The Month That Was in Baseball: March 2025

Saturday, March 1

Hours after his disastrous shouting match with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, once-and-current President Donald Trump finds the time to post plans to “pardon” the late Pete Rose, criticizing Major League Baseball for banning him from the sport after he was found placing bets on the Cincinnati Reds while managing the team in the late 1980s. Trump doesn’t specify what Rose should be pardoned for, though Rose did plead guilty to tax evasion in 1990 and spent five months in prison. It should be noted that presidential pardons do not unlock Rose from future consideration for the Hall of Fame, which he is also still barred from.

Trump’s announcement comes on the same day that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says he is “considering” a petition by surviving family members of Rose to have the all-time hit king reinstated from baseball’s ineligible list.

Sunday, March 2

Former New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler, who was suspended for the 2024 season after fabricating player injuries to provide more roster flexibility, has been hired by the Milwaukee Brewers as a special advisor. There’s an irony of sorts in that the Mets’ current president of baseball ops is David Stearns, who previously worked with the Brewers.

Monday, March 3

The injuries are beginning to pile up at spring camps. Atlanta catcher Sean Murphy, an All-Star in 2023 who struggled much of last season with abdominal issues, will be out through at least mid-April with a fractured rib. Meanwhile, 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil will be shut down with a strained right shoulder, putting a dent in the Yankees’ starting rotation depth chart; a few days later, it will be announced that he’ll miss three months.

Coming off a 10-10 record and 3.75 ERA with the Mets—but largely ignored as a free agent during the offseason—36-year-old pitcher Jose Quintana signs a one-year, $4.25 million contract with Milwaukee. The Colombian southpaw reached the 100-win plateau last year, and will be pitching for his eighth MLB team—six of those in just the last four-plus years alone.

The legal broadcast rights spat that never seems to end between the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals has been resolved—for now. The Nationals will be unchained from their longstanding minority deal with Orioles-owned Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in 2026; in the interim, MASN will broadcast Nationals games in 2025 under a one-year deal. When the Nationals moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005, they were forcibly handicapped into the MASN deal as the Orioles held exclusive broadcast territorial rights to the D.C. area. The Nationals’ stake within MASN gradually grew as contractually allowed, but over the past 10 years the two teams have continuously battled in court over annual rights fees.

Tuesday, March 4

Roki Sasaki gets a thumbs-up in his first Spring Training appearance for the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitching three shutout innings while striking out five in a 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Glendale, Arizona. Throwing from the fifth through seventh innings, the 23-year-old Japanese native allows four baserunners (two hits, a walk and a hit batter) as the batters he faces are a mix of projected starters and late-inning replacements likely bound for the minors. But an electric 99-MPH fastball and mid-80s splitter bodes well for future outings.

Wednesday, March 5

The Hall of Fame is going to make it harder for Veterans Committee candidates to hang around on a seemingly endless series of ballots. A new rule states that anyone failing to get less than five votes from any of the 16-member committees will not be able to reappear on another ballot for another three years; if they reappear on a ballot after that time and fail again to get five or more votes, they will be permanently barred from any future ballot. Perhaps we should call this the Dick Allen rule. For Allen, the 21st time was the charm, recently and finally being admitted into Cooperstown on his sixth Veterans Committee ballot after failing in all 15 of his eligible general votes.

Many responding on social media believe this tightening of the rules is aimed specifically at the cheats—alleged or otherwise—from the Steroid Era, soiled stars such as Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa who could wind up on ballot after ballot within the Veterans Committee. But let’s face it; at some point, if the voters keep saying no, there’s likely a very good reason.

Jose Iglesias finished the 2024 season with an intact, 22-game hitting streak. But three weeks into spring camp, the free agent infielder has gone unsigned—until today, when he inks a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres. The 35-year-old Cuban native hit an impressive .337 with the Mets over 270 at-bats last season, but that wasn’t good enough to fetch a decent offseason contract. But…Iglesias is only 34 games away from matching Joe DiMaggio’s legendary 56-game hit streak from 1941.

Thursday, March 6

The Athletics, feeling a bit friskier with their checkbook than in years past, extend exciting young outfielder Lawrence Butler for seven years and $65.5 million. In a season-plus of major league experience, the 24-year-old Butler has smacked 26 home runs (including a pair of hat tricks last year) and has yet to be caught stealing in 18 attempts. He’s drawn some positive comparisons to A’s legend of lore Rickey Henderson.

Butler’s contract is just half a million bucks less than the A’s all-time largest guaranteed payout, a $66 million pact given to Eric Chavez in 2004.

Tyler Naquin, who hasn’t played in the majors in two years, is getting a minor league contract from the Cleveland Guardians—not as an outfielder, where he played over eight seasons, but as a pitcher. Apparently, Naquin’s throwing arm has historically been strong—he had 11 assists in 2019 despite playing only 80 games—and that has piqued the Guardians’ interest.

It’s interesting to note: Naquin has never pitched in a college or professional ballgame.

Friday, March 7

Seattle will be without the services of pitcher George Kirby for the first several weeks of the regular season, as Mariners GM Justin Hollander announces that the 27-year-old right-hander has developed inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Though the Mariners enter the 2025 season with one of the majors’ best rotations, Kirby will be missed after a 2024 campaign in which he finished 14-11 with a 3.53 ERA, leading the majors for the second straight year in walks allowed per nine innings (1.1).

Saturday, March 8

Art Schallock, the oldest living ex-major leaguer, passes away just over a month shy of his 101st birthday. Brought into the Brooklyn Dodgers’ organization in 1947, the left-handed pitcher played in the majors from 1951-55, used sparingly by the Yankees and (in his last year) the Baltimore Orioles, collecting a career 6-7 record and 4.02 ERA over 58 appearances. In our interview with Schallock some 10 years ago, he talked about his first Yankee roommate (Hall-of-Fame catcher Yogi Berra), declared Joe DiMaggio as his choice for the game’s greatest player, crowed over his career dominance on Ted Williams—claiming the Red Sox’ star slugger was 0-for-24 against him (it was actually 0-for-2)—and lamented the use of steroids in the 21st Century. “If Ted Williams or (Mickey) Mantle had used those drugs,” he said, they would have hit 1,000 home runs each, so the steroid users should have their records thrown away forever.”

Sunday, March 9

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is getting inpatient with the Tampa Bay Rays’ pursuit of a new ballpark. But rather than blame the city as Manfred has often done in the past—just ask Oakland—he appears to be directing his fury at the Rays and owner Stu Sternberg. The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reports that Manfred is pressuring Sternberg to sell the team, and that there are interested buyers, including members of the DeBartolo family that owns the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. Part of Manfred’s frustration with the Rays is that they have what he considers a solid deal ready from St. Petersburg for a new ballpark, and that the team may be overplaying its hardball attitude toward the city. There’s also concern from other MLB owners that even with a new ballpark, the Rays may continue to play it on the cheap and collect revenue sharing checks.

Neither Manfred nor any of the prospective buyers are talking, but Sternberg responds by stating, “I’m interested to read about what industry partners have told you about our franchise and its future.”

Monday, March 10

The Yankees’ already battered roster takes its most massive hit yet, as ace pitcher Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2025 season—and likely the first half of 2026 as well. The veteran right-hander experienced “alarming” pain in his throwing elbow after his second spring start last Thursday, when he was hammered for six runs on five hits over 2.2 innings against Minnesota. Cole sought several opinions and discovered that he would be the first big-name TJ casualty of the year.

This latest setback will deprive the Yankees’ rotation of Cole, less than two years removed from a Cy Young Award-winning campaign, and reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, who’s out until mid-year. The decision to sign former Atlanta ace Max Fried via free agency is starting to look like a life saver.

After spending a ton of money on various star players over the past few years, the Dodgers have enough left over to make Dave Roberts baseball’s highest-paid manager. The veteran pilot, who’s managed Los Angeles since 2015 and oversaw the franchise’s first two world titles since 1988, is given a four-year extension through 2029 that will pay him $32.4 million—or $100,000 per year more than the Chicago Cubs’ Craig Counsell, who had been top dollar among MLB managers.

Mo Vaughn, the fearsome slugger of the 1990s who fell on hard times after missing the 2001 season with an upper arm injury, confirms what was written about him in the 2007 Mitchell Report on steroids in baseball: That he took HGH in an attempt to overcome the injury. The 1995 AL MVP refused to be interviewed for the report, but was ratted out by steroids pusher Kirk Radomski.

Tuesday, March 11

Spring Training games are all about getting into shape for the regular season, which is why you’ll get sloppiness like that displayed by Boston Red Sox pitchers against the Philadelphia Phillies. Over the first three innings, four Red Sox pitchers combined to walk 10 Phillies, leading to 12 runs; in an eventual 18-8 loss, Boston hurlers will total 16 passes. The wildest of the wild is reliever Austin Adams, recalled for plunking 24 batters over 52.2 innings in 2021 for San Diego; of the six batters he faces, five of them reach via walk.

As if the Red Sox’ wildness isn’t bad enough, there’s longer-term issues as Lucas Giolito—who missed all of 2024 and starts today’s mess by walking the first two Phillies batters in his one inning of work—will be placed on the Injured List and miss the start of the regular season. Additionally, rising fourth-year starter Brayan Bello will also miss Opening Day due to a sore shoulder.

Wednesday, March 12

Fans of the Kansas City Royals are breathing a huge sigh of relief as star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. checks out negative after being hit on the forearm by a 96-MPH pitch from Seattle’s Andres Munoz, an All-Star reliever last season. Witt falls to the ground upon being hit, and is done for the day in the Royals’ 7-6 win at Peoria, Arizona. Though the optics of the moment look scary, Witt will end up missing only two days.

Thursday, March 13

The Tampa Bay Rays announce that they are backing out of their involvement in a new ballpark in downtown St. Petersburg, effectively killing the entire project. In a statement, the Rays base their decision on “a series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated.” That reference is to a pair of hurricanes that socked the Tampa-St. Pete area, the second of which shredded the roof of Tropicana Field, the Rays’ current home. But the Rays also cites moves by St. Petersburg officials that, they claim, delayed the building of a new yard by a year, thus raising the amount of money the team would have to invest in the project.

The announcement by the Rays provides weight to recent reports that MLB and many of its team owners are growing frustrated with Tampa Bay owner Stu Sternberg.

Friday, March 14

The Beatles once sang I Want to Hold Your Hand. Baseball players are probably wanting to paraphrase that to I Want to Hide My Hand. Three days after Kansas City All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. endured a scary moment by getting hit on the forearm—but avoiding a long-term absence as x-rays found no breakage—a number of other name players suffer shots to the wrist or hand, with varying outcomes. At North Port, Florida, Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley is hit by a pitch on his right hand—the same one he broke last August that prematurely ended his season—but fortunately for the two-time All-Star, x-rays return negative and he’ll be listed as day-to-day. Meanwhile, veteran Texas pitcher Jon Gray isn’t so lucky. After throwing three shutout innings against Colorado—keeping his spring ERA to 0.00 through eight frames—Gray yields a sharp comebacker from the Rockies’ Michael Toglia that strikes Gray’s wrist, fracturing it. This will certainly push his regular season debut back to late April, at the earliest.

Saturday, March 15

The Dodgers warm up for their early two-game regular-season series against the Chicago Cubs this coming week with a 5-1 victory over the Yomiuri Giants before a packed Tokyo Dome crowd of 42,000. All five Los Angeles runs score in the third inning, bolstered by three home runs—including, of course, a two-run shot from Shohei Ohtani. The loud reception for the Dodger superstar’s homer suggests that most of the fans are rooting for the Dodgers—or perhaps more accurately, the Japanese-born Ohtani.

Sunday, March 16

After being cut by the Chicago White Sox, all-or-nothing slugger Joey Gallo says he’s putting away the bat—but will take another shot at baseball as a pitcher. In 10 years as a major leaguer, Gallo has shown slugging power—twice hitting 40 or more home runs—but over 2,869 career at-bats owns a .194 batting average with 1,292 strikeouts. His pitching experience thus far consists of nothing more than casual bullpen sessions at spring camp, but he does wield a strong throwing arm, which helps to explain his two Gold Gloves as an outfielder. He’s hoping to leverage that strength to the mound.

Monday, March 17

Spencer Strider is back, and it’s as if he never left. The Atlanta ace, sidelined for virtually the entire 2024 season after undergoing elbow surgery, makes his first spring start against the Red Sox—and retires all eight batters he faces, six by strikeout. Of the 27 pitches he throws, 23 are for strikes.

No season is complete without an injury report featuring Minnesota’s Royce Lewis. The talented third baseman, historically hampered by one injury after another, will miss Opening Day with a moderate left hamstring strain. Lewis’ legs have been problematic; he’s undergone two ACL surgeries and, on Opening Day last year, hurt his quadriceps, leading to a two-month absence. Over three years with the Twins, Lewis has played 152 games, batting .268 with 33 home runs and 104 RBIs.

Tuesday, March 18

The Dodgers officially open their defense of their 2024 world title with a 4-1 victory over the Cubs before a packed Tokyo Dome crowd. It’s the first of two regular season games played in Japan in the midst of Spring Training. Los Angeles triumphs despite missing two of its biggest bats: Mookie Betts, who’s gone back to the States after being hit with a stomach virus from which he’ll lose up to 25 pounds, and Freddie Freeman, a late scratch with an oblique issue. Healthy and ready is Shohei Ohtani, the reigning NL MVP who knocks out two hits (a single and double) and scores two of the Dodgers’ four runs. The Cubs draw first blood in the second inning, with Cubs starter Shota Imanaga holding the lead through four hitless frames despite walking four. His replacement, Ben Brown, quickly gets beat up on—allowing three runs on four hits and three walks through 2.2 innings. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes the minimum five innings to pick up the win, backed by four hitless innings thrown by a collection of four relievers.

It doesn’t take a genius to understand MLB’s motivation for scheduling the Dodgers and Cubs in Tokyo; the two rosters feature five Japanese-born players. Besides Ohtani, Imanaga and Yamamoto, Seiya Suzuki goes 0-for-4 for Chicago, while heralded young Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki will make his official MLB debut in the second game.

Two veteran All-Star pitchers who’ve seemed to run out of gas are getting renewed leases on baseball life. The Braves sign Craig Kimbrel, who played his first five seasons in Atlanta and led the NL in saves each of his first four full years. The deal is for one year and $2 million. Meanwhile at Texas camp, the Rangers bring on Patrick Corbin after a mostly miserable (but very well-paid) tenure in which he led the majors in earned runs allowed over three of the past four seasons. Yes, the Rangers are desperate as they try to reinforce an injury-depleted rotation. Corbin will likely give Texas plenty of innings—but not much else.

Wednesday, March 19

The Dodgers complete a two-game sweep of the Cubs in Tokyo, easing to a 6-3 victory over that begins with a shaky start by Roki Sasaki in his MLB debut—and capped by Shohei Ohtani’s first home run of the season, a dubious shot that appears to be interfered with by a fan reaching out over the outfield wall’s railing—yet confirmed as a homer by video review. The 23-year-old Sasaki lasts three innings, allowing a run on one hit—but also walks five Cubs and throws more balls (31) than strikes (25). Two of his first four pitches are registered at 100 MPH, but the rest fall below triple digits. After walking three straight in the third to force in the Cubs’ first run, Sasaki strikes out the next two to get out of a bases-loaded pickle and end his night.

The biggest winner of the short two-game series isn’t the Dodgers, but Fanatics—the official merchandise partner of MLB, which rakes in $40 million in sales in Japan. The nation’s interest in the games is also such that 24 million viewers tune into the games. That’s a fifth of the Japan’s total population.

The U.S. Department of Defense takes down a web page honoring Jackie Robinson’s time in the military during World War II because, apparently, the story smacked of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), the current boogeyman acronym of choice among MAGA Republicans and the Donald Trump White House. It’s a head scratcher to be sure; if anyone ever earned his standing on merit, it was Robinson—the iconic Hall-of-Fame talent who fought wave after wave of discrimination and brushback (physically and figuratively) in his quest to become the majors’ first African-American ballplayer in 63 years. What’s even more puzzling is that the page’s URL had a “dei” slipped into it shortly before being taken down. The news spreads and outrage is widespread; a defense official later claims that the page was caught in a comprehensive search-and-erase mission through automated means. By day’s end, the page is back up.

Just asking: What did AI do to achieve this merit-based operation, which it apparently has flunked? 

A couple of weeks later, the DOD will seek to remove a biography on Robinson as one of 900 books to be banned from the U.S. Naval Academy’s Nimitz Library because of its DEI overtones.

Thursday, March 20

Outfielder Alex Verdugo, an everyday player for the Red Sox and Yankees over the last five seasons, is finally given some free-agent love as he signs a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Braves. Verdugo’s numbers slipped last year, with a career-low .647 OPS on a .233 batting average, 13 home runs and 49 walks. He won’t even start the year with Atlanta, as the Braves quickly option him to Triple-A to get in some late warm-up reps.

Friday, March 21

A special Topps rookie card of the Pirates’ Paul Skenes, signed by the NL Rookie of the Year and accommodated by a patch from the uniform he wore in his MLB debut last season, sells for $1.1 million via auction. The buyer is department store giant Dick’s Sporting Goods, which will display the card at one of their stores in Pittsburgh. The one-of-a-kind card was scooped last December up by a Los Angeles family, which decided to sell it—but not before being tantalized with offers for a direct purchase from, among others, the Pirates and gymnast Livvy Dunne (Skenes’ girlfriend).

The value of the card and patch is roughly $250,000 more than Skenes will make this coming season.

Remember Julio Urias? One of the Dodgers’ top pitchers won 20 games in 2021, took the NL ERA crown in 2022, and in September 2023 owned a career 60-25 record and was on the threshold of free agency at age 27 when he was arrested for domestic violence upon his wife. The incident, which took place outside of a Major League Soccer game in Los Angeles, led to him being placed on administrative leave by the Dodgers. Entering free agency following that season, Urias was unsigned by all MLB teams, spooked by his baggage which included this incident and another in 2019 when he allegedly assaulted a woman in a parking lot. In that case, no charges were filed against Urias, though MLB suspended him for 20 games. For now, Urias is suspended until the All-Star Break. Only then will he be allowed to sign with a major league team—that is, if anyone is willing to take him on.

The Baltimore Orioles, belatedly looking to fortify their rotation, sign 37-year-old Kyle Gibson to a one-year deal worth $5.25 million with an additional $1.5 million in potential incentives. The right-hander previously pitched for the Orioles in 2023, accruing a career-high 15 wins against nine losses in spite of a 4.73 ERA. Last season with St. Louis, Gibson finished 8-8 with a 4.24 ERA.

Saturday, March 22

Shane McClanahan, the fragile Tampa Bay ace who’s thrown seven shutout innings this spring after undergoing Tommy John surgery, departs from the Rays’ 14-2 victory over Boston in the third inning when he painfully reacts following a pitch. The issue is an “irritated nerve” not related to the restructured elbow; McClanahan will be placed on the Injury List, with no timetable for his return.

The Cleveland Guardians hand anticipated Opening Day starting pitcher Tanner Bibee a five-year extension totaling $48 million, with a team option for 2030. The contract will overlap Bibee’s first year of free-agent eligibility, in 2029. The 26-year-old right-hander has a 22-12 record and 3.25 ERA in 56 career regular season starts; this spring, he’s 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA.

The Guardians make another deal on the day by trading utility player Tyler Freeman to the Rockies for outfielder Nolan Jones. Freeman is defensively versatile but has been weak with the bat; in 118 games last season, he batted .209 with seven home runs. Jones, on the other hand, looked to be the Next Big Thing after a terrific rookie showing in 2023—but he badly regressed last year, with back and knee injuries not helping.

Pitching, both outstanding and really awful, is on display in today’s Spring Training action. In Bradenton, Florida, the Orioles’ Zach Eflin and six relievers combine on a no-hitter in a 4-0 win over Paul Skenes and the Pirates, walking three batters; not bad for a team that started the day with the majors’ worst (6.36) spring ERA. Meanwhile in the Cactus League, the White Sox are pummeled twice in split-squad action, losing 14-1 to Seattle and 10-4 to Colorado. Sloppiness is the rule for Chicago pitchers; between the two games, the White Sox walk 23 batters while allowing 22 hits.

Sunday, March 23

The Toronto Blue Jays extend Alejandro Kirk for five years and $58 million, locking him up for his first three years of free agency. The 26-year-old Mexican native was an All-Star catcher in 2022 and prompted the trade of back-up Gabriel Moreno to Arizona, but has since played a more subpar brand of baseball.

The Braves send starting pitcher Ian Anderson, who’s been trying to jumpstart his career since undergoing Tommy John surgery two years ago, to the Los Angeles Angels for Jose Suarez. Anderson, who’s still a young 26 years of age, has had a bizarre spring for Atlanta—allowing just six hits but 18 walks over 17 innings, posting a 2.65 ERA in five appearances.

Outfielder Manuel Margot becomes a late-camp signing for the Detroit Tigers, agreeing to a one-year, $1.3 million deal. This will be the fourth team in 10 major league seasons for the 30-year-old Margot, who performed ineffective part-time duty last year with Minnesota—batting .238 with four home runs over 315 at-bats.

Monday, March 24

Left-handed reliever Ryan Yarbrough gets a late call to fill up needed space in the Yankees’ bullpen, singing a one-year deal worth $2 million. Last season, Yarbrough posted a 5-2 record and 3.19 ERA in 44 appearances between the Dodgers and Blue Jays; he opted out of his current contract with the Jays this past weekend after being informed he wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster.

Tuesday, March 25

Jordan Montgomery’s season is over before it begins. The 32-year-old southpaw will undergo his second career Tommy John surgery after looking out of sorts at Arizona Diamondbacks camp. His absence won’t be brutal for the DBacks’ depth chart; the starting rotation looks to be among the majors’ deepest. But it will make the team’s accountants cringe as he’s owed $22.5 million this season—a year after earning $25 million while finishing with a 6.23 ERA (despite an 8-7 record) for Arizona last season.

Coming off a banner season in which he established career highs with 34 home runs and 100 RBIs and earning a Gold Glove, Cal Raleigh signs a six-year extension worth $105 million with the Seattle Mariners. The updated pact will buy out the first three years of his free agency.

Wednesday, March 26

Spring Trained: Who’s Ready (and Who’s Not) for the 2025 Regular Season

Every year, on the eve of Opening Day, we look back at the exhibition season and pronounce who appears set to go for the upcoming season—and those who look like they still need a bit of work or a quick ticket back to the minors. Of course, just because someone’s camp numbers are awful doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way once the games count; players, after all, sometimes use Spring Training to tinker with new pitches or batting stances. Similarly, players who thrive in exhibition play may be doing so in the late innings against inferior, minor league-bound pitchers or hitters. Let’s check it all out. (FWIW disclosure: The numbers below reflect those accumulated before Tuesday’s final day of exhibition play.)

Ready: The San Francisco Giants. The team seemingly enchained to the .500 mark posted the spring’s best record at 20-6, thanks to a Cactus League-low 3.60 ERA and strong efforts from Matt Chapman (see below) and former Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames.

Not Ready: The Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins. A year after losing over 100 games—over 120, in the White Sox’ case—both teams discovered that spring gave no sign of hope springing eternal. Miami and its 6.15 team ERA finished last (9-15) in the Grapefruit League, while the White Sox, abetted by sloppy pitching (an MLB-worst 148 walks, Cactus League-high 25 HBPs), stumbled along with an 11-19 mark, tied for last in the desert with the Seattle Mariners.

Ready: Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati. The baseball sports wire is ripe with stories of how the third-year, all-in-one talent is about to have a season for the ages. His spring numbers seem to justify the chatter; he batted .409 in 44 at-bats with four home runs, 12 RBIs and six steals.

Not Ready: Kyle Tucker, Chicago Cubs. The quiet man’s De La Cruz is hoping to make noise in his final year before free agency—but the noise we heard at camp’s end was Cubs fans groaning and moaning a la Ron Santo after his two hits over 28 at-bats. (He was also 1-for-8 in the Cubs’ two losses against the Dodgers in Tokyo.)

Ready: Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee. Last year’s hot rookie got better with each passing month; that trend must have somehow continued during the idle winter months. At a Brewers camp where he celebrated his 21st birthday, Chourio batted .469 on an MLB-high 23 hits and nine doubles; he also stole six bases.

Not Ready: Masyn Winn, St. Louis. Yet another young, potential rising star in the NL Central, the 23-year-old shortstop will need to erase the memories of a rotten spring (four singles in 50 at-bats) to focus on a strong follow-up to his first full year in 2024.

Ready: Matt Chapman, San Francisco. The veteran third baseman looks primed to make his second year with the Giants even better than his first, which landed him a nice extension. In 42 spring at-bats, he batted .405 with a preseason-best six homers.

Not Ready: Josh Bell, Washington. You never know what you’re going to get from the switch-hitting slugger, who’s back with the Nationals three years and four teams since last playing for them. The on-and-off Bell was a bit off in camp, batting .130 (6-for-46) with a single homer and 19 strikeouts.

Ready: Austin Wells, New York Yankees. The Yankees already knew that the young catcher could hit for power—so his six homers came as no surprise—but the bonus came in a .372 preseason batting average. The team is so thrilled, they’re going to make him the first catcher in the franchise’s rich history to bat leadoff in a regular season game.

Not Ready: Curt Casali, Atlanta. Sean Murphy’s cracked rib opened up an opportunity for the 36-year-old catcher to crash the Braves’ roster, but instead he crashed and burned out of camp with in 14 hitless at-bats and seven strikeouts.

Ready: Curtis Mead, Tampa Bay. The Rays’ wintertime signing of former White Sox star Eloy Jimenez served as motivation for the young infielder to work extra hard to retain his roster spot. Mission accomplished: After a superlative spring in which he batted .524 with a .608 on-base percentage, it’s Mead who’s staying and Jimenez heading down to the minors.

Not Ready: Wilyer Abreu and Jhostynxon Garcia and, Boston. The former will likely start the year in left field for the Red Sox. The latter, nicknamed “Password” because that’s what his first name reminds everyone of, is headed back to the minors. Together, they combined for just two hits in 41 at-bats with 16 strikeouts.

Ready: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs. The young, speedy center fielder has been doing it all in exhibition play, batting an even .500 with four doubles, three home runs, 11 RBIs and two steals in 32 at-bats. (Yes, he was 0-for-7 against the Dodgers in Japan, so we’ll make the bold prediction that the truth of his 2025 campaign will likely lie somewhere in the middle.)

Not Ready: Michael Siani, St. Louis. Crow-Armstrong’s rising counterpart with the rival Cardinals had a polar-opposite experience in spring play, notching a mere four singles is 42-at-bats. As a team, the Cardinals hit a paltry preseason .228; take away the numbers of Siani and Masyn Winn (above), and that figure jumps up to a more respectable .242.

Ready: Garrett Crochet, Boston. Different Sox, same results. Following the same path as Chris Sale, Crochet showed that the Red Sox’ trade for him has, for now, been quite worth it. In 15.2 spring innings, Crochet allowed just one run and struck out an MLB preseason-high 30 batters.

Not Ready: Sonny Gray, St. Louis. No pitcher was more susceptible to the gopher ball than Gray, who gave up eight home runs in 14.1 innings of work. He was also hounded for an additional 15 hits and six walks, leading to a 12.56 ERA in four starts.

Ready: Clay Holmes, New York Mets. So far, it looks like the Mets’ ambitious attempt to covert Holmes from closer to starter seems to be working out. In 19.1 exhibition innings, he gave up a pair of runs on just seven hits with 23 strikeouts.

Not Ready: Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Washington. The Nationals quietly added the 27-year-old import while all the hype among Japanese pitchers was directed at Roki Sasaki. If Ogasawara’s spring numbers are any indication, he will not be Shota Imanaga to Sasaki’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto; in 12 spring innings, he allowed 19 runs (15 earned) on 24 hits with eight walks, two wild pitches and a balk.

Ready: Sandy Alcantara, Miami. Absent for all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, the former Cy Young Award winner looks tanned, rested and ready. No pitcher threw more innings (12.1) without conceding an earned run this spring.

Not Ready: Edward Cabrera, Miami. On the flip side, Alcantara’s rotation mate has gone through a disastrous camp, being smacked for 13 runs on 11 hits, four walks, and a pair of hit batters and wild pitches each over just 4.2 innings. A blister suffered in mid-March may be partly to blame.

Ready: Antonio Senzatela, Colorado. The ninth-year Rockies starter looks to be healed from Tommy John surgery, which reduced his activity to just five appearances over the past two seasons. In six spring games (starting four), Senzatela allowed three runs over 22.1 innings.

Not Ready: Chris Rodriguez, Chicago White Sox. Absent from the majors since 2021 due to back pains, the reliever’s bid for a comeback hit a big, fat brick wall. Over two appearances, Rodriguez got just one guy out; of the other 14 batters he faced, seven reached by hit, five by walk, and two were hit. Spring ERA: 270.00.

Ready: Louis Varland, Minnesota. Producing a 0.00 ERA over 11.1 innings in 10 preseason games must feel like quite the tonic for the guy we anointed as last season’s worst AL pitcher. Let’s see if Varland can ride that momentum toward a much better 2025.

Not Ready: Marco Raya, Minnesota. Headline from a Twins-centric blog at the start of Spring Training: “Macro Raya is Ready to Cut Loose in 2025.” All it took was one game to show just how loose he was; he faced five batters, walking two and hitting the other three. They all eventually scored. The Twins’ #6 prospect begins the season in Triple-A.

Thursday, March 27

If it’s Opening Day, it must be Tyler O’Neill going deep for somebody. The 29-year-old Baltimore outfielder, playing for his third team in as many years, belts a third-inning home run for his sixth straight Opening Day game with a round-tripper, extending his MLB record. It’s all part of a productive day for O’Neill (who also collects a pair of singles and walks each) and the Orioles, who gang up for six homers—including two each from Adley Rutchsman and Cedric Mullins—in a 12-2 rout of the Blue Jays in Toronto.

It’s the third straight year in which the Orioles have scored at least 10 runs on Opening Day, tying an MLB record previously established by the 1893-95 Reds and 1994-96 Brewers.

Second-year catcher Austin Wells makes history even before stepping up to the plate in the New York Yankees’ home opener against Milwaukee, becoming the first catcher in franchise history to be slotted in the leadoff spot. But then he makes more history in his first at-bat as the first MLB catcher to go deep from the leadoff spot in an Opening Day game—and the first Yankee to lead off a season’s first game with a homer, regardless of playing position. Wells’ blast sets the tone for a 4-2 victory, as Anthony Volpe also clears the fence with a solo homer.

While Wells is raking it at the top of the lineup for the Yankees, the Brewers’ leadoff batter—exciting young outfielder Jackson Chourio, fresh off a strong rookie campaign and sizzling spring—strikes out in all five of his plate appearances. Only two other players have done the same on Opening Day: Ron Karkovice for the 1996 White Sox, and Max Muncy for the 2023 Dodgers.

On the heels of a 21-6 exhibition record, the San Francisco Giants are 1-0 in Games That Count. Heliot Ramos, the 19th different Giant in as many years to start the season in left field (tying an MLB record at any position), puts the Giants on the board with a two-run homer in the fourth inning at Cincinnati against the Reds’ Hunter Greene. But the Giants still trail going into the ninth, and that’s when Wilmer Flores caps a four-run rally with a three-run blast off Ian Gibaut, doing a poor impression of a closer with Alexis Diaz on the Injury List.

San Francisco’s 6-4 win comes despite striking out 17 times—tying a team record for the most K’s in a nine-inning game in which they win. It’s a distinction previously established twice by the 2021 Giants—with one of those games also taking place at Cincinnati.

The Washington Nationals’ Mackenzie Gore sets a personal record—and a franchise Opening Day mark—with 13 strikeouts, allowing just one hit and departing with a slim 1-0 home lead against the Philadelphia Phillies. But his shot at a win is immediately scuttled by reliever Lucas Sims, who quickly concedes solo homers to former Nationals Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. The Nationals will fight back to send the game into extra innings before the Phillies roll up four runs in the 10th to take a 7-3 victory.

The Dodgers open up the stateside defense of their 2024 world title by overcoming the Detroit Tigers and reigning Al Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal with a 5-4 victory before 53,595 fans at Dodger Stadium. Skubal allows the first four Los Angeles runs; the fifth comes after his departure on a solo, opposite field shot from Shohei Ohtani that turns out to be much-needed insurance.

For the first time in 728 days, the Chicago White Sox are above the .500 mark—even if it’s only with a 1-0 record. Pitching the 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels is surprise starter Sean Burke, who tosses six shutout innings, allowing three hits and no walks—but he does hit oft-injured Mike Trout on his left hand in a scary moment for Angels fans. Fortunately, protective padding atop Trout’s hand saves him from a potential major injury.

Of note is the major league debut of Angels reliever Ryan Johnson, the 24th player in the draft era (since 1965) to make his first appearance at the major league level without spending a day in the minors. Maybe he could have used some ramping up; in 1.2 innings, Johnson is shelled for five runs on four hits, two of them home runs.

Friday, March 28

The Tampa Bay Rays open regular season play in their temporary home away from home, Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field—the Yankees’ Spring Training base—and take a thrilling 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies before a capacity crowd of just over 10,000. Overcoming an early 2-0 deficit, the Rays rally for a pair of runs in the seventh, then get a walk-off homer on the first pitch of the ninth from Kameron Misner, only his second career major league hit.

The game is preceded by a furiously-paced makeover of Steinbrenner Field with the placement of over 3,000 Rays-centric signs of all shapes and sizes over the four previous days, after the Yankees’ last preseason game there.

Juan Soto belts his first home run as a New York Met, providing what will be the third and final run of the night in a 3-1 victory at Houston over the Astros. The $765 million man will also walk, giving him three over his first two games with the Mets.

The Athletics nab the first win of their post-Oakland era, breezing to a 7-0 victory at Seattle. Homering for the first time in his career is Max Muncy—no, not that Max Muncy—with a 430-foot blast in the eighth. Former Tampa Bay pitcher Jeffrey Springs throws six shutout innings for the A’s; it’s only the second time in franchise history that starting pitchers have thrown six shutout innings in each of the team’s first two games of a season.

Saturday, March 29

Nestor Cortes makes his Milwaukee debut at New York against the Yankees, his former team—and they are very happy to see him. The first three pitches thrown by Cortes are all sent over the fence by Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge. A fourth will be hit later in the inning by Anthony Volpe off Cortes, who give up one more dinger (and walks five batters) before his horror show comes to an end after just two innings. The Yankees aren’t done after Cortes’ departure, smashing four more homers—including two from Judge to complete his third career hat trick—giving them a franchise-record nine on the day in a 20-9 blowout.

Though a number of teams have hit three consecutive homers to start a game, nobody had previously done it on the first three pitches. The four homers by the Yankees in the first inning is a franchise first; the seven homers over the first three innings set an MLB mark.

Former Atlanta pitcher Max Fried, in his first start for the Yankees, is forced to depart with his team up by 10 runs and just one out away from completing the fifth to secure the win for himself. He allows six runs, but only two of them are earned as the Yankees commit five errors while he’s on the mound. This is only the second game in MLB history in which a team makes four-plus more errors than the opponent—yet still wins by 10 or more runs. 

In the aftermath of the Yankees’ eventual three-game sweep of the Brewers—launching 15 home runs in the process—word spreads of “torpedo bats” being used by numerous Yankee players. Unusual in its appearance because it’s at its thickest in the barrel portion of the bat—thus looking more like a bowling pin—the torpedo bat is approved for use by MLB and is said not to give hitters any technical advantage. But a number of players say that the bat simply gives them more confidence. Just ask the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, who on March 31 will use a torpedo bat for the first time—and go for 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs and a career-high seven RBIs.

The Rockies defeat the Rays at Tampa, 2-1, in spite of an unusual pitching line for Colorado starter Antonio Senzatela. The veteran hurler allows nine hits and two walks over 4.1 innings—but somewhat isn’t charged with a run. Only the Cardinals’ Bill Doak in 1922 threw fewer innings (3.1) conceding as many hits and walks, but no runs.

The DH thing is not working so far for Rafael Devers. Even as he no longer has to worry about his subpar defense at third base with Alex Bregman signed by the Red Sox, the longtime Boston hitting star is off to an historically bad start as he goes 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in a 4-3 loss at Texas against the Rangers. In three games, Devers is 0-for-12 with 10 strikeouts—the most by any MLB player through the first three games of a season. On the bright side for the Red Sox, highly-touted rookie second baseman Kristian Campbell connects on his first career homer; he thus far has five hits among his first 10 at-bats.

The San Diego Padres make it three straight wins to begin the season with a 1-0 victory over the visiting Atlanta Braves. Ramon Vasquez’s six shutout innings and a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh from 40-year-old Yuli Gurriel are key contributions. There’s a scare for the Padres when third baseman Manny Machado injures his calf and exits the game; taking his place is Jose Iglesias, who goes hitless in two at-bats to end his 22-game hitting streak going back to the end of last season. Machado will be back the next day.

Sunday, March 30

Miami takes its season-opening, four-game series against Pittsburgh with a third win, with all three coming in walkoff fashion; it’s the first time an MLB team has accomplished that since 2003. Similarly, the Pirates’ first three losses in their opponents’ last at-bat make them the first team to be on the losing end in such a manner since…the Pirates of 1924. Miami’s game-winner occurs when Derek Hill leads off the ninth with an infield hit, reaches third on a steal and errant throw, then scores on David Bednar’s wild pitch.

Contributing to the Marlins’ comeback win is a seventh-inning, game-tying home run from Griffin Conine—whose father, original Marlin Jeff Conine, is officially inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame just before the game.

The Arizona Diamondbacks split their four-game series against the Cubs in Phoenix with an eight-run rally in the eighth to prevail, 10-6. The sixth of those eight runs in the penultimate inning comes courtesy of a single punched through a drawn-in infield by pitcher Ryne Nelson—pinch-hitting because the DBacks had run out of bench players. Nelson is the first NL pitcher to get a hit since the universal DH was instituted in 2022; he hadn’t even batted in a ballgame since 2018, when he was playing for the University of Oregon.

Monday, March 31

The Athletics, going without a city ID until their move to Las Vegas, play the first game at their temporary home in Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park before a sellout crowd of 12,192—but it’s the visiting Cubs, and catcher Carson Kelly in particular, who steal the show. In an 18-3 rout of the A’s, Kelly hits for the cycle, notching his third career triple (in this, his 559th game) with his final at-bat in the eighth. He’s the 10th Cub to hit for the cycle, and the first since 1993; the 10th-year catcher is also just the third major leaguer since 1901 to do it while also adding two walks.

No visiting player ever hit for the cycle against the A’s in 4,493 games at the Oakland Coliseum, the team’s home of 57 years. Only once had another team scored more runs in one game. 

In honor of Rickey Henderson, who passed away late last year, all A’s players wear #24. 

There is grumbling here and there from the players about Sutter Health Park, which MLB labored to upgrade as best it could from the minor league facility that it is. The clubhouses are located behind the outfield wall, making for some awkward walks for players needing to, say, go to the bathroom in the middle of the game. There’s also this comment from Cubs reliever Ryan Brasier: “I think it’s so stupid that we have to play at a Triple-A stadium when they have maybe not a perfectly good ballpark in Oakland, but a big-league ballpark. I would much rather play in Oakland than Sacramento, but I guess it doesn’t really matter what we want.”

The start of the 2025 season for the Atlanta Braves goes from bad to worse. Before they even take the field against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, it’s announced that veteran outfielder (and first-year Brave) Jurickson Profar is given an 80-game ban after a positive PED test. In a statement, Profar seems to plead ignorance by saying that “I would never knowingly do anything to cheat,” but takes full responsibility.

Without Profar, the Braves drop to 0-5 with a 6-1 defeat against the Dodgers. Tyler Glasgow sails through five shutout innings for Los Angeles, while the two Hernandezes—Teoscar and Kiké—both drill home runs for the Dodgers, who are 6-0. In their five losses, the Braves have scored just eight runs and are batting .144; word is that they have made a priority request for torpedo bats.

Even worse than the Braves are the Minnesota Twins, who are blown out at Chicago against the White Sox, 9-0. Martin Perez, in his first start for the Sox after playing for five teams over 13 previous years, throws no-hit ball for six innings before his removal on 93 pitches and a career high-tying nine strikeouts. Chicago starting pitchers have yet to allow an earned run through 23 innings.

The Twins are batting .143 as a team, and have scored just six runs in four defeats.

The Red Sox have already seen enough of pitcher Garrett Crochet, who they poached from the White Sox during the offseason, to bless him with a six-year, $170 million extension. The deal with the 25-year-old southpaw, who struck out 209 batters in 146 innings last season, will begin next season with an opt-out after 2030. The dollar figure is the most ever given to a major leaguer with just four years of service.