News and notes from the first week of spring training games
The long-awaited spring season got underway this past Thursday with the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the Chicago Cubs. Eleven more teams saw action on Friday before the rest of the league took the field for the first time on Saturday. With the start of baseball games comes plenty of story lines that are probably taken a little too seriously since we’ve been without much to talk about for a couple of months. Nevertheless, baseball is back and here are some news and notes that took center stage this weekend:
The Red Sox might be a little dysfunctional, but are a lot of fun to watch
The Red Sox made a lot of headlines during the offseason after they acquired left handed ace Garrett Crochet via trade and all-star third baseman Alex Bregman through free agency. It’s not much of a secret that there seems to be some confusion in the clubhouse about what the roster will look like come opening day after Rafael Devers doubled down on not wanting to give up his spot at third base to Bregman. However, Bregman helped to shift the focus elsewhere as he raked in his spring debut on Sunday, going 3-3 with a home run, a double, and two RBIs. The outlook for Bregman’s 2025 season is looking pretty good, regardless of where he plays on the field, because of his track record of success at Fenway Park. That was certainly on display on Sunday afternoon.
Garrett Crochet made his first start in a Red Sox uniform on Sunday as well. He would throw 1.2 scoreless innings, and while he did give up four baserunners, he also managed to strike out four along the way. Crochet is certainly an arm to watch this spring as he looks to build upon his breakout season in 2024 as Boston’s front line ace. Boston’s “big three” prospects - Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer - looked good over the weekend as well. The trio recorded five hits along with a lot of hard contact throughout the weekend. All three players have a shot at breaking camp with the big league team.
The 2024 draft class had quite the showing this weekend
There are only a handful of 2024 draft picks that are with their respective big league clubs at spring training on non-roster invites, but they made their presence known this weekend. Three different first round picks from the 2024 draft class came up in big moments on Sunday.
J.J. Wetherholt, the Cardinals first rounder and seventh overall pick out of West Virginia launched an opposite-field three run home run against the Astros. Wetherholt undoubtedly had the best hit tool in the draft with power that he is still working on tapping into. That power was certainly on display on Sunday. He also added another hit which brought his line on the day to 2-3. Wetherholt comes in at 18th overall on my prospect rankings headed into 2025.
Jac Caglianone, the big left handed slugger out of Florida, added a home run of his own on Sunday after an 0 for during his spring debut on Friday. As if the sound of the ball coming off the bat didn’t do fans enough justice, Statcast was available in the Royals game against the White Sox and measured Caglianone’s bomb at 435 feet and 115.4 mph. Caglianone is one of only a few prospects with a 70 grade power tool, and as long as he’s accessing that power enough in-game this season, Cags is going to be on a pretty quick trajectory to a spot in Kansas City.
Konnor Griffin, the ninth overall pick and first high school player selected last summer, made his professional debut on Sunday. Griffin didn’t get any playing time in Pittsburgh’s system last year following the draft, but got his first at bat at the professional level against the Twins, which resulted in an RBI-single for the 18 year old. Griffin has one of the highest ceilings among any prospect right now as he has plus tools across the board with an ability to stick at either shortstop or center field at the next level. Here’s to hoping he gets a lot more time with the big league club before he’s sent off to minor league camp.
A few familiar faces make their returns to the mound
Two notable starters that haven’t pitched since 2023 due to Tommy John surgery finally made their way back to the big league mound on Sunday. That would be 2022 NL Cy Young award winner Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins, and Dustin May of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Alcantara went down in September of 2023 during what was a down year for him following his 2022 campaign. However, Alcantara seemingly picked right back up where he left of in 2022 on Sunday as he delivered a 17 pitch scoreless frame and didn’t lose anything on his stuff. His fastball and sinker both averaged 98 mph while he also flashed his plus slider and changeup. A healthy Alcantara completely changes the dynamic of the young starting rotation in Miami as they look to right the ship in 2025.
Dustin May also had an impressive showing after not having pitched since May of 2023, but it was more emotional than anything else. On top of the recovery from Tommy John surgery, May went through an unexpected esophagus surgery in July of last year that ended up being a near-death experience. The 27 year old battled back regardless, and finally found himself pitching in a big league game on Sunday which triggered emotions for the right hander as he came off of the mound following a scoreless frame to start the Dodgers afternoon against the Padres. May gave up one hit and struck out one on 15 pitches. He threw his elite curveball which hasn’t missed a beat and also ran his fastball and sinker up to 95 mph. May has yet to deliver 100 innings in a season in his career, but 2025 very well may be the year he can stay healthy in what is a very deep Dodgers rotation.
There’s a whole lot more baseball we can discuss, but I encourage you to find me on Twitter/X @BMock98 where I am also posting daily and continuing the conversation as we are just getting started! Also be sure to subscribe below as I’ll have weekly spring updates up until opening day!
