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
Jared Jones felt elbow discomfort during a bullpen, had an MRI, and is…now awaiting a second opinion. When have we ever heard of a second opinion search resulting in anything but at least three months of IL? Cole had one last year and didn’t get TJS, but this feels like TJS. FUN. Check out the Thomas Harrington blurb below for what this means for Bubba Chandler and friends.
Slade Cecconi is dealing with a mild oblique strain and will leave camp on the IL. He wasn’t expected to be in the rotation, though it delays his chances if a teammate misses time.
The Padres clarified Yu Darvish’s “Fatigue” as elbow inflammation. He could begin the year on the IL and is considered day-to-day, though we wait to hear the results of inevitable testing.
Max Scherzer is still nursing right thumb soreness. It’s possible he pitches through it, though it may result in worse command or a shorter leash to begin the season.
The Rangers have signed Patrick Corbin to a one-year deal. It makes sense given injuries to both Jon Gray and Cody Bradford, adding needed depth to the squad. Corbin will likely need a few weeks into the season to ramp up (including some time to welcome in a new baby Corbin!), which keeps two roster spots open, even with Tyler Mahle sticking around. Jack Leiter and Adrian Houser are my picks for the spot, and we’ll see how the Rangers look when Corbin is available in late April.
Site News
We’re launching PL 11 in the upcoming days and we’ve outlined everything we’re working on and improved on the site inside this Twitter thread and this Bluesky thread.
Check out all the apps, a tease of the PL Fantasy Baseball Pro Dashboard, our new Live Draft Assistant, and so much more.
Now it’s super easy to see velo changes, movement changes (extra vert from Rodón!), extension, usage changes, locations, etc. It’s incredible, y’all. Get access via PL Pro at 15% off with code SPRINGISHERE
Expected Rotations By Team
Statcast Games – TV
CHC vs. LAD
PIT vs. PHI
STL vs. MIA
NYY vs. BOS
CIN vs. LAA
TEX vs. CLE
Justin Steele (CHC) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K. Not fun and you shouldn’t have started him. This is still spring for these guys and Steele was slightly down in velocity with some poor slider and fastball locations that were punished. I’m still very much in and I hope this depresses his ADP a little more.
Roki Sasaki (LAD) – 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 5 BB, 3 K. As for Sasaki…I’m still very much worried. The four-seamer and splitter combined for three whiffs. That’s not what we want at all. I wish there was more in his breaker or his heater for me to jump in. But yes, the adrenaline of MLB debut and pitching in Japan certainly affected this one.
Thomas Harrington (PIT) – 3.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K. With the news of Jones’ elbow discomfort, the speculation begins. Who will take the rotation spot? Harrington isn’t on the 40-man and I don’t think he’ll demand the spot, even being this stretched out. You may see Braxton Ashcraft or Mike Burrows, maybe NRI Carson Fulmer, or a surprise signing of Kyle Gibson to fill in the spot. I don’t think it’ll be Bubba Chandler, sadly, as he’s off the 40-man and failed to go two full frames in the spring. They’ll wait a bit until he gets the call. As for Harrington’s skills, I’m not a big fan. The heaters are pedestrian and the secondaries went 1/27 whiffs here, but his general command is good. That’s not the blueprint of a prospect I chase.
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K. What do we got?! Three cutters (stop trying to make FETCH happen, Nick!) and 96.1 mph (+1.6) on the sinker. He’s seriously last year’s Sánchez but throwing 96 mph, not 94/95 mph. And that’s cool, I just wanted a little more than that, you know? It’s the same sinker approach to RHB where he just hurls it over the plate and we just have to live with the elevated Hit-per-nine in all likelihood.
Miles Mikolas (STL) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K. Nothing new except for sitting 2.6 ticks down on his four-seamer. Oh, so his horrible four-seamer is worse now? Yeah. Got it.
Max Fried (NYY) – 4.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K. The heaters are still down at 92.3 mph (-1.6 mph) but he’s locating them well. The changeup is still a work in progress, sadly, with just 1/13 whiffs and just one landing where he wanted it to against a RHB. Fried always needs a little longer than others to get his footing, believe in the fella.
Walker Buehler (BOS) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K. We got data! And it was interesting! The Red Sox are pushing Buehler to go roughly 30% fastballs and lean into the cutter, sweeper, curve, and change, which should work well for Buehler. Think of him as a kitchen sink arm with potential to steal more whiffs than a Toby. That works for me, y’all. That curve and sweeper are getting a ton of movement, too. Give him some time to lock in and I think you’ll be thrilled.
Nick Martinez (CIN) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 6 K. He’s nibbling the edges with intent and I kinda love it. He knows what to do with each of his pitches to not let himself get burned and grab whiffs across all his pitches. He’s not a bad guy to grab when you’re filling in your roster post-IL stashes.
José Soriano (LAA) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K. The sinker was much better this time around, though the curve is still lacking at 54% strikes and 23% CSW. Just three sliders in another edition of “Nick gets his hopes up.” Soriano is pretty much the same guy from last year, which makes me out? If there’s no hope for growth, then there’s only hope to not decline.
Luis Ortiz (CLE) – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 2 H, 6 BB, 2 K. Yikes. Are the Guardians sure they want Ortiz and not Cantillo in this rotation? Like for real for real
Tyler Mahle (TEX) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K. Well now, this is a surprise. After getting some rest, Mahle returned not only for five frames and almost 70 pitches, but at 92.8 mph (+1.4 mph). That’s higher than last year and just a little behind his pre-injury days. The four-seamer was located up, the splitter was underneath, and hot dang, he’s ready to go. This is suddenly becoming an interesting late round flyer out of nowhere. Nine whiffs on thirty-five four-seamers!
Statcast Games – No TV
MIN vs. DET
SEA vs. MIL
COL vs. SF
Bailey Ober (MIN) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K. Ayyyy, the four-seamer went upstairs more! At…89.3 mph (-2.4 mph). He’s lower than his previous outing, but then again, maybe he saw what Ryan did and thought “yeah, I should take it easy, too.” Everything else was relatively normal, so can you have that location and velocity? Cool, thanks.
Matt Manning (DET) – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 K. He’s throwing a sweeper now and coming at ya with…92.7 mph (-1.2 mph). Nooooope. Don’t like this at all.
Bryan Woo (SEA) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K. He was down to 93.5 mph (-1.4) but the heater is still cooking with the sinker. For the most part. No, he hasn’t found that secondary yet with 2/27 whiffs across changeups, sweepers, and sliders. One day…He’s also lost some run on the sinker, which is a bit disappointing but I’ll chalk it up to a meh day at the park.
Elvin Rodríguez (MIL) – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 3 K. The Brewers are trying to figure out what to do as they wait for Woodruff to be ready and Elvin is not the answer. It was a fun idea, but the four-seamer and cutter are poorly spotted, and that’s baseball. Cool 18″ of vert, though.
Tyler Alexander (MIL) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K. T-Lex has been thrust into the picture for another random squad and his short 6.0 extension (T-Lex, after all) doesn’t help his sub 90 mph arsenal. He’s trying to be peak Fratty Pirate and he can’t throw them down the hatch like he wants to.
Chase Dollander (COL) – 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K. Seven strikeouts! 9/47 whiffs on the four-seamer! He flexed 1.4 HAVAA to go with that 97 mph velocity and actually got the dang thing upstairs a decent amount, though the 50% strike rate slider and 61% strike rate curve are a little unnerving. And Coors is Undefeated. But he’s likely in the rotation…? Let’s say he’s the #5 – that’s a game in Philly to start the year. Yeah, nah.
Keaton Winn (SF) – 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K. Don’t forget about Winn. His splitter is one of the rare strike-machine splitters out there (86% here!) while the four-seamer and sinker sit 95/96 mph…with empty velocity (meh extension, HAVAA, and iVB). I think he’ll get some starts this year for the Giants and he could be 15-teamer value the moment he does. Maybe even ‘Toby” 12-teamer.
No Statcast – TV
HOU vs. WSH
SF vs. SD
Lance McCullers Jr. (HOU) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K. This must have felt awesome for Lance. I’m happy for him. Gonna take a while, still.
Spencer Arrighetti (HOU) – 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K. Four walks. I’ve had more anxiety about the “Pasta Pirate” than I’d like this spring and I keep trying to get it out of my head. Don’t overreact to the spring, Nick. BUT HE’S NOT THE SAME! The groove he had in the second half isn’t there and I’m wondering if he’ll be a HIPSTER. Or maybe he clicks in season and goes all bonkers on us. I DON’T KNOW.
Robbie Ray (SF) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K. No walks and plenty of outs is cool n all, but can I get some of that data? PLEASE?!
Stephen Kolek (SD) – 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Looks about right. Kolek will be relying on the good graces of Koufax aplenty and days like these are par for the course.
No Statcast – No TV
BAL vs. TOR
Cade Povich (BAL) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 BB, 6 K. Oh cool, have the good games when we can’t watch it. Cool cool cool. I still have my concerns about Povich’s four-seamer and the unreliability of his changeup, which has me ignoring him in all but the deepest of drafts.
Eric Lauer (TOR) – 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K. What up Lauer! Sorry it’s not working out like it used to. Kinda surprised to see you at all, honestly. Welp, see ya later. Or not…?
Ryan Yarbrough (TOR) – 1.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K. The Cs have been overtaken by The Fratty Pirate! Hide yer stash, don’t let him take it.
What To Watch Today On TV
Any thoughts on Connor Gillespie for NL only? It looks like he is the 5th starter
Brewers rotation needs updating with Myers out.