Collin Snider is with Chicago looking to recapture what he had two seasons ago with Seattle. Currently in camp with the Cubs, the 30-year-old right-hander was a pleasant surprise for the Mariners in 2024, logging a 1.94 with a 27.8% strikeout rate over 42 relief outings comprising 41-and-two-thirds innings. Last year was a different story. Hampered by a flexor strain and unable to get back on track, Snider struggled to the tune of a 5.47 ERA across 24 appearances in the majors, then posted an even uglier 8.06 ERA across 25 games with Triple-A Tacoma. Cut loose by Seattle in November, he subsequently inked a deal with the Cubs in December.
Despite the dismal results, Snider wasn’t without suitors. He had options — every team can use more pitching — and in the case of the Cubs, he also had connections. Tyler Zombro, the NL Central club’s Vice President of Pitching Strategy, previously worked at Tread Athletics, where Snider trained in previous offseasons. As the erstwhile Vanderbilt Commodore put it, “That really steered my decision. I like the way the pitching development is here.”
Asked about his poor 2025 performance, Snider pointed to how his injury contributed to bad mechanical habits that resulted in a drop in velocity, as well as “pitch shapes that weren’t the same.” He knew what was happening, but correcting it was another matter.
“I was very rotational, throwing too side-to-side, whereas I need to be north-south,” Snider said. “Side-to-side made the velo go down, because I couldn’t get behind the baseball. I was aware of what was going on, but I didn’t know why I was doing it, or how to make the adjustment quickly. It ended up being one of those things where I needed the offseason to straighten it out.”
Snider averaged 92.5 mph with his four-seamer last season, whereas in the prior two years that number was 94.2 and 95.3. His sweeper was also impacted by his delivery being out of sync.
“I was throwing it sideways, but I was top-spinning the baseball, so it wasn’t seam-shifting as much,” Snider explained. “When my body and hand are in the right spot, I get the ball spinning the way I want. Right now, all of my spin profiles are matching up to where they were in 2024, and where I want them to be. That’s the goal. I’m not looking to create anything new, just be back to what gave me the most success.”
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Snider has made four appearances so far this spring, three of them flawless one-inning stints in which he fanned five of nine batters overall. The other outing was far less impressive: Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart took him yard with a pair of runners on board.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Duke Snider went 24 for 58 against Johnny Sain.
Travis Snider went 7 for 9 against Sergio Mitre.
Cory Snyder went 7 for 12 against Tim Leary.
Russ Snyder went 7 for 13 against Rollie Sheldon.
Chris Snyder went 8 for 14 against Jeff Suppan.
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Ryan Johnson is one of the more interesting prospects in the Los Angeles Angels system. His background and delivery are the reasons why. Drafted 74th overall in 2024 out of Dallas Baptist University, the 23-year-old right-hander debuted with the Angels last April, having never pitched in the minors. The bold move didn’t go as hoped. Johnson was tagged for 24 hits and a dozen earned runs in 14-and-two-thirds frames, resulting in a demotion to High-A Tri-City. Northwest League hitters proved to be far less challenging. Over 57-and-a-third innings with the Dust Devils,he logged a 1.88 ERA with 65 strikeouts and just 41 hits allowed.
And then there is the Dallas native’s delivery. Brendan Gawlowski described it as follows when writing him up for our 2026 Angels Top Prospect list:
“To say that he’s deceptive with a low slot and variable timing to the plate is true, but doesn’t really do him justice. He has an old school, hand-over-the-head delivery and, like a penalty taker reading a goalie, it almost looks like he’s eyeing the hitter to see how quickly he should accelerate toward the plate from there.”
How would the pitcher himself describe it?
“Natural,” replied Johnson, who is seventh in our Angels rankings. “That’s how it’s always been for me. It’s just how my body works. I’m sure it has an impact [on his effectiveness], but I don’t know exactly how. You just see the results from hitter feedback and go from there. I also feel that if you took away the windup and had the same exact things, my pitches are still going to play.”
Repertoire-wise, the righty throws a sinker, a cutter, a sweeper, and a changeup, the last of which he developed in High-A. What does he consider to be best pitch?
“Cutter, for sure,” Johnson told me at Angels camp. “I started using it last year and it came naturally for me. Totally natural.”
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Patti Smith’s memoir, “Bread of Angels,” includes a passage about her late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith, that caught my attention:
“In high school, Fred was extremely athletic… He was also scouted by the Detroit Tigers’ farm team because of his throwing arm.”
Fred went on to become a guitarist with the legendary Detroit-based rock band MC5. Patti, who is still performing brilliantly at age 79, has been called “punk’s poet laureate.” Her 1975 album Horses is a classic that ranks among my all-time favorites.
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A quiz:
Denny McLain is the last pitcher to win 30 or more games in a single season, the right-hander having done so in 1968 when he went 31-6 for the Detroit Tigers. Prior to McLain, who was the last hurler to log a 30-win season? (A hint: he had four seasons with 20 or more wins, but only 150 for his career.)
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
Longtime Miami Marlins broadcaster Tommy Hutton announced earlier this week that he will retire at end of the forthcoming season. The 79-year-old former big-league first baseman/outfielder is entering his 28th year in the Marlins booth.
Kristen M. Stewart, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering at the University of Texas, was honored with the 2026 Dr. Mike Marshall Baseball Biomechanics Award, at the recently-held SABR Analytics Conference. The announcement can be found here.
The 2026 SABR Seymour Medal, which honors the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year, was awarded to Dangerous Danny Gardella: Baseball’s Neglected Trailblazer for Today’s Millionaire Athletes, written by Robert Elias. The announcement is here.
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The answer to the quiz is Dizzy Dean, who went 30-7 for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1934.
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JP Sears pitches for the Padres, San Diego having acquired the 30-year-old southpaw from the Athletics as part of last summer’s six-player deadline deal that included Mason Miller and Leo De Vries. Trade aside, what has changed for Sears since I last spoke to him midway through the 2024 season?
“Not much, although I am always looking to add and subtract from my mix,” Sears told me in late February. “Right now, I’m trying to mix in a gyro slider. It’s something I’ve kind of worked on in the past, and hopefully I can add that in to give me something that’s moving down. My sweeper has a little bit of lift to it, so the only pitch I have that goes down is my changeup. I haven’t really thrown a curveball in a couple of years, and that’s kind of what this gyro is, kind of a harder version of that, or of my old slider.”
As is the case for most pitchers in spring training, Sears is focusing more on fine-tuning and consistency than he is on pitch design.
“Really, the big thing here is trying to tighten up all of my release points,” he told me. “That and getting the groupings of my pitches consistent, trying to throw the same pitches over and over, and not be too wide on the scale. Sometimes my sweeper can get big, sometimes it can get small, and sometimes the vert on my fastball will be a little down. Basically just focusing on things like that.”
Sears made 27 starts last season and went 9-11 with a 5.04 ERA and a 5.21 FIP over 135-and-two-thirds innings. Roster Resource projects him to begin the year with Triple-A El Paso, although with no left-handers currently penciled into the Padres rotation, that could very well change.
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Kevin Appier, Bret Saberhagen, and Paul Splittorff (in whichever order) are generally cited as the best starting pitchers in Kansas City Royals history. I recently found myself wondering if Dennis Leonard was better than all of them. A right-hander who toed the rubber for the club from 1974-1986, Leonard had a seven-season stretch (1975-1981) in which he led all American League pitchers in WAR, wins, and innings pitched. Moreover, he was second in complete games (behind Jim Palmer) and strikeouts (Nolan Ryan). Three times he logged 20 or more wins.
As for where Leonard ranks in franchise history, he is second in wins, third in innings pitched, and fourth in WAR. If you’re not a Royals fan, or are too young to have followed his career, you likely weren’t aware of how just good he was.
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Spring training standouts:
San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez is 4-for-11 with a double and a walk. More notably, he is 5-for-8 with two home runs, two doubles, and a walk for Venezuela in the WBC.
Baltimore Orioles outfield prospect Vance Honeycutt is 5-for-5 with a walk and four home runs.
Cincinnati Reds infielder Matt McLain is 11-for-20 with four home runs, a double, and three walks.
Arizona Diamondbacks infield prospect Tommy Troy is 12-for-24 with four doubles.
Houston Astros right-hander Mike Burrows has thrown eight-and-two-thirds scoreless innings, allowing three hits and four walks, with 10 strikeouts.
Detroit Tigers right-hander Drew Anderson — back stateside after two seasons in the KBO — has thrown eight-and-a-third scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, with 10 strikeouts.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Rance Mulliniks is one of the more underrated players in Blue Jays history. Playing in Toronto from 1982-1992, the left-handed-hitting third baseman/shortstop logged a 116 wRC+ while primarily seeing action against right-handed hurlers. Mulliniks was at his best in 1988, slashing .300/.395/.475 with a dozen home runs and a 143 wRC+ over 399 plate appearances. His other noteworthy seasons included 1984, when he batted .324 with a 125 wRC+, and 1987, when he batted .310 with a 129 wRC+.
Originally with the California Angels, Mulliniks moved on to Kansas City before ultimately being acquired by the Blue Jays in March 1982. It was a steal of a deal for Toronto. In exchange for Mulliniks, Kansas City received right-hander Phil Huffman, who was subsequently released and went to appear in just two more big-league games, both with the Baltimore Orioles. Huffman had gone 6-18 with a 5.77 ERA in his days with the Jays.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Ernest Hemingway grew up playing and following baseball in Northern Michigan and Chicago. Sharon Hamilton wrote about it for The Hemingway Society.
Sportsnet Canada’s Shi Davidi told us about Petr Strbicky, a coach in the Toronto Blue Jays organization who is serving as the third base coach for Czechia in the WBC.
Federal Baseball’s Sam Sallick feels that Cade Cavalli should be the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day starter.
The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli believes that the problem with MLB’s drug policy isn’t the testing, but rather the contracts.
Former New York Yankees and Texas Rangers slugger Mark Teixeira won a GOP primary in Texas and is likely heading to Congress, where he will be looking to “end radical woke indoctrination.” Gabe Lacques has the story at USA Today.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
José Ramírez needs two doubles to become the third player in Cleveland Guardians franchise history to reach 400 for his career. Tris Speaker, whose 792 are the most in MLB history, had 486 two-baggers with Cleveland. Nap Lajoie, who ranks eighth all-time with 657, had 424 with Cleveland.
Andrew McCutchen has gone 25-for-62 against the Chicago White Sox, and 10-for-74 against the Kansas City Royals. He has one home run and seven RBIs versus each team.
Juan Soto has 725 runs scored, 1,086 hits, a .282 BA, and a 158 wRC+.
Charlie Keller had 725 runs scored, 1,085 hits, a .285 BA, and a 151wRC+.
Ichiro Suzuki played in 2,653 games and had 57.6 WAR.
Dwight Evans played in 2,606 games and had 65.1 WAR.
The Red Sox signed Kevin Mitchell as a free agent on today’s date in 1996. An often-troubled outfielder who’d earned NL MVP honors in 1989 when he slugged 47 home runs for the San Francisco Giants, Mitchell saw action in just 27 games with Boston before being dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for a pair of inconsequential players. A beast when at his best, Mitchell had a 140 wRC+ over 4,696 career plate appearances.
The Boston Braves signed Stuffy McInnis as a free agent on today’s date in 1923. A first baseman who went on to finish his career with 2,405 hits, the Gloucester, Massachusetts native played two seasons with the National League club, batting .303 over 300 games. He was a part of four World Series-winning teams: the 1911 and 1913 Philadelphia A’s, the 1918 Boston Red Sox, and 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates.
Players born on today’s date include Craig Stansberry, a second baseman whose MLB career comprised 24 games and 29 plate appearances for the San Diego Padres across the 2007-2009 seasons. A native of Dammam, Saudi Arabia who played his high school ball in Plano, Texas, the erstwhile Rice University Owl had eight hits and a .333/.407.375 slash line.
Also born on today’s date was Phil Bedgood, a right-hander who went 1-2 with a 4.48 ERA while appearing in 10 games for the Cleveland Indians across the 1922-1923 seasons. A native of Harrison, Georgia who went on to sell Studebakers after his playing days, Bedgood was just 29 years old when he died of a ruptured appendix in 1927.
MLB history includes 11 players who were born in the Netherlands, with Bert Blyleven being by far the most prominent. Largely unknown is Rynie Wolters, who holds the distinction of being the first from his homeland to suit up in the majors. A pitcher/outfielder from Bad Nieuweschans, Wolters played for three National Association clubs across the 1871-1873 seasons: the Cleveland Forest Cities, the Elizabeth Resolutes, and the New York Mutuals.
Rance Pless had a brief MLB career, appearing in 48 games and swatting 23 hits in 85 at-bats for the Lou Boudreau-managed, 102-loss Kansas City A’s in 1956. One of two players named Rance in MLB history, Pless played numerous seasons down on the farm, suiting up for clubs such as the Jacksonville Tars, St. Cloud Rox, Sioux City Soos, and Vicksburg Hill Billies.