With simply over three weeks till Opening Day, listed below are three issues we’ll be maintaining a tally of across the baseball world all through the day immediately:
1. World Baseball Traditional Begins
The primary sport of the WBC is scheduled for tonight at 10pm CST, the place Staff Netherlands will face off in opposition to Staff Cuba. Per the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s World Rankings, the Netherlands is the seventh ranked nation on this planet for his or her baseball program, whereas Cuba is the eighth ranked nation. In 2017’s Traditional, Cuba was eradicated within the second spherical whereas the Netherlands made it to the semifinals earlier than falling to Puerto Rico in a 4-3, 11 inning loss. This 12 months, Staff Netherlands is highlighted by Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts, whereas White Sox middle fielder Luis Robert highlights Staff Cuba. Tonight’s sport will likely be aired on FS1.
2. Mets’ fifth starter up within the air:
Given the information that Mets lefty Jose Quintana suffered a stress fracture in his fifth rib on his left aspect, it appears probably that the Mets might want to start exploring options for the fifth slot of their rotation behind Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Kodai Senga, and Carlos Carrasco. The highest choice for that position seems to be left-hander David Peterson, who posted a 3.83 ERA (101 ERA+) in 105 2/3 innings final 12 months. Different choices embrace right-hander Tylor Megill and fellow southpaw Joey Lucchesi. Megill excelled early final season with a 1.93 ERA in his first 5 begins of the season however started to battle accidents because the calendar flipped to Might, spending a lot of the remainder of the season on the injured checklist an struggling badly when he was in a position to take the mound. Lucchesi, in the meantime, missed nearly your entire 2022 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgical procedure.
3. MLBTR Chats At present
Following yesterday’s chat with former Cubs GM and major-league pitcher Ed Lynch, the transcript of which you’ll learn right here, MLBTR is worked up to welcome former major-league catcher Gary Bennett for a chat with readers. The journeyman catcher suited up for the Phillies, Mets, Rockies, Padres, Brewers, Nationals, Cardinals, and Dodgers throughout his 13-year profession, which included a World Sequence championship with the Cardinals in 2006. Bennett appeared in 587 video games on the massive league degree and slashed .241/.302/.328 (64 OPS+) over the course of his profession. You should definitely tune in later this morning at 10am CST for Bennett’s stay chat!
Different stay chats immediately embrace Steve Adams’ weekly Tuesday chat — open for advance questions proper now and kicking off at midday CT — in addition to Darragh McDonald’s Orioles-focused chat, which is being held at the side of the Orioles offseason overview he revealed yesterday. You’ll be able to ask a query prematurely for that chat as nicely.
