{"id":478581,"date":"2026-02-16T13:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478581\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:39:08","slug":"what-to-know-as-mlbs-spring-training-gets-underway-plus-shiffrins-last-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478581\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know as MLB\u2019s spring training gets underway. Plus: Shiffrin\u2019s last chance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

[Good morning! Spring is about to spring. Coming up:<\/p>\n

Baseball is Back: Five fun storylines to follow in spring training<\/p>\n

MLB games are happening this very week. Fake ones, sure, but ballgames all the same, as\u00a0all 30 teams start their Grapefruit or Cactus League schedule by Saturday.<\/p>\n

Now is a lovely time to read\u00a0Jayson Stark\u2019s big pre-spring training survey of the league<\/a>. Jayson has dozens of industry folks weighing in on where the dust will settle now that the offseason roster churn is (just about<\/a>) finished, and Florida and Arizona are chock-full of ballplayers actually playing ball.\u00a0Here\u2019s a short Pulse guide to spring stories:<\/p>\n

How will the overhauled Mets fit together?\u00a0Steve Cohen\u2019s big investment\u00a0flopped late last season and blew a postseason spot<\/a>. Gone: Pete Alonso, Edwin D\u00edaz, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, among others. In: Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr., Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco in the lineup, plus Freddy Peralta in the rotation and Devin Williams at the back end of the bullpen.<\/p>\n

These could all be good players, but several of them carry questions about age (Semien), durability (Robert), defense (Bichette) or a bit of all the above. Plus, Francisco Lindor\u2019s\u00a0near-term status is unclear<\/a>\u00a0after hand surgery. Two serious prospects, starter Nolan McLean and soon enough outfielder Carson Benge, will be involved here. Another moving part: Juan Soto, not much of a defender in right field,\u00a0is moving to left<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Are the Mariners the best team in the AL?\u00a0Their 87-win projection at FanGraphs is tied for tops in the Junior Circuit with the Yankees. Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodr\u00edguez are an ideal lineup nucleus, and\u00a0a trade for the versatile Brendan Donovan<\/a>\u00a0from the Cardinals got all kinds of rave reviews in Stark\u2019s survey. I\u2019ll be curious how the Mariners deploy Donovan this spring, as he can play all over the diamond.<\/p>\n

How will three veteran Japanese FAs adjust to MLB?\u00a0Starter Tatsuya Imai (The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0No. 10 free agent, signed by the Astros), first baseman Munetaka Murakami (No. 17, White Sox) and corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto (No. 26, Blue Jays) will all debut as rookies between the ages of 26 and 30. The two who aren\u2019t on the White Sox are filling holes for teams that hope to be in a pennant race this summer.<\/p>\n

Is that optimism in \u2026 Pittsburgh?\u00a0Indeed, though I still feel weird about it as a fan of the team. The Pirates should have an excellent pitching staff, led by NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes. They added a few competent bats, and MLB\u2019s No. 1 prospect, shortstop Konnor Griffin, could make the team out of camp.\u00a0You can at least see the vision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Will several\u00a0top prospects make Opening Day rosters?\u00a0A handful have a good shot this year, in addition to Griffin: Kevin McGonigle could win the shortstop job in Detroit, and JJ Wetherholt looks very likely to play second base for the Cardinals. Then there\u2019s the outfielder Benge,\u00a0who has a lane to start for the Mets<\/a>. All of these guys figure prominently in\u00a0Keith Law\u2019s ranking of the game\u2019s 100 prospects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll move on now. But if you want a tremendous (and free) baseball newsletter to show up in your inbox on weekdays this season,\u00a0check out The Windup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

News to Know<\/p>\n

Reddick wins a wild Daytona 500
Tyler Reddick rang in the NASCAR Cup Series season with a last-lap comeback to win the Daytona 500. It was his ninth career win and first in the 500, a year after placing second. Chase Elliott led most of the final lap, but Reddick passed him on the closing stretch, and Elliott was taken out in a multicar pileup just after Reddick nudged ahead. (Elliott then had the honor of finishing fourth while going backward.) Reddick, a 30-year-old Californian, races for Michael Jordan\u2019s 23XI Racing, which just\u00a0won a major settlement from NASCAR<\/a>\u00a0in the offseason. A nice few months for MJ.\u00a0Much more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Time running short for Shiffrin
Italy\u2019s Federica Brignone won the giant slalom gold medal<\/a>\u00a0in her home country yesterday. The 35-year-old is a great story \u2014 a reigning world champion who\u2019d won three medals across previous Olympics but, until recently, was uncertain to even race at Milan Cortina because of a fractured left leg and torn ACL. On the flip side, times are hard for American Mikaela Shiffrin, who finished 11th in the event Brignone won. Shiffrin has one shot left to medal in Italy, and it will come in the regular slalom \u2014 an event she has recently dominated \u2014 on Wednesday.\u00a0Full Day 9 recap here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news<\/p>\n

The\u00a0NBA All-Star Game\u00a0debuted a round-robin construction between two American teams and a \u201cWorld\u201d squad yesterday.\u00a0The format was nice<\/a>, and Anthony Edwards won MVP.
\nCollin Morikawa\u2019s\u00a0one-shot triumph at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am marked his first win on the PGA Tour\u00a0since October 2023<\/a>. The 29-year-old also announced in his postround interview that his wife, Katherine, is pregnant with their first child.
\nCanada and the United States\u00a0men\u2019s hockey\u00a0both finished Olympic group play with a 3-0 record, but thanks to goal differential, Team USA got stuck with a likely quarterfinal draw against Sweden.\u00a0A tough break via the bracket format<\/a>.
\nSacramento State football\u00a0is joining the\u00a0MAC\u00a0in time for the 2026 season. The Hornets are now in the same conference as UMass, as the gods always intended. It\u2019s a $23 million (and counting) move that I think makes little sense,\u00a0but let\u2019s see how it goes<\/a>.
\nKansas State\u00a0fired men\u2019s basketball coach\u00a0Jerome Tang\u00a0for cause (angling to save millions in buyout funds<\/a>) after he harshly criticized his players. The Wildcats are 1-11 in the Big 12.
\nBryce Harper\u00a0said it was \u201cwild\u201d that Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters Harper didn\u2019t have an \u201celite\u201d 2025.\u00a0Hmm<\/a>.
\nWatch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0Olympics: Alpine skiing, men\u2019s slalom
7:30 a.m. ET on USA
This is the second and final run of the medal event, for those of you up early and looking for a great Olympic watch. The first run was a few hours ago, but it\u2019s not too late.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Olympics: U.S. vs. Sweden women\u2019s hockey
10:40 a.m. ET on NBC
One of two semifinals today. The other pits Canada against Switzerland at 3:10 p.m. ET. Barring a massive surprise, the U.S. and Canada will have a rematch for the gold Thursday. (Marie-Philip Poulin, Canada\u2019s and the planet\u2019s best player,\u00a0is back from injury<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0Olympics: Bobsled, women\u2019s singles final
3 p.m. ET on NBC
The fourth and final heat of the medal event gets the network broadcast treatment. (The first two heats were yesterday, and we\u2019ll have a better sense of where things stand after the third heat at 4 a.m. ET.) Medals are awarded after the afternoon runs.<\/p>\n

Get tickets to games like this here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Athletic\u00a0staffers had a rigorous debate<\/a>\u00a0over\u00a0which coaching job is the hardest\u00a0in all of sports. I say it\u2019s the New York Jets, thanks to poor ownership.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s\u00a0first gold medal<\/a>\u00a0of these Olympics came yesterday in\u00a0dual moguls, a new event.\u00a0It might be a perfect Olympic contest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Should Canada run out\u00a0one of the best lines in hockey history\u00a0for the rest of the Olympic men\u2019s hockey tournament?\u00a0Read Pierre LeBrun on the prospect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our college football staff put together a helpful breakdown of the\u00a0eligibility fights\u00a0roiling the SEC\u2019s quarterback rooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: American speedskater Jordan Stolz\u00a0winning his second gold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday: Olympics Day 9\u00a0live blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-478581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}