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As the San Diego Padres played their second game of the season on Friday, two of their players took their first steps in making their way back to the major-league roster. Infielder Sung Mun Song and right-handed starter Matt Waldron began rehab assignments with Triple-A El Paso following their spring training injuries. Friday marked the season opener for the Chihuahuas, who played on the road against the Sacramento River Cats. Waldron is recovering from hemorrhoid surgery, and Song from a strained right oblique. Waldron started and went three shutout innings, allowing two hits, walking none, and striking out three. Waldron faced 10 batters and threw 37 pitches, 25 for strikes. Song, who played second base, had four plate appearances, going 1-for-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and two RBIs. Hitting second in the lineup, Song drew a six-pitch walk in his first plate appearance, lined out to center in the third inning, hit a two-run single in the fifth, and struck out in the sixth before being replaced in the bottom of the eighth by Clay Dungan. In the field, Song handled four grounders, helped turn two double plays, and caught a pop-up. The Chihuahuas won 9-3. The clock has now started on Waldron and Song. Rehab assignments can last up to 30 days for pitchers and 20 days for position players. View the full article

Cooper Pratt is the Milwaukee Brewers no. 4 prospect, and he is surging towards Triple-A after a full season with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers. In this video, we give an overview of his arm strength and a fielding tool that earned him a minor league Gold Glove. We also look at his odds of breaking into the parent club in 2026. View the full article

The Chicago Cubs have signed second baseman Nico Hoerner to a six-year, $141 million extension. In this video, we break down everything from Hoerner's reliability to his Gold Gloves and how 2025 was a career year on multiple fronts. Enjoy! View the full article

It was Opening Day for the St. Paul Saints and Kaelen Culpepper's Triple-A debut. He made a great first impression, going 3-for-5 to help lift the Saints to a 4-2 victory. Connor Prielipp had an encouraging first start of the season, especially after navigating a rocky first inning. Alan Roden reached base in all five of his plate appearances. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins entered the 2026 season with as many questions in the bullpen as any MLB team. That uncertainty was largely self-inflicted. At last year’s trade deadline, the front office made the bold decision to move multiple controllable arms, shipping out Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Louis Varland in deals that reshaped the roster and, in many ways, reset the relief corps. Those moves created opportunity, but also instability. Rather than aggressively rebuilding the bullpen over the winter, Minnesota opted for a lighter touch. Taylor Rogers headlined the additions on a modest one-year deal, while Anthony Banda and Eric Orze arrived via relatively low-cost trades. Beyond that, the Twins largely bet on internal options and incremental improvement. So when Opening Day arrived against the Baltimore Orioles, it was not just about the final score. It was about usage. It was about trust. And perhaps most importantly, it was about what manager Derek Shelton might be telling us without ever saying a word. Trust in Kody Funderburk If there was one moment that stood out, it came when Shelton called on Kody Funderburk to navigate the heart of Baltimore’s lineup. That is not a casual assignment, especially in a tight game on Opening Day. Funderburk largely delivered. His ability to handle that pocket of hitters suggests that Shelton views him as more than just a matchup lefty. Even though he was tagged with the loss after allowing a leadoff single in the seventh, the context matters more than the box score. Managers do not deploy pitchers in those spots unless they believe they can handle it. It is early, but Funderburk appears firmly inside the circle of trust. Justin Topa with Runners On The next decision may have been even more telling. With a runner on and no outs in the seventh inning of a tie game, Shelton turned to Justin Topa. On the surface, it makes sense. Topa’s profile as a ground ball specialist makes him an ideal candidate to escape traffic. But there is another layer here. If Shelton were viewing Topa as his primary ninth-inning option, this may not be the spot to use him. Instead, this usage hints at a more flexible role. Topa could be the fireman, the pitcher tasked with putting out rallies before they spiral. That is a valuable role, but it is distinct from the traditional closer label. Rogers and Sands in the Mix Later in the game, Taylor Rogers took the mound in the eighth inning with the Twins trailing by a run, while Cole Sands was also getting loose. That is a high-leverage pocket, even without a lead. The fact that both pitchers were involved in that moment suggests Shelton trusts them when the game is on the line. Rogers, with his veteran pedigree, feels like a natural fit for late-inning work, but Sands’ presence in that situation is just as noteworthy. If nothing else, it signals that the Twins may not be locking themselves into rigid roles. Instead, Shelton could be leaning toward a mix-and-match approach based on game state rather than inning. Reading Between the Lines One game does not define a bullpen hierarchy. Roles evolve. Performance dictates opportunity. And managers adjust as the season unfolds. But Opening Day often provides a glimpse into initial thinking, and Shelton’s decisions in Baltimore offered a few subtle clues. Funderburk is trusted against top hitters. Topa may be the preferred option when traffic is already on the bases. Rogers and Sands look like late-inning weapons in leverage spots. What remains unclear is the ninth inning. There was no traditional save situation, and Shelton did not tip his hand in that regard. For now, that role appears open, or at least fluid. In a bullpen without an established anchor, that may be by design. How do you envision the bullpen being used in 2026? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

When Pete Crow-Armstrong signed his extension with the Chicago Cubs earlier this week, we discussed how important various elements of context are in justifying a deal. With someone like Crow-Armstrong, it's simple. He's young, he's exciting, and he has a skill set that still has plenty of runway within his projectability. Nothing complicated there. Not that Nico Hoerner's new six-year contract extension with the Cubs is a complicated situation either, mind you. In fact, it's quite easy to justify. But just as Crow-Armstrong's deal featured a small caveat in the form of whether his plate discipline will develop or stagnate, Hoerner's carries the smallest bit of apprehension. We'll shelve that for a moment, though. Behind Crow-Armstrong (whose blend of the above qualities made him the ideal candidate for an extension), Hoerner was likely the player you'd have the second-easiest time making an extension case for on a list of players that includes Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, and Matthew Boyd, among others. With Crow-Armstrong's extension, we discussed three factors that helped with an easy justification: contractual context, projectability, and narrative impact. Hoerner loudly checks two of the boxes, with any issue looming for a third not quite relevant at present. Hoerner was set to be a free agent following the 2026 season. Regardless of how labor negotiations could impact free agency, he stood to be one of the most notable position players available on the market. His blend of contact, baserunning, and defensive acumen could have combined to earn him significant dollars with another club (as of this writing, we don't know the financials of his new deal). The context is different here; with Crow-Armstrong, it was about cost-certainty. With Hoerner, it was retention. We don't know what another team might've been willing to offer Hoerner; perhaps it would have surpassed that of a Cubs offer. Getting an extension done now may or may not have saved a few bucks, but preserving one of your club's most important players on that side of the ball is the real win. Further, Hoerner wins the narrative impact as well. The Cubs aren't exactly a team lacking in leadership, but Hoerner's lead-by-example demeanor combined with his other intangible qualities made him one of the more well-liked members of the organization among the fanbase. There's almost no downside to extending a player who offers you that. Even the performance standpoint works in Hoerner's favor, at least in the short term. He offers you almost nothing in the power department but is one of the more refined examples of a contact hitter we have in the game today. In addition to his whiff and strikeout rates, each of which rest in the 99th percentile, he squares up his contact among the league's best. Hoerner doesn't merely put balls in play, but does so in a manner that is consistently solid, featuring lots of line drive contact and very few pulled groundballs. Those all work in his favor, even sans average power. Then you get into the baserunning, where his 28.6 feet-per-second spring speed exceeds the league average 27 ft/sec mark and his 5 Baserunning Runs (a combination metric of stolen bases and extra bases taken) ranked 11th among qualifying position players. Of course, none of this even mentions his defense. Hoerner's 15 Outs Above Average ranked 12th among position players last year, regardless of their defensive home. Since his first full year back in 2022, Hoerner's 51 OAA ranks fourth overall, trailing only Ke'Bryan Hayes (64), Andrés Giménez (62), and Dansby Swanson (62). This is an elite glove that helps to fortify the team's infield defense for the foreseeable future alongside Swanson, Alex Bregman, and Michael Busch. One doesn't have to squint to see why retaining Nico Hoerner is an absolutely essential move for the Cubs beyond 2026. However, projectability is a real concern for someone who may have already produced his career-best work last year. Aging curves are real, and Hoerner is in his age-29 season. If he were following the most generic, traditional path in the eyes of the aging curve, then he could hit the inflection point for his decline as soon as next season (when he'd be 30). Now, bodies age differently and Hoerner doesn't have as many big league miles on his as other players his age. Concern over how the contract will age has less to do with Hoerner himself and more to do with the profile reaching age-30 and above. A high-contact, elite defending second baseman who is skilled on the bases? Yeah, you worry about that player more than you might if they were less reliant on athleticism. Eyes weaken (and there is evidence to suggest strikeouts are increasingly a problem on the less appealing end of the aging curve) and legs get slower. The physical force of a swing may not manifest with the effectiveness it once did. Is this, then, something we should be worrying about as we progress through this new Hoerner contract? Maybe. But, also, maybe not. The thing about Hoerner's profile is that beyond the bat-to-ball skills, none of it is elite. He swings at a speed well below league average (his 68.5 MPH swing lived in the eighth percentile last year). He's not working with elite speed on the bases, relying more on instinct and knowledge of the basepaths than the jets alone. He's also not playing a particularly difficult defensive spot compared to shortstop or center field. While it's possible that there may very well be decline of some sort at the very tail end of this deal, the combination of lower miles and the idea that Hoerner is more solid than elite everywhere should work in his favor. Of course, in addition to how Hoerner himself will age, there's also the future of the organization to consider. Matt Shaw was already forced out of his temporary defensive home by the signing of Alex Bregman to a five-year deal. Dansby Swanson has another three years on his deal after 2026. With Michael Busch possessing another three arbitration years (if not an eventual extension of his own) as, arguably, the team's most consistent impact bat, there isn't room left on the infield. To say nothing of the fact that Jefferson Rojas is steadily ascending the system as a shortstop-of-the-future type. It certainly puts the Cubs in a position where position changes are going to become necessary, if not an outright trade. But you also extend players that have present, demonstrated value. You don't not extend a player due to the abstract future of a young player or prospect, regardless of the latter's upside. It all works in Hoerner's favor, really. The Cubs extended a fan favorite and one of the most stable elements of their roster for six years. You simply cannot allow that combination to walk. Sure, fears may exist about how the contract could age or how this impacts young players in the organization, but do those fears not exist for virtually any long-term deal in any organization? If there's an order of priority for extensions in this organization, Nico Hoerner was, at worst, second on the list. It's hard to find a case against it, even if history offers the slightest bit of apprehension. That's a concern for another day. View the full article

Welcome, Milwaukee Brewers minor league aficionados, to our Link Report season for 2026! Why "Link Report"? Well, that title was conjured up back in 2001 when a certain someone (OK, yours truly) took the lead of then-"Brewerfan.com" Power 50 prospect guru Toby Harrmann and decided to chronicle the nightly goings-on down on the Crew's farm. Within that debut of Miller Park campaign (to be followed by a ghastly 106-loss 2002 season), the fantastic Jim Powell would provide many a reference to our efforts when he stepped in during 7th innings for Bob Uecker with his "Down on the Farm" reports during those extremely lean big-league times. Before we update you on Friday's Nashville season opener, we have a tremendous rabbit hole for you to dive into. Toby was the man: pre-cursor of folks like Eric Longenhagen, Keith Law, the MLB Pipeline team, etc. Behold, the 2002-2011 Power 50 archives. Plus, while not quite the complete set from the very start, feast upon Link Reports going back to 2003. Be sure to check out the headers within this magical archive world and look back at the main page articles of the day (hello Harold Hutchison, still with us!) and Patrick Ebert's ahead-of-his-time draft coverage. Thank you, Brewerfan founder Brian Kapellusch for establishing the community that is still so prominent today, along with @Brock Beauchamp who acquired the online franchise and brought us deeper into the 21st century. OK, are you back from your distant memory review of that very first January 2002 Power 50 that included Bill Hall, JJ Hardy, Corey Hart, and Matt Childers (father of current Nashville Sound Will Childers?). Good, let's jump back into the present. Transactions: Nashville Sounds placed RHP Gerson Garabito on the 60-day injured list - broken bone in foot Nashville Sounds placed LHP Thomas Pannone on the 7-day injured list - torn flexor tendon in left forearm last March (no concrete updates since) Nashville Sounds placed RHP J.B. Bukauskas on the 7-day injured list - significant lat injury 12-13 months ago (no concrete updates since) Wilson Warbirds placed RHP Jack Hostetler on the 60-day injured list (Tommy John surgery last summer) OF Damon Keith acquired from Los Angeles Dodgers for cash (MLB Trade Rumors update) As many of you know, we maintain a thorough 2026 Transaction Thread on our Minor League Forum. Feel free to catch up on all the news from January 1st and since here. Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Norfolk (Orioles) 6, Nashville 4, seven innings, rain Box Score and Game Log Via the Sounds, game details and postgame notes/analysis, and we always encourage readers to review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: Gasser's Double-Digit Strikeouts Not Enough on Opening Day We see it often through the season. The local news outlet arrives to cover the game, but because of their own deadlines, we only get to see highlights from the early innings. On Friday in Norfolk, that worked to our advantage as the Sounds led 4-0 until the bottom of the 7th happened. Luis Lara had 47 plate appearances in big-league camp this month and only slugged .333 (11-for-42, three doubles). Well, the 21-year-old (not 22 until November) is slugging 1.667 after one regular season game. Clearly Robert Gasser was the mound story here. Check out all the swings to end at-bats. Just ridiculously impressed that Gasser shook off any disappointment from being left off the Crew's Opening Day roster. The Tides tell us that he is the first Triple-A pitcher to strike out 11 on Opening Day since Zac Gallen for New Orleans in 2019. If you wish, the Norfolk "X" feed brings you portions of the fateful final frame, with old friend Weston Wilson among the culprits. Not a lot of stinging hard contact! Surely you were itching to click that box score link above, and for those who did, you took note of Jett Williams at third base for this one, Tyler Black in left field, and Brock Wilken as the DH. Beyond backup catcher Ramon Rodriguez, the bench had infielders Eddys Leonard and Freddy Zamora idle. You'll want to check out both the "Your 2026 Nashville Sounds" thread and the daily "as-it-happens" thread that was maintained last night. Plenty of tidbits within, including insights on Tyler Black's error that Mr. Gasser pitched around. Just wait until there are seven games in a single night, come rookie ball season! So, it wasn't the night that RHP Jacob Waguespack (ERA 54.00) and LHP Sammy Peralta (where's that ERA infinity symbol?) desired. Move on, as much as we absolutely love to follow the farm, the sting is negligible compared to if this had been on the parent club MLB landscape. The series continues at 5:35 CT with RHP Coleman Crow on the bump (yeah, the Nashville starting pitcher carousel is going to be fun this season). Thanks for joining us again in 2026! Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

It was not an Opening Day to remember for the Kansas City Royals. They lost 6-0 to the Atlanta Braves at Truist Field in Atlanta. The offense was punchless. They not only scored zero runs but also had just five hits, all singles. However, one of the bigger disappointments of Friday's Opening Day loss was Cole Ragans, the Royals ace who was making his third-straight Opening Day start for Kansas City. In four innings of work and on 90 pitches, the lefty allowed four runs on six hits and four walks. While he struck out five Royals batters, he also gave up seven hard hits and three home runs. It certainly wasn't the kind of start Ragans wanted to begin 2026, especially after a 2025 campaign in which he posted a 4.67 ERA and only pitched 61.2 IP due to injury. Thus, what takeaways can Royals fans have from Ragans' Opening Day start? Is it something to panic about, or is it just a blip on the radar for Ragans, similar to Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes and San Diego's Nick Pivetta, who both had brutal Opening Day outings as well? Let's take a look at three things that stuck out from Ragans' start on Friday. Ragans Struggled With Finding the Zone When looking at Ragans' TJ Stats summary from his first outing of the season, he had some positives and negatives (though Royals fans will certainly focus on the negatives). Below is his summary from TJ Stats. In terms of the positives, Ragans still did an excellent job of generating whiff, as evidenced by his 31.7% whiff rate. He was also average in terms of generating chase, especially with his slider. His primary breaking pitch had a 43.8% chase rate and a 36.4% whiff rate. Lastly, his overall TJ Stuff+ was solid at 101, with his four-seamer, slider, and changeup all sporting grades of 50 or above. That said, his command was just not sharp against Atlanta. Ragans had a 34.4% zone rate, with two of his pitches having zone rates under 25% (slider and knuckle curve). His four-seamer, his most thrown pitch at 50%, had a 35.6% zone rate. The lackluster zone rates with the four-seamer and slider also correlated with poor xwOBACON marks on those pitches. He gave up a .569 xwOBACON on the four-seamer and a .668 xwOBACON on the slider. When looking at his pitch chart from Friday's game, Ragans did a good job of keeping the ball out of the middle-middle part of the strike zone. However, he missed badly in a lot of areas, and as a result, Braves hitters became more selective as the game progressed. The breaking stuff was particularly tough for Ragans to control. He missed a lot with his slider and knuckle curve low in the zone, as evidenced by all the yellow and blue dots around the shins and feet of the batters. Thus, it's not a surprise that his zone rates were so poor on his slider and knuckle curve on Friday night. Overall, the CSW wasn't bad at 27%, but the walks were still brutal, and his spotty command also resulted in some balls left in the zone that Braves hitters took advantage of. Ragans gave up three bombs, and here's the location of Ragans' pitches that Braves hitters went yard on. Honestly, those are major mistake pitches by Ragans. The most egregious command blunder was that changeup up in the zone, which Ozzie Albies absolutely teed off on for the first run of the game. It's one thing for Ragans to give up the free passes due to walks. Conversely, it's another thing when he's serving balls up in highly hittable areas because he isn't able to locate pitches effectively. Safe to say, it is a start that Ragans is ready to move on from (and quickly). Footing Issues With the Four-Seamer? Early in the game, Ragans seemed to lose his footing on the mound, nearly falling over after pitching the ball. The scene looked similar to what happened in Toronto a few seasons ago, when Ragans fell over on his follow-through and struggled to get his control back together for the remainder of the outing. Granted, Ragans didn't have quite the meltdown in Atlanta like he did North of the Border. That said, it seemed like his four-seamer was being thrown much differently in the second half of his outing (innings 3 and 4) than in the first half (innings 1 and 2). The 28-year-old Royals ace did a good job of peppering the four-seamer on the edges. However, he didn't locate the four-seamer as consistently up in the zone as he typically does. Ragans seemed to live more down in the zone with the four-seamer, especially later into his outing. Here's a look at his four-seamer pitch chart from the fourth inning of Friday's game. Ragans has only one pitch that's up and clips the edge of the strike zone, which is where a pitcher wants to be with a four-seamer of Ragans' profile. He either missed badly or stayed around the middle to lower edges of the strike zone. A key correlation with his atypical four-seamer location in the fourth inning is that Ragans' velocity dipped considerably in the fourth inning. He averaged 93.7 MPH in that inning. In the third, he was also down to 93.9 MPH. For comparison, he averaged 95.8 MPH in the first and 94.6 MPH in the second. Furthermore, this is what his four-seamer pitch chart looked like in the first inning. Ragans still missed up in the first inning, but he was also hitting the edges better and painting those edges up in the zone with his four-seamer. That wasn't happening later in the game. It could be that Ragans didn't have a good feel for his pitch. Thus, he was sacrificing velocity for control, something he has done in the past when he's not having a good feel for the four-seamer. The mound conditions could've contributed to that four-seamer's velocity and effectiveness. For a pitcher with mechanics like Ragans, being off in the slightest can throw everything off in a dramatic way. It's been an issue before for Ragans in the past, and it seemed like that problem reared its ugly head on Friday night. As the "ace" of this rotation, Ragans needs to make adjustments and find ways to get batters out when he isn't getting chases and whiffs or having great feel on his four-seamer. Ragans' Home Run Issues (Can More Cutter Usage Help?) Ragans gave up three home runs and allowed an xwOBACON of .495. Of course, a 60% HR/FB rate, as was the case on Friday, is not sustainable in the long term. Eventual flyball regression will help Ragans' overall line. That said, we have been seeing a concerning trend with Ragans on the long ball since the start of 2025. In 2023, he had an HR/FB rate of 5.2% in 71.2 IP with the Royals after coming over from Texas in a mid-season trade. In 2024, the HR/FB rate increased to 8.1%, 186.1 IP. Last season, his HR/FB rate was 12.3% in 61.2 IP. Thus, Ragans experienced a 7.1% increase in HR/FB rate from 2023 to 2025. Furthermore, as the HR/FB rate went up, Ragans' groundball rate (GB%) trended downward. With the Royals in 2023, he had a 45.5% GB%. In 2024, his GB% decreased to 40.7%. Last year, his GB% was 36.8%. While his HR/FB rate saw a dramatic spike over a three-year period, his GB% experienced a sharp dip over the same timespan, with his GB% dropping nearly 10 percent from his Royals debut. An issue with Ragans is that he often sells out for the strikeout. When he doesn't get them, it leads to either walks or mistakes in the strike zone that are barreled, often for home runs. While his strikeout rates were 29.3% in 2024 and 38.1% in 2025, his barrel rate allowed went from 6.2% to 9.5%. Thus, that seems to prove the point that when Ragans isn't getting whiffs, he's allowing way too much hard contact and, as a result, more bombs. Ragans needs to generate more groundballs, and a tweak in repertoire could help him do that. As Royals Data Dugout pointed out in our chat during the KCSN Royals Postgame show, an increase in cutter usage could be the solution. The Royals ace leaned on his cutter as a groundball-generating pitch in the past, especially in 2024, when it produced a 53.2% GB%, the highest among his arsenal. However, that cutter GB% dipped dramatically in 2025, and he seemed to utilize the slider and knuckle curve to generate more groundballs. Now, it's a chicken-or-egg kind of deal with the cutter. Did the cutter truly become less effective at generating groundballs in 2025? Or was he simply throwing it less, which resulted in less contact in general because of that decrease in usage? Ragans only threw the cutter 4.3% last year, a career-low, as seen below via Savant. I'm thinking Ragans needs to mix things up to get his GB% back into the 40% range. Throwing his cutter more and maybe the knuckle curve less could be helpful, especially since the knuckle curve has had spotty control. Would such a change result in fewer strikeouts? Perhaps, especially since the cutter has never had a whiff rate higher than 23.8% since 2022. However, Ragans needs to find a way to keep the ball in the yard and get it on the ground more often. The cutter is a tool he's used before to help him achieve that goal. Perhaps doing that again can get him back on track and neutralize the home run issues. I'm guessing Ragans will take that dip in strikeouts if it means better and more efficient outings going forward in 2026. View the full article

Finally, we reach the top 5 Boston Red Sox prospects as ranked by the contributors at Talk Sox. Does Payton Tolle or Connelly Early claim the top spot? Who else joins them in the top 5? That and more in this video! Discussed in this video are Juan Valera, Kyson Witherspoon, Franklin Arias, Connelly Early, and Payton Tolle. View the full article

With spring training wrapped up and the major and minor league seasons underway, it’s time to check in with the New York Mets' top pitching prospects and how well their stuff played during spring training. Let's dive into the metrics of each pitcher's arsenal, and highlight what they did well and where there is room for improvement. Heading into the beginning of last season, the Mets top pitching prospects were headlined by Brandon Sproat, Jonah Tong, and Nolan McLean. Fast-forward to the end of last season, where all three of them made their major-league debuts to varying success. This offseason, the Mets traded Brandon Sproat and top infield prospect Jett Williams to the Milwaukee Brewers. That was a hefty cost, but at least they got a new ace of the staff in Freddy Peralta, and a really solid arm in Tobias Myers. For this breakdown, the prospect rankings were provided by MLB Pipeline. The top five pitchers in the Mets organization currently consist of Nolan McLean (#1), Jonah Tong (#3), Jack Wenninger (#7), Jonathan Santucci (#10), and Will Watson (#11). Since Santucci did not pitch in any major-league games this spring, there is no public data on his pitches. Instead, he will be replaced by Zach Thornton (#15), who is the next-highest ranked pitching prospect within the Mets organization. Breaking Down Mets' Top 5 Pitching Prospects In Spring Training Nolan McLean (RHP) McLean is entering his second year in the majors and looks to be a huge contributor to the Mets rotation. McLean will still be considered a prospect until he logs two more innings in the majors. He only pitched in one spring training game before heading off to join the rotation for Team USA. Between one spring game with the Mets and two with Team USA, there is a pretty good sized sample of pitches to examine. In a 169-pitch sample, McLean had a really good tjStuff+ score of 108. He featured a five-pitch mix, all five of which graded out average or better. He threw his sweeper the most, 51 times, and it was also tied with his four-seam fastball to be his best pitch. His sweeper was nasty, generating -18.8 inches of horizontal break, with -0.9 inches of induced vertical break. It got batters to chase out of the zone 48.1% and had a wOBA of .123, both being excellent marks. It’s not a slow sweeper either, as it averaged 86.2 mph. Overall, McLean did a really good job this spring generating chases outside the zone, but did struggle to keep pitches in the zone. His sweeper was an exception, as he executed that pitch really well (47.1 zone%). Jonah Tong (RHP) Tong is slated to begin the 2026 campaign with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. He made a brief appearance with the Mets at the end of last season, making five starts while totaling 18.2 innings. His ERA was high at a 7.71 clip, but did strike out a solid 22 batters. Tong, along with the remaining three pitchers on this list, has a significantly lower pitch sample to work with than McLean. This spring, Tong pitched seven innings between two starts, giving us a 174-pitch sample to work with. His four-seam fastball, which has a tjStuff+ score 112, was his best offering. It averaged 94.6 mph, with 18.8 inches of induced vertical break and five inches of horizontal break. The spin rate was right around average sitting at a 2293 average. Even though the traits of his fastball are good, it got hit pretty hard and he had trouble keeping it in the zone. Note that he also threw it the most at a 42% rate. He also featured a solid cutter with a tjStuff+ score of 102. All across the board, this was probably Tong's most consistent pitch. Besides his four-seamer and cutter, he also threw a changeup, curveball, and slider. He threw his changeup 33 times, but only used his curveball and slider for a combined 17 pitches. Those three pitches all graded out to be average to below-average pitches. His strengths were his solid extension and release height along with his really good four-seamer, but until he throws more consistent strikes and get whiffs on pitches in the zone, he'll be a step away from the big leagues. Jack Wenninger (RHP) Wenninger is a 24 year-old starting pitcher making his way through the Mets' farm system. Last year he made 26 starts, all with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies. He had a really nice season, posting a 2.92 ERA over 135.2 innings, with a 1.15 WHIP. Wenninger is projected to reach the big leagues sometime in the next 12 months. This spring, he pitched in three games, making one start while totaling 6.2 innings. We have a 192-pitch sample to examine his five-pitch arsenal. He features a solid four-seam fastball in which he threw the most at 33.3%. It received a rating of 101 according to tjStuff+, and averaged 95.3 mph. His best pitches are his slider (106), changeup (105), and sweeper (104). His changeup this spring got the best results, as it fetched a 55.2 chase% and a 54.8 whiff%. It also had a xwOBA of .085, which is preposterous. He did a really good job overall of generating whiff on all his pitches except the sweeper. His extension is subpar, averaging six feet this spring, but his release height is really good at 6.5 feet. This is as a result of him standing 6’4” with a pretty high arm angle. With his changeup being the only pitch that generated chase, his other four pitches didn’t do a great job of baiting batters to swing out of the zone. Will Watson (RHP) Watson is another really good arm in the Mets organization, who along with Wenninger is on track to make his major league debut at some point in 2026. He’s a 23-year-old righty that spent time at three levels last year between Single-A and Double-A. He made 23 starts across 30 total games, while pitching to a 2.60 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was really good at 10.53, but had a high walk ratio of 4.30 BB/9. He only gave up eight home runs the whole year, which is good to see. Watson has the smallest sample size out of these five pitchers, only appearing in one game where he logged 3.1 innings in relief. This gives us a 40-pitch sample. In his one game of action this spring, Watson threw five different pitches including a slider, four-seam, cutter, sinker, and a changeup. In this small sample, his best pitch was his four-seam fastball, which had a tjStuff+ grade of 102. It averaged 93.1 mph 16.4 inches of induced vertical break and 10.4 inches of horizontal break. He threw his slider the most, 11 times, and it was also his next best pitch receiving a tjStuff+ rating of 101. It had -5.1 inches of horizontal break and 3.7 inches of induced vertical break while averaging 85.9 mph. Zach Thornton (LHP) Thornton spent his 2025 season between High-A and Double-A. He made 14 starts, while logging 72.2 innings. His surface stats were really good, with a 1.98 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. He struck out an average number of batters, but did a great job not giving free passes and not giving up homers. He’s projected to reach the major leagues during 2027, putting him a little behind Wenninger and Watson. Thornton made two spring training appearances, both being starts. He pitched 6.2 innings and only gave up one earned run. He threw 104 pitches this spring between five different pitches. He worked mainly with three pitches including his slider, sinker, and four-seam, but threw a curveball and changeup way less than the others. His best pitch was his four-seamer, which averaged 91.3 mph and was thrown 22.6% of the time. It had 14.5 inches of induced vertical break, while moving -1.5 inches horizontally. He did a good job throwing strikes with his four-seamer along with his sinker. His slider was thrown in the zone 47.2% of the time which is right around average. It's an interesting profile for a lefty, but still wanting for some refinement. View the full article

Worcester, MA -- While most Boston Red Sox fans are focused on the major-league team's playoff chances this year, the WooSox aren't taking anything for granted. “It was cool to be the first one on the mound," said Tyler Uberstine ahead of Triple-A Opening Day. He was just that back at the start of spring training as Alex Cora tabbed him to be the starter against Northeastern. If you were to ask Uberstine (who is TalkSox’s 17th ranked prospect) one year ago today how his 2025 season would go, he wouldn't have predicted anything close to what actually happened. Coming off of Tommy John surgery, Uberstine had barely pitched in 2024. Entering 2025, it was all about showing what he could do when healthy. Opening the season with Portland, Uberstine was quickly promoted to Worcester and dominated the competition. Going 6-4 with a 3.56 ERA in 19 games, 15 of them starts, the 26-year-old right-hander helped anchor a Worcester pitching staff that was in flux. In the 91 innings he tossed in Triple-A, Uberstine struck out 102 batters on his way to being named Co-Most Valuable Pitcher. Along with the award, Uberstine also saw the return of his fastball's velocity; between it reaching 95 mph and an ability to miss bats, it proved to be an important pitch in 2025. “If you asked me a year ago if that all would have happened, [I’d say] probably not. Where I was coming back from TJ and it’s all been super fun. Whether it’s been up here or whether it’s at big league camp it’s been a great experience overall,” Uberstine reiterated. And everything that’s occurred since has been one experience he hasn’t taken for granted. Despite lasting just 1 1/3 innings against the college team, Uberstine didn’t allow it to shake his confidence as he found himself pitching in multiple roles for the remainder of his time in Fort Myers. “I had [different] roles, whether it was coming out of the pen for an inning, two innings or three innings. Just kind of taken to what they give me." The right-handed pitcher did whatever the team asked of him, appearing in four games during spring training and tossing 7 1/3 innings. In that span he struck out 11 batters, something that had him in consideration for a long-relief role with the team until it got narrowed down to one of Connelly Early or Johan Oviedo. But despite being used mainly as a starting pitcher during his time in the minor leagues (40 of his 54 appearances have been starts), the right-hander didn’t see entering from the bullpen as any different than if he were to start the game. His mindset was the same as it always has been, which will serve him well as he looks to finally make the leap to Boston in 2026. “I’m gonna go out there and compete regardless. There’s more of a different preparation aspect, whether it’s lifting or the throwing schedule. That’s the little bit of learning curve but once you’re out there on the mound it’s the same thing." His first major-league spring training may not have yielded the exact results he expected (0-2 record with a 6.14 ERA), but it was one large learning experience for the pitcher. The biggest thing he took from it all was observing the veterans at camp, chatting with them and taking bits and pieces of information that he can use to improve as a pitcher. Not just on the mound, but also for his routine and how to prepare. The opportunity to pick at the brains of successful major league pitchers was a key part of Uberstine’s continued development as he looks to take the next step in his professional career. Uberstine will make his Triple-A debut Saturday as he starts for the Worcester Red Sox. View the full article

MIAMI, FL — Just like last year, the Miami Marlins collected an Opening Day win, but Friday's game against the Colorado Rockies featured several players who are brand new to the organization. Owen Caissie was not in the original Marlins starting lineup, but after Christopher Morel was scratched due to a left oblique strain, he became the designated hitter, with Connor Norby moving to first base. "It happened like two or three hours before the game, so it wasn't that bad," Caissie said postgame. "I did my scouting report last night, so I was already ready, I guess, but it wasn't that bad. They did a good job of getting to me the information quick." In the bottom of the second inning, Caissie drove in Xavier Edwards on a 104.1 mph RBI double to put the Marlins on the board. Caissie, who the Marlins acquired as the centerpiece of the Edward Cabrera trade this offseason, participated in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, representing Team Canada. He slashed .412/.476/.765/1.241 during the tournament with one home run and five RBI. "I did the WBC in 2023 and I felt so prepared for the season, because those games I played in had a lot of meaning," Caissie said. "(Opening Day) has the same environment, same feel as these, so helped a lot." Marlins manager Clayton McCullough told the media postgame that Morel will be getting imaging on Saturday. More information on his status should be available then, but as Miami fans are well aware, oblique strains almost always result in trips to the injured list. Outfielder Esteury Ruiz, infielder Maximo Acosta and top pitching prospect Thomas White are currently sidelined with the same issue. Just two days before the start of the season, the Marlins signed Austin Slater to a one-year major league deal, and on Friday, he was leading off and playing right field. In the top of the fourth inning, with a runner on second, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman hit what many thought was an RBI single, but Slater was able to provide the Marlins with their first outfield assist of the season, dotting a 92.5 mph throw right to Agustín Ramírez to keep the game at 2-0. With the Marlins leading 2-1, they brought in their most expensive free agent signing, Pete Fairbanks, to shut down the door. He first struck out Ezequiel Tovar swinging with his cutter, a pitch he added towards the end of the 2025 season. After surrendering a base hit to TJ Rumfield, Jordan Beck popped out and Brenton Doyle lined out to Otto Lopez. This marked Fairbanks' first save as a member of the Marlins. It's also the first time that the Fish have won consecutive Opening Day games since the 2004 and 2005 seasons. "I think especially coming to a new team, you want to make that good impression," Fairbanks said postgame. "Hopefully I've managed to do that over the past month and a half. I'd say locking down the first back-to-back Opening Day wins in 20 years is off to a good start." Sandy Alcantara's sixth Opening Day start was the best of his career. He went seven innings, striking out five, walking three and allowed one (unearned) run on four hits. Alcantara's fastball topped out at 98.5 mph and generated 11 whiffs, with six of them coming on the changeup. "It's always been a good pitch," Alcantara said postgame regarding his changeup. "It's a pitch that I can throw in any count because of the command. I think my best (secondary pitch) was my changeup. I just gotta trust it and keep it throwing it in the game." Alcantara's changeup was responsible for three of the five strikeouts he recorded. "Sandy was filling it up," said McCullough. "The ability to use his entire mix, sinker and velocity was really good, too. Changeup and his ability to spin breaking balls in there...He did a great job of mixing up his looks at first and controlling the running game, some things that he's worked hard on. This was a great first start to the year for Sandy to go that deep in the game, be that efficient and as well as to be able to execute at the rate he did today." Alcantara was as efficient as you could've asked for, throwing 73 pitches, an average of barely 10 per inning. But McCullough noted that he maxed out at five "ups" during spring training, so stretching him beyond seven would've been pushing it. True to his nature, the 30-year-old workhorse was hoping to go back out there for the eighth. "He took me out of the game and I gotta respect that decision—that is something I cannot control," Alcantara said. Even so, this was tied for the second-longest Opening Day start in franchise history, trailing only Ryan Dempster in 2022 (7.1 IP). The Marlins bullpen tossed two shutout innings, striking out four Rockies and not walking anyone. Andrew Nardi made his first appearance in a regular season game since 8/21/24. Anthony Bender had runners on the corners in the top of the eighth inning and struck out Willi Castro swinging. Fairbanks closed it out for the Fish to notch win number one of the season. Eury Pérez will get the ball for the Marlins on Saturday, as he will go up against Michael Lorenzen. First pitch is at 4:10 pm. View the full article

MIAMI, FL — The Miami Marlins defeated the Colorado Rockies on Friday without the services of Christopher Morel, who suffered a left oblique strain during pregame work. Fish On First can report that the Marlins are calling up Deyvison De Los Santos, their 28th-ranked prospect, to replace Morel on the active roster. The latest update from Marlins manager Clayton McCullough postgame was that Morel will undergo imaging on Saturday, but in all likelihood, he will land on the 10-day injured list. De Los Santos, 22, was acquired by the Marlins along with Andrew Pintar in 2024 when they sent A.J. Puk to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In his first full season with the organization, he slashed .240/.313/.359/.672 with 12 home runs, 54 RBI and an 85 wRC+. The positive is that De Los Santos struck out 22.4% of the time and walked 8.5% of the time, both improvements from his 2024 season. De Los Santos impressed during the 2025-26 Dominican Winter League season. Then this spring, playing in seven games, he slashed .286/.333/.286/.616 with one RBI and struck out only three times in 14 plate appearances. The Marlins optioned De Los Santos to Triple-A Jacksonville to begin the season. On Opening Day, he went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run and three RBI. By recalling him so quickly, his option year has not been used up yet. On Saturday, the Rockies are going with right-handed starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen. It is unlikely that De Los Santos, a right-handed hitter, finds himself in the lineup. But on Sunday, lefty José Quintana is scheduled to start for Colorado, so that matchup makes more sense for his major league debut. First pitch on Saturday is at 4:10 pm. View the full article

Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks speaks with the media following Friday's game. Fairbanks pitched a scoreless ninth inning and earned his first save with his new club.View the full article

MIAMI — Sandy Alcantara got to leave the mound Friday night knowing he was at the apex of what he’s capable of. It’s a feeling he didn’t have after last year’s Opening Day. The 2022 Cy Young winner pitched well to start last season against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He allowed no hits and walked two through four innings that afternoon, but faltered in the fifth, giving up two runs on two walks and two hits before being pulled in the 5-4 win. It was Alcantara’s first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery after the 2023 season. But Friday was different. Alcantara allowed zero earned runs in seven innings against the Colorado Rockies and retired nine of his last ten batters faced. Unlike his Opening Day start last year, he was able to finish his final frame with relative ease, coming off the field to a standing ovation from the 32,459 in attendance at loanDepot park. “I think I prepared myself very good in the past week for today,” Alcantara said. “I think the hard work I put in the last bullpen I threw was amazing, and today was a great result to me.” Alcantara was perfect in his first frame of work. Even when he allowed a leadoff single to Ezequiel Tovar to start the second, it was negated by a soft ground ball off the bat of TJ Rumfield to shortstop Otto Lopez that turned into a double play. Relievers Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender, and Pete Fairbanks combined to pitch two scoreless innings to lock down the 2-1 win. It was hopefully an omen of a successful season for Alcantara, who struggled in the first half of 2025 (7.22 ERA) before showing flashes of his old self in the latter half (3.33 ERA). Friday was the second time that a Marlins pitcher allowed zero earned runs over seven or more innings in an Opening Day start, joining Kevin Brown in 1997. View the full article

Fish On First staffers answer your Miami Marlins questions and provide in-depth analysis for two hours leading up to the opening series of the regular season. Friday's show was hosted by Jeremiah Geiger and featured panelists Ely Sussman, Nate Karzmer and Alex Carver, plus an interview with Kevin Barral from the loanDepot park pressbox. The following topics were covered. Notable Opening Day performances across Major League Baseball Expanding on our FOF Opening Day roundtable responses Live reaction to Christopher Morel suffering an oblique strain Triple-A Jacksonville's season opener and newly released minor leaguers Lineups, probable starters and predictions for the Marlins-Rockies series You can find Fish Unfiltered and Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our next FOF LIVE episode will be Sunday at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET following the Marlins-Rockies series finale. View the full article

Since the Saints are the only affiliate playing until next week, we’ll treat the minor league report as if it was a Twins Game Recap. We’ll include notes on the other affiliates as news breaks. In other words, this will be a bit more than just a regular summary and hopefully more detailed to give you more information. As you know, the daily minor-league reports are a staple at Twins Daily. You’ve come to expect it and we sure enjoy writing it, even in the middle of the summer when all six affiliates have a game and a couple of them are doubleheaders. There is a great group of commenters who read the report daily, discuss fun topics (or not-so-fun topics), and ask questions. We really do appreciate you, and your input. Here’s to another fun-filled, exciting 2026 season! If you have any questions or comments, let us know in the comments or DM me. What are your favorite parts of it, and are there parts that seem unnecessary? We welcome your suggestions and look to continue making it a Must Read for fans. TRANSACTIONS On Thursday, the Saints announced their Opening Day roster. That included playing Kendry Rojas, Julian Merryweather and Cory Lewis on the Injured List. Catcher Patrick Winkel, who has played with the Saints the past two seasons, has been released. A plus-defensive backstop, he could be a successful coach or manager if he chooses that direction when his playing career is done. At just 26, he could continue to play for several yeas with his knowledge of the game and defensive chops. RHPs Matt Bowman and John Brebbia have been added to the Saints roster. Bowman was a non-roster invite to big-league spring training. When told he wasn’t going to make the Opening Day roster, he elected free agency, likely hoping for a big-league opportunity. Not seeing one, he re-signed with the Twins. Brebbia has spent big-league time with five organizations over parts of eight seasons going back to his debut in 2017. After the 2025 season, he became a free agent and quickly signed with the Colorado Rockies on a minor-league contract. He remained in their spring camp until the last day. Like Bowman, he looked around and after not seeing a big-league job, chose to sign with the Twins. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Indianapolis 2 Box Score Fast Start in the First The Saints started the season with a strong first inning off of former Twins and Saints pitcher Noah Davis. Right 28-year-old right-hander pitched five innings over four appearances with the Twins last year and posted a 16.20 ERA. He posted a 3.78 ERA over 14 games and 16 2/3 innings. To be fair, he also earned a World Series ring because he pitched in five games for the Dodgers earlier in the season and in six innings posted a 19.50 ERA. After Walker Jenkins led off with a pop out, Gabriel Gonzalez was hit by a pitch. Kaelen Culpepper singled to left in his first Triple-A at-bat. Emmanuel Rodriguez followed with a walk to load the bases. Alan Roden came to the plate and lined a single to center that drove in the game’s and season’s first two runs. After Orlando Arcia struck out, Eric Wagaman singled to right field to drive in Rodriguez with the third run of the inning. Slow Start, Quick Turnaround Connor Prielipp was given the Opening Day nod for the Saints. In a game that started at 42 degrees and after a long top of the first, it took the lefty a little while to find himself. In Connor vs Konnor: Part 1, the game’s top prospect (Konnor Griffin) walked. Prielipp followed with a strikeout, and Griffin stole second. The Password (Jhostynxon Garcia) followed with a walk, and Endy Rodriguez singled to drive in Griffin to make it a 3-1 game. At that point, Saints pitching coach Carlos Hernandez came to the mound to chat with his starter. Whatever the former big-league southpaw said, Prielipp listened. He recorded a strikeout and got a ground out to end the first inning. The Saints co-pitching coach, Ryan Ricci, said after the game, “We both just emphasized how efficiency is important for him, and how his stuff is too good to fall behind guys and let them run up his pitch count.” In the second frame, Prielipp got a ground out and two pop outs in the infield. In Connor vs Konnor: Part 2, the game’s top prospect checked his swing on a pitch, but too late. He made contact with the ball and it went out to second base for the ground out. Kind of a nice, easy out, except Griffin’s speed made it very close. The next two batters struck out. In the fourth inning, he got a grounder back to the mound, a ground out to third base, and followed it up with a strikeout. So again, after the Hernandez mound visit, Prielipp bore down and retired the next 11 batters he faced. Staying true to their plan with the talented lefty the past couple of years, his day was done after four innings, at 61 pitches. Ricci added, “He did a great job of adjusting the last three innings and thought it was awesome to see him get through four (innings) on his pitch count after being at 27 after the first.” Looking at his pitch-mix in the season opener, Prielipp threw 25 four-seam fastballs (41%), 18 sliders (30%), and 10 curveballs (16%). He added five changeups and three sinkers as well. His fastball averaged 95.4 mph and topped out at 97.0 mph. He averaged 95.6 mph in the first inning and 93.6 mph in the fourth inning. It’s also interesting to note that in 31 pitches against left-handers, he threw 16 fastballs (52%) while in 30 pitches against right-handers, he threw just nine fastballs (30%). Ricci noted, “His key to success was the command of his fastball and slider in the later innings, to get ahead, and getting back in the zone. I think he was able to execute some change ups late that also kept hitters off balance and kept them guessing.” Another Twins Tally Thanks to Top Picks The Saints had more opportunities, but their only other run came in the top of the fifth inning when Kaelen Culpepper lined a single to right field to drive in Walker Jenkins to make it 4-1 Saints. The Bullpen Got the Job Done Brian Dinkelman turned to the Twins minor-league veterans to close out the rest of the game. It started with Raul Brito who tossed two scoreless innings before giving up a run in the seventh inning when he gave up three hits including one to Griffin who scored Indianapolis’s second run. He walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the seventh, but Hernandez made another mound visit. Brito got an infield pop out and a strikeout. Grant Hartwig came on to face Griffin (representing the game-tying run) and struck him out to end the inning. Hartwig threw Griffin six pitches. One was a 94 mph sinker. He mixed that with five sweepers including the final pitch, his lone whiff. Dan Altavilla came on for the eighth inning. Many Twins fans were surprised one of the stars for Team Italy in the WBC did not make the team’s Opening Day roster. Instead, he is with the Saints. He struck out the first two batters he faced before a fly out ended the inning. He threw just 14 pitches. Nine were fastballs and averaged 96.4 mph. He hit 97.8 mph with one pitch. His primary pitch is his changeup, which he only threw four of them. He also threw one slider. He had just two whiffs, both by blowing fastballs past hitters. Still clinging to a 4-2 lead going to the bottom of the ninth, Dinkelman turned to another veteran, Matt Bowman, to close the door. Bowman got a ground out to second base, a fly out to center, and ended the game with a knee-buckling called third strike. Of those veterans, Ricci noted, "(It's) always good to have veterans like those guys around. Great for some young bullpen arms like (Marco) Raya and (Trent) Baker among others to learn from them and their experiences. They go about their business the right way, and it feeds off on the other guys for sure." Jenkins Replaced in the 8th Inning With two on and two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Jenkins was due up to face former Twins minor leaguer, lefty Evan Sisk. Dinkelman called on Kyler Fedko to pinch hit for Jenkins. Normally that move is going to raise some eyebrows. However, when you consider that Jenkins’ spring training was shortened by a hamstring injury, and that he’s had similar injuries in the past, it may be wise to start him on this type of program for the first few weeks. They did that with Kaelen Culpepper in Cedar Rapids at the start of last season when he began his season after injuring his hamstring last spring. In addition, the game-time temperature was just 42 degrees, so certainly it was much cooler than that later in the game. New Role, but Dinkelman Wins His Second Triple-A debut For those of you who don't remember, Brian Dinkelman was drafted by the Twins in the eighth round of the 2006 draft out of McKendree University in his home state of Illinois. He steadily climbed up the Twins organizational ladder. On Opening Day in 2010, Dinkelman played his first Triple-A game. Of course, the Twins Triple-A affiliate back then was the Rochester Red Wings. He batted ninth and played right field. Take a look at the box score and all the fun names from Twins 2000s History to make you smile, including on the Red Sox affiliate on the other side of the diamond. Dinkelman went 1-for-4 in the game. In the second inning, he flew out to left fielder Daniel Nava off of #OldFriend Boof Bonser. With two outs in the fourth inning and Danny Valencia on first base, Dinkelman singled to right field. Valencia advanced to third. The crowd rejoiced! The Sox brought lefty Alan Embree into start the top of the sixth inning. Embree won that matchup by coaxing a ground out. In his final at-bat of his playing-days Triple-A debut, Dinkelman came to the plate with no one on base and two outs. He grounded out to MLB Network Radio's Kevin Frandsen who tossed the ball across the diamond to Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates for the out. So, I'm sure, in some small, quiet way, Brian Dinkelman is excited to get his first Triple-A win as a manager in his first Triple-A game as a manager. If we are talking about revenge, which we're not, but research is fun. 11 days later, The Woo Sox were in Rochester. In the fifth inning, Dinkelman hit his first Triple-A home run. It came against Chad Paronto. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Alan Roden (St. Paul): 1-for-1, 4 BB, 2 RBI. Pitcher of the Day Connor Prielipp (St. Paul): 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 61 pitches, 36 strikes (59.0%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, K (played CF, batted 1st) #2 - SS Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, R, RBI, 2 K (played SS, batted 3rd) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, 2 K, (played RF, batted 4th) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (TBD) - DNP #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. 61 pitches, 36 strikes (59.0%) #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (TBD) - DNP #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, R, BB, K (DHd, batted 2nd) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Injured List (hamstring) #9 - SS Marek Houston (TBD) - DNP #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (TBD) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (TBD) - DNP #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - DNP #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (TBD) - DNP #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (TBD) - DNP #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - DNP #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (TBD) - DNP #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (TBD) - DNP #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (TBD) - DNP #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (TBD) - DNP #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (TBD) - DNP WEEKEND PROBABLES Saturday: St. Paul @ Indianapolis (3:05 pm CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews Sunday: St. Paul @ Indianapolis (12:35 pm CT) - RHP Andrew Morris CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 0-1 St. Paul Saints: 1-0 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View the full article

On the surface, you might wonder how the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, would fare over a 162-game MLB schedule. That is because the roster is loaded with prospects, some of whom will make their MLB debuts this season or return to the majors to fortify the major-league roster. But the players on the Sounds' 28-player Opening Day roster are in Nashville for one reason or another. For several, they need that extra bit of seasoning because they start to cook for the Brewers. For others, it was simply a numbers issue at the MLB level. Seven of Brewer Fanatic's Top 20 prospects, including three of the top seven, begin the season with the Sounds. Already, the Brewers have tapped into that depth as they had to call up center fielder Blake Perkins, a surprise demotion, to replace injured outfielder Jackson Chourio. For the moment, the Sounds only have two listed outfielders, although some of the infielders can easily move to the outfield. Left-hander Robert Gasser will be on the mound as the Sounds open the season Friday on the road with three games against the Norfolk Tides, a Baltimore Orioles affiliate. Nashville returns home Tuesday to open its first homestand against the Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox). Three players are on the injured list. Right-handers Gerson Garabito (broken ankle) is on the 60-day IL, while relievers J.B. Bukauskas and Thomas Pannone are on the seven-day IL. Here is the roster that manager Rick Sweet will have to work with: Projected starting rotation (5) Robert Gasser, LH Logan Henderson, RH (No. 6 Brewer Fanatic prospect) Shane Drohan, LH Coleman Crow, RH Carlos Rodriguez, RH Gasser and Henderson could have easily been in the Brewers' rotation. They will undoubtedly get their shots at some point in the season. Is there anything to read into Gasser starting the season opener over Henderson? Probably not. Gasser came back from Tommy John surgery after five MLB starts to begin 2024 to make two abbreviated late-season starts and was included on the postseason roster, making a pair of relief appearances. Henderson had three call-ups and made five starts in his MLB debut season of 2025 before elbow issues shut him down prematurely. That elbow caused him to miss a little time in spring training, which may have led to him starting the season at Nashville. Drohan and Crow are exciting arms to watch. Drohan certainly would have been included in our prospect list, but was acquired from the Boston Red Sox after it was published. Both have dealt with significant injuries, with Drohan limited to 15 starts in 2025 by a forearm strain and Crow returning from Tommy John surgery to make 12 starts. The 24-year-old Rodriguez has been pushed down the depth chart, but has made five MLB appearances for the Crew over the last to seasons. Projected bullpen (9) Kaleb Bowman, RH Will Childers, RH Joe Corbett, RH Brian Fitzpatrick, LH Blake Holub, RH Tate Kuehner, LH Easton McGee, RH Sammy Peralta, LH Drew Rom, RH Garrett Stallings, RH Peter Strzelecki, RH Jacob Waguespeck, RH While technically there are no prospects in the bullpen, there are plenty of talented arms. McGee was bumped off the Brewers' Opening Day roster by the acquisition of right-hander Jake Woodford on Tuesday. Holub, Kuehner, Peralta, and Waguespeck are some of the other interesting arms who could find their way to Milwaukee at some point this season. Catcher (3) Jeferson Quero (No. 7 prospect) Andrick Nava Ramon Rodriguez Quero is the Brewers' catcher of the future, perhaps starting in 2027, depending on whether William Contreras is still around. Quero dealt with surgery on his right labrum after being injured in the 2024 season opener for the Sounds, then had a cranky hamstring that delayed the start of his 2025 season, and later injured his left shoulder. Quero is terrific defensively, but his throwing has not been as good as it was before the surgery. His power, which produced 16 homers in 90 games in 2024 and 11 in 69 last year, has been slow to return, but improved as 2025 wore on. Getting his arm back up to par and showing off his hit tool (.276/.353/.453 career slash line in the minors) will be key. Infield (8) Luke Adams, 3B (No. 13 prospect) Tyler Black, 1B-LF Eddys Leonard Ethan Murray Cooper Pratt, SS (No. 4 prospect) Brock Wilken, 3B (No. 15 prospect) Jett Williams, SS-2B-CF (No. 3 prospect) Freddy Zamora Sweet will be like a kid in a candy store with this talented group. With only two outfielders to begin with, Williams is likely to get more time in the outfield to begin the season. Otherwise, Sweet will be able to roll out a number of different combinations. Williams' versatility is the key to that, while Pratt is likely to play a position other than shortstop for the first time since just after he was drafted in 2023 and had three games at second base in the Arizona Complex League. Williams, a consensus top-75 prospect, could force his way onto the Brewers' roster with a good first-half showing. He struggled in 34 games after being promoted by the New York Mets to Triple-A last year. Adams and Wilken will probably alternate at the two corner infield spots, with Black, who had a strong spring, also seeing time at first. Adams further developed his power in 2025, but still topped out at 11 homers for the season. He did hit three homers in 16 Arizona Fall League games. Wilken is looking to stay healthy after two freak injuries marred his last two seasons (hit in the face by a pitch, knee injury while celebrating the first-half title). Still, Wilken produced 18 homers in 79 games in 2025. Outfield (2) Greg Jones Luis Lara (No. 11 prospect) Lara's defense is the star attraction, which bodes well for him eventually fitting into the Brewers' roster. But he has also made improvements at the plate. He had a .257/.369/.343 with 44 steals in 51 attempts. In three seasons since coming Stateside, Lara has translated his speed into 121 steals in 152 attempts. Unfortunately, the power is nonexistent, with eight homers in that same timespan. Any improvement there would help raise his profile for his eventual MLB debut. View the full article

MIAMI — Two hours prior to the first pitch of the 2026 season, the Miami Marlins announced Christopher Morel strained his left oblique and was scratched from the starting lineup. There is no further update on his status as of midgame. Morel signed with the Marlins over the offseason on a one-year, $2 million deal. The 26-year-old was slated to get a bulk of his reps at first base, a position he had never played in the majors. He mostly played all three outfield spots, along with second base, third, and shortstop in his four years with the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays. The Marlins ran into injury troubles in the final week of spring training, losing outfielders Kyle Stowers (right hamstring strain) and Esteury Ruiz (left oblique strain) on the same night. The Marlins have preached defensive versatility for years, but even more so under second-year manager Clayton McCullough. Whoever gets slotted into first base will have had experience there in the regular season or this most recent iteration of spring training. Here’s how that spot can be filled: Connor Norby This is the natural place to start. In a pinch, Norby was slotted into the first base spot Friday after Morel was scratched. Originally a third baseman his first two years in Miami, Norby got reps in the outfield and first base this spring. During McCullough’s pregame media availability Friday—before Morel’s injury was announced—he said Norby would see “quite a bit of action” at first base. Liam Hicks The Marlins carried three catchers on their roster for a few months last year, with Hicks, veteran Nick Fortes, and highly-rated prospect Agustín Ramírez all vying for playing time. Hicks was able to stay in the lineup by playing 28 games at first base, racking up one out above average, according to Baseball Savant. Side note on another catcher that some fans have asked to go to first base: the Marlins have made it very clear that Ramírez will continue getting reps as a catcher only. Deyvison De Los Santos De Los Santos is currently the only member of the 40-man roster who considers first base his primary position. Promoting him would be an easy choice, albeit an ill-advised one at this time. The right-handed power hitter Miami got in a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks raised his walk rate from 5.2% in 2024 to 8.1% in 2025, his highest in his Triple-A career. But his power still hasn’t adjusted to playing at sea level. Even in the pitcher-friendly International League he plays in now, his slugging percentage of .363 last season was paltry. Assuming that De Los Santos remains in Jacksonville for the near future, the Marlins would still need to call up a position player of some kind to fill Morel's spot on the active roster. View the full article

The Fish On First staff makes their series predictions for the three-game set between the Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies.View the full article

Marlins right-hander Chris Paddack speaks with Fish On First about the significance of Opening Day at this stage of his career and preparing for a full-circle moment when he pitches on Monday. View the full article

The Chicago Cubs' reported agreement with second baseman Nico Hoerner on a six-year contract extension creates multiple knock-on effects, including clarity on Matt Shaw's role with the club going forward. Simply put, Hoerner staying in Chicago further blocks Shaw on the infield. He is now behind third baseman Alex Bregman, shortstop Dansby Swanson, and Hoerner on the depth chart for the foreseeable future. Those players don't take many days off, either. An injury will be Shaw's main hope of getting back on the dirt full time for the Cubs. That's why it's important for him to take advantage of the team's decision to try him in right field while Seiya Suzuki is on the injured list. His regular-season debut at the position was a qualified success. After a 50-inning instructional course in spring training, the 24-year-old Shaw got the start in right on Opening Day at Wrigley Field, batting ninth against Washington Nationals right-hander Cade Cavalli. Right from the start, he was challenged in the field. In the top of the second inning, Washington right fielder Daylen Lile hit a 97.6 mph line drive toward the well in deep right. Shaw began drifting back to the warning track. A strong wind was pushing the ball away from him. As the ball passed over his head, Shaw jumped awkwardly, not sure where he was in relation to the wall. He got his glove up in time to make the catch. This was not a routine play -- Statcast gave Lile's drive a .311 xBA. Two innings later, Shaw had his first outfield assist with the help of Nats shortstop C.J. Abrams. But Shaw deserves credit for making a nice play, as well. He raced into the corner to get to Abrams' liner off the wall, taking a good angle to play the carom. He hit Hoerner with the relay throw, and then Hoerner threw to Swanson to retire Abrams, who loafed out of the batter's box. In the eighth, Shaw showed off the glove again as he tracked down another Lile liner. This one was measured at 98.4 mph off the bat and given a .380 xBA. So, the early verdict on the outfield defense is that Shaw has potential. He can lean on his physical tools until he learns angles and jumps. But there's also the offensive component to this experiment, and Shaw already isn't being trusted with the bat. After going 0-for-3 (no strikeouts, 82.0 mph average exit velocity) on Thursday, he was lifted for pinch hitter Michael Conforto in the bottom of the eighth. The Cubs had runners at first and second with one out in an 8-4 game. The left-handed swinging Conforto struck out against Nats right-hander Clayton Beeter, and the Cubs went on to lose 10-4. The right-handed hitting Shaw's platoon splits in 2025 -- a 125 wRC+ vs. left-handers and a 82 wRC+ vs. right-handers -- made the switch easy for manager Craig Counsell. It's a tough ask for him to improve that part of his game as he learns multiple new positions, but even having the pedigree of a tough prospect isn't a guarantee to playing time. The balance needs to shift before Shaw can be more than just a utility guy with the Cubs. View the full article

Aroldis Chapman closed out Opening Day’s victory in typical Chapman fashion. He carried himself with the confidence and swagger you want from the man tasked with shutting the door on the opposition night after night. He tossed 11 pitches to claim his first save of the season, but something felt different about this outing. Even if you weren’t watching the radar gun on the (now much larger) NESN score bug, the southpaw's fastball looked like it lacked the zip we’re accustomed to. We were spoiled last year when he would reach back and sling it over 100 mph, but he still averaged an impressive 98.4 mph in 2025. That was more than five miles per hour faster than the average for left-handed pitchers last season. His so far lone outing in 2026 saw him average out at 97.3 mph. That’s still ridiculously fast, no question about it, but the pitch lacked the movement and control he brought to the table last year. Could this just be early season rust he’s shaking off, or is his age finally starting to catch up to him? If we look back at Chapman’s spring training stats, it starts to paint a clearer picture. He appeared in seven games posting a 5.40 ERA over 6.2 innings, allowing four earned runs, one home run, three walks, and 10 strikeouts. While spring training stats need to be taken with a giant grain of salt, especially when Chapman was clearly only throwing his off-speed pitches at the end of the Grapefruit League season, it’s hard to ignore what seems to be some form of regression over a (very) small sample size. Chapman’s pitch mix on Opening Day was something else that peaked my curiosity. In 2025, Chapman features his four-seam fastball as his primary pitch, throwing it 40% of the time. His second-most-used pitch was his sinker, clocking in at a 34% usage rate, followed by his slider and splitter at 15% and 11%, respectively. During his first save of 2026, though, things were different. His four-seam fastball was still his primary pitch at 55% usage, but his slider was his second most used at 27%, then the splitter and sinker tied for third at 9%. While those percentages are sure to change throughout the season, him leaning on his four-seamer more than half the time while only throwing his sinker once was surprising. Logic would tell us that since his pitches were all clocking in slower than usual, that his command would have been spot on. If you were watching the game, you’d know that was far from the truth. Gone was the Chapman who was throwing gas while painting the corners that we grew accustomed to in 2025, and back was the Chapman that seemed to not quite know where the ball was going once it left his hand. If we look at his heat maps from the outing on Opening Day, we see a pitcher struggling to find the zone. If his slider is going to miss high like that this season, he’s going to get knocked around eventually. Rust is likely playing a big factor here; he wasn’t able to pitch in the World Baseball Classic, which robbed him of some leverage outing during his tune-up for the season. If you're optimistic, that's the stance you'll take. But Father Time waits for no one. Chapman is 38 years old and has had a storied major league career. His resurgence to top-tier closer in 2025 was remarkable, and he was rewarded with a contract extension late in the season, but there were calls from some people to cut bait and trade him at the deadline last year because they didn’t believe that the resurgence was sustainable. If he is starting to feel his age, it’s entirely possible that we’ve seen the best version of Chapman come and go. Even a version of the closer who is at 75% of what he was last year would be effective, but it'd make late-game situations far more nerve-racking for the Red Sox. This is something to monitor, at least while the cold weather permeates the late-spring schedule. If Chapman's heat rises with the weather, this may be a conversation we can avoid having for a while yet. View the full article

Marlins outfielder Griffin Conine speaks with Fish On First about experiencing Opening Day for the second time in his career, learning first base and much more.View the full article