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
Davis Martin, Martín Pérez, and Jonathan Cannon are confirmed for the White Sox rotation. We already had large assumptions this would be the case, and now we can officially stamp it.
Site News
We added a few things for PL Pro subscribers!
I made a spreadsheet of all the important fastball velocity trends I’ve seen thus far from SP and shared it inside our Discord. Here it is after Thursday’s games:
We also added this fantastic Movement & Location chart to all pitchers inside our Spring Training Live Data app:
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
CWS vs. CLE
COL vs. LAD
SEA vs. SF
Martín Pérez (CWS) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K. He’s almost two ticks down (as expected for a vet) and he looks like himself.
Jake Eder (CWS) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K. I know he’s a name, but I’m not seeing anything special to latch onto, sadly.
Justin Dunn (CWS) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Oh man. Dunn has been through a gauntlet of injuries after showing promise with the Mariners and he’s now at 94 mph with a massive horizontal curve (kinda like a sweeper) and change. There’s an ultra darkhorse sleeper here for AL-Only best balls. That’s all I’ll say.
Logan Allen (CLE) – 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K. Four strikeouts are cool, sitting 1.6 ticks down at sub 90 mph? Not cool. Great feel for the CH against RHB, though.
Triston McKenzie (CLE) – 0.2 IP, 3 ER, 1 H, 5 BB, 0 K. He has zero command but he’s at 94/95 mph, up 3.4 ticks from last year. It makes you think he’s just going all out at max effort and it’s hard to believe he can hold that velocity across a full start and with proper command.
Bradley Blalock (COL) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K. I actually buy this from Blalock with good vert and over the top that hides his hyro slider and big hook well. There’s even a splitter in there too that works from his angle. I just wish he weren’t on the Rockies. Sigh. He may be my favorite save for Dollaner…?
Landon Knack (LAD) – 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Yep, that’s Knack. MASTAPIEEEECE!
Bryce Miller (SEA) – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K. We saw +1.7 mph to 96.8 mph and three cutters to LHB! Were they good? Not really! 0/3 strikes, though one was super tempting inside. We also saw five sinkers to RHB…on the outer half. Yeah, not totally polished yet (and I hope the approach is not away for the sinker) but that velocity is cool! Maybe that’s why?
Landen Roupp (SF) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K. Hmmmmm. The changeup was legit, especially against LHB (3/8 whiffs overall!) and the sinker/curve approach is still there, even if he’s a tick down (eh, it’s spring). I wonder if this Michael King mold is good enough – does he have King’s command, too? I see what Eno sees a bit, even if the new Stuff+ model depressed many of Roupp’s Stuff+ marks.
Statcast Games – No TV
DET vs. BOS
MIN vs. PIT
STL vs. MIA
PHI vs. NYY
NYM vs. HOU
CIN vs. AZ
TEX vs. SEA
Jack Flaherty (DET) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K. Only one curve is kinda weird, but otherwise, it’s Flaherty.
Kenta Maeda (DET) – 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K. Outside of the velocity shift (+1.0, not close to +2.0 that we saw in the first start), Maeda also shelved the gyro-esque slider into a full on sweeper, featuring the pitch more than any other for 41% CSW…and a HR. He could get that #5 spot if the velocity doesn’t fall further – the splitter worked against LHB, too. There’s value in your 15-teamers, though I think it’s too risky for 12-teamers.
Quinn Priester (BOS) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K. Savant has him throwing a new cutter out of nowhere, though it looks awfully like the four-seamer he had last year, which they registered twice at the same velocity and near identical movement on some cutters. I wonder if he’s messing around with seam orientation on those four-seamers/cutters and experimenting a bit? I dug his slider and curve command, just not the sinker and cutter/four-seamer. I’m still out there.
Pablo López (MIN) – 2.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K. Uggggh. I wish I could have watched this one and I dig that he’s trying to go inside with the sinker. Sadly, one was an RBI hit at 90 mph EV (not crushed) and I still believe there’s a world where he goes 20% sinkers inside to RHB and merges with the four-seamer upstairs to mess batters up. Nothing else to report here, he’s fine. Oh! He gained horizontal break across the board in this one. Why? Because he’s experimenting with moving toward 3B on the rubber. Would help a ton with that sinker inside and adding deception to the sweeper, but will he be able to command it all? Nothing was away to RHB yesterday, including the sweeper, likely because of the shift. I’m curious if that 16″ horizontal ride on the sinker and -8.6″ sweeper on the breaker stick.
Caleb Ferguson (PIT) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K. He’s a southpaw with a good cutter and 92/93 mph up-and-in to RHB + a big curve. It’s kinda cool…? I wonder if the Pirates are actually considering this given he started for two frames. Not a 12-teamer play, sadly, and a Toby at best for 15-teamers were he to get the spot. Not enough pizzazz.
Bubba Chandler (PIT) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K. SUP DUDER. Eleven pitches including a walk with one terrible spiked…something at 92/93 mph while the heater was 97.2 mph and two 88/89 mph sliders. Maybe Skenes taught him a splinker…The Pirates aren’t using him in a way that suggests he’ll make the OD rotation, sadly, but we’ll keep watching and hoping.
Anthony Solometo (PIT) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K. He’s a prospect who the Pirates could throw in there for starts this year but doesn’t carry anything explosive from the left side at 92/93 mph. No thanks.
Joey Wentz (PIT) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K. He still exists and now he’ll go back to…Philly. Or Kansas City? I don’t know football things.
Andre Pallante (STL) – 1.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 0 K. He was down 2.5 ticks on the cut-fastball with worse movement, too. This is a problem all around and it does make me wonder if Pallante’s roster spot is up for grabs if this continues. Quin Matthews? Michael McGreevy? Gordon Graceffo? Liberatore? The latter two were throwing harder, also. I’d keep a close eye on this for deeper leagues. 12-teamers, we only care if it’s Matthews. Otherwise, we wait until the first pass of the rotation.
Matthew Liberatore (STL) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K. He sat 95/96 mph, up a tick from last year’s 94/95 and has added 1.4″ of vert on the four-seamer. That’s pretty fun and there could be something to this if it holds across more than two frames.
Cal Quantrill (MIA) – 0.2 IP, 4 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K. He’s down 1.6 ticks on the sinker and for a guy in yet another comfortable setting to get “whatever” innings, he’s sure making a case not to start. The Marlins paid him $3.5M for the year and that likely forces him in the rotation as long as he’s healthy, but maybe he’s not…?
Valente Bellozo (MIA) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K. And Bellozo looks healthy sitting 1.7 ticks harder! At 90.9 mph. But it’s harder! And with an extra inch of vert! Nothing else to report, though. Sooooo yeah.
Adam Mazur (MIA) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K. He’s slightly down in velocity, but he was spotting sliders far better than his time in the majors last year. Still need to see more, of course.
Zack Wheeler (PHI) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K. Remember when Wheeler was down a few ticks in the spring and we were worried? Not this year. He’s +0.6 mph right now and you should feel totally fine with Wheeler.
José Alvarado (PHI) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K. I know he’s a reliever – I KNOW – but he sat 100 mph yesterday. I always have the need for spee–no. Need for relievers to showcase they can hold onto a Win earned by their superior starting pitcher overlords. Duh.
Carlos Rodón (NYY) – 2.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K. I love the near 20% changeup usage to RHB, but it’s not fun to see -1.8 mph on the four-seamer at 93.7 mph. HOWEVER, he should be ramping up and not wasting bullets + Rodón at his best is lower velocity early and harder late. Don’t judge him for 2.2 IP. And he also added 1.4″ of vert to sit 19″+. That’s rad.
Clay Holmes (NYM) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K. Velocity was down -1.8 ticks to 94.8 mph as expected given his shift from RP to SP, though I’m surprised we didn’t get a single changeup to a LHB. We saw six offerings in total, including a new cutter as well (yay!) that he failed to spot against LHB (no!), but I expect to improve over time. I dig this a lot, y’all.
Griffin Canning (NYM) – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K. Fewer changeups than usual from Canning and two inches of extra drop on the four-seamer, which may kinda work given how deadzone it was last year. Still, don’t love this and advise avoiding Canning. He’s too dang hittable.
Max Kranick (NYM) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K. The heater is 95 mph with 17″ of vert, but there isn’t anything that different from his time in 2022 (I could be missing something). I can see Kranick being a step up from Blackburn or Canning, though. I’ll keep watching.
Miguel Ullola (HOU) – 1.2 IP, 5 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K. Sigh. The four-seamer had a 46% strike rate across 26 thrown and that just can’t happen. He has such a stupid fun four-seamer that would crush if he could throw strikes, but this may just be a Joe Boyle scenario. I hope that changes.
Graham Ashcraft (CIN) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K. Not much new here save for changeups appearing in the place of sinkers + less cut on the cutter that gives a little more separation from the slider. Command is still weird and can’t be trusted, sadly.
Chase Petty (CIN) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K. He’s a 95+ mph arm with both four-seamer and sinker + a solid sweeper, but needs the change and/or slider to come through for LHB. I wonder what we’ll see when he eventually gets the call.
Brandon Pfaadt (AZ) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K. He’s down about a tick on the heater with much less overall movement. Without a new cutter or something else to fix his plan of attack against LHB, I’m still out here, even if that four-seamer can fix itself over more spring starts.
Yilber Diaz (AZ) – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K. He’s up 1/2 ticks on the four-seamer to sit 97.4 mph yesterday (!) with sliders at 85 mph and curves at 80 mph. Huh. If he can keep all three at 60%+ strike rates like he did here, that’s hot dang worthy once he gets starts. If he gets starts.
Tyler Mahle (TEX) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K. We were hoping to see Mahle back to flirting with 93+ mph after last year’s 91/92 mph and what we got was…90.8mph. Sigh. Maybe he’s ramping up, though it does seem as though he has something to prove. I don’t have high hopes, y’all.
Adrian Houser (TEX) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Houser was added for extra depth should the Rangers need an arm and not want to promote one of their young arms. He showed up sitting 95 mph on both heaters, roughly two ticks harder than 2024. Hmmm. I don’t think that makes him worthwhile, but he’s been able to locate well enough for stretches to provide value at a lower velocity and this could be a 15-teamer sleeper, at least off the wire if they were to let him start regularly.
Jhonathan Díaz (SEA) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K. The Mariners have little SP depth and you might see Diaz get some starts randomly. You don’t want it.
Harrison Kreiling (SEA) – 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K. Literally came up as “Unknown” as he was drafted last year from Nebraska and gave us our very first look. He’s super flat. Like 1.9 HAVAA that would be, what, 99th percentile? At 94 mph, that’s pretty awesome, he just needs to locate the heater upstairs instead of over the middle of the plate. That’s cool. Highly unlikely we see him in 2025 (or even 2026…?) but I see you Kreiling.
No Statcast – TV
CHC vs. LAA
MIL vs. KC
WSH vs. ATL
Jordan Wicks (CHC) – 2.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 3 K. Ehhh, I think we wait this one out. If he does get a rotation spot, there is value starting for the Cubs, though it’s far too risky for me.
Nate Pearson (CHC) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 K. He’s a reliever. Cool? Cool.
Keegan Thompson (CHC) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Oh hey! Good to see you Keegan, how’s the family?
Caden Dana (LAA) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K. Dana stepped in for an ill Kochanowicz and hot dang I wish we had data. I watched the whole appearance and he looks like a major league starter. Not an overwhelming one for fantasy purposes, but a 15-team Toby? Yeah, definitely. It’s a big hook, a slider that can earn whiffs, a decent change, and a pair of heaters that he can spot decently well, but does not demand strikeouts. That might be 12-team Toby were he to get the rotation spot, but it’s not enough for me to draft hoping for a rotation spot. Draft and hold does carry sneaky value, just not a potential dope breakout pick.
Aaron Civale (MIL) – 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 0 K. Oh dear, that’s not a locked in Civale. Let’s just say he’s getting ramped up for now.
Aaron Ashby (MIL) – 1.1 IP, 2 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 K. Two walks are a bit frustrating. The stuff for strikeouts have always been there, it’s just about command. He’s still struggling to get out and on top of the sinker and I hope we get there soon.
Chandler Champlain (KC) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K. Yeah, let’s wait until we get more than this from the prospect.
Ross Stripling (KC) – 1.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K. Oh dear. I’m sorry Strip.
Jake Irvin (WSH) – 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 K. Ehhh, not the locked in Irvin. Yet.
Konnor Pilkington (WSH) – 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Dude! I remember the small hoopla during your time with the Guardians. I doubt he’s anything but hey! Cool to see ya.
Bryce Elder (ATL) – 2.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K. Yep, that’s Bryce. He may be starting again if Anderson doesn’t pan out. I know.
No Statcast – No TV
TB vs. DET
BAL vs. TOR
ATH vs. SD
Mike Vasil (TB) – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K. This isn’t the guy you should be targetting.
Matt Manning (DET) – 2.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K. We saw increased velocity to 95/96 mph (+1.5) in his first start and I wonder if it returned here, too. Welp, we wait for the next one.
Grayson Rodriguez (BAL) – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K. Ayyy that’s rad. Now give me data and video please. PLEASE.
Roansy Contreras (BAL) – 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K. Y’all forgot he was here. And on the Angels. And on the Yankees. AND BACK HERE.
Justin Armbruester (BAL) – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Huh. I wrote him up last year for my Top 400 and didn’t this year after missing time with injury. I’m curious if we’ll get some solid data on him this spring to help us check in.
Andrew Bash (TOR) – 0.1 IP, 4 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K. He’s a prospect and that’s not a prospect line you want to see. I’m guessing a HBP is in there too…?
Luis Severino (ATH) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K. That’s Sevy.
Brady Basso (ATH) – 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K. I kinda think Basso ain’t so bad? A lefty with a big hook who could get some starts this year. Not the worst deep waiver play when it happens.
J.T. Ginn (ATH) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K. He’s a sinker/slider guy who you can ignore for a bit.
Matt Waldron (SD) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K. I hope this means the knuckle was working super well. That would be so fun.
Jhony Brito (SD) – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K. Doesn’t seem like he’s killing it..? He needs to if he wants the SP #5 spot or even to be considered when another spot or two opens up. I still feel there’s something small there for a deep league Toby, but I’m not holding my breath.
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.Sandy Alcantara IS ON TV Y'ALLJesús Luzardo – Please go inside FF to LHB.Chris Bassitt – Expect lower velo. It's fine.
— Nick Pollack (@nickpollack.pitcherlist.com) 2025-02-28T15:06:16.004Z