MLB

It’s not long ago that McGough was a favorite for saves in Arizona, but not even two years later, he pitched to an 11.57 ERA in spring training and will not make the team. Mancini is the tougher cut here since the veteran slashed .440/.481/.640 in 27 spring plate appearances with one home run. As a non-roster invitee, other teams will have a chance to offer him a spot on their roster or Mancini will decide whether to take a minor league assignment with the Diamondbacks organization.

This always seemed likely after Geraldo Perdomo signed his contract extension earlier in the sprint. Injuries limited Lawlar to just 23 minor league games in 2024, so the team wants him to play regularly at the start of the season, and the best place for that is in Triple-A right now. Perdomo is able to play anywhere on the infield, so if Lawlar were to get off to a strong start, the Diamondbacks could move Perdomo to a utility role or have him play second base or third base if there were an injury. We will likely see Lawlar get MLB at-bats this season.

The rest of the lineup looks a lot like an Opening Day lineup for the Mets. Baty has now started the last three games with the rest of the presumed starters and four of the last five, so it seems like the team favors him over Luisangel Acuna at this point. Baty is hitting .308 with two home runs in 43 plate appearances this spring and would be 2B/3B eligible in most formats, so he’s worth a late-round gamble to see if he can stake his claim to this job.

Gallegos reported that the Athletics will begin the season with a rotation of Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, Osvaldo Bido, JP Sears, and Joey Estes as their five starters. Spence had pitched well to start spring training but gave up seven runs in his last start, which may have sealed his fate. The 26-year-old registered a 4.58 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and 126/44 K/BB ratio in 151 1/3 innings for the Athletics last season and should get more starts at some point in 2025.

The eighth overall pick from the 2020 MLB Draft, Hassell III was a bit of an afterthought headed into spring after a rough 2024 season. However, the 23-year-old impressed by hitting .370/.408/.543 with one home run and two steals in 49 plate appearances this spring. He will need to carry that over into the regular season, but if he does, he could make his MLB debut sometime over the summer.

Garrett is the biggest name on this list since he was most recently a starter at the MLB level; however, House is a former first-round pick who went 7-for-21 in 18 spring training games with Washington this year. His season-long numbers from last season leave a little to be desired, but he was young for the Triple-A level at just 21 years old. The Nationals are currently starting Paul DeJong at third base, so if House gets off to a strong start in the minors, he could push for big league at-bats by the summer.

Diekman was sent to minor league camp over the weekend, but the 38-year-old has no minor league options left and the ability to refuse an assignment. The 38-year-old posted a 4.91 ERA with an 8/4 K/BB ratio in 7 1/3 innings this spring. There is a good chance he latches on somewhere else.

The 29-year-old right-hander has been slowed by shoulder discomfort of late. While he is scheduled to throw live batting practice to hitters on Thursday, his ramp-up process has been stalled to the point where the Yankees don’t believe it’s likely he will be fully stretched out by the time the season begins. That could lead to a short IL stint for Schmidt at the start of the season, which would mean that both Carlos Carrasco and Will Warren would make the Yankees rotation.

The hard-throwing 24-year-old started the spring hot, but his command faltered a bit in his last two appearances. He’ll head back to Triple-A, where he posted a 3.31 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 79/32 K/BB ratio in 54 1/3 innings last year. He will almost certainly get MLB innings this season.

Benintendi was expected to be out four-to-six weeks after fracturing his hand on February 27th when he was hit by a pitch in a spring game against the Guardians. It hasn’t yet been a month and he’s already back in the lineup. We’ll need to see how his hand feels after these live at-bats and whether the White Sox feel his timing is good enough to break camp with the team, but it seems like the 30-year-old has a real chance to be ready by Opening Day.