Mining the News (2/18/25)

American League

Angels

• Mike Trout will play right field this year.

Mike Trout had a meeting with Angels coaches yesterday, and they determined he will play right field moving forward in an effort to preserve his body.

— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) February 17, 2025

This move doesn’t change Trout’s value but does for the other outfielders. Who will play centerfield? Jo Adell? Mickey Moniak? Will Taylor Ward continue to play every day in left field?

Astros

• Lance McCullers Jr. is not behind and on the same ramp-up as the other starters.

RHP Lance McCullers Jr.
Injury: Right flexor tendon surgery
Expected return: After Opening Day 2025
Status: McCullers, who hasn’t pitched since the 2022 World Series, had surgery in June 2023 and has been throwing bullpens during Spring Training. (updated: Feb. 13)

• Brice Matthews is preparing to play second base.

Espada traveled there this winter to watch Matthews and Zach Dezenzo play for Senadores de San Juan. Matthews, who started 11 of his 19 winter ball games at second base, impressed Espada with his ability to handle the position, unsurprising for a player who was primarily a collegiate shortstop at Nebraska.

Matthews has started just one game at second base during his two-year professional career, but with the addition of touted third base prospect Cam Smith coupled with Altuve’s potential position change, it is expected that Matthews will see more time there this year.

Espada already announced Matthews will start at second during the team’s Grapefruit League opener later this month.

“I can play wherever, wherever they tell me to go, I’m willing,” Matthews said. “(Second base) was like riding a bike.”

• Jose Altuve will play at both second base and outfield in Spring Training.

Espada reiterated that Altuve will play both left field and second base in spring training, but declined to divulge any other absolutes about the Astros’ plan for him.

Altuve avoided putting a number on playing any games in left field, saying it depends “on what they request.” Asked if he had a preference of where he plays, Altuve said he does not.

I’m trying to figure out why the move will give the team an advantage. Here are at the platoon splits for the players involved.

This group is split 50/50 for those who hit from one side rather than the other. Going off these values, Dubon or Guillorme will play at second base against lefties thereby pushing Altuve to the outfield. At that point, Gamel or Trammell will head to the bench.

Athletics

• Jeffrey Springs will not have any workload restrictions this season.

Manager Mark Kotsay does not anticipate any workload restrictions for Springs as he approaches nearly two years removed from surgery.

“We felt like the way he finished up last year that a full, healthy offseason would benefit him,” Kotsay said. He has confidence. … I think Jeffrey is looking forward to making 30-plus starts this year.”

Blue Jays

• The GM loves him some Alan Roden.

Asked about prospects that he’s particularly excited about as camp begins, GM Ross Atkins, somewhat atypically for him, pointed to outfielder Alan Roden.

The 25-year-old has made a lot of progress over the past couple of seasons, batting a combined .293/.391/.475 in 125 games between double-A New Hampshire and triple-A Buffalo. Of note is that once he joined the Bisons, he slugged .510 in 71 games, and the way he got to that power is why Atkins said, “I’ll single out and put some pressure on” him.

“He’s just done so much to put himself in a position to move through the system quickly,” said Atkins. “The way he goes about his job, the contact rates the shape of his offence, the fact that it’s both sides of the ball and base-running, stealing bases, plays defence at a solid level. Very physical, with upside to power. He’s an exciting piece. And, hopefully I haven’t put too much pressure on him because there are certainly a lot of other a lot of others.”

• Orelvis Martinez will take some reps at third base.

Schneider suggested Martinez could see some reps at third base, a position de-emphasized for him last year, although his workload will still be “second and third, probably split like that.”

“You don’t want to put a guy in a new spot every year, which I feel like we’ve done with him,” said Schneider. “So just split his workload accordingly, see how he responds at third. Obviously his bat is what we’re looking at, too. If he can feel comfortable at third, that’d be a big plus.”

• Kevin Gausman is tinkering with his changeup.

There’s some tinkering, sure, but Gausman’s focus is on getting back to what he does best: dominating hitters with one of the best splitters in baseball.

“Well, I can’t tell you too much about that. Let’s keep the hitters guessing,” Gausman said with a grin. “It’s just about trying to get better at what you’re good at. I’ve started throwing a little different grip on my changeup that I think will alleviate some of the stress of my splitter having to be my primary ‘changeup.’ I feel really good with where I’m at arm wise, and that’s what is important.”

Orioles

• Top prospect, Chayce McDermott, is dealing with an injury.

And then came word that right-handed pitching prospect Chayce McDermott, ranked as the O’s No. 5 prospect by Baseball America, reported to camp with a mild lat/teres strain.

Rangers

• Robert Garcia is dealing with a forearm issue.

LHP Robert Garcia
Injury: Forearm nerve irritation
Expected return: Next week
Status: Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Garcia, down since the start of camp due to nerve irritation in his forearm, will throw a bullpen session on Feb. 18. President of baseball operations Chris Young said the club isn’t overly concerned about it, but they’ll play it cautious early in Spring Training. (updated Feb. 16)

Rays

• Eloy Jiménez lost 25 to 30 pounds.

Jiménez looks like something of a new man this spring, too. The former White Sox slugger reported to Rays camp at Charlotte Sports Park with a fitter physique, having lost 25-30 pounds during the offseason, and a smile on his face as he begins his pursuit for a spot on the Rays’ Opening Day roster.

Red Sox

• Kutter Crawford is behind because of knee soreness.

Kutter Crawford is a bit behind other pitchers due to patellar tendon soreness. Opening Day definitely not ruled out.

Brayan Bello has minor shoulder soreness and was shut down for a couple days but is back to throwing.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 14, 2025

• The manager has been impressed with Richard Fitts and Quinn Priester.

Cora was impressed with Fitts’ four starts in September when he posted a 1.74 ERA but noted maintaining his velocity will be key. Priester had already made 14 starts in the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates before last year’s trade. Upon arriving in the Red Sox organization, he spent time in Triple-A Worcester retooling some of his mechanics and pitches before making his Red Sox debut on the final day of the season and allowing one run in five innings of work.

“Priester is another guy that, if we talk about catching my eye, (he’s) impressive,” Cora said. “He put work in in the offseason. He’s a lot stronger, he’s got good stuff, you saw what he did the last day. He looks really good.”

Tigers

• Colt Keith looked to improve his mechanics.

Still, Keith never quite got the most out of his power. He had a tendency to get “stuck” on his back leg and fail to generate forward momentum in his swing. This is one reason his average exit velocity of 87.8 mph ranked in the bottom quarter of MLB hitters. Keith finished the season with 13 home runs, including only two from July 28 through the end of the season.

“I had a really bad negative move in my load,” Keith said. “That would cause me to be late, come in and out of the zone, rip the ball to the pull side. It resulted in a lot of grounders to the right side and also flares to left field.”

Keith called his lower-half mechanics “all over” last season. As he looked to improve, he looked toward other major-league players for examples of what he wanted his swing to look like. He settled on none other than Walker. That meant less toe-tap and more of a subtle leg kick.

Twins

• Harrison Bader will be more than just a backup for Byron Buxton.

The Twins hope to use Bader in left field at times when Byron Buxton patrols center. Baldelli is excited to add a player with Bader’s speedy skill set.

“Having a guy that can do exciting game-changing types of things on the bases, I think it’s a great thing to add to our current group,” Baldelli said. “We have a lot of strengths, but one thing we didn’t have a ton of was guys that take the game over on the bases and help you win a game in a big way on the bases. Bader is one of those guys.”

• Chris Paddack decided to keep his arm in shape this offseason for the first time.

Paddack is thinking big because he had a healthy offseason for the first time since becoming a professional baseball player. This offseason, he wasn’t worried about coming off Tommy John surgery — he had his second such operation in 2022 — or dealing with the back issues that ended his 2024 season after July 14. With the exception of one week, Paddack threw a baseball or football every day.

One day, manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Pete Maki were making the rounds and called Paddack. He told them he was in great shape and wished his good fortune had occurred back when he became a professional ballplayer in the Padres’ organization.

“Man, I feel amazing,” Paddack said. “But it sucks because I’m learning this in Year 7. I wish I took this in Year No. 1 in pro ball with the Padres. I’m excited. … I say this because I haven’t met my expectations or been there when the team needed me the most. It is because my health … is holding me back from reaching my end goal during the season and the expectations that I have for myself.

“I didn’t put down a baseball this offseason. I had one week off, and then I was throwing every day, whether it was a football, 60 feet every other day. I was moving the shoulder and elbow. I talked to the front office, our training staff. We all agreed [throwing often] might be something that will benefit Chris Paddack. … For me, maybe we just found the answer. We have a long way to go. We have all of spring to stay healthy and the six months of high intensity. But overall, man. I’m excited. I just turned 29 years old [on Jan. 8]. I wish I would have learned this when I was 20. That might have saved me from going under the knife at least once.”

Yankees

• Giancarlo Stanton will be out for a while with tendinitis in both elbows.

New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is uncertain for opening day because of chronic tendinitis in both elbows.

A five-time All-Star, the 35-year-old dealt with the issue last season and through the postseason, when he hit seven home runs as the Yankees reached the World Series for the first time since 2009.

Asked whether the issue could impact Stanton’s availability for the March 27 opener against Milwaukee, manager Aaron Boone responded: “Tough to say.”

“I’m not going to put any timeline on it. We’re just going to be smart with it and kind of listen to it a little bit,” he said Sunday. “I’m expecting him to be OK. It’s just a matter of when we’re going to start really rolling it out to feel like — give us the best chance to get as much of him as we can.”

• Trent Grisham is also dealing with an injury (hamstring).

Grisham is also dealing with an injury. Boone said Grisham pulled a hamstring a few weeks ago and is a little behind schedule. Grisham is participating in baseball activities, and he’s able to run almost at full speed. They’ll take it slowly with Grisham, but he’s further along than Stanton.

National League

Braves

• Ronald Acuña Jr. plans to take it easy on the bases.

Acuña said he will be more careful running the bases when he returns. The second ACL tear occurred when he planted his foot to retreat to second base on an aborted plan to steal third on a catcher’s throw back to the pitcher. He also missed time last spring training after tweaking the knee on a rundown in a meaningless exhibition game.

“I need to take it easy, man,” said Acuña, who acknowledged that might be easier said than done, just like pacing himself this spring and not trying to do too much in workouts could be difficult. “Yes. I need to take it easy, man. If I stay healthy. I can play whatever I want.”

Brewers

• Sal Frelick added 25 pounds.

The early leader for the annual (and very unofficial) Best Shape of His Life Award in Brewers camp is outfielder Sal Frelick, who added 25 pounds of muscle since the end of last season with an appropriate approach, given his proud Italian heritage.

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Example: Frelick weighed in at 192 pounds when he left Boston for Spring Training. When he took his Brewers physical this week, he was already down to 189.

He’s aiming to stay around 190 pounds for as much of this season as possible, as the 24-year-old 2021 first-round Draft pick heads into his second full Major League season. Last year he hit .259/.320/.335 in 145 games, providing most of his production on the basepaths and in the outfield. At the plate, his 83.4 mph average exit velocity was the lowest in baseball, per Statcast, and while that may not dramatically change with the added bulk, Frelick is eager to feel stronger as the season wears on.

Cardinals

• Michael McGreevy added 15 pounds of muscle.

Spliced throughout an offseason in which he worked to add 15 pounds of muscle and change his body composition were big league memories that came flooding back to Michael McGreevy at the oddest of times.
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“I tried to trim as much body fat as I could and I gained at least 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason, which is going to be good for me,” McGreevy said. “At the end of the day, I’ve got to pitch well. I could be 5 percent body fat and still suck or be 30 percent body fat and win. It’s all just little things to try and give you an edge, but at the end of the day, it’s still just baseball.”

• No one has any idea who is going to play where … nobody knows.

Eager to begin a roster reset where the focus was supposed to be on creating extended playing time opportunities for their young core, the Cardinals anticipated turning the third-base job over to lefty slugger Nolan Gorman and Minor League standout Thomas Saggese. As long as Arenado is a Cardinal, Gorman will primarily be at second base, the position he has played the past three seasons. As for Saggese, one of the top hitters in the most recent Arizona Fall League, could start the season with Triple-A Memphis instead of St. Louis.
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If Arenado is at third base and Gorman is slotted into second, defensive ace Brendan Donovan likely would shift to the outfield. That could upset an outfield of expected starters Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker and Michael Siani. The Cardinals have been vocal about their desires to give long runways of playing time to Nootbaar and Walker so that they can potentially find their ceilings as players, while Siani became a favorite of Marmol’s in 2024 with the difference-making defense he played in center field.

Donovan, a Gold Glove winner in 2022 and a Gold Glove finalist in ’24 as a utility fielder, said he is willing to handle whatever role the Cardinals need him in whether Arenado is in the mix or not.

Cubs

• Matt Shaw has an oblique injury.

Cubs top prospect Matt Shaw is dealing with an oblique issue, Counsell said. It popped up about five days ago on a swing in the cage. Shaw, who is competing to win 3B job, is considered day to day. Counsell: “Don’t anticipate any issues, it’s really responding well.”

— Meghan Montemurro (@mmontemurro.bsky.social) 2025-02-14T19:40:46.318Z

Diamondbacks

• Alek Thomas wants to hit more balls in the air.

Tangibly at the plate, Thomas hit ground balls at a 60% rate, which is extremely high compared to the league average of 44%.

His adjustment isn’t to stress lifting the baseball, but clean his mechanics to hit hard line drives and find that gap-to-gap power. Thomas hit the ball pretty hard last year (91.2 mph exit velocity), but getting it up off the ground will open more holes.

“Trying to hit line drives and stay through the ball,” Thomas explained. “When you take good swings and you’re in a good position to hit, I don’t think ground balls will happen. … When I’m in the cage, I’m not worried about hitting ground balls. I’m worried about hitting the back of the net.”

• Jordan Lawlar will play every day. If he can’t play in the majors, he will play in the minors.

“He’s one of the best players in our entire system,” General manager Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Wednesday. “He’s going to be on this team at some point. I think the battle with Jordan is sticking him on the bench and playing once a week is probably not in his best interest, but he needs to be ready.”

Lawlar will continue to get most of his reps on the left side of the infield at shortstop and third base with occasional time at second base.
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“With Jordan, I know that he worked on his swing a little bit this off season, hoping to see what that carries into spring training. Getting time in the Dominican (Winter League) was really good for him, too. So just building on those things. Continuing to fine tune his game on both sides of the ball, I think it’s gonna put him in a really good spot.”

• Tommy Henry is adding a cutter.

Like his counterpart Ryan Thompson, Henry said he is cooking up some new pitches, but unlike the side-arm reliever, specifically revealed he is working on a cutter. He prefaced the pitch is still a work in progress but the end goal is to speed up right-handed batters and make lefties think twice when he delivers.

Dodgers

• Here is a medical update on four pitchers.

LHP Clayton Kershaw
Injury: Recovery from left toe and left knee surgeries
Expected return: June at earliest
Status: Underwent surgeries last November; expects to begin throwing bullpen sessions at some point in March (updated Feb. 13)

RHP Evan Phillips
Injury: Torn muscle in right rotator cuff
Expected return: Possibly Opening Day
Status: Arrived at Spring Training a little behind and could open the season on the IL (updated Feb. 13)

RHP Michael Kopech
Injury: Right forearm tightness
Expected return: Possibly Opening Day
Status: Arrived at Spring Training a little behind and could open the season on the IL (updated Feb. 13)

RHP River Ryan
Injury: Recovery from Tommy John surgery
IL date: Feb. 13 (60-day IL)
Expected return: Late 2025 at earliest
Status: Underwent Tommy John surgery after exiting his start last Aug. 11 with right forearm tightness (updated Feb. 13)

• Will Smith is dealing with an ankle injury.

Will Smith is dealing with an ankle issue and “a little behind,” Dave Roberts said. He added that Smith has been running on an Alter-G treadmill.

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) February 14, 2025

Giants

• Tom Murphy is dealing with back spasms.

The Giants’ first injury concern of the spring cropped up on Sunday, when manager Bob Melvin said backup catcher Tom Murphy was due to undergo an MRI exam after he experienced back spasms during the first week of camp.

Melvin said Murphy felt his back tighten up on the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers on Wednesday, which has prevented the 33-year-old from taking the field in recent days. The results of Murphy’s MRI will give San Francisco a better sense of his outlook, but the back issue is a bit concerning given his lengthy injury history.

• Keaton Winn touched 95.5 mph and Kyle Harrison touched 95 mph.

Right-hander Keaton Winn, who had ulnar nerve transposition surgery at the end of July.

Winn hit 95.5 mph in his last bullpen session and is still ramping up while trying to add 1 mph each time. He says it’s the best his arm has felt in two years, which is why he isn’t too concerned that the starting rotation is mostly filled out as is. They might enter this season less dependent on Winn as a rotation piece than they were last year, but they still view him as a starting pitcher. If he’s throwing a 98 mph two-seamer again, he’ll get opportunities.

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Harrison has touched 95 mph in side sessions and appears to be throwing from an even lower arm slot, which might add to his Chris Sale-inspired deception. He says he wants to establish himself as a strikeout pitcher again after fanning 14.6 per nine innings in the minors but just 8.7 per nine in the majors.

• Jordan Hicks added 15 pounds of muscle.

Hicks spent nearly the entire offseason in San Francisco working out at Oracle Park and packed on 15 pounds of muscle. There’s no hedging from anyone in the Giants organization: Hicks will open the season as a starting pitcher and there’s optimism that he’ll be able to thrive in that role far deeper into the season.

Marlins

• Jesús Sánchez is dealing with an inflamed elbow.

#Marlins injury report:

Jesús Sánchez – right elbow inflammation, cleared for full hitting activities and at final stages of throwing program

Jakob Marsee – lower level right oblique strain, in rehab progression

— Christina De Nicola (@CDeNicola13) February 17, 2025

Mets

• The team might piggybacking some of their starters.

The Mets would still plan on carrying six starters on the Opening Day roster, with the possibility of piggybacking pitchers like David Peterson, Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn or Tylor Megill after their other starters. That would help ease the early load on Clay Holmes, who’s just adjusting to a new role in the rotation, and Kodai Senga, who’s returning from an injury-filled 2024.

“We can play around. That sixth guy could potentially piggyback someone,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re playing around with a lot of different ideas and scenarios.”

From a speculative standpoint, Canning is probably ahead of someone like Megill on the Mets’ depth chart for a sixth starter role because he doesn’t have minor-league options left (unlike Megill).

• Griffin Canning might add a two-seamer at the same time the team wants him to throw fewer fastballs.

To that end, Canning said he anticipates approaching new Mets assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel about tinkering with a two-seam fastball. Druschel is known for helping pitchers with their grips. Previously, in his five years in the majors, Canning has struggled to throw the pitch and all but ditched in 2024, throwing it just 1 percent of the time.

The Mets want Canning to generally throw less fastballs — his four-seamer ranked poorly on Baseball Savant — but there’s room for him to optimize a sinker. The pitch could help Canning against right-handed batters.

With less fastballs, look for Canning to lean more into his slider and changeup while also working to improve his curveball.

• Tylor Megill wants to overhaul his repertoire and not throw his cutter.

Megill also worked with his brother, Trevor, on improving his curveball this offseason. He wants that pitch to be tighter and more of an option with two strikes, rather than merely a get-me-over pitch to catch hitters off guard. Eventually, it could supplant his sweeper.

Add in the splitter, or American Spork, that he debuted at the end of 2023, and Megill’s been busy overhauling his repertoire. The key now is simplifying the mix and going with what works best in the moment. To that end, Megill doesn’t plan to throw his cutter much this season; he used that pitch 14.3 percent of the time last season.

Nationals

• Cade Cavalli shall return in the second half of the season.

RHP Cade Cavalli (Nationals’ No. 8 prospect)
Injury: Tommy John surgery
Expected return: Second half 2025
Status: Underwent Tommy John surgery on right elbow, March 22, 2023. Full participant in Spring Training. Nationals will manage his return so he can finish out the season in the Majors. (updated Feb. 13)

Padres

• Eguy Rosario is out of options and will get some outfield reps.

Rosario is a lefty-crushing utility man who’s out of minor-league options. The Padres will try to expand his utility by giving him reps in left field. Rosario has never played there professionally, although he did make nine Triple-A starts last season in right field.

• Kyle Hart 하트 dominated the KBO by being more athletic, lowering his arm slot, and adding a sweeper.

Hart at least has earned the opportunity to compete for the final spot in the Padres’ rotation. After languishing in Triple A for multiple seasons, he won the Korea Baseball Organization’s version of the Cy Young Award while featuring a lower, “more athletic” arm slot and deploying a new sweeper.

“I haven’t changed all my grips or anything,” Hart said. “Just letting things just kind of be more natural given my size and athletic ability. I think dropping that (arm) slot was probably the biggest thing.”

Phillies

• J.T. Realmuto might play some outfield.

Maybe he finds one this spring. Maybe he doesn’t. It’s early. But Phillies manager Rob Thomson and Realmuto have talked about creative ways to manage Realmuto’s workload to keep him healthy and effective throughout the final year of a five-year, $115.5 million contract.

One of those ideas has him shagging fly balls in left field.

“If he wants me to go out there and stand on my head, I’ll try to do that,” Realmuto said Friday morning at BayCare Ballpark.
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“There’s nothing set in stone,” Thomson said. “It’s just an idea. … When we were having the discussion of trying to manage his workload as best we can, and at the same time having respect for the fact that this is a contract year for him … we’re very left-handed [in the lineup]. We want as many right-handers in the lineup as we can. I said, ‘You ever think about playing the outfield?’ He said, ‘Well, I think I move around pretty good. I’m willing to try anything.’”

• Trea Turner could start leading off.

Manager Rob Thomson said after the season, at the Winter Meetings and again last week that he’s considering a change atop the lineup. If he does, Trea Turner would lead off. Harper would likely hit second. From there, the Phillies could go with Alec Bohm then Schwarber or vice versa.

• Edmundo Sosa is taking some outfield reps so he can play more.

Edmundo Sosa quickly began drills this weekend with first base coach Paco Figueroa, who works with the Phillies’ outfielders.

The Phils will try Sosa out in left field and “there’s a chance” he could play center field this spring as well. The center field component could be interesting if Sosa takes to the position because it would give the Phillies another right-handed platoon option against lefties other than Johan Rojas.

“He’d become kind of a super-utility guy which would be a nice thing to have,” Thomson said Sunday. “Until he gets out shagging and real reads off the bat, you really can’t tell.”

• Kyle Schwarber is taking some first base reps.

Schwarber will continue to work out three times a week at first base with infield coach Bobby Dickerson. The Phillies want to give themselves another option when Harper needs a day off or if he suffers an injury.

Schwarber has not played first base since starting nine games there for the Red Sox in the 2021 postseason. That was a situation he was thrown into. This time, he’ll have more preparation.

• Joe Ross will get built up as a backup starter.

The Phils will also build up Joe Ross as a starting pitcher in spring training just in case he’s needed to begin the season in the rotation because of injury.

If the Phils’ five starters are healthy when the team heads north for the regular season, Ross will be in the bullpen. Thomson says he’d feel comfortable using him as a multi-inning reliever or one-inning leverage guy. Ross had a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings of relief last season.

• Taijuan Walker’s fastball sat 90 to 92 mph in his latest bullpen, exactly where it sat last season.

Walker threw a bullpen session Wednesday morning to Realmuto. Thomson, pitching coach Caleb Cotham and the Phillies’ front office watched it closely. Walker is a notable figure in this camp because he’s owed $36 million over the next two seasons but no longer has a spot in the rotation and is fighting just to make the club as a long reliever.

Walker has been throwing at maximum effort since mid-December and described his bullpen sessions throughout the winter as “intense.” His fastball is sitting 90 to 92 mph compared to the mid-high 80s around this time last year.

“His velocity was very solid today, much better today than it was at the beginning of last spring training by a great deal,” Dombrowski said. “His overall movements on the mound, command of the fastball, I thought he looked so much smoother than he did last year, so much more athletic and he’s been a good athlete throughout his career.

• Andrew Painter added a new slider and wants to add a changeup.

Painter unveiled a new, harder slider in the Arizona Fall League and will continue to use that pitch in addition to his fastball, curveball and a changeup he’s begun messing around with.

“Throw it hard, rip it,” he said of his goal with the new slider. “It was more sweepy, more horizontal, slower. Just kinda throwing the harder one. That was even a goal in 2022, trying to throw it harder. We introduced a cutter, it was short-lived, one outing. But the cutter is essentially the slider now, we just took that grip.

“I’m comfortable with the slider, tested it out in the AFL, felt good, I could command it. Curveball, same thing. Changeup is kinda the next one. Trying to work on making my changeup a better offering.”

Pirates

• David Bednar changed his delivery.

Marin also hinted that Bednar tweaked some parts of his delivery and release. There were times last year that Bednar got “glove side happy” and yanked the ball too much. Those are classic symptoms of overthrowing. Comparing his 2024 numbers, his four-seamer and curveball performed significantly worse than the year prior. His four-seamer slugging percentage allowed skyrocketed from .315 to .459, and his curveball whiff rate dropped from 40.5% to 24.5%. That may not have been the root of his problems, but it showed what can happen when he’s not pointed in the right direction when pitching.

Reds

• Nick Lodolo decided to build his base to have a healthy foundation.

“I’ll be honest. I was training like a Sunday leaguer because I couldn’t move and I was expecting to be a Major League pitcher,” Lodolo said. “This offseason, I put in the work. I was moving, getting stronger and building the base. As we get deeper into the season, that base will carry me through the whole time.”

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“It was nice to go into [this past offseason] relatively healthy and build a foundation that can get me through the year,” Lodolo said. “It’s just to make myself more durable. Not that I don’t think I’m durable. I just want to put myself in the best spot to take the ball every five days and put together a full season.”

Rockies

• Ryan McMahon added “speed” strength instead of “brut” strength this offseason.

For years, McMahon’s offseason weight training emphasized power and drive, a logical biomechanical function for a third baseman who has logged at least 20 home runs each of his past four full seasons (not counting the pandemic-shortened 2020). The plan was always to emphasize brute strength. If he bulked up beyond playing weight, it was OK because he would lose some muscle over the course of the season.

But maybe there was another way. McMahon began implementing the new plan this offseason in Scottsdale, where he lives so he can better use the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick training center.

McMahon turned to a speed-based workout that’s counterintuitive, considering he has never stolen more than seven bases in a season and is no threat to begin bunting for hits. But his goal goes beyond stats. McMahon wanted to enter this year with a muscle structure that he can maintain over a full season. Since there was no way to maintain his offseason workout, he planned for a decline. However, the dramatic physical breakdown was an unwelcome side effect.