The Opener: WBC, White Sox, Suzuki
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:
1. WBC Semifinals:
After Team USA’s exciting win over the Dominican Republic yesterday, this evening’s game will decide who they face in the finals of this year’s World Baseball Classic. Despite coming in as a clear underdog, Team Italy has yet to lose a game, going 4-0 (including a win over Team USA) in pool play and taking down Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals. They’ll send veteran right-hander Aaron Nola* to the mound at 8pm ET in Miami to take on Team Venezuela, who will counter with young righty Keider Montero. Venezuela managed to take down the reigning champions (Samurai Japan) in their last game and certainly has the stronger lineup of the two; Vinnie Pasquantino is Italy’s only hitter with multiple seasons of above-average offense in the majors, although they’re not short on interesting young hitters (e.g. Jakob Marsee, Jac Caglianone, Dominic Canzone). Venezuela, meanwhile, rosters Luis Arráez, Eugenio Suárez, Salvador Pérez, Maikel Garcia, Ronald Acuña Jr., Wilyer Abreu, Jackson Chourio and the Contreras brothers (among others). Will Italy be able to pull another rabbit out of their hats, or will Venezuela stop their Cinderella run?
2. Vasil being evaluated for elbow soreness:
White Sox right-hander Mike Vasil left his start over the weekend with elbow soreness, and yesterday MLB.com’s Scott Merkin relayed that Vasil is undergoing further evaluation to determine the nature of the issue. Vasil himself said Sunday morning that “something just didn’t feel right” during his start and that the team is running additional tests to figure out a path forward. Vasil, 26 later this week, was one of the team’s most effective relievers last year with a 2.50 ERA in 101 innings of work despite less impressive peripheral numbers. He’s been stretched out as a starter but has long appeared unlikely to crack the rotation for the White Sox, who added Anthony Kay, Erick Fedde, and Sean Newcomb this winter.
3. Suzuki to undergo imaging:
Over on the north side of Chicago, Cubs fans are waiting to hear more about the injury Seiya Suzuki suffered playing for Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic over the weekend. Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun Times) yesterday that Suzuki was still traveling to Cubs camp and that they wouldn’t be able to send him for testing until today. That could mean that the Cubs will have an update on the slugger’s status as soon as today. If Suzuki were to miss time, non-roster veterans Michael Conforto and Dylan Carlson would join third baseman-turned-utilityman Matt Shaw among the options to get right field reps in Suzuki’s stead.
*Italy had originally announced Michael Lorenzen as its starter, but Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base reported after this post was published that Italy was changing course and giving the nod to Nola. The two could be used in piggyback fashion this evening.
Francisco Lindor Increasingly Likely To Be Ready For Opening Day
Francisco Lindor was the starting shortstop and went 1-for-3 over four innings in the Mets’ rain-shortened 8-1 win over the Blue Jays today, as Lindor saw his first action of the spring against Major League competition. Just prior to the start of camp, Lindor suffered a left hamate bone injury that required surgery, creating some question as to whether or not the five-time All-Star would be available for New York’s Opening Day lineup.
While the Mets will continue to monitor Lindor in the lead-up to their March 26 game against the Pirates, all signs point to Lindor being fully ready to participate. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes that Lindor was slated to get two at-bats over four innings of work today as the Mets eased him back into action, but Lindor ended up getting a third trip to the plate (resulting in a single) since New York beat up on Toronto starter Grant Rogers.
The club’s plan is to continue to bring Lindor along somewhat slowly by playing him every other day, but the shortstop told DiComo and other reporters that today’s game was a step in the right direction.
“It was a really good experience,” Lindor said. “I felt like I was pretty much like myself, and I finished the game healthy. Overall, it was a good day for me.”
Hamate-related injuries usually have a recovery timeline of 4-to-8 weeks, and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns put a six-week timetable on Lindor when he had his surgery on February 11. Lindor didn’t hit any setbacks and was able to start playing in minor league Spring Training games within a month of his surgery, and by being able to return to the Mets’ roster today, he’ll be able to bank a good amount of games in order to fully ramp up for March 26.
AL West Notes: Pena, Mastrobuoni, Crawford, Neto
Jeremy Pena provided The Athletic’s Chandler Rome with an update on the fingertip fracture that has put Pena’s Opening Day availability in question. The Astros shortstop has been able to partake in most baseball activities, with just throwing and swinging with both hands remaining on the checklist before he can consider a return to game action. Pena has played in four Spring Training games and two World Baseball Classic games with the Dominican Republic, and it remains to be seen how much more prep time he’ll need once he is cleared to play.
“If I get into a game and I feel like my swing is ready to go, then that’s all I need,” Pena said. “For me, it’s a feel thing. Maybe it takes me five games, maybe it takes me three, maybe it takes me one.”
It would appear as though Pena should at least be able to get into some games before the Cactus League is over, even if it remains unclear whether or not he’ll need (what may be a minimal) 10-day injured list stint to begin the season. A fuller re-evaluation of Pena’s status is still a couple of days away, though Rome writes that the shortstop felt good enough to postpone a planned doctor’s appointment.
More from around the AL West…
- Mariners utilityman Miles Mastrobuoni is dealing with a minor calf strain that cut short his participation on Italy’s team in the World Baseball Classic. Mastrobuoni is now back at the Mariners’ camp, and he told the Seattle Times’ Tim Booth that while he doesn’t feel his strain is too serious, he didn’t want to risk further aggravating the injury: “I just really don’t want to deal with this, having it nag throughout the year.” Given the timing, Mastrobuoni (who is out of minor league options) might begin the season on the 10-day injured list to allow him to both fully recover and ramp up for regular-season play.
- Staying in Seattle, J.P. Crawford has been bothered by a sore right shoulder for much of camp, and the shortstop hasn’t played in any of the Mariners‘ last four games. Despite the absence, Crawford isn’t worried about his readiness for Opening Day, telling the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other reporters that the team was just being cautious. Since the M’s have a off-day tomorrow, Crawford will get another full day of rest and rehab before making his planned return to Seattle’s lineup on Tuesday.
- The Angels received a scare when Zach Neto picked up a left hand injury while sliding into home plate yesterday, but the shortstop told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group) that tests revealed only a small hand sprain. Neto believes he’ll be back in action after just a few days. A critical piece of the Halos’ lineup, Neto has hit .253/.318/.458 with 49 homers and 56 steals (translating to a 115 wRC+) over 1156 plate appearances in 2024-25, despite undergoing a November 2024 shoulder surgery that delayed his 2025 debut until mid-April. Another left hand strain ended Neto’s 2025 campaign in late September.
Rangers Notes: McCutchen, Pederson, Higashioka
Andrew McCutchen has hit the ground running in his attempt to make the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, as the veteran has a blistering .583/.706/.833 slash line over 17 Cactus League plate appearances. Nothing is yet guaranteed for Cutch since he is in camp on a minor league contract, yet the 39-year-old is using the rather awkward end of his tenure with the Pirates as some extra incentive.
“I haven’t been in this position, in a place where there are a lot of doubts from other people in quite a long time. I’m motivated in a different way,” McCutchen told the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant. “I remember getting invitations to spring training when I was 20-21 years old, knowing I wasn’t going to make the team, but had the approach that I wanted to showcase that I can do this here, no matter the age. This is kind of the same thing, only the ages are different. I want to show people that I can continue to play this game at a very high level.”
McCutchen’s second stint in Pittsburgh began with two above-average offensive seasons, but he hit a more modest .239/.333/.367 over 551 PA in 2025, translating to a 95 wRC+ and the first sub-replacement (-0.1 fWAR) performance of his 17-year Major League career. Hitting in a pitcher-friendly venue like PNC Park has never been easy for batters, though McCutchen observed that “we had some of the same ballpark effect the Rangers had last year, that the ball wasn’t really flying to left field. You weren’t getting rewarded as often and I was trying to find ways to improve the numbers. How can I get hits? How can I get on base? How can I work counts? I put my body into positions that weren’t ideal.”
“I needed to get back to basics and get myself in the most optimal position for 39 that I could get. And, honestly, I feel like I’m in a better spot than I have been in a number of years.”
Despite the subpar production, there was still an expectation that McCutchen would again re-sign with the Pirates, as there seemed to be an unofficial agreement in place that the veteran would end his career in a Pittsburgh uniform. As McCutchen puts it, “I was pretty vocal about doing that, and wanted that. The other side also was pretty vocal about wanting to do that too, but they wanted to do it a little sooner.”
The apparent lack of response or even communication on the Pirates’ part led to McCutchen going public with his frustrations on social media in late January. The Bucs then signed Marcell Ozuna in early February, and Ozuna’s usage in the DH role more or less closed the door on the chances of McCutchen remaining in Pittsburgh.
Should McCutchen break camp with the Rangers, he might get a bit more outfield time than he did with the Pirates, but he’d likely still be primarily used as the right-handed side of a DH platoon with Joc Pederson. Of course, this assumes that Pederson will hit well enough to hold his own spot in the lineup, which is no guarantee since the veteran slugger is also trying to bounce back from a disappointing year.
After signing a two-year, $37MM free agent deal with Texas last winter, Pederson hit only .181/.285/.328 over 306 PA. He was off to an ice-cold start even before he missed two months due to a hand fracture, and he hit only marginally better after his return from the injured list in late July.
Pederson told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry that “the mentals of not playing good for so long” contributed to his inability to get out of his funk. “Even the whole second half of when I came back, things started to trend in the right direction, but still I was not where I wanted to be….We have so many goals, so everything is going to be tailored around that, how to contribute to a winning team, how to be an above-average productive player.”
An offseason of work with Rangers hitting coach Justin Viele can hopefully get Pederson back on track, though the numbers haven’t yet been there for Pederson in Spring Training. The $18.5MM salary owed to Pederson in 2027 gives the Rangers incentive to give him plenty of time to find himself at the plate, though another extended slump might lead to some hard questions about Pederson’s playing time (or even a spot on the roster). Another DH candidate like McCutchen could emerge, or Texas might want to give multiple players a shot at DH at-bats to help keep people fresh.
In some injury news from the team’s camp, catcher Kyle Higashioka is expected to return to game action tomorrow, manager Skip Schumaker told Evan Grant and other reporters. Back stiffness has kept Higashioka sidelined from games since March 5, though he returned to catching and batting work against live pitching. Assuming no setbacks once he gets back on the field, Higashioka should have enough time to ramp up and be ready for Opening Day.
Higashioka and the newly-signed Danny Jansen will share the Rangers’ catching duties this season. Another free agent signing from the 2024-25 offseason, the first season of Higashioka’s two-year, $13.5MM contract resulted in a .241/.291/.403 slash line and 11 homers over 327 PA (93 wRC+).
Jose Ramirez Day-To-Day With Shoulder Inflammation
Guardians superstar Jose Ramirez made an early exit from today’s Spring Training game due to what manager Stephen Vogt described postgame (to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins and other reporters) as “some left shoulder inflammation.” It is a “day-to-day” situation for now, Vogt said, and presumably the Guardians might do some precautionary tests just to make sure Ramirez’s shoulder doesn’t have any structural issues.
Vogt indicated that the injury occurred when Ramirez slid into third base while stealing the bag in the bottom of the second inning. This means Ramirez still felt good enough to play third for two more innings before Carter Kieboom pinch-hit for Ramirez in the bottom of the fourth, so at least the injury wasn’t serious enough to require an immediate removal.
It is entirely possible Ramirez could be back in action in a couple of days, and this minor shoulder problem becomes just a footnote in another tremendous season for the 33-year-old. Still, any potential injury involving Ramirez is noteworthy, given his status as one of baseball’s top stars and his outsized importance within the Guardians’ lineup.
Ramirez’s 13 seasons in Cleveland has him headed to Cooperstown, as the third baseman has hit .279/.353/.504 with 285 homers and 287 stolen bases over 6759 career plate appearances. Since the start of the 2013 season (Ramirez’s debut year in the majors), only six players have posted more than Ramirez’s 57.7 career fWAR. Ramirez is a perennial AL MVP candidate with four finishes within the top three of voting, including a third-place finish in 2025. Perhaps most importantly from the Guards’ perspective, Ramirez has been willing to accept multiple below-market extensions to remain in Cleveland, including another extension this offseason that will keep him with the Guardians through the 2032 season.
It isn’t a reach to say that any kind of significant injury to Ramirez could ruin the Guards’ 2026 season before it even begins. Even with Ramirez continuing to post MVP-caliber numbers, the Guardians were one of baseball’s worst offensive teams in 2025. After an extremely quiet offseason, Cleveland is running back virtually the same offensive core this year, hoping that a bounce-back season from Steven Kwan, continued development from Kyle Manzardo, and breakout years from rookies Chase DeLauter and George Valera can help the team more consistently produce runs. It’s a risky strategy, and one that still relies heavily on Ramirez being his usual self.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat
Hayden Birdsong Diagnosed With UCL Sprain, Grade 2 Forearm Strain
Giants right-hander Hayden Birdsong recently underwent an MRI due to an issue in his elbow/forearm area, and the news isn’t encouraging. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to relay this afternoon that Birdsong has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 forearm strain and a UCL sprain. He’s weighing treatment options and expected to seek a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister in the coming days.
While the exact timeline for Birdsong’s return to action won’t be known until the right-hander makes a decision on his treatment plan, fans in San Francisco should expect him to be out for at the very least months after this diagnosis, if not much longer. As Pavlovic notes, Birdsong’s diagnosis is often one that ends in Tommy John surgery. That would wipe out the entire 2026 season and likely at least part of the 2027 campaign as well for the right-hander, although if he opts to rehab the injury he would likely have a chance to return to the mound at some point this year.
It’s a frustrating turn of events for Birdsong and the Giants, as the former top prospect is still just 24 years old and was one of the club’s top depth arms behind their starting five of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Adrian Houser, Tyler Mahle, and Landen Roupp. Birdsong struggled badly with his command this spring, a trend that began last season, but has never wanted for velocity. Even during camp, the right-hander was throwing his heater at 97mph. He sports a career 4.77 ERA with a similar 4.81 FIP in the majors, but has shown flashes of excellence at times. That includes a 2.37 ERA and 3.50 FIP in his first 14 appearances last year, split between 11 relief appearances and three starts totaling 38 innings of work altogether. Pavlovic notes that the Giants were very encouraged by Birdsong’s latest spring outing, which saw him allow zero walks and strike out one batter while allowing just one hit in a scoreless inning.
If Birdsong had managed to finish Spring Training strong, it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine him as the next man up for the Giants’ rotation in case of injury headed into the season. That’s obviously off the table now, of course, and San Francisco will instead have to turn to a handful of other young arms if and when injuries force them to dip into their depth options. Top prospect Carson Whisenhunt is perhaps the most exciting name of the group, though he didn’t exactly impress in his 20 1/3 inning cup of coffee in the majors last year. The same can be said of Blade Tidwell, who posted a 9.00 ERA in four starts for the Mets before being dealt to San Francisco in the Tyler Rogers trade at the trade deadline. Swing man Carson Seymour also made his big league debut last year to mixed results, and after that trio the Giants could look towards non-roster invitees in camp like right-hander Caleb Kilian.
Rangers Outright Alexis Diaz
The Rangers announced this afternoon that they’ve assigned right-hander Alexis Diaz outright to Triple-A. Diaz had previously been designated for assignment by Texas on Friday to make room for Jalen Beeks on the 40-man roster.
Diaz, 29, is a one-time All-Star and the younger brother of Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz. The younger Diaz was a 12th-round pick by the Reds back in 2015 who made his big league debut during the 2022 campaign. He made an immediate splash upon reaching the majors with a 1.89 ERA in 59 appearances, and made his lone All-Star appearance the following year after settling in as Cincinnati’s closer. An up-and-down 2024 season saw Diaz struggle to maintain his previous success, and while he did manage to get his ERA down below 4.00 by the end of the year thanks to a strong second half (2.83 ERA from July onwards), even those stronger months came with lackluster peripherals. His strikeout rate on the year plummeted from over 30% in both 2022 and ’23 all the way down to 22.7% in 2024.
By the time the 2025 season rolled around, Diaz’s uneven performance and shaky peripherals had gotten the better of him. The right-hander’s strikeout rate dropped further to just 20.0% last year, while his walk rate reached a career-high 14.1%. He ended up bouncing between the Reds, Dodgers, and Braves throughout the 2025 season, but was shelled to the tune of an 8.15 ERA and an 8.51 FIP across 18 appearances in the majors. That made it hardly surprising when Atlanta opted to outright Diaz off their roster, and he elected free agency shortly thereafter.
He wound up signing in Texas on a $1MM MLB guarantee. The decision to bring Diaz into the fold was a relatively low-risk one given the low cost of the deal, and the right-hander entered Spring Training competing for a spot in the Rangers bullpen with the upside of a potential set-up man or even closer if he managed to rediscover his early career form with the Reds. That’s not how Spring Training has gone so far, however. Diaz has allowed eight runs while recording just five outs across three spring appearances. He’s walked four batters and hit another while striking out just one opponent. He’s looked entirely lost on the mound and, as a result, it was hardly a shock when he passed through waivers unclaimed following his DFA.
Diaz has the requisite service time to decline his outright assignment, but in doing so would forfeit the $1MM salary he’s owed for the 2026 season. That makes it all but certain that Diaz will accept his outright assignment and stick with the Rangers at Triple-A Round Rock going forward. That gives the Rangers the opportunity to continue working with Diaz in hopes of helping to get him back on track. If their efforts are successful, the right-hander can be controlled via arbitration through the 2028 season. In the meantime, the Rangers will turn to Robert Garcia, Chris Martin, Jakob Junis, and Beeks for veteran help in their bullpen.
Hunter Dobbins To Open Season On Injured List
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Dan Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) today that right-hander Hunter Dobbins will begin the season on the injured list. Dobbins is still rehabbing from the ACL tear he suffered back in July as a member of the Red Sox. That was always likely to be the case given the typical recovery timeline that comes with injuries of that sort.
There is good news to report regarding Dobbins’s progress, however. Guerrero notes that Dobbins has been able to build up his arm strength throughout Spring Training but is not yet fully built up in terms of fielding. He spent most of spring throwing live bullpens but appeared in a backfields game yesterday, his first in-game action of camp. Guerrero adds that Dobbins was held back from covering first base during the game but will continue his fielding progression moving forward.
The 26-year-old made his big league debut with Boston last year. An eighth-round pick back in 2021, he made 13 appearances (11 starts) in the majors, with a 4.13 ERA in 61 innings of work. That was good for an exactly league average ERA+ of 100, though his FIP was a more impressive 3.87. Dobbins did not strike out many batters (17.6%) but kept his walk rate down to just 6.6% and generated grounders at a strong 48.4% clip. It was a solid debut overall that offered some reason for optimism that Dobbins could be a quality #4 starter in the majors, though with Tommy John surgery and two ACL tears on his resume the biggest challenge for the righty might be simply staying healthy.
As for 2026, Dobbins’s timeline for return isn’t known just yet, though the fact that St. Louis has not felt the need to put him on the 60-day injured list to this point in the spring is certainly at least somewhat encouraging. The Cardinals are surely hoping to get Dobbins onto the roster sooner rather than later. The righty was a key piece of the return in the Willson Contreras trade this offseason and was brought in to help fill out a rather thin pitching staff.
With Dobbins sidelined, there’s relatively little intrigue in the team’s upcoming rotation decisions. Veteran free agent addition Dustin May figures to join Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, and Michael McGreevy in four of the five spots in the Cards’ rotation to open the year. That leaves one spot available in the rotation that figures to come down to either Richard Fitts or Kyle Leahy with Dobbins starting the year on the injured list. Top prospect Tink Hence doesn’t appear ready for a big league debut quite yet with zero Triple-A starts on his resume, so the team’s starting depth will be rather limited after that group of six for as long as Dobbins is on the shelf.
Marlins Option Joe Mack, Ryan Gusto
The Marlins announced their latest round of camp cuts this morning, and the most notable among that group were the decisions to option top catching prospect Joe Mack and right-hander Ryan Gusto to the minor leagues.
Mack, 23, is a consensus top-100 prospect and a first rounder from Miami’s 2021 draft class. After setting Double-A on fire for 13 games to open the year last season, Mack was promoted to Triple-A and hit a solid .250/.320/.459 with 18 homers, 18 doubles, and 2 triples in 100 games at the level. That was good for a 107 wRC+ at the level, which isn’t quite up to par for the typical top prospect but is nonetheless impressive considering his age and position. A 27.9% strikeout rate at Triple-A last year exacerbates concerns from scouts about Mack’s contact abilities, but the overall package is undoubtedly impressive.
Those questions are perhaps why it was reported last month that, while Mack would get the opportunity to fight his way onto the MLB roster, the team’s preference was for him to begin the season at Triple-A and hand catching duties over to the combination of Liam Hicks and Agustin Ramirez. Hicks was a pick in the 2024 Rule 5 draft who enjoyed a solid rookie season for the Marlins last year. He turned in a 98 wRC+ in 119 games behind the plate, though lackluster defensive metrics left him to be worth just 1.0 fWAR and 1.3 bWAR. Ramirez was also a rookie last year, and was the prize of the team’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade with the Yankees at the 2024 trade deadline. Ramirez slugged 21 homers in 136 games but got on base at just a .287 clip, leaving him with a 91 wRC+. He split time between catcher, first base, and DH in his first year as a big leaguer without showing strong defense at any of those positions.
There’s little doubt that Mack will be the long-term answer for the Marlins behind the plate as long as he hits at an even close to league average clip. He’s a well-regarded defender behind the plate who has been lauded for his strong arm and is far and a way the best defender of the team’s three young catchers according to scouts. With that being said, Mack is still young enough with enough questions about his hitting that it’s somewhat understandable that the Marlins would be interested in giving him more time to develop in the minor leagues. That’s all the more true after a tough spring at the plate, where he went just 3-for-24 with seven strikeouts. There’s little doubt that Mack will make his MLB debut at some point this year so long as he stays healthy, but in the meantime Christina De Nicola of MLB.com writes that the Marlins are encouraging him to work on his approach at the plate and spend more time getting familiar with the ABS strike zone while he waits for that opportunity at Triple-A.
As for Gusto, the right-hander was a key piece of the return for Jesus Sanchez at last year’s trade deadline. Gusto made his big league debut with the Astros just last year and was a solid swing man for Houston, posting a 4.92 ERA with a 4.16 FIP in 86 innings split between ten starts and 14 relief appearances. After being dealt to the Marlins, however, Gusto struggled badly. He made three starts in Miami and allowed 17 runs on 19 hits (including four home runs) and walked (8) nearly as many batters as he struck out (10), ending with a 9.77 ERA in 15 2/3 innings of work. He struggled just as badly at Triple-A, and while he looked a bit better this spring he’s still ultimately squeezed out of a crowded Marlins rotation and better serves the Marlins as stretched-out depth than converting to a short relief role in the bullpen.