Spring Training Recap: March 8, 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.

Friday Exit Velocity Leaders

Friday Whiff Leaders

March 7 Spring Training Breakdown

Cristopher Sánchez, LHP, Philadelphia Phillies

The dominant spring continues for Sánchez who struck out four batters across three innings of work. Sánchez allowed one run and just two hits but did not issue a walk. He generated eight whiffs and added eight more called strikes.

The notable takeaway here is Sánchez’s fastball was sitting 97 and touched 98.5 mph. While they have been shorter stints, Sánchez has sat in this range all spring. He averaged 94.5 mph last year, so the jump is notable even if it tails off as he builds up innings.

Sánchez’s new cutter played well, sitting 87 mph with strong traits. He missed one bat on the two swings he generated from the cutter. He also showed a new-look slider that gets more horizontal movement. The changeup has remained quite strong and averaged 20 inches of arm-side fade while sitting 88 mph. He seems primed to take another step forward in 2025, which would likely be in the strikeout department.

Ty France, 1B, Minnesota Twins

Some questioned why the Twins would sign France. There were even more questions before Spring Training games began when manager Rocco Baldelli said France would get a ton of run at first base. So far he has shown why Baldelli made the statement.

France had a single and double on Friday and posted exit velocities of 96.8, 103.6, and 105.9 mph. While spring stats are relatively meaningless, France is up to a .529 batting average with a 1.461 OPS.

Bailey Ober, RHP, Minnesota Twins

Ober faced a watered down Braves lineup, so it was not a huge surprise to see him strikeout five batters across four innings. He did allow six hits, but the only damage came on a Jarred Kelenic home run.

While he is still building up, Ober’s fastball velocity is not all the way up to the 91.7 mph he averaged in 2024. The fastball shape was good though and he generated five whiffs on the pitch.

Ober added five more whiffs on his slider, which is a new look this year. The slider’s velocity is up 2.5 mph and has more carry and less sweep than previous seasons. Ober is also working in a sweeper that is sitting 77 mph and a new sinker that has 15-18 inches of arm-side movement.

While not a flashy arm, Ober is very reliable year over year.

Kyle Manzardo, 1B, Cleveland Guardians

Manzardo blasted his second home run of the spring and continues his hot start. While social media is buzzing about a potential breakout from the former top prospect, the more concerning thing is the fact Manzardo has struck out in 28.5 percent of plate appearances.

Sure, we are looking at a small sample. It has been encouraging to see Manzardo hit for power and even a respectable average and OBP. The contact rates are respectable and the reality is the strikeout rate could change quickly in the matter of a few games.

Manzardo should see regular playing time with the Guardians this year and many hope he can turn into the hitter many thought he could be as a prospect.

James Wood, OF, Washington Nationals

Wood smoked a 111 mph opposite field home run on Wednesday. On Friday night he went oppo again for a monster home run. While we did not get the savant data on it, we will have to wait and see what the numbers actually were, but the home run was smoked to say the least.

With only 13 plate appearances so far this spring, it is impossible to form any strong opinions. But, we know Wood can mash and hits the ball as hard as anyone in the game. He also has sneaky speed.

Everyone wants Wood to pull the ball more, but when you hit it as far as he does to any part of the field, it matters a lot less. A 20 home run/20 stolen base 2025 from Wood would not be surprising.

Casey Mize, RHP, Detroit Tigers

Another strong outing from Mize saw him toss three scoreless innings with one hit and walk allowed, but five strikeouts. Mize needed just 35 pitches to finish his three innings, but generated an impressive 11 whiffs on 19 swings.

Mize averaged 19 inches of IVB and seven inches of horizontal movement on his 95.5 mph fastball. The IVB is a three-inch jump from what he averaged in 2024 and it continues to miss bats at a strong rate.

Mize’s splitter is also firmer and less drop, but more arm-side movement. He is also toying with a couple of slider shapes. One that sits 83-84 mph with more depth and 5-6 inches of sweep and another that sits 86-87 mph with a little more carry and 2-4 inches of sweep.

Will these changes pay off? We need to see this over a longer sample, but I think it is encouraging that Mize is working to make changes. The early results have been good. Let’s see if it sustains over longer starts.

Miguel Andujar, 3B/OF, Athletics

Andujar seems intent on winning a job with the Athletics with how he is swinging it this spring. Three more hits on Friday, including a double pushed Andujar’s spring average to .556 with a 1.619 OPS in 21 trips to the plate.

Sure, it is a small sample, but Andujar has two home runs and doubles each while striking out just one time. Last season, Andujar got 319 plate appearances which was the most since his rookie season in 2018.

Trevor Story, SS, Boston Red Sox

Story blasted two home runs and added a third hit on Friday for one of his best games in years. While we did not have exit velocity readings, I will have to wait to get that date, the home runs were impressive nonetheless. Story smoked them both over the Green Monster in Fenway South and has looked good all spring to this point.

Logan Evans, RHP, Seattle Mariners

With George Kirby hitting the IL and slated to miss time, that fifth spot is wide open in Seattle. While Emerson Hancock seems to be the presumed guy, Evans wants something to say about that.

Pitching on the same night, Evans looked much better than Hancock, firing three innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts and zero walks. He did allow three hits and served up a solo home run to Michael Conforto, but that was the only damage.

Evans’s fastball sits 95-96 mph to pair with a devasting sweeper to get whiffs. The fastball shape plays best down in the zone to induce ground balls. His arsenal is deep as he also throws a curve, cutter, and changeup, but the fastball and slider combo is the primary swing-and-miss pitches.

Justin Wrobleski, LHP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Wrobleski turned in a strong 3.1 innings of work on Friday, striking out five batters and not allowing a run to cross. He did allow four hits and a walk, but also generated eight whiffs and had a 31 percent CSW. While the velocity is down as Wrobleski is still ramping up, the stuff is playing equally as good.

From a movement standpoint, Wrobleski’s changeup is showing more depth than previous seasons, while also showing less fading action. This is something to watch.

The velocity will get back to the mid-90s on the four-seam and the Dodgers will have immense pitching depth. Where Wrobleski fits in is tough to answer as things stand.