What to watch for (25 Feb)

Trevor Rogers (Orioles)

Rogers is currently the favourite to get the nod as the Opening Day ace. Today’s performance could go a long way to solidify that. In his spring debut last week, he was dominant, throwing 23 out of 32 pitches for strikes and recording three strikeouts in two scoreless innings. I want to see Rogers maintaining his dominance.

Casey Mize (Tigers)

Casey had a solid 2025 season with a 3.87 ERA. He will want to build on this in 2026. Watch for his fastball command today, and his splitter. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Casey yet.

Paul Skenes (Pirates)

Any day Skenes takes the mound is a good day. Skenes will be ramping up for the World Baseball Classic. He will porbably in mid-season form, so just enjoy the mound mastery!

Bryce Elder (Braves)

I want to see better consistency from Bryce. He walked too many batters and gave up too many homers. I also want to see an improved slider. His slider lost effectiveness last season, and having an effective slider is critical to his success.

Hunter Brown (Astros)

Another exciting arm takes the mound today! I just want to see if his velocity is still the same as last season and if he has good command over his repertoire. Maybe a bit much to ask for in his first Spring outing, but expectations are sky-high after a huge 2025 season in which he posted a 2.43 ERA with 206 strikeouts.

Nathan Eovaldi (Rangers)

I want to see two things – is Eovaldi healthy and how effective is his splitter. In his spring debut last week, Eovaldi surrendered two home runs on his splitter. He admitted afterwards that the pitch is a little inconsistent at the moment. Lets see if its any better today.

Nick Lodolo (Reds)

Lodolo’s strikeout rate dropped to a career low last season. His stuff is still electric. So I want to see if he can regain his strikeout punch again.

Roki Sasaki (Dodgers)

The Dodgers have said that Sasaki needs a reliable third pitch to succeed as a Major League starter. So look for his experimentation with a faster gyro-spin slider or a cutter to complement his triple-digit fastball and elite splitter. Sasaki is always fun to watch.

Enjoy the show!