The Baseball Buffet for 3/15/2026

Puerto Rico 6, Italy 8 - KCR SP Seth Lugo couldn’t get more than one out in the first (0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K), and Italy built up an 8-2 lead through four innings. Puerto Rico scored four in the top of the eighth as CLE pitcher Matt Festa struggled (0 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K), but BOS pitcher Greg Weissert came in for Italy to finish the eighth and pitch a scoreless ninth to get the save, his third of the WBC tournament.

Venezuela 8, Japan 5 - A pair of MVPs led off the first inning with a HR for each club: ATL RF Ronald Acuña Jr. for Venezuela, and LAD DH Shohei Ohtani for Japan. LAD SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto settled in and did pretty well after that, with 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 5 K. BOS SP Ranger Suárez had 4 K in 2.2 IP, but also allowed 3 H, 3 BB, and 5 ER, including another HR by CF Shota Morishita in the third inning as Japan built a 5-2 lead. KCR 3B Maikel Garcia hit a 2-run HR in the top of the fifth, and then BOS LF Wilyer Abreu landed the big blow with a 3-run HR in the top of the sixth. COL SS Ezequiel Tovar also did well, going 3-4 with 2 doubles and 3 runs scored, and CHC RP Daniel Palencia struck out two in a scoreless ninth to lock down the save, and end the WBC for Japan, the reigning 2023 champions.

8:00pm ET: United States (PIT SP Paul Skenes) vs. Dominican Republic (ATH SP Luis Severino)

Powerhouse lineups face off as USA meets DR (8 p.m. ET, FS1), by Anthony Castrovince

It's Skenes vs. the Dominican lineup -- who has the edge?, by David Adler

We haven't seen this much talent together in 1 game in a long time, by Anthony Castrovince

MIA SP Cade Gibson did well with 4 K in 1.2 IP, allowing 1 H and 2 BB

BAL C Adley Rutschman went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI, and BAL RF Dylan Beavers was 2-3 with a 2-run HR

PIT C Henry Davis finally had his first hit of the spring (1-19), and it was a HR. PIT DH Marcel Ozuna also connected for his first spring HR.

PIT SP Carmen Mlodzinski, who is competing for a rotation spot, had 5 K in 5 IP but also allowed 7 H and 2 ER

NYY SP Max Fried had mixed results with 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, and 4 K

TOR DH Daulton Varsho went 1-2 with his fourth HR of the spring

TOR SP Max Scherzer did well with 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, and 5 K

DET Tarik Skubal was strong with 7 K in 4.2 IP, allowing 3 H and 1 ER

STL 3B Nolan Gorman went 2-3 with his third HR of the spring, and STL SP Andre Pallante did well with 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, and 4 K

ATH SP Jacob Lopez was outstanding with 4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, and 7 K, and ATH RP Scott Barlow also did well with 4 K in 1.2 IP

KCR SP Ryan Bergert struggled with 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, and 4 K, giving up four homers, including three solo HR by ATH C Shea Langeliers, and one HR by 1B Nick Kurtz. ATH SS prospect Leo De Vries went 2-2 with a double, 2 runs, and 2 RBI

AZ 1B Luken Baker went 1-3 with a walk, a HR, 2 runs, and 2 RBI, and AZ 2B Jacob Amaya was 2-4 with a grand slam and 5 RBI

AZ SP Zac Gallen struggled with 2.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

SFG SP Adrian Houser had 6 K in 5 IP, but also allowed 4 H, 1 BB, and 2 ER

SFG DH Rafael Devers went 2-3 with 2 runs and a 3-run HR (those were first two hits of the spring, ending an 0-18 start)

CIN SP Rhett Lowder, who is competing for a rotation spot, allowed several baserunners with 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, and 4 K

CIN C Jose Trevino went 2-3 with a HR and a double

The Rangers beat the Padres 22-2. TEX SP Nathan Eovaldi did pretty well with 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. But the big story here was the Rangers’ hitters, especially their results against SDP SP Marco Gonzales (2 IP, 8 H, 10 ER, 6 BB, 1 K), and SDP pitcher Logan Gillaspie (2.2 IP, 11 H, 9 ER, 3 BB, 1 K). TEX RF Brandon Nimmo was 4-4 with 2 HR and a double, TEX CF Wyatt Langford was 3-3 with a walk and a HR, TEX 3B Josh Smith was 1-1 with 3 walks and a grand slam HR, TEX 1B Ezequiel Duran was 3-4 with a HR and a double, and TEX SS Corey Seager and RF Trevor Hauver also had homers.

CHW SP Mike Vasil did well with 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, and 3 K and against a tough Dodgers lineup

CHC SP Ben Brown did well with 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, and 6 K

COL SP Kyle Freeland did well with 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

CLE SP Logan Allen struggled with 2.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

SDP DH Miguel Andujar went 2-4 with a grand slam HR, and SDP C Freddy Fermin was 2-2 with a walk, a HR, 3 runs, and 2 RBI. He is now batting .458 (11-24) so far this spring.

SEA SP Logan Gilbert had 5 K in 2.2 IP, but also allowed a lot of baserunners with 6 H, 2 BB, and 2 ER

LAA pitcher Walbert Urena, who is competing for a roster spot, did well as a starter against the Mariners with 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, and 4 K

LAA C Logan O’Hoppe was 2-2 with a walk, a double, and 2 runs

COL RF Jordan Beck was 2-2 with a walk, a HR, and 2 RBI

MIL SP Jacob Misiorowski had 6 K in 4 IP, but also allowed 4 H, 2 BB, and 2 ER

MIL LF Brandon Lockridge went 1-3 with a walk and his 3rd HR of the spring

NYM SP Freddy Peralta did quite well with 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 5 K

HOU SP Ryan Weiss did well with 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, and HOU LF Yordan Alvarez went 2-4 with 4 RBI and his first HR of the spring

BOS SP Brayan Bello did well with 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, and 7 K

ATL SP Bryce Elder did well with 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, and 6 K, and ATL 1B Matt Olson was 2-3 with his fourth HR of the spring

6 - ATH Shea Langeliers (as noted above he just had three yesterday, vaulting him to the top here)

5 - CIN Matt McLain

4 - CIN Will Benson

4 - SEA Brennen Davis

4 - ATL Ben Gamel

4 - BAL Vance Honeycutt

4 - NYY Spencer Jones

4 - TEX Wyatt Langford

4 - AZ Jordan Lawler

4 - ATL Matt Olson

4 - ATH Brent Rooker

4 - COL TJ Rumfield

4 - SDP Nick Schnell

4 - TEX Josh Smith

4 - ATH Tyler Soderstrom

4 - TOR Daulton Varsho

4 - ATH Tommy White

4 - ATL Mike Yastrzemski

4 - SEA Cole Young

1901: Star 3B Jimmy Collins shifts from Boston in the NL to Boston in the AL. “Star third baseman Jimmy Collins jumps from the National League to the American League. The 28-year-old Collins leaves the Boston Beaneaters to sign a guaranteed $4,000 contract with the Boston Americans where he will be a player-manager.”

1945: Wartime restrictions cause changes for Spring Training. “With World War II travel restrictions still in effect, the Brooklyn Dodgers open spring training at Bear Mountain, New York, with 15 players in camp. Seven teams - the St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox - are training in Indiana, the most of any state. The Boston Red Sox are at Tufts College while the Boston Braves are prepping at the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut.”

1977: The Pirates and A’s make a big trade. “In a ten-player megatrade, the Pittsburgh Pirates send Tony Armas, Doug Bair, Dave Giusti, Rick Langford, Doc Medich, and Mitchell Page to the Oakland Athletics, in exchange for Phil Garner, Tommy Helms, and Chris Batton.”

1978: The A’s trade Vida Blue to the Giants. “The Oakland Athletics trade star pitcher Vida Blue to the San Francisco Giants for seven players and nearly $400,000 in cash. In exchange for Blue, Oakland acquires catcher Gary Alexander, infielder Mario Guerrero, outfielder Gary Thomasson, and pitchers Dave Heaverlo, Phil Huffman, John Henry Johnson and Alan Wirth. Blue will win 18 games for the Giants this season.”

14-year major league career, spanning from 1968-1981, spending seven years with the Giants, and the rest spread across seven other clubs

Three-time All-Star, and won three Gold Glove Awards in RF

Had a great combination of power and speed, with 25+ HR nine times, and 30+ SB ten times

Had 100+ runs six times, including leading the NL with 120 runs in 1969 and 131 runs in 1973

Struck out a lot, including leading the NL with 187 K in 1969, 189 K in 1970, and 148 K in 1973

Overall had 332 HR, 461 SB, 1,258 runs, a .268/.353/.471 slash line, and a 129 OPS+

Hall of Famer

Was the #1 overall draft pick in 1977 by the White Sox

22-year major league career, spanning from 1980-2001, spending parts of 14 seasons with the White Sox, and the remainder spread across four other clubs

Played mostly RF early in his career, but then became primarily a DH

Six-time All-Star

Had 20+ HR eleven times, but never had more than 29 HR in a season

Had 100+ RBI three times

Overall had 2,866 hits, 384 HR, 1,628 RBI, 1,299 runs, a .289/.356/.465 slash line, and a 121 OPS+

See the article "10 moments that defined Harold Baines' career" by Scott Merkin at MLB

10-year major league career, spanning from 2004-2013, mostly as a 1B and 3B with the Red Sox

Three-time All-Star, and won a Gold Glove at 1B in 2007

Had 20+ HR twice, including in 2008 when he posted career highs with 29 HR and 115 RBI

Did very well in the ALCS in 2007 against Cleveland, batting .500 (14-28) with 3 HR, 7 RBI, and 10 runs in 7 games

Overall had 150 HR, a .281/.382/.478 slash line, and a 124 OPS+

17-year major league career, spanning from 1880-1909, mostly as a 3B with St. Louis of the American Association, and Cincinnati in the NL (Note: after having been away from the game for ten years, he played in four games at the age of 49 in 1909)

Was a strong baserunner and run-scorer for his era, with 60+ SB seven times, including 129 SB in 1887 and 109 SB in 1888 (Note: we lack SB data for his first four seasons). He scored 100+ runs nine times, with career highs of 152 runs in 1886 and 163 runs in 1887.

Overall had 1,481 runs, 742+ SB, a .269 average, and a .334 OBP

13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1974-1986, spending his best seasons with the Indians and Rangers, with his late career spread across four other clubs

Three-time All-Star, he came in fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 1979 after posting a 13-5 record, a 1.57 ERA, 29 saves, and 136 K in 143 IP over 71 games

Overall had 88 saves, a 3.32 ERA, and a 116 ERA+

11-year major league career, spanning from 1984-1995, mostly as a 3B for the Yankees, Twins, and Padres

Hit 28 HR with 71 RBI in 1986, and then 32 HR with 87 RBI in 1987

Overall had 134 HR with a .241 average

448 - Frank Thomas

432 - Paul Konerko

243 - José Abreu

221 - Harold Baines

214 - Carlton Fisk

6 dark horse Cy Young candidates in '26, by writers at MLB, 3/14/2026

The Doomsday Scenarios, by Dan Szymborski at FanGraphs, 3/12/2026

The Forgotten Hero of Baseball's Greatest Team, by Tyler O’Shea at The Underdog Newsletter, 3/15/2026