Dom Voyage

 

Everything I saw about the Italian national team in the WBC just made me happy. Cause it was always tinged with 'LOOK AT THESE FUN DUDES'. You've got Jac Caglianone, Dominic Canzone, Michael Lorenzen, Vinnie Pasquantino, Aaron Nola and Jakob Marsee, they're all hangin out and upsetting games and you can't not love that. It's also illegal to not enjoy a team coached by Sal Fasano and Jorge Posada and managed by Francisco Cervelli. I'm not Italian but I was rooting for those guys after a while. And when I couldn't love them enough, Pasquantino brings out the espresso machine, which all the money from went towards local autism charities. Like, COME ON. 

And it was so welcome compared to the US team, which was devoutly serious. They did that tournament like they were preparing for war. Country music blaring, no joking around, 'this is a job to do'. And the 2017 team was so much fun. Granted, there were a few more non-white people on that team, so uh...draw your own conclusions. Like, there's a reason Cal Raleigh got absolutely clowned on for refusing a handshake from Randy Arozarena. Randy understands that this tournament is for bragging rights, and it's mostly just a fun time with your contemporaries from the same country, it's about national pride. It's not a frigging land operation. 

I just think it's really cool that Dominic Canzone goes from the feel good team of the WBC to a truly exciting Mariners team. You know, ya whetted your appetite, you got your reps in, and then you go and play outfield for the guys looking to win the AL West. Keep in mind, the Arozarena-Raleigh thing is still dying down, and Raleigh's been struggling to find his 2025 swing, but there in the corner is Dominic Canzone just doing his thing, he's got 2 hits so far, both of them homers, and 3 RBIs. Sometimes you need a fun vibes guy like that when everything's fraught. Canzone is sharing right with Luke Raley pretty much but both guys are off to nice starts. The idea, I'm guessing is for Canzone to take the majority of starts at RF, Raley to platoon at DH with Rob Refsnyder, and the younger infield to keep things cool. Even without J.P. Crawford I'm confident this team has the pieces to hold things down, with Rivas and Young and all.

Right now there's the slightest bit of concern with the Mariners, as even if they've stayed toe-to-toe with Cleveland they've dropped 2 very close games, both thanks in part to Chase De Lauter coming alive late. The bullpen is not as strong as last year, and Eduard Bazardo, Gabe Speier and Andres Munoz have struggled putting games away. Josh Naylor has yet to register a hit, and Cal Raleigh only just got started. Julio Rodriguez is also off to a slow start, but...that's kinda normal for him honestly. Midway through May he springs to life and takes off, that's his thing. 

I'm still very confident the Mariners can get something done this year, but they need to clean up some of these early stumbling points, including the usually-strong pitching. I'd love for them to repeat as AL West champs, but this year they have competition, and the Astros probably want revenge or something silly like that. So we'll see how things end up.

Coming Tomorrow- Speaking of Italy, someone recently asked me if Mario is canonically a Dodgers fan. Which confused me. And then he showed me an official Dodgers promotion for a bobblehead of Yoshi, from the Mario games, in a Dodgers uniform, wearing #18. And I had to go 'oh, nonononono. Y'see, there's this guy on the Dodgers...'

Miz-ery Business

 

Here's a fun fact about the Milwaukee Brewers, looking to defend their momentous NL Central championship from last year: only one person who's played in a game for the team so far is over 30. Christian Yelich. Obviously there are a couple others on the pitching staff who haven't appeared yet, Jared Koenig and Trevor Megill and Brandon Woodruff, but this is a very young team. The Cardinals are similarly young, but there's not a single all-star to be found on that team, whereas the Brewers have Contreras and Yelich and Sanchez and the Miz. And that's the thing: this may be a young team, but there's still infrastructure. I genuinely believe that they've built enough to get them far.

Now, again, after the trades this team made to get the payroll down, that may seem ambitious. Not only is Freddy Peralta, the staff ace, gone, but so are Caleb Durbin and Isaac Collins, two guys that could have been young stars going forward. But the idea I'm getting is that they have so many young pieces that they want to build properly and not trap guys that could be MLB options under perennial stars, or the Jasson Dominguez tract as it's known in the biz. Therefore, Collins gets dealt so Frelick, Mitchell and Lockridge can play, Durbin gets dealt so there's eventually room for Jett Williams and Jesus Made, and Peralta's dealt so Henderson, Miz and even Carlos Rodriguez can see starting time. So even without those pieces, the Brewers can still stand a chance, as they have so far.

The Miz start on Thursday was the stuff legends are made of. He gives up a home run early, fine, but he locks in, K's 11 and cements his place at the top of the rotation. There was some hesitation putting Miz out there Game 1, as the Brewers have Brandon Woodruff, and could have leaned on veteran presence rather than putting the kids out there immediately. But Misiorowski does have the stuff, and the controlled innings last year gave him enough juice to power through a full year this year. The optimal idea would be for Henderson, Chad Patrick and potentially Robert Gasser and Quinn Priester to line up behind Miz for a formidable rotation going forward. It's really just a matter of if all these guys are durable. 

I also look at somebody like Joey Ortiz, who's very much a placeholder til Williams and Made are here. Ortiz put in the work to improve at the plate during the spring, and he's already got 3 hits and 2 RBI as I write this to begin the season. Even if he knows he's cannon fodder once the prospects are ready, he's performing better than he has to date, and he wants to make this team great. Same with David Hamilton, he's clearly filling third for the time being, but he's got even more perks than he did in Boston, and has the needed contact prowess to fit in with this team. I put Lockridge into that category as well- like last year, he's filling in for Jackson Chourio, but he's excellent in the outfield and he gets on base. He's gotta be valuable while he can.

The big indication that the rebuild will happen as the team's competing was the news today that Jeferson Quero's joining the team, filling in for Andrew Vaughn. What this allows for, I'm guessing is for Gary Sanchez to DH more often, Jake Bauers to cover 1st more often, and Quero to become the go-to backup catcher. Quero was this team's big prospect before Made came along, and I'd love to see Quero cash in the second he gets the chance and give this team even more stability at a position that previously seemed a non-issue. 

So yeah, even if some of the exclamation point has dissipated, this is still a very strong Brewers team, and I still see them accomplishing great things this year, despite the competition. 

Coming Tomorrow- Fresh off surprising a lot of people in the WBC, he settles in as a reliable depth option for another reigning champ.

Why Wait?

 

I think we can all agree that Opening Day of 2026 was a net loss for the Pittsburgh Pirates on more levels than anyone previously thought.

Not only does Paul Skenes get chased, not only does Oneil Cruz crap out, not only is the bullpen not there yet, but by the end of that first day you see universally that the only team to not give a big rookie prospect a day 1 shot may have been the Pittsburgh Pirates. Who held Konnor Griffin back for the service perks, like usual. Looking around at the rest of the league, you're seeing immediate success from rookie call-ups, or rookie leave-ups, and while the Pirates did bring Hunter Barco with them to the bigs, Griffin is still trapped behind Nick Gonzales and probably won't make the bigs til mid-to-late April, or whenever Topps' Update cutoff is. 

So...let's rub it in some more and talk about the guys that did super well yesterday on call-ups:

-Kevin McGonigle, Tigers. The big one. In game one, the Delaware County native went 4-for-5 with 2 RBIs, 2 doubles and 2 runs. Right from the start of spring training basically, all anyone heard about was how this guy was on the way to greatness, even on a squad that still has Max Clark coming soon. Giving McGonigle shortstop out of camp, even with Jace Jung still on the team, seems to be the way forward, and if the rest of this season is as good as that game was, the Tigers might be alright.

-J.J. Wetherholt, Cardinals. Another young infielder, this one the prized Cardinals prospect, a former 7th overall pick, and a rare Cardinals farmhand not netted in a firesale. Wetherholt took over from Brendan Donovan's run at 2nd with a bang, hitting a homer in his first at-bat, and finishing the day with 2 RBIs. The Cardinals' eventual comeback victory over Tampa doesn't happen without Wetherholt being the forerunner. Already fans are excited about this guy, and in a season without any clear veteran presence, what's not to be excited about?

Chase de Lauter, Guardians. The outfield bat made his debut during the 2025 postseason, so yesterday's opener against Seattle was technically de Lauter's regular season debut. He made it count, with a TWO-HOMER GAME, the second of which coming late enough to be the difference-maker. 

Justin Crawford, Phillies. For about a year now it's been clear that Crawford, the slap-hitting CF speedster son of Carl, was on the way, and the hope was that we wouldn't deal him before he got to the bigs. Lo and behold, a spot was paved directly for him to start the season, and his debut against Texas came with 2 hits and a run. Dude did exactly what he came to do, and was part of an excellent Opening Day win.

Sal Stewart, Reds. Crucially, this corner infield phenom for Cincinnati is a bench bat for my fantasy team this year, and I wanted him to get off to a decent start for that reason, in addition to reestablishing the full-team stronghold for the Reds. Even against a dominant Red Sox team, Stewart still had a very productive day, going three for four with 2 doubles. The Reds had only 4 hits in that game, and Stewart alone was responsible for 3 of them.

Carson Benge, Mets. If Mike Tauchman doesn't get injured, I'm not certain Benge, the well-hyped outfield bat for the Mets, gets this opportunity, but given a starting spot in a crowded Mets lineup yesterday he still had time for his first ever career homer, making Lindor and Bichette the only hitless Mets v. Pittsburgh.

So that tells you everything you need to know. If all those guys can allow for young players to start day 1 and be the hero, the Pirates have absolutely no excuse. As usual.

Coming Tomorrow- I got very worried when he gave up a home run immediately yesterday, but 10 strikeouts later I was a lot more at ease.

2026: Nothing is Immovable

 

The first game of the day I was able to watch was Mets-Pirates. I think stagnating the day as they did was a little odd, as they could have just done a bunch at 1 and a bunch at 7. Doing one game at 1, and it being Mets-Pirates...I mean, I get that it's a cool matchup, but don't you want to do some other ones as well? A little variety on the first real day of the season? I dunno, they seem to want to do it this way, and...fine. At least they put a game on NBC so people could actually watch it. 

But I did end up watching Mets-Pirates, because it felt like however way it went would be cool. I was of the opinion that Skenes would shut down the Mets' offense and the bullpen would blow it, and Peralta would be strong but not be ironclad against the improved Pirates offense. I was half right. Peralta gave up 2 homers to Brandon Lowe, and a solo shot to Ryan O'Hearn. The new guys did exactly what they were brought there to do, and that makes me feel better overall about the Pirates.

But...Paul Skenes could not get out of inning one. Against the Mets. Not that the Mets are bad, it's just the sort of older, high-risk/high-reward team he could do well against. But the combination of Skenes giving up easy ones and Oneil Cruz not being in position to cast them cost the Pirates 5 runs, and the bullpen cost the Pirates even more. 

The telling stat is this one- without that first inning, the Pirates win the game. If either Skenes doesn't struggle or Yohan Ramirez starts the game, that's 5 runs erased. And even if the Pirates bullpen, mostly Isaac Mattson, gives up even more runs, including the first career homer for Carson Benge, they still outscore the Mets. Freddy Peralta, strong as he was [comparatively], gave up 4 runs, Tobias Myers gave up 1 and Luis Garcia gave up 2 more. If there isn't a lead they need to be padding, they lose a game 7-6 to the Pirates on Opening Day. 

The moral, thereby, other than to always keep fighting, is that even the idea of putting Paul Skenes and Freddy Peralta in a position to succeed doesn't guarantee an outcome. Skenes can still struggle, Peralta can still struggle, and the offenses can still come alive. Nothing is guaranteed, not even Paul Skenes. 

It'll be interesting to see how both teams learn from today. For the Pirates, the game they could rely upon wasn't even a gimme, and they couldn't get it done, despite the continued offensive support. For the Mets, they outdueled a titan and found success with Bichette and Polanco at new positions...but they still allowed 7 runs, even with their best starter on the mound. If the wins are gonna be this close, they need to solve the problem before it ruins them, like last year. 

Regardless, this game was an excellent pacesetter for the season. The rest of the day was full of epic rookie debuts, huge HR moments and incredible pitching [especially in Milwaukee]. And it gives an idea of just how exciting this season's about to be. I'm here for it, for sure. 

As the Curtain Arraezes...

 

It's the autism in me that makes this as obvious as it is, but to all of the people with the belief of 'the real Opening Day isn't until tomorrow', the first game of the season is being played tonight. Thereby...it opens the season. So today is Opening Day. I'm sorry I've avoided the nuance, but that's just how I see it.

Starting the season with Yankees-Giants is odd but somewhat understandable. These two teams did, in fact, used to play just down the road from each other. I've said that I come from a long line of Yankee fans, but the truth is my grandfather came from a long line of New York Giants fans. The last time the Yankees began the season playing the Giants was, if you'll recall, 2023, and the rumor going into the offseason was that this was planned with the knowledge that San Francisco was where then-free-agent Aaron Judge was favoring [given it's near home and all]. Henceforth, the Giants-Yanks series on a yearly basis has been dubbed, by me at least, the Arson Judge Classic. Because the Giants thought they'd be starting the season with Judge, and they started the season, instead, with Blake Sabol.

Now, 3 years later...not a ton has changed. The Giants have a new manager, Tony Vitello, trying to establish more of a college-coach-to-MLB-coach pipeline, and he's hoping to be more of a Jim Harbaugh and less of a Chip Kelly. But aside from that, it's two teams with similar strategies and different luck. Both teams are using money and roster building to stick themselves into an already crowded divisional setup- the Yankees have had more success, and look to be a major contender this year, while the Giants still haven't made the playoffs since Posey retired. If he gets in the Hall of Fame next year it'll be even more damning. 

It's not like the Giants don't try, they've brought genuine talent to the bay, and have Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, Jung Ho Lee and now Willy Adames in prime position. It's the development that's been really an issue. Joey Bart was a slam dunk, now he's a DH in Pittsburgh. Marco Luciano was supposed to be the next OF star, he's now swimming around the Yankees minor league system. Hayden Birdsong and Kyle Harrison were primed for starring roles, now Birdsong is out til next May and Harrison is hoping to get playing time in Milwaukee. When Drew Gilbert, another big time prospect, struggled upon a 2025 call-up, I saw the trend very plainly. I get that the new Posey regime is trying to jumpstart things, but none of these prospects have taken to the bigs as they should have. Even Heliot Ramos took like 3 extra years to craft major league success, and even still he's faded into the background more than one would hope for. 

And so here we are, starting 2026 with no real prospect guys having any part in the 26-man roster. Drew Gilbert did not make it. Bryce Eldridge did not make it. Carson Whisenhunt, despite being 3rd in the depth chart, did not make it. The only person making a debut this series is Daniel Susac, and he's their Rule 5 guy. I get the idea that so many more trustworthy MLB options are in front of them for positions, but need I remind you that this team is hoping to contend for 2nd or 3rd. We're already at 'IF this works' territory, and this is a team with Rafael Devers, Luis Arraez and Matt Chapman on it. 

So I'm really intrigued by how the Giants are gonna look against this Yankee team, who also have something to prove, but far less. All the Yankees are trying to do is prove their bullpen's better, the four-man rotation is a working concept and keeping Dominguez and Jones down is a good idea. Both teams are gonna learn right away just how much work they're gonna need to do from now til September. And hopefully the Giants can get closer than they've been in a while to actual legitimacy. 

That said, may it be a fun Opening series, and may everybody stay healthy and play their best.

The Last Few Burning Questions of Spring

 

The last few exhibition games are being played out tonight, to get the last few trials in before the real ones. The final cuts are currently being made, call-ups are being announced, and we're finally ready to get the season moving before there's no season to play. It's the most exciting moment of a season, because it's the last moment where there's still potential energy, before the sobering reality hits. And then the colors mute, the cold returns, and the season runs ahead. 

I've still got a couple more customs from Spring Training to dole out, and so from there, let's examine some of the last few lingering concerns and loose threads that might be at play during the 2026 season.

-Does Ranger Suarez mean the Red Sox' rotation is for real? On paper, the combination of Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez, Brayan Bello and Connelly Early looks good, but with the exception of Early, all of these guys have shown downsides in recent history. Gray's coming off a down year, Suarez struggled to come back fully after the hand injury, Bello's ERA stayed plainly around 4.50 for a while, and Crochet was in injury hell for a while. How likely will it be that everything clicks at once? Luckily, Johan Oviedo, Payton Tolle and Kutter Crawford are around in case something goes wrong.

-Will Kevin McGonigle succeed where other Tigers infield prospects haven't? Trey Sweeney and Jace Jung, two infield prospects that looked like hits, both failed to make the team out of camp. Colt Keith still has second for now, and Zach McKinstry is mostly an interloper. The future is paved for McGonigle and Clark, but will they take advantage of the moment or end up like Jung, Sweeney, Ryan Kreidler and more?

-Is the world ready for a decidedly non-competitive Cardinals team? Despite the complete lack of star power, the entirely decimated pitching staff, and the reliance on guys like Masyn Winn and Ivan Herrera to provide some form of normalcy, many pundits are still predicting the Cardinals will finish with more wins than the Pirates. Even with substantial evidence that Oli Marmol is well past his expiry date. It's not like the Patriots where it can just suddenly happen overnight. J.J. Wetherholt is likely very good at baseball, but is he gonna be enough to get anyone to care about this team? 

-Similarly, will THIS team be the Angels team that brings non-Ohtani relevance back to Anaheim? A lot of the pieces that worked separately in 2025 are still intact. Trout will be healthy and ready to go, Neto's onto another stage of his peak, Adell can finally power-hit in the majors, now Grayson Rodriguez has a place to pitch, Logan O'Hoppe looks to have a strong year, Soler's healthy. If all goes according to plan, the Angels could surprise some people. But in a division with the Mariners, A's and Astros, will they be able to get anything done?

-Has the injury bug already doomed the Braves before the year can even get going? Yesterday Spencer Strider was announced as an injured piece. The team already knew they'd be without Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, Ha-Seong Kim and Joey Wentz for a while. This team also has Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Austin Riley, Mike Yastrzemski and Martin Perez on it. And Ronald Acuna is back, but who knows if he'll be at full capacity this year. Even if there's more reinforcements this year with that possibility in mind, will they have enough to keep them in the mix all year, or will they be running on fumes by August once again?

Will the White Sox finally lap the Twins in a battle for least inept team in the AL Central? Believe me, the White Sox have had a nice head start and had some truly terrible seasons, but the Pohlads completely have up and the Twins now consist of Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and a bag of chips. Even with strong second-year infielder Luke Keaschall gearing up for a more dominant full season, the Twins don't have much at all this year. Pablo Lopez is hurt, none of the young core has developed, Royce Lewis still spends 2 months on the IL every year. Do the Twins have enough accumulated to outdo the White Sox's smarty-built younger squad?

-Are the Rockies looking at another year firmly on the bottom? I don't really see any evidence that suggests otherwise. Some of these rookies look decent, Kyle Karros and Chase Dollander and Zac Veen, plus the possibility of Charlie Condon and Roc Riggio sometime soon. But man, there really is nothing to this team, even still. And they have to play a ton of games against the Dodgers and Padres. Will there be anything at all that will be seen as an improvement by year's end?

-How off-kilter is the Nationals rotation going to be? In years' past it's been pretty straightforward, the young core of MacKenzie Gore, Mitch Parker, Jake Irvin and D.J. Herz, plus assistance from Trevor Williams. Now it's taken a turn. Josiah Gray was set to make his comeback after 2 years of injuries, but apparently that's not happening for a while. So what's left? Is Cade Cavalli ace material? Does Miles Mikolas have anything left? Did the other 29 teams pass on Zack Littell for any specific reason? Is Foster Griffin a viable MLB option? And is there any place for Cole Irvin, and eventually Herz and Parker, on this shifting team?

-What are the Rays getting at now? At last they get a working core, with Caminero, Aranda and Lowe all propelling them forward, and then Lowe, Mangum, Fairbanks, Josh Lowe and Baz all end up elsewhere. Is it possible that the Rays were closer to competing before than they are now? Even with Chandler Simpson, Carson Williams and Ben Williamson looking to make strides this year, the holes are apparent. If the Rays actually wanted to build a team without needing to save money, they definitely had the opportunity to. Will this season, and an impending lockout, give the Rays any incentive whatsoever to attempt to build a perennial competitor?

Just food for thought, I suppose. Tomorrow night we kick this whole thing off.

On the Verge [Once Again]

 
It's weird that one of the themes of the 2020s in general have been 'the Marlins and Reds are good enough to contend but not good enough to ever do anything', but here we are. 

That's why I think the first year of this decade having an expanded playoff field was absolutely wild, because in a sense it illuminated not only the passing fads of the time [the White Sox, Ross Cubs and the A's], but it revealed the sort of teams that could be something if it were 18 teams every year. Of course, that year, both the Reds and Marlins made it, and if you'll recall the Marlins actually beat the Cubs in a playoff series, eventually getting swept by the Braves because how can you not?? Since then, both teams have flirted with long-term success, with the 2023 Marlins making a Wild Card series but getting embarrassed by the Phillies, and last year's Reds getting immediately bounced by the Dodgers. 

But both teams have regularly been in playoff conversations. The Reds have the angle of 'they're in a tough division but look at what they have'. Any playoff push that involves Elly de la Cruz and Hunter Greene is gonna get eyes on it, and last year with help from Ke'Bryan Hayes, Zack Littell and Miguel Andujar, they were right there with the other wild card hopefuls. You can also see them continuing to build a long term competitor, calling up Sal Stewart late last year and banking on both Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns for crucial 2026 roles, plus the addition of Eugenio Suarez back in the heart of that lineup. Yet, again, thanks to the Brewers and Cubs they are a borderline playoff team, and this is a year where they might have to work extra hard to keep the Pirates at bay. 

The Marlins have been competitive less frequently, but when it does happen it's always a fun burst of energy. Last year the team was a late wild card spoiler that failed to fully materialize, and as a result the team lost Edward Cabrera, Ryan Weathers, Dane Myers, Eric Wagaman and Troy Johnston. The joy of this team is there's a ton of young options that can pop right up and take over, and Owen Caissie, Heriberto Hernandez and Graham Pauley are all in play for crucial positions. The core of the team is still a sneakily effective young mix of former organizational castoffs, including Otto Lopez, Xavier Edwards, Kyle Stowers, Jakob Marsee and Agustin Ramirez. Griffin Conine, Connor Norby and Eury Perez are eyeing full breakout seasons. Even in a division as tough as the NL East, you can never completely count out the Marlins, and even if it requires less-than-dignified means, the Marlins can power their way through some insane wins.

Not that it'll be easy for either team. The Reds will begin the season without Hunter Greene, and the Marlins just lost Kyle Stowers for a few weeks. But the fact that we're talking about this possibility at all means it hasn't been completely counted out. The Mets could bottom out again in August, as could the Cubs. Both the Reds and the Marlins can take advantage of a lull, and make it their own. It'll be interesting to see if this can happen for either, or both, this year.