After a long offseason, baseball is almost back! Well… kind of.
We’re two months away from Opening Day and even further from the sport heating up in earnest. The days of enjoying hot dogs, popcorn, and crackerjacks under the summer sun are far, far, far away. To get there, we must toil away in spring training, watch the meaningless exhibitions, and see the Red Sox play an almost always overmatched Northeastern team.
That doesn’t mean you should change that proverbial dial if you find your television of choice flashing the baseball diamond in full 1080 HD. From new faces in new places, new units to notice, players with something to prove, young names trying to etch themselves into the history books, and narratives worth nabbing, some storylines can transcend from February and March’s doldrums into summer’s dog days. Here are just a few.
The Mets’ New-Look Offense
Juan Soto is a New York Met, in case anyone missed it.
Sarcasm aside, Soto has somehow started to fly under the radar. For just a refresher, he’s joining a team that went to the NLCS a season ago and teaming up with NL MVP finalist Francisco Lindor, a finally back in the blue and orange Pete Alonso, and Mark Vientos, a breakout star from last season. Oh, and the always underappreciated Brandon Nimmo, former batting champion Jeff McNeil, and former top prospect Francisco Alvarez.
Listing these players together isn’t to brag on behalf of the Flushing Faithful. It’s more to remind those just coming out of their baseball hibernation that the Mets offense could be box office. It’s the type of one-through-nine that rivals the reigning champions and lets them go into any series, whether it’s October or April, and feel confident they can win.
Let’s take a second to examine the possible construction of that one through five. It could go as follows: Lindor, Soto, Alonso, Nimmo, and Vientos. There isn’t a single let-up here or reason to take a breather. They come one after another and will demand only excellence from the pitcher across from them. That mental and physical strain matters and it’s something that translates itself to what happens on the diamond.
Yet despite Soto’s addition, no one might benefit more from things than Alonso. The Polar Bear is coming off a down year in 2024. That’s no secret, nor is it a mistake that his new deal with the Mets maxes out at two years. But coming back to Queens could have Alonso poised for long-term success.
For starters, he’ll be hitting behind Lindor and Soto, or Lindor, Soto, and Vientos. Lindor and Soto have .342 and .421 career OBPs, respectively. In other words, it’s more likely than not Alonso will come to the plate with at least one of the two on base for him. And that’s where the slugger’s always thrived. Historically, Alonso touts a .871 OPS with men on and a .911 OPS with runners in scoring position. The latter is 20th among all hitters from 2019 to 2024, with at least 500 plate appearances. This might be Soto’s Mets, but Alonso could be atop the leaderboards.
And if Alonso falters as he did last year, maybe it’ll be Vientos. In his first full season, the third baseman hit .266/.322/.516 with 27 home runs, 71 RBIs, and an .837 OPS. He’s just as capable of cashing in as Alonso. Or maybe it’ll be Nimmo. Or Alvarez. Or Jesse Winker. Or… Well, things explain themselves at this point.
The point is the Mets offense could be special if its potential is realized. Whether these preseason expectations will, can, or could meet reality is unknown. However, spring training will give fans their first glimpse of what possibilities lie within this lineup. And that’s reason enough to tune in.
The Dodgers Rotation
The Mets offense isn’t the only star-studded unit making their debut this spring. That honor also goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers and a gobsmacking, fan-infuriating rotation. As a reminder for those with snow-infused brains still doused in the winter cold, the Dodgers 2025 rotation will include Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, and sometime later this season, Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw.
It is without exaggeration one of the most talented rotations in MLB history, having a two-time Cy Young winner (Snell), a three-time Sawamura Award winner, and a five (Yamamoto) and two-time NPB All-Star (Sasaki), a thrice-winning MVP and four-time All-Star (Ohtani), and a veteran pitcher who won three Cy Youngs, a triple crown, and an MVP (Kershaw). Phew.
Not all of these pitchers will see action this spring. Kershaw only recently re-inked with the team and is recovering from another set of offseason surgeries. He’ll spend the first third of the season on the 60-day IL. Don’t expect to see him in Dodger Blue until later this season. Ohtani, however, is a different story. He’s still working his way back from an undisclosed 2023 elbow surgery. The Dodgers expect him to take the hill come May, so while he won’t pitch this spring, his return will be sooner rather than later.
For now, the Dodgers need to make do with what they’ve got: An already unreal rotation.
Fans of other teams loathe the Dodgers now. And that’s perfectly understandable to a degree. They spend more than anyone, attract only the best both in and outside of MLB, somehow still have a studly farm system 13 years since announcing themselves, and oh, yeah, they’re the reigning champions. Winners are easy to hate, especially when it’s all they do.
But baseball fans everywhere need to appreciate what this Dodgers rotation might be. They don’t need to like it, let alone root for it. Yet somewhere in their ink, black, poisoned hearts, even they can surely find something fascinating about what this looks like. If everyone stays healthy, a Monday through Friday slate in August starts with Snell and goes to Yamamoto, Glasnow, and Ohtani before ending with Sasaki or Kershaw. It’s beautifully bonkers.
Seeing that come to fruition is far off. For now, let’s enjoy what spring allows and daydream about the dog days to come.
Jackson Holiday
Jackson Holliday was the talk of baseball in 2022 when he was drafted first overall. And for good reason. Holliday tore up high school baseball like it was a job, hitting .685 in 2022 with 17 home runs, 79 RBIs, 29 doubles, and 30 steals over just 40 games played. His 89 hits were a new amateur national record, leading Holliday to be the Oklahoma Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year.
Oh, and his dad is seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday. That helps, too.
Yet here we are, two and a half years later, and all of those stats feel a lifetime removed. Thus far, Holliday’s MLB stats are a .189 batting average, a .255 OBP, a .311 SLG, a.565 OPS, and a 63 wRC+. He has just five home runs and 23 RBIs to his name, four doubles, four steals, and a 0.0 fWAR. Calling him a productive MLB hitter would be an overstatement. So, what makes Holliday worth tracking this spring training when he hasn’t delivered on any of his promises? Well, because for the first time since being picked first overall, the Baltimore Orioles need Jackson Holliday.
Let’s rewind for just a second. When the Orioles selected Holliday, they did so with a stacked farm system (ranking first in Fangraphs 2023 rankings, first in MLB.com’s preseason polling, and third in The Athletic’s 2023 list) and a readymade future. Adley Rutschman was coming off a rookie season that saw him finish second in the AL Rookie of the Year race, Gunnar Henderson came up and enjoyed a .788 OPS in 34 games, and the team finished above .500 for the first time since 2016.
Matters were also helped by just how much offensive talent existed in Baltimore’s prospect pipeline: Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg, Heston Kjerstad, Coby Mayo, Joey Ortiz, and Connor Norby. Holliday wasn’t drafted to lead the Orioles on his own. He was drafted to be one of many superstars. That was the idea.
Things have changed since then. The farm has either graduated its top-end talent or traded parts of it, with three of their top 10 2023 prospects now elsewhere. The team also underperformed in 2024, finishing 10 wins worse despite acquiring Corbin Burnes. Then, the O’s watched Burnes and Anthony Santander walk out the door this winter. And their replacements? On offense, a streaky Tyler O’Neill, Gary Sánchez, and recently DFA’d Dylan Carlson. On the pitching side, it’s 41-year-old Charlie Morton, Andrew Kittredge, and Tomoyuki Sugano, an enticing yet unknown addition from Japan.
Nowhere in that list of additions is the certainty Burnes or Santander brought. Not even close. The Orioles got worse, lost their best pitcher, a hitter who clubbed 44 home runs and 102 RBIs, and they didn’t do much to soften the blow of either leaving. That’s been their last 12 months.
That brings us back to where we started. If this year is going to be better than the last, Holliday needs to take a step forward. He needs to supply some of the offensive force Santander left behind, not just for himself and his career prospects but for a thinning lineup.
Spring training might not be the best foray to find out if Holliday’s changed. He’ll face few major league arms, play infrequently, and know these are meaningless exhibitions. But the Orioles need Holliday to treat these matches like a series-deciding Game 7 of the World Series. They need him to come into the season confident and on the major league roster and to go from a below-average offensive player to someone decidedly better.
Because even if Holliday is young and capable of rewriting things with time, the Orioles aren’t. Rutschman has three years of service time, Henderson will join him following the 2025 season, Ryan Mountcastle is close to free agency, and few on the starting pitching side feel like difference-makers. Grayson Rodriguez can be should his health allow it, yet that’s been a struggle for the right-hander.
The Orioles’ season will not fail if Holliday continues to look how he has. But its ceiling will be capped, and the O’s could again be on the couch in early October. And that’s almost a fate worse than death for a team that purposefully subjected their fanbase to four of the worst consecutive seasons in the sport’s history for the “greater good” of the franchise. In short, the Orioles don’t need Holliday to be the talk of baseball by season’s end. Excelling and being the talk of spring training might be a good place to start, though.
The Young Guns
Spring training isn’t only for those seeking a second chance. It’s also for those seeking to stake a claim. Here’s a laundry list of prospects that could crack the majors with a good spring.
Fewer prospects this spring will be labeled a prodigal son like Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony. Highly lauded and oft-praised, Anthony is one of the best minor leaguers in the game, opening 2025 as the No. 1 prospect according to The Athletic and the second-best according to MLB.com and ESPN.
Regardless, Anthony has merits. Last season, he finally made the leap full-time to Double-A and made it his plaything. In 84 games with Worcester, the outfielder hit .269/.367/.489 with 15 home runs, 45 RBI, 20 doubles, 16 steals, and a .856 OPS. His success led to a promotion to Triple-A, where Anthony improved, hitting a staggering .344/.463/.519 with 20 RBI, 12 doubles, and a .983 OPS in 35 games. And what’s more? Anthony achieved all this as a 20-year-old.
Anthony is one of the best prospects in baseball, the perfect combination of power, contact, and speed. No professional level has yet to contain him. If that remains true this spring, there’s a chance Anthony could crack the Sox’s Opening Day roster. That, however, is easier said than done given Boston’s outfield logjam. There’s Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Rob Refsnyder, and other options in Romy González and Masataka Yoshida.
If Anthony wants to make the roster early, he’ll need to force Boston’s hand. Thankfully, he has the talent to do so.
Sticking in Boston, we find another prospect who could sneak onto the squad: Kristian Campbell. While Anthony has built his pedigree through time, Campbell is much the opposite, more of an overnight success than a building myth. What they have in common is an uncanny ability to mash. Campbell hit .327/.439/.546 with a .986 OPS through two minor league seasons.
Campbell seems the real deal, and others are starting to take notice. MLB.com and The Athletic have comfortably included the second basemen in their top 10 prospects.
While Anthony is still considered to be in a different tier than Campbell, the latter has something Anthony lacks: experience. Seeing as Anthony is 20, the Sox know he’s ahead of schedule. There’s no need to rush him to the majors, not when there’s a chance it could hinder his development. With Campbell and his 22-years, it’s a different story. He’s gone through high school, college, A-ball, Double-A, and has more recently, albeit briefly, established himself in Triple-A. There’s no excuse or reason to keep him buried in Worcester, even with the addition of Alex Bregman.
It’s not all about hitters, though. The Philadelphia Phillies have a potential gem in pitcher Andrew Painter. The 21-year-old is no stranger to spring training chatter. Following a superb 2022 season that saw Painter post a 1.56 ERA across the minor leagues, there was a possibility he’d crack the 2023 Opening Day roster. That possibility only grew after Painter saw some on-the-field action in spring training.
But just as things blossomed, Painter’s elbow died on the vine. What started as a UCL sprain in March eventually led to Tommy John surgery and ulnar nerve transposition surgery in July of 2023. Painter subsequently missed all of 2023 and most of 2024. His only in-game action was six appearances in the Arizona Fall League. Yet despite the rust, Painter looked like himself. He’d pitch to a 2.30 ERA and 0.89 WHIP, record 18 strikeouts in those six starts, and see his fastball touch 100 mph. Now we’re again wondering if Painter will make the Phillies roster out of camp.
Injury and time-off aside, something else is hampering Painter’s chances — the Phillies don’t need him. Their projected rotation includes Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez, the recently acquired Jesús Luzardo, and Cristopher Sánchez. Among those five, the worst ERA was Luzardo’s 5.00 mark. But keep two things in mind: Luzardo played with the 62-100 Marlins, a team that sought out abject misery rather than steer from it, and only made 12 starts last season due to back injuries. Before the fish and Luzardo’s back went into the tank, he’d posted a 3.32 ERA in 2022 and a 3.58 in 2023. Luzardo isn’t the odd man out. He’s the pitcher with the most to prove.
So, where does that leave Painter? Probably back in the Phillies’ minor league system. And that’s okay. He hasn’t pitched a single non-exhibition inning since 2022. Giving him time to acclimate to hitters before throwing him to the best-of-the-best might be a good thing in the long run, especially when Painter is only 21. Time is on his side. We hope health is, too.
But if Painter wants to make a statement, he’ll have a chance this spring. He only has to seize it.
Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw is another player worth tracking. With Bregman bouncing to Boston, Shaw is expected to compete for Chicago’s hot corner. This isn’t the Cubs just settling, however. Shaw is a well-regarded prospect with success at each minor league level. He’ll have to do far less than Anthony, Campbell, and Painter to secure a roster spot, but a strong camp could leave fans in the North Side breathing easier.
Best of the Rest
Before we can say goodbye to the off-season, certain players still need a new home.
For those seeking a stable arm for their rotation, look no further than Jose Quintana. True, Quintana has his faults, namely his inability to pitch deep into games, struggles to stay healthy, and the fact he’s a 36-year-old whose best stuff is behind him. Some of that manifested in 2023 when a rib stress fracture sidelined him for the first half of the season, or in 2024 when Quintana had a 5.29 ERA on June 9.
That said, there’s still plenty to like about Quintana. From July 4 to the end of the season, the southpaw recorded a 2.98 ERA with 70 strikeouts and a .641 opposing OPS while pitching into the sixth inning eight times. This isn’t a small sample size. Quintana can still spin it and did so at the highest levels, not allowing a single earned run against the Brewers in the Wild Card or the Phillies in the NLDS. There’s no reason why teams like the Orioles, Twins, Astros, or the Cardinals can’t scoop Quintana up.
The same goes for another former Met, Jose Iglesias. History will remember many things about the 2024 Mets—Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos, a plethora of strong pitchers—but the one name it’s unfortunately most likely to forget is Iglesias. And that’s a shame.
Over his 85 games in the blue and orange, Iglesias hit .337/.381/.448 with three home runs, 24 RBIs, 16 doubles, 121 total bases, and an .830 OPS. On top of that, the veteran was capable in the field, notching a 77th percentile finish in OAA. He finished fourth on the team in fWAR, only behind Vientos, Brandon Nimmo, and Lindor. More than any counting stat, Iglesias’ “OMG” became an anthem for a team he’d just joined and galvanized them to reach the heights they were capable of.
And yet, no one’s signed Iglesias this offseason. The Mets, who partly have him to thank for their 2024, have publicly even said they won’t bring him back. It’s baffling, partly because Iglesias isn’t a one-hit-wonder. His .298 batting average is sixth in baseball since 2019, and while he lacks power, his .748 OPS and 99 wRC+ are more than adequate numbers. Whatever front office realizes that first and signs Iglesias won’t regret it.
One last name to keep an eye on is David Robertson. The veteran reliever had his ups and downs, but 2024 was more of the former than the latter. Robertson posted a 3.00 ERA, a 132 ERA+, a 2.65 FIP, a 1.11 WHIP, and a 12.4 SO/9 in 68 games with Texas.
Though Robertson, like those before him, might be on the older side—clocking in at 39 and soon to be 40—he can still fit into any bullpen. In an age where bullpens are more important than ever, why are teams so reluctant to give Robertson a contract? He’s made 55 or more appearances these last three seasons and has a 2.82 ERA in them.