What to watch for (27 Feb)

Shane Baz (Orioles)

Shane Baz makes his first appearance of the Spring today. Newly acquired via trade from the Rays, Baz will be competing with Trevor Rogers to be the Opening Day starter. As it’s his first outing, I really just want to see that he is healthy and commands his fastball.

Freddy Peralta (Mets)

The Mets’ de facto ace makes his spring training debut today. Peralta comes off his best season to date. He finished 5th in NL Cy Young with a 2.70 ERA over 176.1 innings. His best pitch was his fastball and changeup; his slider had a 53% whiff rate last season. Excited to see if he can reproduce his form from last season.

Jack Flaherty (Tigers)

Flaherty’s ERA (4.64) was higher than expected last season, mainly because he was unable to command his breaking balls. I want to see how he handles that today and that he keeps his breaking stuff off the middle of the plate.

Chris Sale (Braves)

Sale looked sharp in his spring debut earlier this week against the Twins, pitching 2 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts and no walks. The Braves recently signaled massive confidence in the 36-year-old southpaw by signing him to a one-year, $27 million contract extension.

Robby Snelling (Marlins)

Snelling enters the 2026 season as the Marlins’ reigning Minor League Pitcher of the Year following a dominant 2025 campaign where he posted a 2.51 ERA and 166 strikeouts across 136 innings. He had a solid spring training debut last week, pitching a perfect inning against the Mets. Can he follow this up with another strong performance?

Rhett Lowder (Reds)

This is a fun one to watch as Lowder is battling for the final rotation spot against Chase Burns. Lowder missed the entire 2025 season due injuries. He’s healthy now and had a sharp Spring debut last week. Look for his changeup today. It is considered a “plus” offering with excellent deception and tumbling action.

Edward Cabrera (Cubs)

Cabrera was acquired via trade with the Marlins, and he’s an exciting arm for the Cubs. He’s a flame thrower. His fastball averages 96.9 mph! He gets a lot of strikeouts, but he has at times struggled with walks and wild pitches. Look for him to attack the zone early.

Robbie Ray (Giants)

All I want to see is that Ray commands his fastball and gets ahead in counts. If he can do that, he’s hard to stop.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers)

Final prep for the WBC for Yamamoto. He will want to improve on his last outing. He was dominant in the first inning last time he pitched, but struggled a little in the 2nd inning. No concerns here, but Japan will want him in mid-season form for the WBC.

Lance McCullers Jr (Astros)

In 2025, he struggled with a 6.51 ERA and 1.81 WHIP over 55.3 innings, eventually spending time in the bullpen before finishing the season with a strong three-inning start against the Angels.

McCullers has been plagued by injuries over the past few seasons. This is the first healthy offseason he’s had in many years, so I expect him to be better this season. He’s battling for a rotation spot so will want to get off to a good start today and build from there.

Miles Mikolas (Nationals)

Mikolas recenlty signed a one-year, $2.25 million contract with the Nationals. He’s expected to be a veteran innings eater for a young rotation. He relies on generating weak contact to get quick outs, so look for that today. He doesn’t often walk hitters either.

Luis Castillo (Mariners)

This is Castillo’s first spring start this season. He is due to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the WBC. Look for his fastball velocity. Last season it was at its lowest ever (below 95 mph).