Your Baseball Bench Coach is back for the blog’s eighth season! Over the last several weeks I did another spring training jaunt to Arizona. This spring I did not attend all of the Cactus League sites like last year, but I did see a lot of baseball at Sloan Park and a handful of other ballparks. I thought I would concentrate on some topics I hope you will find of interest when you plan to visit. For fans the goal of the games is to relax and soak up the sun. It truly doesn’t matter whether your favorite team wins or loses. My guess is that while you are reading this, you probably have no idea which team “won” the Cactus League this year. For the players, especially those who know they will be on their team’s MLB roster, the idea simply is to get some work in prior to the long 162. Let’s reflect on Spring ’26 before we tackle the regular season that is upon us.

Early spring training games present a test for a fan’s loyalty. Don’t count on seeing your favorite players in the game for more than three to four innings, if at all. I saw the Athletics play the Guardians in the first week at Hohokam Park and two on field items stood out. The A’s starter, Luis Severino, pitched the first two innings and left the game after just 15 pitches. Amazingly, his first pitch was recorded at 99 mph. Pitchers do a lot of offseason work now and can easily fall into form. Their goal is to build up their innings as the spring moves forward. The term you often hear is “stretching” them out. On the hitter’s side, the Athletics power hitter, first baseman Nick Kurtz, led off so that he could quickly get 2 at bats before leaving the game in the third inning. Don’t miss the first part of the game in a concession stand line! You might be sorry.

It was unseasonably hot in Phoenix this spring, so finding the right seat is so important for your fan experience. I made the mistake in past years of not checking beforehand where the “shaded” seats are at the training sites. On this late February game at Hohokam it was 87 degrees at game time so I was glad I had done the quick research and found the perfect seat in the upper section behind home plate in the shade. For the most part, stay away from the lower sections in the Cactus League where your best friend needs to be sunscreen. There are parks, like Goodyear where the Reds and Guardians train, that it is almost impossible to get shaded seats. Of course, you can always sit in the outfield berms where ticket prices are more affordable. Bring a blanket to sit on and enjoy the afternoon in the sun.

The ballparks themselves you might find interesting. Some of them, such as Scottsdale Stadium (Giants), Tempe Diablo Stadium (Angels), and Hohokam Park (Athletics), are very old school. The two newest ones, Salt River Fields (home of the Diamondbacks and Rockies), and Sloan Park (Cubs), are modern in every way and draw better crowds than some MLB ballparks do. The dimensions of the parks (sometimes you will see 430 feet to dead center) are larger than MLB sites. The baseball carries better in the hot weather so the designers adjusted accordingly. And the best part of it all is that there is clearly less glitz in the Cactus League ballparks – smaller scoreboards; no constant feed of statistics; and less over the top promotions. Just sit back and enjoy the day!

That is not to say that the food offerings at Cactus League ballparks are disappointing. Quite the opposite. It seems like each park has its wonderful, feature foods. Sloan Park offers Chicago style hotdogs, making Mesa the Wrigleyville of the West. (Note: you can also find Lou Malnati’s and Portillo’s throughout the Phoenix area.) Hohokam Park features pretzels shaped like a mustache, clearly giving the fans a throwback moment to the Athletics of the 1970s and their facial hair. Goodyear features Skyline chili dogs for the many Reds fans who visit. My favorite though is lemonade at Scottsdale Stadium. The vendors love to say, “lemonade, lemonade, just like your Grandma made.” It just makes you feel good about being there.

The baseball topic this spring of course is the advent of the ABS (automated ball strike) system. It was tried at a couple Cactus League ballparks last spring and throughout the minor league systems over the last few years. ABS will be in place for the entire MLB 2026 season. The system sets up a strike zone box for each player based on a natural batting stance. Each team gets two challenges that are triggered by a touch of the head by the batter, catcher, or pitcher. If your challenge is correct, you maintain it. The word around the league is that only catchers and certain batters will have the license to challenge. I’ve heard a couple managers muse that “pitchers think every pitch is a strike”. So far, it has been a great success! Not only does it catch erroneous home plate umpire calls, but it is done in an expeditious way. ABS is here to stay.

About halfway through this spring’s games, the World Baseball Classic had its impact. MLB filled the rosters of the many international teams, including Venezuela, the eventual winner. While the WBC did create opportunities to play for those who weren’t invited, managers struggled with how much work pitchers should get before and after the competition. Inevitably, there were a handful of injuries at the WBC, including the one suffered by Cubs’ All-Star hitter, Seiya Suzuki, who starts the season on the Injured List.

When the spring games entered the final week, the focus shifted to the soon to be opening of MLB 2026. Starting pitchers had longer outings, positional players took more at bats, and some players fought for the last few spots on the roster. What I found very interesting is that there were many split squad games played in the last two weeks. That’s where half of your team plays a home game while the other half travels to a road site. This allows ample playing time for all. In addition, you find starting pitchers getting pitching assignments against the other league’s teams, not their own league or division opponents. You never want to show too much of your stuff if you don’t have to.

Spring training baseball can be summed up in a single word, “relax”. If you haven’t gone on a spring break outing to the Cactus League or Grapefruit League, or it’s been too long between visits, put it on your list. You won’t regret it.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach