9:26 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
Bleed Cubbie Blue

Cubs vs. Cardinals at Mesa preview, Tuesday 3/26, 2:05 CT

Photo by Chris Coduto/ The Cubs wrap their 2024 Sloan Park season. This is it for the Cubs in Arizona this Spring Training. They are 16-14-3 in all games played in Arizona this spring, so they have clinched a winning record, for whatever that’s worth. So it goes. Thursday for real. Here are today’s particulars. The Cubs lineup: Here is today's #Cubs starting lineup at @SloanParkMesa!Tune in: https://t.co/Gs2hZXyTjH pic.twitter.com/zlUp5PoP15— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 26, 2024 Cardinals lineup: Last Spring Training game for 2024! #ForTheLou...

Bleed Cubbie Blue

Cub Tracks’ Seiya sooner

Photo by Chris Coduto/ #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB news and notes, links and discussion, plus more or less scientific food for thought. The Cubs set their roster, play an exhibition game against the stinkin’ Cardinals. Stinkin’ Cardinals kick two field goals and win. WELCOME to today’s episode of Cub Tracks news and notes™, a greatest-hits collection of Chicago-style beat writers and bloggers, ground from #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball, overheated, steeped in writers’ tears, and then cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor. Spring Training is over. Yesterday’s...

Bleed Cubbie Blue

Cubs vs. Cardinals at Mesa preview, Monday 3/25, 3:05 CT

Photo by John E. Moore III/ This longtime NL Central rivalry comes to Mesa. As far as is known, this is the first time the Cardinals have ever played Spring Training games in Arizona. Per this 2016 article from our friends at Viva el Birdos, Cardinals home spring sites through history have included Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Indiana and their home state of Missouri before settling in Florida in 1914. Historically, they also played some spring games in Cuba, back in the 1930s when that was a thing. But these will be St. Louis’ first spring games out West....

Bleed Cubbie Blue

Cardinals 6, Cubs 3: Seiya Suzuki is ready for the season

Photo by Chris Coduto/ The Cubs outfielder smacked two homers Monday. Spring Training results don’t mean much. This, we all know. Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki sure wishes they did, though. He hit two homers and likely finished his spring season with six of them and a 1.593 OPS. This is how he was hitting in August and September last year and we sure hope it carries over. If so, Suzuki’s an MVP candidate. The Cubs, however, fell to the Cardinals 6-3 in the first of two exhibition games against their division rivals at Sloan Park. Suzuki’s first blast came in the...

MASN: Mark Zuckerman

Split-squad lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals and Marlins

JUPITER, Fla. – The Nationals weren’t able to play Friday night due to persistent rain across the entire state of Florida. So they’ll try to play two today … even though neither is a makeup game against the Astros! See, the Nats already had a day-night, split-squad doubleheader scheduled. (Such great planning for the second-to-last day of spring training, huh?)It all gets started at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, where half of the team will face the Cardinals and Miles Mikolas for the third time in 12 days. The veteran right-hander didn’t give up much in those previous two matchups,...

The Crawfish Boxes

Spring Training Game Thread March 21, 2024, 12:05 CT. Astros @ Cardinals

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports J.P. France gets another warmup before the season starts

Twinkie Town

Spring Training Pitching Notes

Louie Varland #37 of the Minnesota Twins pitches during a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals | Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/ Mini-dives on the pitching depth, Louie Varland’s sinker, Jorge Alcala’s stuff, and the command of Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan With only about a week remaining in Spring Training, here are mini-dives on four observations from the Twins’ camp. Depth Test The Twins’ predominantly healthy and quiet camp came to a screeching halt with Monday’s injury updates. While Byron Buxton was scratched with a seemingly minor...

The Crawfish Boxes

Astros Spring Training Week in Review.

Houston Astros outfielder Joey Loperfido (83) hits a single against the St. Louis Cardinals | Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports How are things shaping up? The Astros’ record is 10-13 going into the second of Monday’s Spring Training games. They were 2-6 for the week, but the situation isn’t as bleak as that sounds. First, the really bad news. Yet another pitcher is down. Jose Urquidy is out indefinitely with a forearm strain. That means, among potential Astros starters, Justin Verlander, Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia, and now Urquidy will not be pitching when the...

MASN: Mark Zuckerman

Relievers get extra work, Yepez gets three more hits, Wood gets a day off

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Davey Martinez wanted to see how several relievers in the mix for jobs handled major league hitters, the kind of proven players they don’t normally get to face late in spring training games when backups and minor leaguers take over. So today’s game against the Cardinals became a bullpen game, with a string of relievers trotting in throughout the afternoon to face the likes of Dylan Carlson, Matt Carpenter, Willson Contreras and Brandon Crawford.The takeaway from all that? Some were up to the challenge, others were not. And almost everybody needed to throw a lot...

Amazin Avenue

Mets Morning News for March 15, 2024

Photo by Dustin Satloff/ Your Friday morning dose of New York Mets and MLB news, notes, and links. Meet the Mets The Mets have interest in bringing back J.D. Davis. José Butto pitched very well in the Mets’ spring training game against the Cardinals yesterday. Anthony DiComo took a stab at projecting the Mets’ Opening Day roster. As Dwight Gooden looks forward to his number retirement ceremony this year, he’s particularly glad that Mike Torrez—who mentored him in spring training in 1984 while knowing that Gooden would probably replace him in the Mets’...

NESN.com

Injury Bug Bites Red Sox Again In Spring Training Matchup Vs Cardinals

With Opening Day just over two weeks away and on the heels of the announcement that Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito will have elbow surgery, Boston was delivered yet another injury. Pinch-hitting for Tyler O’Neill in Boston’s Grapefruit League matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, Rob Refsnyder was struck in the left foot […]

MASN: Mark Zuckerman

Corbin finds positives and negatives in start; Ward optioned to Triple-A

JUPITER, Fla. – We’ve reached the point of spring training where it’s appropriate to start looking more at results, though perhaps not enough to start reading too much into them.What, then, to make of Patrick Corbin’s start this afternoon during the Nationals’ 11-4 exhibition win over the Cardinals? The left-hander gave up three runs on six hits and two walks, all while throwing a whopping 74 pitches in only 3 2/3 innings. But he also notched six strikeouts, four of those coming on his newly developed cutter.“Obviously, you want good results,” Corbin said. “The first inning,...

The Crawfish Boxes

Spring Training Game Thread. March 7 2024, 12:05 CT. Astros @ Cardinals

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports It’s a very likely second-game-of-the-season lineup today including today’s starter, Cristian Javier. Yesterday’s game was rained out. Below is today’s lineup. All are likely regular-season starters. Only Jake Meyers is having a good Spring so far, as the BA numbers will indicate. It's time to start getting your timing, boys. Very limited media access today.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Cardinals ace Sonny Gray could miss opening day start against the Dodgers because of hamstring

St. Louis Cardinals ace Sonny Gray could miss an opening day start because of a mild right hamstring strain sustained in his latest spring training outing.

The Crawfish Boxes

spring Training Game Thread. March 2, 2024, 12:05 CT. Cardinals @ Astros

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports Cristian Javier makes his ST debut The Astros beat the Nats 10-8 yesterday, all of the Astros runs coming in the fifth inning or later. (In other words, after the major leaguers had left the game) The main story was the ineffectiveness of Framber Valdez in his first Spring start. Not something to worry about yet, but two clean innings would have felt a lot better than three runs on five hits in 1.1 innings. It’s a pretty stout lineup today, and besides Cristian Javier getting his first Spring Training start, we’re expecting Bryan Abreu...

Amazin Avenue

Mets Morning News for March 2, 2024

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Your Saturday morning dose of New York Mets and MLB news, notes, and links. Meet the Mets The Mets lost 3-2 to the Cardinals yesterday, but saw an encouraging performance from Luis Severino in his spring training debut. Various Mets pitchers spoke about the team’s new pitching lab and the notes they received after using it. Christian Scott, Mike Vasil, and Dominic Hamel have all bonded with each other as they’ve progressed through the minor league system together. Darryl Strawberry is rooting for Pete Alonso to have a big...