Spring is Sprung… Again

The grass is riz. I wonder where the flowers is?

Baseball America just published a piece titled: “One Intriguing 2026 Spring Training Performance For Each MLB Team.” In it, they featured River Ryan as the Dodgers’ “Intriguing Player.” In part, they wrote: “The big question for Ryan was whether he could return to health and his pre-injury stuff. Back from Tommy John surgery, Ryan needed one spring training outing to dial in the strike zone, as in his first appearance against Arizona, he landed strikes with only 42% of his pitches. But he showed no control problems in his next two outings, and he’s sitting 96-98 mph with a swing-and-miss 90-91 mph slider. That slider has generated eight whiffs in 14 swings.”

Notice that they did not focus on Santiago Espiniol, who was hitting like his hair is on fire. It’s not surprising that some of the best performances this Spring are from hitters (like Espinol) who struggle if the ball isn’t thrown straight over the plate. He’s feasting on balls thrown straight over the plate. I know it. The scouts know it, and the Dodgers know it. Some of you don’t… but you will find out. There are basically two weeks left in Spring Training, and the pitching is getting tougher. He can still make the team, but he will have to hit his way on.

“But, Dave Roberts said he would be on the team.” No, he didn’t! He is just building him up. He can still make it, but he is about to see pitches that are not straight and over the plate. If he does happen to make it, he will be gone as soon as Tommy Tanks or Kike is activated. I suggested trading him, but an old scout told me, “The other teams see what you see… he has no market.” Yeah – he’s probably right.

River Ryan is another story, and it is possible that both River and his brother, Ryder, make the team. River will ultimately be in the rotation – his stuff is filthy. They are just bringing him along slowly. Roki Sasaki is a story in himself. I would love to see him in the rotation, but we saw this movie last year. He is filthy out of the pen. He has to master that third pitch in order to start. Yeah, he had a great game on the back diamonds. Hell, according to the legend, Sandy Koufax was throwing 90+ MPH on the back diamonds when he was in his 50s. Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear is my mantra.

Starting rotation in April:

1. Yamamoto
2. Glasnow
3. Wrobleski
4. Ohtani
5. Sheehan
6. Ryan (out of the pen at first)

I know that many of you might resist this, but I think there is a decent chance Sasaki starts at OKC to give him some time to develop. Pile on…