5 HOURS AGO • MLB.COM
Liberatore will start Opening Day for Cardinals, team announces JUPITER, Fla. -- Left-hander Matthew Liberatore has been named the Cardinals' Opening Day starter, manager Oliver Marmol announced to the te...
Why Nationals are sending Harry Ford down to Triple-A to start 2026 MLB season | Sporting News This isn't what Nats fans were expecting.
6 HOURS AGO • SPORTINGNEWS.COM
Matthew Liberatore - Named Opening Day starter The Cardinals announced Wednesday that Liberatore will start the team's March 26 season opener against the Rays in St. Louis.
Impact It will be Liberatore's first career Opening Day nod, and it comes against the team the selected him 16th overall in the 2018 Draft. After working mainly as reliever in 2024, Liberatore started all 29 games in which he appeared last regular season, posting an 8-12 record, 4.21 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 122:40 K:BB across 151.2 innings. He's been stellar this spring, with a 2.70 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 14:1 K:BB across 10 innings.
6 HOURS AGO • ROTOWIRE
Robert Hassell III - Swipes bag Tuesday Hassell went 1-for-3 with a stolen base in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals.
Impact Hassell showed off his defensive versatility, playing all three outfield spots over the course of the game. The 24-year-old will likely open the season as the Nationals' fourth outfielder behind James Wood, Dylan Crews and Jacob Young, and if Young's weak bat costs him playing time, Hassell would be the most likely beneficiary. He's far from a finished product, however, batting .286 (8-for-28) this spring with one double, two steals in four attempts, and a sketchy 1:9 BB:K.
6 HOURS AGO • ROTOWIRE
Jake Irvin - Blanks Cards on Tuesday Irvin allowed three hits and a walk over five scoreless innings in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals. He struck out five.
Impact The right-hander appears to be on the outside looking in for a spot in the Nationals' rotation, but Irvin isn't going down without a fight. He tossed 42 of 66 pitches for strikes against a young St. Louis lineup that featured top prospect JJ Wetherholt as well as Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker, lowering his spring ERA to 1.35 with a 15:4 K:BB over 13.1 innings. Irvin still has minor-league options remaining, so despite his strong camp he's likely to begin the year with Triple-A Rochester after Washington added Zack Littell, Miles Mikolas and Foster Griffin to the rotation mix this offseason.
6 HOURS AGO • ROTOWIRE
Riley Adams - Reassigned to minor-league camp The Nationals reassigned Adams to minor-league camp Wednesday.
Impact Adams was booted from the 40-man roster in January and is slated to begin the season at Triple-A Rochester. While Adams has elite bat speed, he strikes out too much at the plate. He slashed .186/.252/.308 with eight home runs, 24 RBI, 29 runs scored and an 18:110 BB:K across 286 plate appearances for Washington last season.
7 HOURS AGO • ROTOWIRE
Abimelec Ortiz - Sent to Triple-A The Nationals optioned Ortiz to Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday.
Impact Ortiz was part of the haul the Nationals received from the Rangers in the MacKenzie Gore trade over the winter. The 24-year-old Ortiz will have to wait to make his MLB debut. He slashed .257/.356/.479 with 25 home runs, 89 RBI and 85 runs scored across 130 games at Double-A and Triple-A last season but struggled during spring training, hitting .136 with a .478 OPS across 27 trips to the plate.
7 HOURS AGO • ROTOWIRE
