Did you report to Spring Training?
ZiPS projected standings have the Royals finishing 82-80, third in the AL Central:
I don’t want to harp too much on Kansas City’s offense, since I did that at length last week, but the fact is it’s a very Bobby Witt Jr.-reliant lineup with a ton of holes. This might be the best projected Royals pitching staff in ZiPS history, and that may be enough for Kansas City either to keep pace with the Guardians and Twins or outright topple them. There are benefits to playing in a division with no truly ambitious teams.
Pitchers and catchers just reported and Kansas City already has injury concerns, writes Kevin O’Brien:
In addition to McArthur’s injury news, Rogers also reported, via manager Matt Quatraro, that Marsh experienced some shoulder tightness this offseason and may have a delayed start to Spring Training.
Marsh lost his spot in the rotation at the end of the season to Lorenzen (though he gained it back momentarily when Lorenzen went on the IL). However, that shouldn’t damper a solid 2024 that saw Marsh take some encouraging steps forward as a Major League pitcher.
Preston Farr at Farm to Fountains has five bold predictions for the Royals in 2025:
Joey Wiemer starts more games in the outfield than Hunter Renfroe
If you told me that Hunter Renfroe would be a bench platoon bat by midseason, that in itself isn’t an entirely “bold” prediction. Renfroe was good at times last season but finished the season with a 92 wRC+ worth -0.1 fWAR. In 21 games, 2024’s iteration of Joey Wiemer was worth even less. He compiled a 7 wRC+ and -0.4 fWAR in that short span between Milwaukee and Cincinnati. Nothing in the underlying metrics gives me confidence that he was unlucky in 2024. With that said, the match with Wiemer and Kansas City seems like a good one that should get more out of the former top prospect.
Eric Longenhagen reviews his 2018 top 100 prospects to evaluate how well it aged.
Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon is out long-term after undergoing hip surgery.
The inside story of how the Dodgers landed Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.
Pokémon Go is partnering with MLB for special ballpark experiences.
Netflix released a first look at their Red Sox docuseries filmed last year, which is set to premiere April 8.
A whole bevy of transactions to round up this morning:
- The White Sox are signing old friend Michael A. Taylor to a one-year deal.
- Boston is signing third baseman Alex Bregman to a three-year deal.
- San Diego is signing right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta to a four-year deal.
- Milwaukee is signing left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander to a one-year deal.
- Miami is signing right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill to a one-year deal.
- The Mets are signing right-handed pitcher Drew Smith to a one-year deal.
- Detroit is signing right-handed pitcher John Brebbia to a one-year deal.
- Tampa Bay is acquiring right-handed pitcher Mason Englert from Detroit.
WNBA rookie Aaliyah Edwards is dominating Unrivaled’s 1v1 tournament.
Super Bowl LIX averaged a record 127.7 million viewers in the U.S.
NBCUniversal is selling off most of their linear cable channels, which could present an opportunity for new life for fading networks.
Scarlett Johannson is calling for a ban on deepfakes after an AI-generated video of her went viral.
Marvel is firmly in their slop era with their latest film, Captain America: Brave New World.
Your song of the day is Go Outside by Cults.