Spring training is in full swing across the Valley, and while the scores don’t count, the economic impact certainly does. No longer just the informal ramp-up to the season, the six-week event is now a major money maker for the cities and states that host the teams.

The Detroit Tigers were shutout by the Minnesota Twins Wednesday, but the good news was Tarik Skubal looked dominant in his spring training debut.

Training is underway, and we’re already inundated with stories about pitchers who have come to camp with new pitches, which means it’s time to talk about pitch mixes again. This will be my fifth year of breaking down new pitches to analyze how they fit into a pitcher’s arsenal and see if it’s something we should be genuinely excited about for fantasy baseball.

Spring training is not the place to make emphatic decisions on players. Teams need more than 30 games in the sunshine to see if a player has real talent or not.

Heading to Roger Dean Stadium for Spring Training? We've got 3 plazas with 28 restaurants within a mile of the stadium.

Danny O’Neil was born in Oregon, the son of a logger, but had the good sense to attend college in Washington. He’s covered Seattle sports for 20 years, writing for two newspapers, one glossy magazine and hosting a daily radio show for eight years on KIRO 710 AM. You can subscribe to his free newsletter and find his other work at dannyoneil.com.

Minter’s average four-seam velocity dipped the past few seasons to 94.5 mph, but he's optimistic about the Mets staff reversing the trend.