Vinnie Pasquantino incorrectly noted which teams were in the WBC final four and apologized. Oops. It’s ok – he’s highly caffeinated and we all make mistakes when we’re W I R E D.
“It’s amazing,” Pasquantino said. “I don’t know how many people would’ve picked the Dominican Republic, Japan, the United States and Italy in the final four, but we’re here now, so we’re going to enjoy this for the probably next few hours. We’ve got a flight to catch. This is incredible, man.”
Pasquantino’s comments came hours before Venezuela advanced to the final four by defeating Japan.
The Royals Spring Breakout game will be televised on the Amazon MLB FAST channel on Friday.
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Thomas Harrigan at the MLB mothership writes about why Jac Caglianone is poised for a breakout.
Caglianone’s expected stats, which take quality of contact into account rather than the actual results, not only indicate he was much better than his OPS implies, they show he was one of the unluckiest hitters in the game.
In fact, he had MLB’s largest unlucky gap (the difference between his expected and actual production) in all three of these categories (minimum 100 PAs):
.237 xBA // .157 BA // .080 unlucky gap
.431 xSLG // .295 SLG // .136 unlucky gap
.321 xwOBA // .239 wOBA // .082 unlucky gap
The Athletic covers a player for each team who is turning heads. ($)
Kansas City Royals — Dennis Colleran, RHP
Colleran was the Royals’ 2024 seventh-round pick out of Northeastern and in his first year of professional ball in 2025, he went from Low A to High A and even pitched in one game at Double A, going a combined 9-0 with a 2.85 ERA in 66 1/3 innings with 72 strikeouts. He was so dominant that he represented the Royals in the Arizona Fall League, where he posted an impressive 1.17 ERA over seven relief appearances. He’s on a fast track to the majors and I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes his major-league debut sometime this year once his slider becomes more consistent and he throws more strikes.
Matt Quatraro, manager: “Dennis has been absolutely electric. He has an upper-90s fastball coming out of a low arm slot with an emerging slider. Hitters have really had uncomfortable at-bats against him.”
David Schoenfield has a sort of bold take prediction article about the upcoming season.
Bobby Witt Jr.: 92 extra-base hits
Verdict: Real. Witt had 32 home runs in 2024 before dropping to 23 in 2025, so we know there’s 30-homer power here — and maybe closer to 40 with the new ballpark dimensions. He’s entering his age-26 season, a common age for a player’s best season. Add 20 points or so back to his batting average, and reaching 92 extra-base hits is in play.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep examines the second base situation going into the season.
Last season, the Royals opted to let Massey be the everyday second baseman, and India rotated as a utility guy in left field and at third base at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, the move was disastrous for India, especially on defense. India posted a -5 FRV in 3B, and that poor defense carried to second base, as he posted a -4 FRV at the keystone. The poor defense seemed to have a mental impact on India’s bat, and he ended up having his worst season at the Major League level.
Quatraro is intent on India being their regular second baseman, with Massey mixing in here and there based on matchups. So far this spring, it seems like that has helped India be in a better headspace in 2026.
Jacob Milham at Kings of Kauffman looks at the battle for the back end of the bullpen.
Venezuela defeated Italy last night to set up a finals tilt against USA. RIP espresso dinger.
We’re going to see some experimental rule changes in the minor leagues this season.
Dayn Perry at CBS Sports ranks the top 100 players heading into the season.
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John Smoltz was his typical downer self about Paul Skenes on the broadcast for the WBC. Some unfortunate honesty in there, though I have no love for Smoltz as a commentator.
Old friend Nelson Velázquez looks like he’s getting a roster spot on the Cardinals.
The Chiefs have their new interim starter/backup for when Patrick Mahomes comes back next season – it’s Justin Fields. CBS Sports has a grade for the trade.
Longtime NFL CB Darius Slay retired.
The guy who plays Elder Price in Book of Mormon has been doing it for 10 years, which is highly unusual in an unstable business.
Your song of the day is Protoculture with Sanctuary.
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