Rys Hoskins belted a 2-run homer and then added a 2-run single.

Another clutch outing by Pallette. Fans one, surrenders a couple of hits, fans another, and induces a ground out on an 86 mph changeup. Fastball in the upper 90's. He's going to give Vogt something to think about as we lead up to the selection of the final roster spot.

Cleveland Guardians Spring Training and WBC Prospect Report 3/7/26

Daniel Espino dominates

Arthur Kinney

Mar 8

SCOREBOARD

Cleveland Guardians 7, San Diego Padres 1 (Statcast)
Canada 8, Colombia 2 (Statcast)

STARTER

George Valera (LF): 0-2, 1 RBI, 1 SF - While Valera’s March (.111/.182.,222) has been far quieter than his February (.417/.462/.750), his first-inning sac fly (94 8 MPH exit velo, 342 feet) ensured him a productive plate appearance for the eighth game out of nine played so far this Spring.

NOTABLE RESERVES

Gabriel Rodriguez (2B): 1-1 - After grounding out to lead off the ninth in his MLB Spring debut last March 19 against the Athletics, Rodriguez made the most of his first 2026 plate appearance, picking up his first big league exhibition hit (88.1 MPH exit velo).

Alfonsin Rosario (PR-CF): 0-0, 1 R, 1 BB - Rosario’s second walk of the Spring led to him scoring his first ever major league Spring run before getting his first hit of 2026.

Dean Curley (PR-3B): 0-1, 1 R - Speaking of scoring without hitting, the 0-for-4 Curley has scored twice in his MLB Spring debut season, both times as a pinch runner.

RESERVES

Milan Tolentino (SS): 0-1

Kody Huff (C ): 0-1

Wuilfredo Antunez (LF): no plate appearances

RELIEVERS

Daniel Espino: H (1), 1 IP, 1 H, 3 K - Espino rebounded masterfully from a leadoff ground-rule double (100.6 MPH exit velo), which is unsurprising given the pure heat he was dealing (FB 96-97, SL 89-91). If he can stay healthy, his 2026 will be can’t-miss stuff.

Peyton Pallette: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 K - Palette, who has recorded five of his six 2026 outs via strikeout, allowed a pair of runners but kept both from crossing the plate safely for the second time in as many outings this Spring. Look for Peyton to get many more opportunities this preseason as the Guardians decide whether to roster the Ru;e 5 selection on the 26-Man or send him back to the South Siders.

Franco Aleman - 1 IP, 1 K - Aleman, whose four-seamer reached into the 98s on Saturday, closed out the Guardians victory with a three-up, three-down ninth.

WBC

Dayan Frias (starting SS, Colombia): 0-2 - Frias, like most of his Colombian teammates, continued his offensive struggles in the nation’s second contest of this WBC.

Bo Naylor (C) Canada 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Travis Bazzana (2B) Australia 0-4

Stuart Fairchild (CF) Taipei 1-5 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 1K

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I think that Nolan just sealed his fate with his 3 k's today.
Perhaps Fairchild gets a closer look and possibly break camp with the team.

No actually Nolan only struck out twice and walked once. He tried a kind of different stratagy today: he only swung twice in his 3 at bats, actually a foul ball once.

I don't see room for Fairchild either. If they will keep 13 pitchers, which is certain, they will have room for 13 position players. 3 catchers clogs the roster

Naylor
Hedges
Fry
Manzardo
Hoskins
Rocchio
Arias
Ramirez
Schneemann
Valera
Martinez
Kwan
DeLauter

No room for Kayfus, let alone Fairchild. The only way to add one of them is if [no reason to think this will happen] Hedges retires as a player, joins the coaching staff, and Fry is the back up catcher.

No matter, I think it's over for Jones. Too bad. I had high hopes.

If it were 2 k's it might have given Jones half a pass, Civ, but 1 walk and 3 k's was a tad too much.

Even Japanese Emperor Naruhito and the royal family are Ohtani fans, make appearance at Tokyo Dome


The Associated Press

March 8, 2026

TOKYO (AP) — Naruhito, Empress Masako and Princess Aiko arrived at the Tokyo Dome for Japan’s critical game Sunday against Australia and the World Baseball Classic.

Even the royal family are fans of Japanese baseball and superstar

The Japanese royals entered the Tokyo Dome during batting practice before the game began and waved to some fans on hand for the game.

Naruhito turned 66 just a few weeks ago and has been focusing his attention lately on remembering the 15th anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011, that killed nearly 20,000 people in northern Japan.

Aiko, 24, is the only child between Naruhito and Masako and cannot become the monarch. Japan allows only male succession.

PD interview with Vogt about Jones pointed out that he's swinging too .late at fast balls and out ahead on off speed. couple that with his self-doubt and he's a mess that we can do without. Some other teams might give me a shot in the minors but we'll be paying the price.

At least we got a decent return in Brito in our first trade of Jones. Unfortunately dealing away Freeman to get him back was a negative.
The net deal of Freeman for Brito could turn out to be about a wash. We;ll see in a couple years. Freeman has been a decent leadoff hitter and CF for the Rockies,

Today's OF: Lf Halpin Cf Kwan Rf Valera

Messick 3.86 ERA starting.

2 2-run homers by Kwan; a solo shot by Rocchio.
Very sold 4 2/3 2hit innings by Messick. ERA now 1.93
in the bullpen battle: Brogdon 1-2-0-0-0-1 Heuer 1-2-2-2-0-2

Other notes:
Halpin double Hoskins, Valera, Arias, Hedges singles

Cleveland Guardians Spring Training and WBC Prospect Report: 3/8/26

DeLauter returns as DH: Tugboat and DeLucia pitch in WBC

Matthew Kennell

Mar 9

Scoreboard:

Cleveland Guardians 4, Colorado Rockies 4 - Statcast
Japan 4, Australia 3 - Statcast
Italy 7, Great Britain 4 - Statcast
Cuba 7, Colombia 4 - Statcast
Panama 4, Canada 3 - Statcast

Starters:

Juan Brito (2B): 1-2, 2 RBIs, BB - Brito was the lone prospect to drive in runs when his clutch sixth-inning single gave the Guardians the lead at the time, 3-2. He deposited a first-pitch fastball right back up the middle for two runs.

Chase DeLauter (DH): 1-2, BB - DeLauter continues to have a successful spring after he reached base twice in Sunday’s tie. He drew a walk in the first, lined out at nearly 105 mph off the bat in the third and beat out an infield single to lead off the fifth.

CJ Kayfus (1B): 0-1, 2 BBs - Kayfus showed patience at the dish and drew two walks against Major League relief pitchers, including one on a lefty-lefty battle.

Angel Genao (3B): 0-3 - He gave the opposing second baseman a workout with two groundballs his way and a strikeout in three plate appearances.

Khalil Watson (LF): 0-3, E7F - Watson did not look the most comfortable in left field with an error charged to him and what ended up being a great catch that he appeared to have taken a not-so-optimal route to get to. Along with that, he was hitless at the dish.

Reserves:

Wuilfredo Antunez (PR-DH): 0-1, 2 R, BB, SB - Antunez was the lone man with real success off the bench in this one. He entered as a pinch runner and scored as well as coming all the way around to score after the walk he drew in the ninth. He put himself in good position to do so with a stolen base.

Milan Tolentino (SS): 0-1, BB - Tolentino walked and had an unlucky lineout to center field on a hard-hit ball.

Ralphy Velazquez (1B): 0-1 - Speaking of hard-hit baseballs, Velazquez had the best exit velocity of anyone in the game at 113.9 mph but it was caught by the first baseman.

Jeffrey Mercedes (2B): 0-1 - Mercedes struck out looking in his only trip to the dish.

Aaron Walton (LF): 0-1 - Walton struck out as well in the eighth.

Carter Kieboom (3B): 0-1 - A jam job back to the pitcher for an out was the result of Kieboom’s lone at-bat.

Petey Halpin (CF): 0-2 - Halpin worked a six-pitch at-bat in which he lined out to the shortstop in the seventh and grounded out to first in the ninth.

Juneiker Caceres (RF): 0-0 - Caceres entered the game late as a defensive replacement and made one successful play on a live drive single out to him.

Jack Leftwich (RP): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 0 Ks - Leftwich was tasked with getting the last out in the fifth and did so on three pitches when David Fry threw out a runner trying to steal.

Jack Jasiak (RP): BS (1), 1.0 IP, 2 H, R, K - The right-hander struck out the first batter he faced in pursuit of a save, but back-to-back singles gave the Rockies a chance to draw even on any ball in play. They would do just that and the game ultimately ended in a tie. He threw 12 strikes on his 17 pitches with three whiffs, all on off-speed pitches.

World Baseball Classic:

Dayan Frias (SS, Colombia): 2-3, BB, DP - Frias had a good showing for Team Colombia despite the team being eliminated with three pool play losses. He was 2-for-3 with a walk in the penultimate game for the team with a walk in the second and singles to start the fifth and eighth innings.

Matt Wilkinson (RP, Canada): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 2 Ks - The southpaw Wilkinson was called upon to pitch the ninth for Team Canada and after he struck out the first two batters he faced, the game entered a weather delay and he was then removed due to unfortunate timing. He certainly did his job in the short time he was on the bump.

Travis Bazzana (2B, Australia): 0-4, DP - After a strong start to the World Baseball Classic, Bazzana struggled against Team Japan with two flyouts and two groundball outs.

Dylan DeLucia (SP, Italy): 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, BB, 5 Ks, 2 WPs - DeLucia got the start and helped lead Team Italy to a 2-0 start in pool play. He had to rebound from a tumultuous start when two wild pitches put them behind 2-0 in the first. He settled in from there and ended up retiring nine batters in a row to conclud

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BOXSCORE GUARDIANS VS ROYALS

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/guardians-v ... /final/box

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JUNIOR CAMINERO 424 FOOT BLAST

https://www.mlb.com/video/junior-camine ... st-popular


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Cleveland Guardians Spring Training and WBC Prospect Report 3/9/26

Travis Bazzana exits WBC; Prager hit hard in tough task vs. Dominican Republic

Arthur Kinney

Mar 10

SCOREBOARD

Cleveland Guardians 6, Kansas City Royals 2 (Statcast)
South Korea 7, Australia 2 (Statcast)
Dominican Republic 10, Israel 1 (Statcast)
Colombia 4, Panama 3 (Statcast)

STARTERS

George Valera (RF): 1-3 - Valera avoided a second pair of back-to-back hitless games with a second-inning single but got thrown out to end the frame trying to stretch it into his second two–bagger in the last five days.

Petey Halpin (LF-CF): 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K - Halpin’s fifth-inning double (100.2 MPH exit velocity) continued his March pattern of alternating two-total base and hitless games.

Next Year in Cleveland is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.NOTABLE RESERVE
Dauri Fernandez (PR-SS): 0-1, 1 R - Fernandez scored his first major league Spring run as a pinch runner in the sixth.

RESERVESJaison Chourio (LF-CF): 0-1

Garrett Howe (2B): 0-2, 2 K

Alex Mooney (3B): 0-1

Nolan Schubart (1B): no plate appearances

Cooper Ingle (C ): 0-0, 1 BB

Jake Fox (LF): 0-1

RELIEVER

Will Dion: 0.1 IP, 2 H - Dion, the only true prospect to pitch for the Guards yesterday, got the final out of the fifth frame.

WBC

Travis Bazzana (2B, Australia): 1-4, 1 RBI, 2 K - Bazzana’s lone hit of Australia’s final contest of this WBC briefly put the Aussie nine in a position to advance to the quarterfinals.

Ryan Prager (SP, Israel): L (0-1), 1.2 IP, 1 H, 5 R (all earned), 4 BB, 1 K, 1 HR allowed - After getting Fernando Tatis Jr., Ketel Marte, and Juan Soto out in order in the first, Prager’s second frame was a walk-laden mess that looked like…well, a guy in first full pro season facing a big league lineup in a meaningful contest. That said, this start was a valuable, and otherwise irreproducible, experience for Ryan. The real concern is that his velocity topped out at 87 MPH, far down from his 90-91 at Texas A&M and might explain his draft stock drop in 2025 from 2024. Something of a concern to watch as he pitches at an affiliate in 2026.

Dayan Frias (SS, Colombia): 1-3 - Frias finished his WBC with another quiet effort, albeit with another hit to bring his WBC slash to .273/.385/.273.

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BOXSCORE GUARDIANS VS GIANTS

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/giants-vs-g ... /final/box

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