Here's all 20 teams ranked from Team USA to Czechia
www.baseballamerica.com/stories/worl...
Here's all 20 teams ranked from Team USA to Czechia
www.baseballamerica.com/stories/worl...
Just filed our WBC power rankings. To do so I looked at every player I could. There are 314 pitchers on prelim rosters. We were able to get velo data on 308 of them.
That's easy for US/Japan/DR.
Much more fun with Czechia, Brazil, Australia and all.
How important is Triple-A time for a position prospect?
I looked at every MLB hitter to debut since 2010 to get an idea of an answer.
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All Spring Breakout games are available free on MLB.tv/MLB App
02.03.2026 17:16 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Beginning in 2027 the Spring Breakout games will turn into single-elimination tournaments.
www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlbs...
Agree on that. Bringing him up this year quickly is more to me about getting through that stage of adjustment so he can potentially star next year.
And if he adjusts more quickly
..bonus.
What you just described would be the best season the Pirates can probably hope to get at SS this year from the current candidates.
And it set up a 4.3 bWAR second season for Witt. If Griffin did that next year it would be the best season by a Pirates hitter since 2022.
The bar here is low.
Yep. Not enough days of active service to graduate
28.02.2026 15:25 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0So good
28.02.2026 03:46 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Some reasons are obvious. Covid-cancelled season played a part for a while. Reduction in levels of minors undoubtedly played a part.
But smart people in the game pointed to some less obvious reasons as well. That's what I wrote about today here:
www.baseballamerica.com/stories/5-re...
A graphic should how MLB hitters and pitchers are debuting with fewer MiLB PAs and IP of experience.
Researched it and found that yep, players across the board are moving through the minors faster than they had just a few years before.
It's across the board. College draftees. HS draftees. International signees.
Hitters and pitchers.
So then we get to the fun part: why?
I love that I get to observe things happening in baseball, and research the data. And when I find something out, I can then talk to really smart people in baseball to get their thoughts on why.
Hypothesis: players are reaching the majors more quickly than before.
(cont.)
Please read the story. Which spells out why this puts Griffin in a very special group.
The only 4 guys to do it in the past 40 years are REALLY special.
How many plate appearances and innings MiLB hitters and pitchers have before reaching the majors.
You aren't imagining it. Players are as a whole moving through the minors to the big leagues faster than before.
It's not just a few notable stars.
www.baseballamerica.com/stories/5-re...
Yeah if he can match that group I think he will have turned out pretty well.
24.02.2026 19:28 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Seems like a good time to re-up this
2 HRs in 2 ABs today.
You should check out who are those four players are.
The four who did it all make a compelling argument why stars are very different.
24.02.2026 15:02 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Konnor Griffin is 19 years old. He has 122 MiLB games and 563 MiLB PAs of experience.
That's a very small amount for someone to be pushing for a big league job. In the past 40 years I found only four players who debuted with that little experience.
www.baseballamerica.com/stories/konn...
Story gives five reasons for why it's happening.
24.02.2026 14:32 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
How many plate appearances and innings MiLB hitters and pitchers have before reaching the majors.
You aren't imagining it. Players are as a whole moving through the minors to the big leagues faster than before.
It's not just a few notable stars.
www.baseballamerica.com/stories/5-re...
It is with a heavy heart that we relay the news of the passing of legendary Pirates and National Baseball Hall of Famer, Bill Mazeroski.
Maz was a 7-time All-Star who hit the greatest home run in baseball history. He was a beloved member of the Pirates family and he will be deeply missed.
At that time (2006) the only way for a Cuban player to play in the US was to defect. There were no players allowed to leave to play anywhere else. That didnt happen for quite a while after that.
18.02.2026 20:30 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
He had played six seasons in Serie Nacional at the time of the 2006 WBC and hit over .300 in five different seasons. He was a fully established star at that time.
No player on the 2006 Cuban team had played in the U.S. major leagues. You couldn't play for Team Cuba if you came to the U.S.
MLBPA press release
It is official.
18.02.2026 02:50 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Week one college baseball and draft talk coming up right now on Hot Sheet, with @jjcoop36.bsky.social and @jacobrudner.bsky.social:
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Join us on the Hot Sheet show:
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Sent manually on biz days. Sorry for the delay.
16.02.2026 17:29 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Ty Madden threw live BP today. First time on a mound in uniform facing hitters for him since last April. He missed all of last season with a shoulder sprain, but was able to avoid surgery. Said he felt great.
14.02.2026 17:58 — 👍 16 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Tyler Bell injured his shoulder diving for a grounder in Kentucky's 13-2 win over UNC Greensboro 😬
buff.ly/RXNzCGR
Pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training camp. It won't be long before minor league camps open.
Get caught up on the latest Minor League Transactions 👇
⚾ 143 signings
⚾ 123 releases
⚾ 15 outright assignments
⚾ Trade roundup
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