Spring Training Recap: March 1, 2025

Baseball is in full swing, Spring Training at least! Every day, we will feature the Spring Training recap, breaking down everything you need to know that happened on the field. From the top prospects performers to players with pitch mix changes and more, I break it down.

Spring Training brings a lot of noise, but what is legit and what isn’t? This article should help you out everyday with what the important takeaways are.

February 28 Spring Training Recap

Joe Boyle, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

Boyle stole the show on Friday and got all the Boyle-truthers excited and it was warranted. He fired two scoreless innings without issuing a walk and striking out four batters. When Boyle was traded from the Athletics to the Rays, many thought Tampa Bay could work their magic on Boyle and even though it was a small sample, it was encouraging.

Landing 24 of his 36 pitches for strikes, Boyle’s 67 percent strike rate stands out in a big way, as does his 50 percent zone rate. The biggest question is, can he sustain it over longer outings.

The fastball was electric, averaging 100.3 mph and generating six whiffs on 12 swings. Boyle also featured a new changeup which averaged 17 inches of fade to pair with his strong slider.

There has never been any denying the stuff Boyle brings to the table. If he can throw enough strikes, the profile could work as a starter.

Jackson Holliday, 2B, Baltimore Orioles

Entering camp beefed up, from eating more ground beef apparently, Holliday has added strength. It showed with his fifth innings home run off Eiberson Castellano, as he mashed a 107 mph homer that traveled 378 feet.

I think we can acknowledge a couple of things to be true here. Holliday can and likely will be a very good player for a long time. He also may never reach the ceiling that was placed on him as a prospect.

There is a bit of passivity in Holliday’s profile, but, he did show more aggression on pitches in the zone, especially over the heart of the plate in his MLB sample. The contact skills might be my biggest concern right now. Between Triple-A and the Majors, Holliday posted a zone-contact rate near 76 percent, which is well below average. The overall contact rate between both levels was below 70 percent.

Holliday hits the ball harder than you might expect for his frame. The max exit velocities won’t wow you, but a 90th percentile of 104 mph and an average of 90 mph will absolutely play for a 20-year-old who also happened to be in the majors.

Loft in the swing has been an issue at times though. Running ground ball rates north of 50 percent limits the ability to get to power and Holliday ran one of the lower sweet spot rates among all hitters.

I do think we see a step forward from the 21-year-old Holliday this year. The skills are there and he has put in the work this offseason.

Zebby Matthews, RHP, Minnesota Twins

Matthews dominance continued on Friday in his second spring start as he generated six whiffs and had a 38 percent CSW. With five strikeouts across three scoreless innings, Matthews looks to try and lock down a rotation spot with the Twins.

After topping at 97.1 mph last season, Matthews hit 97 seven times in his first start and hit 97.5 mph on Friday. The entire arsenal of pitches saw at least a one mph increase of velocity, and his pitches played a bit better in general.

Matthews was hit hard in his MLB debut last year largely due to being afraid to walk batters and living in the zone too much. His 40 percent zone rate is a positive in my opinion as Matthews got several swings on pitches out of the zone.

Richard Fitts, RHP, Boston Red Sox

Fitts looked like an arm that wants a rotation spot in Boston after he dominated in his two innings of work, striking out three batters, while not issuing a walk.

A hulking presence on the mound, taller than his listed 6’3”, Fitts leads with a fastball that sat near 94 mph. Throwing from a higher 6’2” release height, Fitts creates average ride and short horizontal movement. The fastball velocity was up on Friday, averaging 97 mph, though it was just eight pitches.

From a secondary standpoint, Fitts throws two variations of his slider: an 87 mph gyro-slider and an 83 mph sweeper. Both pitches were up over one tick and Fitts led with his slider.

His splitter sits in a similar velocity range to the gyro-slider, having eight to ten inches of fading action and some carry to it. It is one of his go-to weapons against left-handed batters.

Fitts is an above-average strike thrower, landing 67 percent of pitches for strikes in 2024. There is not any true bat-missing pitch in the profile, but Fitts does a good job landing pitches for called strikes. With his frame and ability to throw both innings and strikes, he profiles as a high-floor, backend starting pitcher.

Brandon Sproat, RHP, New York Mets

Sproat made his presence known in his Spring Training debut, tossing two perfect innings and showing a dominant pitch-mix. Both the four-seam and sinker sat 97 mph, but it was the secondary pitches that caught the eyes of many.

The slider sat around 85 mph with 13 inches of sweeping action. The 90 mph changeup averaged 15 inches of fading action and late depth, creating good deception. He mixed a cutter and curveball as well, but threw just one a piece.

The Mets have openings in their rotation and Sproat was being fast-tracked last year. Maybe Sproat does not break camp, but it would not be shocking if Sproat wound up in the rotation in the first couple months of the season.

Kyle Higashioka, C, Texas Rangers

Higashioka blasted two home runs and drove in six runs in a dominant performance on Friday. The home runs were 107.4 and 97.7 mph off the bat. While Jonah Heim is slated to be the start in Texas, Higashioka always finds a solid amount of plate appearances wherever he is.

Cody Bradford, LHP, Texas Rangers

Bradford is a sneaky arm in the Rangers rotation, especially with the early increased velocity. While it was not a lot, Bradford averaged 91.3 mph on his fastball, up from 89.8 mph last season. While Bradford won’t overpower anyone, his fastball does have strong traits and deception which allow it to play well.

The curveball shape for Bradford is slightly different this year, albeit a small sample. It is less depth but more sweep, which coincides with his uptick in velocity. Do the gains hold in longer outings? It is still to be determined, but Bradford is a solid depth arm late in drafts.

Kris Bubic, LHP, Kansas City Royals

Bubic looks to have an early lock on a spot in the Royals rotation in 2025. After a strong first start a week ago, Bubic fired two scoreless on Friday, striking out four batters without allowing a walk. He faced most of the Diamondbacks’ regulars and looked the part.

The fastball sat in the 93-94 range with the four-seam having solid ride and the sinker averaging 11 inches of horizontal movement. The slider showed more depth, averaging negative six inches of IVB and 15 inches of sweeping action, while sitting 84 mph. Bubic’s changeup sat at 85 mph and showed more depth than previous years with 11 inches of arm-side movement.

Keep a close eye on Bubic this spring, he looks to have a hold on a rotation spot in Kansas City.

Jake Bloss, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays

The velocity jump for Bloss got people excited as he averaged 95 mph and topped at 96.6 mph with decent shape, averaging 19 inches of IVB from a release height just shy of six feet. The problem is he really had no clue where it was going and got hit hard.

The slider was solid, missing three bats on seven swings while showing good depth and six inches of sweeping action. Bloss also flashed a heavy fading changeup.

Locations hurt him as Cody Bellinger and Austin Wells got the best of him, blasting first inning home runs that were 103.5 and 109.8 mph.

Tommy Edman, MI/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers typically know what they are doing when they trade for and extend a player and that is what happened with Edman.

A wrist injury that was supposed to be a short injury stint caused Edman to miss the majority of the 2024 season. After returning to action on August 19, he has stood out in a big way. The trade to Los Angeles also only helped his value, and Edman is under contract there through next season.

While Edman did slump a bit during the last week of the season, in his first 116 plate appearances back, he slashed a strong .284/.319/.505 with six home runs and five stolen bases. He also added four doubles and a triple. Even though the overall season line was relatively unimpressive with a .711 OPS, Edman chased at the lowest rate of his career and showed his strong contact.

Edman blasted his first home run of the spring, a 100.9 mph shot, while also adding 107.6 mph and a 101.5 mph batted balls. The 107.6 mph exit velocity was two mph higher than any batted ball he posted last season, although it was a small sample.

Caleb Durbin, INF, Milwaukee Brewers

It would not be a Dynasty Dugout report without a Durbin mention. For the people, right? Durbin got on the board with his first home run off the spring, off Logan Webb nonetheless. Having gotten off to a slow start to the spring, Durbin got on the board in a much needed way.

The player he might be competing with most for plating time, Oliver Dunn, also had a double in the game.

Lawrence Butler, OF, Athletics

Butler is walking fire right now, as he had another multi-hit game which included a home run that was hit so high I thought it might touch a star. He drove in four runs and now has two home runs and seven hits in 12 trips to the plate this spring.

Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

Carroll blasted another home run on Friday, his third of the spring. It left the bat with an exit velocity of 104.1, but more importantly the bat speed of 75.8 mph was impressive. He averaged just 73.7 mph bat speed last season. He added two more singles on the day to up his spring hit total to six in 12 trips to the plate and Carroll has reached twice more via walk.

Gerrit Cole, RHP, New York Yankees

Cole looks to be in midseason form already as he dominated across 3.1 innings with five strikeouts and nine whiffs. It would be easy to look at his velocities and be concerned, but it was still February at the time of the start and veteran arms sometimes ramp up slower. The fastball averaged 95 and touched 96, for reference, Cole sat at 96 mph last season. He will get back there.

Cole is one of the easier bounceback targets for fantasy baseball this year.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Toronto Blue Jays

Guerrero went three-for-three with a home run on Friday. Two of his three hits were exit velocities of 103 mph and 106 mph. There is no analysis needed here. Guerrero is elite and should be in for a big year entering his contract year.