nationalleague Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Mets fans are going to need some really strong anti-depressants to keep up the optimism
Pete Alonso’s two-run walkoff homer in the 10th inning Thursday improved the New York Mets’ record to 26-14, which is good for the second-most wins in baseball and a six-and-a-half-game lead in the NL East. They have a +44 run differential, put up the fourth most runs in the MLB, and boast the leagu...

Are the Yankees frauds? Will the Angels come down to earth?
Saying “it’s only April” is out, because it’s been May for a few days now. We’re about 15 percent of the way through baseball’s regular season, give or take depending on how many games each team has played, and while that’s not a big sample size, the teams that are in first place now have those wins...

Sorry not sorry, Clayton Kershaw deserved a chance to finish that game
Look, I understand the arguments and the rationale. Clayton Kershaw is coming off an injury-plagued season and he didn’t even have a proper spring training to prepare for this season. He’s 34 and hasn’t had a 200-inning season since 2015. ...

Steven Kwan is kicking off his career hotter than anyone ever
First things first, I just want to say that I know he’s only played four career games, but that doesn’t take away from how insane Cleveland’s 24-year-old rookie, Steven Kwan, has been during this stretch. In 19 plate appearances, Kwan has recorded nine hits (three extra-base hits) and six walks for ...

Dabo Swinney: My locker room is my transfer portal
Spring game season is upon us, and the college football programs that didn’t hold their annual glorified practices last weekend are scheduled to put them on this Saturday. It’s a nice way to catch a nap, check in on a quarterback battle, or get a sneak peek at any coaching changes....

When Jackie opened the door, these men walked through
It took 2,559 days after Jackie Robinson’s debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers for Major League Baseball to have its 42nd Black player appear in a game. Those seven years and two days saw 11 of the league’s 16 franchises integrate. The Boston Red Sox were the last to do so with Pumpsie Green in July 1959...

Deadspin’s 2022 MLB predictions: The good, the bad, the frustrating
You don’t need sportswriters to tell you that the Dodgers are going to be better than the Diamondbacks this year. You already know that. At the same time, it feels wrong to go into the baseball season without looking ahead at it, without trying to gaze into a crystal ball to make some kind of picks....

Yes, a pitcher can be the best player in baseball, especially if he also hits 40 HRs
Quarterback is the most important position in football because a quarterback has the ball in their hands for nearly half of the game. They control the game’s pace of play, the efficiency of the passing attack, and although it’s not done nearly as much nowadays, they can even call their team’s plays....

What milestones might we see in baseball this year?
The coronavirus pandemic is going to wreak havoc on long-term baseball achievements for years to come. Obviously, anyone chasing career records took a hit from the 60-game season in 2020, and a lot of players were in and out of the lineup last season due to the virus. That also means interruptions t...

Baseball is back, but the DH is everywhere, and that’s awful
There’s only one bad thing about the MLB lockout being over: The game is changing forever....

Now that baseball is back, which free agents are still out there?
Yes, yes, yes, we’re all excited that baseball is back, but this is only the beginning. The main job is done, but now attention turns back to everything we missed over the last three months — i.e., free agency....

After 5,460 games, Joe West is calling it a career
Move over Tom Brady, there’s a new retirement in the news, and it belongs to MLB umpire Joe West. After 46 years, 43 seasons, and over 5,000 games West is officially calling it quits....

Check it out: The reason we know what players get paid
Just before Major League Baseball’s lockout began, the Mets signed Max Scherzer to a three-year, $130 million contract, a $43.3 million annual average that set a new record and also set a talking point for the labor dispute to come....

LaMonte Wade Jr. got an MVP vote? Explain yourself
Come here. Sit down. Let’s have a talk. I’m not angry, just disappointed....

Will the knuckleball ever make a comeback?
The knuckleball might not be dead, but it’s certainly on life support. There are only two active players who’ve primarily used a knuckleball at the Major League level: Steven Wright, who is currently a free agent and hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2019 and Mickey Jannis, who is also a free agent...

The Dodgers probably could have paid Clayton Kershaw
It was qualifying-offer season over the weekend for MLB teams. Maybe the most interesting name to not get a qualifying offer, meaning he could sign anywhere without draft-pick compensation, was only the best pitcher of his generation in Clayton Kershaw....

Who is Seiya Suzuki, and where will he land?
The Atlanta Braves won the World Series, and, after going through a comically horrible championship parade, they now have the daunting task of attempting to become the first repeat World Series winner since 2000. The 29 other Major League clubs are all looking to knock the Braves off their throne, a...

No big deal, just a four-year veteran backup QB out-performing the entire NFL in his first-ever start, winning a bettor 2.5X that player’s salary
The person who was the happiest after the Kansas City Chiefs bounced back after an ugly loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football was likely not in the home locker room at Arrowhead Stadium after the game, and probably has no association with the Kansas City metropolitan area. That perso...
