line (.875 OPS) with four runs scored, one home run and five RBIs. He also added two stolen bases, along with showing strong plate discipline with three walks and only two strikeouts in 40 total plate appearances. If that wasn’t enough, the Jays also have three more promising top prospects deep in their system that could be potential stars when they make the majors: Arjun Nimmala, JoJo Parker and Juan Sanchez. All three players are currently ranked among the top 10 prospects in the Jays’ organization, with both Nimmala and Parker among the top 100 prospects in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. With a pipeline of riches at the position, the Blue Jays should be set for the foreseeable future. The Bad Even with their immense depth at the position, remember that the Blue Jays lost a superstar in Bichette, who has averaged 20+ home runs and 90+ RBIs per season, along with a career OPS of .806 and bWAR of 20.9. With the current setup at shortstop for Toronto, one shouldn’t expect that kind of offensive output from the position for a while, at least not with the likes of Giménez and Clement at the helm. Giménez is coming off a dismal offensive campaign in 2025; his .598 OPS was among the worst in the league for those who played a minimum of 100 games. His best MLB season came in 2022 when he managed career highs in home runs (17) and RBIs (69). As for Clement, he has posted back-to-back 9+ home runs and 50+ RBIs campaigns, while setting his career-best mark in runs scored with 83 last season. But as one can see, those numbers are far from the elite offensive production that Bichette provided on an annual basis during his time with Toronto. In addition, Jiménez has yet to secure a permanent MLB gig with the Jays after struggling to perform offensively during the past two years. As for Kasevich, he has yet to make his major league debut, so whether or not his spring training and limited minor league success could actually translate to the majors is still a question to ask. As for those that could ultimately reach Bichette’s potential, all three of Parker, Nimmala and Sanchez could one day become that player. But, unfortunately, they are still years away from their eventual arrival in the big leagues. The Outlook With the Toronto Blue Jays in win-now mode after a successful 2025 campaign that saw the team make it all the way to the World Series, the pressure will be on Giménez to make significant contributions right from the get-go when he officially takes over as the starting shortstop on Opening Day (March 27). The Blue Jays can ill afford to experiment with their lineup too much in their quest to repeat as World Series contenders. At the same time, the shortstop position could very well be in flux throughout this season, as any struggles by the starter could lead to other options being utilized to hopefully rectify the issue promptly. As a result, it is possible Jays fans will see a carousel of players utilized at the position, including the possibility of the Jays trading for a new shortstop at the deadline if all of their MLB-ready options falter. But one thing is for sure: in the not-so-distant future, the shortstop position will no longer be a worry for years to come, once names like Nimmala, Parker, and Sanchez start to reach the big show. View the full article

The Chicago Cubs officially have one of the better first basemen in baseball, the first time they can say that since the departure of Anthony Rizzo back in 2021. Things seemed bleak at first base for some time; we saw Frank Schwindel and Patrick Wisdom for too long. Past-their-prime veterans Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini were supposed to be the bridge to slugging prospect Matt Mervis, but he is long gone as well. Most were a bit stumped prior to the 2024 season when the Cubs traded teenage pitching prospect Jackson Ferris and top outfield prospect Zyhir Hope for an aging prospect without a clear defensive position. Then, when they almost immediately announced he would be transitioning to first, it made their outlook even more confusing. Michael Busch was regarded as one of best hitters of the 2019 draft when the Dodgers selected him out of UNC with the 31st overall pick. He made his debut in 2023 and hit .167 in 81 plate appearances while playing a subpar second and third base. Going into 2024, the Dodgers had Busch, Kike Hernandez, Miguel Vargas, Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux and Miguel Rojas competing for work in the infield behind Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy. Although Busch was expendable at that point, he was still the 51st ranked prospect in baseball, and would become the Cubs’ number four organizational prospect behind Cade Horton, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Owen Caissie. Fast-forward two seasons and now Busch is picking up down-ballot MVP votes and leading the Cubs in home runs. First starting off as a platoon player, Busch began starting everyday early in 2025 and is one of the set-it-and-forget-it players in the lineup. Chicago Cubs First Basemen At A Glance Starter: Michael Busch Backup: Tyler Austin (On IL), Jonathon Long Depth: Moises Ballesteros, Owen Miller (minors), Christian Bethancourt (minors) Prospects: B.J. Murray The Good: Well, Michael Busch is pretty darn good. The 28-year-old lefty broke out massively in 2025, slashing .261/.343/.523 with 34 home runs, 90 RBIs, and serving as the leadoff hitter for the Cubs’ first postseason run since 2020. You’d have to go back all the way to 2019 when Kyle Schwarber hit 38 homers to find a higher total than Busch’s. His 4.6 WAR was tied for third on the team, trailing only Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner. As for first basemen league-wide, he was tied with Bryce Harper and only trailed Matt Olson, Freddie Freeman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Pete Alonso. Under the hood, the statcast numbers show a player who is blossoming into one of the top offensive forces in the game. His average exit velocity of 92.2 was tied for 18th in baseball, his barrel percentage of 17.1 was 11th, and he finished 10th in xwOBA at .378. In a game where luck is certainly a factor, Busch is showing consistent, quality contact that cannot be considered a fluke. In fact, Busch’s wOBA of .369 shows he was a little unlucky last season. Defensively, Busch posted a .996 fielding percentage and 2 DRS that placed top six amongst MLB first basemen. He is not going to win four gold gloves like Rizzo, but he will make the routine plays while bailing out a few bad throws from the Cubs' excellent infield. For 2026, Busch is an integral part of a lineup that is half proven veterans and young studs who need to establish themselves as bona fide contributors. He is the team’s most important left-handed bat who will be relied upon to play 150+ games again (he played in 155 last season). The Bad: Did you notice how the entire previous section only mentioned Michael Busch? That is because he is the the majority of what is good about the Cubs’ first base situation. Across the infield, Matt Shaw is lined up to backup at any of the three other spots, with top prospect Pedro Ramirez looking close to MLB ready. In the outfield, Kevin Alcantara is deserving of an extended look, if one of the starters goes down. But first base? It really seems like Busch or bust, since offseason signee Tyler Austin will be missing the first month or more of the season. Even if Austin was healthy to start the year, he's still a 34-year-old with 0.9 career WAR, who hasn’t played in the majors since 2019. He’s had a cumulative .945 OPS in the NPB over the last six seasons, but banking on any sort of production in his return stateside is wishful thinking. After Austin, the cupboard runs bare very quickly. Craig Counsell’s old friend Owen Miller is down in the minors and has first base experience. He went 8-30 this spring and brings an extra element of speed to the table. One-game wonder Christian Bethancourt is back with the organization and has enough experience at the cold corner to be considered another unexciting option. Moises Ballesteros played four innings of first base last season, but is currently penciled in as the starting DH. From a fan’s perspective, the most exciting option if Busch were to miss time would be prospect Jonathan Long. The Long Beach State alum is coming off an excellent AAA season where he hit .305 with an .883 OPS and 20 homers, but needs to hit the ball in the air more to reach his power potential. Long sits outside of the top 100 MLB prospects and has a long-term outlook of being a potential role player, rather than a difference maker in the middle of the lineup. The point here is that Busch needs to stay healthy or else there becomes a massive hole in the lineup. The Bottom Line: There are depth questions here after Busch, but the Cubs have an ascending star at first base. Even if his home run total isn’t as high as last season, the Cubs are counting on their leadoff hitter to propel them back to the postseason. In terms of his contract, he is still pre-arbitration and has four years of team control remaining. There are few other first basemen in baseball producing like Busch and not taking up a huge portion of their team’s payroll. He won’t be this cheap forever, so fans need to enjoy this while it lasts. First base is a position of strength for the Cubs again. View the full article

The 2025 San Diego Padres were one of the meekest teams in Major League Baseball. As a collective, both their 152 home runs and .138 isolated power ranked 28th in the league. Plenty of context goes into that, of course. Regardless of the particulars, though, this was a team that was not built for power. It remains to be seen how much the on-paper dynamic has changed ahead of 2026. Yes, the team went out and signed Sung Mun Song, Miguel Andujar, and Nick Castellanos to shore up their offensive depth. But Song's game may need time to adjust, Andujar is more platoon-dependent on the power side, and Castellanos is coming off some of the worst offensive production of his career. The volume approach could very well work, but there's also a wide array of outcomes for the team's current construction. Which is why the offensive progression of someone like Jake Cronenworth becomes essential in the broader context of the latest iteration of the Padres. It was four full seasons ago now that Cronenworth peaked in the power game. His .194 ISO in 2021 isn't just a mark that he's failed to top since then, but one that he hasn't come within 40 points of in subsequent seasons. Cronenworth's 11 home runs in 2025 were his second-fewest in a full season, while his .131 ISO last year represented a bottoming-out in that regard. That doesn't mean Cronenworth has been without value, however. In the years since he last demonstrated such consistent power, Cronenworth's earned his keep via patience. His 10.3 percent walk rate since 2022 ranks 65th among 306 qualifying players, and his walking at a 13.4 percent clip in 2025 ranked 12th. It helped that only six players in the league saw more pitches than Cronenworth's 4.22 per plate appearance last year, while his chase rate finished in the 86th percentile. There's value in that, even as an average baserunner for the bigger bats in the lineup. But with vastly different potential outcomes awaiting the Padres offense in 2026, it'd behoove him to adjust in a way that taps into the power of old at least on occasion to drive up his value beyond what it reads in the on-base percentage column. Luckily, Cronenworth appears poised to do just that. The following is a distribution of the various swing factors Cronenworth demonstrated in 2025: There isn't a whole lot in there to indicate that Cronenworth should be finding power outcomes upon contact. His attack angle was below league average and the swing path was right around it. So, while the latter indicates he was steeper to the ball, he wasn't gaining elevation upon contact. Additionally, he posted an attack direction that generated up-the-middle-contact. Low line drives up the middle yield base hits, certainly. But produce power outcomes they do not. Toss in a swing that sits just below league average in its speed while operating with a length that isn't exactly short, and there aren't really any factors lending themselves to the idea of power in Cronenworth's case. Thus far in the spring, though, Cronenworth has concentrated on improving in a few of these areas. His bat speed, for one. A more consistent bat path — perhaps one that doesn't invoke a steep angle to shallow contact — is on the agenda as well via improving his lower half balance throughout the swing. While bat tracking data isn't widely available for exhibition games, the results have been there thus far for Cronenworth. Now on the verge of Opening Day, his spring output included a .167 ISO and 57.4 percent hard-hit rate. He started elevating, too, with a 34.4 percent groundball rate that sits lower that any regular season clip he's posted in his career. He also hit the first opposite field homer of his career earlier in the month (even if the spring training of it all doesn't allow it to count). It's a small sample (50 plate appearances), but the adjustments have been on display within the spring window. It'll be interesting to see not only how the improvement sustains, but whether the changes are later reflected in his visual mechanics. It cannot be overstated how valuable such improvements sustaining into the regular season would be for both Cronenworth and for the Padres. While their volume approach to the roster could lead to some improvement in the power game, an everyday player getting back to his previous upside in that regard would be absolutely massive. Parlaying patience with improved quality of contact could very well have Jake Cronenworth among the most important pieces of this roster in 2026. View the full article

Seiya Suzuki will start the season on the Cubs' Injured List, Craig Counsell announced. Chicago's veteran slugger is a key piece in their starting lineup, and his injury tips over a few dominoes. Suzuki spent the majority of 2025 as the Cubs' designated hitter, which could open up some availability for the squad's top prospect in Moises Ballesteros. He also spent some time in right field, which means a former first-rounder in Matt Shaw may be in line for some more playing time. View the full article

Kaelen Culpepper, Mick Abel, and John Klein all have the tools and opportunity to take a big step forward in 2026. Each could make a real impact on the Twins' season, and even one breakout performance could change how this team looks long-term. View the full article

It isn't often that a Division III player gets drafted. Jason Gilman did just that, and it was thanks to his mindset and ability on the mound. The left-handed pitcher will begin his first professional season in 2026 and will look to continue from where he left off at Kean University. Talk Sox's Nick John sits down and has a conversation with the young hurler. View the full article

The week ahead of Major League Baseball's Opening Day always carries a certain sanguine energy to it. The optimism that permeates throughout each fanbase at the outset, typically juxtaposed against the transition from winter into spring, is unique to baseball. Of course, a team can always add some extra juice to that by extending one of its most exciting players. The Chicago Cubs have done just that, by striking an agreement on a long-term agreement with Pete Crow-Armstrong. The budding star will now be a Cub for even longer than the five years for which they controlled him before arriving at a deal. Mind you, Crow-Armstrong wasn't the only player the Cubs could have opted to extend ahead of the season. Nico Hoerner is a free agent after 2026. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are, too—to say nothing of Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, and Jameson Taillon. We could discuss the merits of each sticking around (or not sticking around) beyond this season, but there was no question that Crow-Armstrong would be the player best-positioned for this kind of deal this spring. There are a few things to consider when deeming a player to be worthy of an extension, especially within the framework of a team with multiple candidates for one. The context of their current deal is likely at the top. Players far from free agency (like Crow-Armstrong) and those bordering on indispensable but nearing free agency (like Hoerner, Happ and Suzuki) fit at opposite ends of the spectrum. Projectability is another key issue. You want to ensure a player is going to sustain or improve their levels of performance for at least a certain portion of a contract. Then, you get into the more unquantifiable narrative impact. While payroll and performance are going to rank at the top of a team's considerations, a player who adds a certain vibe and positive attention to the organization is going to have value that extends beyond either sheet. Some of that is an oversimplification. The farm system bears an impact. The condition of the payroll beyond the individual player does, too, in addition to myriad other factors that the average outsider mind may not even consider. But it's the broad criteria that feeds into an easy rationale as to what made Crow-Armstrong such an appealing extension candidate. The context of his current contract is an easy component to navigate. Crow-Armstrong hasn't yet hit arbitration; he's eligible for his first year of it next winter. From there, it's four years of arbitration prior to free agency following the 2030 season. With continued improvement at the plate (read: plate discipline), it's possible that growth could work in conjunction with the areas in which he already excels to drive a high, continually-ascending price in arbitration. As such, the Cubs were able to ensure cost certainty with one of the most important players on their roster as they continue to build toward the future. It should be noted that the phrase "continued improvement" is also doing quite a bit of heavy lifting in that previous paragraph. Age alone, however, indicates that a certain degree of projectability still exists within Crow-Armstrong's profile. It's big speed, big power, and elite defense, yes. It's also wild aggression and, subsequently, a whole lot of swing and miss. It may be unreasonable to suspect improvement is nigh there; aggressive hitters generally tend to remain aggressive throughout their career. Any refinement in the approach, though, should be able to yield offensive outcomes that aren't necessarily better on the whole, but at least more sustained after he began to fizzle some in the second half. Stronger outcomes would be nice, but Crow-Armstrong extending last year's pace through September would also serve the same purpose of offensive ascension. In either scenario, you're talking about a 30-homer, 30-steal player with a Gold Glove in his back pocket building on those benchmarks. Locking that in is essential. From there, you get into the narrative impact. This is where Crow-Armstrong really begins to lend credence to the idea of extension worthiness. The Cubs are not completely constructed for aesthetic appeal. They are comprised of several good players that are fundamentally sound in multiple respects. However, they don't do anything loud. It's a collection of largely reserved personalities relying on efficiency in multiple aspects of their game to drive success. From that perspective, Crow-Armstrong is easily the most exciting player the Cubs have to offer. A blend of elite defense, upper-percentile speed, and 30-homer power will do that. This is true to the extent that he's in the same Javier Báez tier of stop-what-you're-doing-and-watch television. In doing so, he transcends Chicago baseball in capturing attention at a more national level. Marketability matters, especially for a league that doesn't do it particularly well. Pete Crow-Armstrong might not be the Chicago Cubs' best player. He may not be their most important player. But the compounding of the different elements he brings, along with the context of his career and contractual trajectory, all feed into the idea that he was absolutely the right person, in the right place, at the right time to offer this kind of extension. Even in the face of others that might merit the same kind of offer. The narrative favors him as a "face of the franchise" type, succeeding the likes of Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo while managing to secure an even longer-term future within the organization. In all, not a bad return for in that fateful trade for Báez five years ago. View the full article