The Rundown Ultralite: Cubs Submit Preliminary Spring Breakout Roster, Cutch Joins Rangers, Cabrera’s FB Not Great
Following all-day meetings on Wednesday, I was part of a volunteer group that portioned out dry pasta at a local food bank. All told, we were able to bag something like 1,400 meals in a little over two hours. It was well worth the effort, and incredibly eye-opening to think about just how much more we have to do in order to combat food insecurity. Like, this was just a few hundred pounds of noodles.
If you have the opportunity to volunteer at or donate to an organization in your area, I highly recommend you do so. And while I’m not going to discourage anyone from making direct food donations to various causes, your money goes a lot further when you give to large food banks that can purchase in bulk through different suppliers. Everything helps.
As a result of my schedule over the last few days, which included being selected for a jury in a trial that ended up being continued, I’m keeping this one as brief as possible.
News and Notes
- MLB is turning Spring Breakout games into a bigger deal, with leagues hosting tournaments starting next season. For now, however, it’ll still just be one game. But with the WBC shaking things up a little bit, teams are building their rosters in two phases. The first step is to submit a list of 40 eligible players that will then be trimmed down to 23-27 on March 18.
- That preliminary roster includes a team’s top 30 prospects per MLB Pipeline, plus 10 or more other players as selected by their club. That additional number will increase depending on how many players are injured, on a Dominican Summer League roster, or who have opted not to participate.
- The Cubs have a number of potential Spring Breakout players who’ve been fixtures in camp already, with Moisés Ballesteros, James Triantos, Pedro Ramirez, Jefferson Rojas, and Kevin Alcántara all available.
- Craig Counsell‘s son Brady was taken by the Diamondbacks in the 10th round last summer, and he’s suited up for them against the Cubs at Sloan Park on Thursday.
- Andrew McCutchen has signed a minor league deal with the Rangers that will pay him $1.25 million if he makes the club.
- Ballesteros is out to prove that he can catch in the big leagues, but I’m not so sure he’ll fare any better than Kyle Schwarber in that endeavor.
- That came from Bruce Levine, who also noted that Matt Shaw will “begin playing more outfield over the next two weeks.” Uh, hasn’t he been playing out there a lot already?
- Edward Cabrera‘s poor fastball results have forced the Cubs to “think about him differently,” which could lead to a jump in performance. They’re looking at his fastball as his fourth pitch, with his curve, power changeup, and slider being more valuable. While Cabrera isn’t necessarily unique in terms of having better secondaries, most guys who pitch backwards don’t throw 97 mph.
- Ryne Nelson of the Diamondbacks is the opposite in that his cut-ride fastball was his only good pitch last year.
Trailer(s) Time
I’ll give you a twofer since the rest was so short. Amazon Prime has made waves with two comic book adaptations that depict superheroes as just a wee bit more flawed than we’re used to seeing. Season 4 of Invincible opens on March 18, then it’s the final season of The Boys on April 8. Very NSFW programs.
In two weeks, you’ll start to understand why some refer to Conquest as “light work” pic.twitter.com/rPTdV3BXnd
— INVINCIBLE (@InvincibleHQ) March 4, 2026
The final trailer for the final season. Have a watch. Have a weep. Then strap the fuck in, because we’re only a month away. pic.twitter.com/w97YdXGeoc
— THE BOYS (@TheBoysTV) March 5, 2026
