Spring Training has arrived and as I’ve been writing daily notes for myself to recap all spring training starting pitchers for the Plus Pitch Podcast, I realized I should publish them on the site for quick access.
I’ll be livestreaming every weekday morning 10am-12pm ET at Twitch.tv/pitcherlist, as I watch all of the starts with y’all and answer all your fantasy baseball questions.
Major SP News To Know
The battle in St. Louis has come to an end with the Cardinals optioning Richard Fitts to the minors. Kyle Leahy is locked into the rotation.
The Blue Jays will be without José Berríos to start the year with a stress fracture in his right elbow. Eric Lauer will likely be used as the piggy-back to Trey Yesavage and/or Max Scherzer.
Max Meyer endured a hamstring bruise and will pitch on Wednesday to get back into rhythm. Meanwhile, the Marlins have made it clear that their #5 SP spot is between Janson Junk and Braxton Garrett. We expected Garrett to be far ahead, but there is a chance the Marlins want to give Garrett more time before returning.
Bryce Miller threw a 30-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday. He’ll very likely be on the IL to begin the year (Criswell? Hancock?), and this is a good sign for a mid-to-late April return.
Yankee manager Aaron Boone provided a surprising update on Carlos Rodón, stating that he expects Rodón back “before the end of April.” Let’s hope he’s right and Luis Gil would be the one to go if the Yankee rotation is a healthy quintet.
Joe Musgrove is expected to start the season on the IL. Not a huge surprise, though it’s hard to expect him to dominate when he does return.
The next step for Zack Wheeler is 35 pitches of live BP on Wednesday. After that, the hope is to get on the field for a spring training game, where we can actually get some data…that will likely be lower velocity than ramped up, of course. Still, it’ll be progress.
After all the hoopla about Chase Burns, Reds manager Terry Francona confirmed that Burns would be in the rotation to begin the season, along with Rhett Lowder and Brandon Williamson. It creates a six-man rotation, which may ultimately be a five-man with piggy-backing for Burns initially. Still, it’s fantastic news that he’s avoided injury and will not be in the minors to start the season.
Expected Rotations By Team
Monday’s Games
CIN vs. ARI
LAA vs. ATH
TBR vs. ATL
BOS vs. BAL
CHC vs. CLE
CWS vs. TEX
PHI vs. DET
VEN vs. ITA
MIL vs. LAD
TOR vs. MIA
PIT vs. MIN
WSH vs. NYM
SFG vs. SDP
Ryne Nelson (ARI) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K. Few secondaries, a whole lot of fastballs and a dip in extension, likely due to the spring being the spring where he’s not fully exerting. No growth in the breakers, sadly.
Jeffrey Springs (ATH) – 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K. I guess this is Sunshine and Rainbows, but there isn’t anything to make me consider Springs with that horrid home park.
Chris Sale (ATL) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K. Extension wasn’t egregious in the seven feet department, while the velocity was down. I think we’ll see this a lot as guys are a week away from the start of the season. They’re ready, no need to push it now.
Cade Horton (CHC) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 10 K. This was the changeup feel killing it with 11/20 whiffs on the pitch, all against LHB. The four-seamer also did work landing in the inner-half to LHB (nice!) and the curve was fine. That’s the last piece – great sweepers and curves – and if the changeup feel can stick, then I’m happy snagging Horton and waiting for the breakers to come around.
Colin Rea (CHC) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K. He’s the proper backup for the Cubs and you have to wonder if he’ll get into the rotation to replace Jameson Taillon given how rough this spring has been on him. He’s a Toby at best, though I have to acknowledge a small uptick in velo to 94 mph, that I don’t think will be here when he’s throwing more than 60 pitches.
Sean Burke (CWS) – 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K. Burke’s extension is also down, and at least the velocity is holding at 95/96 mph. Love the slider/sinker approach to RHB, though the slide piece didn’t get down enough and missed just one bat on the day. If it didn’t have +5″ vert at 88 mph, maybe it wouldn’t matter where he located it. I need more.
Andrew Abbott (CIN) – 2.0 IP, 8 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 3 K. Oh wow. That’s really bad. His couldn’t locate his four-seamer with just 48% strikes and the changeup wasn’t landing down to RHB, leading to chaos. It wasn’t his day. The velo was still above 92 mph and I’m not concerned.
Gavin Williams (CLE) – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 7 K. All five pitches returned above 60% strikes and that’s awesome. He’s getting less vert on his four-seamer and more vert on his breakers (we want the reverse for both), but the locations of sweepers + curves are where we want them to be. The sinker and cutter? Not so much. It feels like he’s getting closer to the guy we want (ignore the results here), though I can’t shake the feeling he’ll be a HIPSTER once again.
Jack Flaherty (DET) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K. He got the slider and curve down as he wants, with many whiffs across the pair, but the heater was laced. That’s an issue and I’m not going to test the waters in most leagues.
Aaron Nola (ITA) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K. I think this is the year we live every day like it’s Nola day once again. I don’t care if you’re sick of it, I’m going to keep telling how I wish he’d go inside to RHB with his 18″ horizontal sinker more often.
Michael Lorenzen (ITA) – 2.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K. He did the best he could for Italy.
George Klassen (LAA) – 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 K. It’s apparently “CLAW-SEN” and I feel so bad I didn’t know until today. ANYWAY, he’s at 97 mph with Empty Velocity + a fantastic 90 mph gyro slider and decent 83/84 mph curve that lacks aggressive movement. He’s leaning into the changeup more than those two breakers combined (yes, to both LHB and RHB), and it makes sense given the 10+ mph difference, but it’s not a crazy good change, nor does he have the best feel for it. I’m not very curious about George.
Tyler Glasnow (LAD) – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K. Welp, it looks like Glasnow is back to last year’s slider at 89 mph with more depth and 60% strikes is what we want to see. A lot more around the right area of the zone, too. Next up: Not returning 52% strikes with 25 four-seamers.
Janson Junk (MIA) – 2.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K. He’s apparently battling for the SP #5 with Garrett in Miami, but it’s hard to believe that after a game like this. The data was funky, but so was his feel for the curve, fastball, and curve. I’m not interested and I hope Braxton solidifies the spot as a potential Toby.
Chad Patrick (MIL) – 3.1 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 K. He didn’t look comfortable locating. The sinker missed terribly, the cutter fell way out of the zone, four-seamers up too far, etc. He has a locked rotation spot, though, and look at the fella at 83 pitches! Let’s call it a bad day.
Joe Ryan (MIN) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K. All is grand. The four-seamer is around 93 mph (not 93/94 mph, but that’s alright), with precision upstairs + everything else underneath at a tick down. He’s just ramping up and playing it safe with the back scare.
David Peterson (NYM) – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K. Oh look, Peterson is still chaotic. I don’t see the need to go after Peterson, even if he’ll get his share of Quality Starts.
Christian Scott (NYM) – 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 K. We won’t see Scott for a hot moment, but I do consider him a better starter than Tong and possibly the next one in the rotation, especially if Manaea is still sitting below 89 mph. The new slider at 90 mph is cool to see, albeit without the depth I’d want. It’s really a cutter that he gets inside to LHB and that’s exactly what he needed to pair with his four-seamer, sweeper, and splitter. Circle him.
Walker Buehler (SDP) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K. Ohhhhh, this probably means that Buehler is as the SP #4/5. Extension is still down, the movement is worse on everything, and I’m not interested. This is too blegh overall.
Tyler Mahle (SFG) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K. He’s still at 91+ mph, which isn’t fun (92 mph last year and 93/94 mph in the past), but his cutter, slider, and splitter command was phenomenal. Alright Mahle, YOU’RE BACK ON THE MENU. Well, as long as he’s not getting the Yankees opening weekend. THEN YOU’RE BACK OFF THE MENU.
Nick Martinez (TBR) – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Oh jeeeeez. He couldn’t throw his changeup for a strike and let me tell ya, Martinez needs that changeup for strikes. That’ll get tweaked and it’ll be alright. He’s a deep-league volume play.
MacKenzie Gore (TEX) – 4.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K. He’s at 96 mph and LOOK AT THAT! He’s throwing a sinker inside to LHB! Just two of them, but -14/15″ of break and that’s cool! I’m very encouraged by this and will continue to keep him in my Top 50, anticipating growth this season in Texas.
Who To Monitor Today
SPs on the mound today #SpringSPnotesGet morning updates to EVERY SP via my daily SP Roundup article on the Pitcher List site.Alex Clemmey – Fun Nats prospect!Trevor Rogers – #SWATCHWATCH2026Carmen Mlodzinski – Could be SP #5…Jake Woodford – The Amish Mustang? ON A SATURDAY?!
— Nick Pollack (@nickpollack.pitcherlist.com) 2026-03-14T14:12:25.251Z
