Kodai Senga struggled badly in 2025 despite respectable overall numbers. He walked too many hitters and surrendered 12 homers in 113.1 innings. By the end of the season, he'd been all but removed from the Mets' pitching staff. There was talk that he would be traded, but he expressed his preference to stay.

Braxton Garrett was the Marlins' 1st round draft pick in 2016 (7th overall) and was one of their better starters in 2022-23. However, he suffered an elbow injury in 2024 and needed Tommy John surgery. He missed the entire 2025 season and is working his way back, likely to make the big league roster.

The Angels are an oddly constructed club that has not finished above .500 since 2015. They had Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani at the same time and still managed to be terrible.

Roki Sasaki struggled as a rookie, particularly with his control. Then he had a shoulder issue. However, he was very effective in the playoffs, posting a 0.84 ERA in 10.2 innings, helping the Dodgers to their World Series win.

Charles (Chuck) King had quit baseball after finishing his college career at TCU. He took a job with the Padres as a performance analyst. A pitcher in San Diego's system asked why he wasn't playing since he could clearly pitch. After working his way back into playing shape, he signed with the Phillies.

The Red Sox made major changes to their roster after a disappointing 2025. Despite adding the likes of Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray to their starting rotation, they need homegrown arms like Brayan Bello to perform if their championship hopes have a chance of coming to pass.

Jacob Latz, soon to be 30, finally established himself as a big leaguer with the Rangers in 2024. He was used primarily as a reliever. But now, under new manager Skip Schumaker, Texas is giving him a chance to start.

Sean Manaea received a long-term contract from the Mets after his excellent 2024 season in which he posted a 3.0 bWAR, won 12 games, struck out 184 in 181.2 innings, and surrendered 134 hits. He was crucial to New York's run to the NLCS.

The Pirates are hoping their veteran additions of Ryan O'Hearn and Marcell Ozuna join with young stars Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz to leap into contention. So far this spring, they have looked good, winning 12 of their first 17 games.

The D-Backs are 8-9 this spring. They made moderate changes to their 2025 roster, including adding 3rd baseman Nolan Arenado in a Cardinals' salary dump. Arenado is with Puerto Rico at the WBC. In fact, a big chunk of the D-Backs' big league roster is at the WBC, including Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo, and Alex Thomas.

Spring training stats are generally discarded for a reason: They mean nothing once the regular season starts. However, with the Giants making such a fundamental and outside-the-box change at manager by hiring Tony Vitello, it is clearly important to them that they set a winning tone even if it's only March.

A big chunk of the Yankees' projected roster is away at the WBC. That includes captain Aaron Judge, closer David Bednar, catcher Austin Wells, infielder Jazz Chisholm, and others.