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The Royals announced last week their broadcast schedule for Spring Training games in the Cactus League, outlining how fans can enjoy the Royals as they prepare for the 2026 MLB season. The Royals begin playing games this Friday, February 20 at 2:00 p.m. CT against the Texas Rangers at their shared stadium in Surprise, Arizona. Only three of their games will not be broadcast in any format this Spring. All three of those games fall on days where two games are played. Three games will be televised on Royals.tv, the new home for Kansas City’s regular season games: March 5 vs. the Texas Rangers - 7:05 p.m. CT March 13 vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks - 8:05 p.m. CT March 17 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers - 8:05 p.m. CT You can find our guide on how to watch Royals.tv here. 29 games will be available for audio streaming on royals.com. 22 of those games will be available on a radio broadcast; 16 games on 96.5 The Fan (including the three Royals.tv broadcasts), and six on The Bet 1660. The remaining seven games will air exclusively at royals.com. See the post from the Royals above for the breakdown of which games will be available on which stations. All games are listed on Central Time. View the full article

With the full squad having reported to Phoenix for spring training, it was time for manager Pat Murphy to set the tone for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2026. He did so in a speech to his players, some of which was provided via the team's social media channels. It was Murph at his finest. Leaning into what made the Crew so good in a 2025 that saw the team post the best record in MLB at 97-65, win their third straight NL Central title and advance to the NL Championship Series, where they were swept by the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Among Murphy's nuggets: "We found out what matters is who's in this room." "We're about people, we're about team." "We don't worry about what anybody thinks. (If) we stick to our standard, then you'll have another incredible season. ... And don't be shocked." But enough writing, listen to how Murphy delivered his words: View the full article

For all the good Jed Hoyer does as the president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs, he makes some big mistakes, over and over. He's a good seeker of bargains in free agency and a tough negotiator. He's assembled an improved scouting and player development infrastructure. He assiduously avoids bad risks, and gets his biggest moves directionally right almost every time. However, he's not good at the vital, detail-oriented job of building a functional roster. That's the biggest reason why the Brewers have finished ahead of the Cubs in every season of Hoyer's tenure as the team's top executive, and it could be what holds back a talented 2026 club, too. 'Directionally right' might be the operative term, and one that cuts both ways—or, rather, doesn't. Hoyer signed Alex Bregman to take over at third base this season, and he replaced departing free agent Justin Turner with righty slugger Tyler Austin. He also traded Owen Caissie to the Marlins in the Edward Cabrera deal. Moisés Ballesteros is, broadly speaking, set to replace the departed Kyle Tucker, slotting in as the designated hitter most of the time and pushing Seiya Suzuki back to regular work in right field. Even if you're high on Ballesteros, though, he's not a Tucker-caliber hitter. It's really Bregman who will be asked to bolster the batting order, bumping Matt Shaw from the lineup but providing the production Tucker brought to the table. In other words, the Cubs got more right-handed this winter, when it comes to scoring runs. They have three everyday players who bat left-handed (at least against right-handed pitchers), in Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch and Ian Happ. In theory, Ballesteros is the fourth lefty bat in the lineup against righties. There are two problems here: While Busch is a star-caliber slugger, Happ's offensive profile is more steady than spectacular. Crow-Armstrong has the whole world dreaming on his upside after a terrific start to 2025, but he was one of the worst hitters in baseball after the All-Star break, and his approach is a major constraint on any optimism about his bat. He's in the lineup every day, but more for his glove than his bat. Ballesteros, in addition to being unproven after getting just 66 plate appearances in his first taste of the majors last year, has yet to arrive in Cubs camp. This is not his fault; his visa is being held up as he tries to return from his native Venezuela. Nonetheless, it's a problem, for a player who needs a full camp's worth of reps and exposure to prepare for his first full season in the bigs. As of Wednesday, FanGraphs projects only 36.5% of the Cubs' total plate appearances to go to players who have the ability to bat left-handed, including the switch-hitting Happ. They're a very right-leaning offense, with both catchers and all three non-first base infielders batting righty. Suzuki, Austin, Shaw and all of the candidates for the remaining bench spot bat right-handed. Last year, 47.8% of the Cubs' plate appearances went to left-handed or switch-hitting batters. That's a healthier number, and even with Tucker out of the mix, the team needs to be ready to give at least 40% of its playing time to guys who can bat lefty against righty pitchers. That's not the case right now, and even the current projections are probably too generous to the team. Ballesteros is slated for 382 plate appearances, which should certainly be the goal, but if he can't get going in camp until four weeks before Opening Day, the risk that he has to spend a significant chunk of the season at Triple-A Iowa is substantial. There's not really a good solution out there, at this point—at least in free agency. The Cubs could explore a trade to add a lefty bat, but it's late in the game on that front. Every worthwhile free-agent hitter has signed. There are likely to be times, especially early in the season, when the Cubs feel locked into bad matchups with parades of opposing right-handed pitchers. To win enough games to get past Milwaukee this time around, the Cubs need to be more efficient than they've been in the past. Right now, they're not in a position to do that, which is a major problem, and there might not be a solution to that problem available. The team doesn't even have a dark-horse candidate for a roster spot in camp who bats left-handed. Hoyer hasn't built a roster that hums the way it will need to, and if he waits until the trade deadline to address his shortage of good lefty bats, it might be too late. View the full article

Twins spring training started with a thud on Monday. All of the customary positive energy and vibes from the opening rally cries and first full-squad workout were dampened by Pablo López's ominous report of elbow soreness. He underwent an MRI and on Tuesday we learned that its results confirmed, essentially, the worst: López has "significant tearing" in his UCL and is almost certainly headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery. There's no downplaying the catastrophic impact on whatever slim chances this year's Twins team had to contend in the AL Central. López is arguably their best player, and his absence will leave a huge void atop a rotation that needed to be Minnesota's carrying strength if they were to take the league by surprise. In my opinion, though, that was already a pretty substantial long shot. And it's not just my opinion: Even with a healthy López, the Twins had a Vegas over/under of 73.5 wins, and I don't think any projection system pegged them as even a .500 team. The bullpen and lineup challenges will be so much to overcome. The emerging young core hasn't quite arrived. As I wrote in my overview of the organization's talent landscape, 2027 feels like the most realistic target for any type of short-term contention. And through that lens, maybe the López news doesn't feel quite so dire. Look at it this way. The best-case scenario this year for López was a fully healthy rebound that saw him reliably take the mound every fifth day and resume pitching like a frontline starter. Those efforts would've probably gone to waste on a Twins team that lacks the offensive strength and bullpen to win regularly, so the odds of López being traded in this scenario — at the deadline or after the season — seem pretty high. But now, if he misses the entire season, López is all but assured of being back in 2027, albeit probably with a slightly delayed start. This would enable him to potentially support a more developed, well-constructed team with actual championship aspirations. Of course, with the CBA about to expire and labor tensions already running high, there's a distinct possibility that a lockout could wipe out some or all of the 2027 season. That'd be a bummer for the Twins and their timeline but look at it from López's perspective: He'll miss out on some or all of his salary in the final year of his contract, and he'll be staring down free agency as a 32-year-old with little production to showcase from the past three years, and maybe not a single pitch thrown in the past two. It's a sobering reality for the right-hander, who has built up an impressive résumé that includes an All-Star appearance, playoff success, and — previously — a pretty good track record for durability (he ranked seventh in the majors in IP from 2022 through 2024). He faces a great deal of uncertainty as he stares down a lengthy recovery from his second Tommy John surgery, and an ensuing lockout. This opens the door for a mutually beneficial contract extension that would give López some long-term stability and peace of mind, while theoretically securing his services post-2027 at a very favorable value. I'm not sure exactly what terms would make sense for both sides but I'm very interested in a multi-year extension that locks up, say, his age 32-through-34 seasons (2028 through 2030) for somewhere in the range of $15-20 million annually. It wouldn't exactly be new ground for the Twins, who signed Michael Pineda as a free agent and Chris Paddack to an extension under similar circumstances, albeit at a smaller scale. Results have been mixed in past instances. But with his legendary work ethic and exceptional talent, I have little doubt López will eventually come back strong from this latest setback, and I love the idea of entrenching him as an ongoing veteran rotation leader for whatever team emerges out of the current "reset." If Tom Pohlad wants to make a demonstrable investment in the future success of the team, this would be a good way to do it, and it's also a very sensible baseball decision for a franchise that seems destined to compete on middling payrolls. It's the kind of move that probably wouldn't have been possible if López had a healthy, stellar season this year and either got traded or priced himself out of Minnesota's comfort zone. Is this all a bit of mental gymnastics? Probably. It’s never good when your ace blows out his elbow and a season that already felt tenuous suddenly tilts further toward irrelevance. There’s real pain in losing López for a year — for the clubhouse, for the fans, and especially for him. But as someone who genuinely loves watching Pablo López pitch — the craft, the intensity, the professionalism — the idea of trading one lost year for several meaningful ones on the other side is the only silver lining I can muster right now. If 2026 was always unlikely to be the year anyway, maybe the best outcome is ensuring López is still here when the window actually opens. It’s a stretch, sure. It requires patience, optimism and a front office willing to act boldly. But at a moment when the short-term outlook just got a lot bleaker, betting on López being part of the next good Twins team feels like something worth holding onto. View the full article

While other teams have reduced their spring training television schedule with the demise of FanDuel Sports Network, the Milwaukee Brewers are status quo for 2026. The Crew announced Wednesday that eight of their Cactus League games will be carried on Brewers.tv, the new home for televised games this season. That is one more game than was carried by FanDuel Sports Wisconsin in 2025. The Brewers said those eight games will be available for free to anyone with an MLB.com account in the MLB app. All 31 spring training games will be broadcast in some variety. An additional eight games will be streamed at Brewers.com. There are likely to be other games televised on MLB Network. Also, there will be 20 radio broadcasts on the Brewers Radio Network, including six on WTMJ (620 AM) and 14 on WKTI (94.5 FM, ESPN Milwaukee). The Brewers' Spring Breakout games, March 20 vs. the Seattle Mariners and March 22 at the A's, will be on Brewers.TV. The Brewers open exhibition play Saturday vs. the Cleveland Guardians at American Family Fields of Phoenix. That is a radio-only game. The following games will be on Brewers.TV: Sunday at Chicago White Sox* Monday at San Diego Padres* Feb. 28 vs. Cincinnati Reds March 4 vs. Chicago Cubs March 9 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers March 21 vs. San Diego Padres March 22 at Chicago Cubs* * opponent telecast View the full article

Miami Marlins spring training has been underway for more than a week at this point. With every player now reported to Jupiter and Grapefruit League competition approaching on Saturday, we're beginning to get a clearer idea of what the 2026 team will look like. Here are the most important updates from the past couple days of Marlins camp activities. Injuries Right-handed pitcher Janson Junk rolled his ankle during dynamic warmups on Tuesday, per MLB.com's Christina De Nicola. The setback has already forced him to miss a pitch design session that was previously scheduled for Wednesday and he will undergo imaging in Miami. Junk, who made 21 appearances (16 starts) last season, posting a 4.17 ERA and 3.14 FIP in 110 innings pitched, is currently fighting for a starting rotation spot. Based on his 2025 performance and the fact that he's out of minor league options, he'll make the Opening Day roster as long as he's healthy in time. Even if tests do not reveal a significant injury, this break in his throwing program will slow down the process of getting him built up as a starter. Right-hander Anthony Bender is a bit behind as his shin had a flare-up, but he threw a bullpen on Tuesday and was fine. He isn't facing hitters yet, but the expectation is that he will get into games soon. Bender posted a 2.16 ERA in 51 appearances (50.0 IP) in 2025. Left-hander Andrew Nardi, who missed all of 2025 with a back injury, is dealing with a blood blister. Like Bender, he threw on Tuesday, but is a few days behind the other Marlins pitchers. The last time Nardi appeared in a game was in August 2024. He finished that season posting a 5.07 ERA in 49 ⅔ innings pitched. Snelling starts against Mets Marlins manager Clayton McCullough announced that left-handed pitcher and Fish On First number three prospect Robby Snelling will make the club's first start of the spring against the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie. The Mets will counter with fellow lefty Brandon Waddell. Last spring, Snelling made just two appearances (1.2 IP) before getting reassigned to the minors. From there, he was excellent, posting a 2.51 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 10.99 K/9 and 2.58 BB/9 in 136 innings pitched at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. He should be a significant piece of the Marlins major league staff as the 2026 season progresses. Expect the 22-year-old to work only one inning in this outing, then get built up from there in one-inning increments, similar to what we saw last spring. Fairbanks on MLBPA shake-up New Marlins reliever Pete Fairbanks happens to be part of the Major League Baseball Players Association's eight-player executive subcommittee. In the aftermath of MLBPA executive director Tony Clark resigning, Fairbanks had this to say on Wednesday (via Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald): "The players remain focused on their ongoing preparations for collective bargaining this year. The strength of this union is—and will always be—the solidarity of our membership. We have a long history of fighting for the rights of every player, and we’re committed to making sure we can continue that fight successfully.” View the full article

Brooks Lee enters 2026 as the everyday shortstop for the Minnesota Twins. What did he work on this off-season to prepare for his role? View the full article

Losing Pablo López leaves a real void in the Twins’ rotation, but it also opens the door for someone to take a leap. Which arms are ready to handle bigger innings, tougher matchups, and real pressure in 2026? In this video, we break down the in-house candidates who could step up and keep this staff from taking a step back. Players mentioned are David Festa, Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, and Connor Prielipp. View the full article

Once players arrive at spring training and start to do baseeball activities in public again, uniform talk always finds its way into the baseball conversation. For the Minnesota Twins, the 2026 season brings five distinct uniform options, which each offer something a little different. Some are rooted deeply in tradition, while others are built to reflect a more modern version of the organization. When the Minnesota Twins took the field in 2023, it marked the beginning of a new visual era for the organization. After beginning a brand refresh process in 2020, the club unveiled an entirely redesigned on-field identity that included a new primary Twins script, a refreshed TC logo, a modernized Minnesota wordmark, and the return of pinstripes on the road gray uniform. That redesign also introduced four new uniforms into the rotation, including a home white set, a primary road gray pinstripe look, a navy blue alternate that could be worn both home and away, and a cream alternate featuring 'Twin Cities' across the chest for the first time in franchise history. Since then, Minnesota has continued to evolve its look. The club added its City Connect uniform in 2024 after initially allowing the new branding to stand on its own, and has since made tweaks, including updating the blue alternate jersey ahead of the 2026 season. With Minnesota continuing to tweak its set of looks, now feels like the perfect time to rank the club’s current threads heading into the 2026 uniform cycle. 5. Road Uniform (Gray) Minnesota’s gray road look has quietly shifted back toward a more traditional pinstripe design. Paired with the newer white M hat featuring the red North Star above it, the uniform checks plenty of historical boxes. Every Twins player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame wore pinstripes at some point during their Minnesota career, which gives this look legitimate credibility. Still, it feels more functional than iconic in the current rotation and lands at the bottom of this list. 4. City Connect Uniform The Twins City Connect uniforms lean heavily into the Land of 10,000 Lakes identity, with an azure blue base and bright yellow accents designed to evoke sunlight reflecting off the water. The club dubbed the look the “Ripple Effect” when it debuted in 2024, and it certainly stands out from Minnesota’s traditional navy-red-and-white color palette. The switch from matching blue pants to white pants in 2025 helped significantly balance the design. While it remains one of the more unique looks in the league, it still does not quite match the everyday appeal of some of the more classic options. 3. Alternate Uniform (Navy Blue) This is where things start to get interesting. Minnesota’s updated blue alternate jersey returns in 2026, with subtle but meaningful changes. The base navy color remains, but the arched Minnesota wordmark across the chest has been replaced with a white scripted Twins logo. It marks the first time since the 1986 powder-blue era that the organization will have a regular road option with 'Twins' across the front. That gives this uniform a slight note of nostalgia, but it looks very modern, overall—and a bit pasted-together. 2. Home Uniform (White) The classic white home uniform remains one of the cleanest looks in the sport. The Twins script stretches across the front with the standalone “T” followed by the connected cursive “wins” underlined in a design that traces back to the 1987 World Series championship season. Typically worn with the TC hat, which dates back to the franchise’s move to Minnesota, this uniform delivers exactly what a home look should. It's timeless, without feeling outdated. 1. Alternate Home Uniform The cream 'Twin Cities' alternate continues to be the best look in Minnesota’s closet. Featuring 'Twin Cities' across the chest and the crisscrossed 'M' and 'StP' flag logo, the uniform celebrates both Minneapolis and St. Paul, while bringing back the iconic cream color that fans immediately embraced. Paired with the navy TC hat featuring cream lettering, this set blends history, civic pride, and modern design into a cohesive package. It feels distinctly Minnesotan in a way few uniforms ever do. Ultimately, what makes Minnesota’s current uniform set work is the balance between honoring the franchise’s history and embracing a more modern identity. The 2023 refresh gave the Twins a cohesive foundation that finally allowed each look to feel connected, rather than like a collection of one-off ideas from different eras. Whether it's the classic home whites or the cream Twin Cities alternate, there is a clear throughline that ties the organization’s past success to its present-day ambitions. As the Twins continue to make subtle updates like the revised blue alternate and experiment with newer concepts through initiatives like City Connect, the uniform lineup should remain one of the more versatile in Major League Baseball. Fans may not always agree on which look deserves the top spot, but having multiple strong options in the rotation is a sign that the brand refresh accomplished exactly what it set out to do. Do you agree with these rankings? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Gerson Garabito navigated a long and winding path to the big leagues. Signed as an international free agent by the Kansas City Royals in 2012, the right-hander spent nine minor-league seasons with three different organizations before making his big-league debut with the Texas Rangers at age 28. "It was a long time, just trying to keep everything together," Garabito, in big-league camp with the Brewers on a minor-league deal, recalled from his locker on Tuesday. "The first couple years, it was kind of tough for me because I had no control of my fastball." After two years of pitching exclusively in winter ball, Garabito showed enough with Texas's Triple-A affiliate in 2024 to finally get the call to the majors. He would spend parts of the next two seasons bouncing between the two levels, with uninspiring results. With the Rangers, he pitched to a 5.77 ERA, 4.97 FIP, and 113 DRA-. After he struggled to an 8.53 ERA and 7.38 FIP in 10 Triple-A starts last year, they released him in June to sign with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization. Garabito's performance took off after the change of scenery. In 15 starts in the KBO, he posted a 2.64 ERA (a 59 ERA-, 41% better than the league average) and 3.94 FIP (88 FIP-) with a 25.7% strikeout rate. "This is baseball," he said. "Baseball, one day you're the best pitcher, the best player, and some days you are the worst. But this is something we just learn from that." On the strength of that success, Garabito received an offer from another Korean team to remain overseas in 2026, but after his agent informed him of Milwaukee's interest and its success in developing pitchers, Garabito accepted their offer to return to the United States. "I said, 'Okay, let's go there, then, because I like that,'" he said. With multiple fastball variations in his five-pitch arsenal, including a heavy sinker, it's easy to see why the Brewers called. It stands to reason they'll have him lean into that sinker, but Garabito said he has not yet had conversations about pitch usage or mechanical changes with his new pitching coaches, who are just getting to know him in his first bullpens of the spring. "The first couple days, they're just going to see you, how you look and what you need," he said. "After maybe a week, maybe two weeks, they're going to say, 'We need to work on this.' But right now, everything is going good." Garabito is not on the 40-man roster and is unlikely to break camp with the team. Still, he'll get some feedback on the best way to maximize his abilities and the opportunity this spring to prove his stuff can play against big-league hitters. These next few weeks could lay the groundwork for a big-league role later in the year. "I'm glad to be here right now," he said. View the full article

Had he not ruptured his left Achilles tendon at the end of last June, right-hander Griffin Canning might have been a more sought-after starter this offseason. After all, he was in the midst of a breakout season with the New York Mets when the injury happened. But it did occur and the San Diego Padres are hoping to capitalize on the opportunity by making Canning an addition to their roster a few days after pitchers and catchers reported to Peoria, Ariz. However, that payoff could be delayed. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Canning might not be available until May. The 29-year-old, who went to nearby Santa Margarita Catholic High School as well as UCLA, was 7-3 with a 4.04 FIP (3.77 ERA) at the time of the injury. He immediately jumps into the competition for a rotation spot. That was the second significant injury since making his MLB debut in 2019 with the Los Angeles Angels; Canning missed all of the 2022 season with a stress fracture in his back. Griffin Canning's Stuff The Angels' second-round pick in 2017 has some decent movement on most of his pitches. His four-seam fastball is about MLB average for a right-hander, with an extra two inches of tail. His slider was dramatically better in 2025 than it had been previously. It had 6.1 more inches of drop, but three inches less break. Canning's changeup also gained more depth, dropping 2.6 inches more than average. While relying on those three pitches, Canning also sprinkles in a curveball and cutter. His knuckle curveball is a pitch that could become more effective. In 2025, it tallied 4.3 inches more break, but 4.5 inches less drop than the MLB average, making it something of a hybrid between a slider and a traditional curve. Griffin Canning's Arsenal There are five pitches that Canning uses, with one of his offerings new to his repertoire in 2025. All of his pitches are right around the MLB average from a velocity perspective. Canning's four-seamer was used at a 35.1% clip, including 37% vs. right-handed hitters, while his slider was next at 31.4% and up to 38% against right-handers. The changeup was used 23.2% of the time, including 28% when facing left-handed batters. His knuckle curve had a 6.5% usage, while his newest pitch is the cutter, used 3.8% of the time, primarily vs. lefty hitters. The average velocities of his pitches: four-seamer 94.1 mph, slider 87.7, changeup 89.5, knuckle curve 81.4 and cutter 89.6. The cutter replaced a sinker that Canning had been using. His strikeout rate rebounded from a dismal 17.6% in 2024 to 21.3% with the Mets, but still a tick down from his career mark of 22.1%. However, his walks jumped up to 10.7% in 2025 after being at 8.9% the year before. Canning's career walk rate is 8.7%. While still giving up a lot of hard hits (in the 11th percentile), he is pretty decent at inducing grounders (87th percentile). Year Pitch Type # # RHB # LHB % MPH PA AB H 1B 2B 3B HR SO BBE BA XBA SLG XSLG WOBA XWOBA EV LA Spin Ext. Whiff% PutAway% 2025 Four Seamer 471 233 238 35.1 94.1 83 72 18 11 3 0 4 22 51 .250 .245 .458 .540 .348 .373 90.9 15 2149 6.1 19.3 18.0 2025 Slider 422 239 183 31.4 87.7 123 112 31 22 5 1 3 27 85 .277 .263 .420 .447 .333 .338 90.2 3 2742 5.9 33.5 18.5 2025 Changeup 312 114 198 23.2 89.5 101 92 18 16 1 0 1 17 75 .196 .252 .239 .355 .234 .300 91.2 4 1486 5.8 22.1 16.0 2025 Knuckle Curve 87 38 49 6.5 81.4 13 12 1 1 0 0 0 3 9 .083 .169 .083 .284 .121 .231 86.1 20 2508 5.8 25.8 12.0 2025 Cutter 51 5 46 3.8 89.6 7 4 2 1 1 0 0 1 3 .500 .346 .750 .434 .601 .490 83.8 41 2434 5.9 20.0 16.7 2024 Four Seamer 1069 494 575 37.3 93.4 259 223 56 27 11 2 16 33 196 .251 .270 .534 .533 .366 .379 92.1 23 2118 6.1 14.8 12.0 2024 Changeup 765 260 505 26.7 88.6 229 212 55 39 10 1 5 38 176 .259 .245 .387 .381 .303 .299 87.1 7 1770 5.8 28.8 17.4 2024 Slider 690 391 299 24.1 87.7 182 162 46 34 5 0 7 49 115 .284 .248 .444 .401 .346 .317 91.2 6 2672 5.9 33.1 20.9 2024 Knuckle Curve 307 138 169 10.7 80.5 56 48 13 9 2 0 2 10 39 .271 .260 .438 .431 .347 .342 88.8 22 2377 5.8 24.1 14.9 2024 Sinker 38 27 11 1.3 92.9 12 11 4 3 0 0 1 0 11 .364 .376 .636 .814 .451 .530 92.4 12 1975 6.2 0.0 0.0 2023 Four Seamer 724 386 338 34.7 94.7 150 136 32 17 4 1 10 40 97 .235 .237 .500 .517 .340 .346 92.0 25 2138 6.1 28.1 19.1 2023 Slider 624 395 229 29.9 88.4 169 157 41 32 7 0 2 56 101 .261 .220 .344 .308 .292 .263 89.4 5 2728 5.9 34.0 22.6 2023 Changeup 443 181 262 21.3 90.2 139 127 27 18 5 1 3 26 101 .213 .246 .339 .407 .274 .314 89.3 3 1810 5.8 24.8 15.4 2023 Knuckle Curve 279 136 143 13.4 81.8 51 48 13 5 2 1 5 9 40 .271 .258 .667 .582 .390 .355 93.9 24 2406 5.9 25.2 19.6 2023 Sinker 14 9 5 0.7 94.9 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 .333 .337 1.333 1.228 .675 .646 94.3 28 2126 6.1 14.3 0.0 2021 Four Seamer 435 218 217 40.4 93.6 102 85 21 9 5 1 6 18 67 .247 .265 .541 .537 .387 .396 94.1 28 2267 6.0 20.8 17.0 2021 Slider 291 237 54 27.0 88.2 89 83 21 12 4 1 4 31 53 .253 .201 .470 .339 .317 .250 88.0 3 2638 5.7 39.4 26.5 2021 Changeup 230 57 173 21.4 89.1 65 58 16 13 2 0 1 10 48 .276 .301 .362 .412 .319 .352 86.6 12 1870 5.7 34.8 16.4 2021 Knuckle Curve 119 53 66 11.1 81.8 20 19 6 3 1 0 2 3 16 .316 .177 .684 .357 .429 .247 83.9 31 2324 5.7 28.6 13.6 2021 Cutter 1 1 0 0.1 90.7 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1.000 .982 4.000 3.927 2.007 1.969 110.1 28 2220 5.5 0.0 0.0 2020 Four Seamer 392 219 173 40.6 92.8 96 82 25 13 6 1 5 18 68 .305 .235 .585 .483 .389 .342 88.9 28 2352 5.8 16.0 17.1 2020 Slider 221 134 87 22.9 86.5 61 56 10 6 3 0 1 27 29 .179 .142 .286 .243 .237 .207 88.6 12 2597 5.6 47.1 28.1 2020 Cutter 192 123 69 19.9 88.6 37 30 9 6 1 0 2 4 26 .300 .283 .533 .549 .416 .419 87.3 8 2375 5.7 30.8 10.8 2020 Changeup 149 47 102 15.4 87.9 41 39 8 6 1 1 0 6 33 .205 .289 .282 .432 .231 .328 88.7 14 1741 5.5 22.6 19.4 2020 Knuckle Curve 11 6 5 1.1 81.5 3 3 2 2 0 0 1 2 .667 .576 .667 .703 .588 .563 84.6 20 2448 5.5 16.7 20.0 2019 Four Seamer 656 314 342 42.3 93.9 155 133 35 18 7 2 8 35 101 .263 .227 .526 .476 .364 .336 89.7 28 2335 5.8 22.9 20.2 2019 Slider 448 339 109 28.9 88.9 123 109 25 17 5 0 3 37 74 .229 .212 .358 .327 .285 .273 87.1 10 2506 5.5 45.2 25.3 2019 Curveball 249 80 169 16.0 82.0 51 49 9 4 4 0 1 15 34 .184 .179 .327 .301 .229 .222 84.8 7 2425 5.2 34.0 23.4 2019 Changeup 199 46 153 12.8 89.1 55 50 11 6 1 2 2 9 41 .220 .266 .440 .489 .306 .350 85.5 10 1671 5.6 28.2 20.9 What Should Griffin Canning's Role Be In 2026? Canning is clearly a favorite for a rotation spot, but his status for Opening Day or even April will depend on how the recovery of his left Achilles is going. There is a possibility that he beings the season on the 15-day injured list, or even the 60-day if his rehab process is taking longer than expected. With the top three of right-handers Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Joe Musgrove set, pending any setbacks to Musgrove's return from Tommy John surgery, a full-strength Canning and another new acquisition, right-hander German Marquez, certainly put right-hander Randy Vasquez's spot in the rotation in jeopardy. View the full article

The news surrounding Pablo López cast an immediate shadow over Minnesota’s spring outlook, and the numbers shifted just as quickly as the mood inside the clubhouse. According to FanGraphs, the Twins saw their playoff odds fall from 31.7% to 26.6% following the announcement that López is expected to miss the 2026 season after suffering a torn UCL. While López will receive a second opinion, the expectation is that he will miss significant time and is likely headed for Tommy John surgery. Minnesota built its roster around stability in the starting rotation, and losing its ace before Opening Day creates a ripple effect that impacts everything from bullpen usage to innings distribution across the staff. Interestingly, Jared Greenspan of MLB.com recently listed the Twins as one of 10 teams capable of outperforming their playoff odds in 2026. He pointed to the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays as an example of a club that beat the projections and played its way into October. However, those projections for Minnesota were calculated before López’s injury became public, which means the climb is now steeper than initially expected. Reasons Why the Odds Are Against Them 1. Losing Their Ace: The most obvious hurdle is replacing López at the top of the rotation. Minnesota can shuffle names into his spot, but there is no internal option capable of replicating the value he provided every fifth day. His leadership will also be sorely missed, as young pitchers get their first full season at the big-league level. 2. Shortstop Depth Chart: Shortstop depth is another concern, with Baseball America recently saying, “They don’t have a shortstop.” The Twins are projected to rank 30th in fWAR at the position. Brooks Lee has shown flashes at the big-league level, but has also battled injuries and inconsistency. Kaelen Culpepper broke out last season but has yet to play above Double-A. Marek Houston is widely viewed as the organization’s best defensive shortstop, but evaluators still question whether his bat will play at the highest level. 3. Bullpen Rebuild: Minnesota also lacks proven high-leverage right-handed relievers after trading Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Louis Varland at last year’s deadline. The club can hope for more from Cole Sands and Justin Topa, but both may ultimately be better suited for middle-inning roles. 4. Lack of Offensive Upgrades: Offensively, the lineup needs internal growth. Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner have shown the ability to be impact hitters, but each needs to recover from an underwhelming 2025 to offset the loss of run prevention on the pitching side. Josh Bell was the team's biggest offseason signing, but he can't save the entire lineup. Reasons Why They Can Defy the Odds 1. Rotational Depth: Even without López, Minnesota still has rotation depth that many teams would envy. Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, and Zebby Matthews now move up the depth chart and will have opportunities to prove they can handle meaningful innings in a competitive environment. 2. Potential All-Star Players: The Twins also feature two of the best players in the division in Byron Buxton and Joe Ryan. Both can carry stretches of a season and swing the outcome of tight games, which often determine postseason positioning in the AL Central. Luke Keaschall could also build on a strong rookie campaign that included a 134 wRC+ and further lengthen the lineup; the projections like his bat a lot. 3. Prospects on the Verge: Help may arrive from Triple-A sooner rather than later. Outfielders Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Gabriel Gonzalez can all provide an offensive boost for a lineup that struggled in the second half. Left-handed pitchers Connor Prielipp and Kendry Rojas are two of the most exciting arms in the system, but they struggled in their first taste of Triple-A. Any of the names above could provide a meaningful boost over the course of the season. A five-percentage-point drop in playoff odds feels significant in February, because there are no wins in the bank yet. Everything is theoretical, and projections become the loudest voice in the room. But 26.6% is not zero. It is not a white flag. It's a reminder that the margin for error just shrank. For Minnesota to beat the odds, several things must happen simultaneously. The young arms stepping into larger roles can't simply survive. They need to be legitimate contributors. The lineup can't tread water. It must produce at a top-half-of-the-league level, making good on what has looked like stalled talent the last two years. The bullpen can't just piece together outs. It needs to develop new late-inning answers. At the same time, baseball history is filled with teams that looked finished on paper before the games started. The difference between 31.7% and 26.6% is meaningful in a model, but over 162 games, it can be erased by one breakout season, one unexpected rookie, or one dominant stretch from a star player. In 2017, they entered the season with a similarly unimpressive chance to make the postseason, according to Baseball Prospectus. They shocked everyone that year, and they have the latent talent to do so again. That's the bet Minnesota is now making. Losing López changes the ceiling, and it certainly complicates the path. But it doesn't eliminate it. If the Twins are going to defy expectations, they will have to do it the hard way with internal growth, health from their core players, and impact from prospects knocking on the door. The projections have adjusted. Now the organization has to respond. Do you believe the Twins can beat their playoff odds? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

As observers of the Chicago Cubs, we've all become accustomed to their standard process in building a bullpen. It's the waiver claims, the projects, and the last-chance veterans. Somehow, they've made it work. In the face of that success, though, Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins chose to revamp the approach this winter in creating more early certainty that (they hope) will yield some long-term stability. The Cubs' leaders in relief innings in 2025 were Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar, and Drew Pomeranz. Chris Flexen was a bit further down the list, in sixth. Keller was a minor-league signing who'd last flashed upside nearly seven years prior. Thielbar was a 37-year-old coming off the worst year of his career with the only team for which he'd ever pitched. Pomeranz was in camp with Seattle on a minor-league deal prior to being acquired by the Cubs that April. Flexen was on a non-guaranteed pact of his own. That's four of the top-six arms in terms of volume bearing very little margin for error on a career-level scope. A last chance, if you will. Let's work back farther in the chronology. In 2024, the Cubs had the likes of Tyson Miller, Héctor Neris, Mark Leiter Jr. and Jorge López logging a good chunk of innings in relief. Miller had thrown for three teams the year prior, Neris went unsigned deep into the offseason due to some wildly concerning peripherals, Leiter was an active reclamation project for the team, and Lopez was a very public castoff from the New York Mets. Even the year prior, the Cubs were led in relief innings by waiver claim Julian Merryweather, Leiter on his second minor-league deal, and free-agent signee Michael Fulmer who was playing on a cheap one-year pact. It obviously doesn't account for all of said innings, but it speaks to what we've come to understand as a part of Jed Hoyer's process. Not that the results illustrate reason to be critical of such process. The Cubs ranked 11th in bullpen ERA in 2025 (3.78), 12th in 2024 (3.81), and 13th in 2023 (3.85). If anything, they've managed to improve the process every so slightly over the past handful of years. Results notwithstanding, though, the Cubs, simply, have not been a team that likes to invest heavy finances into their bullpen. They prefer to work it on the cheap via the development of their own arms, a waiver claim of an arm with upside, or hope they can catch fire with a buy-low free agent either past his prime or aimlessly searching for the upside they flashed earlier in their career. Given that, the 2025-26 offseason has represented a sharp deviation from the team's modus operandi in matters of the relief corps. At the onset of the winter, the Cubs lost a number of names to free agency. Keller, Pomeranz, Taylor Rogers, Ryan Brasier, and Aaron Civale were all among those who departed this offseason after logging time in relief for the 2025 Cubs. They also traded Andrew Kittredge back to Baltimore before things even really got moving. Ryan Pressly was gone before the season was. They did, however, re-sign Thielbar. Which means that, of the team's top 15 arms in terms of relief volume, only six remain in the organization: Thielbar, Daniel Palencia, Porter Hodge, Colin Rea, and Jordan Wicks. Only three of those are even likely to be guaranteed work (Thielbar, Palencia, and Rea). In replacing such volume, the team sought a new approach. The waiver claims and collection of minor-league signings are still there. But it may be difficult for them to log too many innings with the likes of Thielbar, Hoby Milner, Phil Maton, Jacob Webb, and Hunter Harvey in the mix. This means that five of the team's (likely) eight relief pitchers are not only established big league arms, but still working to enough effect to be on guaranteed contracts. Maton is coming off the best year of his career. Thielbar and Milner are extremely efficient against hitters of the same handedness. Although limited by injury, Harvey didn't allow a run across 12 appearances last year. Even Webb threw to a 3.00 ERA in 55 appearances. That's a robust group of arms that each feature a track record of sustained success. Sure, there might be a niche quality to some of them (Milner, most notably), but this group takes on an entirely different shape than previous bullpen iterations on the North Side of Chicago. Now, instead of requiring more inexperienced or erratic arms to shoulder innings loads, you're able to put them in more favorable spots and deploy them as supplemental pieces to the puzzle. It's not necessarily about getting a group that favors one result more than the other. Jed Hoyer didn't drive up the strikeout rates or the groundballs. He limited variance. That's the key here. Perhaps even more notably, the Cubs have built this group with an eye on 2027, too. Webb has a club option for the following year. Maton has a second year on his deal. Harvey and Thielbar each have mutual options, which stand as good a chance at being non-fiction entities as any other mutual option in the sport. Let's not overlook Shelby Miller in all of this, who was signed with the express purpose of being part of the year-after's group. Rather than waiting for the bullpen picture to take shape, Hoyer and Hawkins have been much more explicit in shaping it themselves. And while the multi-year factor may be significant, it's ultimately that decrease in variance that rings as the true victory for how the relief corps has been assembled this winter. In a division with a team like the Milwaukee Brewers, you want to force a degree of certainty on your opponents. Rather than let the natural happenings of a game unfold, a bullpen comprised of established guys helps to generate some stability and clearer outcomes, rather than letting a level of control escape your grasp. It won't all work, and the Ryan Rolisons and Trent Thorntons of the world may very well have their day. But the direction is encouraging for a team that hasn't sought to establish certainty in the bullpen this early in a calendar year in quite some time. View the full article

For much of the winter, it was evident where the San Diego Padres needed improvement to their current roster. Such a statement held true for both sides of the ball, and while starting pitching grabbed much of the attention of the media and fanbase, building up depth in their lineup wasn't too far behind in terms of raw need. In the closing weeks of the offseason, A.J. Preller has largely managed to do that in the face of budget constraints and an uncertain organizational future. It began earlier this winter, when the team signed South Korean standout Sung Mun Song to a four-year deal. His versatility alone helped to extend the bench in providing support at multiple positions. While it took several weeks for additional supplementation of the roster, Preller was able to do so in the form of Miguel Andujar and Philadelphia castoff Nick Castellanos on a pair of one-year deals. On Monday, the team added Ty France on a minor-league deal for good measure (and Jose Miranda earlier this winter). It's a slate of players that complicates the overall construction but should help in areas where the Padres struggled in 2025. Last year's lineup struggled to generate power. They ranked only 28th in the league in ISO (.138) and 29th in hard-hit rate (37.8 percent). Their barrel rate, at 7.5 percent, was also among the league's worst (27th). Each of those figures was a touch worse against left-handed pitching, too. So, it was about adding not only power to the mix, but power that could aid in production against southpaws. How each of those names translates to supporting the Padres in their specific areas of need remains to be seen. None of the players noted are barrel merchants, but each does offer more success against lefties in their career than right-handers. Even considering the nuance of lineup construction against the type of opponents the Padres will see in 2026, there's enough volume here to consider how things might look in general. We know what the majority of the lineup will look like to start the year. The "locks" are as follows: Catcher: Freddy Fermin Second Base: Jake Cronenworth Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts Third Base: Manny Machado Left Field: Ramón Laureano Center Field: Jackson Merrill Right Field: Fernando Tatis Jr. That leaves first base and designated hitter as options through which the team's new additions could rotate. Which automatically presents us with a complication: Gavin Sheets. Sheets had previously been indicated as the player with the first crack at serving as the everyday first baseman. Now, however, you have at least four names in the mix that either have experience at first base (Andujar, Miranda, and France) or are working at the position to hold it down on at least a part-time basis (Castellanos). To say nothing of the possibility that Cronenworth could bounce over from the keystone while Song gets work at second base. This is all to say that first base might not nearly be the lock that one might have expected upon Stammen's prior declaration. If anything, it only adds to the flexibility that could exist as part of the new-look depth. There are some key elements to note about each name, though. Sheets profiles better defensively at first, but is not a plus-defender anywhere in reality. The same is true of Andujar and Castellanos. The former has handled each corner on both the dirt and the grass, while Castellanos is working to handle the right-side corners. No matter what, though, you're not getting upper-echelon defensive work. The situation is a bit different with France, in particular, among the non-guaranteed contracts, but we can only work with things that offer a little more certainty. As such, let's assume, for a moment, that the Padres are facing a right-handed starter. Each of Andujar and Castellanos have rather stark splits against said handedness. If the goal is to get Sheets in the mix, then the lineup might look something more like this: Catcher: Fermin First Base: Cronenworth Second Base: Song Shortstop: Bogaerts Third Base: Machado Left Field: Laureano Center Field: Merrill Right Field: Tatis, Jr. Designated Hitter: Sheets This scenario has plenty more nuance, however. If Stammen were inclined to rotate Machado into the DH spot, then you could get Song at the hot corner, Cronenworth back at second, and Sheets at first. Laureano doesn't have especially favorable splits against righties. Could this specific scenario be an area where Andujar or Castellanos — who at least offer a little bit of competence against right-handers — work into left field? We'll table that for now given how much it rides on in-season context. As for the configuration against southpaws, things might look more like this: Catcher: Fermin First Base: Andujar Second Base: Cronenworth Shortstop: Bogaerts Third Base: Machado Left Field: Laureano Center Field: Merrill Right Field: Tatis, Jr. Designated Hitter: Castellanos Again, nuance exists. The goal here is to eliminate Sheets and his career 56 wRC+ against left-handers entirely from the equation. Could this be an area where Luis Campusano gets into the mix, either behind the plate or as a designated hitter? Could Song prove more effective against lefties than Cronenworth? Does one of Andujar or Castellanos have the edge to a defensive role over the other? There's a lot of questions to be answered. None of this considers a split-neutral Ty France or a possible resurgence from Jose Miranda, either. It's a lot of bodies to be sorted in order to gain some level of consistency with the lineup that is desired by most players. For what it's worth, FanGraphs has the primary seven spots in the lineup anchored by the respective names for no less than 70 percent of the work at each spot. First base, meanwhile, has Sheets getting in at a 55 percent clip, with Castellanos at 18 percent and Andujar at 10 percent. France and Miranda are thrown five and one percent, respectively, amid their non-guaranteed deals. At designated hitter, Andujar is projected for the most work (34 percent), followed by Castellanos (23 percent), and Sheets (15 percent). While these are based only on projections, it does help to support the idea that much of the rotation we see in the lineup will come from one of those two spots, with room for Machado bouncing into the DH role and Song's versatility also taken into account in the distribution. Ultimately, though, it's kind of the ideal problem to have heading into the spring exhibition season. The Padres will use February and March to answer these exact questions. Determining Song's role, the defensive competence of Andujar and Castellanos, and whether either of France or Miranda deserve a spot in the mix are of the utmost importance. From there, it becomes a matter of how first base and the designated hitter spot will be utilized, or if you're looking at more of a pure matchup-based situation. As much of this lineup is settled, the volume of intrigue in those remaining areas is exceeded only by the volume of players creating it given Preller's recent involvement on the transaction list. View the full article

Is Jameson Taillon underappreciated? The Cubs starter recently responded to a Twitter poll referring to Taillon giving up a home run to Alex Bregman as the former Pittsburgh Pirate being in midseason form. This got our wheels turning and gave our team a jolt of inspiration to highlight just how solid Taillon has been in Chicago's rotation over the last two years. In this video, we cover his durability, six-pitch mix, and pitch-to-contact tactics that make him a reliable fifth starter for this year's squad. View the full article

Is Jameson Taillon underappreciated? The Cubs starter recently responded to a Twitter poll referring to Taillon giving up a home run to Alex Bregman as the former Pittsburgh Pirate being in midseason form. This got our wheels turning and gave our team a jolt of inspiration to highlight just how solid Taillon has been in Chicago's rotation over the last two years. In this video, we cover his durability, six-pitch mix, and pitch-to-contact tactics that make him a reliable fifth starter for this year's squad. View the full article

Last season, the Royals traded for Jonathan India with the plan of him being the leadoff man to hit ahead of Bobby Witt Jr. India held that role until early August due to his regression in on-base ability. Mike Yastrzemski and Maikel Garcia became the main leadoff hitters against right and left-handed pitchers, respectively, after India lost the job. Adam Frazier and Carter Jensen also got a few spot starts at leadoff. With Yastrzemski no longer an option, who should the Royals rely on to set the tone at the top of the order? A modern leadoff hitter is not necessarily the fastest player on the roster. A leadoff hitter should be able to excel at getting on base so that the middle of the order can get them home while also avoiding empty plate appearances by recording excess strikeouts. A leadoff hitter must also have the ability to excel on the basepaths and increase the chance of scoring by advancing extra bases and avoiding unnecessary outs. There are a few players who could leadoff for the Royals in 2026. India will likely get another opportunity to win the job in spring training, since that was the reason they traded for him a year ago. Garcia could continue with the job that he had at the end of last season. New acquisition Isaac Collins had one start in the leadoff spot and saw a lot of time batting second last season in Milwaukee. Though not projected to be a starter, Lane Thomas has experience in the leadoff spot and could challenge for a larger role with the Royals if he can have a bounce-back season. Jensen could be another candidate since he got a couple of starts last season, but since his sample size at the major league level is only 69 plate appearances, it will be hard to compare his metrics with the other options. Ideally, the leadoff man is an everyday player, which makes Jensen less likely to be a candidate as Salvador Perez’s backup. If he can continue his hot start in the major leagues, he might force himself into contention. Why not Bobby Witt Jr.? Witt is undoubtedly the best player in the Royals lineup and grades better than each of these players in almost every metric. Moving Witt to the top of the order will impede his ability to drive in runs and provide extra run-creating value. As the second batter in the order, his on-base ability will still lead to runs being driven in the middle of the order. As the second hitter, he could do the job of driving in runs and setting the table for the rest of the lineup. Let’s break down each of the candidates’ profiles to see how they stack up as leadoff candidates. Getting On Base Good leadoff hitters excel at getting on base, whether that be from walks or hits. A good way to measure this is Weighted On Base Average (wOBA). wOBA assigns weights to each on-base method based on their offensive value, rather than batting average or on-base percentage, which weighs each hit equally. Below is a chart with last season’s wOBA for each player in addition to their career average and 2026 projections according to THE BAT X model from Frangraphs. Last season, Garcia and Collins led with wOBAs just over .340, while Thomas and India underperformed their career averages. Projections see Collins as a regression candidate with his 2026 wOBA taking a hit and dropping to .309. This could be due to his expected wOBA being over 20 points below his production last year. Projections appear to be bullish on India making a comeback in 2026, similar to his production in Cincinnati. Hard Contact Hard contact is often more predictive of sustainable output than traditional metrics. Generally, it is more likely that a hard-hit ball will fall for a hit than a soft-hit ball. Hard contact is commonly measured by hard hit rate and barrel rate. Below are tables comparing each of the players’ hard contact Statcast metrics. Projections are not available for Statcast metrics. Garcia has the best career hard hit rate of 45.5%, but he pairs that with the lowest average barrel rate of the group despite his better performance in 2025. Of the four players, Thomas’s career averages present the highest combination of hard hits and barrels at 39.2% and 7.8%, respectively. Thomas’s regression and injury history, however, could be enough evidence to think those career numbers are less likely to return in 2026. If India is able to return to barreling the ball more than 7% of the time, that could bode well for its chances to lead off in 2026. Plate Discipline Avoiding strikeouts is ideal for a leadoff hitter. Striking out removes the opportunity to get on base. It is also key to not chase the ball out of the zone or whiff on strike in the zone. A player who doesn’t chase or whiff balls will also tend to increase the pitch counts for starting pitchers and get them out of the game sooner than later. High walk rates also show signs of good plate discipline and an increase in on-base percentage. These metrics are a little all over the place, but what stands out is that Thomas is lowest in this category with the worst whiff, strikeout, and chase rates of this group, and not a particularly good walk rate. Collins stands out with the best walk and chase rates, and Garcia stands out with the best strikeout and whiff rates. India is more steady across the board as it is not the worst in any of these metrics compared to the other players. Baserunning and Speed Modern leadoff hitters are not necessarily the speedsters that they once were required to be, but it certainly does help. Being fast can be the difference between scoring from first on a ball hit in the gap or staying on third and still needing to be driven in. Steals can also help by getting into scoring position after a single and increasing the odds of being driven in. While speed makes taking extra bases and stealing bases easier, that does not necessarily make a player a better baserunner. Being able to read a pitcher’s delivery on a steal and knowing when to advance an extra base based on the fielders’ decisions can increase the baserunning acumen of any player, regardless of speed. These skills are essential for increasing the odds for the middle of the order to drive in more runs. Baserunning value is measured in totalling extra runs via extra bases taken and runs via stolen bases. Below are the percentiles each player falls in for baserunning value and sprint speed in 2025. Player Baserunning Value Sprint Speed India 18th percentile 71st percentile Garcia 48th percentile 63rd percentile Collins 68th percentile 58th percentile Thomas DNQ 94th percentile All of these players are above average, with Thomas being the fastest in the 94th percentile of players in sprint speed. However, due to his limited playing time, he did not have enough of a body of work to qualify for the ranking. Over his career, his baserunning value has been close to average or slightly above average. Collins provided the highest baserunning value despite being the slower player in the group. If he can maintain his on-base abilities, his baserunning ability could be valuable to the Royals' offense. India did not have good output in baserunning last season despite being the second-fastest player here. He was caught stealing in all three of his attempts last season despite totaling double-digit steals in three of his four seasons in Cincinnati. Verdict Each player brings different strengths to the leadoff spot. India excels at plate discipline and at barreling the ball. Garcia excels in on-base ability and a high hard hit rate. Collins provides strong baserunning and plate discipline. Thomas provides speed and power potential. There is no clear-cut favorite for the everyday leadoff man. It will be important to see how these players perform in spring training to determine whether any can show production beyond their current skill sets to win the leadoff spot. View the full article

No starting pitcher has thrown more innings for the Chicago Cubs over the last three years than Jameson Taillon. In fact, his 445. 1/3 innings since 2023 lead the group by a healthy margin. The gap is due to a combination of injury and turnover, and while those mitigating forces constraining others' workloads is not ideal on its own, that it's led to such a high volume of work from Taillon also presents its share of issues. In general, Taillon's numbers look fine over that stretch. Since 2023, he's pitched to a 3.96 ERA (4.39 FIP) and a solid 5.5% walk rate. You can work with that. But that he doesn't lead the team in fWAR (despite making 22 more starts than the closest arm) speaks to some of the struggles we've begun to see within that timeframe. The 2025 season is indicative of how Taillon's game has regressed in certain respects in the last three years: Note the quality of the walk rate and the fact that his actual ERA fairly reflects his expected one. Each of those will work. Taillon also navigates his way around hard contact effectively. The issues lie in the fact that his fastball velocity has fallen from the 44th percentile in 2023 (93.7 MPH) to just the 20th in 2025 (92.3 MPH). When you combine waning velocity with a minuscule groundball rate, you get a home run rate that has become problematic. Taillon's homer rate on fly balls in 2025 was 13.6%. It was the highest of his career and, no doubt, the byproduct of allowing 23.4% of batted balls against him to be pulled in the air. That his fastball reliance was at its highest since 2021 might also have something to do with it: Taillon's four-seam heater is a fine pitch. It had a run value of 3, while his no. 2 pitch in usage (the sweeper) finished at -9. The four-seamer, though, is responsible for Taillon's highest rate of barrels allowed (10.8%) and his highest rate of flyballs (41.9%). You don't want your highest-volume arm to have a fastball that hittable. The good news is that Taillon's role is projected to shift quite a bit in 2026. Cade Horton emerged as the viable frontline arm that his upside indicated. Justin Steele is nearing his return from an internal brace procedure. The team acquired Edward Cabrera from Miami to fortify the front end of the rotation. If we're assuming full health (a risky proposition), Taillon is, at best, the team's no. 4 starter. In a No. 4—or even a No. 5 depending on the fortunes of Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga—you're not looking for the 2018 version of Taillon, when he posted his best ERA (3.20), his best strikeout rate (22.8%), and his highest fWAR (3.9). You're just looking for someone to eat innings while minimizing traffic on the basepaths and, subsequently, not making life difficult for your bullpen. Even with the recent home run issues, Taillon is very much that guy. Over this three-year stretch in Chicago, Taillon has averaged 5.6 innings per start. In 2025, that number was 5.8 innings. His walk rate topped out at 6.3% in 2023, before dropping to 4.9% and 5.2% in the last two years, respectively. He's also coming off a year in which he posted a career-best strand rate (80.3%). So while the fly balls do represent an issue, it's not as if the bases are packed when it's happening. If anything, his splits indicate that with runners on or in scoring, the usage shifts in a manner that stifles quality contact and balls over the fence. Whether that skill is sustainable, even with tailored usage, is a fair question, but he managed it last year. We can outline two important components of Taillon and his role in 2026. The first is that the homers may continue to be an issue, based on usage and underlying trends with his fastball. The second is that such a trend is mitigated, thanks to the fact that he's sitting closer to the back of the rotation than ever. An innings eater free of traffic and a normal transition from starter to reliever within the context of a typical start? The Cubs can work with that. View the full article

Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio, flanked by president of baseball operations Matt Arnold and president of business operations Rick Schlesinger, addressed the media on Tuesday morning. Among other topics, Attanasio discussed the Brewers' current competitiveness, where they want to improve, and the organization's player development system. Here are a few key notes. After Last Year's NLCS Defeat, Brewers Are Still Learning From the Dodgers (and Others) The Brewers have been one of baseball's most forward-thinking front offices for the last decade, but Attanasio said they are constantly looking for shortcomings or flaws in their process. That includes looking at what other successful clubs do that they can emulate. "You somewhat stay in your lane, you're self-aware and know what you're good at, but you have to be open to what others are doing," Attanasio said. In making his point, Attanasio pointed to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who swept the Brewers in last year's NLCS and are again projected to have a luxury tax payroll of around $400 million. While the Dodgers' spending has been at the heart of a brewing labor dispute that figures to lead to a lockdown next offseason, Attanaio focused on a reality that isn't acknowledged as often: the Dodgers aren't just rich; they're rich and smart. Many of baseball's brightest executives work under Andrew Friedman. "Everybody talks about the Dodgers' payroll, but it's probably the smartest group that there is," Attanasio said. "Whatever we can add in players, they've got more. Whatever guys Matt can hire [in the front office]—and he hires the best and the brightest—they have more. And when we play them, we're smart enough to see they're doing some things maybe we're not. So Matt and his group think about that." Player Development Regulation Changes Could Become Another Obstacle to Navigate As a small-market team, the Brewers allocate much of their budget behind the scenes to player development. It's a key reason why they've remained competitive every season for nearly a decade, while developing one of baseball's best farm systems. "I think anyone will tell you we have a state-of-the-art facility here in Phoenix and a state-of-the-art facility in the Dominican," Attanasio said. "I can't hang a banner for Baseball America's top farm system, executives of the year across the board, and Grade-A facilities, but I'm saying it starts from this macro perspective. Because if you get that wrong, it doesn't matter." Part of that success stems from the Brewers tracking and applying the right analytics at those facilities. To this point, teams could determine which data was most valuable and choose which tracking systems to install at their facilities to collect it. This year, MLB is regulating the use of that technology. All 30 teams must use the same league-mandated devices across all levels, just as all 30 MLB ballparks use Hawk-Eye cameras for Statcast tracking. That change could help teams that are behind the times analytically, but it also forces those on the cutting edge to tear down their existing information systems and adopt what they consider inferior technology. Attanasio said the Brewers won't use it as an excuse. "We feel that whatever the system is, whenever it looks like the cards are stacked against us, we're going to compete," he said. "We've done that for 21 years." However, he also acknowledged that forcing the smartest teams to change how they operate could negatively affect competitive balance, even if the intent is to improve it. "We're trying to have competitive balance so the fans can come out and have hope for all 30 teams," Attanasio said. "If there are some advantages that certain teams have because of what they're doing, you've got to be careful about taking those advantages away, because then maybe you disrupt balance somewhat." No Public Updates on Pat Murphy's Future Murphy is entering the final season of the three-year contract he signed when the Brewers named him their new manager before the 2024 season. Most teams extend their current manager before their final contract year to avoid a lame duck situation, but there have been no updates about Murphy's future. Both sides have sidestepped the question, which Attanasio did again on Tuesday. "Everybody loves Murph, there's no doubt," Attanasio said. "But we don't talk about contracts. We do talk about stability. We've had a huge amount of stability here, and that's the goal." View the full article

In his first two seasons with the Twins, Brooks Lee has hit .232/.279/.357 with 19 home runs and a 75 wRC+ over 712 plate appearances. He's struggled to reach base, often chasing pitches outside the zone, leading to weak contact and a high whiff rate. On the bright side, the 25-year-old generated plus power last season, while consistently posting a low strikeout rate. However, his poor swing decisions have led to him entering his third season at an early crossroads, straining to prove he belongs in the majors. Minnesota will afford him ample opportunity to accomplish that; he's penciled in as the club’s Opening Day starting shortstop. Yet, with ascending shortstop prospect Kaelen Culpepper expected to begin his 2026 campaign at Triple-A and 2025 first-round draft pick Marek Houston not too far behind them, time is running short. What did Lee do in an effort to break out at the plate in 2026, staving off Culpepper and Houston? Let’s take a look. Drafted as a switch-hitter, Lee had always performed better from the left side, in college at Cal Poly and in the minors. Unfortunately, that trend failed to continue with the parent club. He's put up a dreadful 68 wRC+ over a combined 482 plate appearances from the left side of the plate the past two seasons, compared to a 77 wRC+ over 230 combined plate appearances hitting right-handed. Obviously, both results are undesirable, but the majority of any switch-hitter's at-bats will come from the left side, and Lee felt confident he's better than his numbers in thos situations. That being the case, he prioritized improving as a hitter from the left side, while keeping his right-handed swing stable this offseason. “[I’m] just trying to find one swing that I could stick with left-handed, not make so many adjustments,” Lee said. “I felt like this offseason, I made the least amount of adjustments. Didn’t look at video that much. I felt good just trying to hit the ball the other way more. I didn’t really do that last year, left-handed. I feel like, right-handed, I did. I got a lot more hits, and so, yeah, that was kind of a big focus. See the ball deeper so I could hit it that way. And I think that’ll help with chasing.” Lee already made a slight adjustment to his contact point, according to Statcast. His average intercept point from the left side was 29.0 inches in front of his center of mass in 2025, nearly two inches deeper in the hitting zone than in 2024 (31.8 inches). Yet, as noted earlier, his adjustment didn’t yield a meaningful improvement in results. Interestingly, Lee stands a few inches closer to the plate and very slightly deeper in the box as a lefty than he does as a righty. That should produce deeper contact points, naturally, but there's plenty of room for (especially) him to set up even farther toward the catcher, changing the equation again. There is no evidence to suggest that Lee will actually do that. Yet, if he (in collaboration with new hitting coach Keith Beauregard) believes seeing the ball deeper would improve his chase rate, one way to do it could be to create a few more inches of space between himself and the pitcher. If he can continue mashing fastballs from both sides of the plate while chasing offspeed and breaking pitches less often, Lee could become the self-actualized switch-hitter Twins Territory has yearned for him to become since his electric 2024 debut, while producing 20+ home run power. If Lee undergoes only modest improvement early next season, he could still be usurped by Culpepper, effectively ending his chances of becoming the club’s long-term shortstop. A long-term role as a utility infielder who could bounce between second base, third, and short (and maybe potentially first base) is still in the cards with Lee. At the same time, a very disheartening reality exists: Lee could be demoted to Triple-A if his struggles continue in 2026. He's fast-tracked himself to make-or-break status, and his ability to improve as a left-handed hitter will be the deciding factor in his ability to remain in the majors. Twins Daily's John Bonnes contributed to the reporting in this piece. View the full article

It flew way under the radar earlier in the month, but the Boston Red Sox did add another bullpen option to the mix in Kyle Keller. Unlike fellow offseason acquisition Ryan Watson, Keller isn't on the 40-man roster — he'll earn $1.9 million if he breaks camp with the team — meaning he'll have to displace someone to return to the majors. The good news is that, besides Watson and Tyler Samaniego, the Red Sox didn't add anyone else to the reliever mix this winter (save for a smattering of non-roster invitees). In other words, opportunities will be abundant in spring. That'll be important for Keller, who hasn't pitched in Major League Baseball since 2021. He's spent the past four years in the NPB, racking up some big strikeout numbers while allowing too many home runs and walks. The 32-year-old right-hander posted a 2.42 ERA across 152 1/3 innings in Japan, though his peripherals left something to be desired. One thing to note is that, while his mid-90s fastball velocity really played up in the NPB (where high-end velocity is much rarer than in MLB), Keller won't be able to get by so easily if he's missing his spots. However, as shared by Section 10's Tyler Milliken, that four-seamer did yield a 126 Stuff+ grade last year. It's easily his best pitch, though a 70% usage rate probably won't fly in the states without another tick or two on the radar gun. His other two pitches, a curveball and splitter, are generally reserved for specific batters, with the curve primarily used against righties and the splitter saved exclusively for lefties. The problem is the curveball, despite generating a decent whiff rate (26.8%), gets hit hard and doesn't grade out well in terms of shape or break. The split-finger did stifle left-handed batters in 2025 (.147 xwOBAcon), though that sample is comprised of only 40 pitches. Really, this is a bet on a unique fastball that Keller just dominates the upper-third of the zone with. The pitch has tremendous rise and ride, meaning hitters perceive it going up in the zone after it's released. Keller can run into some trouble when he leaves it down — it runs into the swing path of hitters, especially lefties, in that case — but there's a reason why the pitch only yielded a 30.0% ground-ball rate last year. He wins by throwing the pitch high and daring batters to catch up with it. Keller is a fascinating case of a one-trick pony whose trick is actually a lot more impressive and deceptive than it appears at first glance. His first assignment clause comes in mid-April, meaning the Red Sox will have a couple of months to evaluate him in spring training and Triple-A before he can seek a major-league deal with another team. Will that be enough time to win him a job in Boston's bullpen? Seeing as the team has lost so many relievers this offseason (Steven Matz, Jordan Hicks, Brennan Bernardino, Chris Murphy, Liam Hendriks, Josh Winckowski) without adding many options to replace them, the signing of Kyle Keller could prove to be monumental if everything breaks the right way. View the full article

In 2025, the Brewers had a revolving door in center field, due to injuries to Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins early in the season. The result was that Jackson Chourio ended up spending most of his games being flanked on both sides in the outfield, and he acquitted himself fairly well. That said, could center field go much better for the Brewers? 2025 Review Blake Perkins’s broken leg late in spring training was just the start. Shortly into the season, Garrett Mitchell was lost for a while, and then for the season. Eventually, the Brewers settled on Chourio in center, keeping Gold Glover Sal Frelick in right. It worked out, mostly because Isaac Collins turned out to be a capable option in left with above-average offense and near-Gold Glove defense. But now, Collins is gone and Chourio appears to be headed back to left field. So, whom do the Brewers have slated for center? Current Roster Situation On the 40-man roster, the Brewers have Mitchell, Perkins, Chourio, and Frelick, all of whom are solid options for just about any major-league team. Akil Baddoo had some flashes of playing capably in center field during his time in Detroit, though he was quickly shifted to left and hasn't even been great in a corner the last two seasons. Brandon Lockridge and Steward Berroa will likely be at Triple-A Nashville, but did have appearances for the Brewers in center field last season. Recent free-agent signee Luis Rengifo also has seen MLB action in center field, while former top-100 prospect Tyler Black has played the position in the minor leagues. Realistically, neither Rengifo nor Black is a credible center fielder at this point, but they're behind the glass the team can break if a true emergency occurs. On the NRI side, Luis Lara is a top prospect, continuing to do more than his size suggests is possible. Jett Williams has a future as a regular for the Brewers, be it on the infield or in center, and Eduardo Garcia has proven a capable option when he isn’t playing on the left side of the infield. Minor-league free agent Greg Jones is deeper down the depth chart. Best-Case Scenario Garrett Mitchell starts at least 120 games in center field. Mitchell is a dynamic offensive player whose potential was just emerging. If he's healthy and undiminished by the injuries that have wrecked his last three years, he’s a legitimate 20-20 threat alongside Chourio. Mitchell may need some rest, with Blake Perkins being a Gold Glove finalist (and competent offensively), and it’s likely that Jett Williams will see time in center when he arrives at The Ueck. This is not the only good-news scenario for the Brewers in center field, but at this time, Mitchell is the player the Brewers would most like to see put together a healthy season, if for no other reason than the potential return in a trade (the Brewers dealt both Collins and Durbin) could be maximized, as opposed to seeing Mitchell designated for assignment or non-tendered after the season. Worst-Case Scenario Jackson Chourio is the primary starter in center field for the second straight season. As is the case when we covered this in 2025, there are 29 managers in MLB who would happily have him playing center field. In Milwaukee’s case, though, it means that Mitchell, Perkins and Williams, among others, are either on the injured list or slumping. The Brewers survived 2025, thanks to the emergence of Isaac Collins and contributions from Jake Bauers, who handled left field with an assist from Christian Yelich. They don’t want to have their outfield held together by duct tape and panic transactions in 2026. Overview As was the case in 2025, the Brewers have a lot of good options in center field—at least when you look at it on paper. The team prefers to get a lot of center fielders and to move some to the corner spots, depending on their individual skills, giving them a lot of capable players. But the games are played on dirt and grass, not paper. The 2025 season showed that. The team seemed to run out of gas in the playoffs, and the early-season injuries may have led manager Pat Murphy to lean heavily on the players who were healthy. As was the case in 2025, the real question of whether things go well or poorly in 2026 is how far down the depth chart the Brewers have to go. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins announced that starting pitcher Pablo Lopez has a significant tear in his elbow that will likely require season-ending surgery. Will the Twins use the next-man-up philosophy or look to add someone like Lucas Giolito via free agency? View the full article

The Minnesota Twins are in a terrible predicament. With Pablo López likely to undergo Tommy John surgery before the end of the month, they're suddenly short a frontline starting pitcher, in a rotation mix that was meant to be the team's utmost strength heading into 2026. New chairman Tom Pohlad has issued a clear (though unfunded) mandate that the team be competitive this season, but it's hard to see how they can do so with the personnel on hand, given the staggering injury to their leader and ace. Compounding the loss of López is the fact that he is the highest-paid player on a team defined and constrained by its lack of payroll flexibility. López is due $21.5 million in 2026; the Twins won't pay any other player more than $15 million. López and Byron Buxton are the only guys making more than $6.7 million this year. It's possible that the team will recoup some of the lost salary via an insurance claim, but it's unlikely that they'll be given substantial money with which to recruit any representative replacement of their star righty. One way they could do so, however, would be to trade Trevor Larnach for pitching help. Larnach, soon to turn 29, is set to make nearly $4.5 million this year, but his role on the team has been obviated by the acquisitions of Josh Bell and Victor Caratini. He batted a respectable .254/.330/.428 against right-handed pitchers last season, but he has little defensive value and is not likely to be substantially better than Bell or Caratini as a DH in 2026. He has no place to play in the crowded (if underwhelming) Twins outfield mix, and is an injury risk even when he manages to lumber underneath a ball out in left field. With two years of team control remaining and coming off a season in which he made an apparently unconscious, ill-advised swing change, Larnach probably has some appeal to teams as a reclamation project. Until now, the Twins have been uninterested in trading him on those terms, holding out instead for a robust return that reflects the potential they saw in him when they made him a first-round pick and (over the years) a priority piece of the roster. If they come down on their asking price, though, they could match up with another team on a deal that would move them forward in the short term and the long term. Five teams stand out as having a surfeit of pitching depth and a need for left-handed help at DH or in left field. That doesn't mean they could find a perfect fit with the Twins on a trade, but these clubs make promising suitors if the team wants to offload Larnach. Moving him would need to bring back a pitcher who augments their depth, though it wouldn't bring anyone similar to López. The other, ancillary benefit of such a move would be freeing up a few million dollars to spend, perhaps on a last-second bullpen addition. Arizona Diamondbacks Somewhat shockingly, the Diamondbacks have brought back both Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen in free agency. That leaves them with a bunch of good options in the starting rotation, especially once Corbin Burnes returns from the Tommy John surgery he underwent last spring. It wasn't really what the team initially planned to do, though. As a result, they'd already brought in Michael Soroka to round out a rotation that also includes compelling young arms Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson. Meanwhile, the team dealt away outfielder Jake McCarthy and utility option Blaze Alexander, leaving them with extremely shaky options for the corner outfield spots and at DH. They'll go with Pavin Smith as the DH against most righties, and defense-first youngster Jorge Barrosa in left field. If Corbin Carroll is at all delayed in his return from a broken hamate bone, the team's corner outfield outlook will get truly destitute. Earlier this winter, Minnesota had interest in right-handed journeyman Taylor Clarke, who ultimately signed with Arizona. The low-wattage version of a deal sending Larnach to Arizona would be to get Clarke in exchange, filling innings and giving the Twins a small amount of upside, plus the aforementioned monetary savings to put toward relief help. The alternative version would make the team more expensive, not less so, but it would be buzzier: Minnesota could take on some portion of the $46 million left on the contract of left-handed starter Eduardo Rodríguez. Rodríguez, who will turn 33 in April, has posted an ERA just over 5.00 in his first two seasons with Arizona, but when he's right, he can still be a solid mid-rotation starter. He'd be a sponge for innings, rather than a respectable candidate for a playoff rotation spot, but the Twins could find multiple ways to extract value from him, if they found the right unlocks for a misused arsenal. The Diamondbacks would have to eat much of the money owed to Rodríguez, but that's not out of the question. Chicago Cubs With a loaded rotation, the Cubs will send at least three intriguing starters to Triple-A Iowa this spring, barring a spate of injuries. If 2021 first-round pick Jordan Wicks were panning out as hoped, he'd be more in the thick of the battle for a rotation spot, but as it is, he's a sturdy lefty with a plus changeup whose velocity has ticked up into the mid-90s in recent stints. Lanky right-handed starter Ben Brown would form a perfect trio with Taj Bradley and Mick Abel: three hard-throwing righties with tantalizing starter ceilings but major risk of ending up as a reliever, instead. Kitchen-sink swingman Javier Assad is nearing age 30 and still hasn't gotten a proper chance to establish himself in Chicago, despite putting up good numbers every time the team gives him a shot. None of the three are making significant sums in 2026. All three can be optioned to the minors. Chicago projects to have an all-right-handed-hitting bench, and currently has no choice but to slot Moisés Ballesteros in as their regular DH—a daunting proposition not only because Ballesteros is young and inexperienced, but because the Venezuelan prospect hasn't yet made it to Cubs camp due to visa issues. Larnach for one of Brown, Wicks or Assad could work out perfectly for both sides. Cincinnati Reds How much are you missing Chase Petty these days? He's not looking like a future star, but he remains an optionable arm with upside. Like Wicks, he was a 2021 first-round pick but hasn't yet found his stride in the majors. Like Brown, though, he has real promise even if he needs to be converted to the bullpen. Cincinnati's top starters are too good for the Twins to snatch them up in exchange for Larnach, but in addition to Petty, they have some relief arms they could spare and who would be notable upgrades for Minnesota. Houston Astros Loaded though they are on the infield, the Astros have a sketchy outfield picture to deal with. If the season began today, they'd give lots of at-bats to the likes of Joey Loperfido and Zach Cole in the corner spots, especially when facing right-handed pitchers. Larnach is slightly better and slightly cheaper than Jesús Sánchez, whom Houston traded for Loperfido at the beginning of camp as they rearrange deck chairs. He'd be a good fit for their home park. Meanwhile, the Astros are awash in flawed but useful starting pitching. Jason Alexander, Spencer Arrighetti, AJ Blubaugh, Colton Gordon, Kai-Wei Teng and Miguel Ullola are all optionable, but none are in line for many starts in the majors with Houston. In varying degrees and ways, all six are worth a look for the Twins. Swapping Larnach for one of them would give the team more controllable pitching and that financial flexibility they might need to improve the bullpen. Washington Nationals This would be something akin to a challenge trade. The rebuilding Nationals aren't going to surrender good pitchers under long-term control for a player like Larnach. However, he would solve some problems for them in filling out the lineup on a day-to-day basis, and they have some post-hype arms who might appeal to the Twins. Former All-Star (even if it was largely an obligatory selection, based on the rule that every team must be represented) Josiah Gray hasn't recovered as hoped from an injury detour, and only has the same amount of team control left that Larnach has, but he's also set to make $1.35 million this year, so he'd bring the team substantial savings. Righty Jake Irvin comes with Minnesota connections and more team control than Gray, though he, too, has been rough lately. Larnach can't command an especially rich return in a trade. The Twins are past the point of deluding themselves on that front. However, he could still net the team some viable pitching depth, which has become a more salient and serious need in the wake of Tuesday's news about López. General manager Jeremy Zoll will have to do something to repair the rupture of his roster. Finally moving Larnach might be the best way to go about it. View the full article

The San Diego Padres will have quite a bit of rostering shuffling to do after making multiple big league signings recently. Even more if they intend to add any of the players signed to speculative minor league contracts. As of Tuesday, the first domino has fallen. According to the San Diego Padres official X account, they have DFA'd outfielder Tirso Ornelas to make room for Griffin Canning. Ornelas' role was never guaranteed as it likely came down to him and fellow outfielder Bryce Johnson to battle for one of the last active roster spots. One of the two became even more expendable once it was announced that the Padres signed Nick Castellanos. After the first day of camp, Ornelas is the odd man out. In a cup of coffee last year, Ornelas posted a .256 OPS across 16 plate appearances. However, at Triple A El Paso he was an above average posting a 104 wRC+ with 10 home runs and seven stolen bases. His scouting report suggests that he can play an average, if not above average, corner outfield. Do you think Ornelas will make it through waivers? Let us know in the comments! View the full article