The man who played Crash Davis, Billy Chapel, and Ray Kinsella stopped by Snakes camp.
Diamondbacks News
Wanna have a catch? Kevin Costner crashes D-backs workouts by Steve Gilbert [Dbacks.com]
“He’s ‘The Voice,’ and then he’s right there in front of you talking to you,” Lovullo said. “I was basically watching guys hitting and shagging on Field 2, and five minutes later, I’m hanging with Kevin Costner. You can’t make it up. I’ve got one of the coolest jobs in baseball. It was great.”
Arizona Diamondbacks Lovullo mulls batting order decisions by Nick Piecoro and José M. Romero [AZ Central]
“I might be a little more fluid with matching up,” Lovullo said. “There were times I was reluctant when Christian got into a little bit of a funk — and every hitter does — I was reluctant to move him out of the four hole. I might be a little more fluid and make some more lineup adjustments in that space with that mindset. I don’t know yet.”
Jordan Montgomery Progressing Toward First Spring Start by Jack Sommers [SI]
Torey Lovullo seemed pleased with the results. Montgomery threw about 26 pitches, mixing in plenty of sinkers and curveballs. Lovullo seemed especially please with the curveball. “There were, in particular, some good breaking balls I saw him throw that had good shape and good finish in the hitting zone,” Lovullo said.
Corbin Burnes on Tacos, Velocity, and His Partnership with Kaplan by Jake Oliver [SI]
Burnes credits a lot of [his higher velocity this Spring] to Brian Kaplan, the D-backs’ new pitching coach. “I think this is probably the highest it’s been in a couple of years. Not sure why. Could just be that the few mechanical things we’ve been working on have been cleaning up and velocity’s taken off a little bit. It’s definitely early in camp for it to be that high, but I’m not going to complain. Everything feels good and mechanically, we feel pretty clean.”
Diamondbacks starter Tommy Henry discusses spring, embracing competitiveness by Michael McDermott [Venom Strikes]
Henry’s mindset pitching in Reno is to beat the other starter, regardless of score. In the Pacific Coast League, a very extreme hitter-friendly league, pitchers are going to have ugly stats. By embracing his competitiveness, which he says is a strength of his, he’s had that type of success at that level and is looking for it to translate to the major leagues.
His last spring outing is an example of what he’s capable of. He was dominating the Rockies with a fastball that averaged less than 90 MPH, striking out four in three scoreless innings including three straight in the fourth inning. Henry credits being able to stay ahead in counts for putting him in position to strike out those batters.
Around the League
Clark: MLBPA Expects Lockout After 20226 Season by Darragh MacDonald [MLB Trade Rumors]
Tony Clark, executive director of the MLB Players Association, expects the league to implement a lockout after the 2026 season. “Unless I am mistaken, the league has come out and said there’s going to be a work stoppage,” Clark said, per Barry M. Bloom of Sportico. “So, I don’t think I’m speaking out of school in that regard.” The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on December 1 of 2026.
The Baseball Moves Differently in the Cactus League by Michael Rosen [FanGraphs]
“I was told not to overconcern yourself with pitch shapes here and the movement of the ball because it’s tough,” Verlander told Maria Guardado of MLB.com after his start. “It’s my first spring training in Arizona, so everyone was like, ‘Hey man, it’s a little different out here.’ I’ve heard it from everyone. But I think you still need to be honest with yourself.”
‘Let’s go hang out on the bus’: Bregman joins prospects on road trip by Ian Browne [MLB]
“Yeah, [Bregman]’s the man,” said Mayer. “I mean, we were talking about it, me and Roman, and we noticed that the veterans don’t normally come out to road games a lot, so we were giving him a little bit of crap. And he’s like, ‘Dude, I’ll go to the next one. Like, let’s go hang out on the bus.’ Next thing you know he’s on the bus with us.”
Astros say Jose Altuve expected to play mostly in left field [ESPN]
“Right now the plan is for him to play the majority of his games in left field,” Espada said, adding that moving Altuve “back and forth is something that I am going to avoid.”
Question of the Day