7:00 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” PHOENIX — In order to become the best pitcher in baseball, Corbin Burnes had to start making his bed. The mundanity of the task is not lost on Burnes. Every fifth day,
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9:43 PM ET ESPN News Services The early returns on Major League Baseball’s decision to restrict shifts are promising. Runs and batting average were both up through the first wave of games compared to spring training a year ago. Players were hitting .272 through Feb. 28, with an average of 11.9 runs scored. That’s up
8:21 PM ET Associated Press The Kansas City Royals signed veteran Jackie Bradley Jr. to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, where he will have an opportunity to earn playing time in a wide-open outfield. The Royals recently traded incumbent center fielder Michael A. Taylor to Minnesota for pitching prospects, and
6:01 PM ET Associated Press The Cleveland Guardians are hoping some rest will help highly touted outfield prospect George Valera, who left Tuesday’s exhibition with an apparent right-hand injury. Valera, ranked as the No. 2 prospect in Cleveland’s organization, was forced to leave during his at-bat in the second inning after fouling off a pitch.
5:55 PM ET Associated Press Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale will likely make his Grapefruit League debut next week. The seven-time All-Star threw 43 pitches over two innings of batting practice on Wednesday. Boston manager Alex Cora told reporters that Sale should be cleared to work two to three innings in a game sometime
11:14 AM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball added three executives to its new local media department as it prepares for a possible takeover of local broadcasts for 17 teams amid the financial deterioration of the Bally and AT&T SportsNet regional sports networks. Doug Johnson was hired as senior vice president and
3:47 PM ET Dan HajduckyESPN Close Hajducky is a reporter/researcher for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities. Christmas came early for Eric, a Florida-based building contractor. He was in Georgia for a wedding and decided to
7:00 AM ET Now that we’ve covered the top prospects across baseball for 2023, there’s one question you are probably asking — when will we get to see them in the big leagues? Because of a new rule in the collective bargaining agreement known as the Prospect Promotion Incentive, clubs have even more reason to
9:12 PM ET ESPN News Services Fernando Tatis Jr. on Tuesday played his first game for the San Diego Padres in nearly 17 months. Tatis went 0-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base and scored a run in a 7-5 win over the San Francisco Giants. He was the designated hitter in his first
6:33 PM ET Associated Press PEORIA, Ariz. — Having signed All-Star slugger Manny Machado for more than another decade, San Diego Padres chairman Peter Seidler was clear with his goal. “We’re here to win a championship and we came reasonably close last year. We believe we have every chance this year.” Seidler said. “Non-conflicted people
5:49 PM ET Associated Press BRADENTON, Fla. — There was no umpire behind the plate calling balls and strikes, or even one of those so-called robo umps that could become part of the game in the future, when the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates kept playing Tuesday. Umpires left the field after Baltimore’s Josh Lester
6:30 PM ET Associated Press MESA, Ariz. — Shohei Ohtani had no issues with his pitches or the new clock in his first spring training outing this year, his only one for the Los Angeles Angels before he joins Japan for the World Baseball Classic. Ohtani pitched 2⅓ hitless innings against Oakland on Tuesday, striking
4:52 PM ET Associated Press CLEARWATER, Fla. — Noah Song has no illusions of the challenges still ahead as he approaches the end of his first week of spring training after joining the Philadelphia Phillies from the U.S. Navy. Dressed in white pinstripe pants and a red batting practice jersey with No. 52 and his
11:21 AM ET Todd ZolaFantasy Close Writing on fantasy baseball game theory and player analysis since 1997 Winner of the 2013 Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Best Baseball Article Sometimes, crime does pay. In fact, some are expecting it to pay even more in 2023. The “unlawful act” in question, of course, is stealing bases, a
12:18 PM ET Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux will miss the 2023 season with a torn ACL in his right knee. Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Lux is “obviously crushed” and that the injury is “a huge blow” to the Dodgers, who were anticipating that the former top prospect would be their starting
10:18 AM ET ESPN News Services San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove has suffered a fractured left big toe after dropping a kettlebell in a weight room accident Monday, the team said Tuesday. No timetable has been given for his return, but Padres manager Bob Melvin said it would be a “minimum of a
10:30 AM ET Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow is expected to miss the start of the regular season because of an oblique injury. “I would book that right now,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters Tuesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Cash said the Rays are still awaiting results of an MRI taken
9:07 AM ET ESPN News Services Major League Baseball officials expect C.B. Bucknor and Oliver Marmol to move forward without further incident, sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney, after talking with both parties about what occurred Saturday, when the veteran umpire refused to shake the St. Louis Cardinals manager’s hand. MLB has reviewed the incident for