The ballpark has no dugouts. It has no locker rooms. It has no restrooms, no concession stands and no scoreboard. No warning track lines its chain-link outfield fence. No plumbing routes run beneath its all-dirt infield or its spartan slab seats. Set foot in the facility known as Fleming Field

This week alone, Shohei Ohtani has hit a homer over the batter’s eye in Spring Training and reportedly hit 100 mph in his 2021 debut on the mound. Are you ready for Shotime? Because it’s back, and looking like the 2018 version. Starts on the mound by the Angels righty

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- After the Dodgers beat the Rays in the World Series, snapping the organization’s 32-year championship drought, star outfielder Cody Bellinger hugged Clayton Kershaw, telling him that “nobody deserves the championship more” than the future Hall of Famer. Manager Dave Roberts shared that sentiment, making it a point

Determining how to address the catcher position is a key part of strategizing for fantasy drafts. Even the best fantasy catchers typically produce as much as the third outfielder on your roster, and there's a high risk of injuries given the nature of the position, so you might prefer to

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Some quick reflexes and strong instincts led the Mariners to turn the first triple play of 2021 in their 2-2 tie against the White Sox on Friday at Camelback Ranch. And the unique order of how it was turned -- 5-2-3-2 -- hasn’t been done in a

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It had been 359 days since Eduardo Rodriguez had gone through his gameday routine, and he had the nerves to tell him it had been that long. But these were good nerves -- the type you only feel when you get back to doing what it

Between the feel-good nature of Joe Musgrove being traded to his hometown team and the flurry of splashier moves the Padres made during the offseason, here’s a little nugget that may have gotten lost in the shuffle: Musgrove, quite frankly, is a very good pitcher. Musgrove, who threw two perfect

A couple years ago, Casey Mize was on Twitter, looking at his former pitching coach’s bio. Between Steve Smith’s job title and a Bible verse lies a quote that struck a cord with Mize. “Always about winning. Never only about winning.” “I think I use that mindset,” the 23-year-old hurler

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Imagine being a corner outfielder for the White Sox, camped under a routine fly ball, when suddenly a blur comes flying past to basically grab the baseball from your glove. That blur is Luis Robert, who at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds is built like an NFL defensive

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- With a left ankle sprain behind him -- or underneath him, perhaps -- Max Scherzer took the mound for his Spring Training debut on Friday night against the Cardinals. The Nationals ace was slated for 30-35 pitches in two innings in his first outing. He

Two days after having heart surgery to insert a pacemaker, Yankees manager Aaron Boone found himself back at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., not to manage the game against the Tigers, but to deal with the COVID-19 intake process. Boone, who hopes to be back in the dugout

Every team has checked off just about every box on its offseason shopping list, and now the real fun begins. As full squads report to Spring Training this week, camps chock-full of veterans, rookies, non-roster invites and everyone in between will try to earn a coveted roster spot for Opening

We may never see another season quite like 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Opening Day was pushed back and teams played an abbreviated schedule of just 60 games in the regular season. With such a small sample size, fantasy managers need to figure out how much stock to put

Freddie Freeman surged toward his first National League MVP Award after moving to the second spot in the Braves’ lineup in 2020. But without the universal designated hitter in place again this year, he will likely find himself back in the very familiar third spot of Atlanta’s lineup. “The two-hole

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Imagine if Bryce Harper had a little more luck on his side. Imagine the numbers then. Harper smashed an opposite-field home run in the first inning in his Grapefruit League debut on Friday in the Phillies' 3-0 victory over the Pirates at BayCare Ballpark. He hit the

As if rehabbing Brewers catcher Jacob Nottingham needed any more incentive to get healthy and make it back to the big leagues, MLB just announced an initiative close to his heart. The league has declared June 2 “Lou Gehrig Day,” an annual, league-wide event to honor and celebrate the legacy

Adam Ottavino holds a special and fairly rare place in the ongoing, never-ending rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox. He's one of the few players to be traded between the two teams (probably because of what happened following the trade of one George Herman Ruth), and he's the

Today's game revolves around power, no question, on the mound and at the plate. Pitchers are throwing faster than ever and hitters are smacking the ball harder than ever. The last full season in 2019 produced a record 6,776 homers and 2020's shortened schedule featured 1.28 per team game, the

Winning a strikeout title is the mark of a truly dominant ace. Just look at the list of names who've led their league in strikeouts in recent seasons: Jacob deGrom, Shane Bieber, Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Chris Sale, Clayton Kershaw … it's a who's who of pitching. But

In the 50s in New York baseball, of course, the debate was about center fielders. It was about Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider, “Willie, Mickey and The Duke” in Terry Cashman’s iconic song, “Talkin’ Baseball.” And by the way? If you don’t think Duke Snider belonged that

Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association jointly announced today the latest COVID-19 testing results conducted under MLB’s COVID-19 Health Monitoring & Testing Plan. All Major League active roster players, non-roster invitees, and Tiers 1 and 2 Club staff members are required to complete the Intake Screening

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Three years ago, a wiry 19-year-old shortstop arrived at Padres camp looking to make an impact. No, there wasn't any realistic chance that Fernando Tatis Jr. would crack the big league roster that spring. He'd barely spent any time playing pro ball. But Tatis made an impact

Lou Gehrig, the man who was once a permanent fixture in the New York Yankees lineup, now has a permanent place on the Major League calendar. June 2 will hereby be known as “Lou Gehrig Day,” Major League Baseball announced Thursday. The annual, league-wide event will be a time not

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- A weird winter for Trevor Story began to melt away with one glorious swing Friday afternoon. In the second at-bat of his 2021 Cactus League debut, Story powered a Jordan Zimmermann third-inning pitch for an opposite-field three-run home run. Then he packed his bats and left the

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Willie Calhoun is a pretty messy guy, according to his roommate, Joey Gallo. The two Rangers outfielders are living together during this year’s Spring Training, and while Gallo is put together, Calhoun is on the opposite end of the spectrum. “All he does is sleep, I've never