Blue Jays Extend Ross Atkins, John Schneider
The Blue Jays announced this morning that they’ve signed GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider to contract extensions. Both were entering the final seasons of their current contracts, but Atkins has re-upped on a five-year deal that will take him through the 2031 season while Schneider will return on a two-year deal that lasts through the 2028 campaign.
The news is hardly surprising following Toronto’s impressive run in the playoffs last year, where they secured the AL pennant and came just shy of besting the Dodgers in seven games during the World Series. While Toronto ultimately lost Game Seven of that series, it’s easy to see that ownership is pleased with the club’s performance. Not only was the team green-lit to acquire Dylan Cease and pursue other big names on the free agent market like Kyle Tucker this winter, but Blue Jays chairman Edward Rogers also decided to give team president and CEO Mark Shapiro a five-year contract extension back in December that runs through 2030. Once Shapiro received an extension, both Atkins and Schneider were widely assumed to eventually follow suit around the league.
Atkins joined the Jays prior to the 2016 season, and he’s overseen the beginning of the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. era in Toronto. While Guerrero signed with the organization as an international amateur a few months before Atkins and Shapiro arrived, every professional game he’s played during his career has been with them at the helm of the club. Guerrero has been the face of Toronto’s return to relevance after a rebuilding period early in Atkins’s tenure with the organization, from the second year of his career in 2020 onward the Jays have made the postseason four times in six years with a 472-398 record overall. That’s roughly an 88-win pace over the last six years, and under Schneider’s leadership over the past three years they’ve gone 257-229 they’ve managed a roughly 86-win pace with two playoff berths.
It may have seemed to be a no-brainer that the club would decide to keep the good times rolling with their current group after this year’s run to the World Series, but that was hardly a guarantee this time last year. One year ago, Guerrero had not yet signed an extension, the club had whiffed on both Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto in free agency during back-to-back offseasons, and the Jays were coming off a deeply disappointing 88-loss season that saw the club sell at the trade deadline and called their longer-term viability as a contender into question. It’s fortunate that the organization’s banner year in 2025 answered those questions, because it’s not hard to imagine another poor performance on the field from the club last year ending in changes to the front office and dugout rather than contract extensions for the organization’s leadership.
As Atkins, Schneider, and Shapiro head into the 2026 season and look ahead to at least a few more years running the Blue Jays together, long-term deals for Guerrero, Cease, Alejandro Kirk, and Andres Gimenez figure to make them all staples of the organization going forward. Other pieces under long-term control include Trey Yesavage, Anthony Santander, Kazuma Okamoto, Louis Varland, and a collection of young hitting talent headlined by Addison Barger. It’s a solid group overall, though the next few years will also see the team contend with the impending free agencies of George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and other key members of the roster who will need to be replaced.
Phillies Extend Cristopher Sanchez
For the second time in less than two years, the Phillies have announced a contract extension with Cristopher Sanchez. The left-hander’s previous extension in June 2024 gave the team control over Sanchez’s services through the 2030 season, but this new contract now locks Sanchez into the fold through at least the 2032 season for $91MM in new money. Sanchez is represented by Mato Sports Management.
The new deal keeps Sanchez’s $3MM salary in place for the 2026 season, and he’ll also earn the $6MM in 2027 and the $9MM in 2028 that was promised to him under the terms of his old extension. The Phillies previously held a $15MM club option on Sanchez for 2029 and a $16MM club option for 2030, but those option years have now been guaranteed under the new extension at those prices. Sanchez will then earn $30MM in each of the 2031 and 2032 seasons, and Philadelphia holds a $44.5MM club option ($1MM buyout) for the 2033 campaign. Sanchez can also earn up to $13MM extra via incentive bonuses over the course of the contract.
Sanchez’s four-year, $22.5MM extension from June 2024 had already proven to be a huge bargain for the Phillies, as the southpaw continued to produce throughout the 2024 campaign and then took a step forward by finishing second in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2025. It would’ve been easy for the Phillies to sit back and continue benefiting from the surplus value created by the extension, but president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski took the long view towards Sanchez’s future in Philadelphia.
“We kind of assumed years four and five were a no-brainer as far as we were going to pick those up,” Dombrowski told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and other reporters. “So we couldn’t even imagine a scenario in which we wouldn’t. Now we start talking beyond that. And we thought that somebody of Cristopher’s stature, we’d rather get this done now, while he’s still at the age that makes sense for us.”
It naturally isn’t uncommon for teams to sign their stars to multiple extensions over the course of their careers, as we’ve seen recently with the Guardians and Jose Ramirez back in January or the Diamondbacks with Ketel Marte last year. Those deals weren’t quite the same as the Sanchez extension, however. Both Ramirez and Marte had more than a decade of MLB experience under their belt and had already played out significant portions of their initial team-friendly extensions. In addition, those teams had the motive of restructuring their star’s previous deal to include deferred money.
That’s not to say Sanchez is undeserving of his new payday, of course. After earning a trip to the All-Star Game in 2024, Sanchez cemented his ace status with a superb 2025 season. The lefty spun a 2.50 ERA with a 2.55 FIP in 202 innings of work, striking out 212 batters across 32 starts. He paired his 26.3% strikeout rate with a 5.5% walk rate and a 58.3% ground ball rate, giving him a lower SIERA than every qualified starter in the NL and the third-lowest in baseball behind Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet.
By measure of fWAR, Sanchez’s 2025 season was a top-20 campaign by a qualified starter since 2015, tied with Cy Young-winning campaigns by future Hall of Famers like Chris Sale (2024), Max Scherzer (2017), and Justin Verlander (2019). Sanchez ultimately finished second behind Paul Skenes in Cy Young voting last year, but nonetheless established himself as among the upper-echelon of starters in today’s game with that performance.
Clearly, the Phillies are betting on Sanchez to age well like those other elite arms did by signing him to a big-money extension for his mid-thirties. Philadelphia has been unafraid of signing players well past their prime years previously, as shown by the fact that Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are under contract through their age-37 seasons, while Jesus Luzardo‘s new contract extension includes a club option for his age-34 campaign.
With this new contract, Sanchez joins Luzardo (2032 club option) and Trea Turner (contract guaranteed through 2033) as the only three players under team control beyond the expiration of Bryce Harper‘s contract in 2031. This restructured contract for Sanchez could be an interesting data point for Harper and agent Scott Boras, as the two-time MVP and future Hall of Famer has previously publicly expressed a desire to extend or restructure his contract with Philadelphia to keep him in town beyond the 2031 campaign. Of course, those previous attempts were before this past offseason’s comments from Dave Dombrowski critical of Harper that drew the superstar’s ire, prompting trade speculation that Dombrowski later firmly shut down.
Sanchez’s extension was first reported by FanSided’s Robert Murray. The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reported the total of money involved in the deal, while Francys Romero of Beisbol FR had the details about the performance incentives and Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer had the extension’s year-to-year financial breakdown.
Inset photo courtesy of Bill Streicher — Imagn Images
AL East Notes: Gil, Bastardo, Lux
Since the Yankees play only nine games during the season’s first 13 days, manager Aaron Boone announced today (to the Athletic’s Chris Kirschner and other reporters) that the team will use a four-man rotation of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Ryan Weathers during this rather staggered portion of the schedule. This leaves Luis Gil in a bit of an awkward spot as an unnecessary fifth starter, though pitching coach Matt Blake suggested that Gil could be used in a piggyback capacity during Weathers’ first outing. It is also possible Gil could be left off New York’s Opening Day roster altogether — he could bide his time in the minors until he’s needed, and the Yankees could use his roster spot on an extra reliever.
After winning AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, Gil was limited to 11 starts and 57 innings last season due to a right lat strain. Gil’s peripherals were unimpressive, and his whopping 5.74 SIERA indicates that the right-hander was quite fortunate to manage a 3.32 ERA. The fact that Gil has been relegated to this uncertain role for the start of the season perhaps indicates that the Yankees still have some questions about the righty, though Blake was encouraged by some adjustments Gil made to his release point.
More from around the AL East…
- The Blue Jays‘ bullpen continues to take final form, as manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae and Shi Davidi) that Tommy Nance will make the team, while Yariel Rodriguez, non-roster invite Jorge Alcala, and Rule 5 Draft pick Angel Bastardo won’t be part of the Opening Day roster. In Bastardo’s case, this means the Jays must offer the right-hander back to the Red Sox, work out a trade with Boston to officially obtain Bastardo’s rights, or perhaps trade Bastardo to another team interested on carrying him on their active roster all season. Bastardo was actually selected in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, but a Tommy John surgery cost him the entire 2025 season and thus Toronto retained his R5 status for the coming season.
- Gavin Lux‘s shoulder remains a bit of a question mark for the Rays as Opening Day looms, though the second baseman was able to return to the lineup for today’s game with the Blue Jays. Lux’s first camp with the Rays was initially slowed by some oblique discomfort, and then a sore throwing shoulder that has limited him to seven Grapefruit League games to date. Manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that due to the “time crunch” created by Thursday’s opener, “we’ve got to get [Lux] going for him to be ready to go.” If Lux needs a 10-day injured list stint to give himself more time to get right, Topkin suggests the Rays could add Richie Palacios to the roster, or perhaps explore the market for a new depth infielder.
Diamondbacks To Add Jonathan Loaisiga, Joe Ross To Opening Day Roster
10:05PM: Right-hander Joe Ross is also making the team, as per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The Diamondbacks will have to create another 40-man roster spot before selecting Ross, who inked a minor league contract last month. The numbers haven’t been there for Ross this spring, but Piecoro writes that Ross’ ability to pitch multiple innings gave him an advantage in the bullpen competition.
10:47AM: The Diamondbacks are adding right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga to their Opening Day roster, according to a report from Jorge Castillo of ESPN. Arizona’s 40-man roster is full, so a corresponding move will be necessary to officially select Loaisiga’s contract.
Loaisiga, 31, is joining a new club for the first time after spending his first eight MLB seasons with the Yankees. Signed by the Giants out of Nicaragua back in 2013, Loaisiga made just 13 starts for San Francisco’s Dominican Summer League affiliate before suffering injuries that sidelined him for the next two years. He was released by the organization in 2015 and caught on with the Yankees ahead of the 2016 season, where he continued to climb the minor league ladder as a starter and actually began his MLB career in a swing role.
The right-hander didn’t convert to short relief full-time until 2021, but looked utterly dominant once he did. Loaisiga turned in a 2.17 ERA with a 2.58 FIP and 3.01 SIERA in 70 2/3 innings of work for the Yankees that year. He struck out a respectable 24.4% of his opponents while walking just 5.7% and generating ground balls at a 60.9% clip. That dominant showing was enough to push Loaisiga into New York’s high leverage mix, and headed into 2022 it was easy to dream on him as the next dominant Yankees reliever. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way. His 2022 campaign was a struggle and saw him post below league average results (4.13 ERA) with only slightly better peripheral numbers (3.57 FIP, 3.76 SIERA). In the three years since then, he’s managed just 50 total appearances at the big league level due to a laundry list of injuries.
Those 50 appearances work out to a combined 3.51 ERA that’s decent enough, but his grounder rate has dropped to 52.0%, his strikeout rate now sits at a concerning 15.2%, and the righty’s 5.13 FIP (4.09 SIERA) both suggest those solid run prevention numbers are the result more of good luck on batted balls and sequencing than his underlying performance. With so many health and performance related red flags, it wasn’t a shock that Loaisiga needed to take a minor league deal this offseason. The one he landed with the Diamondbacks figured to give him a strong shot to make the roster, however, as the majority of their late-inning mix is set to start the season on the injured list.
A solid showing this spring further sealed the deal, as Loaisiga posted a 3.86 ERA in seven outings with seven strikeouts against just two walks. That’ll be enough to earn him a spot in the Diamondbacks bullpen to open the year, and he should have every opportunity to earn a high leverage role. Paul Sewald, Ryan Thompson, and Kevin Ginkel are among the other arms who will be vying for late inning roles as the season begins, though both A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez are expected back in the mix at some point this year.
Matt Bowman Exercises Opt-Out In Twins Contract
Right-hander Matt Bowman has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Twins, as per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Bowman isn’t an Article XX(B) player but he has a similar opt-out provision in his contract, so Minnesota now must decide between adding Bowman to the Opening Day roster or letting the reliever re-enter free agency.
Bowman allowed one hit over two scoreless innings in the Twins’ 7-3 win over the Braves today, and the righty has yet to be charged with an earned run over 7 1/3 frames of work in Spring Training. His spring work also included three more scoreless innings for Israel’s team during the World Baseball Classic.
It makes for an awfully strong case for a roster spot, yet Bowman is one of multiple pitchers competing for what appears to be just one opening in Minnesota’s bullpen. According to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes, the Twins look to be going with Taylor Rogers, Kody Funderburk, and Anthony Banda as the three left-handers, and Justin Topa, Cole Sands, Zak Kent and Eric Orze as the right-handed contingent. Dan Altavilla, Cody Laweryson, and Trent Baker are Bowman’s primary competition for the last bullpen assignment, and Hayes suggests that Altavilla is “likely in the lead.”
If Bowman doesn’t break camp with the Twins, another move will be on the horizon for a player who has generated seemingly half of MLB Trade Rumors’ content over the last couple of years. Bowman pitched at the big league level for four different teams (including the Twins) during the 2024 season, then spent most of 2025 being repeatedly designated for assignment, outrighted, and selected again by the Orioles, before he was released at the end of August and then signed by the Astros.
Through all the transactions, Bowman posted a 5.20 ERA, 17.1% strikeout rate, and 7.7% walk rate over 55 1/3 innings in the Show during the 2024-25 seasons. His grounder rate dipped to 39.7% over the last two years, after sitting at an impressive 56.3% over his first five seasons in the bigs.
Orioles Made Gunnar Henderson An Extension Offer Last Spring
The Orioles made shortstop Gunnar Henderson an extension offer during last year’s Spring Training that wasn’t accepted, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes. It isn’t known if the two sides have revisited talks this year, though Heyman feels the chances of an agreement are a “long shot” at best. Henderson is represented by Scott Boras, whose clients usually eschew extensions in favor of eventually testing free agency.
Henderson is in his first year of arbitration eligibility and is set to become a free agent after the 2028 season at age 27. Between that relatively young age and the numbers he has already posted in his four big league seasons, Henderson and Boras may well have a record contract in mind for the shortstop’s entry into the open market, which could leave the Orioles priced out.
This isn’t to say that the O’s haven’t shown an increased willingness to spend since David Rubenstein bought the team in early 2024. Baltimore’s eight-year, $67MM deal with Samuel Basallo last August marked the team’s first long-term extension in over a decade, as the Orioles hasn’t yet locked up any of the other young talents amassed during their rebuilding period. This offseason, the O’s made a big splash in free agency by signing Pete Alonso (a Boras Corporation client, no less) to a five-year, $155MM deal that stands as the second-largest contract in franchise history.
It isn’t out of the question to suggest that it would take three times’ Alonso’s contract to extend or re-sign Henderson, given Boras’ penchant for pushing the market. Henderson would have to keep playing like a superstar, of course, and the 2025 season was a slight bump in the road since he hit a relatively modest .274/.349/.438 over 651 plate appearances, with 17 homers and 30 steals (in 35 attempts).
The shortstop still posted this 120 wRC+/4.8 fWAR production, however, while dealing first with an intercostal strain that sidelined him during Spring Training, and then a shoulder impingement that bothered him for most of the regular season. Returning to normal health should help Henderson regain his power in 2026, and perhaps he is gearing up for a season more akin to the 37 homers and .281/.364/.529 slash line he delivered in 2024.
Perhaps the Orioles want to see Henderson back at full strength before considering more extension talks, in order to determine if he is worth the kind of landmark investment it would take to keep him in the fold. Alonso and Basallo are the only long-term commitments on the Orioles’ books, so a mega-deal for Henderson perhaps isn’t out of the question if the O’s view him as their franchise cornerstone. As Heyman noted, however, the likelier scenario is that an extension isn’t reached. This would mean Henderson either walks in free agency, or Baltimore could conceivably look to trade him (maybe during the 2027-28 offseason) in order to gain a larger return.
Guardians Outright Nolan Jones; Hunter Gaddis, George Valera Likely Starting Season On IL
TODAY: Jones accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
MARCH 20: The Guardians outrighted outfielder Nolan Jones off the roster, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. That indicates the Guards passed him through waivers in recent days. Their 40-man count drops to 39. Jones has the right to elect free agency but likely won’t do so because he would have to forfeit his $2MM salary. Meisel adds that right-hander Hunter Gaddis and outfielder George Valera are highly likely to begin the season on the injured list.
Jones, 28 in May, seemed to have a breakout season with the Rockies in 2023. He had a 20-20 season that year in just 106 games. His .297/.389/.542 batting line translated to a 137 wRC+. He got some help from a .401 batting average on balls in play but it would have been a strong campaign even with more neutral luck in that department. On the whole, FanGraphs considered him to be worth 3.7 wins above replacement that year.
He has been far less productive since then. His offense cratered in 2024. The Rockies traded him back to the Guardians, his original organization, ahead of the 2025 season. Returning to Cleveland didn’t help him get back on track. He has a .218/.307/.311 line and 71 wRC+ since the start of the 2024 season and his defensive metrics have also declined. Despite the diminished production and the fact that Jones is out of options, the Guards tendered him a contract this winter. Jones and the club avoided arbitration with a $2MM pre-tender deal in November.
Jones also hasn’t had a good spring, having hit .152/.222/.303 in 36 plate appearances. Given the downward trend with his performance, his out-of-options status and his salary, it’s unsurprising that no club claimed him via waivers.
Players with at least three years of service time have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of electing free agency. However, if they have less than five years of service, they have to walk away from their remaining salary commitments in doing so. Jones has three years and seven days of service. If he were to elect free agency, he would have to leave $2MM on the table. It seems highly likely that he’ll head to Triple-A and look to get back on track at that level.
As for the injuries, Meisel didn’t provide specifics but both players have been slowed by minor issues in recent weeks. Gaddis made just one in-game appearance this spring, which was back in late February. He then experienced some forearm tightness and underwent imaging, which came back clean, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. His timeline still isn’t clear. A season-opening stint on the 15-day IL can be backdated three days, so he could be back less than two weeks into the season, though that scenario is obviously dependant on him building back up to readiness in that time frame.
Gaddis has been a key setup arm for the Guards in recent years, with 68 holds since the start of 2024. He posted a 3.11 earned run average last year while striking out 26.6% of opponents and limiting walks to a 7.7% clip. For whatever time Gaddis misses, guys like Shawn Armstrong and Erik Sabrowski will move up to leverage roles in front of closer Cade Smith.
Valera was diagnosed with a mild left calf strain about a week ago, per Stebbins. Assuming he hits the 10-day IL to start the year, that subtracts him from the Opening Day outfield mix. If the injury proves to be mild, perhaps he could be back a week into the season with the three-day backdating, but his timeline from a health perspective isn’t clear.
Meisel notes that Steven Kwan will play at least some center field this year. He had primarily been a left fielder in recent seasons, with just one inning in center since 2022. Time will tell how often they’ll put Kwan in the middle spot but that should give them greater flexibility to work in other guys. Valera will be in that outfield rotation when he’s healthy. For now, Chase DeLauter, Ángel Martínez, C.J. Kayfus and Daniel Schneemann appear to be jockeying for the outfield playing time. Petey Halpin was optioned today, per Meisel, so he’ll start the season in Triple-A.
Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images
Phillies’ Daniel Robert Released From Hospital After Cardiac Event
Daniel Robert collapsed following a bullpen session this morning, after the Phillies right-hander suffered his second cardiac event in the last five months. As the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Marcus Hayes writes, Robert had just completed his throwing session when he fell to the ground, with trainers and medical staff immediately at his side to monitor the situation.
Robert reportedly remained conscious for around five minutes before leaving the field under his own power. He was taken to a local hospital for further testing and a check of his implantable cardioverter defibrillator, and Robert was released from the hospital later that day.
Last Halloween, a similar incident occurred when Robert had finished his final bullpen session of the 2025 campaign, and Robert might have lost his life if the Phillies training staff hadn’t quickly acted by using CPR and a defibrillator. Robert had the ICD implanted in his chest in the aftermath of that event, and today marked his first bullpen session of the spring.
It is anyone’s guess as to when Robert might get back onto a mound, since his condition will surely be heavily re-evaluated by doctors and the team’s own medical staff. It is fair to wonder if Robert’s career could be in jeopardy if there is no way to properly manage what now looks like a recurring health situation.
The 31-year-old Robert was a 21st-round pick for the Rangers in the 2017 draft, and he made his big league debut with Texas by throwing 5 2/3 relief innings during the 2024 season. Philadelphia acquired Robert in a trade last May, and he posted a 4.15 ERA, 25.4% strikeout rate, and 16.9% walk rate across 13 innings and 15 appearances for his new club before his season was prematurely ended by a forearm strain. He was cut loose by the Phillies in November at the non-tender deadline but re-signed in February to a minor league contract.
White Sox Re-Sign Lucas Sims
The White Sox have re-signed right-hander Lucas Sims to a new minor league contract, according to 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine. Sims was released after exercising an opt-out clause in his previous minors deal with the Sox two days ago, but he has quickly rejoined the fold and will even pitch in tonight’s Spring Training game against the Mariners.
A veteran of nine MLB seasons, Sims didn’t see much big league action in 2025, as he was rocked to the tune of a 13.86 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Nationals bullpen. Though Sims signed a one-year, $3MM free agent deal with Washington last winter, his struggles were so extreme that the Nats released him in May. Sims caught on with the Phillies on a minors deal but didn’t perform well at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, delivering a 5.56 ERA across 34 innings.
Control has always been an issue for Sims, but things reached a point of absurdity last year when he issued 43 walks (against 49 strikeouts) over his 46 1/3 total innings at the Major League and Triple-A levels, as well as eight wild pitches and 16 hit batters. Sims issued three free passes during his five innings of Cactus League work with the White Sox this spring, though he’d also recorded seven strikeouts in those five scoreless frames.
This lack of command has inevitably led to volatility in Sims’ results, but he has always been able to miss bats. At his best, Sims was able to overcome his control problems to deliver some quality results during his days with the Reds, including a 3.10 ERA across 61 innings. Sims appears to be ticketed for Triple-A Charlotte to see if he can finally harness his control at least enough to manage a return to the majors, and the White Sox could turn to Sims at some point if a need develops in their bullpen.
Orioles Injury Notes: Akin, Kjerstad, Vazquez, Beavers, Kittredge
The Orioles are suddenly dealing with a flurry of injury concerns less than a week before Opening Day, as left-hander Keegan Akin, outfielder Heston Kjerstad, and utilityman Luis Vazquez will all undergo imaging on Monday. (MLB.com’s Jake Rill and Paige Leckie were among those to report the news.) Akin suffered an adductor issue while warming up in the bullpen on Saturday, Kjerstad has been sidelined with right hamstring tightness for a few days, and Vazquez was hit by a pitch on his right thumb in today’s game with the Nationals.
More will be known once the testing takes place, and of the trio, Akin was the only one assured of a place on the Opening Day roster. With the exception of an injury-marred 2023 season, Akin has become a valued member of the Orioles’ pen over the last four years, able to both eat innings and deliver in high-leverage situations.
The 2024 season was Akin’s most effective campaign, and while he still had a 3.41 ERA over 63 1/3 innings in 2025, Akin’s strikeout rate (22%) and walk rate (12.3%) both declined from his previous season. Akin’s 4.44 SIERA was over a run higher than his real-world ERA, and the lefty might’ve benefited quite a bit from a .267 BABIP.
These concerns notwithstanding, Akin was still projected to be the top left-handed option in Baltimore’s relief corps. Dietrich Enns and Grant Wolfram are the team’s other left-handers, though if Akin has to miss time on the injured list, the Orioles wouldn’t necessarily replace Akin with another southpaw.
The bullpen already took a significant hit this spring with the news that Andrew Kittredge would be starting the season on the 15-day IL due to some shoulder inflammation. Though it has been almost a month since the righty’s lone game of Spring Training, Kittredge told the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka that he believes he’ll miss just the minimum 15 days, as a rehab stint with Triple-A Norfolk will hopefully be enough to get Kittredge fully ramped up.
Kjerstad was expected to start the season in Triple-A, though naturally a possible stint on the IL doesn’t do him any good in terms of cost development time, as Kjerstad is still struggling to establish himself as a big leaguer. The second overall pick of the 2020 draft had a promising .248/.336/.411 slash line over 147 plate appearances with the O’s in 2023-24, but he took a step back with a .192/.240/.327 slash in 167 PA last season.
Vazquez has only a .404 OPS over 67 career PA in the majors (with the 2024 Cubs and 2025 Orioles), but his ability to play all over the infield and at least hold his own as a corner outfielder was putting him in the running to win a backup job on Baltimore’s bench. With Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg starting the season on the injured list, the Orioles’ infield depth has already been stretched, opening the door for Vazquez to potentially break camp with the team.
A thumb injury, of course, would make Vazquez’s endeavors all for naught. Even if the x-rays are negative, Vazquez may need a few days or even a 10-day IL stint to fully heal up, so bench candidates like Jeremiah Jackson, Weston Wilson, or others may stand a better chance of making the 26-man roster.
The position-player mix could be shaken up further if Dylan Beavers‘ right knee discomfort becomes anything serious. Beavers was a late scratch from Friday’s lineup due to his sore knee, but both Beavers and manager Craig Albernaz told Rill the outfielder was feeling improvement yesterday, so there doesn’t seem to be any concern yet that Beavers will miss any time during the regular season.