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 morning 10am-12pm ET at playback.tv/pitcherlist as I watch all of the starts with y’all and answer all your fantasy baseball questions.
Major SP News To Know
We’re getting our first glimpse of Brandon Woodruff on Sunday in a televised game against the Guardians. Sadly, we will not have data for the game as I go yell at Alex Fast and Mike Petriello some more despite their inability to do anything about it.
The Cubs are exploring a contract with Lance Lynn according to Bob Nightengale. Early in free agency, Lynn expressed acceptance to close instead of starting, though this deal seams to be more for a starting role in place of the SP #5 battle between Jordan Wicks, Colin Rea, and Ben Brown. I wasn’t a fan of leaning into this battle in the first place, but Lynn could provide some deep NL-Only value if he’s regularly getting starts…and if this contract goes though.
Cody Bradford will start the year on the IL, increasing the chances of Jack Leiter starting out of camp. Adrian Houser is still an option if the Rangers don’t want to add Leiter only to remove him weeks later.
The Rangers are taking it slow with Jacob deGrom to preserve as many bullets as possible, reducing his workload this spring to backfield games as much as possible.
Bailey Falter was scratched from his Thursday game after recovering slower than usual prior to his Thursday start. It doesn’t mean something is inherently wrong, though the Pirates severely lack SP depth and may look upon Bubba Chandler to step into his place should Falter miss time. Just when we thought we were out…That said, Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft have gotten more recent looks in the spring and are both on the 40-man roster. It’s very possible they would get the first crack before Chandler.
Lucas Giolito will officially be on the IL to start the season with a low-grade strain. I’m expecting just a few starts and still want to target him – an IL player for April is ideal as you have an extra roster spot to chase upside plays early. Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester, and Cooper Criswell are battling for the SP #4 and #5 spots, and Criswell looks to be the most secure with a resume containing MLB starts + his length in Wednesday’s game. Let’s hope Fitts demands the call as well.
Edward Cabrera developed a blister and left his Thursday start after recording 10 balls across 12 pitches. I imagine an IL stint is coming his way to ensure it doesn’t plauge his full 2025 season, allowing Xzavion Curry or Adam Mazur a shot for the opening day rotation.
Site News
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Check out all the apps, a tease of the PL Fantasy Baseball Pro Dashboard, our new Live Draft Assistant, and so much more.
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Expected Rotations By Team
Statcast Games – TV
PHI vs. ATL
TOR vs. BAL
COL vs. CLE
CWS vs. MIL
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K. Velocity fell to 95.7 mph (still up over a tick from last year, just not 97 mph) and the cutter is barely used. Soooo this looks like a better version of Sánchez but not that better. Is it enough to dramatically lower his hit-per-nine from its horrendous 9.0 mark last year? Maybe? I’m a little worried that I have him slightly overranked given the lack of cutter and likely return to sinkers heavily featured in the zone to RHB, which should still go for hits even at a better velocity. Hmmmm.
Cade Povich (BAL) – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 2 K. I was excited to get the data for Povich (finally!) and…blegh. The changeup went 1/7 whiffs and wasn’t trusted against RHB, the four-seamer is still sub-par, and I don’t love his heavy sweeper focus to RHB. He’s a streamer, y’all. Don’t jump for Povich in drafts.
Chase Dollander (COL) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K. I’ve been foolish to leave out Dollander as the possible SP #5 with Gomber hurt, assuming blalock would get it, but there is a real chance given the length he’s been getting in the spring. If he weren’t on the Rockies, I’d be all over the 97 mph heater at 1.5 HAVAA…if it wasn’t 6.1 feet of extension with low vert and poorly spotted. It’s a “Hit this” with empty velocity and that will get crushed in Coors. His secondaries failed to dominate here, too, with just 2/19 whiffs and a 53% strike rate between them. That’s not the “stud who happens to be in Colorado.” That’s a “I can see this being good down the road, but it’s Colorado.”
Luis Ortiz (CLE) – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K. He’s all over the place. We can’t trust this, y’all. I’m sorry.
Statcast Games – No TV
MIN vs. PIT
DET vs. NYY
NYM vs. BOS
MIA vs. HOU
CIN vs. ATH
KC vs. SD
Bailey Ober (MIN) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K. I have yet to see a single game this spring where Ober is nailing the top of the zone with his four-seamer. Yes, I’m scared about it, especially at 90.3 mph (-1.4 mph). I lowered him in my ranks during the last Top 100 SP update on Wednesday and I have yet to target him in a draft.
Jared Jones (PIT) – 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K. Jones isn’t looking quite like his April/May 2024 self, oddly sitting just 94.2 mph on his new sinker and a somewhat pedestrian 95.8 mph on his four-seamer, though some of those may have been misclassified sinkers. I was hoping he was ramping up through the start instead of gassing it in the first and declining after, but alas, that was not the case. Well, maybe a little more consistent? At any rate, I’m jazzed for the sinker and changeup and love his attack inside to LHB with heaters. Just get the slider better than a 54% strike rate, please.
Jackson Jobe (DET) – 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Jobe went hard on the cutter at 34% usage and 40% to RHB, which I love for a spring start. Figure that pitch out, then focus on the curve in your next one and suddenly you’ve got your full arsenal ready to go for the season. I’m very much in, y’all. It’s a legit mix and he’s putting together the pieces to use them properly. I also trust the coaching staff in Detroit to help him get the sequencing down.
Max Fried (NYY) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K. All good here. Aces gonna ace. Velocity normal at 94 mph and hey! 2/8 changeup whiffs. Love that.
David Peterson (NYM) – 3.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K. We saw roughly 70 pitches from Peterson and 8/33 whiffs on sliders + changeups is legit, but you know what ain’t legit? Sitting 90.6 mph (-1.2 ticks). Still time to ramp up of course and I’ll continue to adore his seven feet of extension, but that velo may be a bit of an issue if not corrected.
Sean Newcomb (BOS) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K. Oh dannnng, just when I noticed my comb had missing teeth NEWCOMB APPEARS. I’d be infuriated if Newcomb weasles his way to a rotation spot to butt out a promising Fitts. There’s no way, right?
Edward Cabrera (MIA) – 0.0 IP, 3 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 K. Cabrera has a blister and will likely hit the IL. Womp womp.
Ronel Blanco (HOU) – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 K. Oh dear. I’m surprised Blanco is afraid to use the changeup to RHB, though he made a few mistakes to LHB that he’d want back. He also didn’t get his slider down as much as he’d like and the velocity is at 92.1 mph (-1.3 mph). In other words, the signs are all there of degradation from last year’s absurd season and I get holding back on Blanco in your drafts.
Nick Lodolo (CIN) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K. He was at 93.0 mph (-1.2 mph) and he was terrible locating his sweeper (sorry, “curve”) to LHB, but the whiffs were there and he’s healthy. 54% fastball strikes and 50% changeup strikes aren’t a great look, though. Welp, we’re in the same place we’ve always been with Lodolo – unsure and anxiety-riddled.
JP Sears (ATH) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Oh dang, he got the four-seamer up! And just 1/30 whiffs, which is all kinds of surprising. But then again, the sweeper and changeup combined for 7/29 whiffs due to said BSB approach and THAT’S THE GOOD STUFF. I wonder if he can hold that while maybe locating the secondaries a little better.
Yu Darvish (SD) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K. His sinker was at 95.0 mph (+1.4 mph) and that’s all you should care about. The velocity is cooking and Darvish should be a draft day bargain.
Stephen Kolek (SD) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K. Kolek looks like the SP #5 for the Padres and I don’t think you need to focus on him outside of NL-Only leagues. He’s a sinker/slider guy to RHB and cutter/change/four-seamer to LHB, with his sinker’s horizontal ride as the only interesting feature (well, the 1.4 HAVAA at 95 mph could work at times as a surprise strikeout pitch). He’s a Toby at best.
No Statcast – TV
HOU vs. STL
Spencer Arrighetti (HOU) – 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K. Okay this was better. No data, but he was more comfortable on the bump.
Steven Matz (STL) – 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K. Ah yes, the training Matz. Just stay healthy and focus on changeups to RHB, okay?
No Statcast – No TV
TB vs. WSH
SF vs. TEX
Shane Baz (TB) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 2 K. At least no walks this time? He hit 100 mph in his previous outing and I’ll refrain from judging from the box score.
DJ Herz (WSH) – 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K. Two walks, one strikeout. He had to have a stupid good game for the Nationals to reconsider sending him to Triple-A to begin the year and even then, I still think they’d do it.
Robbie Ray (SF) – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 8 K. Zero walks. Eight Strikeouts. GUYS. GET ROBBIE.
What To Watch Today On TV
SPs to watch on TV today #SpringSPnotesGet morning updates to EVERY SP via my daily Plus Pitch Podcast AND SP Roundup article on the Pitcher List site.Schwellenbach – Give us a performance, Mr. CrescendoLogan Allen (CLE) – Anything new?Eduardo Rodriguez – All good?
— Nick Pollack (@nickpollack.pitcherlist.com) 2025-03-14T14:31:07.236Z
