The languid but largely meaningless Grapefruit and Cactus league exhibition games are starting to matter just a little bit more. And so, ever so slightly, do the results.
With three weeks remaining before Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, the process of winning jobs and defining roles will reach a higher gear as the month rolls on. For some, it’s about planting a flag in an organization’s hierarchy. For others, reestablishing themselves after an injury-plagued season is paramount.
While plenty can change before teams tip off the 2025 season March 27, a look at a half-dozen players who have opened eyes and calmed hearts with their early spring showings:
OF Kevin Alcántara, Cubs
They call him “The Jaguar,” and Alcántara, a 6-6, 188-pound collection of elbows and knees, just might be clawing his way onto Chicago’s opening-day roster. He had five hits in his first eight Cactus League at-bats and showed he learned plenty in his three-game big league cameo at the end of 2024.
The question for the Cubs is whether Alcántara is best served as an extra outfielder behind Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ on the big league roster, or continuing his development at Class AAA Iowa. He has just 35 games of AAA ball under his belt, but what an impression: An .848 OPS and .378 OBP, backing up his career minor league mark of .354.
Beyond that, Alcántara, 22, has topped the 110-mph mark in exit velocity – he smoked a 104.4 mph double in a Cactus League game – and should only add more muscle to that frame.
INF Matt McLain, Reds
It’s still Elly De La Cruz’s world, be it on the cover of MLB The Show or dominating in the desert, where he already has six extra-base hits in 16 Cactus League at-bats. But let’s not forget about the guy who preceded him at shortstop for the Reds.
At 5-8, it’s easy enough for McLain to get lost in De La Cruz’s 6-6 shadow. And after missing the entire 2024 season after left shoulder surgery following a spring-training injury, McLain has been out of sight and most fans’ minds for a while.
Yet it’s hard to miss the sound coming off his bat this exhibition season. McLain has already set a personal best with a 112.3 mph batted ball and has smoked seven hits in 20 at-bats – four for extra bases.
This is where we remind you McLain had a .290/.357/.507 line for the 2023 Reds, who won 82 games while welcoming McLain to the bigs in May and De La Cruz a month later. Now, the band is back together, calling themselves “Batman and Robin.” Hey, it lacks for originality, but the on-field encore should be fantastic.
OF Chandler Simpson, Rays
Tampa Bay’s center fielder of the future just might be the antidote to baseball’s “three true outcomes” problem.
See, Simpson may not hit many – if any – home runs at the big league level. Heck, he’s only hit one in 1,041 minor league plate appearances.
But that speed? Goodness.
Simpson has swiped a pair of bags already in Grapefruit League play, hitting 30.4 mph in sprint speed, flashing the form that saw him steal 104 bases in 110 games at high-A and Class AA last season. Yes, that speed plays in center field.
For now, the Rays will likely roll with Jonny Deluca in center field. Yet if Simpson makes a mockery of minor league basepaths again, and hits the ball hard enough for his speed to do its job, he may be in Tampa sooner rather than later.
RP Felix Bautista, Orioles
One more welcome back story.
Felix Bautista cut such a dominant figure across the American League in 2022 and ’23, saving 48 games and striking out a staggering 14.1 batters per nine innings, it didn’t seem right when The Mountain – he stands 6-8, 285 pounds – was felled by a power pitcher’s Kryptonite, the ulnar collateral ligament in the pitching arm when he last pitched in August 2023.
And while the Tommy John surgery recovery process isn’t as long or risky for relievers as it is starters, it’s nonetheless worth wondering whether a pitcher as dominant as Bautista could recapture his power.
That’s what made his first Grapefruit League appearance Monday so compelling. And Bautista answered effusively, running his fastball up to 97 mph, burying his splitter away from batters, striking out two in a clean inning.
Certainly, there’s far more significant figures who will have a greater say in whether the Orioles reclaim the AL East title. But a dominant presence at the bullpen’s back end can make things line up quite nicely.
2B Christian Moore, Angels
Who will be the first player from the 2024 draft to reach the big leagues?
It’s a stiff competition, given that for the first time in draft history, the first eight players selected were collegians. Yet the last man in that group just might win this derby.
Moore had a banner 2024 – winning the SEC triple crown, a national championship for Tennessee and nearly earning a September call-up just six weeks after the Los Angeles Angels picked him eighth.
Now, he’s the talk of camp in Tempe after racking up six hits in 19 at-bats with a .409 OBP, this while taking reps at second and third base.
With Anthony Rendon’s eternal injury woes prompting the club to add veteran Yoan Moncada, and Lusi Rengifo seemingly ensconced at second base, it would still seem a long shot for Moore to break camp with the club. Yet the Angels are the most aggressive team in promoting recent draftees – and Moore’s loud offensive skills should land in Anaheim before Memorial Day.
RHP Zebby Matthews, Twins
There might not be another arm in professional sports who controls the strike zone like Matthews, who in 205 1/3 career minor league innings has walked just 22 batters. Things didn’t go quite so smoothly in his nine-start Twins debut at the end of last year, though he was well past his career innings high.
So, when Matthews showed up this spring consistently pumping 97 mph fastballs, it’s worth noting.
Not that Matthews lives off his velocity, per se, but his stuff appears invigorated in camp and the results have shown it: Five scoreless innings, seven strikeouts and, of course, no walks.
There’s likely not an opening-day spot in the Twins’ rotation, unless Matthews can beat out Simeon Woods-Richardson for the final spot. But he will see Target Field again this season, perhaps before April arrives.
