Leo De Vries, SS, Athletics: The A's officially sent De Vries to the minors on Sunday, but he left with a parting gift. De Vries hit his third home run of the spring, meaning he's now hitting .409/.447/.682. De Vries has struck out 10 times in 47 plate appearances, but he also has three doubles and three steals to go with his three home runs.

De Vries’ homer on Sunday came off Tanner Bibee, and one of his other two came off Kyle Hurt, so this is not a story of a minor leaguer feasting on other minor leaguers in big league games. De Vries has also handled all 41 chances at shortstop without an error. He's still only 19 years old, but he has given the A's a nice sneak peek at what's to come.

Konnor Griffin, SS, Pirates: Griffin homered on Sunday for his fourth home run in 12 games this spring. Griffin has not hit for average in his 36 plate appearances, but he is doing damage. He's now hitting .212/.278/.606. His four home runs is most on the team, as are his 12 hard hits, while his 20 total bases are second most among Pirates hitters.

JR Ritchie, RHP, Braves: With Spencer Schwellenbach, A.J. Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep and Joey Wentz all expected to start the season on the injured list, the Braves could use some good news from a starting pitcher. Ritchie is delivering just that. On Sunday, he threw four hitless and scoreless innings against the Phillies, striking out six while walking no one. He faced just one over the minimum, as he hit a batter.

Ritchie had allowed one hit and two runs in his previous start, which saw him go four innings against the Blue Jays. He's now allowed just two hits in 12 innings this spring with 14 strikeouts and five walks. He has a 2.25 ERA, a 0.58 WHIP and a .057 opponents average.

Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox: In three spring training appearances in 2025, Smith walked eight of the 26 batters he faced while hitting another one.

Smith's 2026 spring training is showing he's much more in control. On Sunday, Smith walked just one batter while allowing not hits and no runs in two scoreless innings. He struck out five. So far this spring, Smith has just one walk among the 17 batters he's faced in three appearances. His strike percentage this spring is 64%, right in line with MLB averages. Last year, it was 51%.

Smith is showing exceptional feel for his slider. He threw seven of them on Sunday, and all seven were strikes, with three swings and misses. He also got two whiffs on his 95-97 mph fastball and another on his changeup.

Jordan Yost, SS, Tigers: Yes, it was a spring training game. But on Sunday, Yost had a moment he will never forget.

Yost was the Tigers' 2025 first-round pick. He was sent to the big league side as a one-game fill-in on Sunday, and the 19-year-old was inserted into the game as a pinch-hitter for Kerry Carpenter in the eighth inning.

The bases were loaded. Zach Messinger left a 95 mph fastball up in the zone, and Yost did what every kid who ever played baseball in their back yard has dreamed of. In his first MLB at-bat (in a spring training game), Yost hit a grand slam. It was a no-doubter, as it landed deep in the bleachers in right field at the Yankees' Steinbrenner Field.

Yost, the Tigers' No. 5 prospect, is athletic and an excellent defender. But the biggest question coming out of the draft was whether he would get strong enough to drive the ball. One swing doesn't answer that question, but it is a very good start.

Editor’s Picks

Backfields intel: While plenty of attention in spring training goes toward the big league action, those who love prospects know to head to the backfields. That’s where you’ll find Baseball America staffers this week leading up to Spring Breakout games this weekend. New insights are starting to roll in, including…

• Seth Hernandez and Cam Caminiti look quite impressive

• Boston is teeming with pitching upside

• D-backs, Rockies prospects have our attention in Arizona

Here’s Why Projection Matters: Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony’s WBC heroics offer a reminder of how projection and player development shape future MLB stars, writes Geoff Pontes from Miami. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

Anthony Eyanson, RHP, Red Sox

Eyanson hasn't debuted since the Red Sox selected him in the third round of the 2025 draft, but he's showing dramatically improved stuff on the backfields this spring. The Red Sox have a very good recent track record of elevating pitching prospects, and Eyanson could be next in line. His fastball averaged 93.1 mph in college, but this spring he has sat 94-97 mph in backfield workouts. He struggled to miss bats with the pitch in college, recording only a 16.5% whiff rate in 2025. If that number ticks up with his newfound velocity, it will give him another weapon to attack hitters and could elevate his deep secondary arsenal, which includes a gyro slider, curveball, changeup and splitter.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Guardians outfielder Jace LaViolette made his big league spring training debut over the weekend, going 0-for-1 and playing two innings of left field.

• Fellow guardians prospect Travis Bazzana went 2-for-4 yesterday against the A’s in only his second game since returning from the WBC.

• Zyhir Hope’s spring struggles continued on Sunday. He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. He’s now hitting .167 over 36 at-bats with 12 strikeouts.

• River Ryan was impressive once again yesterday, striking out five over four innings. We think he could be a major contributor for the Dodgers.

• The Twins expect Walker Jenkins to be ready for the start of the Triple-A season, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

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