The World Baseball Classic dominated the conversation in baseball over most of the past month. But a lot was going on in the 30 major league camps that didn’t get much attention — new faces in new places, players and teams tinkering in an effort to fuel their playoff hopes, personalities manifesting, young talents making strong first impressions and more.
What did you miss this spring? Which players stood out? And who should you watch as the 2026 MLB season begins? Here are some things to know from around the majors.
Kevin McGonigle could play a big role in Detroit this year
Last year, Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch brought McGonigle — a minor leaguer in the Tigers’ farm system whom Detroit selected No. 37 in the 2023 draft — to a spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies. McGonigle attended high school about 10½ miles from Citizens Bank Park and grew up a fan of the Phillies and second baseman Chase Utley. That day, McGonigle smashed a home run off the Phillies’ Aaron Nola — and, as Hinch noted, raced around the bases in about 1.3 seconds, riding his excitement.
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McGonigle brought that same energy again this spring — and it’s the kind of enthusiasm that seems tangible in its impact on other players, a reason evaluators will compare him to Dustin Pedroia, or Hinch’s comp: Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve. McGonigle, a 5-foot-9 infielder, is ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel’s No. 2-ranked prospect and has had an excellent spring showing, mustering a .977 OPS and a .432 on-base percentage. He has played well defensively, at shortstop and third base, and whether McGonigle opens the season with the Tigers or is held back in the minor leagues a couple of weeks — which would delay his free agency by a year — he figures to help Detroit in the big leagues sooner rather than later.
“He knows the strike zone,” Hinch said. “Guys who know the strike zone are going to have a good chance to be the best version of themselves faster. With Kevin, he’s versatile — he plays more positions than Jose [Altuve] did when I got him; his baseball acumen is super strong.”
Being compared to any of those players — Pedroia, Bregman, Altuve — “is pretty remarkable for a young player who we expect to be a big part of our team as early as this year,” Hinch said.
Earlier this week, McGonigle — playing third base — ranged across the foul line to field a would-be double and threw out Baltimore Orioles first baseman Coby Mayo. Detroit’s Justin Verlander pointed in McGonigle’s direction, in acknowledgment of the rookie’s defense. Afterward, Verlander told reporters, “Those are the plays, as a starting pitcher, that’s the difference between a leadoff double and an out.”
“That can be the difference in the ballgame. Those are huge momentum shifts for me.”
Will Mauricio Dubon’s offseason hobby help his patience at the plate?
Dubon walked up to the cage for a round of batting practice at the Atlanta Braves’ camp in North Port, Florida, and said to hitting coach Tim Hyers that he had some success in his burgeoning career — as a fisherman. “I got two catfish,” Dubon said, holding up two fingers, and he explained that he was very careful in releasing his catch because of the sharp spines in their fins. “You got to protect those moneymakers,” Hyers said, nodding.
Dubon, 31, has played in the big leagues over the past seven seasons, two of those for one of baseball’s great fishermen — former Houston Astros skipper Dusty Baker, who managed Nicaragua in the recently completed World Baseball Classic. Baker was not surprised that Dubon had taken up fishing; Baker was surprised that Dubon had never really fished before, having been born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, not far from the Caribbean Sea.
Baker found that fishing relaxes him, and he believes it helped him learn how to hit because it required patience and attention to detail. “You sometimes have to wait for seven, eight pitches before you get a pitch to hit,” Baker said. “That’s like fishing — you get an opportunity, you have to be ready for it. You can’t miss it.”
Baker would sometimes use fish to make his point to hitters, asking them: Did they want to jump at everything and get minimal results, like a bluegill, or did they want to wait for something better, like a tilapia? “I’d ask them — are you a bluegill, or a tilapia?” Baker said, chuckling.
Could this be a breakout season for Matt McLain?
McLain was once seen as a high-end prospect, similar to how McGonigle is viewed now. After being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds with the 17th pick in the 2021 draft, McLain had an OPS+ of 127 in his debut season of 2023. But he suffered a shoulder injury in 2024, missing the season, and then his OPS+ plummeted to 74 last year.
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This spring, he has been exceptional, batting over .500 with 21 hits in his first 41 at-bats, including six homers. Reds manager Terry Francona acknowledged the usual March qualifier — yes, it’s spring training — but added in a text: “It has been a fun watch. He has used the entire field way better, so he has cut down on his swing-and-miss. The ball comes off his bat way better than you would think of someone his size.”
McLain, at 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds, hopes to bounce back to his 2023 form this season.
“This is his second playing season after his shoulder injury, and he’s feeling good, and comfortable in camp,” Reds general manager Nick Krall said. “He is taking good at-bats, and his swing is direct to the ball.”
Tarik Skubal is ignoring the noise and focused on 2026
Right after Skubal got word of his $32 million arbitration victory over the Tigers, Hinch reached out to him and asked him, in so many words: Are you ready to try to win a World Series? And Skubal answered immediately: Yes.
While that process played out, there was never a question within the Tigers’ organization about a possible arbitration hangover for Skubal, win or lose — or about whether Skubal would refocus, get back to work and bear a full investment in his teammates. Because that has always been his reflex.
His ability to compartmentalize is unique in how he processes immediate feedback and how he competes — even sometimes laughing at himself or with opponents in the midst of games before locking back in for the next pitch. “He wants to know exactly what you think, and he takes it in and moves forward,” Hinch said in a recent conversation. “I don’t need to sugarcoat anything with him.”
Before Skubal joined Team USA for the WBC, he was set to throw exhibition innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on a sunny day in Lakeland, Florida. As he walked from the dugout to the mound, he noticed that home plate umpire Laz Diaz had mistakenly tossed two baseballs to the apron of the mound, rather than one. Skubal yelled to Diaz with a grin and jokingly lifted his arms in the air, as if to say: What are you doing here? Diaz laughed.
Then, Skubal went back to business, attacking the strike zone and working with catcher Jake Rogers, though Skubal struggled with control that day. “Execution-wise, was pretty bad today,” Skubal said. “But it’s OK. It’s part of the game. You live and you learn from it.”
He’s blunt and direct in his self-assessment, finding frills unnecessary. However, that doesn’t apply to his teammates, for whom he has a deep appreciation — and shows it.
Skubal has given Rolexes to his catchers after winning American League Cy Young Awards the past two seasons. Rogers caught all of Skubal’s pitches in 2024, and after Skubal won his second Cy Young last fall, he reached out again to Rogers, who caught just six of Skubal’s 31 regular-season starts, and said he was getting him another watch. “You don’t have to do that,” Rogers said, but Skubal persisted, saying that Rogers and Dillon Dingler — Skubal’s primary catcher in 2025 — would pick out their watches.
Early in camp, the two catchers arrived to find boxes on their chairs in the Tigers’ spring clubhouse. “THANKS DILLON,” the engraving on the front of the box reads, which didn’t make sense, as Skubal noted to Dingler. “I’ve never called you Dillon, ever.” Just Ding.
New York put an emphasis on baserunning last year — and now it’s Atlanta’s turn
Juan Soto stole 57 bases in his first seven seasons in the big leagues, average numbers for a player of average speed. But last year, Soto connected with New York Mets first-base coach Antoan Richardson and became invested in the idea of being a better baserunner. Veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, considered to be one of the best baserunners in the game during his career, will tell you that anybody can be a good baserunner if they set their mind to it.
Soto seemed to do that, swiping 38 bases while getting thrown out just four times; it’s as if he carried the attention to detail he has had in his intense plate appearances onto the bases, with Richardson’s guidance.
After the Mets’ late-season collapse, the front office executed a purge of the coaching staff, dumping everyone from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner to the hitting coaches. They wanted Richardson back, however, and made him an offer — but Richardson got a better offer from the Braves and left New York for its NL East rival.
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This spring, Richardson has led conversations about the craft of baserunning with Atlanta’s players. New Braves manager Walt Weiss noticed a difference right away. “Let’s face it— players don’t like doing baserunning [drills],” he said. “But [Richardson’s] talking to them and you see them going around the bases, and there’s a little extra juice to it. He has a way of getting their attention.”
Last year, the Braves ranked 27th in stolen bases, and they really didn’t upgrade their roster with any base-burners in the offseason — adding Mike Yastrzemski, Dubon and Ha-Seong Kim. But Weiss is hopeful that they could be better on the bases and perhaps more diverse in their offense, rather than being so reliant on the home run. Over the past three seasons, 47% of Atlanta’s run production has come from home runs — the second-highest rate in the big leagues, per ESPN’s Paul Hembekides.
Wyatt Langford might have reached a turning point
Over the last 64 games of the 2025 season, Langford seemed to turn a corner for the Texas Rangers, generating a .387 on-base percentage and a .459 slugging percentage. That trend has continued this spring as Langford’s command of the strike zone has been next-level. He has more walks (six) than strikeouts (four) to go with four home runs, and he’s hitting .483.
“A lot of the best players are at the WBC,” said one rival evaluator, “but he’s the best hitter that I’ve seen out here.”
“He can change the game not only at the plate, but on the bases,” new Rangers manager Skip Schumaker wrote in a text, “and will win a Gold Glove at some point in the very near future. I’m having a hard time finding a flaw, if I’m being honest. Works his ass off.”
The Yankees should get better shortstop production this season
One way or another, the New York Yankees seem destined to get better play at shortstop in 2026. Last year, Anthony Volpe had an OPS+ of 63 while also struggling defensively. He had surgery on his left shoulder to repair a partially torn labrum in October and will return sometime in the first months of the season. Until then, Jose Caballero, whom the Yankees acquired at the last trade deadline, will get a lot of at-bats at the position. Caballero had a 131 OPS+ and 15 stolen bases in 40 games in New York, and manager Aaron Boone talks about how much he loves Caballero’s energy.
The Yankees also have another option, though: Their top prospect is shortstop George Lombard Jr., the 26th pick in the 2023 draft. Some rival evaluators believe that Lombard — quick on his feet after years of playing soccer, with an excellent throwing arm — would be a high-end caliber defender now if he were in the big leagues. The unanswered question is his hitting. At 20 years old last season, he played most of the year for Double-A Somerset in the Eastern League, where he hit .215/.337/.358 after hitting .329 in High-A.
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The coaching staff loves not only his athleticism, but also his focus. James Rowson, the Yankees’ hitting coach, asked Lombard a question about what he wanted to accomplish this spring, and he paused and said, “Let me get back to you on that.” Later, he presented a well-rounded answer, and Rowson appreciated the thought investment.
Lombard will return to Double-A at the start of the season, but depending on how his offense progresses, he could be a big league option later in the summer, as part of what could effectively turn into a multiplayer competition in New York at shortstop.
