While much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic was hit hard with a blizzard on February 23, there was baseball being played in Arizona and a colder-than-normal Florida. It was a good day for several players headed to the WBC next week, plus a Twins pitcher fighting for a roster spot.
Abel makes strong impression
The Twins haven’t received a lot of good news to this point in Spring Training, although Joe Ryan‘s back injury could have been worse. However, Minnesota did see Mick Abel, who could see a lot of time in the rotation this season, pitch very well in his spring debut.
Abel struck out five over three scoreless innings. It followed up on what was a great run for Abel in September, one that saw him strike out 15 over 10 innings for Minnesota.
Skubal dominant
In that same game, Tarik Skubal struck out four over two innings against the Twins. The lefty was sitting 95-96 MPH with his fastballs during the outing.
It was an interesting day on the news front for Skubal. The two-time AL Cy Young winner clarified that he’ll only make one start for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. That’ll come in the pool play stage against Great Britain.
He’ll head back to the Tigers camp after his start.
WBC players stand out
With the 2026 World Baseball Classic starting next week, one would expect players who will participate in the event get up to speed fast. That’s been the case for several players, aside from Skubal.
Team Panama infielder Edmundo Sosa picked up two hits for the Phillies in the team’s 5-5 tie against the Nationals.
Luis Arraez, who will suit up for Venezuela in March, went 2-3 for the Giants on the 23rd.
And in Dunedin, several WBC-bound players played in the Mets-Blue Jays contest.
MJ Melendez (Puerto Rico) and Nick Morabito (Italy) both picked up hits for the Mets, while Clay Holmes (USA) struck out three over 3.2 IP and 57 pitches. Meanwhile, for the Blue Jays, Kazuma Okamoto (Japan) hit his first spring home run for the Blue Jays.
Andres Gimenez (Venezuela), Ernie Clement (USA), and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Dominican Republic) went hitless.
J-Ram goes deep
Jose Ramirez is off to a roaring start in the Cactus League.
The Guardians third baseman went 2-3 with a home run and four RBI against the Diamondbacks.
In that same game, by the way, Tanner Bibee struck out one over two scoreless innings.
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