Arizona #Diamondbacks Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
06.03.2026 17:11
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Arizona #Diamondbacks Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Miami #Marlins Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Thank you!
St. Louis #Cardinals Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
According to Prospects Live, the Braves have a ton of prospects in that range; 12 with a 45 OFP and 12 with a 40 OFP. The Twins could take their pick on who they like the most, but if it were up to me I’d either take SS Alex Lodise, OF Owen Carey, or a package of IF Cody Miller & RP Hayden Harris.
Trevor Larnach could be the easiest to move, and would fit the role well (110 wRC+, 104 bFIP+ vs RHP in 2025, 112 wRC+ vs RHP in his career). I’d say he’s worth $5-10M in surplus value, so his cost would be either one 45-grade prospect or two 40-grade prospects in terms of overall future potential.
🧵 With the Profar news, the #Braves are gonna need another bat, ideally one that’s good vs RHP so they can platoon him with Sean Murphy at DH. The Twins have a ton of outfielders on their depth chart (with top prospects Walker Jenkins & Emmanuel Rodriguez on the way) & could move one for prospects.
I may be wrong but I believe the player doesn’t get paid while they’re suspended for PEDs, doesn’t count towards the luxury tax either.
Tampa Bay #Rays Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
#Athletics Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Atlanta #Braves Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
#WhiteSox prospect Sam Antonacci has been in 6 games so far this spring. In those games he’s received 18 PA and has seen 68 pitches. Here’s his stats from those games:
- 13 balls in play
- 7 hard-hit balls
- 4 hits
- 3 walks (+2 HBP)
- 2 home runs
- 1 WHIFF
He’s yet to strike out. Unbelievable.
Based on the data, Spencer Strider’s release point on his fastball today was most similar to 2024 & 2025. Even though his fastball shape appears to be back (17.5” iVB), that’s a product of him not throwing as hard; he only sat at 93. I’d expect the iVB to come down once Strider ramps up velo-wise.
Baltimore #Orioles Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Los Angeles #Angels Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Big fan of Trent Harris of the #Giants. He had a sub-2 ERA & FIP at AA, and while he struggled at AAA he was still above average. Great strikeout & walk rates (27% K%, 8% BB%), and has a nice mix that features a cutter, slider, curveball and splitter. Pitch plot from today’s outing below:
Pittsburgh #Pirates Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Not to mention he also has a changeup that had negative iVB in the minors, and near 0 iVB this spring. Command isn’t the worst (10.9% BB% in 2025) but given that he’s still relatively new to pitching he can still make some improvements in that regard. Big fan of Nunez and I hope he makes the team.
Minnesota #Twins Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Washington #Nationals Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Ginn's sinker gets a ton of depth from his arm slot; it averaged 3" iVB in 2025 (5" iVB in today's outing), which he's achieving from a 45º arm angle.
His cutter also got a huge bump in velo; last year it sat 91.9 (topped 95.0), but today it's as hard as his sinker: sitting 94.0 with a max of 97.5.
J.T. Ginn of the #Athletics struck out Luis Arraez on just three pitches to start his day: a cutter called for strike 1, a sinker fouled off, then another cutter whiffed for strike 3. Ginn threw two perfect innings with 3 strikeouts and 3 groundouts against the Giants' A-team.
Chicago #WhiteSox Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
Video is now live!
Colorado #Rockies Preview - 2026 Opening Day Countdown
In 2025, Quinn Mathews of the #Cardinals sat 93.1 on his FB at AAA, with his top velo being 96.0 mph in 93 IP.
In 1.2 IP in ST yesterday he sat 95.5 mph, and 5 of his 18 FBs thrown matched or beat that 96 figure, maxing out at 96.7.
Command was still an issue (2 BB & 1 HBP) but better stuff helps.
With Opening Day in (almost) 30 days, I figured I’d count down to Opening Day by doing one team preview per day. Going from bottom to top by record, so starting with the Colorado #Rockies!
The Rockies preview will premiere tomorrow at noon ET; the link to watch it when it’s live is below:
His fastball shapes by year:
2024 (MLB): 97.0 mph, 12.4" iVB, 16.9" HB
2025 (AAA): 96.5 mph, 12.6" iVB, 14.5" HB
2026 (ST): 96.0 mph, 10.6" iVB, 16.1" HB
He normally pairs it up with an 84 mph sweeper, but in his spring outing he introduced a gyro slider which sat at 88 mph.
🧵 Troy Taylor broke out in 2024 as a #Mariners reliever who worked his way up from High-A to MLB, in large part due to having a unicorn fastball shape with lots of running action. He lost that shape in 2025 and struggled, but based on his Spring outing today most of its running action has returned.
True. It's a bit counterintuitive based on public perception of what a lineup should look like, but those three true outcome profile hitters (ex. James Wood, present-day Mike Trout) should be your leadoff hitters, while contact-heavy guys (ex. Arraez, Jacob Wilson) should bat cleanup.
I agree with Arraez being a cleanup hitter. Singles are better than walks when there's runners in scoring position; would rather have him drive guys in than sticking him in the leadoff spot, where he'd be hitting with the bases empty half the time and not using those singles to their maximum value.