Spring Training Recap: March 6, 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.

Wednesday Exit Velocity Leaders

Wednesday Whiff Leaders

March 5 Spring Training Breakdown

Garrett Crochet, LHP, Boston Red Sox

Crochet was dominant on Wednesday, striking out seven batters over three scoreless innings. He allowed just one walk and two hits and did not allow a run to score. Crochet generated 12 whiffs and was dominating hitters.

The fastball touched 101 mph on the stadium radar gun. It is no surprise given the fastball averaged over 97 mph last year over the course of the full season. The 7’1” extension also allows the pitch to play up even more.

Joe Boyle, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

Boyle made another good start for the Rays, tossing 2.1 innings with one hit and walk allowed a piece with two strikeouts. Tossing 48 pitches, Boyle landed 32 for strikes, good for an impressive 66 percent clip, well above his career average.

Generating seven swinging strikes, Boyle made Jarren Duran look silly in the first at-bat in the game. He also got Jhostynxon Garcia to end the second.

Having two straight starts with a 66 percent strike rate is notable. 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.

Julio Rodríguez, OF, Seattle Mariners

A “down” 2024 season for Rodríguez still saw him manage 20 home runs and 24 stolen bases across 613 plate appearances as a 23-year-old. While finishing the year strong, Rodríguez still slashed just .273/.325/.409, which left many questioning the long-term outlook and if Rodríguez was still among the elites.

This spring has hopefully silenced any questions as Rodríguez mashed two home runs in three trips to the plate with exit velocities of 106.5 and 108.2 mph. Right now, Rodríguez has a max of 112.4 mph and an average exit velocity north of 96 mph.

Rodríguez looks fine and you can probably expect elite production from him moving forward.

Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Miami Marlins

Alcantara did not allow a hit across 2.2 innings of work, but he did walk two batters, which is a bit uncharacteristic of him. Still, he struck out a batter and generated six whiffs with three coming on his sinker and three on his slider.

The fastball sat 98 mph and the shape on the four-seam and sinker both looked good. The slider showed improved depth to it and more sweep than previous seasons. The changeup was dominant, sitting 90 mph with 19 inches of arm-side fade.

Reese Olson, RHP, Detroit Tigers

Olson was dominant, albeit against a stripped down Phillies lineup with only one regular in Nick Castellanos. Regardless, Olson’s arsenal was quite strong as he used his slider, changeup, four-seam, and sinker all equally and he sequenced them well.

He generated ten whiffs on 27 swings and threw strikes at a strong 66 percent mark. The fastballs averaged 95 mph with his four-seam having increased right and the sinker having slightly more horizontal movement.

Olson’s changeup averaged 88 mph and had 16 inches of fade on average, after sitting around 13 inches last season. He generated a whiff with all five pitches, including his 81 mph curveball that he only threw four times. Olson looks primed to take a step forward this year.

Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Baltimore Orioles

Rodriguez struggled across 1.1 innings, allowing three hits and a walk. It is also easy to panic because the velocity was down pretty notably and his last pitch was 89.5 mph. It does not sound like an injury. Rather, Rodriguez was quoted saying he felt “sluggish” and was not trying to throw 95 mph. He is focused on arm-slot and building up right now. He says it was just an off-day where nothing really felt right.

There does not seem to be a reason to worry about an injury right now.

Hunter Greene, RHP, Cincinnati Reds

Greene twirled a great start on Wednesday, tossing four scoreless innings with two hits and one walk allowed. He struck out six batters and needed just 49 pitches to get through his four innings of work. He generated an impressive 11 whiffs and landed 37 of his 49 pitches for strikes.

The fastball was pumping as Green averaged 99.5 mph, after sitting 97.5 mph last season. It’s shape was similar, but the velocity jump led to six whiffs on the pitch while it topped out at 101 mph.

Greene also saw a velocity uptick on his slider and splitter. Naturally, with a two mph bump, the splitter saw a bit more carry and a tad less horizontal movement. It was still a sharp pitch.

In 2024 we saw the upside of what Greene can be and it looks like he is ready to work carry that momentum into 2025.

Tyler Mahle, RHP, Texas Rangers

Mahle had Tommy John Surgery in May of 2023, but upon his return pitched just 18 innings in 2024 before dealing with a shoulder injury and being shut down. The velocity is still slowly coming back, but that did not stop Mahle from having a solid four inning start in which he threw 57 pitches.

Mahle’s fastball averaged 91 mph and topped at 93. When healthy in 2022 and 2023, the fastball lived around 93 mph and he probably needs to get back to that level to have success. The entire arsenal was down around two mph, which is something to watch, but Mahle could just be slowly ramping up.

Emiliano Teodo, RHP, Texas Rangers

Teodo looked like the future closer of the Rangers on Wednesday as he closed out the game with a perfect inning and three strikeouts. He was electric as his fastball sat 99 mph and nearly touched 100, clipping a 99.8. Teodo generated five whiffs on seven swings and added three called strikes for a 57 percent CSW.

The slider generated four whiffs on four swings as it sat around 86 mph but with high spin and a strong movement pattern. While the Rangers have continued to develop Teodo as a starting pitcher, his best spot is probably in the bullpen.

Logan Henderson, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers

Henderson was dominant again to continue his scoreless streak this spring. Tossing 2.2 innings, while striking out three and walking just one batter. He allowed two hits and walked one, but most impressively it was seven whiffs on 18 swings and a 35 percent CSW.

While previously being 90 percent fastball/slider usage, Henderson did mix in the cutter at a 25 percent rate and even threw three sliders. One of the better strike throwers and command specialists in the minors, Henderson threw strikes at a mark north of 67 percent in 2024 while having a 16 percent swinging strike rate, a strong recipe for success.

An oblique injury kept Henderson out mid-May and after two starts each at the complex and High-A, Henderson was split the rest of the year between Double-A and Triple-A. He ended the year with 81.1 innings, a 3.32 ERA, and an impressive 28.1 percent strikeout minus walk rate as he punched out 104 batters.

Henderson’s fastball is an outlier pitch, given that he comes in with a 5’3” release height with nearly 18 inches of IVB and 10 inches of arm-side movement. The flat VAA helps miss bats at the top of the zone. The velocity has steadily improved over the last several seasons and Henderson sat 94 and topped at 95.2 on Wednesday.

The changeup is his bread and butter, though. It averages a devastating 18 inches of arm-side movement with good carry and about 11 mph of separation from the fastball. The cutter sat 88-89 mph with good riding life and three inches of glove-side movement. He rounds out the arsenal with an 83 mph slider that is gyro-esq.

The biggest development for Henderson is using his cutter more. He has a shot to pitch significant innings in the Brewers rotation this year if they choose. The outlier traits make him a strong arm despite stuff that doesn’t overpower.

Chase Burns, RHP, Cincinnati Reds

Burns broke Twitter(X) on Wednesday after his stellar pro debut in which he struck out three batters across a scoreless inning of work. The 2024 first rounder pick generated five whiffs on eight swings and had a 44 percent CSW.

The fastball was electric as it averaged 99.6 and topped at 100.2 mph, but it was just an inning of work. Last year, the fastball averaged 98 mph and touched 101 with 20 inches of IVB on average. It is relatively flat, having just three inches of horizontal movement from a 6’5” release height. He blows it by hitters with the velocity and ride, having a 36 percent whiff rate on the pitch.

It is easy to look at the 19.3 inches of IVB he averaged on Wednesday and get super excited, and while it is a good number, you have to look at his 6’5” release height. From that release point the IVB is about two inches of north of average. Factor in Logan Henderson, who we just discused and he gets 18 inches from a 5’3” release height. That is about four inches over average. Both Burns and Henderson have great fastballs, but for different reasons.

The slider is his second most used pitch, and the only secondary he used in Wednesday’s debut. Checking in in the upper 80s, the pitch reached 92 last season and hit 91 yesterday. It has some late depth and five-to-eight inches of sweep on average, missing bats at an elite clip of 65 percent in 2024. The pitch got whiffs on all three swings it generated on Wednesday.

Could Burns be fast-tracked to the majors? It is possible. The stuff is elite and it showed in the small sample in his pro debut.

Jake McCarthy, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

McCarthy had a nice three-hit performance on Wednesday, collecting two singles and a double, all hard-hit balls. His double was smoked 106 mph to the right field gap and traveled 365 feet. An important thing of note is that two of his hits came off a lefty.

It has been a strong spring for McCarthy whose 106.1 mph double on Wednesday pushed pretty close to his max exit velocity in 2024 of 106.6. The exit velocities being up is something to watch as McCarthy will not only provide plenty of stolen bases, but also could have ten home run pop.