Andrew Painter Makes Phillies’ Opening Day Rotation
Phillies manager Rob Thomson informed reporters, including Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the rotation is set for the beginning of the season. Cristopher Sánchez will be the Opening Day starter, followed by Aaron Nola, Jesús Luzardo, Taijuan Walker and then Andrew Painter. Though Painter is on the 40-man roster, he will be making his major league debut when he takes the ball in that fifth game of the season.
More to come.
White Sox Release Four Players
2:27pm: Sims triggered an opt-out in his minor league contract and was granted his release, MLBTR has learned.
1:22pm: The White Sox have trimmed four more from their spring roster, per the team. Chicago announced that left-hander Ryan Borucki, first baseman/outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr., and right-handers Austin Voth and Lucas Sims have all been released. All four had signed minor league deals with spring invites. All are now free agents who can sign with any club.
Borucki, 32 later this month, has pitched in each of the past eight major league seasons. He sports a career 4.28 ERA with a below-average 19.7% strikeout rate, an 8.9% walk rate that’s narrowly north of average, and a strong 48.3% ground-ball rate. He notched a middling 4.63 ERA in 35 innings between the Pirates and Blue Jays in 2025 but has been outstanding with the White Sox this spring, firing six shutout innings with an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio.
Wade, 32, has had a big spring himself. He’s taken 49 plate appearances and slashed .289/.429/.605 with three homers, two steals, nine walks and 10 strikeouts. He’s appeared in each of the past seven big league campaigns, mostly with the Giants, and is a lifetime .236/.341/.390 hitter in the majors. His most recent work was well shy of his career marks, however; in 282 plate appearances between San Francisco and Anaheim last year, he posted a dreadful .167/.271/.254 batting line (52 wRC+) with a career-worst 24% strikeout rate. Wade grades out below average at first base (his primary position) and in the outfield corners, and he’s never hit left-handed pitching. He could latch on with a club seeking a lefty-swinging corner bat — ideally one looking for help at first base.
The 33-year-old Voth has more than five years of MLB service but spent the 2025 season in Japan pitching for the Chiba Lotte Marines. He totaled 125 innings with a 3.96 ERA, sub-par strikeout numbers and strong command. In 360 1/3 MLB frames, the former Nats farmhand carries a 4.70 earned run average. Voth is a fly-ball pitcher with average strikeout and walk rates overall in his big league tenure. He only pitched two official innings for the Sox this spring, allowing a run with two strikeouts and no walks.
Sims, 31, looked like a potential late-inning weapon earlier in his career with the Reds, but injuries have continually set him back. He has more than six years of MLB service but only 318 1/3 innings pitched due to frequent IL trips. In that time, he’s posted a 4.86 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate and 12.5% walk rate. Sims tossed five shutout innings and fanned seven while walking three this spring. He spent 2025 with the Nationals and was torched for 19 runs in 12 1/3 innings due to staggering command troubles: 19 walks and seven hit batters. His command was better in camp with the South Siders, but he’ll head back to the market and look to latch on with another club seeking bullpen depth.
Marlins Name Janson Junk Fifth Starter, Option Braxton Garrett
The Marlins announced Friday that left-hander Braxton Garrett has been optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. Manager Clayton McCullough confirmed to the team’s beat that righty Janson Junk will open the season as Miami’s fifth starter (via Kevin Barral of Fish On First).
Junk, 30, was always going to make the club’s roster, given last year’s solid showing and his lack of minor league options. The question was whether it’d be in the rotation or in a swing capacity. He pitched 110 innings with a 4.17 ERA, 17.2% strikeout rate, 2.9% walk rate and 40.6% grounder rate in 21 appearances last year (16 starts, five relief outings). That strikeout rate is well below average, but Junk’s walk rate was elite — the lowest among the 127 MLB pitchers who tossed at least 100 frames last year.
This spring, Junk allowed five runs in five official innings but punched out 26% of his opponents against a solid walk rate. Putting him in the rotation affords the Marlins more flexibility with regard to their bullpen composition and also gives Garrett some additional time to round back into form after missing the 2025 season due to injury.
Garrett, 28, was the No. 7 overall pick by the Marlins back in 2016. He never ranked as a top prospect and had done little to make good on that lofty draft status until a breakout showing in 2022-23. Garrett combined for 47 starts (247 2/3 innings) with a 3.63 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate across those two seasons, all but solidifying a long-term rotation spot for himself — or so it seemed.
In 2024, Garrett was limited to just seven starts, during which he struggled badly (5.35 ERA). A shoulder impingement and a flexor strain necessitated separate trips to the injured list that season, and his hopes for a 2025 rebound were dashed when he required UCL surgery last spring. Garrett didn’t pitch at all last year and has been built up judiciously thus far. He’s only pitched four official innings in Grapefruit League games, though he’s gotten side work on the back fields.
This is Garrett’s final minor league option year. He’s earning $1.53MM in his second trip through the arbitration process as a Super Two player. As long as he spends even four days on the active roster this year (which seems like a given), he’ll be under club control through the 2028 season.
With Garrett opening the year in Jacksonville, Miami will begin the season with Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Chris Paddack, Max Meyer and Junk in the rotation. Between Garrett’s eventual return and the likely MLB debuts for top prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling, there could be a fair bit of turnover on that staff this year. If Miami isn’t in contention this summer, both Alcantara and Paddack will stand as natural trade chips if they’re performing well.
Chris Taylor Opts Out Of Angels Deal
Veteran infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor was in camp with the Angels on a minor league deal. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Taylor has opted out of his deal and has been informed that he will not make the club. He’ll be a free agent whenever he is officially released. He was one of several veterans who could opt out of minor league deals this week.
Taylor, 35, spent many years with the Dodgers as the league’s top super utility guy. From 2017 to 2023, he hit .256/.336/.444 while stealing 76 bases and playing every position outside of first base and the battery. But he hit just .202/.298/.300 in 2024 and was worse in 2025, getting released. He ended up with the Angels but finished the season with a combined .186/.256/.301 line.
He returned to the Angels this offseason but had to settle for a minor league deal. He had a good showing in camp, putting up a .231/.388/.410 line in 49 plate appearances, but it appears the Angels are putting more stock in his larger sample of regular season work over the past two years.
The Halos have had an open battle for their second base job this spring and the decisions appear to be coming into focus. Christian Moore was optioned a few days ago. Vaughn Grissom has a left hand injury and may start the season on the injured list.
With Taylor now out, that seemingly leaves Adam Frazier to get the job. He has hit .310/.429/.414 this spring and his left-handed bat would help to balance a lineup that otherwise skews to the right. Oswald Peraza has had a nice spring and seemingly earned a job on the bench. Switch-hitter Jeimer Candelario could also get a roster spot if Grissom does indeed hit the IL.
If Frazier and Candelario both make the team, they would need spots on the 40-man roster. One spot can easily be opened by placing Anthony Rendon on the 60-day IL, since he’s not expected to play this year. Robert Stephenson could be another 60-day IL candidate since he may have damage in the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow.
Taylor will head to the open market and to see what opportunities await him. He won’t be helped by his performance in 2024 and 2025 but his defensive versatility could help him fit with many clubs and his bat looked a bit better in camp just now, for whatever that’s worth.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
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Nationals Option Dylan Crews
The Nationals announced that outfielder Dylan Crews has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester. That seems to set them up to have an Opening Day outfield mix consisting of James Wood, Jacob Young and Daylen Lile, perhaps with Joey Wiemer and/or Christian Franklin on the bench.
Crews, now 24, was once one of the top prospects in the league. The Nats took him with the second overall pick in the 2023 draft. He shot through the minors and was up in the big leagues by August of 2024, barely a year after being drafted. At that time, he was considered one of the five to ten best prospects in the whole league.
The shine has come off a bit since then as he hasn’t shown success at the major league level yet. He missed about three months of the 2025 season due to an oblique strain. To this point, he has 454 big league plate appearances with a .211/.282/.352 line. His defense has been good and he has already swiped 29 bags but the Nats clearly expected more offensively. Crews had a monster .380/.498/.689 line for Louisiana State University and then hit .275/.351/.455 in the minors before his 2024 call-up.
Despite his lack of major league success, it was expected that he would get some runway in 2026. The Nats are rebuilding and don’t plan to contend soon, as evidenced by their offseason deals of MacKenzie Gore and Jose A. Ferrer. But Crews put up an awful .103/.206/.103 line in spring training this year, striking out in 11 of his 34 plate appearances, a 32.4% clip.
It’s possible the demotion is about playing time, as Crews would ideally be getting regular reps to get back on track after his injury-marred 2025. At the big league level, Wood is one of the best players on the club and will certainly be out there. Young doesn’t hit much but is an elite defensive center fielder. Lile debuted last year and was rough on defense but hit .299/.347/.498.
Wiemer is a good fit as a fourth outfielder since he’s a strong defender and his right-handed bat could help him form a platoon with the lefty-swinging Lile. Franklin hasn’t yet made his major league debut but he’s considered a well-rounded player who is decent at just about everything, so he could slot into the mix in various ways if he makes the team, either as a defensive replacement, pinch hitter or pinch runner. Both Wiemer and Franklin are optionable, so it’s possible one of them ends up getting sent down in the coming days but the Nats also might roster five outfielders.
Jamming Crews into that mix would have perhaps meant taking a bit of playing time away from everyone, so the Nats have decided it best to let Crews rediscover himself at the Triple-A level. He will join Robert Hassell III in that regard. Hassell is also a former first round pick who has struggled at the major league level. He was optioned to the minors earlier this week.
The move could have implications for Crews, depending on how much time he ultimately spends down on the farm. He currently has one year and 35 days of service time. If he stayed up in the majors, he would be under club control through the 2030 season. If he spends about two months or more on optional assignment, he wouldn’t get to the two-year mark in 2026, therefore pushing his path to free agency by a year. His path to arbitration could also be impacted.
Those will be concerns to be worked out in the future. For now, the Nats and Crews need to find a way for him to reach his potential and establish himself as a major leaguer. As mentioned, the Nats don’t really hope to be good in 2026 but their future chances will improve if young players like Crews can take steps forward.
Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke, Imagn Images
Twins Option Zebby Matthews, Finalize Rotation Plans
The Twins announced Friday that they’ve optioned right-hander Zebby Matthews to Triple-A St. Paul. They didn’t formally say it, but that effectively sets Minnesota’s rotation heading into the season, barring a late injury or trade.
Minnesota did, however, formally name Joe Ryan the Opening Day starter today. That was a foregone conclusion after Pablo López was lost for the season due to UCL surgery early in camp. Right-handers Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson were more or less locks entering spring training. Ober had a rough stretch last summer while trying to pitch through a hip injury but has been a steady third/fourth starter in Minnesota for several seasons otherwise. Woods Richardson has been up and down between Minneapolis and St. Paul over the past two seasons but had a strong finish in ’25 and is out of minor league options.
The rest of the rotation looked less certain following López’s injury. Matthews and fellow righties David Festa, Taj Bradley and Mick Abel were vying for the final two spots. All four were ranked as top-100 prospects prior to their major league debuts, but none has fully solidified himself in the majors yet. Festa went down early with a shoulder injury that isn’t expected to necessitate a long-term absence but will send him to the injured list to begin the season. Matthews, Bradley and Abel were in a three-man competition for the final two rotation spots. With Matthews now optioned, it’ll be Bradley and Abel rounding out the staff.
Bradley came over from the Rays in exchange for Griffin Jax just minutes before the trade deadline last summer. He’s had some success at times in the majors but lacked consistency. However, he’s celebrating his 25th birthday today, so he’s plenty young and still has four seasons of club control remaining. Bradley has had a good spring showing. His 4.50 ERA in 14 frames is unremarkable, but he’s punched out a huge 32.2% of opponents against a solid 8.5% walk rate. His fastball velocity is up nearly a mile per hour this spring, sitting at an average of 96.9 mph, and he’s sporting an above-average 12.5% swinging-strike rate.
Abel, 24, is another deadline pickup for Minnesota. He came to the Twins from the Phillies in last July’s Jhoan Duran swap. Abel is a former first-round pick who for years ranked as a top-100 prospect. He was leapfrogged in the Phillies’ system by Andrew Painter, and a shaky 2024 season in the minors caused Abel to fall off of national prospect rankings. He bounced back in a big way in Triple-A last year, posting a pristine 2.20 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 98 1/3 innings. The 6’5″ righty matched that production through his first four MLB starts with the Phillies but struggled thereafter, allowing nine runs in his next 4 2/3 innings before being shipped to Minnesota.
Abel has looked dominant this spring. In 18 innings, he’s held opponents to a flat 2.00 ERA with a 34.8% strikeout rate against just a 4.5% walk rate and kept 53.8% of batted balls against him on the ground. In this spring’s small sample, Abel has upped the usage of his slider and changeup while scaling back how frequently he uses his two-seamer. The results, clearly, have been quite strong.
Matthews, 25, has pitched in parts of two seasons with the Twins already. He’s logged very good strikeout and walk rates (24.7%, 6.6% respectively) but been far too susceptible to home runs. He’s a pronounced fly-ball pitcher who has seen nearly 15% of his fly-balls leave the yard; that’s led to an average of 1.77 homers per nine innings pitched.
Matthews sat better than 96 mph with his heater last season, pairing it with a plus slider and plus command. He’s yet to find an average third offering, as his changeup has been hit hard. If he can dial in a third pitch to help keep lefties off balance, he could yet emerge as a mid-rotation starter. Righties are flummoxed by that slider, but lefty hitters have turned in a huge .316/.372/.572 slash against him in the majors. Obviously, that won’t cut it.
The Twins will send Matthews to Triple-A to continue working on rounding out his arsenal. It’s possible that he and/or Festa could eventually emerge as bullpen options, particularly if Bradley and Abel can carry their spring performances into the regular season. The Twins have a number of interesting upper-level arms on the cusp of MLB readiness beyond that pair, including Kendry Rojas, Andrew Morris, Dasan Hill, Marco Raya (who’s moving to the bullpen full-time this season) and top prospect Connor Prielipp.
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Dodgers Select Santiago Espinal
March 20th: Espinal will make a salary of $2.5MM, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
March 18th: The Dodgers announced that they have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Santiago Espinal. They opened a 40-man roster spot earlier this month when outfielder Jack Suwinski was outrighted, so no corresponding move is necessary today.
Opening Day is still over a week away. With the Dodgers selecting Espinal’s contract now, it’s possible he had some sort of opt-out in his minor league deal. At any rate, there wasn’t much mystery regarding his status. A couple of weeks ago, manager Dave Roberts said that Espinal was trending towards making the team.
Espinal should provide the club with defensive versatility, while ideally helping against lefty pitching. In his career, Espinal has played all four infield spots as well as the outfield corners. Offensively, his right-handed bat is best deployed as part of a platoon. He has a career .291/.344/.409 line and 107 wRC+ against southpaws, compared to a .245/.300/.316 line and 73 wRC+ against righties.
He’s a few years removed from his best years at the plate, which were with the Blue Jays in 2021 and 2022. He slashed .282/.340/.382 for a 105 wRC+ over those two seasons. Since then, he has a .245/.298/.325 line over three seasons, a period which saw him get flipped to the Reds. That includes a rough .243/.292/.282 line and 58 wRC+ in 2025. The Reds outrighted him off the roster at season’s end and he elected free agency.
Tommy Edman and Enrique Hernández are going to open the season on the injured list. That leaves the second base spot fairly open, with guys like Hyeseong Kim and Miguel Rojas in the mix there. Kim is a lefty hitter but he was better against southpaws in 2025, so perhaps a platoon with Espinal isn’t perfect. In any case, Espinal can add some depth on the bench.
The Dodgers have a relatively old roster, as guys in their mid-30s like Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández should have regular roles. If anyone in that group is banged up or just needs a day off, Espinal can move around as needed.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz Shifted To Unpaid Non-Disciplinary Leave
Major League Baseball announced today that Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz will be shifted to unpaid, non-disciplinary leave to start the 2026 season. Last year, both pitchers were placed on paid administrative leave as part of a sports betting investigation. Evan Drellich of The Athletic was among those to pass the info along.
“As the legal proceedings involving Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz continue to move forward, MLB and the MLBPA have agreed that both players will remain on non-disciplinary leave from the Club without pay until further notice,” the announcement reads. “This agreement is not an admission of any wrongdoing by Clase or Ortiz. MLB has been closely monitoring the matter since alerting federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and will have no further comment until its investigation has been completed.”
Both pitchers were placed on administrative leave in July of last year as allegations surfaced that they had taken part in a gambling scheme whereby they would intentionally throw certain pitches out of the strike zone for the purposes of impacting prop bets. That initial placement was to last until August 31st but was later extended until further notice.
The two pitchers were indicted by prosecutors in Brooklyn in November, charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty.
The trial was initially scheduled to begin in early May but Brant James of Yahoo Sports was among those to report that it has been pushed to November. MLB typically keeps an investigation open until the legal process is complete, so it seems possible that the two pitchers will stay on leave for the entire 2026 season.
If that comes to pass, it would lower Cleveland’s payroll, which is already one of the smallest in the league. RosterResource projects the club for $82MM in spending on this year’s roster. The Marlins are the only MLB club to come in underneath that. Ortiz has not yet qualified for arbitration. Clase signed an extension with Cleveland a few years ago and was slated to make $6MM this year. His deal has a 2027 club option worth $10MM with a $2MM buyout.
The club probably won’t run out and immediately spend those savings. There aren’t many free agents of note remaining on the market at this part of the calendar. It’s possible the extra budget space could impact their trade deadline strategy.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images