Orioles Notes: Kittredge, Wells, Bautista, Holliday
Orioles righty Andrew Kittredge has been slowed by shoulder inflammation and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, manager Craig Albernaz announced to the team’s beat this morning (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). A season-opening IL stint for the veteran setup man seems likely.
Kittredge, 36 later this month, spent the bulk of the 2025 season with Baltimore after signing a one-year, $10MM contract in free agency. The O’s flipped him to the Cubs in July, netting teenage shortstop Wilfri De La Cruz in that deadline swap. Chicago then traded Kittredge back to Baltimore following the season, before the decision on his 2026 club option was due. The O’s sent cash back to the Cubs in that second swap and promptly exercised Kittredge’s $9MM option.
The hope at the time of that reacquisition was that Kittredge could reprise his role as a key late-inning arm at Camden Yards. His 2025 season was delayed by a debridement procedure in his knee during spring training, but Kittredge was sharp when on the mound. In 53 innings (31 1/3 in Baltmore, 21 2/3 in Chicago) he pitched to a combined 3.40 earned run average with a big 30.8% strikeout rate and tidy 5.3% walk rate. He kept 49.2% of the batted balls against him on the ground and recorded an excellent 14.7% swinging-strike rate. Kittredge tallied 15 holds and five saves; he was only charged with one blown save on the season.
The O’s are already without closer Félix Bautista for most or all of the 2026 season after he underwent shoulder surgery in late August. (He threw for the first time since surgery yesterday, Kubatko notes, but still has a long rehab process ahead of him.) The Orioles signed Ryan Helsley two a two-year deal (the second season being a player option) to fill Bautista’s role. Kittredge would’ve been one of the primary setup options to begin the season, but those opportunities will now fall to a combination of Yennier Cano, Keegan Akin and perhaps some other in-house arms who step up.
One such possibility is right-hander Tyler Wells, who has been officially informed that he’ll pitch in relief this coming season (via MLB.com’s Jake Rill). Albernaz referred to Wells as a “Swiss army knife” who can pitch in virtually any role, be it in the rotation, long relief or more pressure-packed, late-inning settings. “He can pitch leverage,” Albernaz said of Wells. “He has the stuff for it, he has the makeup.”
Wells, 31, came to the Orioles from the Twins in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. He was solid in a low-leverage relief role as a rookie in 2021, then gave Baltimore 222 1/3 innings of respectable 3.93 ERA ball while working primarily as a starter in 2022-23. Injuries have derailed him since. He’s pitched only seven times in the majors across the past two seasons, thanks to a UCL tear that necessitated surgery.
Fifty of Wells’ past 55 major league appearances have been starts, but he’ll move back to a relief role and hope to emerge as a contributor in a bullpen that needs a few things to break its way this coming season. The O’s are banking on a rebound from Helsley, who had a dreadful finish to the 2025 season after being traded to the Mets. They’re also hoping the aforementioned Cano can rebound — if not all the way to his 2023 All-Star form then at least to something closer to his 2024 output (3.15 ERA) than his 2025 results (5.12 ERA).
A healthy and productive Wells could be a boon in a short relief role. Wells sat 92-93 mph with his heater as a starter but averaged better than 95 mph on the pitch back in 2021. His career 11.6% swinging-strike rate is a slight bit better than average, but he was at 13.3% during that lone bullpen season. Wells has shown good command throughout his major league career (6.2 BB%), but his 29% strikeout rate as a rookie reliever sits well above his career 22.8% mark.
Injured second baseman Jackson Holliday also provided reporters with an update, revealing that he’ll begin swinging a bat tomorrow (link via the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka). He also began throwing last week.
Holliday suffered a fractured hamate bone in his right hand/wrist early in camp and underwent surgery to address the issue (removing the fractured “hook” from the bone in question). It’s a common injury and procedure for position players and tends to come with a recovery period between four and eight weeks. The expectation is that Holliday will be sidelined to begin the season, but his return shouldn’t come too far into the regular season. With Holliday and Jordan Westburg down to begin the season, the O’s will turn to a combination of Coby Mayo, Blaze Alexander, Jeremiah Jackson, Bryan Ramos and non-roster veteran Thairo Estrada at second base and third base early in the year.
Rangers Notes: Jung, Foscue, Church
A pair of injuries have hit the Rangers’ infield mix, as both third baseman Josh Jung and former top prospect Justin Foscue will be out of action for at least the next 10 days. Manager Skip Schumaker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry) that an MRI revealed that Jung has a Grade 1 adductor strain, while Foscue has a right hamstring strain.
Neither injury is thought to be particularly serious, and Schumaker felt Jung in particular was going to be back on the field earlier than expected. In Foscue’s case, while his hamstring isn’t a major concern from a health perspective, the missed time is a setback in Foscue’s bid to win a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“It doesn’t change anything as far as [Foscue’s] chances,” Schumaker said. “He’s just gonna lose at-bats, which sucks for him. But…he’ll still have two weeks left of camp, really, to try to build up. He should get more at-bats.”
Jung is penciled in as the Rangers’ top choice at third base, and the former eighth overall pick is still looking to firmly establish himself as he enters his fifth Major League season. After making the All-Star team and helping Texas win the World Series in his 2023 rookie season, Jung was limited to 46 games due to a right wrist fracture in 2024. He was healthy last year, but struggled to a .251/.294/.390 slash line and 91 wRC+ over 511 plate appearances and was briefly demoted to Triple-A in July.
Now that Jung has become eligible for salary arbitration, the clock may be ticking to some extent on his future in Texas. He is earning a modest $2.9MM salary in 2026, but if Jung doesn’t take a notable step forward at the plate, he could be a non-tender candidate next offseason if the Rangers decide against giving him more chances at a higher price tag. Schumaker did praise Jung’s development in camp, and felt the third baseman’s work was “about to translate on the field.”
Foscue has only three hits over 53 PA at the big league level, translating to a .192 OPS for his brief MLB career. While a small sample size, the rather extreme nature of these struggles has already raised doubts about whether or not Foscue (also a former first-round draft pick, selected 14th overall in 2020) can eventually even hold his own against Major League pitching.
There have also been questions about Foscue’s ability to stick at second base, and the Rangers have been experimenting with Foscue as an outfielder this spring in an effort to increase his versatility. Being able to handle a corner outfield spot as well as first or second base would help Foscue’s chances of sticking on the 26-man roster, but everything will be on hold until he is healed up from his hamstring strain.
In other injury news from the Texas camp, Marc Church has been sidelined due to a teres major strain, but the right-hander is slated to throw a pair of live bullpen sessions this week, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News writes. Assuming his throwing progression goes as planned, Church should probably get in some game action before Spring Training is over, and he might still have a chance to break camp as a member of the Rangers’ pen.
The teres major strain is another unwelcome setback for Church, as he has been limited to just 38 2/3 total innings (33 in the minors, 5 2/3 in the majors) over the 2024-25 seasons. He missed a big chunk of the 2024 minor league season due to a rotator cuff injury, and he dealt with elbow inflammation, lat problems, and an oblique strain in 2025. If he can finally get healthy, Church is an intriguing candidate for a relief role, as he has a plus slider and splitter to go along with a fastball in the mid-to-high 90s.
Cubs Notes: Steele, Busch, Long
Cubs fans got some exciting news today about the status of left-hander Justin Steele. Steele himself told reporters (including Mark Gonzales) earlier today that he has reached the point in his rehab where he no longer needs to visit with Dr. Keith Meister, who performed Steele’s UCL revision surgery last year. Gonzales adds that Steele is stretched out to between 35 and 40 pitches in his bullpen sessions, while Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reports that Steele is on track for a return to the big leagues at some point in May or June.
It’s a major hurdle that Steele has now cleared, although his timeline is not significantly altered from where it’s been throughout Spring Training to this point. Even so, it’s an encouraging update for Cubs fans given Steele’s importance to the club’s rotation. An All-Star and fifth place finisher in NL Cy Young award voting back in 2023, Steele posted a 3.07 ERA and 3.11 FIP with a 24.5% strikeout rate in 54 starts across his last two healthy seasons. That’s the production of a front-of-the-rotation starter, which the Cubs sorely lacked during the playoffs last year. Both Steele and Cade Horton were on the injured list, while Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga had both worn down over the course of the season and struggled in their NLDS starts against the Brewers.
Perhaps in an effort to avoid a similar outcome late in the season this year, the Cubs have built a deep rotation by re-signing Imanaga and trading for right-hander Edward Cabrera. Imanaga, Cabrera, Horton, Boyd, and Jameson Taillon are all surefire locks for rotation roles this year, and that could leave the Cubs looking to expand to a six-man rotation when Steele returns if the rest of that group is healthy at that point in the season. Of course, with depth starters like Colin Rea, Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, and Ben Brown also in the mix for starts, it’s possible the Cubs could opt for a six-man rotation even in the event of an injury or two.
Turning to the lineup, last week’s news of an injury to newly-signed slugger Tyler Austin that will sideline him for “months” created plenty of questions about the first base position. While Michael Busch has handled the position capably over the past two seasons and is currently healthy, he’s also been heavily platoon protected over the past two years. Whether due to Austin’s injury or his breakout campaign last year, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic writes that Busch is set to play on an everyday basis this year, including against southpaws. Manager Craig Counsell indicated (as relayed by Mooney) that Busch has “earned” the opportunity to be a full-time player at this point, though he added that the 28-year-old will now have to prove himself capable of handling those additional responsibilities.
Busch posted an 81 wRC+ against southpaws last year, and has a lifetime 87 wRC+ against lefties overall. Those aren’t particularly exciting numbers, but there are everyday players at first base with weaker numbers against lefties. Vinnie Pasquantino of the Royals, for example, had a 63 wRC+ against same-handed pitching and sports an 87 mark for his career that’s identical to Busch’s. Busch’s predecessor at first base for the Cubs, multi-time All-Star Anthony Rizzo, posted worse numbers against lefties than Busch has through the first three seasons of his career before growing into a full-time role and hitting well against both lefties and righties alike later on. With Austin unable to play at least the next couple of months anyway, it makes plenty of sense for the Cubs to give Busch the opportunity to prove himself.
That’s particularly true given the status of top first base prospect Jonathon Long. Long is one of the better prospects in the Cubs’ system, a ninth-round pick in the 2023 draft who slashed .305/.404/.479 in 140 games at Triple-A during his age-23 campaign last year. He’d be a logical replacement for Austin on the Cubs’ bench if the team was looking for a platoon partner for Busch, but he’s dealing with some injury woes himself at the moment. As noted by MLB.com, Long has been sidelined due to a sprained left elbow since February 21, and while he’s recently resumed light baseball activity Counsell indicated that the youngster has not recovered as quickly as the Cubs were hoping. It’s unclear what sort of timeline Long is facing for a return to action, but as a youngster who has not yet made his MLB debut it goes without saying that a notable Spring Training injury substantially lowers the odds of him being able to snag a spot on the team’s bench come Opening Day.
Marlins Notes: Stowers, Arquette, Pauley
The Marlins had a bit of an injury scare regarding star outfielder Kyle Stowers today, as he was scratched from his scheduled appearance in the Miami lineup today due to hamstring tightness. As noted by Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, manager Clayton McCullough told reporters this afternoon that imaging on Stowers had revealed a “very minor” strain in his right hamstring.
While hamstring strains can often be serious issues, with even relatively minor strains costing players upwards of a month, it seems Stowers’s strain was caught early enough that it shouldn’t be a major problem for him. McCullough indicated that Stowers will be sidelined for just a week or two before returning to game action, and that he could resume taking at-bats outside of games within the next few days. That’s great news for the Marlins given that Stowers is their best and most established hitter on the roster at the moment. The 2025 All Star is coming off a rookie campaign where he slashed an excellent .288/.368/.544 with 25 homers and 21 doubles in 117 games.
If the Marlins are going to build on their third-place finish in the NL East last year and push back over .500 for the first time since their surprise postseason appearance back in 2023, they’ll need Stowers to be healthy and firing on all cylinders. With Opening Day now just a month away, it would be understandable for Miami to be cautious with Stowers as they bring him back into game action over the coming weeks. If Stowers suffers a setback or his hamstring is re-aggravated once he begins ramping back up, that could put his availability for the start of the season in danger. Youngsters Jakob Marsee and Owen Caissie currently figure to handle center field and right field for the Marlins, respectively, but a more serious injury to Stowers could open the door for some combination of Griffin Conine, Javier Sanoja, Christopher Morel, and Esteury Ruiz to get looks in his absence.
Looking elsewhere on the Marlins’ roster, De Nicola also reports that top Marlins prospect Aiva Arquette underwent core muscle surgery recently and is facing a four to six week recovery period before he can resume baseball activities. Arquette reportedly suffered a left groin strain during his offseason workouts, and while he stopped activities and focused on recovery from there his arrival in camp came with renewed discomfort and prompted the procedure. A consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Arquette was Miami’s first-round pick (seventh overall) in the 2025 draft. He scuffled a bit in his first 27 games as a professional last year at the High-A level, but the 22-year-old figures to spend much of the year at Double-A once he’s ready to return to action and could be on the radar for a big league debut sometime next year.
Elsewhere on the infield, MLB.com notes that Graham Pauley has begun working his way back after being shut down due to forearm tightness earlier this week. Pauley is slated to throw to 90 feet and take live at-bats today, and is slated to serve as the team’s DH in tomorrow’s Spring Training game against the Nationals. Assuming those first steps go well, it stands to reason that Pauley could be back to regular work at some point next week. Pauley hit just .224/.311/.366 in 64 games for the Marlins last year, but his left-handed bat and solid defense at third base could still earn him some work around the infield against tough right-handed pitchers throughout the year given that switch hitter Xavier Edwards is the only other infielder on the projected roster that doesn’t bat right handed.
Mariners Notes: Miller, Crawford, Labrada
General manager Justin Hollander updated reporters (including Seattle Sports’ Shannon Drayer and MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) about some injury situations in the Mariners’ camp, including some side soreness for Bryce Miller. The right-hander reported some discomfort on his left side on Thursday, and a subsequent MRI revealed inflammation. Miller received a PRP shot and will be fully re-evaluated in about a week, though he could begin playing catch in a few days.
Drayer described Miller’s shutdown as “very precautionary,” and the soreness was mild enough that Miller might not have even told the team if the issue has arisen during the regular season. That said, there obviously isn’t any reason for Miller or the Mariners to push things during Spring Training. It isn’t out of the question that Miller could start the season on the 15-day injured list as a further precaution, or if he isn’t able to get back onto the mound in a week’s time to continue his normal spring ramp-up.
Miller is already coming off an injury-marred season that saw him limited to 90 1/3 regular-season innings. Bone spurs in his throwing elbow twice sent Miller to the IL, though he returned in the last half of August to make eight more starts, and then posted a 2.51 ERA over three starts and 14 1 1/3 innings in the playoffs.
Rather than undergo surgery to address the bone spurs, Miller has opted for such non-surgical treatments as a cortisone shot, a PRP shot, and a Synvisc injection to try and avoid a procedure. It was just over a week ago that Miller stated he had been able to have essentially a normal offseason, though this seemingly minor bout of side soreness is surely unwelcome.
If things developed to the point that Miller did need an IL trip, Emerson Hancock would probably be Seattle’s top choice as a rotation fill-in. Blas Castano and long man Cooper Criswell are also on the 40-man roster, or the Mariners could opt to select the contract of a non-roster invite like Casey Lawrence or Dane Dunning.
Turning to the diamond, J.P. Crawford is expected to play in his first Cactus League game of the spring on Tuesday. The veteran shortstop will be in Tuesday’s lineup as the DH, as Crawford is still recovering from a shoulder issue that has slowed his progress in camp. Hollander said the plan is for Crawford to return to shortstop the following week, which should give him plenty of time to be ready for Opening Day.
There has never been any concern that Crawford would miss any regular-season action, as the M’s were simply easing Crawford into his spring work. He is taking part in a live batting-practice session today to get some at-bats against actual pitchers under his belt before his debut game.
After an oblique strain and a fractured right hand limited Crawford to 105 games in 2024, he rebounded for a healthy 2025 campaign and a .265/.352/.370 slash line with 12 homers over 654 plate appearances (translating to a 113 wRC+). Crawford is now entering both his age-31 season, and the final year of the five-year, $51MM extension he signed with the Mariners in April 22. With star shortstop prospect Colt Emerson on the verge of his MLB debut, Crawford’s future in Seattle could be in doubt, so he’ll need a strong season to impress the M’s or potential other suitors as free agency looms.
Prospect Victor Labrada made his Triple-A debut in 2025 and could be on the radar for his first big league call-up at some point in 2026, but his season could be delayed by an oblique strain. Hollander said Labrada hurt his oblique yesterday while swinging in the batting cage, and an MRI today will determine the extent of the injury.
Labrada hit .265/.397/.376 over 235 plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma, and he has an overall .267/.365/.402 slash line across 2155 PA in his minor league career. The 26-year-old doesn’t have much power, but he has terrific speed, with 172 steals out of 222 attempts. This speed and solid glovework at all three outfield positions could make Labrada at least a backup outfielder at the MLB level, and his ability to stick as a regular will depend on how well he can reach base and capitalize on what Baseball America describes as “solid bat-to-ball skills to hit the ball to the alleys.” BA ranks Labrada as the 26th-best prospect in the Mariners’ farm system.
Phillies Notes: Wheeler, Kerkering, Stott
Zack Wheeler threw a 21-pitch bullpen on Thursday, making the first time that the Phillies ace had thrown a BP since undergoing thoracic outlet surgery in September. Wheeler and Phils manager Rob Thomson each told reporters (including The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes) that Wheeler threw only fastballs and sinkers at about 85 percent effort, which is normal for any pitcher’s first bullpen session following an injury layoff. Everything went well enough that Wheeler is slated for another bullpen on Sunday, as for now, the right-hander is on a standard ramp-up plan.
It is still early enough in the process that neither Wheeler or the team is putting any kind of timeline on when the three-time All-Star could potentially make his return to Philadelphia’s rotation. TOS surgeries and their associated recovery periods are, as Thomson put it, “new stuff, and it’s different than a lot of other injuries. So, we really can’t pin it down to a day or a week.”
Still, it would seem like the early optimism that Wheeler could be back at some point in the first half of April has yet to abate. Wheeler was given a broad timeframe of 6-8 months in the wake of his surgery, so at the very least, it would seem like he’ll be able to return in the earlier end of that two-month window. A season-opening IL stint is definite, but Thomson said it is possible Wheeler could pitch in a Spring Training game before camp is over.
The Phillies surely aren’t going to rush Wheeler’s process, of course, since simply having him back pitching isn’t nearly as important as having him back in good form, both health-wise and results-wise. It is anyone’s guess as to whether or not Wheeler will able to recapture his superstar level of production immediately or even at all, given how many (but not all) pitchers dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome have never been the same after their surgeries. The fact that Wheeler is thus far feeling normal in his prep work is a great sign that the righty can again be a force in the rotation.
In other injury news, Orion Kerkering was sidelined by a Grade 1 hamstring strain right at the start of the Phillies’ camp, but the right-hander is set to throw a bullpen session today. Assuming no setbacks in Kerkering’s ramp-up, he should be on track for the Opening Day roster, as his arm will require less build for a relief role.
Kerkering will return to a high-leverage assignment in Philadelphia’s bullpen, though the addition of Brad Keller may push Kerkering a rung lower on the depth chart. Kerkering’s 2025 season will unfortunately be remembered for his game-ending and series-ending throwing error in Game 4 of the NLDS, but he delivered another solid campaign overall, with a 3.30 ERA and 24.4% strikeout rate over 60 innings. That strikeout rate was a dropoff from his 28.8K% in 2024, however, plus Kerkering’s walk rate spiked upwards.
Bryson Stott is another Phillie looking for more consistency in 2026, but the fact that the second baseman ended last season on a high note gives him lots of optimism for the coming season. As Stott told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, some brutal numbers in the first half led Stott to overhaul his approach on the fly at midseason, with adjustments that included lowering his hands and standing closer to the plate. The left-handed hitter also simplified things by just trying to pull the ball and make solid contact, rather than focus on trying to hit to all fields.
“If you just take your swing and it’s an outside pitch, it’s going to go to left, instead of trying to guide it to left,” Stott said. “For example, I’ll get an inside heater and I’m like, ‘Well, I want to hit the ball to left this at-bat,’ and then I try to finagle the barrel around and that’s when I get myself in trouble. The second half was more of just letting the ball dictate where it’s going to go rather than me trying to dictate where it’s going to go.”
Stott enjoyed a hot start in April before sinking into a deep slump, as he batted just .196/.266/.274 over 243 plate appearances from May 1 through July 22. From that point onwards, the swing changes starting clicking, as Stott hit .307/.376/.508 over his final 202 PA of the 2025 campaign.
Most of Stott’s season-long damage came against right-handed pitchers, as he batted only .225/.287/.228 in 123 PA against southpaws. Stott posted at least decent numbers against lefties in his first two MLB seasons, but his splits have cratered over the last two years, which has threatened his role as Philadelphia’s everyday second baseman. The team’s plan is to give Edmundo Sosa a big chunk (and maybe all) of the second base playing time when a left-hander is on the mound, though Stott believes he can perform well enough against southpaws to protect his spot in the lineup.
Cubs Notes: Crow-Armstrong, Amaya, Rolison
Spring training is a common time for extensions but it doesn’t seem like there’s too much smoke between the Cubs and Pete Crow-Armstrong. The outfielder was asked about the topic on Foul Territory this week but downplayed the urgency. “There will be talks, there have been talks,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re not really in any rush to do anything. I’d like to keep it that way just ’cause I’m going to go out and play regardless… There’s bigger fish to fry right now than getting me paid.”
The Cubs and Crow-Armstrong had some extension talks around this time last year. At that time, he had almost one full season under his belt. In 2024, he showed off his speed-and-defense floor but with subpar offense.
Since then, he has raised his stock, as he got his offense above league average in 2025. He still didn’t draw many walks but he did hit 31 home runs, helping him put up a .247/.287/.481 line and 109 wRC+. That came in inconsistent fashion, however. He hit 25 of those homers in the first half, with 17.6% of his fly balls clearing the fence. The league average home run to fly ball rate was 11.9% last year. In the second half, that rate regressed to 7.8% for Crow-Armstrong, leading to just six long balls after the break.
The overall season was strong but it’s fair to be a bit skeptical about his offense going forward. His 4.5% walk rate last year was higher than just four other qualified hitters in the league, so he needs to provide value when he puts the bat on the ball. That happened in 2025 but with a season-long 14.2% home run to fly ball ratio that was a few ticks above par. Statcast had his hard hit rate and average exit velocity in the 42nd and 43rd percentile, respectively, so the extra home runs may have been backed by a bit of luck.
What he can provide at the plate going forward is up in the air but the speed and defense are legit. He swiped 35 bags last year and got excellent grades in center. He has a tremendous floor but the ceiling is more of a question. Whether he and the Cubs can line up on a price point for an extension remains to be seen. His service time count is at one year and 170 days, just two days shy of the two-year mark. That means he can be controlled for five more seasons but is essentially a lock to be a Super Two guy after this year, giving him four arbitration seasons instead of the standard three.
Elsewhere on the roster, catcher Miguel Amaya has been doing some first base drills, per Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Amaya has a bit of first base experience from the minors but not much lately. In the past four seasons, his time at the position was just two games at Double-A in 2023.
There’s a logic to seeing if Amaya is viable at first, as it would expand the versatility of the roster. It seems likely that the Cubs will carry three catchers, with Carson Kelly and Moisés Ballesteros also there alongside Amaya. The only one of the three who can be optioned is Ballesteros, but he hit so well last year that the Cubs seemingly want him to get into the designated hitter spot with some regularity.
That could leave Amaya somewhat squeezed behind the plate but there’s a path to some at-bats at first. The Cubs have Michael Busch slated to be the regular first baseman but he’s a lefty who hasn’t hit southpaws yet. The Cubs were planning on having Tyler Austin serve as Busch’s right-handed platoon partner but Austin recently had knee surgery and is going to miss months.
Amaya hits from the right side but has reverse splits in his career thus far. He has a .254/.321/.416 line against righties but has hit just .193/.256/.298 against lefties. That makes him a less than ideal platoon partner for Busch but his ability to play the position could still help the Cubs. Theoretically, they could have someone like outfielder Chas McCormick hit for Busch late in games, then have someone else come in to play first base. Even putting the platoon issues aside, they don’t have a clear backup first baseman while Austin is out.
Levine also relays that left-hander Ryan Rolison has caught the attention of manager Craig Counsell early in camp. Rolison was just claimed off waivers from the White Sox last month. He has a 7.02 earned run average in his big league career so far, which is obviously not impressive. But he’s coming off a good season in the minors with the Rockies. The former first round pick logged 29 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League last year with a 3.34 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate.
Even if he has a good spring, it’ll be hard for him to earn an Opening Day spot. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams just explored in a piece for Front Office subscribers, the Cubs are one of the teams in the majors with the fewest players likely to be optioned. In the bullpen, they project to open the season with guys who can’t be optioned in six of the eight spots. Of the other two, one of them is closer Daniel Palencia, who isn’t getting sent down. The other is Javier Assad, who could end up in Iowa but the Cubs may be reluctant to send him down after he’s been solid for the past few years.
Rolison still has one option remaining, so he’ll probably start the season in Triple-A. Even if that’s the case, injuries are inevitable over a long season, so perhaps Rolison will be well positioned to get the call when the time comes. Caleb Thielbar and Hoby Milner project as the bullpen lefties to open the season. Rolison, Luke Little and Riley Martin are optionable lefties on the 40-man.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images
Dodgers Notes: Snell, Graterol, Miller
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke to reporters, including Jack Harris of the California Post, and provided some updates about the players on the roster and their health or lack thereof. Perhaps most notably, the skipper said left-hander Blake Snell is making a bit of progress in his ramp-up but is probably running out of time to be ready for Opening Day.
The Dodgers won the World Series a few months ago but did so with a lopsided pitching staff. The bullpen was fairly shaky, so they leaned hard on their starters, even using them in relief. Snell tossed five innings in the first game of the World Series, 6 2/3 in the fifth game, then an inning and a third out of the bullpen in the seventh game. In January, Snell admitted that he was exhausted by the end of the series.
He and the club are planning for a deliberate buildup here in camp, focused more on the long term than Opening Day. That’s a luxury the Dodgers can afford since the roster is so strong that they can downplay the importance of regular season games, making sure their players are focused on being healthy in October. With this approach in mind, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the only pitcher on the roster to throw at least 113 innings last year.
There’s no real reason for Snell and the Dodgers to push for him to be ready for Opening Day. The rotation should still be strong even without him in it. Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan should have four spots locked. Roki Sasaki will likely take the fifth. Guys like River Ryan, Ben Casparius, Justin Wrobleski, Kyle Hurt, Gavin Stone or Landon Knack could step up to make starts, if needed.
Turning to the bullpen, Roberts also said right-hander Brusdar Graterol is in a “holding pattern” and has not thrown off a mound lately. It was already known that he wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day but it’s notable that he’s still not making much progress.
Graterol was a key piece of the Dodger bullpen from 2020 to 2023, posting a 2.69 earned run average over 173 2/3 innings, but has hardly thrown for the past two years. Shoulder problems and a hamstring strain capped him at seven outings in 2024. Surgery on that shoulder wiped out his 2025 and it seems he’s still not fully over the hump. Similar to the Snell situation, the Dodgers can afford to not rush him and let him get to full health, but it would be encouraging to see some progress.
Roberts also noted that right-hander Bobby Miller has not yet thrown off a mound this spring due to some unspecified arm/shoulder issue. He is hoping to ramp up in the next few weeks but that is presumably contingent on the issue subsiding.
Miller is a wild card on the roster. He seemed to break out in 2023, making his major league debut with a 3.76 ERA in 124 1/3 innings. But he posted an ugly 8.52 ERA in 2024 and then spent most of 2025 on optional assignment with a 5.66 ERA in Triple-A. He was moved from the rotation to the bullpen in July but his results didn’t improve, with a 5.91 ERA after that switch. He struck out 28.6% of batters faced in that relief role but also gave out walks at a big 13.2% clip. He still has a couple of options, so the Dodgers can keep tinkering with him in the minors as long as they continue to deem him worthy of a spot on the 40-man.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Marlins Notes: Mack, Ramírez, Junk
The Marlins have three catchers on their 40-man roster. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the club would prefer to open the season with Agustín Ramírez and Liam Hicks in the big leagues, with Joe Mack optioned to Triple-A, though it’s possible Mack could win a job.
Ramírez has shown a lot of promise with the bat but was arguably the worst defensive catcher in the majors last year. In 605 2/3 innings, he was behind the plate for 19 passed balls and 36 wild pitches. In terms of the passed balls, Ramírez lapped the field, with no other backstop allowing more than nine. Four catchers were present for a larger totals of wild pitches but they all had larger samples of playing time.
Modern analytics also agree. Ramírez was credited with minus-14 Defensive Runs Saved last year. The only guy worse was Salvador Perez at minus-15, in a larger sample of innings. Fielding Run Value had Ramirez at -12, worse than everyone except for Edgar Quero. Statcast ranked Ramírez as one of the worst catchers in terms of blocking and controlling the running game, though his framing was well regarded.
It feels inevitable that Ramírez will get moved to designated hitter or first base, where he has spent some time in the minors. The Fish don’t really have a slam-dunk first baseman standing in the way, as they’re going into the season with a hodgepodge group consisting of Hicks, Christopher Morel, Connor Norby, Griffin Conine and Graham Pauley. But the Marlins are apparently not quite ready to make that move. Jackson reports that they still want to give Ramírez a shot to show some improvement behind the plate and potentially stick as a viable backstop.
That could leave Mack trapped at Triple-A for a while longer, even though he feels like the long-term answer behind the plate. The 31st overall pick from the 2021 draft, Mack played 112 games last year, 99 of those at the Triple-A level. His 27.9% strikeout rate at that level was a bit high but he hit 18 home runs and slashed .250/.320/.459 for a 107 wRC+. That’s great production for a catcher, especially one with a strong defensive reputation like Mack. The Marlins added him to their 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Going into 2026, Mack is a consensus top 100 prospect, which means the prospect promotion incentive factors in. If the Marlins were to carry him on the roster early enough to get a full year of service time, he could net them an extra draft pick by playing well enough to garner awards consideration. If they don’t call him up that early, he could earn a full year of service retroactively with a top two finish in Rookie of the Year voting.
If Mack ends the 2026 season with a full year of service, he would be on pace for free agency after the 2031 season. If the Marlins hold him down long enough to not get a full year of service and he doesn’t get one retroactively, then that schedule would be pushed into the future by a year.
Turning to the pitching staff, right-hander Janson Junk suffered a right ankle sprain about a week ago and was in a walking boot for a while. It seems he is moving quickly past the issue. Per the MLB.com injury tracker, he was scheduled to throw 15 to 18 pitches off a mound yesterday. There hasn’t been word on him since, so he presumably threw without issue. He posted a 4.17 earned run average for the Marlins in a swing role last year. As of now, he will probably open the season as a long reliever but could earn a rotation job if injuries open a path for him.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Diamondbacks Notes: Kelly, Pfaadt, Mena
The Diamondbacks rotation is an early focus in camp. Right-hander Merrill Kelly was slated to be the Opening Day starter but a back issue has scuttled those plans, even though an exact diagnosis has proved elusive. Manager Torey Lovullo tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that Kelly still has enough time to be stretched out for Arizona’s second series of the season.
The Snakes begin their season on March 26th with three games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. They then have an off-day before starting a seven-game homestand with Detroit coming to town for three and Atlanta for four. Though Kelly won’t take the ball for Opening Day, it would be nice to get him in there at some point fairly early in the schedule.
That will presumably be contingent on his body cooperating. He has been subject to a number of recent tests, including an MRI and a CT scan, without anything conclusive being discovered. While it’s encouraging that the tests keep coming back negative, Kelly has still been experiencing pain while throwing.
Time will tell how things play out with Kelly. If he does eventually require some time on the injured list, then the rotation jobs should go to Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodríguez, Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka. Pfaadt is also under the microscope somewhat, as Piecoro relays that he had some kind of issue with his side during the offseason. He appears to be fine now but the club is slow-playing his progression a bit.
Beyond that group, the depth is lacking in experience. Cristian Mena, Yilber Díaz, Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt and Dylan Ray are on the 40-man roster. The latter three haven’t yet cracked the majors. Díaz has just 31 1/3 innings while Mena has only 9 2/3.
Mena is also unlikely to be available anytime soon. He didn’t pitch after June last year due to a strain of the teres major in his throwing shoulder. Per Piecoro, Mena has re-aggravated that teres major injury recently. His timetable isn’t exactly clear but he has been shut down from throwing for the time being.
If everything goes well, Soroka could end up in a long relief/swingman role, ready to jump into the rotation as soon as someone gets hurt as Kelly, Gallen, Rodríguez, Pfaadt and Nelson make starts. But Kelly’s status is up in the air and Pfaadt is being monitored closely. The depth was already on the light side and now Mena has been subtracted from it, at least for now. Non-roster guys with big league experience include Joe Ross, Thomas Hatch and Bryce Jarvis.
If the Snakes want to add to the group, there are still starting pitching free agents available. Lucas Giolito and Zack Littell are the two most notable ones but Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson and a few others are also out there. The club may be reluctant to add more money to the ledger, however, as they already stretched beyond their plans when grabbing Gallen a couple of weeks ago.
Photo courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images