After another long, cold, dark winter, there’s good news: Baseball is back. The Yankees visit the Giants |
Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports
Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports
Our experts have no clear consensus on who might throw the season’s first no-hitter or make the biggest trade-deadline splash, but fans can expect a landmark walk year from Tarik Skubal, a whole lot of home runs from Shohei Ohtani and maybe even 100 wins for the Dodgers.
As for the star who disappoints, injury concerns could explain the picks of Corbin Carroll and Spencer Strider (my pick, though I named him before the injury news). Chris Sale is entering into his age-37 season and has qualified for just one ERA title since 2017. Regression is the big question with Cal Raleigh and Nick Kurtz; both are top-25 picks on Yahoo.
Then there’s the veteran who’s still got it. Our voters went around the horn with this question, covering the infield, the outfield, two starters and one reliever. Nolan Arenado and Max Scherzer both land around Pick 190, offering the most bang for your buck.
Finally, when it comes to playoff surprises, opinions were split on the Braves and Padres. Two of our experts have the Braves going to the playoffs, while another named them the team most likely to disappoint. Things are even more polarizing in San Diego; two voters put them in the playoffs, but three others called for them to be the most surprising playoff miss.
After another long, cold, dark winter, there’s good news: Baseball is back. The Yankees visit the Giants
Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports
Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports
Our experts have no clear consensus on who might throw the season’s first no-hitter or make the biggest trade-deadline splash, but fans can expect a landmark walk year from Tarik Skubal, a whole lot of home runs from Shohei Ohtani and maybe even 100 wins for the Dodgers.
As for the star who disappoints, injury concerns could explain the picks of Corbin Carroll and Spencer Strider (my pick, though I named him before the injury news). Chris Sale is entering into his age-37 season and has qualified for just one ERA title since 2017. Regression is the big question with Cal Raleigh and Nick Kurtz; both are top-25 picks on Yahoo.
Then there’s the veteran who’s still got it. Our voters went around the horn with this question, covering the infield, the outfield, two starters and one reliever. Nolan Arenado and Max Scherzer both land around Pick 190, offering the most bang for your buck.
Finally, when it comes to playoff surprises, opinions were split on the Braves and Padres. Two of our experts have the Braves going to the playoffs, while another named them the team most likely to disappoint. Things are even more polarizing in San Diego; two voters put them in the playoffs, but three others called for them to be the most surprising playoff miss.
PEORIA, ARIZONA – MARCH 12: Ty France #4 of the San Diego Padres plays second base in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals during a spring training game at Peoria Stadium on March 12, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Going into spring of 2026 with less uncertainty than last season, the San Diego Padres still had some questions that needed answering as well as competition for holes that needed filling.
As opposed to previous seasons, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was able to sign multiple players that could fill those roles. None of them were over-the-hill players and most had recent success in the big leagues.
There were also some minor league invites that were in camp that needed to show what they were capable of. First baseman Romeo Sanabria started off strong and was leading all prospects in all offensive categories through the first four weeks of camp. He played solid defense at first and made loud contact with his hits. He was sent to minor league camp when it opened in earnest and has had fewer appearances since, while playing more regularly on the back fields.
Best minor league sign
Minor league signee Jase Bowen, who was with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization since being signed out of the 2019 draft, played in Triple-A most of last season but was allowed to leave as a free agent. He signed with the Padres 20 days after his free agency began. Bowen played in 25 games with 54 at-bats this spring. He hit .296/.333/.630 with a .963 OPS. His six doubles, four home runs and 11 RBI with 7-of-8 stolen bases shows off his offensive skills and speed. He is able to play all three outfield spots with a plus-arm.
Best offensive Padre
Catcher Freddie Fermin played in 15 games and had 38 at-bats while hitting .395/.425/.632 with a 1.057 OPS. He had three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI, even attempting a stolen base but was thrown out. This will be his first season as the primary catcher, and he has shown both good contact skills as well as power this spring.
Best bench bat
Infielders Jose Miranda and Ty France were competing for the same job. With utility player Sung-Mun Song starting the season on the IL, France won the job with the Padres out of spring camp.
France finished with 19 games played with 49 at-bats with four doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI. He had a .306/.352/.510 line and .862 OPS. He plays first base, third base and can sub for Jake Cronenworth at second.
Miranda has played in 22 games and had 46 at-bats with four doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and a .304/.385/.522 line with a .907 OPS. He can also play both infield corners and left field but is a natural third baseman. Miranda has options and will start the season with Triple-A El Paso.
Miranda and Bowen would likely be the first call-ups in case of injury.
Best starting pitcher
While Randy Vasquez has been great and shown tremendous improvement this camp, Walker Buehler has stepped up and shown that he is ready for the rotation and a roster spot.
In four games started and 15 innings pitched, Buehler has a 6.60 ERA and a 2-1 record. He walked five with 16 strikeouts and allowed four home runs. Until his last start, he had allowed no homers and had a 3.09 ERA. With his last appearance, he allowed seven earned runs with those four homers.
With his seven-pitch mix, he has used his 92-94 mph fastball effectively and pitched backward at times. No one knew what to expect from Buehler, who has had Tommy John surgery twice and lost a lot of velocity on his fastball. He seems to finally be healthy and able to pitch in the big leagues.
Vasquez finished with the best ERA of all the starters at 4.91 but the results in spring mean nothing. The need to work on many different aspects of pitching overrules the desire to compete and these numbers are roundly ignored within the organization.
Ironically, the one pitcher not officially named to the rotation has the best strikeout number. Germán Márquez tops the team with 23 Ks while Michael King finishes a distant second with 17 Ks.
Best bullpen pitcher
Lefty Kyle Hart has quietly pitched himself into a valuable place in the Padres organization. Whether he starts with the big-league club or not, Hart has shown how effective he can be in a swing role with the team.
In 14 innings pitched over eight appearances, Hart has a 0.64 ERA with three walks and 15 strikeouts. He came to the Padres in 2025 as a starter after three seasons with the KBO. He has been more effective as a reliever but still has six pitches in his arsenal and can go multiple innings, open a game or be a spot starter. He also has options available and could go to Triple-A so other arms could be called up as a fresh replacement during the season.
Best prospect performance
Sanabria has reportedly worked hard during the offseason to improve his conditioning, but his hitting has been what has stood out this spring. Sanabria played a lot of games to begin Spring Training and was optioned to minor league camp when it opened. He has continued to make spot appearances on the major league side and finished his major league camp appearances with eye-opening numbers.
In 20 games and 24 at-bats, Sanabria had three doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI for a .333/.385/.833 line and 1.218 OPS. His 15 RBI led all players on the Padres. In his last spring game, he hit a grand slam to increase his numbers above Bowen, France and Fermin.
With the spring camp coming to a close and Opening Day just around the corner, final roster decisions are coming soon. The major league roster has to be set the morning of the first game on Thursday. The minor league season begins Friday for Triple-A El Paso.
The number comes in at $1M less than previous projections due to a reduction in local media revenue, according to the report. The number is roughly $10 million more than the $154.7 million salary cap this season.
The NBA has not confirmed the reported numbers for next season.
Per the report, the salary floor projects to come in at $149 million, the tax level will be set at $201 million, the first apron will land at $209 million and the second apron will be $222 million. The apron levels are also $1 million each below initial projections, per the report.
By comparison, the salary floor this season is $139.2 million, the first apron is $195.9 million and the second apron is $207.8 million.
Per Spotrac, 29 of the NBA’s 30 teams are above the soft salary cap this season. Only the Brooklyn Nets at $150.5 million come in below it. The Memphis Grizzlies have the second-lowest payroll at $157.1 million.
The Golden State Warriors have the highest payroll, per Spotrac, at $234 million, $205.3 million of which counts toward apron allocations.
The number comes in at $1M less than previous projections due to a reduction in local media revenue, according to the report. The number is roughly $10 million more than the $154.7 million salary cap this season.
The NBA has not confirmed the reported numbers for next season.
Per the report, the salary floor projects to come in at $149 million, the tax level will be set at $201 million, the first apron will land at $209 million and the second apron will be $222 million. The apron levels are also $1 million each below initial projections, per the report.
By comparison, the salary floor this season is $139.2 million, the first apron is $195.9 million and the second apron is $207.8 million.
Per Spotrac, 29 of the NBA’s 30 teams are above the soft salary cap this season. Only the Brooklyn Nets at $150.5 million come in below it. The Memphis Grizzlies have the second-lowest payroll at $157.1 million.
The Golden State Warriors have the highest payroll, per Spotrac, at $234 million, $205.3 million of which counts toward apron allocations.
Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft who has bounced around the league for eight years, has signed a 10-day contract with the Toronto Raptors, the team announced.
Fultz played in six games this season for the Raptors G League team, the Raptors 905, and averaged 9.8 points and 5.3 assists per game. He scored in double figures in four of the games, including 17 points in a road victory over Rip City on March 20. The Raptors 905 claimed Fultz off the waiver wire earlier in March.
Fultz was famously the No. 1 pick of the 2017 NBA draft, however, he was dealing with a shoulder/nerve issue and between his college season at Washington and when he started playing for the 76ers, his shot changed. Things did not work out in Philly, and he ended up in Orlando, out of the spotlight. He fixed his game enough to become a solid rotation player and start 60 games for the Magic in one season. In total, Fultz has played in eight NBA seasons, including 21 games at the end of last season for Sacramento.
Current Toronto reserve point guard Jamal Shead has struggled recently, including shooting 1-of-6 Sunday against Phoenix, notes Michael Grange of SportsNet. Fultz may be given a chance to take over that reserve role.
New York Mets prospect Carson Benge, 23, has made quite the impression this spring. Despite amounting a .583 OPS in just 24 games in Triple-A a season ago, the 2024 draftee has turned his fortune around quickly, earning a spot on the Mets’ 2026 Opening Day roster, per Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.
“He earned it…we are all excited to watch this kid play”
Benge enters the 2026 season as the Mets’ No. 2 prospect (No. 16 overall) and the No. 5 overall outfield prospect, per MLB.com. And those numbers reflect just how dominant Benge has been this spring.
Benge slashed .366/.435/.874 across 41 at-bats this spring, including five runs and five RBI. Those numbers also do not include the games he played against international teams as they prepared for the World Baseball Classic. Benge hit his only home run of the spring in a game against Israel on March 4.
How did Benge earn the starting nod?
While Benge’s spring success certainly played a large role, Mike Tauchmann, Benge’s biggest competitor for the starting right field spot, also tore his meniscus over the weekend. Pair that with the fact that MJ Melendez was optioned to Triple-A last week, and the path had been paved.
Despite that, it was clear from the beginning of spring that Benge would have the opportunity to play his way into an Opening Day roster spot. He did exactly that. Manager Carlos Mendoza said, “He earned it. He had a hell of a camp. We are all excited to watch this kid play.”
While 2025 was Benge’s first full professional season, he did spend some of 2024 with Single-A affiliate St. Lucie.
In total, Benge has amassed 131 minor league games, recording a .280/.389/.468 triple-slash in that span with 17 home runs and 25 stolen bases.
When do the Mets open the season?
The Mets will open the season on Thursday, March 26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yes, that means Benge’s first major-league action will be against reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes.
Mar 12, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman against the Cincinnati Reds during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman is batting fifth for the Dodgers on Monday night in the Freeway Series against the Angels, with left-hander Reid Detmers starting on the mound. The last time Freeman was listed lower than fourth in a major league lineup was nearly a decade ago.
April 25, 2016 was the last time Freeman hit this low in the lineup. He batted sixth that night for the Atlanta Braves against the Boston Red Sox, and got two hits, including a double. In four years with the Dodgers, all of Freeman’s starts have come batting second (250 starts), third (331 starts), or fourth (61 starts).
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he might deploy Freeman hitting one spot lower with a left-handed starter on the mound.
“A lot of times when I put together a lineup, I’m trying to make it more difficult for the opposing manager to navigate,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers did a little bit of this late in the 2024 season and postseason, and throughout 2025 as well, with Freeman starting 61 times batting cleanup instead of his usual third, usually with either Teoscar Hernández or Will Smith inserted before Freeman. The idea was that if an opposing manager wants to keep their southpaw starter in the game to face both Shohei Ohtani and Freeman, say, a third time through the order, they’d first have to go through two right-handed batters to do so.
Now with Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers have two dynamic left-handers at the top of the order, followed by Mookie Betts. It’s a testament to the incredible depth of the lineup that usually one of Hernández or Max Muncy is batting seventh, and now moving Freeman down a spot means him hitting fifth instead of fourth. That’s the mark of a strong lineup.
Muncy is not starting on Monday against the Angels, with Santiago Espinal at third base.
“Having the ability to sandwich Will between Mookie and Freddie, and having Espinal in the seven spot to potentially have Muncy be able to hit, it just poses threats, and not to have right- or left-handed runs,” Roberts said. “That makes our lineup tougher to navigate.”
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 13: Carmen Mlodzinski #50 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The battle for the Pirates fifth starter spot has been solved, and it was won by a familiar face.
Manager Don Kelly joined the SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcast on Sunday as the Pirates faced the Red Sox.
Kelly confirmed that Carmen Mlodzinski will begin the season in the Pirates rotation.
Mlodzinski beat out left-hander Hunter Barco and righty free-agent signings Jose Urquidy and Mike Clevinger.
He will start Sunday’s series finale against the New York Mets on March 28.
Barco and Urquidy have both made the Opening Day club, but will begin the year in the bullpen. Clevinger was outrighted to the minor leagues on Sunday.
Mlodzinski pitched well in four spring training outings (three starts). He allowed four earned runs over 12.1 innings with 14 strikeouts compared to two walks.
The 27-year-old righty delivered five innings of two-run ball in his final spring start against the Orioles on March 14, closing with a 2.92 ERA.
Urquidy allowed 11 earned runs in 10 spring training innings after being considered the favorite to land the spot.
Primarily a reliever during his three-year career (2023-25), Mlodzinski enters the season in the rotation for the first time.
In 34 games (12 starts) last year, Mlodzinski earned a 3.55 ERA, a 1.30 WHIP, struck out 89, and walked 27 over 89 innings.
Mlodzinski was one of the Pirates best relievers and was a little surprising to see the team attempt to make him a starter again.
In 22 relief appearances, Mlodzinski totaled a 2.15 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and .235 opponent batting average in 50.1 innings.
The former 31st overall pick in the 2020 draft made 12 starts. It didn’t go nearly as well, registering a 4.99 ERA, .293 opponent average, 1.52 WHIP, 85 hits, 16 walks, and 36 strikeouts spanning 48.2 total frames.
Mlodzinski was frequently removed from outings before facing the lineup a third time around. Opponents hit only .150 in the first and .239 in the second innings, but .326 and .404 in the third and fourth innings, respectively.
The Pirates are going to give Mlodzinski another chance to prove himself in the rotation after an impressive spring.
Pittsburgh begins 2026 in New York as Paul Skenes takes the mound facing the Mets on Thursday at 1:15 p.m. on NBC and Peacock.
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Azzi Fudd scored 26 of her 34 points in the first half in her final game at Gampel Pavilion and UConn used a 31-0 run to roll to a 98-45 win over Syracuse on Monday night to advance to the women’s NCAA Tournament ‘s Sweet 16 for the 32nd season in a row.
Fudd tied her career highs in points and 3-pointers and added five assists and four steals. Her eight 3-pointers are one short of the NCAA Tournament single-game record held by Purdue’s Courtney Moses, UConn’s Kia Nurse and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
Sarah Strong had 18 points and nine rebounds as UConn (36-0) won its 52nd consecutive game. Blanca Quinonez added 18 points for UConn, which led 33-8 after one quarter and 65-12 at halftime as the Huskies advance to play North Carolina in the Fort Worth 1 regional semifinal on Friday.
Uche Izoje scored 12 points and Sophie Burrows had 10 for ninth-seeded Syracuse (24-9), which topped Iowa State in the first round.
Syracuse missed 10 shots in a row in the first half and went nearly 10 1/2 minutes without a basket during one stretch in the first half.
UConn, which has been ranked first in the AP poll all season, heads into the Fort Worth 1 regional, undefeated once again. UConn won its 52nd straight NCAA tournament game at Gampel Pavilion and 44th in a row in Connecticut.
Up next
UConn will face North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time. The Tar Heels won 81-69 en route to winning the national title in 1994.
