Spring Training Recap: March 4, 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.

Monday Exit Velocity Leaders

Monday Whiff Leaders

March 3 Spring Training Breakdown

Kodai Senga, RHP, New York Mets

Senga returned to the mound for the Mets and pitched two scoreless innings. He struck out two batters and did not issue a walk while allowing two hits. He generated five whiffs and added in seven more called strikes for a 39 percent CSW.

While the four-seam velocity was down 1.3 mph, but it is also important to remember that Senga made just one start in 2024. The sweeper and slider both looked strong, but the introduction of a splinker was the notable takeaway here. Senga threw it just three times, but the pitch showed strong traits, having 10 inches of IVB and 18 inches of arm-side movement. Sitting around 90 mph, the pitch has potential to be a very dominant addition to Senga’s arsenal.

He threw the ghost-fork just once and also his curveball just once, but the deep arsenal was on full display. A healthy Senga should have a very solid 2025 season.

Andres Gimenez, SS, Toronto Blue Jays

Gimenez doubled and tripled on Monday and smoked the triple 107.2 mph off the bat. Even the lineout he has was hit 91 mph and traveled 300 feet, but it was hit right at Riley Greene in left field.

During the offseason, Gimenez said he was going to make a conscious effort to improve his plate discipline and chase less often. While it is early, his chase rate sits around 37 percent and is something he still needs to improve.

Monday was a positive step though, showing solid exit velocities. In the last three years, Gimenez has just 16 batted balls over 107 mph, which goes to show you how significant that triple was on Monday.

MJ Melendez, OF, Kansas City Royals

Melendez had three hard-hit balls on Monday, which led to a triple and a single. His hardest hit ball was smoked at a 17 degree launch angle, but unfortunately right at Kevin Pillar in left field.

Overhauling his swing this offseason, Melendez’s goal is to make more contact. The zone-contact rate of 76 percent last season is not great and the overall contact rate of 70 percent is around five percentage points below MLB average.

Does the swing change work? We shall see as the spring progresses.

Max Meyer, RHP, Miami Marlins

Meyer’s first start was great and it continued into the second as he struck out two over two scoreless innings with just two hits allowed. Meyer hit 97.7 mph on his fastball last week, but topped out at 96.8 on Monday, but he did average 96, which is notable.

The release point was different, and naturally, Meyer saw increased horizontal movement. The slider was sharp and sat in the low-90s and Meyer also threw his new sinker, which registered 17 inches of arm-side run last week and 14 inches on Monday.

Meyer’s new curveball four times, and it registered as a sweeper on Savant, having up to 14 inches of glove-side movement. Still, at 87 mph with ten inches of sweep and less depth than your typical curve, it probably plays in between a curve and sweeper. Meyer should have a rotation spot locked down in Miami, making him an interesting arm to follow in 2025. A breakout could be in order.

Hayden Wesneski, RHP, Houston Astros

While Cam Smith and Isaac Paredes grabbed the headlines in the Kyle Tucker trade, Wesneski might be a sneaky grab. Tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, Wesneski generated five whiffs on 20 swings and added five more called strikes.

Wesneski debuted a new curveball that had negative ten inches of IVB and 11 inches of sweeping action. The pitch sat 78 mph and was thrown exclusively to left-handed bats, but it looks like it could be highly effective.

Leading with the sweeper, Wesneski averaged 15 inches of sweeping action and was up to 19 inches. Wesneski’s fastball is also showing increased IVB. This is a deep arsenal of pitches and Wesneski should be the Astros’ fifth starter out of camp. He could be a potential breakout arm this year.

Felix Bautista, RHP, Baltimore Orioles

Bautista made a glorious return to the mound after missing 2024 season. He struck out two batters in a scoreless innings and generated three whiffs. While we did not have statcast data for the game, Bautista hit 97 mph on his fastball and averaged 96.3 mph.

The splitter and slider were mixed in as well and it was an encouraging return to the mound for Bautista. The velocity will come back with time and he should return the close role in Baltimore seamlessly.

Dominic Canzone, OF, Seattle Mariners

Canzone had the second hardest hit ball of the day on Monday, but had an impressive combination of exit velocities, having a 100.3 mph double, a 106.7 mph ground out, and a 114.8 mph double.

While Canzone has MLB experience and can mash, the problem is the Mariners outfield is the strong suit of their offseason. Contact skills have been an issue for Canzone in the past, but at the moment, that has been improved early in the spring.

Canzone probably struggles to find consistent at-bats in Seattle, but when you scorch balls like he did today, you have to be mentioned.

Caleb Durbin, 2B/3B, Milwaukee Brewers

After a slow start to spring, Durbin is cooking. After hitting his first home run on the final day of February, Durbin hit a shot off Nick Lodolo to lead off the game on Monday that left the bat at 104 mph. He also added a 104 mph single, which is significant because Durbin had an 83 mph average exit velocity last year with a 90th percentile exit velocity of 100 mph. Two batted balls of 104 mph are huge.

We know Durbin can make contact at high clips and he is a menace on the base paths despite having average foot speed. He seems intent on making the Brewers roster and earning a starting spot.

Jordan Beck, OF, Colorado Rockies

Beck had a couple of bloop singles in the first and third innings on Monday’s action and swiped a bag before blasting a home run in the sixth. Smoking a line drive to dead center field, Beck collected his first spring home run.

Beck made his MLB debut in 2024 and got 184 plate appearances in a Rockies’ uniform. The results were not good as he slashed .188/.245/.276 with three home runs and seven stolen bases. Beck also missed time during the season due to a broken bone in his hand diving for a catch in May.

In Triple-A before his debut and in rehab, Beck slashed .316/.395/.540 with just a 22 percent strikeout rate. The zone contact rate is notably different between Triple-A and the Majors, dropping from 78.5 percent to 71 percent in the Majors. It is also notable to see the drop in sweet spot rate(37 to 31 percent) despite having a consistent average launch angle.

Beck’s contact rates are below average, but he will get the benefit of the doubt in Coors Field which should boost his batting average. The power is there and Beck hits the ball hard in the air. Having a 94.5 mph average exit velocity on line drives and 91 on fly balls will play, but Beck needs to lift the ball more consistently, especially to the pull-side.