The Los Angeles Dodgers saw both dominance and a late reminder of buildup limits from Shohei Ohtani in his final spring training outing.
Facing his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani struck out 11 of the first 14 batters he faced before running into trouble in the fifth inning.
His final line showed both sides of the outing. Ohtani went just over four innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs with two walks and 11 strikeouts on 86 pitches. He also contributed at the plate, going 1-for-2.
Early dominance sets the tone
Ohtani looked fully in control through four innings, showcasing elite swing-and-miss stuff and sharp command.
His fastball and secondary pitches generated consistent whiffs, reinforcing expectations that he will be a key part of the Dodgers’ rotation to open the 2026 season.
The performance built on his first spring outing, where he reached 61 pitches and touched 99.9 mph, signaling his progression toward full workload readiness.
Velocity dip raises questions
The fifth inning told a different story.
After sitting at 79 pitches through four dominant frames, Ohtani returned to the mound and immediately showed signs of fatigue. He allowed three consecutive singles and saw a noticeable drop in velocity.
His four-seam fastball averaged 96.5 mph in this outing, down from 98.4 mph in his previous appearance. More notably, his velocity dipped further in the fifth inning, with fastballs registering in the 93–94 mph range.
That decline stood in contrast to the end of the fourth inning, when he was still reaching the mid-to-upper 90s.
Dodgers focused on workload buildup
While a sudden velocity drop can sometimes raise concern, this outing appears more tied to workload progression than injury.
Ohtani entered spring training with a unique ramp-up process after pitching in the World Baseball Classic and building up through bullpen sessions and simulated games.
The Dodgers extended him further than in his previous outing, likely to test his endurance ahead of the regular season.
Ready for Opening Day role
Despite the late stumble, Ohtani’s overall performance reinforced that he is close to full readiness.
The strikeout total and early dominance highlight his ceiling, while the fifth-inning fatigue underscores that he is still being stretched out for longer outings.
As the Dodgers prepare to begin the 2026 season, Ohtani remains a central piece of the rotation with the ability to dominate when fully built up.
The decision creates immediate roster implications, particularly for Andrew Knizner, who no longer appears to have a clear path onto the roster.
Garver earns roster spot despite recent struggles
Garver, 35, enters his third season with Seattle after rejoining the club on a minor league deal this spring.
Earlier in his career, Garver established himself as a power-hitting catcher, highlighted by a strong stretch from 2019 through 2023. During that span, he hit .250 with a .346 on-base percentage and a .508 slugging percentage while launching 75 home runs.
His 2023 season with the Texas Rangers stood out, as he hit 19 home runs in just 87 games while improving his plate discipline.
However, his production has declined since joining Seattle. Across 201 games with the Mariners, Garver has posted a .187/.290/.341 slash line with a 29.6 percent strikeout rate and below-average offensive production.
His spring training performance has also been limited, hitting .182 with continued contact issues.
Knizner likely odd man out
The move puts Knizner in a difficult position heading into Opening Day.
Knizner, 31, is on a $1 million contract for the 2026 season and cannot be optioned to the minors. As a result, Seattle will need to either trade him or designate him for assignment if he does not make the final roster.
While Knizner has experience across seven MLB seasons, his offensive production has been limited, with a career .211 batting average and modest power numbers.
Defensively, he has been viewed as a steady option, though his metrics have been comparable to Garver’s in recent seasons.
Veteran presence behind the plate
With Cal Raleigh expected to handle the majority of the workload, the Mariners appear to value Garver’s experience and familiarity with the organization.
Seattle may be prioritizing a veteran presence behind the plate, particularly one who has been part of the club during its recent postseason push.
Garver now projects to serve as Raleigh’s backup to open the 2026 season, while Knizner’s future will be resolved in the coming days.
The Cincinnati Reds will begin the 2026 season without one of their most electric arms.
Star right-hander Hunter Greene announced that he will undergo surgery Wednesday to remove bone spurs from his elbow, a procedure that will sideline him for the start of the upcoming MLB season.
Greene revealed details of the injury in a statement posted to his Instagram Stories, explaining that elbow discomfort first surfaced late in the 2025 season.
“I felt no discomfort a few days later, and as I started my offseason throwing program, I felt great,” Greene said, according to SI’s Greg Kuffner. (Source) “However, the pain returned as I got close to the start of camp and as I began throwing harder and manipulating pitches more. The irritation in my elbow is affecting my ability to finish and execute pitches without a sharp stabbing pain. I simply need to have the bone spurs removed.
“All I want to do is play the game I love and compete with my brothers as we take on the 2026 season. But it’s important that this procedure take place now instead of trying to pitch through it, not be sharp on the mound and risk further injury. Trust me, nobody is more frustrated than I am.”
Greene initially experienced the elbow irritation during the closing stretch of the 2025 campaign. After the season ended, he underwent an MRI in Los Angeles that revealed bone fragments in the elbow. At the time, doctors recommended standard treatment rather than immediate surgery.
The 26-year-old right-hander remains one of the hardest throwers in Major League Baseball and has developed into a key piece of Cincinnati’s rotation.
During the 2025 season, Greene posted a 2.76 ERA with 132 strikeouts across 19 starts. A right groin strain earlier in the year forced him to miss several weeks before he returned to the mound on Aug. 13.
Greene previously earned his first All-Star selection in 2024 after posting a 2.75 ERA with 169 strikeouts. That season also included a brief stint on the injured list due to elbow soreness.
The Reds finished the 2025 campaign with an 83–79 record, placing third in the National League Central.
With Greene sidelined to begin 2026, Cincinnati’s pitching depth will be tested early as the club looks to remain competitive in a tightly contested division.
Tony Vitello’s first game in a San Francisco Giants uniform didn’t come with grand theatrics, dramatic ejections, or over-the-top gestures. It came with a foul ball off the shin, a lopsided early deficit, and a calm, steady presence on the top step as the Giants opened Cactus League play vs. the Seattle Mariners in Peoria.
For a manager whose entire professional life has lived in the college game, even just being there was something new. The Giants’ matchup with Seattle marked not only Vitello’s first game as San Francisco’s skipper, but also the first spring training exhibition he had ever attended in any capacity
Vitello spent nearly 25 years in college baseball, including eight high-energy, high-expectation seasons at Tennessee, where he helped transform the Volunteers into a national powerhouse. His winters and early springs were usually filled with workouts, scrimmages, and recruiting—not leisurely Cactus League afternoons. He never worked as a pro scout, roving instructor, or special assistant. Instead, he focused on developing college players, sending the best of them into the draft, and then starting the cycle over again.
On Saturday, a few of those former players were right there with him in orange and black. Right-hander Blade Tidwell and outfielder Drew Gilbert, both products of Vitello’s Tennessee program, were on the Giants’ travel roster as their former college coach stepped into his first big-league game-day role.
Vitello’s debut came with a literal sting. In the fifth inning, he tracked a pitch just a beat too long and took a foul ball off his shin—another line on a growing list of coaching battle scars. He has already endured two broken facial bones from baseballs during his coaching career, and now he can add a bruised leg from his first Cactus League afternoon.
On the mound, things started just as painfully. Giants right-hander Hayden Birdsong faced six batters and recorded only one out in the first inning, allowing two walks, two ground-ball singles that found holes, and a grand slam to Miles Mastrobuoni as Seattle jumped out to a quick 5–0 lead. It meant Vitello had to make his first walk to the mound as a major-league manager almost before the national anthem singer had cleared the field.
From there, the afternoon settled into exactly the kind of game a new manager can appreciate. The Giants’ bullpen stacked zeros the rest of the way as nine pitchers combined to shut out the Mariners after the first inning. Tidwell stood out among that group, flashing a wipeout slider and striking out three in a scoreless frame, looking every bit like a future bullpen weapon for San Francisco.
Caleb Kilian, back with the organization on a minor-league deal more than four years after the Giants traded him to the Cubs, reportedly touched 99 mph, adding another intriguing arm to track this spring. Left-hander Juan Sánchez worked out of trouble with help from catcher Jesús Rodríguez, whose poise and feel for the game earned praise from Vitello after the win. Nick Zwack, in camp as depth from the minor leagues, shook off a misplay behind him and finished a scoreless ninth to send his manager into his first handshake line as a big-league skipper.
The Giants’ bats did their part as well in the 10–5 victory. New center fielder Harrison Bader ripped a high fastball for a two-run double, putting an early stamp on his first game with San Francisco. Top prospect Bryce Eldridge delivered one of the most impressive swings of the afternoon, staying short and direct while shooting an opposite-field double off a 98 mph heater from Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz.
Gilbert, the player Vitello once joked he’d be “babysitting” when he took the Giants job, got a pair of late at-bats, lined an RBI single, scored a run, and capped one trip down the dugout steps with a quick fist tap to his old coach. It was a small moment, but a fitting snapshot of Vitello’s journey from Tennessee to San Francisco and the relationships that came with him.
For all the novelty of the day, what stood out most was what didn’t happen. There were no lineup-card mishaps. No pitchers were summoned before they were warm. Nobody hit out of turn. The game operation—always a potential minefield for a first-time big-league manager—ran clean and uneventful.
Vitello spent the day on the top step, sometimes using a clipboard to shield his eyes from the afternoon sun, and did what he has always done: lock in on every pitch. Tidwell noted that his former coach preaches concentration and confidence, telling players that the team that stays locked in the longest usually wins. On Day 1 of his Giants tenure, Vitello lived that message.
A Cactus League-opening win doesn’t promise a playoff run or a division banner. But for the Giants, this first exhibition under Tony Vitello offered a clear look at his style—steady, focused, and decidedly “nothing crazy”—and a glimpse of how his college-built edge and attention to detail could translate at the highest level.
