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
Terrible news from Miami. Ryan Weathers has been diagnosed with a forearm strain and will be shut down for 4-6 weeks. Sigh. Who do we get now? Connor Gillispie? Janson Junk? I dunno who fills in and you shouldn’t be monitoring this.
Jordan Wicks was demoted by the Cubs to Triple-A, removing him from contention for the fifth starter on the Cubs. It’s likely Ben Brown with the nod, possibly with Colin Rea as the piggyback. I’m not a fan of Brown, who lacks whiffability on his four-seamer and desperately needs a reliable third offering. One h*ck of a curveball, though.
Andrew Abbott will start the year on the IL with a shoulder strain and Carson Spiers will take the pearl in his place. Expect Abbott back before the end of April, though keep your expectations low for a while.
Max Scherzer is starting on Saturday and if it goes off without a hitch, he’ll be cleared to make his first start of the season on schedule.
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
TOR vs. TB
MIA vs. HOU
CWS vs. LAA
MIN vs. BOS
TEX vs. COL
SD vs. TEX
Bowden Francis (TOR) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K. His four-seamer is still earning whiffs at 9/50 here and I have to give him props for 72% strikes on the splitter. That said, 3/18 splitter whiffs, a 92/93 mph four-seamer that isn’t spotted beautifully still has my eyebrows raised (with 18″ vert and 4″ more horizontal run this year, which is cool…? His added cut in the second half actually helped…I DON’T KNOW). I’m not going for it.
Taj Bradley (TB) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 4 K. I was encouraged by Taj’s cutter locations last year and was hoping to see it stick this spring. It’s still a bit erratic, sadly, but 15/78 whiffs on four-seamers + cutters is a cool thing. I should note, it’s a 96 mph heater with 17″ of vert and below-average attack angle and extension. Is it really that great? Oh, and the splitter went 0/17 whiffs with 41% strikes. Yikes. This is the same chaotic Bradley without the benefit of the Trop. NOPE.
Janson Junk (MIA) – 3.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K. So I guess he may get some starts with Weathers dealing with a forearm strain. Despite his name, no, Junk is not filthy. Sigh.
Martín Pérez (CWS) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K. You’re not the opening day starter (that’s Sean Burke) and the velocity is down 1-2 ticks, which may not be a huge thing given veterans saving bullets n all. At lease the overall command of sinkers, cutters, and changeups are on point.
Chris Paddack (MIN) – 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 K. Okay this was awesome. 95.3 mph (+2.0 mph!) four-seamers at 18-19″of vert (+1.8″ rise!) at almost seven feet of extension, located with precision upstairs that returned 9/39 whiffs. That’s hot. I wish the changeup and curve were a little better at earning strikes (58% on changeups, 7/14 curves), but he located the split-change down plenty and generally tried to go away with his slider (7/14 strikes, too). He’s closer than I thought and guess what? He gets the White Sox in his first start of the year. I’m streaming that.
Sean Newcomb (BOS) – 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 3 K. Wow, this is actually happening. Newcomb isn’t throwing any harder (91.4 mph sinkers), but he’s spotting his new cutter well to RHB and the big curve is…around. You don’t like this, do you. I really don’t. I think he’s going to get clobbered in season. But hey, the Red Sox just need what, two starts from him? I’m crossing my fingers for the hometown fella.
Cooper Criswell (BOS) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Well that’s interesting. I was considering Criswell as a possible rotation piece, but the Sawx clearly want Newcomb above Criswell at this point. So it goes.
Kumar Rocker (TEX) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K. Eight strikeouts! 8/31 whiffs on the curve! And four-seamers sitting 97.2 mph (+1.3 mph)! At 58% strikes. FINE. I’m surprised the curve took the spotlight after I was so impressed by his slider last season (just five thrown here) and while I want him to be phenomenal with that heater and curve, I think this is too raw. Leiter is more of a complete pitcher and it’s in the best interest for the Rangers to take advantage of the NRI for Adrian Houser.
Dane Dunning (TEX) – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 K. He’s the long man in relief who you really don’t want to see at the start of the day.
Germán Márquez (COL) – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Sup fella. Have fun this year, enjoy baseball, enjoy life. Who cares about our fantasy teams.
Nick Pivetta (SD) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K. Velocity is slightly down toward 93 mph instead of 94 mph (that’s fine) and he’s getting more cut action now, which I’m kinda into for LHB. The big question is how he’s dealing with RHB, and to see a near even split of SL and CB works for me. I see a solid April arm to grab at the end of drafts as San Diego should help suppress his HR problems (it gets worse in the summer in SoCal), but don’t hold on too long.
Adrian Houser (TEX) – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K. The velocity came down a bit to 93 mph on the sinker and 94 on the four-seamer (about 1-2 ticks lower than we’ve seen) but the locations were generally solid. I still think he’s the SP #5 (#4 given deGrom is going last) in Texas and there’s sneaky AL-Only value there. He’d get the Red Sox in Texas, then hosting the Rays after.
Statcast Games – No TV
CIN vs. KC
AZ vs. ATH
Graham Ashcraft (CIN) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K. He’s a reliever now and that’s a good thing. His command is poor and let him be.
Kris Bubic (KC) – 3.2 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K. Jeeeeez this ain’t it. The changeup was low, though! And went just 2/23 whiffs! Wait, that’s bad. Yeah, I know. I’m disappointed about it and I’m going to blame the 56% strike rate on his four-seamer that sat…92.3 mph. Nooooo. It was the first start he hasn’t sat 93 mph (his RP velo), while his extension wasn’t seven feet but 6.7 feet. But fine, this could have just been a bad day at the park, and we may not get another look at him until Tuesday April 1st in Milwaukee, with the Twins to follow. I don’t think he’s worth the draft pick, but worth the pickup after the opening weekend for his first start. 12-teamers aren’t drafting him as of now.
Zac Gallen (AZ) – 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K. His heater is still down at 92.4 mph (-1.4 mph), but that’s kinda typical for Gallen. Meanwhile, the curve is still kicking and the slider/change are…around. I think we’re going to see a diminished strikeout rate this year with a questionable WHIP and I don’t like that. But there is one positive thing – his four-seamer added an inch of vert to 17.8″. That could just be spring training being spring training, though.
Joey Estes (ATH) – 5.0 IP, 8 ER, 11 H, 2 BB, 2 K. Oh my–OHMYGOSH. He was also down a full tick here to 91.4 mph. Uhhh, Athletics, are you sure about Estes being the SP #5 over Spence? Like really sure?
Mitch Spence (ATH) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K. The Athletics announced that Spence was moved to the pen on Wednesday but after that Estes outing, I sure hope they change their mind. Spence tossed 92/93 mph cutters (+2.0 mph!) and it’s a legit pitch, y’all. 3/4 whiffs on the slider, too. LET HIM START DANGIT.
No Statcast – TV
ATL vs. PHI
BAL vs. NYY
Zach Thompson (ATL) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Whoa, that’s cool. Sure don’t believe Atlanta would go for this over Anderson, Elder, AJSS, but Thompson! Was wondering what happened to you after showing flashes of promise with the Cardinals.
Tomoyuki Sugano (BAL) – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K. Yikes. There were some nice changeups to LHB, but the Yankee offense took care of him easily. I see him as a 12-team streamer, in all likelihood.
Will Warren (NYY) – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K. It’s Carrasco and we’ll see you soon enough, Warren. No need to chase him when the time comes.
No Statcast – No TV
WSH vs. NYM
Shinnosuke Ogasawara (WSH) – 3.2 IP, 8 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 4 K. It’s Soroka.
Kodai Senga (NYM) – 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 6 K. Whoaaaa that’s fun. I really wish we had data on this one given how blegh Senga performed in his last outing. We got zero information from reports and all we can do is hope. I DON’T LIKE EMOTIONS.
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.Zack Wheeler – AGADrew Rasmussen – VIDEO! YES!José Berríos – Good CB?Clay Holmes – Throw sinker strikesKyle Hendricks – Okay
— Nick Pollack (@nickpollack.pitcherlist.com) 2025-03-21T14:50:51.155Z
