Baseball Page 397 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Padres tab Michael King for Opening Day start vs. Braves
The San Diego Padres named right-hander Michael King as their Opening Day starter against the visiting Atlanta Braves on March 27.,King was chosen for the assignments over fellow right-handers Dylan Cease and Yu Darvish.,King said he pondered whether he would draw the start but was going to be fine ...

Spring training roundup: Blue Jays walk off Yankees
Carter Cunningham hit a walk-off home run with two strikes and two outs to lift the Toronto Blue Jays' split squad over the visiting New York Yankees 6-5 on Monday in Dunedin, Fla.,Matt Whatley tied the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth before the 2024 10th-round draft pick went deep...

Arm 'fatigue' forces Padres RHP Yu Darvish to pause preparation
San Diego Padres staff ace Yu Darvish paused preparation for the upcoming season and might not be available for his first start of the season. ,Padres manager Mike Shildt said the issue for Darvish is "general fatigue.",The timing of the pause could make the injured list an option for the Padres, wh...

Braves' Spencer Strider fans six in sparkling spring debut
Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider showed no signs of rust in his return to the mound Monday, striking out six of the eight Boston batters he faced in 2 2/3 perfect innings.,Strider said it was "fun to play" again following his sparkling Grapefruit League performance against the Red Sox in ...

Twins 3B Royce Lewis sidelined with hamstring strain
Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis will miss Opening Day with a moderate left hamstring strain, the team announced Monday.,The Twins did not provide a timetable for his return, but a stint on the injured list seems probable due to the typical recovery period.,Lewis, 25, sustained the injury d...

Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (oblique) to open season on IL
Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Tobias Myers will begin the season on the 15-day injured list with an oblique strain, manager Pat Murphy said Monday.,Murphy said Myers' MRI results were actually "better than we were expecting" and that a return in April "could be in play.",Myers, 26, made his major l...

Giants OF Jung Hoo Lee (back) scheduled for MRI
San Francisco Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, who was limited to 37 games in his rookie season of 2024, was scheduled for an MRI to address mid-back tightness.,The San Francisco Standard reported that Lee is scheduled for a follow-up exam with team doctor Ken Akizuki. ,Lee, 26, was scratched fro...

Tigers narrow 3B pool, send Jace Jung to Triple-A
The Detroit Tigers optioned Jace Jung to Triple-A Toledo on Monday, ending his chances of taking over the vacant starting third-base spot for Opening Day.,The Tigers also optioned left-hander Sean Guenther to Toledo, leaving the club with 39 players in major league camp at Lakeland, Fla.,Jung, 24, h...

Dodgers' Mookie Betts (illness) out of Tokyo Series vs. Cubs
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts has been ruled out of the two-game Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs because of an illness, manager Dave Roberts said Monday.,Per Roberts, Betts has lost "close to 15 pounds" due to the illness. The manager added that Betts could fly back to the United ...

MLB betting primer: Top picks for futures markets
It's finally upon us: the start of another season of Major League Baseball. ,It's time for the Boys of Summer to play and for stats nerds like me to analyze all the data I can muster to figure out how I want to bet on some of the many MLB futures markets.,One of the beautiful aspects of this game is...

Spring training roundup: Jesus Luzardo strong in Phillies' win
Left-hander Jesus Luzardo struck out six in four innings and Edmundo Sosa drove in three runs as the visiting Philadelphia Phillies hammered a Baltimore Orioles split squad 12-1 on Sunday in Sarasota, Fla.,Luzardo (1-1), whom the Phillies acquired from the Miami Marlins in December, surrendered one ...

Green with envy: MLB's big spenders in their own subdivision
The Los Angeles Dodgers famously play in the National League West, with the New York Mets in the NL East.,The distance between Dodger Stadium and Citi Field is about 2,500 miles, which is not as far as Shohei Ohtani hitting a home run toward the east for the Dodgers, or Juan Soto hitting one west fo...

Joey Gallo, released by White Sox, says he's converting to pitcher
The Chicago White Sox granted outfielder-first baseman Joey Gallo his unconditional release on Sunday, and he announced on social media that he intends to continue his career as a pitcher.,Gallo signed a minor league deal with an invitation to Chicago's spring training on Feb. 15.,The 31-year old hi...

Astros again hand ball to LHP Framber Valdez for opener
Left-hander Framber Valdez was named the Houston Astros' Opening Day starter for a fourth time, manager Joe Espada announced Sunday.,The Astros open their 2024 schedule on March 27 at home against the New York Mets.,In the Astros' opener last season against the New York Yankees at home, Valdez gave ...

X factor for each NL team
With the start of the baseball season upon us, teams are finalizing their rosters, hoping to put together the group of players that will lead them to the postseason. Which player could be a key -- the X factor -- for each National League team?,National League East,Atlanta Braves: RHP Grant Holmes,Ho...

X factor for each AL team
With the start of the baseball season upon us, teams are finalizing their rosters, hoping to put together the group of players that will lead them to the postseason. Which player could be a key -- the X factor -- for each American League team?,American League East,Baltimore Orioles: RHP Zach Eflin,T...

Home again: Japanese stars take center stage for Dodgers, Cubs in Tokyo
A hearty homecoming is on tap as Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers will open the 2025 MLB season in Tokyo on Tuesday against fellow Japanese countrymen Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki and the Chicago Cubs.,Yamamoto will take the mound for the reigning World Series champion Do...

MLB power rankings: Who's favored to meet Dodgers in World Series?
Remember Sham? Of course you do.,On name alone, you just had to buy a ticket on him in his quest to upset Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont Stakes.,As far as we know, Sham is still somewhere rounding the far turn, winning the duel of horses no longer visible on your TV screen.,And there goes Secretari...

Dodgers SS Mookie Betts (illness) could miss opener
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts is dealing with an illness and it is unclear if he will play in Tuesday's regular-season opener against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo.,Betts missed Saturday's exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants and will also miss Sunday's exhibition contest against the ...

Spring training roundup: Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani homers in return to Japan
Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run home run in his return to his home country and the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 5-1 victory over Japan's Yomiuri Giants on Saturday at Tokyo.,Michael Conforto and Teoscar Hernandez also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who are set to open the regular season in Japa...