Spring Training has arrived and as I’ve been writing daily notes for myself to recap all spring training starting pitchers, 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
Atlanta optioned Hurston Waldrep and Dylan Dodd to Triple-A. We didn’t expect them to make the squad and this shouldn’t change a whole lot. At least we’ll get a brief look at Royber Salinas in their place, even if I’m not expecting anything exciting in the slightest. But there’s a chance…
Alec Marsh threw a normal bullpen as he aims to return be ready for April. He’ll likely miss opening day, allowing Kris Bubic to take the #5 spot…unless he stumbles and one of Noah Cameron or Daniel Lynch IV swoop in the snipe it. I’m not against Cameron, FWIW, as he pushed his 92/93 mph heater to 95+ in his first spring appearance, with an elite changeup and curve to back it up from the left side. I’m not expecting Cameron to seize it, but I’d pick him up instantly if he does.
Sawyer Gipson-Long will throw a bullpen on Friday. He’s recovering from both Hip and Internal Brace surgery, with an expectation of July to return to the MLB (should their be a spot). That timeline is a little later than I hoped for, though I adore SGL once he finds regular starts. His extension is 99th percentile, y’all.
Alex Cobb received an injection to help speed up his recovery from hip soreness. Considering an injection wasn’t planned, it doesn’t point to Cobb maintaining a smooth path toward pitching for the Tigers in early April. I’d expect that whoever gets the #4/#5 spots in Detroit are relatively secure for a bit assuming quality.
Expected Rotations By Team
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Statcast Games – TV
TOR vs. STL
LAD vs. SEA
CLE vs. MIL
SD vs. LAA
Max Scherzer (TOR) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K. This is cool. 92.6 mph velocity, which matches last year, suggesting there is more than this in the tank as usually guys like Scherzer are saving bullets and not featuring their season velocity in their first start. I’d normally say “Oh sweet! Grab Scherzer!” but he has a rough early schedule and it makes me a little wary. Probably worth the opening weekend start against the Orioles, right?
Bowden Francis (TOR) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K. Bowden looks like himself with the same cut action on his four-seamer that he had in the second half of last year. And an extra inch of vert. Yeah, that’s fun. Probably not sticking, but fun. Just one whiff in 27 pitches is kinda…what I expect?
Quinn Mathews (STL) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Oh boy. I get it y’all. I wasn’t as in on Quinn beforehand, but watching him here? I see it, especially with the better data. 94/95 fastballs at 18-19″ of vert and 1.3 HAVAA?! And above-average extension? AND HE COMMANDS IT?! Throw in a changeup that’s legit against RHB (save for one that was crushed) and a great SL for both LHB and RHB, and you have a fantastic southpaw. The Cardinals are not the most aggressive team with prospect pitchers, though, and they likely won’t start Mathews out of camp unless there is a dire need for him. I sure wish they did, though, even with his limited Triple-A innings. He’s an auto-add in 12-teamers the moment he arrives.
Cooper Hjerpe (STL) – 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K. He’s kinda interesting with a super flat 1.7 HAVAA at 92/93 mph and 16-17″ of vert. I’d keep watching this one as it’ll come down to locating that fastball upstairs and nailing the sweeper against RHB + changeup & cutter for LHB.
Blake Snell (LAD) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K. Yep, all normal here.
Ben Casparius (LAD) – 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K. He came out pumping 97 mph with 18″ of vert and a flat attack angle…at 5.8′ of extension. I wonder if the velocity is simply because of the max-effort setting instead of starting like he did briefly last year, but yeah. Monitor this, even if the Dodgers have far too many alternatives to start for now.
Justin Wrobleski (LAD) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K. The king of anti-stretching at 5.2 extension, Wrobelski’s 95 mph heater is still effective. There just isn’t anything else in the arsenal to get pumped about. For now.
Luis Castillo (SEA) – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K. His velocity is mega down 3/4 ticks to just 93.9 mph (yikes), but he’s a veteran. Let him ramp and see where he is in his next start or two before doing anything foolish. It was down on everything, for what it’s worth.
Luis Ortiz (CLE) – 1.1 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Oh dear. Let’s just forget about this for now, yeah? If he continues to struggle, you have to wonder if Cleveland takes advantage of his two options and slots Joey Cantillo into the spot instead.
Vince Velasquez (CLE) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 1 K. Hey, I think it’s cool that you’re here VV, but you need to be VV impressive. Which means you can’t walk three batters. Still hovering 45% slider usage, though. That’s cool, just get it over the plate.
Jacob Misiorowski (MIL) – 1.0 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 1 K. He’s so good and it’s just so wild. Sigh. He’s so unbelievably hard to hit, it’s just so tough for him to throw strikes.
Stephen Kolek (SD) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K. Ehhhh, nothing stands out here. Sinkers first and zero whiffs on secondaries.
Omar Cruz (SD) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 K. He’s four-seamer (92/93) and changeup. That’s it. No thanks.
José Soriano (LAA) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. He lost 2-3 inches of horizontal ride on both the sinker and curve. Wonder if there’s an arm angle adjustment causing that. Cool to see more sliders than curves, though. That can be a gamechanger for him if it turns into a strong strike pitch for him between the two signature offerings.
George Klassen (LAA) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K. Sat 96+ mph at 1.2 HAVAA, but roughly six feet of extension and poor vert. Hmmmm, not as fun as I wanted him to be.
Statcast Games – No TV
PIT vs. ATL
MIN vs. NYY
MIA vs. WSH
TEX vs. KC
COL vs. CWS
Jared Jones (PIT) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K. He threw the sinker! Five times! And meh location! Tallied roughly 20% usage against RHB and that sounds great to me. Keep at it Jones, even if the four-seamer velocity trended down as the start went on, per usual. But just two innings! I know. It’s what he does – pumps for the first and then brings it down.
Thomas Harrington (PIT) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. The sweeper is great (just 1/10 whiffs, but one more makes it 20% so whatever) with generally solid command, but the four-seamer’s shape is suspect. I’m a little cautious this is just a sweeper guy and much prefer Bubba over Harrington.
Spencer Schwellenbach (ATL) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K. He had some weird data on his cutter, with 1.5 extra ticks at the cost of drop and less cut and I wonder what was a poorly thrown four-seamer (96+) and what was actually a cutter. Regardless, he was 1.7 HAVAA on the four-seamer, which is all kinds of awesome and I absolutely adore that he refused to throw the four-seamer to LHB. Ugggggh, I’m so tempted to jump back in on Mr. Crescendo.
Davis Daniel (ATL) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Oh right, he’s here. You can ignore it.
Simeon Woods Richardson (MIN) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K. Arm angle is going back up to get more vert (over 18″ now) and his slider + curve combined for 3/15 whiffs. I’m still out, but he could win a rotation spot and there’s something in that. He could have earned more trust from the Twins, too, allowing him to find the sixth more often in another full season. Still don’t like it. Yeah, neither do I.
Louis Varland (MIN) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K. It’s still a good heater if he can hold the 96 mph velocity for more than a single frame, but is there enough support? He’s likely just going to relieve again, anyway…I think.
Edward Cabrera (MIA) – 1.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 0 K. Just two sliders and he struggled. Blegh. At least the velocity is there? Hopefully more sliders will appear in his next outings, but if they don’t, I’m not chasing it.
Trevor Williams (WSH) – 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. He was down 2-3 ticks on the heater at 86 mph and change, though he is a veteran and likely ramps up. Whatever, don’t care. #NeverTrevor.
Kumar Rocker (TEX) – 1.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 K. He got torched in this one, but was sitting 97.4 mph – a jump from the 96 mph we saw last year. Oddly, I didn’t see his slider in this one and instead a 90 mph cutter (just once) with 26% curveballs at 80 mph out of nowhere. That’s not the Rocker we want. Let’s see what his next outing holds.
Seth Lugo (KC) – 2.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K. You’d expect Lugo to be throwing ~90 mph and saving bullets. Nope, he’s up 1.4 ticks on the four-seamer to..93.6 mph. That’s cool to see, I wonder if we get 94/95 mph by the end of the spring? We often see the lower end of velocity for vets entering the spring as they ramp up. This could be huge for Lugo and gives hope he could actually replicate last year’s performance. Huh. I didn’t expect this one. He also upped the cutter usage to be his most thrown pitch. But it was a bad outing. Don’t care.
Ben Kudrna (KC) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K. 95 mph without anything else pitch shape wise to get me amped. Womp womp.
Germán Márquez (COL) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K. Welcome back, friend. Buddy. You.
Austin Gomber (COL) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K. He’s down almost three ticks, but it’s the spring, right? We weren’t drafting him anyway. Right right right.
Davis Martin (CWS) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K. Looks like he’s at a lower arm angle for more horizontal movement as he introduced a sinker four times. Not a shock here – Martin profiles out as a sinker/change/slider guy more than overpowering four-seamer at 93/94 mph. Could make him a little more consistent this year.
Jairo Iriarte (CWS) – 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K. He used to throw hard. Now it’s 94/95mph. No thanks.
No Statcast – TV
HOU vs. NYM
TB vs. PHI
ATL vs. BOS
CHC vs. AZ
Ronel Blanco (HOU) – 1.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K. Oh dear. It’s the spring and he has a rotation spot, so let’s not be silly. He’s also on the older side despite his lack of innings on the field – it means he may need a little longer to warm up than others.
Hayden Wesneski (HOU) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Hey, that’s solid for Wesneski. As long as he keeps being “good” and not “terrible,” the job is his. I’d love to get pitch data to see how everything is working out as a full arsenal vs. his time as a reliever.
Taj Bradley (TB) – 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K. No walks. That’s cool.
Mason Montgomery (TB) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K. If only they’d let you start. And give us data. I NEED IT.
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K. I think I saw the new cutter unleashed in this game, but we have no data + the camera angle does not favor LHP at all. Sigh. A new cutter to jam RHB is exactly what Sánchez needs and I’m already excited. I’m likely raising him up my ranks into the 40s if we get confirmation in March with legit trust from Sánchez to use it in tandem with his sinker and changeup to RHB.
Reynaldo López (ATL) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K. This is nothing, though one walk in two innings = 4.5 BB/9. That’s absurd sample size n all, just having fun considering walks may be ReyLó’s bane this year.
Jameson Taillon (CHC) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K. What looked like a backdoor cutter or change to a LHB was taken for a ride like picking a fighter in MvC2. THAT HOMER WAS A MAHVEL BABY. I wonder if he has more tricks up his sleeve this spring.
Cody Poteet (CHC) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K. Poteet is a backup option. Keep this in mind deeper into the season but likely not out of the gate. He’s a discount Schmidt type.
No Statcast – No TV
BAL vs. DET
ATH vs. SF
Charlie Morton (BAL) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K. Yep, that’s Morton.
Dean Kremer (BAL) – 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K. Kremer is a deep league option who will have moments n whatnot.
Jackson Jobe (DET) – 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Jobe, I need you to dominate, you know? And be on TV. And have Statcast. Not fair.
Keider Montero (DET) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K. He’s in the fight for a rotation spot if Jobe, Manning, and Maeda don’t work out. Not a thing for most leagues, sadly.
Brant Hurter (DET) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K. He was absurd last season and may become a sneaky follower once again if the Tigers find themselves needing help – maybe even as a piggyback for Maeda or Jobe?
JP Sears (ATH) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K. Ayyy strikes! I wonder if there’s something here that makes this stick. I doubt it, but his low arm angle makes him a PLV darling. Could be a sneaky strikeout sleeper.
Robbie Ray (SF) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K. Apparently he has a new changeup taught to him by Skubal. Can’t wait to watch it and get some data on it. ANYTHING. PLEASE. It makes sense given his lean into sliders and curves for RHB, though he doesn’t quite need the help, does he? I’m skeptical Ray can return over a 60% strike rate with it.
What To Watch Today On TV
SPs to watch on TV today #SpringSPnotes Get morning updates to EVERY SP via my daily Plus Pitch Podcast AND SP Roundup article on the Pitcher List site.Tarik Skubal – DOPEAJ Smith-Shawver – Anything new?Will Warren – CH/SL for strikes?José Berríos – Hi.Sean Burke – Strikes galore?
— Nick Pollack (@nickpollack.pitcherlist.com) 2025-02-26T16:31:42.561Z
