Spring Training Kicks Off for MLB in Arizona’s Cactus League
As the baseball season approaches, the first signs of spring come with pitchers and catchers reporting to Arizona for the 2026 Major League Baseball spring training. This annual event marks the onset of the Cactus League, which draws half of the league’s teams to the desert.
The Cactus League, featuring teams such as the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers—recent champions of the World Series—attracts substantial fan attendance. In 2025, the league saw close to 1.7 million spectators over the monthlong period.
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Unique to this year’s schedule are games involving national teams from the World Baseball Classic, an event that occurs every four years. Japan enters as the defending champion, having triumphed over the United States in the 2023 tournament, which had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another highlight of the 2026 MLB season is the implementation of the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system, following successful trials during last year’s spring training. On average, ABS challenges lasted less than 14 seconds.
As the current MLB collective bargaining agreement nears its end, the possibility of a lockout looms in 2027 unless a new agreement is reached. The league previously experienced a lockout in 2021 when the former agreement expired.
