Seattle #Mariners Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

San Diego #Padres Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Boston #RedSox Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Cleveland #Guardians Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Detroit #Tigers Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Houston #Astros Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Cincinnati #Reds Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

If Mexico beats Italy tomorrow, then: 🇺🇸 11 RA in 18 IP 🇮🇹 6 RA in 18 IP (incl. IP vs MEX) 🇲🇽 5 RA in 17 IP (incl. IP vs ITA) USA advances if MEX scores 5 R or more* ITA advances if ITA scores 6 R or more OR MEX scores 4 R or less MEX advances if ITA scores 5 R or less OR MEX scores 5 R or more

New York #Mets Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Kansas City #Royals Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

San Francisco #Giants Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

🧵 With Taiwan beating Korea and Australia set to face Japan in a couple hours, the only way for Korea to advance is to hope for Japan to beat Australia, then to later beat Australia themselves, which would force a 3-way tie. Here’s a breakdown of the tiebreaker, and what each team needs to advance:

Texas #Rangers Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Arizona #Diamondbacks Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Miami #Marlins Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

St. Louis #Cardinals Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

🧵 With the Profar news, the #Braves are gonna need another bat, ideally one that’s good vs RHP so they can platoon him with Sean Murphy at DH. The Twins have a ton of outfielders on their depth chart (with top prospects Walker Jenkins & Emmanuel Rodriguez on the way) & could move one for prospects.

Tampa Bay #Rays Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

#Athletics Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Atlanta #Braves Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

#WhiteSox prospect Sam Antonacci has been in 6 games so far this spring. In those games he’s received 18 PA and has seen 68 pitches. Here’s his stats from those games: - 13 balls in play - 7 hard-hit balls - 4 hits - 3 walks (+2 HBP) - 2 home runs - 1 WHIFF He’s yet to strike out. Unbelievable.

Based on the data, Spencer Strider’s release point on his fastball today was most similar to 2024 & 2025. Even though his fastball shape appears to be back (17.5” iVB), that’s a product of him not throwing as hard; he only sat at 93. I’d expect the iVB to come down once Strider ramps up velo-wise.

Baltimore #Orioles Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Los Angeles #Angels Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Big fan of Trent Harris of the #Giants. He had a sub-2 ERA & FIP at AA, and while he struggled at AAA he was still above average. Great strikeout & walk rates (27% K%, 8% BB%), and has a nice mix that features a cutter, slider, curveball and splitter. Pitch plot from today’s outing below:

Pittsburgh #Pirates Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Minnesota #Twins Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Washington #Nationals Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

J.T. Ginn of the #Athletics struck out Luis Arraez on just three pitches to start his day: a cutter called for strike 1, a sinker fouled off, then another cutter whiffed for strike 3. Ginn threw two perfect innings with 3 strikeouts and 3 groundouts against the Giants' A-team.

Chicago #WhiteSox Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

Video is now live! Colorado #Rockies Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown

In 2025, Quinn Mathews of the #Cardinals sat 93.1 on his FB at AAA, with his top velo being 96.0 mph in 93 IP. In 1.2 IP in ST yesterday he sat 95.5 mph, and 5 of his 18 FBs thrown matched or beat that 96 figure, maxing out at 96.7. Command was still an issue (2 BB & 1 HBP) but better stuff helps.

With Opening Day in (almost) 30 days, I figured I’d count down to Opening Day by doing one team preview per day. Going from bottom to top by record, so starting with the Colorado #Rockies! The Rockies preview will premiere tomorrow at noon ET; the link to watch it when it’s live is below:

🧵 Troy Taylor broke out in 2024 as a #Mariners reliever who worked his way up from High-A to MLB, in large part due to having a unicorn fastball shape with lots of running action. He lost that shape in 2025 and struggled, but based on his Spring outing today most of its running action has returned.

Surprised France only got a MiLB deal. Just won a Gold Glove at 1B by posting 10 OAA & 9 DRS. Was below average offensively with a 92 wRC+, but his 108 bFIP+ is above average. Good get for SD, and it’s a homecoming for France, who went to San Diego State and was drafted and debuted with the #Padres.

With most of the impactful FA & trade additions off the board, there’s not much left for teams to meaningfully upgrade their team, so their current win projections are close to what they’ll look like on Opening Day. Here’s my win projections for each team, which are based on rajWAR:

Tough loss for the #Diamondbacks, as he was projected to be the closer to start 2026. Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkel are the next men up for saves, but with their struggles I wouldn’t be shocked if Kade Strowd (acquired from BAL) got the most saves before AJ Puk & Justin Martinez return from the IL.

The 2025 #Yankees ALDS roster featured seven players who became free agents after the 2025 season. All 7 opted to stay in New York: Bellinger (NYY) 5y/$162.5M Williams (NYM) 3y/$51M Grisham (NYY) 1y/$22.025M Weaver (NYM) 2y/$22M Rosario (NYY) 1y/$2.5M Blackburn (NYY) 1y/$2M Goldschmidt (NYY) TBD

Blaze Alexander is a good get for the #Orioles. Mashes lefties (120 wRC+, 163 bFIP+) & can play 3B & corner OF. Will likely play in those spots in a short side platoon role, where he’s an upgrade over Jeremiah Jackson, who was going to fill that role for the O’s before this trade went down.

Tarik Skubal’s arbitration case win is about more than just setting a record for how much a player can be paid. Due to the nature of his career trajectory, he was only paid $2.65M in his first arb year, and $10.15M in his second. A raise of over $20M is double the previous record by a pitcher.

This may have already been said, but I imagine the #Tigers are feeling good coming out of Skubal’s arbitration hearing and that’s why they made the splash on Framber. No guarantee the Tigers win the hearing, but I don’t see them making this move without financial certainty regarding the case.

🧵 The #Cardinals sell-off continues, as they’ve now moved 2B Brendan Donovan to the #Mariners in a deal that also involves the #Rays. Here’s the full deal: SEA gets: 2B Brendan Donovan TBR gets: 3B Ben Williamson STL gets: SP Jurrangelo Cijntje, OF Tai Peete, OF Colton Ledbetter, 2 Comp. B Picks

The #Cardinals currently have 5 catchers on their 40-man: Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages, Yohel Pozo, Jimmy Crooks, and Leonardo Bernal. Wonder if one of them is heading over to the #Rays, projected for 26th in MLB in catching fWAR, in this 3-team deal where Brendan Donovan is heading to the #Mariners.

In his career, Eugenio Suárez has played for the Tigers, then the Reds, then the Mariners, then the Diamondbacks, then back to the Mariners, and now has signed back with the Reds. Just needs to end his career with the Tigers after this contract is up to have the coveted 4-team palindromic career.

Jacob Wilson’s MLB career so far is similar to what Lawrence Butler’s looked like last year in terms of value: Butler at 22 (‘23): 42 G, -0.2 fWAR, -0.5 bWAR Butler at 23 (‘24): 125 G, 3.1 fWAR, 3.0 bWAR Wilson at 22 (‘24): 28 G, 0.0 fWAR, -0.2 bWAR Wilson at 23 (‘25): 125 G, 3.5 fWAR, 3.0 bWAR

Kai-Wei Teng’s 3.46 bFIP at the PCL was the best in the PCL among pitchers with 50+ IP. The number may not be flashy, but given the high run environment (avg ERA in the PCL was 5.45), his 63 bFIP- is elite. Remains to be seen if he can stretch out as a starter, but it’s a good get for the #Astros.

🧵 The #Rockies aren’t done yet! After trading Angel Chivilli to the Yankees and designating Yanquiel Fernandez for assignment, they’ve cleared out the 40-man space to acquire 2B Edouard Julien and RP Pierson Ohl from the #Twins in exchange for SP Jace Kaminska and cash. Let’s start with Julien:

🧵 The #Yankees just acquired RP Angel Chivilli from the #Rockies in exchange for minor league 1B T.J. Rumfield. Not a massive blockbuster by any means, but one that I felt like breaking down anyway as both players in the deal are relatively interesting.

Similar list but for RP — number of pitchers by 2026 team with 20+ IP, <5 GS & bFIP- under 100 in 2025: 9 - MIL, TBR 8 - BAL 7 - HOU, LAD, PHI, TOR 6 - ARI, ATL, CHC, CIN, CLE, NYY, SDP, SEA 5 - SFG 4 - ATH, BOS, CHW, DET, KCR, MIA, NYM, PIT, STL 3 - COL, LAA, TEX 2 - MIN, WSN

Number of pitchers by 2026 team with 5+ GS & an above-average bFIP (bFIP- under 100) in 2025: 6 - KCR, LAD, NYM, TEX 5 - BOS, DET, HOU, MIL, NYY 4 - ARI, BAL, CHC, CIN, MIN, PHI, PIT, SFG 3 - ATH, ATL, CLE, MIA, SDP, SEA, TBR, TOR, WSN 2 - CHW, COL 1 - STL 0 - LAA